dashingdeviant

[	Tags	|	hurricane katrina, new orleans	]
[	Current Location	|	apartment in Northampton	]
[	mood	|	melancholy	]
[	music	|	Prince - Temptation	]

As headlines focus on conventions and running mates, the third anniversary of Katrina offers an opportunity to examine the results of disastrous federal, state and local policy on the people of New Orleans. Several organizations have released powerful reports in the past week, examining the current state of the city; while grassroots activists have plans to broadcast their message from the streets. For those who have heard only uplifting stories about the city's recovery, the facts on the ground offer an urgent reminder of the ongoing disaster.

According to a study by PolicyLink, 81 percent of those who received the Federally-funded, State-administered Road Home grants had insufficient resources to cover their damages. The average Road Home applicant fell about $35,000 short of the money they need to rebuild their home, and African-American households on average had an almost 35% higher shortfall than white households.

More than one in three residential addresses – over 70,000 - remain vacant or unoccupied, according to a report by the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center. While workers with Brad Pitt's Make It Right project are working on overdrive to finish the first of their scores of planned houses in the notoriously devastated Lower Ninth Ward, the neighborhood overall ranks far behind other neighborhoods in recovery, with only 11 percent of its pre-Katrina number of households. The same report notes that since the devastation of the city, rents have raised by 46% citywide (much more in some neighborhoods), while many city services remain very limited – for example, only 21% of public transit buses are running.

Divided City

Its not just radicals that speak of race and class divisions in New Orleans. A poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 70% of residents feel we're divided by class and/or race. The Kaiser survey also found unity among New Orleanians: we're united in feeling forgotten by the rest of the US. Eight out of 10 said the federal government has not provided sufficient support. Nearly two-thirds think that the US public has largely forgotten about the city.

troubleinchina

[	Tags	|	alexa has my vote, linkspam, people on my flist are smrt, secretly about someone else, temporary insanity	]
[	mood	|	exanimate	]

Yeah, the trouble is, although these characters were marginally better than the original Damsels in Distress, they still ended up having to be saved in the final act by the male hero. There would usually be a scene (or three) where the “Strong Female Character” would be trapped by the villain and put into sexy clothing, I guess as a punishment of some sort. And even when she was being strong, she was always doing it in the sexiest way possible. She’d never, say, get a black eye or a broken nose in a fight. Her ability to fix cars (a powerful, masculine trait) would basically allow her to get sexy grease all over her slippery body. Her ability to shoot a gun was so the film’s advertisers could put her on a poster wearing a skimpy outfit with a big gun between her legs. All in all, the “strength” of her character was just to make her a better prize for the hero at the end - and for the horny male audience throughout.

The police started by going to the school and asking to interview students who could be the girl they’re looking for, and Vice Principal Price had helpfully compiled a list of girls he thought were most likely. Helen quite rightly refused to make any copies for the investigation or give it back– Price claims he’s qualified to identify “at risk” students, but Helen says they just don’t fit his ideal of the perfect young lady and that the only reason her own daughter isn’t on the list is because Will’s the chief of police. And why aren’t they talking to any boys? They eventually decide to have a small group of people listen to the 911 tape to see if anyone recognizes the voice. Showing some shocking naivety Will says later in private that the list would never have been made public, but as Helen points out “The CIA couldn’t keep that list from getting out in a high school”.

furikku

gentlespirit

ginny_t

hysteriachan