Florida
Smote by 'Stealth' Storm
August 26, 2005
PEJ
News - C. L. Cook - In a record year of tropical storm warnings, many
in southern Florida took the approaching tropical storm Katrina casually. But,
what came ashore, killing several people and wreaking havoc with the state's
power grid, was no mild blow.
New
Orleans Sinking? Mammoth Katrina Spurs Evacuations
August
28, 2005
PEJ News - C. L. Cook
- The
storm Floridians discounted as minor last week has spent the weekend gathering
strength over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Hurricane Katrina has now
ballooned to an unprecedentedly large and
powerful Catagory 5, with sustained wind
speeds nearing 280 kph, and gusts topping 300kph.
SuperDome
Lockdown: Katrina's Prisoners
August 30,
2005
PEJ News - C. L. Cook - New Orleans' least
fortunate, those too poor or infirm to flee Monday's killer hurricane, taking
refuge in the city's Superdome football stadium today find themselves prisoners
in a fast deteriorating situation.
[
breaking 2:06pm pdt- Louisiana Governor
announces an evacuation of one of New Orleans' emergency shelters due to rising
water caused by the failure of a second levee protecting the city. Water too is
accumulating in the biggest area of refuge, the SuperDome: Says situation
"untenable" and the entire city must be evacuated as levee waters rise. And the
rains have begun again.]
New
Orleans Funeral March a Funeral for America?
August 30, 2005
PEJ News - C. L. Cook - It is a total disaster. The
slow death of New Orleans, though defying worst case scenarios that have
furrowed the brows of experts for years, is nevertheless a fait accompli. The
failure of two vital levee guardians of the sub-sea level city means one of
America's cultural icons, and arguably most important commerce ports is, as
Louisiana Governor, Kathleen Babineaux Blanco says, "untenable." As analogue,
the demise of the Big Easy mirrors the disaster that is George W. Bush's
America.
Orleans
Down the Drain, But Who's to Blame?
August 31,
2005
Media Channel - Danny Schechter - "You didn't hafta
have been there in the past two days to be stung by what happened. Anyone who
walked the streets or partied in NO, or watched Angel Heart (the movie), or
walked the dusty roads along the Gulf saw an America that won't ever be
again..." - Da'ud X Mohammad, New Orleans refugee
www.mediachannel.org
From
Baghdad to Biloxi: Bringing Home the Guard
August 31,
2005
WarMadeEasy - Norman Solomon - The catastrophic
hurricane was an act of God. But the U.S. war effort in Iraq is a continuing act
of the president. And now, that effort is hampering the capacity of the National
Guard to save lives at home.
www.warmadeeasy.com
Pointing
Fingers in the Wake of the Flood
August 31,
2005
PEJ News - C. L. Cook - While the waters still rise
in New Orleans and the monumental task of evacuating the entire city and
environs begins, already accusing fingers are pointing directly to the White
House and George W. Bush.
The
"Disaster" President
August 31,
2005
thiscantbehappening - Dave Lindorff - The
destruction of New Orleans--a catastrophe far worse than anything Osama Bin
Laden could hope to wreak, considering the number of deaths, the closing down of
a major U.S. port city for months, the destruction of an urban environment that
will take years to repair, and the devastating disruption of one-fourth of the
nation's oil production, which is likely to initiate a national recession--gives
final proof of the stupidity and criminality of the Bush Administration's
invasion of Iraq and of the bankruptcy of the Democratic so-called oppositon.
www.thiscantbehappening.net
Fallujah,
Louisiana
September 1, 2005
PEJ News
- C. L. Cook - Night is falling again in New Orleans, and reports aired
by CNN paint a desperate picture. Without water, power, and hope for immediate
rescue, the people stranded in the city face another night of thirst, hunger,
deprivation, and now, reportedly, marauding armed gangs, and at least one insane
sniper.
The
Battle of New Orleans
September 1, 2005
Media
Channel - Danny Schechter - Goaded perhaps by looped television footage
of "looting" amongst the ruins of New Orleans, overwhelmingly displaying
non-white participation, police and military spokespersons say "law and order"
will take precedence to rescue missions as evacuation efforts continue in the
stricken city. {lex}
www.mediachannel.org
"The Name
of This Hurricane is Global Warming"
September 1,
2005
Democracy Now! - Shortly after he took office, the
President reneged on his campaign promise to cut emissions from power plants. He
then ordered the EPA to remove all references to the damages of global warming
from its website. Vice President Cheney came out with his energy plan calling
for 1,900 new power plants, most of them coal. This is the fast track to climate
hell. And, of course, the President withdrew us from the Kyoto Protocol, so he
is really going in the opposite direction from the rest of the world, and he
really is following the dictates of the fossil fuel lobby. There's no question
about it.
www.democracynow.org
The
Big "O": Abandoning New Orleans
September 2,
2005
Media Channel - Danny Schechter - DAY 5: No more
water; the fire this time. Explosions rock and illuminate the darkness of New
Orleans -- some from exploding gas lines and some from gunfire. Another night in
a wet and dangerous town that is quickly coming to resemble a war zone in the
Third World. It is a place filled with angry and hungry people, people who have
felt abandoned and been abandoned for a long time-- even as help is said to be
finally on the
way
.
www.mediachannel.org
The
Hurricane and Bush?s Criminal Negligence
Sepetember 2,
2005
IAC - September 1, 2005--With every hour that
passes, we see and hear new stories of the horror and devastation in the wake of
Hurricane Katrina. What makes these images more shocking is the realization that
much of the death and destruction could have been prevented. Almost all of the
death and destruction arising from the hurricane is the direct result of
criminal neglect by the Bush Administration. This crisis was predicted in
numerous reports and news articles and little, if anything, was
done.
International Action Center
September 2, 2005
PEJ
News - C. L. Cook - It seems now to many, the "Plan" worked out by the
myriad minions working at the Department of Homeland Security for disaster
relief in America can most charitably be described as benign neglect. Much as
the Bush administration has starved the very agencies that could and would have
averted the current disaster in New Orleans, the reaction of the multi-billion
dollar entities created in the wake of 9/11 instructs all citizens: "In case of
disaster: You are on your own!"
Last year, I published accounts of the dread storm I published while it occurred over those two terrible weeks in 2005. Doubtless there will be thousands of articles posted today on Hurricane Katrina's fourth anniversary. 
