“In 2001, FEMA warned that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters in the U.S. But the Bush administration cut New Orleans flood control funding by 44 percent to pay for the Iraq war.” Citing domestic budget cuts and Dubya’s disastrous wetlands policies, among other things, Sidney Blumenthal makes a compelling case that the tremendous devastation wrought by Katrina “may not entirely be the result of an act of nature.”
Category: Katrina
Dubya at the Crossroads.
As the Gulf drowns in Katrina’s wake, Dubya gets his groove on. I may be mistaken, but somehow I can’t imagine Clinton stopping to play the saxophone the day after the Oklahoma City bombing. (Then again, this is fully in keeping with Bush’s horrifyingly tone-deaf scampering atop the ruins of the Trade Center just after 9/11.) Well, perhaps Dubya presumes he’s still on vacation. (Guitar via Medley, 404 via Ed Rants, who’s currently offering much quality info and links on Katrina.)
When the Levee Breaks.
Obviously, the big story right now is the tremendous and nightmarish devastation wrought by Katrina upon the Gulf, particularly in Louisiana and Mississippi. The first reports suggested that the Big Easy had dodged the bullet when Katrina zigged to the right at the last moment, but the broken levees and rising floodwaters have obliterated that silver lining (which was likely little consolation anyway to the people of Biloxi and Gulfport, who felt Katrina’s full wrath.) Now, the news out of N’Orleans, one of America’s most unique and historic cities, sounds worse with each passing hour. My thoughts are with the people of New Orleans and the region (and their most esteemed bloggers) as they try to pick up the pieces after this continuing catastrophe.
To the Five Boroughs.
Hey y’all. After a good deal of traveling (and side-stepping around Katrina), I’m back in Chesapeake, VA, and have broken Berkeley out of the canine correctional facility he was residing at during our Maui sojourn. Later in the week (and just like Tom Thumb’s Blues), I’ll be heading back up to NYC to begin Year 5 at Hogwarts, or Columbia, as it were.(I’ll post Hawaii pics at Flickr once I return to Gotham.)