Katrina Coverage

Analyzing the news reports and politics of the New Orleans hurricane.

Archive for October, 2005

"U.S. Military Wants to Own the Weather"

Monday, October 31st, 2005

Yahoo prints a long Space.com article on weather modification here.
…But some blue sky thinkers have already looked into these and other scenarios in "Weather as a Force Multiplier: Owning the Weather in 2025" – a research paper written by a seven person team of military officers and presented in 1996 as part of a larger […]

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HuffPost: "Don't Declare War on Hurricane Victims"

Monday, October 31st, 2005

The "war" in question involves not giving aid to people who've been convicted of drug crimes:
Federal laws prohibit former drug law offenders from obtaining welfare, food stamps, public housing, financial aid for schools and other benefits for themselves and their families. While it is impossible to know for sure how many hurricane victims will be […]

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UN busybody comments on New Orleans poverty

Sunday, October 30th, 2005

About the last thing we need is the U.N. using Katrina to push their agenda, yetArjun K. Sengupta, "United Nations independent expert on human rights and extreme poverty" has made an appearance. I'm sure he'll save the day:
After listening to Hurricane Katrina victims and disaster relief workers for several hours Friday, as well as […]

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Legal system still struggling

Sunday, October 30th, 2005

From this:
…With the criminal courthouse still mired in muck, [Criminal District Judge Benedict Willard] presides at the old parish jail in a room once used for witnesses to identify criminal suspects in lineups. One-inch hash marks for measuring height dot the wall behind his small office desk. Attorneys sit in folding chairs.
Two defense lawyers for […]

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51 NOPD cops fired; 240 "missing": phantom cops?

Sunday, October 30th, 2005

From New Orleans Fire Officers for Desertion:
Amid the chaos that ensued as Hurricane Katrina struck the city, dozens of police officers and civilian employees left their posts unexpectedly and were not heard from again. On Friday, the New Orleans Police Department fired 51 of them _ 45 officers and six civilian workers _ for abandonment.
"They […]

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Jackson, Sharpton, AFLCIO complain about "low-wage workers" at rally

Sunday, October 30th, 2005

From Governor faults White House over rebuilding:
Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco, flanked by veteran Democratic activists and a union leader, criticized the Bush administration on Saturday for allowing hurricane rebuilding contracts to go to out-of-state firms and low-wage workers.
Speaking to a rally of about 1,000 union members and activists from the steps of the state Capitol, […]

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Michael Barone: "After Katrina and Scooter, whither the Bush administration?"

Saturday, October 29th, 2005

The columnist and occasional idiot offers this WSJ article (email address required). First paragraph here.

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"Louisiana politics colorful, extremely corrupt"

Saturday, October 29th, 2005

From a LSU student columnist:
Throughout Louisiana’s modern history, corruption has flourished in state and local government. Some leaders have even celebrated our reputation saying it colors our politics. We may be corrupt, but we’re not boring.
Perhaps no one better fit this persona than our four-time elected governor, now jailbird, Edwin Edwards. For years, he survived […]

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"Who’s Killing New Orleans?"

Saturday, October 29th, 2005

From this:
resident Bush’s advisers insist that he’s not abandoning conservatism in his commitment to rebuild the Gulf Coast. But a mark of conservative thinking is properly identifying problems before dedicating billions to solving them. The president hasn’t done that in New Orleans. Instead, in his September 15 speech from Jackson Square, Bush vowed to combat […]

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Blanco wants more control over levee boards

Saturday, October 29th, 2005

From this:
Administrative officials are expected to push a set of proposals during the special session that convenes next Sunday to grant the state greater oversight of local levee boards.
Gov. Kathleen Blanco announced her intentions this week as a contentious debate continues to flare up regarding a series of South Louisiana levees that failed in the […]

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