Some Firms Hired in Katrina’s Wake Have Checkered Pasts Yochi J. Dreazen The Wall Street Journal, September 20th 2005 GoldStar EMS was on the ropes earlier this year, beset by legal problems. The Texas ambulance provider’s offices had been raided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as part of a …
Bechtel, Fluor Will Help Erect Emergency Facilities; Bush Suspends Wage Rules Yochi J. Dreazen Wall Street Journal, September 9th 2005 WASHINGTON — Accelerating efforts to rebuild the storm-ravaged Gulf of Mexico region, the Bush administration hired five private contractors — including some active in rebuilding Iraq — and took the …
Rescue Came From the Grassroots The People, Not FEMA, Saved Themselves Bruce Dixon Black Commentator, September 22nd 2005 From her Atlanta home, former Gulf Coast resident Latosha Brown and a few friends watched the man-made catastrophe unfold in the wake Hurricane Katrina. “We kept expecting to see the National Guard, …
From Slave Ships to the Superdome in New Orleans Carl Dix Revolution #13 September 4th 2005 New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. People trapped amidst squalor and chaos in the official shelters. People facing death from starvation and disease on the streets. Most of the people trapped in …
The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein The Nation, April 19 2005 Last summer, in the lull of the August media doze, the Bush Administration’s doctrine of preventive w ar took a major leap forward. On August 5, 2004, the White House created the Office of the Coordinator for …
Met by Despair, Not Violence As they begin to patrol the chaotic city, troops are surprised by what they don’t find. Scott Gold Los Angeles Times, September 3rd 2005 NEW ORLEANS – Forty-four troops pressed together in their truck, swaying as one at every bump and turn like reeds in …
Condoleeza Rice Spends The Week At Broadway Shows and Shopping On Fifth Avenue Yeshim Deniz, September 2nd 2005 Yesterday she was shopping on Fifth Avenue. According to several published reports, she spent the Wednesday night at a Broadway show “Spamalot,” laughing in tears throughout the show. She was also missing …
How Globalization Got New Orleans’s Momma And What We Can Do About It Dan Horowitz de Garcia Bring the Ruckus, October 2005 Why was Wal-Mart merchandise more important than saving people’s lives? Why was every foul rumor about Black people killing, raping, and destroying reported as fact? Why has the …
Poor, Black, and Left Behind Mike Davis Common Dreams, September 24th 2004 The evacuation of New Orleans in the face of Hurricane Ivan looked sinisterly like Strom Thurmond’s version of the Rapture. Affluent white people fled the Big Easy in their SUVs, while the old and car-less — mainly Black …
The struggle over the future of New Orleans An Interview with Mike Davis Mike Davis interviewed by Lee Sustar Socialist Worker, September 23rd 2005 The poor of New Orleans–especially poor African Americans–suffered the brunt of Hurricane Katrina’s devastation in the city, thanks to the criminal neglect of authorities at every …