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Alvaro Villa’s “Five Days with Katrina”

Today at work I received a link to an astounding photo essay of the day-by-day effects of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans. It was created by Alvaro Villa, a trapped resident of the French Quarter, and includes an ongoing narrative of the situation, as it grew worse and worse.

The Charity of the Many

It has been four years since I felt moved by both the pain and the passion of a city. Then it was due to the terrorist disaster that befell my hometown, New York. This time, though, there’s the federal government to blame–for the atrocious response to the the Hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans.

NOLA sinks, Bush Floats

Being a New Yorker who was living in Gotham during 9/11, I know all too well the feelings of despair and helplessness that the hundreds of thousands of refugee New Orleanians must feel as they flee their beloved city, now in ruins. Blame President Bush.

Watch the Cindy Sheehan TV Spot

It may not air in Utah, but Cindy Sheehan’s TV commercial will certainly play on a TV within earshot of President Bush.

The Millennium Park Effect

The Project for Public Spaces assesses Chicago’s universally loved Millennium Park and labels it a failure. Judging by the heavy use the park gets from Windy City locals, you have to wonder whether the organization actually visited it in the first place.

Two Zorns Don’t Make It Right

A day after the Trib’s Eric Zorn supported President Bush’s decision not to meet with Cindy Sheehan, he’s doing some backtracking on his blog–thanks to a wave of dissenting opinions from Trib readers, including me.

The Civil Right of Eric Zorn

The Chicago Tribune’s Eric Zorn thinks President Bush doesn’t owe Cindy Sheehan a face-to-face meeting. I don’t agree.

Hoar-ticulture

The latest casualty in U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald’s long-overdue war on Chicago municipal graft, Shirley McMayon, made the classic Hogtown mistake. She assumed no one was watching, and she didn’t bother to launder the money.

Burt, Deliver Us from Tour Buses

42nd Ward Alderman Burt Natarus loves to cozy to local business interests. But when idling tour buses take over your neighborhood, you have to draw the line somewhere. Today I wrote Natarus to tell him so.

The World Thinks Chicago Is a World City, So Why Don’t Most Chicagoans Think So, Too?

New Yorkers and Chicagoans both know they have a good thing going in their respective cities. So why do Chicagoans feel like they have to justify their city all the time?