The next Daily Kos NOLA/Gulf Blogathon has been scheduled for Wed., June 18th and Thurs., June 19th. (Time slots to sign up for are below the fold.)
While, as with all previous blogathons, all in the DKos community are invited to publish diaries on anything having to do with New Orleans, Katrina, and Rita, and even a good rant will do, I wish to extend special invitations to all Front Pagers who would like to do so to post diaries presenting and defending their opinion that New Orleans and recovery from Katrina and Rita are not worthy of being covered on DKos' front page. More below the fold.
I just thought that the way blueintheface's diary last Thursday struck such a nerve with Front Pagers and others who don't think the tragedy of Katrina, the drowning of New Orleans, the neglect of that beautiful city by BushCo and the silence of Democratic politicians who should be keeping these issues on the front burner are issues worthy of being front paged, it would be interesting to see these Front Pagers and others tell us why. As well as why they consider this an unimportant single issue when so many other problems experienced by folks in this country, not only in Louisiana, Mississippi, and other states in the disaster zone, tie into it.
Here are several reasons why Katrina, Rita, the federal flood, and their lingering after-effects, etc. need to be front paged, and are not just a single issue, as some Front Pagers have opined that they are:
A. The disasters may have happened close to three years ago, but they still have far-reaching impacts on the lives of people in, near, and far from the disaster zone. These people include, but are not limited to:
1. Evacuees in often-distant, unfamiliar surroundings, homesick for Louisiana and suffering from depression and other mental/emotional ills, unable to return to New Orleans because of the lack of affordable housing.
2. Folks who have returned to New Orleans and are now sleeping under overpasses, for the same reason.
3. People in Mississippi and Louisiana who have been living in and developing serious illnesses from FEMA trailers contaminated with formaldehyde and other harmful chemicals. Who now that FEMA has found out exactly how dangerous these "toxic tin cans" are, will now need new accommodations and may add to the homelessness problem.
B. Adverse health impacts, physical and mental/emotional, on people in the disaster zone and who had been impacted from afar.
1. New Orleans' shortage of medical personnel including doctors, psychiatrists, and hospitals and other medical facilities. People dying from causes that under other circumstances would have been preventable as a consequence.
2. People just giving up and dying, or committing suicide, elevating New Orleans' death rate.
3. Other symptoms of the psychic anguish a wounded Louisiana is still experiencing--for example, "Katrina Brain" and other ills including PTSD and depression among not only survivors but also people who watched the disaster unfold from afar.
4. How the disaster and slow recovery mentally/ emotionally has impacted children and teenagers and possible future consequences should these wounded young people not receive the proper treatment they should have been getting yesterday. And how their families' lives have been disrupted by their suffering and how it affects their schooling.
C. Long-term environmental impacts still incalculable.
1. Effect on global warming of the destruction of trees in that Great Britain-sized area of Mississippi and Louisiana
2. Toxins deposited everywhere by New Orleans' floodwaters--lead, arsenic, and other heavy metals that have turned up in such places as schoolyards and playgrounds
3. " Katrina cough" caused to exposure to dusts, molds, and the other toxins in New Orleans' air
4. Unknown what long-term effect all of these will have on people's health in future years.
5. Accellerated destruction of Louisiana's wetlands--which have served as "speed bumps" between New Orleans and storms.
D. The need to repair the damage that has been done by the failure of levees that should have been maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers and prevent further damage now being done by BushCo's neglect of New Orleans.
E. The value of New Orleans (one of this nation's largest ports) and of Louisiana with her oil and natural gas installations, and the fish and seafood she exports, to the rest of the nation. The need to preserve her distinctive, one-of-a-kind culture
F. Disaster preparation and response in general, or for other emergencies--which is what makes this a national issue. This is especially timely between the tornadoes that have been happening almost every day these days, the latest California and Florida wildfires, and the fact that Atlantic hurricane season will be starting in less than a week. Not to mention the recent disasters in China and Burma.
1. To all Front Pagers, if you still don't think what happened to New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Region, and is still going on there, is important enough to Front Page, how would you feel if a major disaster had struck your community or state, had lingering effects about three years later that were still impacting youand your family, and people elsewhere in the country were treating it as if it were a trivial local issue, or at least yesterday's news?
2. And it need not be a natural disaster--it could be caused by the economy's falling apart or something else's causing hardship for many
I, and others, have been asked how this situation--namely the fact that New Orleans, Katrina, and Rita diaries are not being Front Paged--can be remedied.
A. The most obvious remedy would be to promote diaries on these issues--such as this one--to the front page to increase their exposure on Daily Kos. Because they extremely rarely hit the Rec list and tend to slip off the Recent Diaries List quite quickly. But aside from that....
B. Kossacks involved in campaigns, whether Clinton's, Obama's, or those of candidates for the Senate or the House, need to impress on their candidates the fact that New Orleans and the slowness of storm recovery are serious national issues. These Kossacks need to:
1. Persuade their candidates to speak out more on these issues and make them Front Page issues on their websites
2. Publish detailed diaries themselves on where their candidates stand and what they're sayingon New Orleans' and storm recovery
C. Kossacks need to write our Senators and members of Congress requesting their support of any legislation aiding New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Region
D. Because hosting such functions would be a huge financial and psychological boost to New Orleans and her people, Kossacks need to form a united front and demand:
1. A .presidential debate held in New Orleans. Because such a debate is the only venue at which New Orleans and Katrina questions will be asked
2. Netroots Nation 2009 to be held in New Orleans
E. An apology to Gilda Reed, who ran for Congress from LA-01, recently published this diary, and was treated rudely and mean-spiritedly by several Front Pagers. Gilda is a true progressive and had the Democratic Party funded her campaign, she could have won and been in a position to truly make a difference. Wouldn't it be karmic if, because of the election of a Rethug slimeball to that congressional seat, legislation Democrats want loses by one vote?
Now for the schedule for the June NOLA/Gulf Blogathon. If you're interested in participating, please sign up below with the day and time or e-mail me at the address on my page. Thanks!
NOLA/GULF BLOGATHON--ALL TIMES PACIFIC
Wed., June 18
7AM
9AM
11AM Louisiana 1976
1PM
3PM
5PM
Thurs., June 19
7AM
9AM
11AM
1PM
3PM
5PM.