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02 Sep 2011 15:58

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Politics: Ex-FEMA head Michael Brown rips Hurricane Irene media coverage

  • The guy’s acting like he’s having a hard time standing up, and you see people just strolling along behind him. I thought, what a great contrast. Why didn’t he just stand up and say, ‘We were very lucky’?
  • Former FEMA head Michael “heckuva job Brownie” Brown • Somehow turning media critic after Hurricane Irene (in ripping CNN for their coverage of the storm). Hey, Michael, no offense, but you’re the last person that should talk here. Glad to see that the crisis was weak enough that you can rip the media for the coverage. You and Ray Nagin should probably keep your media commentator cards to yourselves. source

29 Aug 2011 10:34

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U.S.: Post-Katrina general: Changing attitudes at play with Hurricane Irene

  • Before Katrina, it was a longstanding tradition in our country for political officials to wait until the last minute to warn, to take action, to evacuate. No more. With Irene, you had mass evacuations — mandatory ones — issued days ahead of time. That was the right thing to do.
  • Retired Army Lt. Gen. Russel L. Honore • Regarding the changing approach to hurricanes since Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall in Louisiana six years ago today. Honore was one of the officials whose work on the recovery from that storm was widely respected. To put his point another way: “I’ve been in the storm business for years and I’ve never seen officials be prudent enough to cancel commercial and sporting events before a storm. Folks in the Northeast did that. The day before Katrina, we had a football game in Baton Rouge. That’s how far the community has come.” So there you have it: The guy who coordinated much of the the Katrina response says they did the right thing on Irene. source

04 Feb 2011 12:35

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U.S.: Census: Post-Katrina New Orleans shrinks by a third

  • 484,674 New Orleans’ population as of the 2000 census
  • 343,829 the city’s population in 2010, five years after Hurricane Katrina source
  • » As a whole, the country grew: In contrast with the decline of New Orleans’ population, the population at large grew by 9.7 percent, to 308.7 million. The data, overall, is expected to show that minorities caused much of the growth.

29 Aug 2010 20:34

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U.S.: Obama says that he’ll work harder for Katrina victims

Here’s Obama speaking at Xavier University today. He said that he hopes that Katrina’s legacy after five years can be “not one of neglect, but of action.” source

29 Aug 2010 11:27

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Tech: YouTube marks Hurricane Katrina’s fifth anniversary perfectly

  • Today is the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s landfall. Many sites have been covering this anniversary of the tragedy in their own ways, but our favorite thus far is YouTube’s treatment of the disaster. This is the first major event that happened on their watch, and the videos here reflect a tragedy that is very much of this generation. It even created a poorly-timed meme. Great job putting this together, guys. source

02 Apr 2010 19:00

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Biz: Florida’s housing boom, brought to you by crappy Chinese drywall

  • 3,000+ complaints have been filed
    about poor quality, hydrogen
    sulfide-loaded drywall from China;
    the drywall corroded wires and
    made people sick
  • 80% of those complaints are from
    Florida (which once had a housing
    boom) and Louisiana (which rebuilt
    a lot of homes after Hurricane
    Katrina) source

07 Feb 2010 22:33

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Culture: New Orleans, the city, and New Orleans, the team, win big

  • Four years ago, who ever would’ve thought this would happen?
  • New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees • Regarding the Saints’ own fate, along with the more general fate of New Orleans, post-Katrina. The Saints won 31-17, the victors of a symbolic win for a franchise and a city that needed one. It definitely goes a long way to making those awful memories of a damaged Superdome a faded memory. Congrats, scrappy kids of New Orleans. You earned it. source
 

14 Aug 2009 12:11

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Culture, U.S.: Brad Pitt, from movie star to New Orleans mayor?

Brad Pitt for mayor
  • There’s t-shirts bearing this image already. There’s a history of Pitt doing good things for the city – convincing Frank Gehry to design houses for Hurricane Katrina victims. And there’s (tongue-in-cheek) grassroots support for the dude. He doesn’t seem interested, though. But he seems amused by the idea, though. source

07 Jun 2009 22:45

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U.S., World: Perhaps NOLA mayor Ray Nagin shouldn’t have gone to China