In response to the escalating disaster in New Orleans, the White House proves unable even to co-ordinate its own spokespeople. The Bush administration, struggling to master the chaos of New Orleans, seems to have a logistical problem closer to home: getting the White House on the same page with the Homeland Security Department. But really,Continue reading “Proving the Point…Again”
Author Archives: Kit Stolz
Something Gave
Today the Chicago Tribune develops the story about the disastrous Republican underfunding of the flood-control system designed to prevent New Orleans from catastrophe. The lede: Despite continuous warnings that a catastrophic hurricane could hit New Orleans, the Bush administration and Congress in recent years have repeatedly denied full funding for hurricane preparation and flood control.Continue reading “Something Gave”
Sorry, Mr. Sullivan. Sorry, Mr. Kennedy.
Andrew Sullivan, a prominent right-wing blogger, looks at the possibility of a link between global warming and the devastating hurricane that just hit New Orleans and scoffs: "As if any serious expert believes this is in any way connected." Sorry, Mr. Sullivan, but on August 4th of this year a prominent atmospheric scientist at M.I.T.,Continue reading “Sorry, Mr. Sullivan. Sorry, Mr. Kennedy.”
It’s Not Over
Yesterday we thought New Orleans was spared the worst of the disaster. Today we learn that two levees protecting the below-sea level city have collapsed and Lake Pontchartrain is in full flood. Parts of New Orleans are twenty feet under water, remaining residents have just been ordered to evacuate by the governor, and the lossContinue reading “It’s Not Over”
“Don’t Commute–Communicate!”
That’s a slogan Arthur C. Clarke coined back in the late 60’s, when his interest turned to our fossil fuel addiction, and ways to cut down on our cravings. Here’s a fascinating site (put up by Swiss Re, among other corporate sponsors) and includes a page–and a superb photograph–on the remarkable efforts Japan is makingContinue reading ““Don’t Commute–Communicate!””
Catastrophe Avoided
Hurricane Katrina turned out not to be a Category 5 tropical storm, and as the storm moved a little to the east of the city, the storm waters did not top the levee system. The worst was avoided, blessedly. But civic engineers, FEMA officials, and meterologists remain concerned about the prospect for a major disaster,Continue reading “Catastrophe Avoided”
NOAA Projects Katrina
Here’s the latest consensus projection from NOAA on Hurricane Katrina’s path:
Katrina Heads Towards The Gulf Coast
Hurricane Katrina is now heading towards the northern Gulf Coast, and if it hits New Orleans, we all will likely suffer the consequences. Most of the city lies below sea level, protected on three sides by twenty-five foot levees. If the heavy rains, strong winds, and storm surge of the hurricane overcomes the levees, expertsContinue reading “Katrina Heads Towards The Gulf Coast”
A Writer Foresees A Map
Some writers are prescient; they can sense a change in the wind and put down on paper something yet to happen, or yet to be documented. In an obscure play from l972, Small Craft Warnings, Tennessee Williams described a contagious wasting disease afflicting homosexuals that sounds very much like AIDS. And in l925, in anContinue reading “A Writer Foresees A Map”
Debunking Two, Two, Two Lies At Once
Environmentalists are often said to be obsessed with "gloom and doom." Nice euphony, but no, environmentalists simply want to save what they can of what’s left of the planet. They’re delighted when they are able to forever preserve some part of the world (as for example, the founder of Esprit recently worked with Chile andContinue reading “Debunking Two, Two, Two Lies At Once”
Kit Stolz 