Back to New Orleans

I'm glad some journalists are still reporting hard about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Pete Souza, for example, presented a great photo essay in Sunday's Chicago Tribune showing what has happened to New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward. His images of cars washed up under houses, a smashed electric piano, and twisted street signs and telephone lines underscore how devastated much of the city remains. One of Souza's photos shows graffiti on the side of a house that simply says "Baghdad," reminding us that the Lower 9th still resembles a war zone.
These photos took about a minute to load on to my screen, but they're worth the wait.

The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer has also continued to do an outstanding job covering Katrina. One of my favorites is "Poets on Hurricane Katrina," reported by Jeffrey Brown, which shows us a weekly poetry night in the French Quarter where verse gives shape to the anger and grief unleashed by the storm.