Outwester.com

Katrina: Two Years After, New Orleans reflects

It hasn't entered the lexicon of infamy quite like 9/11 (perhaps since events spanned far more than one day), but today, Aug 29, marks the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina hitting the Gulf Coast.

Unlike Manhattan, where herculean efforts got the disaster zone cleared faster than expected, the recovery of New Orleans and surrounding Louisiana and Mississippi has progressed far more slowly.

Reasons abound: the sheer size of the disaster; politics of ineptitude at nearly all levels of government; enormous costs and uncertainty surrounding the feasibility of rebuilding; fearsome crime.

Whether the federal response has been hindered by some Rovian scheme to deny a blue state, or the far less machiavellian reality that US resources have been stupidly bogged down in Iraq (where was the Louisiana National Guard two years back?), it remains that the efforts to restore the region were punted by the Bush administration, and have yet to be run back.

With a new election pending, politicos will leverage Katrina. They'll pledge not to forget it, develop grand plans, even in the case of John Edwards stoop to kicking off his campaign in the Lower Ninth Ward.

Regardless, what you'll find in New Orleans if you visit yourself - and please, do - is a populace accepting the fact that they can't rely on their government, that if they wish to rebuild they need to do it themselves. They're hardened, assuredly, at times depressive and mad. But they are New Orleaneans, still, and by nature lovers of life, quick to shake off the demons with a concoction of regal cuisine, pure hospitality and the most ass-shakingest music scene anywhere in America.

Do yourself and them a favor, and get back on down to New Orleans, hear?

Big Plans for Boosting Funds to US National Parks

More than 200 US National Parks stand to gain from a much-needed injection of cash for key development and infrastructure projects, courtesy of the legacy-conscious Bush adminstration.

California Redwoods, the USS Arizona, Mesa Verda cliff dwellings and the New Orleans jazz legacy are among potential recipients of the "Centennial Challenge" proposal.

Underfunded for years, the parks are in line for upwards of $150 million in federal funds, in anticipation of the national park system's centennial, in 2016.  Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne has been urging advance planning for the 100th anniversary, and developing public/private funding plans.

In this USA Today article, Kempthorne announced some proposed park initiatives, including Everglades habitat restoration in Florida and the building of a memorial to Flight 93 in Pennsylvania, and the amount of funding lined up: $215 million in private donations, to be coupled with proposed federal funds.

Before you book centennial campsites, know that federal funding still needs to work its way through Congressional approval. Watch this space.

Nicaragua Politics in Electoral Play

Nicaragua's presidential election approaches, yet stays low on the radar. Although voters cast ballots on Nov. 5, just six weeks away, none of the five candidates for president has emerged.

  Nicaragua 
  Originally uploaded by tigerebel3.

Given that one, Daniel Ortega, led the Sandinistas during the US-Soviet proxy wars of 1980s Central America, you'd expect some murmurs from Washington, but little's been said. Bit preoccupied?

One scenario suggests an Ortega victory would mean strengthened ties between Nicaragua and Hugo Chavez-led Venezuela, with shared economic and energy deals and anti-neoliberalism stances. The election was thrown open by the sudden death of candidate Herty Lewites, in July.

Sharp article by Eric Saba in Monday's San Francisco Chronicle.