Category: Katrina

  • i got the antediluvian de-stroyed de-brised de-scouraged homeland insecurity blues

    Sittin’ in a friend’s Uptown shotgun listening to Bobby Lounge bang the ivories singing “do not pass on by” while the dog sleeps and the mockingbirds sing on a softly humid Monday morning. The friends are workin’, a blessing in this post-Katrina, trauma-tized, water-marked, limpin’ and hurtin’ New Orleans. “We Back” says the spray paint…

  • Lyons, Carnival, and FEMA oh my!

    We talked on the phone to our friends in New Orleans last night as they were out on their front porch directing traffic onto sidewalks and neighbor’s driveways for Mardi Gras parking. They sounded happy for the first time in a long while. Here’s some pics of their neighborhood at Inside The Bowl

  • The White House Lied While New Orleans Died

    “FYI from FEMA” said the e-mail to Homeland Security on the night the 17th Street Canal levee broke. The White House knew of flooding, stranded people and fires in the Crescent City by midnight. Then they all went about their business as if nothing had happened. Meanwhile the City of New Orleans fought it’s greatest…

  • Reconstruction: Iraq vs Louisiana

    The Bush administration has doled out a lot of cash for the “reconstruction” of Iraq and we now have a report from the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction. The long story short is that $25 billion was appropriated by Congress to rebuild Iraq, including for 136 projects to improve water and sanitation and 425…

  • Still somewhat slow on the uptake

    Mike Brown took the hint, finally, and resigned as FEMA director. Look for him to receive the Medal of Freedom in a few months. Fortunately, Skeletor… er, I mean Chertoff is still firmly in control of Homeland Security.

  • Dispatch: Heroic Imp

    Earlier today, my pal Heroic Imp sent me this chilling vision of the future I thought was worth sharing: New Orleans has one of the world’s greatest international ports, one of the largest in the nation, and it is a major focus of the city’s economy. New Orleans is home to the corporate offices of…