Right now, in the barren desert, an army of 35,000 volunteer soldiers is camped out on an endless tract of government land, armed to the teeth with water, food, shelter, and portable entertainment. The days are extremely hot and nights dip toward freezing. Tomorrow they move out, taking with them all their supplies, garbage, and personnel, taking with them an entire city.

Tomorrow most of them will leave the encampment called Black Rock City to reenter mainstream society, their cars and rental trucks laden with extra water and food, portable shade structures that can withstand high winds and rain, a vast resourcefulness that comes from learning how to cope with strange environments and stranger neighbors, and mobile kits for making crafts, playing games, staging performances, and entertaining the masses.

Why not take the existing volunteer corps to Katrina?

Though I am no fan of the hypocritcal corporation that owns the Burning Man festival, this strikes me as a fine idea, and a great use for lots of resources that would otherwise be thrown away...