'cause that shit spreads.
I think this is a gathering post of "yuck, President Bush!" things, and also a focus of my fury about Hurricane Katrina (why no, I haven't been under a rock for two weeks, thanks).
Ain't a game, an accusation by plaidder. Via somniesperus.
The Post-Katrina Era by George Lakoff at Alternet.
This was not just incompetence (though there was plenty of it), not just a natural disaster (though nature played its part), not just Bush (though he is accountable). This is a failure of moral and political philosophy -- a deadly failure. That is the deep truth behind this human tragedy, humanly caused.
Via copperpoint.
The Long Emergency Ahead by James Howard Kunstler at Alternet.
What about the x-thousand number of people around America beyond the Gulf Coast who, up until the day after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, were making plans to put in an offer on a new house 38 miles outside of Dallas (or Minneapolis, or Denver, or Washington, DC, etc.)?
What if, all of a sudden, with a full tank in their Ford Expedition costing almost $100, they begin to calculate that living 38 miles from town isn't such a great idea anymore?
Reaching the Tipping Point by Robert Dreyfuss, TomPaine.com, at Alternet.
But the turn in public opinion is occurring not because the big media has turned against the war (they haven't), but because one by one, town by town, even in the red states, Americans are deciding that staying the course in Iraq is no longer worth the candle. And the most significant factor in the ongoing shift in opinion is the steady drumbeat of obituaries in middle America, as National Guard and reserve troops die fighting in Iraq.
Behold the result of years of downsizing by Murray Dobbin at The Tyee.
Canadian philosopher Ursula Franklin uses a series of questions to test the worthiness of public policies. One of them is "Does it maximize gain or minimize disaster?" Nothing in recent memory serves to highlight this question as much as the events that unfolded last week in New Orleans. Deregulated coastal development, massive funding cuts to disaster response, and political cronyism allowed for maximum private gain at the price of an unprecedented public disaster.
Why the Levee Broke by Will Bunch, Alternet, at The Tyee.
In 2004: "The longer we wait without funding, the more we sink," he said. "I've got at least six levee construction contracts that need to be done to raise the levee protection back to where it should be (because of settling). Right now I owe my contractors about $5 million. And we're going to have to pay them interest." On June 8, 2004, Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, told the Times-Picayune: "It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees can't be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us."
Canadians Beat US Army to New Orleans Suburb from Reuters, at Common Dreams.
The stricken parish of 68,000 people was largely ignored by U.S. authorities who scrambled to get aid to New Orleans, a few miles (km) away. Boasso said residents of the outlying parishes had to mount their own rescue and relief efforts when Hurricane Katrina roared ashore on August 29.
Via mblog.
Anything else?
eta: Timeline from ThinkProgress. Via queenofalostart.
Bye.
ps: Someone save me from the bad writing and incorrect punctuation! Aie.
Ain't a game, an accusation by plaidder. Via somniesperus.
The Post-Katrina Era by George Lakoff at Alternet.
This was not just incompetence (though there was plenty of it), not just a natural disaster (though nature played its part), not just Bush (though he is accountable). This is a failure of moral and political philosophy -- a deadly failure. That is the deep truth behind this human tragedy, humanly caused.
Via copperpoint.
The Long Emergency Ahead by James Howard Kunstler at Alternet.
What about the x-thousand number of people around America beyond the Gulf Coast who, up until the day after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, were making plans to put in an offer on a new house 38 miles outside of Dallas (or Minneapolis, or Denver, or Washington, DC, etc.)?
What if, all of a sudden, with a full tank in their Ford Expedition costing almost $100, they begin to calculate that living 38 miles from town isn't such a great idea anymore?
Reaching the Tipping Point by Robert Dreyfuss, TomPaine.com, at Alternet.
But the turn in public opinion is occurring not because the big media has turned against the war (they haven't), but because one by one, town by town, even in the red states, Americans are deciding that staying the course in Iraq is no longer worth the candle. And the most significant factor in the ongoing shift in opinion is the steady drumbeat of obituaries in middle America, as National Guard and reserve troops die fighting in Iraq.
Behold the result of years of downsizing by Murray Dobbin at The Tyee.
Canadian philosopher Ursula Franklin uses a series of questions to test the worthiness of public policies. One of them is "Does it maximize gain or minimize disaster?" Nothing in recent memory serves to highlight this question as much as the events that unfolded last week in New Orleans. Deregulated coastal development, massive funding cuts to disaster response, and political cronyism allowed for maximum private gain at the price of an unprecedented public disaster.
Why the Levee Broke by Will Bunch, Alternet, at The Tyee.
In 2004: "The longer we wait without funding, the more we sink," he said. "I've got at least six levee construction contracts that need to be done to raise the levee protection back to where it should be (because of settling). Right now I owe my contractors about $5 million. And we're going to have to pay them interest." On June 8, 2004, Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, told the Times-Picayune: "It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees can't be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us."
Canadians Beat US Army to New Orleans Suburb from Reuters, at Common Dreams.
The stricken parish of 68,000 people was largely ignored by U.S. authorities who scrambled to get aid to New Orleans, a few miles (km) away. Boasso said residents of the outlying parishes had to mount their own rescue and relief efforts when Hurricane Katrina roared ashore on August 29.
Via mblog.
Anything else?
eta: Timeline from ThinkProgress. Via queenofalostart.
Bye.
ps: Someone save me from the bad writing and incorrect punctuation! Aie.