“I find the recent public comments made by former New Orleans Recovery Chief, Dr. Ed Blakely (to CALTV, the University of California-Berkeley’s online television station) to be highly offensive, divisive, unprofessional and factually erroneous,” said Fielkow. “Contrary to Dr. Blakely’s opinions, I find New Orleanians to be among the most determined and resilient people I have ever encountered.

“Despite our personal and professional travails following the worst man-made disaster this country has ever experienced, New Orleanians to this day continue to persevere, to work hard and to undertake reforms so as to make this an even better community than it was before Katrina. It is a slap in the face to all of us who stayed and invested, as well as to the thousands of newcomers who now call New Orleans home post-Katrina, to suggest that New Orleans citizenry are lazy, unsophisticated or expect others to do the job. Contrary to Dr. Blakely’s statements, it is precisely because of the indomitable spirit and will of New Orleanians that I believe our great city has an incredibly bright future and, if we stay unified, the potential to again evolve into one of the world’s great cities,” Fielkow said.

“New Orleans, not unlike other communities throughout urban America, still faces many challenges, including the ability to bring people together along racial and cultural lines. New Orleanians have the opportunity, especially in a post-Katrina environment, to successfully tackle this challenge through improvements such as ensuring equity in public education, economic development and public/environmental safety. Strides are being made and I wholeheartedly believe our collective community can, and will, be successful.”

The Stop Katrina Shorthand campaign is urging everyone in metro New Orleans to refrain from labeling the devastating flooding on August 2005 as caused by “Katrina.”

Katrina Shorthand promotes misunderstanding and leads American citizens to believe the New Orleans region was simply overwhelmed by a natural disaster, when in fact, the flooding was primarily a man-made event.

As a springboard for the new campaign, Levees.org is spotlighting a resolution unanimously passed by the New Orleans City Council urging all local media to refrain from using Katrina Shorthand.

The resolution, written by Levees.org, was sponsored by President Arnie Fielkow and co-sponsored by Councilwoman Cynthia Willard-Lewis District E.

Click the link below for a short video about the new campaign.

When you return to the Oval Office, please sign an executive order authorizing an independent review of the flood protection failures, and the organizational component as well, during Hurricane Katrina. The language is co-written by Senator David Vitter R-LA and Senator Mary Landrieu D-LA. And it’s shovel ready.

And please, when you talk about New Orleans, please refrain from using Katrina Shorthand. New Orleans and St. Bernard were flooded primarily by civil engineering mistakes made by our country’s Army Corps of Engineers, not a natural disaster.

Click below for nationally televised interview on MSNBC.

Rosenthal was responding to the question, “What would you say if you had 60 seconds with the President?”

Click the link below to see the video.

Sabrina Wilson and camera crew depart after recording interview with Levees.org's founder - Oct. 12, 2009.

See Levees.org founder Sandy Rosenthal tonight on Fox 8 News discussing President Obama’s upcoming visit and lingering concerns about the flood protection in metro New Orleans.

5pm October 12, 2009

UPDATE: You can view the news story here.

Shirley Laska at Book Signing for Catastrophe in the Making. Photo by Hubie Vigreux 9-22-09

Catastrophe in the Making describes how the MRGO (Mississippi River Gulf Outlet) put New Orleans and nearby St. Bernard Parish in harm’s way by allowing salt water intrusion that killed protective cypress forests and buffering wetlands.

The book also explains how similar, equally harmful projects are going on in many places including the California Delta and metro St. Louis.

UPDATE: YouTube says this video has 13 honors including #12 most viewed today! (1pm CST October 8, 2009). That means this video is on the HOMEPAGE of YouTube where it can get the best exposure! You did it!

Click below for 2-minute video on Catastrophe in the Making: The Engineering of Katrina and the Disasters of Tomorrow.

H.J. Bosworth Jr. takes a question at a press conference. Photo by Stanford Rosenthal 8-08

That’s 870 AM and 105.3 FM.

According the station’s producer, Garland wants to discuss this: The Army Corp already said the pumps on the 17th Street Canal are temporary & risky, so why did they actively work to kill the “Pump to the River” flood protection plan?

You can also listen online.

Shirley Laska at book signing for Catastrophe in the Making; photo by Hubie Vigreux 9-22-09

This figure is much higher than the percentage reported last year (43%) in a June 2008 briefing to Congress.

Manmade levees, like navigational channels, highways and dams are alterations to a region’s hydrological character and landscape, and if done irresponsibly can be devastating. This may be what happened in north Georgia.

Jacqui Jeras, CNN meteorologist, said the urbanization of Atlanta and its suburban sprawl also contributed to the floods. “There used to be a lot more earth and soil to help absorb this stuff,” she said. “But the rain really fell on the concrete jungle.”

Sociologist Shirley Laska and author of just released Catastrophe in the Making, told Levees.org that residential development is at the core of the methods that many communities use to grow their tax base.

It is a very powerful driver and participants are often regional, even national interests in conjunction with local, “growth machine” interests. The predictions of flooding are usually conservative and not stable: development adds to more flooding because wetlands are targeted (thus losing the absorption quality) and surfaces are covered by “big boxes,” streets, homes etc. so the flooding gets worse.

This new data reaffirms the importance of understanding that levee failure and flooding is not a strictly New Orleans nor a coastal problem. Levee failure and flooding can happen in every continental US state.

Senator Mary Landrieu and Chief of Staff Mary Campbell in Holland May 27, 2009. Photo by mil escort Shawn Baldy

The Pentagon concluded that no action is necessary after Senator Landrieu called for an investigation into credible claims the Army Corps waged a strategic deception campaign to protect its image after its levees failed during Hurricane Katrina.

Senator Landrieu requested the investigation after Jon Donley, the founder and former editor in chief of NOLA.com, the online version of the New Orleans Times Picayune issued a 3-page sworn affidavit detailing how the Army Corps had waged a disinformation campaign after Katrina to obscure the facts of the flooding and rewrite history.

The Pentagon apparently limited the scope of the investigation strictly to two individuals who left ugly comments on Levees.org’s NOLA.com blog and therefore did not address the complaints raised by Donley.

The Pentagon has unfortunately demonstrated what happens when an investigation of wrong doing is a self-study. The letter details only what was done relating to two individuals which represents a tiny fraction of the total activity. The only thing noteworthy about comments left on Levees.org’s blog is that was how Levees.org discovered the activity and opened Pandora’s box.

Bottom line: The Pentagon’s response is merely cosmetic and proves Levees.org was correct in feeling the DOD was not the best choice for an investigation. We anticipate that Senator Landrieu will agree and will call on the Justice Department for a full and proper investigation.

Link to DOD Asst IG John Crane’s letter to Senator Landrieu.

Link to Senator Landrieu’s letter to the DOD

Link to Jon Donley’s sworn affidavit