Today Mardi Gras begins in New Orleans - one of my favorite cities. Its culture has greatly influenced and enriched human life and imagination, and thus America and the world owe The Big Easy a lot. That the American government has done so little to help Katrina victims - created, as you will see below, by the negligence of BushCo - disgusts me. Democrats added to this negligence by failing to put Katrina relief on the "first 100 hours" agenda. My connection to the Gulf Coast and New Orleans led to the creation of this collection of NOLA links, which you will find below the fold. The Palast video - FROM BIG EASY TO BIG EMPTY, at links below - is incredibly important. Please take ten minutes to view the short version, at least. Please keep adding your own NOLA links, so Daily Kos will be able to offer an even better resource on this disaster and recovery. Many thanks to Kossack Nightprowlkitty for her incredible investigation of New Orleans, Katrina and corruption in her dK series Lagniappe - http://nightprowlkitty.dailykos.com/ and the Katrina Blog Project http://www.dailykos.com/...
When we have the IMPEACHMENT, let's hold it in New Orleans.
Ex voto image of Saint Expedite, a favorite New Orleans saint
FEMA knew, Brownie warned Bush
http://video.google.com/...
A ten-minute version of the Palast investigation, FROM BIG EASY TO BIG EMPTY:
http://video.google.com/...
Palast - FROM BIG EASY TO BIG EMPTY, 58 mins.
"August 29th, 2006 marked the one year anniversary of the devastation in New Orleans caused by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. This Special Report brings you exclusive footage and the stories you won't hear on the other networks--the hidden political agendas and the suppressed eyewitness reports. Includes on-the-spot reporting from independent journalist Greg Palast.
In this half-hour film, Greg Palast and his team travel to New Orleans to investigate what has happened since Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast last year. On his visit, he discovers that the population of New Orleans is miniscule, the reconstruction sparse, suicide rates are climbing, and many have not, nor know how to, return to the city that care forgot. He examines why residents had to leave, what really caused the flood and why they aren't returning.
Bonus Features Include: Tomorrow's New Orleans - Whose City Will it Be? A half-hour conversation with Amy Goodman and Greg Palast where they sit down to discuss who is accountable for the ongoing disastrous situation in New Orleans."
http://video.google.com/...
Palast: hurricane expert threatened for pre-Katrina warnings
http://www.gregpalast.com/...
Palast's essay on poverty that goes far to explain why folks didn't leave NOLA -
http://gregpalast.com/...
http://www.kathryncramer.com/...
Examines the levees in great detail
House Report 109-276 - DEFICIT REDUCTION ACT OF 2005
http://thomas.loc.gov/...
Katrina timeline
http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/...
From Amy Goodman on DEMOCRACY NOW - Big, Easy Money - Katrina victims are still dealing with wretched housing, municipal buildings, utility services, and health care. Another boondoggle for Bushco, though. Democracy Now! | Hurricane Katrina, One Year Later: Democracy Now! Looks Back
http://www.democracynow.org/...
Corporate greed
http://corpwatch.org/
Who's Who in big industry and government
http://theyrule.net
The background story of post-Katrina New Orleans.
http://www.foodmusicjustice.com/
Photos of post-Katrina NOLA homes that look like paintings
http://www.danburkholder.com/...
Tipper Gore's photos of post-Katrina New Orleans
http://www.algore.org/...
Operation Eden, an incredible blog by a young photographer with NOLA roots
http://operationeden.blogspot.com/
9th Ward photos
http://flickr.com/...
More photos
http://www2.ljworld.com/...
This is National Geographic's NOLA - before and after Katrina
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/...
A collection of Katrina photos
http://katrinapictures.blogspot.com
Trying to make it home
http://dissidentvoice.org/...
Bush's plan, which doubtless all in Louisiana and the Gulf Coast scorn
http://huffingtonpost.com/...
Bush & Katrina: Return to the Scene of the Crime
http://commondreams.org/...
Big Box and Big Aid - Walmart and Red Cross - will team up for next disaster, Naomi Klein says.
http://thenation.com/...
Sign up with Google News for alerts on Hurricane Katrina relief here
http://news.google.com/...
Listen to David Rovics sing about how Bush may make the whole planet look like New Orleans here http://davidrovics.com (and please donate - he has always given his music free)
Bush hasn't forgotten the anniversary -
http://time.com/...
Being Poor
http://scalzi.com/...
Donate to a grassroots NOLA group that is defying BushCo's theft of the city and
reguilding - here:
http://www.commongroundrelief.org/
Finally, it's Carnival time... Go!
http://www.nola.com/
http://www.experienceneworleans.com/...