who is killing new orleans?

A new article by Mike Davis in The Nation goes into the politics of post-Katrina New Orleans. A good read...

link: "Who is Killing New Orleans" by Mike Davis (The Nation, April 10 2006)

after the levees

Sorry for the extended hiatus... things have been a bit hectic here on the home front. Hope to be back soon with some longer thoughts (on neo-marxism, computer-aided design, and last month's Philip Johnson symposium at Yale, among other things) - but in the meantime, here's something I came across today:

Josh Marshall's Talking Points Memo has set up a new blog in their "cafe" that is focusing on post-Katrina issues. Promises to be interesting -- is it a sign of brewing discontent on the part of progressives? Maybe we can hope for a unified alternative to the right-wing establishment's plans for the Gulf coast?

link: After the Levees

lower manhattan

CHECK OUT Miss Representation's site for a straight-up recap of last week's meeting of the New York New Visions committee at the Center for Architecture. M.R. pretty much sums up the sorry state of affairs downtown, accurately comparing the LMDC / Port Authority spin to the kind of manipulative and mystifying PR perfected by Karl Rove. Seems like the chances are getting slimmer for any significant progress -- architectural, political, whatever -- to be made in Lower Manhattan. But nevertheless: as the chances get slimmer, the stakes get higher, and it becomes that much more important for those of us who care to propose alternatives.

link: "Nothing to see here, folks" from Miss Representation