See the message below from the Katrina Information Network (KIN).

Dear KIN folk,

We have a rare and important opportunity to bring a critical issue to prime time. With Super Tuesday primaries looming, the Democratic California debate is tonight and hosted by CNN, Politico and the Los Angeles Times. The Politico website gives us the opportunity to vote on which questions should be asked of the candidates and of course we want to keep just recovery on the agenda!

Please go to Katrina Action for more specific instructions on how to vote.

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I ran across this article which explains the reasons why many people did not--could not--leave New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit. Its a scholarly approach but rings true with other things I've heard people say. --Tim

Leaving New Orleans: Social Stratification, Networks, and Hurricane Evacuation

The struggle for affordable housing and the right to return in New Orleans is far from over! If anything, the shameful and illegal City Council vote for the demolition of public housing has given greater clarity to the social struggle in New Orleans. To advance this struggle, the Coalition to Stop the Demolitions is calling on all of our allies and supporters in the social justice movements throughout the United States and the World to stand with us on Friday, January 25th and Saturday, January 26th, 2008 for the International Days of Action against the demolition of public housing.

Our General Aims and Objectives

The principle aims of our struggle are to stop the advance of neo-liberalism and disaster capitalism in New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. To accomplish this mission we must end the march of privatizations and dispossessions, including the demolitions of public housing that are ravaging the Black majority and working class of the city. We aim to curtail this march by exerting as much political pressure and economic reprisal as we can on the US government, particularly the US Senate and New Orleans City Officials, and the corporate interests that seek to gain from the misery of the displaced and dispossessed.

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I haven't finished it yet, but for anyone looking for an engaging read, get a copy of Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein.

I started reading it because of the sections specific to the Gulf Coast. I became engrossed because of the historical research she did to connect various dots involving the US government, torture, and military and economic intervention around the world. The book is helping me see the Katrina/Rita/levee disaster in a new light, especially issues such as charter vs. public schools. In many cases, I wasn't aware of the larger context for those struggles.

Peace! Tim