local reporting is less racist
Music: Joy Division: Heart and Soul This morning I've been busy prepping for a guest lecture in Rod Hart's famous rhetorical criticism class. I've been tapped to say something of my current work (on haunting) as well as something on "psychoanalysis and rhetorical critcism." Here's the the reading list I put together for those of y'all who are curious what I'm up to these days. Later this afternoon I hope to start work on an essay I'm writing with Tracy Stephenson Shaeffer on the use of music in performance art.
Meanwhile, I thought I would pass along the guts of an email sent by Shaun Treat, a series of news articles from Baton Rouge's paper, The Advocate, which he says are much more accurate than cable and network reports:
Mayor Ray Nagin, issuing "a desperate SOS," vented his own frustration with state and federal officials, calling the situation a "national disgrace." In a statement to CNN, Nagin said: "This is a desperate SOS. Right now we are out of resources at the convention center and don't anticipate enough buses. We need buses. Currently the convention center is unsanitary and unsafe and we're running out of supplies... No additional troops have arrived. People have promised. I'm sick of the promises," he said. "I am pissed. I am absolutely pissed off," Nagin said. "People are frickin' dying every day. They (state and federal officials) need to get off their asses." The full story here.
The mayor [of Baton Rouge] told reporters Katrina dealt such a knockout punch to the city's tourism industry that the city's coffers will run out of cash in two weeks. U.S. Rep. David Vitter, R-La., blasted the federal government's relief efforts as "ineffective." Bush made a strong commitment to aid survivors, Vitter said. "But in terms of operations of the federal government, it's been a failure." "If we can't respond faster than this to an event we saw coming across the Gulf for days, then why do we think we're prepared to respond to a nuclear or biological attack?" asked former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Republican. New Orleans city Councilwoman Jacquelyn Clarkson said troops arrived late Thursday but that, "It's too little, too late." Racism is partly to blame for the deadly aftermath of Katrina, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said, calling Bush's response to the disaster "incompetent." The full story here.
At one point Friday, the evacuation was interrupted briefly when school buses rolled up so some 700 guests and employees from the Hyatt Hotel could move to the head of the evacuation line ˜ much to the amazement of those who had been crammed in the stinking Superdome since last Sunday. "How does this work? They (are) clean, they are dry, they get out ahead of us?" exclaimed Howard Blue, 22, who tried to get in their line. The National Guard blocked him as other guardsmen helped the well-dressed guests with their luggage. The full story here.
PMAC used as triage center. The full story here.
BR hotels evict some evacuees, cite state laws on reservations, own costs The full story here.
Police, deputies show force to quell riot rumor. The full story here.
Gossip adds to turmoil. The full story here.
Reports about firefighters being held hostage in St. Bernard Parish were just rumors, said Col. Henry Whitehorn of the Louisiana State Police. Fox News had reported that firefighters were trapped and being pinned down in the Bellsouth building across the street from the ExxonMobil refinery in Chalmette. Whitehorn said he spoke with fire chief Thomas Stone of Chalmette, who said two firefighters were not being held hostage, but got sick and were airlifted out by helicopters. The full story here.
About 32,000 customers of Entergy Corp. in the Baton Rouge area operated without electrical power for the fifth day Friday in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The full story here.
Shelters exceed capacity in area . As of Friday morning, Chad Theunissen of the American Red Cross said Red Cross shelters in the 10-parish capital area were housing 10,412 evacuees, even though their combined capacity is 9,637. "We're 800 over capacity, and the closest place I know that has a (shelter) vacancy is Shreveport," Theunissen said. The full story here.
Five days after Katrina, frustrated refugees still wait. Full story here.
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Andy King emailed me yesterday to say that, as he was helping distribute needed supplies to families, he was listening to a radio report that said there was a riot in the very place he was standing. There was, of course, no riot he said.