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Before Hurricane Katrina struck in late August of 2005, the Gulf Coast states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama had among the highest levels of race, class, and gender inequality and the worst quality-of-life indicators in the nation for their poor, people of color, and women. The extreme inequality in these states reflects a white southern legacy of a government/elite/corporate alliance that promoted slavery and the plantation system; post-slavery agricultural peonage; the convict lease system; concentrated agribusiness; and nonunion, low-wage labor.1
Strengthened during the political realignment of the 1980s, this alliance, which historically defined the white southern governing philosophy, now threatens to dominate the nation as a whole. Often labeled "neoliberal," and yet fundamentally conservative (or reactionary), this governing philosophy calls for cutting social spending deeply, including spending on welfare programs and benefits, and selling off government assets and functions to private corporations, while reducing or eliminating regulations on profit accumulation.2
One outcome of the widespread application of this governing model has been rising inequality across the nation, but especially in the historically poor and racially divided South. Despite hopes that the influx of Hurricane Katrina recovery money into the Gulf Coast states would improve the status of the disadvantaged and ameliorate inequalities, the emerging consensus is that the storm and the response to it simply exacerbated these preexisting social ills.3
|Map showing route from New Orleans, Louisiana to Columbia and West Columbia, South Carolina, 2012.
This essay presents findings from a study of Katrina evacuees' reception in Columbia and West Columbia, South Carolina. Interviews with residents, volunteers, service providers, and evacuees reveal how people coming to and living in these two southern locales—seven hundred miles away from New Orleans—responded to and made sense of the massive disaster of Hurricane Katrina and the resettlement it precipitated. When Katrina's evacuees came to South Carolina, they entered a state that had the same high levels of poverty and poor quality-of-life indicators as New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. But in part because South Carolina had more systematically and comprehensively embraced neoliberal governing ideas than had even other southern states, evacuees to South Carolina negotiated post-disaster displacement in a place where affordable housing, public transportation, and employment options are among the least available in the nation and where social welfare policies and benefits are among the nation's most restrictive, punitive, and least generous. The story of the evacuees' reception in South Carolina highlights the ways in which political, economic, and social conditions in cities and towns across the US affected their ability to respond to Katrina and the ways that the crisis itself magnified the long-term consequences of government disinvestment in such critical needs as infrastructure, social programs, and services.
I begin with a brief overview of the socioeconomic-political context of the Midlands South Carolina region, including Columbia and West Columbia, and a description of the initial reception of Katrina evacuees in September 2005. Then, after describing data collection, I analyze the reception and resettlement processes associated with housing, transportation, and social welfare benefits and the impact of these processes on the evacuees. Finally, I present evidence that the evacuees' reception in the Midlands was also shaped by, and locally understood in relation to, the region's history of race relations and its experience with other recent migrants: Latinos, Eastern Europeans, and Somali Bantu refugees.
Columbia and West Columbia, South Carolina
|Map showing the Midlands of South Carolina, 2012. Columbia, the state capital, and West Columbia are in the Midlands region of the state.
The South Carolina Midlands is situated in the center of the state, less than two hours from the Upstate area of Greenville and the growing suburbs of Charlotte, North Carolina, and the Low Country, including Charleston. Columbia, the capital of South Carolina, lies in the Midlands and is the largest city in the state, with a population of approximately 123,000 within city limits and of over 700,000 for the Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). Major employers include government, healthcare, the University of South Carolina, and the largest US Army training base in the nation, Fort Jackson.
West Columbia, a largely working-class town of thirteen thousand in adjacent Lexington County, is separated from Columbia by the Congaree River. In the early nineteenth century, West Columbia was established as a mill town that housed workers who ferried across the river to work in Columbia's textile mills, until the first bridge was built in 1827. A century of textile production in Columbia ended in 1996 with the closing of the Olympia and Granby Mills and their later transformation into apartment complexes, grocery stores, museums, and art galleries. West Columbia has become home to Columbia's growing workforce, University of South Carolina students, and young professionals and their families because it has more affordable housing than Columbia. West Columbia and its neighboring communities of Cayce and Springdale (the West Metro Area) also host a major hospital, the regional airport, and a variety of storage and distribution facilities and employers, including United Parcel Service.
|Map of Columbia, West Columbia, Cayce, and Springdale, South Carolina, 2012. ©OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA.
Table 1 presents some demographic characteristics of Columbia, West Columbia, and, where comparable data are available, New Orleans and the United States. Data on poverty and median household income for 2000 demonstrate some basic similarities among the three Southern cities. All have poverty populations ranging from 4.4 (West Columbia) to 11.3 (New Orleans) percentage points above the national median and household incomes ranging from $10,853 (Columbia) to $14,861 (New Orleans) below the national median for all groups—Blacks, Whites, and Hispanics. Hispanics in West Columbia appear to have both higher numbers in poverty and higher household incomes than Hispanics or Blacks in Columbia or New Orleans, figures that likely reflect the larger number of earners in a single household in West Columbia.
Table 1 also presents population change data based on local government surveys conducted in 2006.4 The data illustrate the more rapid growth of West Columbia, increasing by 8.5 percent since 1990 while Columbia increased by only 5.5 percent. More important, in the last two decades, the population of West Columbia, as in much of the South, has undergone major transitions in race, ethnicity, and class composition—a significant increase in African Americans and in documented and undocumented Hispanics.5 By 2004, South Carolina's Hispanic population had the fourth fastest rate of increase in the country, and since 1990, Lexington County (including West Columbia) has consistently been among the ten South Carolina counties with the highest Hispanic population.6
|Table 1. Demographic Characteristics of the United States, New Orleans, West Columbia, and Columbia
|United States
|New Orleans
|West Columbia
|% Individuals Below Poverty, 2000
|Median Household Income, 2000
|Total Population *
|% Change, 1990–2006
|Hispanic Population
|% of Total Population, 1990
|% of Total Population, 2006
|% Change, 1990–2006
|Black Population
|% of Total Population, 1990
|% of Total Population, 2006
|% Change, 1990–2006
|White Population
|% of Total Population, 1990
|% of Total Population, 2006
|% Change, 1990–2006
|* Sources: US Census Bureau, "Demographic Profile Highlights," American FactFinder (Washington, DC, 2000), accessed January 16, 2011, http://factfinder.census.gov/legacy/aff_sunset.html. Data for United States; Columbia, SC; West Columbia, SC; and New Orleans, LA. Since census data are not available for West Columbia beyond 2000, 2006 population data for Columbia and West Columbia are from Central Midlands Council of Governments, Complete Demographic Summary Report (2007), accessed January 16, 2011, http://centralmidlands.org/pdf/west_columbia.pdf and http://centralmidlands.org/pdf/columbia.pdf.
From 1990 to 2006, the Hispanic population in West Columbia grew by over one thousand percent, while the Hispanic population of Columbia, just across the river, grew by only ninety-four percent.7 Likewise, West Columbia's African American population grew by 24.8 percent, while Columbia's declined by one percent. As the presence of people of color increased in West Columbia, the white population declined by 9.5 percent, although it still constituted three-fourths of the total. Whites maintain strong political dominance, holding seven of the eight city council seats, as well as the mayoral and city-administrator positions.
The Reception of Katrina Evacuees
|Michael Rieger/FEMA, Hurricane Katrina evacuees board an aircraft for evacuation at New Orleans airport where FEMA had set up operations, Louisiana, September 2, 2005.
In the weeks after Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, the South Carolina Midlands became an emergency relief center for relocation efforts. Columbia received over four thousand families, some ten to fifteen thousand people. Arriving by airplanes some ten days after the hurricane, the 2,053 evacuees to Columbia were among the last to leave New Orleans. Most had spent days in shelters or on highway overpasses before the evacuation, had left their hometown involuntarily, and had no earlier connection to South Carolina.8 For the first six months, the displaced were largely accommodated in hotels, but by the end of February 2006, all who remained had moved into rental houses and apartments or to Section 8 housing. Eighteen months after their arrival, eight hundred families in the Midlands area were still receiving FEMA assistance. West Columbia was the receiving site for many of the displaced both during their hotel stays and as they moved to more permanent housing arrangements.
Political leaders in South Carolina made the initial decision to receive evacuees, including the 2,053 airlifted out of the New Orleans area. Congressman James Clyburn (D-SC), the ranking African American and then the majority whip in the US House of Representatives, and Bob Coble, Columbia's mayor at the time, organized the local response, calling on about forty leaders from city government, social services, education, labor, the nonprofit sector, business, law, healthcare, and religion to meet and coordinate activities. The coalition of Midlands leaders and volunteers that emerged to manage the reception named itself South Carolina Cares. Dubbing the evacuees "South Carolina's guests," the coalition developed a model with three core elements:
- creating a one-stop point of entry/reception center-designed to address all of the "guests"' immediate needs, including making contact with family members, FEMA registration, healthcare, schools for the children, clothes, food, and legal advice and assistance
- placing evacuees in hotels and apartments paid for with private funds raised by South Carolina Cares, not in shelters
- matching hotels and individual evacuees with volunteer "hosts" to assist in the relocation.
|Andrea Booher, Evacuee Umberto Romero gathers food and necessities at the distribution center at the Chalmette Recovery Center set up following Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, Louisiana, October 22, 2005.
When Gulf Coast residents began arriving, especially the airlifted group, they were disoriented and upset, having not been told where they were being taken. Many were sick and had gone days without access to food, clean water, and regular medications for chronic conditions. All were under intense psychological strain. South Carolina Cares arranged for food to be donated and delivered to the hotels and provided shuttle buses to and from the center. The reception center operated for two months, and local agencies ran two centers for four more months. Among the people we interviewed who had worked in or had been received by South Carolina Cares, the overwhelming consensus was that the center and the initial reception were a success. People's immediate needs were met, and the evacuees were treated with dignity and respect. Research conducted during the early reception period suggested that the evacuees were largely satisfied with the social climate in the hotels and surrounding neighborhoods and with their "host" relationship, and that each of these factors had positive effects on mental health (e.g., post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety).9
Studying Katrina's Displaced in South Carolina
By 2007-2008, I had been involved for five years with colleagues in Women's and Gender Studies at the University of South Carolina in a program of community-based participatory action research in West Columbia. Because many of Katrina's displaced had been "temporarily" housed in West Columbia in 2005 and still resided there, and because the initial relocation and reception process locally had been largely deemed a success, I initiated a study of the local context of reception. How did West Columbia residents receive the displaced? And conversely, how did Katrina's evacuees experience Columbia and West Columbia?
|Displaced project researchers visiting a displaced University of New Orleans scholar's FEMA trailer, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2005. Lynn Weber is furthest to the left.
Three major sources of in-depth interviews inform this project: interviews with forty-eight black, white, and Hispanic English-speaking and twenty-one Spanish-speaking community leaders and residents of West Columbia; twenty-three people who led and worked in the Midlands relocation efforts; and twelve evacuees residing in West Columbia. Interviews lasted between forty-five minutes and two hours and were conducted between May 2007 and September 2008.10
Katrina's displaced came to understand that the conditions of life and the resources available to them in Columbia and West Columbia were tied to an inhospitable history of state governance. Although Columbia is a Democratic stronghold, West Columbia is in one of the most solidly Republican counties in the state. Further, Republicans have dominated South Carolina politics since the 1960s. The state is one of the most conservative in the union. The governor's office and both branches of the legislature are controlled by conservative Republicans—a fact that has made the state a testing ground for national Republican-Party policies designed to lead the nation toward extreme conceptions of free market capitalism and social conservatism.11
In a state that in February 2009 had the nation's highest unemployment rate, Governor Mark Sanford, then head of the Republican Governor's Association, led the charge of southern governors to oppose President Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, better known as the stimulus bill. Twice he refused the portion of the stimulus over which he had authority, especially objecting to increases in unemployment and Medicaid benefits that the state might have to continue two years later without federal aid.12 This stance reflected a long history in South Carolina of enacting unusually punitive social welfare policies and diminishing social spending to support the poor and working classes, including investments in affordable housing and public transportation. Housing subsidies, food stamps, child welfare benefits—all paid less and/or had stricter eligibility requirements than in New Orleans. Public transportation, at least as necessary in South Carolina, was less available than it had been in New Orleans.
|Lynn Weber, Hurricane Katrina damage (above) and Signs about housing demolition (below), Lower Ninth Ward, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2005.
Well before Katrina and before the US housing/mortgage crisis officially began in 2007, local, regional, and national housing and economic policies had contributed to a serious shortage of affordable housing along the Gulf Coast and in the evacuee receiving cities across the nation.13 For middle class home owners displaced to South Carolina, finding temporary housing, dealing with insurance companies and the government, and deciding on their long-term housing plans were stressors that, though extreme and prolonged, were nonetheless surmountable for most. But the housing crisis was doubly intensified for low-income New Orleanians, especially the elderly and people with disabilities who had rented or lived in subsidized housing.
New Orleans and the entire Gulf Coast placed the lowest priority on rebuilding rental housing units, fifty-two thousand of which were destroyed by the storm. By 2010, five years after Katrina, all four of the city's major public housing complexes, formerly home to five thousand residents, had been destroyed or slated for destruction. Years after Katrina, tens of thousands of low-income displaced people still cannot return to New Orleans because there is no place to return to. Several of our respondents expressed sentiments similar to a thirty-five-year-old African American evacuee who had found part-time employment in Columbia. When asked in April 2008 if he had been back to New Orleans, he said, "I'm just waiting to see what the outcome's going to be. I wanna see how they rebuild New Orleans as far as the people. That's what I wanna see. Yeah, I'm just waiting for the rebuilding of New Orleans."
On the other hand, Columbia and West Columbia had an affordable housing crisis of their own that had been exacerbated by a 10 percent cut in Section 8 housing vouchers (339 vouchers) between 2004 and 2006, a cut attributed to funding formula flaws.14 Further, in 2004, the West Columbia City Council blocked a developer's proposal to build a low-income apartment complex in the city. The developer and the National Association of Home Builders sued the city in 2005 on the grounds that the decision affected minorities unfairly. The city paid $600,000 in 2008 to the developer to settle the suit—without a requirement that the complex be built.15
A manager for the local housing authority described not only the situation when the displaced arrived but also its deterioration since:
South Carolina Emergency Management thought we could just go and take people in, and I said, "You've got to be kidding me." I said, "You don't understand." At that time, we had about seventeen hundred units of housing. Maybe about 1,650 is what we had gotten down to, but we were seven hundred units down [from demolition/rebuilding projects in process]. We had about five thousand on our waiting list at that time [2005], and my waiting list right now, as of January 14, 2008, just hit ten thousand. So I've got about five thousand units of housing that I can either do through the voucher or the public housing program, but a waiting list of ten thousand. So it's the highest in the thirty years I've been here. It's gonna be three to four years if you apply today.
|Columbia Housing Authority, Cayce public housing, Cayce, South Carolina, 2012.
Evacuees living in public housing in New Orleans were eligible for public housing in South Carolina. But eligibility and availability are two different things. And many people cannot afford housing officially designated as "affordable." In 2006 the fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment in South Carolina was $615 per month. The wage necessary to afford this two-bedroom apartment was estimated to be $11.82 per hour for a person working a forty-hour week.16 Yet with the exception of registered nurse, the eight highest-growth jobs in South Carolina that year were unlikely to provide full-time, year-round employment. And five of those eight high-growth jobs—food prep and serving workers, waiters and waitresses, janitors and cleaners, retail salespeople, office clerks—provided wages below $11.82 per hour.17
Beginning in fall 2005, FEMA periodically issued lists of families still eligible for housing assistance. Each time the lists came out, some families were left off even though local caseworkers and the displaced themselves knew they were still eligible. In September 2007, two years after their displacement, eighty families in the area still received housing subsidies. After having demonstrated a continued need for housing assistance and having re-qualified several times, these remaining families were told that they were going to be "weaned" from subsidies over the next eighteen months. Beginning in March 2008, the families were asked to pay $50 toward the monthly rent and to increase that amount by $50 per month up to $250 or one-third of their gross monthly income. By April 2008, the rolls had been reduced from eighty to forty families. While most were still in apartments, some found individual homes to rent, one a trailer, and one a Habitat for Humanity home. Ten moved to HUD foreclosure homes, living rent-free but with the possibility of removal at any time without notice. And some, facing eviction, returned to New Orleans to uncertain employment and housing options.
All of the evacuees we interviewed lived in Section 8 apartment complexes in West Columbia. And all but one were concerned about their long-term ability to afford to stay in the apartment, especially as their contribution to the rent was to increase. People with disabilities and on fixed incomes lamented that they paid higher rents in Columbia than in New Orleans. According to one white woman, even though she and her husband, both living with disabilities, liked the apartment in West Columbia, the rent was $650 a month—more than double what they had paid in New Orleans. As long as the FEMA or the Katrina Disaster Housing Assistance Program (KDHAP) emergency housing programs were paying the rent, she was satisfied. But at the time of her December 2007 interview, the "weaning" plan had begun. Several months later she and her husband had been evicted and had returned to New Orleans after housing assistance ran out.
In March 2008, three months after an initial interview, one of our research team members talked with another respondent at the homeless shelter in Columbia. A middle-aged white man who had had great difficulty finding employment, he was also evicted when full housing assistance ran out. In New Orleans, he had worked in a laundry for a homeless shelter. He described his plight and what he saw on the horizon for the nation:
I worked there in the daytime. I'd get up at 5:00, going to work 5:30, get done at 4:00. I would do the laundry for the homeless. I never thought of me being homeless, never, and yet I lost my house because the insurance company wouldn't cover it. . . . [I've] never been homeless, and it shocked me. I always had a good job. I had three jobs and that's all gone. It wiped it all out. I believe with all this banking crap that happened, there's gonna be a lot of people out of work, a lot of people, and where are they gonna put 'em?
Critically needed in West Columbia, public transportation is abysmally inadequate. A United Way needs- assessment in 2004 cited transportation as the most significant barrier to health and human services in the Midlands.18 In 2002, the Central Midlands Regional Transit Authority (CMRTA) was created as a public entity to manage and operate bus and paratransit services. At the time, projections were that it would not be fiscally solvent after 2009 without significant infusions of funds from local governments of Richland County, including Columbia, and the West Metro Area.19
In 2006, facing drastic cuts, the CMRTA unsuccessfully petitioned city and county governments in Columbia, Richland County, and the West Metro Area for a dedicated source of funding from each municipality. By 2008, reduction in bus routes brought low ridership, since the few routes remaining were not workable for those who most needed them. West Columbia's mayor and city council cited the low ridership as evidence that the service was "not needed" and as justification for continuing to opt out of CMRTA support.20
For Katrina's displaced, transportation posed major problems. A middle-aged woman with disabilities described her lack of familiarity with West Columbia and the transportation obstacles confronting her:
Oh, it changed a lot 'cause when I was in New Orleans, I could get out. I know New Orleans like I know the back of my hand. Here I don't unless I got a way to get around, and that I don't have. Unless I pay five dollars for a cab—five dollars I don't have all the time. See, some people can get a ride for nothing. I can't unless I come up with some money . . . and I can't afford it.
Others echoed her frustration: "We don't have no transportation." "I travel much further to go to work." "Here it's too hard to find a job 'cause the stores and everything are two miles away." " . . . everything is spread out, and the bus service sucks."
|Central Midlands Regional Transit A Bus Routes, Columbia, South Carolina, and surrounding areas. West Columbia, South Carolina, the area to the west of the Columbia River, is underserved by the metropolitan region's public transit system.
|New Orleans Regional Transit Authority system map, New Orleans, Louisiana, and surrounding areas. In contrast to the New Orleans public transit system, the Columbia, South Carolina system "was an absolute nightmare" for many Hurricane Katrina evacuees.
Service providers in the Midlands heard that story many times. One described the biggest challenge facing the displaced as "public transportation . . . everything is so spread out. We're not a major city. We're a large town in a rural state. And we don't have—get on the bus for seventy-five cents and go everywhere you need to go." A housing authority worker said:
That was the biggest complaint that we had from the clients in that they were so used to the New Orleans transportation system that coming here was an absolute nightmare. They couldn't believe that there were so many areas that they had no transportation to get to. You'd go and find a place to live, but . . . you'd be stranded out there.
We had one client one night who was staying in a hotel out by the airport [West Metro Area]. He was a computer programmer. He got a job with Blue Cross/Blue Shield. . . . Of course, that's twenty-five miles or twenty miles or whatever, which required two different bus transfers. . . . So evidently, he got off on Two Notch Road at the wrong bus stop and had no idea where he was—had nobody he knew he could even call. . . . It was like in October or November, and it was cold, and a policeman finally stopped and said, "Where are you?" He had that nervous breakdown, all of a sudden it just came crashing on him.
The transportation problems for evacuees were so extreme that one who had a car and a job, began fighting local authorities to increase bus service to the West Metro:
I'm trying to help to fight for the bus line to get back here. . . . There is no buses back here at all for these poor people. And how do you take a bus off a line that goes to a hospital? So they got two buses come back here twice a day, early in the morning and then from four to seven at night. So that's what? That's two trips per bus.
A self-described "old rebel" who began his commitment to community activism in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, this evacuee earned the title of "Mayor" when he and others lived for months in hotels, because of the way that he advocated for and with them. He became particularly adamant about access for people with disabilities, some of whom miss work because there are too many wheelchair riders for the spaces on the bus and the routes run too infrequently.
The lack of public transportation drastically changed the lives of the chronically disabled who require regular medical visits. One evacuee needed dialysis three times a week in a place that could not be reached by bus from his home, requiring a fifty-dollar cab ride. Missing treatments because of the lack of transportation, he was forced to visit the emergency room several times. An elderly African American couple, both living with disabilities, described becoming very isolated and depressed. "Getting around," they said, was the hardest thing about Columbia. We "can't get around." They described typical days as sitting in the apartment. They could not afford to return to New Orleans and wondered what would happen when the rent subsidies ran out.
The lack of public transportation also made finding employment especially difficult for low-income displaced. Single mothers seeking work lacked affordable, accessible childcare. In New Orleans, those who lived in particular neighborhoods for years had many more options. One caseworker described a client's difficulties that she said were characteristic of several others:
This woman lives in an apartment complex, and behind her complex, she can literally walk her kids to daycare. She works at a hotel that is within walking distance. She has a neighbor who helps her watch her kids when she has to work late. But her income doesn't cover living expenses for herself and her four-year-old daughter. She already works full-time and overtime when she can. If the woman moves closer to less expensive child care, transportation to her job becomes an issue. No aid is available from any source to address clients' needs for transportation to employment.
Social Welfare and the Safety Net
Since all Deep South states share high poverty rates, low socioeconomic status, and poor health, evacuees who were welfare recipients in New Orleans expected to receive similar benefits when they applied in South Carolina. What they soon realized, however, was that South Carolina—in part because of its extremely conservative, neoliberal economic and social policies—is much more restrictive than New Orleans. A recent study of public assistance in South Carolina summarized the state's harsh position on welfare:
South Carolina's Family Independence Program [FIP, its TANF program] is one of the strictest, least generous, and most work-oriented welfare programs in the country. While most states have adopted the federal five-year time limit on assistance, South Carolina imposes time limits of 24 months of participation in a ten-year period and five years in a lifetime. . . . After the fourth month of employment, only the first $100 in monthly earnings is disregarded; beyond that, benefits are reduced by 32.4 cents for each additional dollar. The meager benefits levels, low disregard, and high reduction rate mean that families lose their eligibility for cash assistance after earning just a small amount of money.21
In 2005, the maximum monthly benefit for a family of three with no other income was $241 per month. FIP benefits in South Carolina are so low that a family of three with full benefits and no other income qualifies for the maximum food stamp allotment—$349.22 In 2003, a family of three receiving only FIP and food stamps was at 27.8 percent of the federal poverty level. No child support is provided for FIP recipients, and benefits are disallowed for children conceived while a parent receives FIP. South Carolina ranks fiftieth in per capita child welfare expenditures per month and forty-sixth in overall child welfare.23
As a result of the confluence of limited funding, strict qualification criteria, and a high poverty population, there were already long waiting lists to obtain subsidized housing and welfare benefits in South Carolina. "The Mayor," active in advocating for mass transit, recounted problems with people who resented the Katrina evacuees' preferential treatment in welfare services—even if the services were for only a short time:
A lot of people here was upset with us because they felt that we were getting treated, getting treatments that they should've gotten. . . . like far as for housing and stuff like this. Far as for food stamps, some of these people had been on the list for months and months and months and years and years.
Having to re-qualify without documentation and personal records and doing so in a state that provided less support meant that many evacuees on public assistance had much more difficult experiences than in New Orleans. "I'm having problems about my food stamps," said one disabled woman, as she compared her experiences:
And then sometimes I have it hard paying my utilities because I have so many bills to pay. This month paying all my bills doing everything, I had seventy dollars left to go a whole month on. I cannot go on just seventy dollars. I need help with that. I've called these organizations, a lot of them say we don't have the funds for this, we don't have the funds for that, but I'm trying to do the best I can, you know. So I'm trying to get somebody to help me with my utility bill.
. . . Back in New Orleans I was getting the same thing on SSI [Supplemental Security Income] that I'm getting now, but I was getting more food stamps, see, and I'm not getting it here . . . I feel if we're disabled, why don't you pay our utility bills for us because you know we can't do it out of that small little check and try to pay rent too. We can't do it.
Two case managers expressed shock at how much assistance some evacuees had received in New Orleans. Their comments illustrate the go-it-alone orientation that guides the state's programs:
South Carolina is not so forthcoming with saying, "Here's your welfare check. Here's your food stamps." I mean we had a lot of people who received assistance in New Orleans and were not able to get it here because they didn't meet the criteria under South Carolina's laws.
They received a ridiculous amount of money in food stamps, and then they come here and there's—the criteria is very different . . . and it was like, "Okay," and . . . I mean, I'm looking at them thinking, "What prevents you, really, from getting a job?"
West Columbia in Transition
Besides negotiating difficulties of housing, transportation/spatial location, and social services, evacuees to West Columbia entered a large town undergoing significant change in its racial and ethnic makeup—rapid growth of the Latino, mostly Mexican, population, and increases in the African American population and in young white and black families. In our interviews with West Columbia leaders and residents, these changes were characterized as unsettling by some, a challenge by others, and a welcome addition by still others.
Although Katrina's displaced to West Columbia were almost solely black and white United States citizens, many of West Columbia's leaders framed their perceptions of Katrina evacuees in the context of recent working-class and low-income migrants from Mexico, Central America, Russia, and Somalia. In many of their comments, they made connections between the ability and desire of West Columbia to incorporate new migrants and the perception of strains on an already stressed social infrastructure. In the words of a white woman adult education teacher:
I think people get along fairly well, but I think there's a clearer line between African Americans and whites. . . . Some of the older community are very much not liking the growth of the Hispanic population. . . . I think, again, the older population is resentful for maybe the shift in the population and perceived problems the shift has brought, and they [Hispanics] have brought shifts, and they've brought a need for infrastructure in the sense of federal housing, more use of the hospital system, more department of social services—and those entities promptly have been stretched or challenged with the movement of the population. . . . All in all, the shift will help; it'll help the community grow—and change isn't bad. . . . But it does tax your infrastructure if it's not prepared to handle it.
Others said that Hispanics were not accepted as they "should be" and that they were struggling. West Columbia natives put these struggles in a national context, arguing that the problems are not just local ones. Like many cities, West Columbia is experiencing a transnational migratory stream that is affecting the local society in many ways. As an extension agent, herself mixed-race, described it:
I'll tell you who exactly is working in the West Columbia Wal-Mart are Russian immigrants. . . . They do all the cleaning and the maintenance. They come in in crews. So there's a strong Russian population in West Columbia. I don't know where they're living. I wasn't aware of that at all. He [my husband who manages a Wal-Mart] said they did speak English . . . but they would spend the night at Wal-Mart cleaning, buffering the floors . . . because you don't have to be able to speak English to buffer floors. So that's definitely a competition for the Hispanic market and anybody that's looking for a minimum wage job.
Few people knew about Russian immigrants in West Columbia. Most were aware, however—because their relocation to South Carolina received so much media attention—that 125 Somali Bantu families were resettled in West Columbia and its neighboring communities in 2004, as part of a US State Department plan.24 West Columbia and Cayce were among the few locations in the country (including Holyoke, Massachusetts) actually opposed to their resettlement.25
This resistance remains vivid in the minds of leaders in West Columbia, most of whom were not involved in the opposition but who felt the negative publicity was a problem. When discussing how West Columbia would receive Katrina's displaced, over one-third of local leaders compared the displaced either to the Bantu or to the much larger Hispanic migration or to both.
When we asked about the challenges posed if Katrina's displaced chose to remain permanently in West Columbia, comments such as the following, which came from a white male director of a school program, were common:
We made it through the Bantu and life went on, so same here. . . . The challenge is that we already have a plate full of those with social services needs, and I'm sure some people say well, why do I want to bring more of that into my area? What for? We have enough problems.
While local leaders pondered the strain on social services, the evacuees in West Columbia had daily contact with Latino migrants, many of whom lived in the same apartment complexes. Yet this contact did not lead to mutual understanding and support—in large part because language and cultural barriers made communication impossible. Only one of the twenty-one Latinos we interviewed had any knowledge of or contact with Katrina's displaced—because he cleaned in a hotel where many evacuees resided.
Even in the same apartment complex, the isolation felt by Katrina's evacuees seemed heightened by the presence of Latinos, whom they could not understand. One African American couple, lamenting their isolation from familiar people and places, discussed how the presence of Hispanics heightened their feeling of being "cut off" in West Columbia. When asked about friends they had made, the husband said they hadn't made any: "Most people around here is Spanish. They say 'Hey' and move on." A similar response came from a white male evacuee: "Making friends? I don't know nobody around here. . . . They're all Mexican."
The Continuing Disaster
Since the political realignment of the 1980s, the South has led the nation in implementing the conservative economic and social policies that now largely structure the conditions of life across much of the United States. Southern states have vigorously embraced these policies: privatization/outsourcing of government functions, reduced taxes, especially on the wealthy, deregulation of business, and deep cuts in social spending. South Carolina has been more aggressive than even other southern states in reducing taxes, limiting infrastructural supports for public life, and severely restricting and dismantling social welfare programs. Consequently, the most vulnerable of Katrina's displaced found West Columbia and Columbia, South Carolina, to be a particularly harsh environment.
In expressing concern about strains on the infrastructure and social services, many West Columbia natives framed their response to the Katrina evacuees in the context of Somali refugees and Hispanic immigrants. In addition to experiencing difficulties in making a life for themselves in West Columbia, the evacuees also met resentment from some of the local poor, whose wait for housing and social services was extended because the evacuees received priority.
In part because they recognized that the federal government was failing in its response to Katrina, people in the South Carolina Midlands worked hard to provide a welcome for their "guests." Hundreds of people volunteered, and local leadership committed not just to receive the displaced people of Katrina, but to do so with respect—to contradict the disrespect and inhumane response of the federal and state governments. But because volunteer work cannot be sustained for extended periods, the basic needs of healthy and thriving communities—jobs, healthcare, housing, transportation—cannot adequately be met without reliable, substantive, and ongoing government engagement.
|Illustrator's depiction of the Midlands Housing Alliance Transitions Center, 2011.
The most destitute of Katrina's survivors displaced into the Midlands' social, economic, and political landscape made visible the harshness of the economic and social policies embraced by South Carolina's political leadership as well as the extent of existing social needs. When hotel rooms, meals, and clothes were made available to the displaced, people already homeless in Columbia showed up too. The heightened awareness of existing problems and the success of South Carolina Cares led a coalition of business leaders and homeless advocates to propose a $15 million center for the city's approximately sixteen hundred homeless that is modeled on the Katrina reception center. Although they faced substantial political opposition—particularly around the proposed location—the new, multiservice Transition Center opened in 2011.26
The experiences of Katrina's displaced in South Carolina highlight the ways in which conservative social and economic policies have rendered our cities incapable of dealing with the ongoing needs of poor populations and have weakened our infrastructure and support networks. Because they are unequipped to deal with their own poor, Deep South cities are not equipped to deal with displaced disaster survivors for an extended time. Despite the phenomenal outflow of generosity, time, and expertise from individuals to international aid groups, Katrina remains a disaster—for both the poor still in New Orleans and the poor in the Katrina diaspora.
|Map of research locations of contributors to Displaced: Life in the Katrina Diaspora. Lynn Weber conducted research in Columbia, South Carolina.
This article is adapted from "When Demand Exceeds Supply: Disaster Response and the Southern Political Economy," Displaced: Life in the Katrina Diaspora, ed. Lynn Weber and Lori Peek (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2012), 79–103. Thank you to the University of Texas Press for permission to publish this piece.
In addition to recognizing the important and multifaceted assistance of the SSRC Research Network in providing feedback at all phases of this project, I wish to thank the graduate assistants who worked tirelessly on these research projects. For conducting interviews, Steve Hardin, David Asiamah, Manju Tanwar; for coding, data analysis, and other research, Jenny Castellow, Beth Fadeley, Uma Kandasarny, Christina Griffin, Joanne Rinaldi Stevenson. Finally, I greatly appreciate feedback on the manuscript from the Women's and Gender Studies core faculty reading group and especially from DeAnne Messias, who gave me advice throughout the process.
This research was partially supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant CMMI-0623991. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
About the author
Lynn Weber is professor of psychology and women's and gender studies at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. She is co-editor with Lori Peek of Displaced: Life in the Katrina Diaspora (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2012), from which this essay is adapted.
About the Katrina Bookshelf Series
The University of Texas Press is proud to introduce the Katrina Bookshelf Series, Kai Erikson, Series Editor.
In 2005 Hurricane Katrina crashed into the Gulf Coast and precipitated the flooding of New Orleans. It was a towering catastrophe by any standard. Some 1,800 persons were killed outright. More than a million people were forced to relocate, many for the remainder of their lives. A city of 500,000 was nearly emptied of life.
If measured by the number of lives it claimed, Katrina does not qualify as the worst disaster in our history. But it was far and away the most destructive disaster in our national experience when one considers the amount of damage it did not only to the physical and social landscapes of the Gulf region but also to the nation more generally. And it was far and away the most telling disaster in our national experience. Katrina stripped away the outer surface of our social structure and showed us what lies underneath—a grim look at race, class, and gender in these United States.
It is crucial to get this story straight so that we may learn from it and be ready for that stark inevitability, the next time. When seen through a social science lens, Katrina is almost the perfect storm in terms of informing us what the real human costs of a disaster are and helping prepare us for the blows that we know are lurking just over the horizon.
A number of studies of Katrina have appeared since the event. Most were brief glances at some fragment of that immense disaster rather than rich, in-depth portraits of it, and many rode the crest of Katrina's celebrity for the time it was in the news. The Katrina Bookshelf Series, by contrast, is the result of a national effort to bring experts together in a collaborative program of research on the human costs of the disaster. The program itself was supported by the Ford, Gates, MacArthur, Rockefeller, and Russell Sage Foundations, and sponsored by the Social Science Research Council. This is the most comprehensive social science coverage of a disaster to be found anywhere in the literature. It is also a deeply human story being told here.
- 1. V. O. Key, Jr., Southern Politics in State and Nation (New York: A. A. Knopf, 1949); Joel Williamson, The Crucible of Race: Black and White Race Relations in the American South (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984); Michael Goldfield, The Color of Politics: Race and the Mainsprings of American Politics (New York: New Press, 1997); Jeffrey S. Lowe and Todd C. Shaw, "After Katrina: Racial Regimes and Human Development Barriers in the Gulf Coast Region," American Quarterly 61, no.3 (September 2009): 803-827.
- 2. Lowe and Shaw; Naomi Klein, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism (New York: Metropolitan Books, 2007).
- 3. Lowe and Shaw; Klein; Lynn Weber, "Intersectionality, Gender, and Health: What Katrina Reveals," (paper presented at Social Science & Medicine, Gender & Health Special Issue Workshop: Relational, Biosocial, and Intersectional Approaches, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, 2010); Mark M. Smith, Camille, 1969: Histories of a Hurricane (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2011).
- 4. Central Midlands Council of Governments, Region Report: West Metro Area, 3, no. 1 (Spring 2006), http://www.centralmidlands.org/pdf/caycewcola06.pdf (accessed February 17, 2011).
- 5. Center for Research on Women, Across Races & Nations: Building New Communities in the US South (Memphis, TN: University of Memphis, 2006); State of South Carolina Commission for Minority Affairs, "South Carolina Hispanic/Latino Report" (Columbia: South Carolina Commission on Minority Affairs, 2006), http://www.state.sc.us/cma/data/FINDINGS%20REPORT2006.pdf (accessed February 21, 2011); Heather A. Smith and Owen J. Furuseth, Latinos in the New South: Transformations of Place (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2006).
- 6. Brenda Vander Mey and Ashley W. Harris, "Latino Populations in South Carolina, 1990-2002," working paper (Clemson, SC: Department of Sociology, Clemson University, 2004).
- 7. For a variety of reasons, the Hispanic population is undercounted by census enumerators. The most common factors associated with undercount of Hispanics in the census include complex household makeup or cultural differences in defining households, individual/family mobility, legal (authorized versus unauthorized) status, fear or distrust of government, and language barriers. See Elaine Lacy, "Mexican Immigrants in South Carolina: A Profile" (Columbia: University of South Carolina, 2007).
- 8. Bret Kloos, Kater Flory, Benjamin L. Hankin, Catherine A. Cheely, and Michelle Segal, "Investigating the Roles of Neighborhood Environments and Housing-based Social Support in the Relocation of Persons Made Homeless by Hurricane Katrina," Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community 37, no. 2 (2009): 143-154.
- 9. Ibid.
- 10. Trained graduate-student research assistants and I conducted the interviews, and participants provided informed consent beforehand. All interviews were audiotaped, professionally transcribed, and coded for analysis. Details of the study's methodology are published in Lynn Weber, "When Demand Exceeds Supply," Displaced: Life in the Katrina Diaspora (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2012), 84-86.
- 11. Laura R. Woliver, "Abortion Conflicts, City Governments and Culture Wars: Continually Negotiating Coexistence in South Carolina," in Culture Wars and Local Politics, ed. E. Sharpe (Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1999), pp. 21-42; Laura R. Woliver, The Political Geographies of Pregnancy (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2002).
- 12. Richard Fausset, "South Carolina's Governor May Turn Down Stimulus Money," Los Angeles Times, February 21,2009; Editorial, "Courting Disaster in South Carolina," New York Times, March 30, 2009.
- 13. Sheila Crowley, "Where Is Home? Housing for Low-Income People after the 2005 Hurricanes," in There Is No Such Thing as a Natural Disaster: Race, Class, and Hurricane Katrina, ed. C. Hartman and G. D. Squires (New York: Routledge, 2006), pp.121-166.
- 14. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Housing Vouchers Funded in South Carolina under Pending Proposals, November 1, 2006, http://www.cbpp.org/files/11-1-06hous-sc.pdf (accessed February 17,2011).
- 15. John O'Connor, "West Columbia Accused of Blocking Apartments," The State, February 18, 2005; Tim Flach, "West Columbia Paying Out $600.000," The State, March 4, 2008; Tim Flach, "Builders Urge More Attention to Low-Income Homes," The State, March 13, 2008.
- 16. Child Welfare Leagues of America, "South Carolina's Children 2008," http:// www.cwla.org/advocacy/statefactsheets/2008/southcarolina.htm (accessed February 17, 2011).
- 17. South Carolina Department of Commerce, "High-Growth Jobs in South Carolina: Labor Market Information," July 2008, http://www.workforcesouthcarolina.com/media/3163/highgrowthjobs072008.pdf (accessed February 21, 2011).
- 18. United Way of the Midlands, Facing Facts: United Way of the Midlands Update for 2004: A Study of Issues That Shape Our Region (Columbia, SC: United Way of the Midlands, 2004).
- 19. Shalama Jackson, "Lexington County—Public Transportation Dilemma—Bus Service Cuts Thwart Disabled," The State, February 2, 2007; Shalama Jackson, "Funding the Transit System: Low Ridership Might End Services-Lexington County," The State, June 5, 2007.
- 20. Ibid.
- 21. David C. Ribar, Marilyn Edelhoch, and Qiduan Liu, South Carolina Food Stamp and Well-Being Study: Transitions in Food Stamp and TANF Participation and Employment among Families with Children (United States Department of Agriculture, April 2006), http://hdl.handle.net/10113/32788 (accessed February 16, 2011).
- 22. Ibid.
- 23. Child Welfare Leagues of America, "South Carolina's Children 2008," http:// www.cwla.org/advocacy/statefactsheets/2008/southcarolina.htm (accessed February 17, 2011).
- 24. Jenny Burns, "No Pressure: Bible Belt Families Welcome Muslim Refugees,"The State, March 12, 2004; Joy Woodson, "Open Arms Missing to Greet Refugees: Sponsors Lacking as Charities Welcome Persecuted People to New Lives in Columbia," The State, August 24, 2006; Joy Woodson, "Yesterday's Refugee, Tomorrow's Architect," The State, April 20, 2007.
- 25. "Federal Agency Calls Off Bantu Resettlement in Cayce," The State, October 9, 2003; "US City Refuses to Admit Somali Bantu Refugees," The State, October 13, 2003.
- 26. Adam Beam, "Group Plans 15 Million Dollar Homeless Center," The State, June 26, 2008; Adam Beam, "Neighbors to Fight Homeless Shelter," The State, October 5, 2008.


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text:
1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup milk
1/8 cup sugar
2 tsp strong freshly brewed coffee, room temperature
1 /2 tbsp agar agar powder
1. Pour the milk into a saucepan and bring it a medium heat.
2. Add the agar agar powder and stir well. Add the chocolate chips and sugar and heat until the chocolate chips have melted. Add the coffee. Make sure that the liquid is free of lumps so keep stirring every now and then.
3. Continue heating till you barely observe bubbling. Turn the stove off and pour this hot liquid into a greased tart pan/ramekin. It should fill it up.
4. Bring it to room temperature. This should set the pudding mostly. Place it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours to set it fully.
We are sending this to Poornima's event, ' For the Love of Chocolate.' We love it as much as you do! :)


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Little Label, trading name of
The latest collection of beautifully made Fiorelli bags. Inspired by a mix of timeless designs and upcoming trends, the range's handbag selections can be styled for evening and everyday alike. Stylish, versatile, beautiful and practical; Fiorelli.
Are you sure you want to navigate away from this site?
If you navigate away from this siteyou will lose your shopping bag and its contents.


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SMC Select Brioletto
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Brioletto is a super soft blend of 60% new wool and 40% polyester with an innovative construction. Shimmering polyamide fiber is knitted into a fine chainette yarn with additional texture created by regular bursts of merino wool fiber along the length of the yarn. It's a lovely combination of matte and shine with the wool adding softness and volume whilst the lustrous polyamide adds an elegant touch. Brioletto works up quickly and makes pretty garments, accessories and home accents such as elegant throws.
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A lot of anti-LFR people keep saying that players are leaving raiding guilds because they can get the same stuff in LFR. What you actually get in LFR is;
Healer 10-15 min queue, Dps 20-60 min queue.
Potential of;
tank fail due to pvp gear
Heal fail due to healers being in dips spec because they were too good for dps queues.
DPS fail because of not following the mechanics that they know better than to do (AOE on DWing thumb)
Unenchanted/ungemmed/unforged/wrong gear/no knowledge of class/no knowledge of the encounter
Afk players
Players barely trying
People who grief you because they are 1 in 8 million and no consequences.
Booted just because someone said "Kick X because of bad DPS!" When you were a healer.
DPS in tank spec
Huntards killing you with misdirect for shits and giggles
People screaming at you for tanking wrong
People screaming
SUB-PAR crappy versions of LFR gear.
And through all of this crap that is the random bundle that we call LFR people STILL choose to abandon Raid Guilds for LFR, so why?


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Inside Heifer
Our transformational model runs much deeper than providing livestock and agricultural inputs. We work with public and private partners around the world to put the entrepreneurial power of self-reliance in the hands of small-scale farmers by connecting them to markets and their local and national economies.
Since 1944, Heifer has also provided the core lessons and social capital that build the community unity, hope and confidence for farmers once in need to achieve self-sufficiency and become donors themselves.
Our satisfaction in a job well done comes when entire communities have in hand the self-chosen tools and structure they need to support their families with pride and dignity. We invite you to visit our headquarters, offices and learning centers around the world to learn how you can contribute to end world hunger and poverty.
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The 19-member body focuses on the outward vision and long-term impacts of our organization. The Board develops broad values and policies, which are then operationalized by Heifer staff.
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The leadership team is six senior-most members of the Heifer staff.
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Syria ended its quest to join the United Nations' Human Rights Council on Wednesday, bowing to pressure from the United States and other Western powers who had railed against a government seeking the seat even as it carries out a repressive campaign against its own citizens.
Syrian and Kuwaiti diplomats announced at the UN in New York that the two countries will switch their candidacies for the council – Kuwait will take Syria's slot in elections next week, while Syria will now wait and go for the seat in 2013 that Kuwait was expected to seek.
Because of minimal competition for seats on the council, candidates ordinarily are virtually guaranteed election by the UN General Assembly.
Syria 101: 4 attributes of Assad's authoritarian regime
Syria said the switch had nothing to do with the continuing protests shaking the country. But the face-saving arrangement clearly came in response to the growing international controversy over repression in Syria that human-rights experts say has resulted in more than 700 deaths.
Some analysts of global institutions deemed Syria's stand-down a sign the international community is demanding more rigorous human-rights standards.
"Yes, the US and other Western powers opposed Syria's candidacy, but if the opposition had stopped there this probably would have gone through," says Edward Luck, senior vice-president for research and programs at the International Peace Institute (IPI) in New York.
Saying opposition to Syria winning a seat on the council was growing in the General Assembly, he adds, "The larger point is that Syria was publicly campaigning for this, so it's got to be embarrassing when it's your peers saying you are not fit. It's a significant slap in the face."
Others counter, however, that Syria coming within a week of joining the world's top human rights body hardly qualifies as progress.
"Do we really have to wait until a government is gunning down its own citizens in the streets before its membership on the council is deemed unacceptable?" says Steven Groves, an expert in international institutions at the Heritage Foundation in Washington.
The fact the seat Syria wanted will now go to Kuwait is also no reason to declare great progress, Mr. Groves says. Kuwait will very likely vote just as Syria would have – in particular on issues relating to Israel – and if anything, Kuwait may have a worse record on women's rights than the regime of Bashar al-Assad, he says.
The organization Human Rights Watch said Wednesday that Syria withdrew its candidacy rather than face "resounding defeat" in the General Assembly, which elects the Human Rights Council's 47 members. The New York-based group noted that the council condemned Syria's use of lethal violence against peaceful protesters in a vote April 29.
Think you know the Middle East? Take our geography quiz.
But Syria's decision does not end a continuing debate over the way the council's membership is elected, the organization says. Countries are candidates from regional groups that in all but a few cases have put forth slates of candidates equal to the number of seats up for a vote.
"States collude to avoid any competition in Human Rights Council elections, which benefits human rights abusers like Syria," said Peggy Hicks, global advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, in a statement.
The group also called on Kuwait to take its near-certain accession to the council as an opportunity to improve human rights at home, in particular in the case of migrant and domestic workers.
After the Bush administration expressed its dissatisfaction with the Human Rights Council by refusing to join it, the Obama administration declared the US could do more good for international rights issues from the inside and now sits on the council.
The IPI's Mr. Luck says it is undeniable that a "trend" is taking hold suggesting the international community is taking gross human rights violations – especially by governments against their own people – more seriously. He points to the Human Rights Council's recent suspension of Libya from the council, and the General Assembly's vote sustaining that suspension.
What's needed next, he adds, is that countries with poor rights records not be considered as council candidates in the first place.
But others, like Heritage's Groves, say the Human Rights Council remains a discredited institution because of who sits on it. The presence of a US or a Canada, he adds, won't be enough to change it.
"As long as China and Cuba and Saudi Arabia and others from the rogues' gallery are welcome, the US can stay on the council until doomsday and it's not really going to change," Groves says. "If it really is a human rights council, the very least would be to raise the bar for membership."


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Emmanuel Georges
Alpine RenaultAbout this photograph
Since 1989, Emmanuel Georges has dedicated a series to abandoned American cars in the USA (?American Lost Cars?). He continued his work focusing on American cars with ?Cadillac ? Habana? in 1999. However, for the ?Automology? series which is still being developed, the photographer?s interest lies in miniature cars from his childhood. The artist talks about nostalgia and the symbolic value given to an everyday object.Read more Read less
The photographs are carefully packaged in order to ensure their optimal protection during transport.
Emmanuel Georges is a graphic designer and photographer living in Strasbourg. He observes the surrounding landscape and world around him. Since 1989, he has had numerous individual and group exhibitions in France and in Argentina. He has a realist and frontal approach to photography. Between documentary research and intimate testimony, he photographs miniature cars for the 'Automology' series and magnifies them through enlargement and his method


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text:
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Reproduction permitted, with the following attribution:
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PMW Bulletins
Hitler admired in PLO youth magazine because he murdered Jews
by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
Dec. 20, 2011
Hitler admired in PLO youth magazine because he murdered Jews
Hitler tells a Palestinian girl in her dream:
"I killed them [the Jews] so you would all know
that they are a nation
which spreads destruction all over the world."
by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
The following is an excerpt from
Deception: Betraying the Peace Process
, chapter 14, section 1:
The Palestinian Authority funds a monthly educational magazine for children called
. The magazine is made up of material written by the magazine's staff and also includes essays and poems written by children. Accordingly,
both represents the values of the educators and serves as a window into the minds of the participating Palestinian children. The magazine is published with the sponsorship of the PLO's Palestinian National Committee for Education, Culture and Sciences.
Most of the content in
is positive and educational. It promotes family values, encourages children to read and to participate in building a modern, democratic society. However, these positive messages are directed at Palestinian society, Muslims, Christians and Druze. When it comes to portraying Israel and Jews,
changes its tone and includes items glorifying Jihad against Israel and praising Martyrdom death for Allah, and the Martyrs themselves.
The most extreme expression of demonization of Jews is the inclusion of an essay submitted by a teenage girl in which Hitler is presented as a positive figure to be admired because he killed Jews in order to benefit the world.
The girl in her dream asks Hitler: "You're the one who killed the Jews?" Hitler responds: "Yes. I killed them so you would all know that they are a nation which spreads destruction all over the world." Like the other hate messages, this appears in a story with positive messages by other admired figures, including a Muslim Nobel Prize recipient and a math scholar. See the full text below.
In addition, the magazine portrays a world where "Palestine" has replaced Israel by referring to Israeli cities such as Haifa and Jaffa as places in "Palestine" or as "occupied" cites. It denies Israel's right to exist by saying that Israel is on "stolen" or "occupied" land, and demonizes Israel and Jews. Approximately one fourth of the children's submissions are on nationalistic topics, and among them are expressions of hatred and delegitimization against Jews and Israel that mirror the messages transmitted by the PA leadership through official media, PA education and other structures under their control.
It is specifically because this is not a hate magazine, but in general a positive publication promoting good values, that the hatred expressed towards Israel and Jews is so damaging. All the positive messages about coexistence and peace, which abound throughout the magazine, apply to everyone but Israelis and Jews. The message of
concerning Israelis and Jews is that they are in a unique category separated from other peoples and religious groups: For others - peace, cooperation and coexistence; for Israelis and Jews - hatred, confrontation and Jihad.
Hitler admired because he murdered Jews
magazine chose to publish an essay written by a girl in 10th grade in which Hitler is admired because he killed the Jews - an act that is presented as a positive accomplishment for the benefit of humanity. The girl describes a dream in which she meets four historical figures, all of whom are presented as admired role models, and each one's special accomplishment is the topic of a short conversation with the girl. Three of them are the ninth-century Muslim mathematician Al-Khwarizmi; Nobel Prize-winning Egyptian author Naguib Mahfouz; and Saladin, the Muslim leader who defeated the Christian Crusaders and conquered Jerusalem in the 12th century. The fourth and only non-Muslim role model in the dream is Adolf Hitler.
All four are presented as positive figures and each one offers advice to the young girl, which she accepts. Hitler is admired because he killed the Jews "so you would all know that they are a nation which spreads destruction all over the world." Hitler advises the girl to "be resilient and patient" in facing the suffering the Jews are causing. The girl thanks Hitler for his advice.
's editors chose to include this submission in the magazine, without dissociating themselves from the admiration of Hitler. They found it an acceptable message to have Hitler appear with other role models for Palestinian children.
The following is the essay in Zayzafuna presenting Hitler with other positive role models.
"One hot day, I was very tired after a hard day... and suddenly I saw four white doors in front of me. I opened them in no particular order.
I opened the f irst door and saw a beautiful place full of f lowers. I was surprised to see a man there. I asked him, 'Who are you?'
He said, 'I am Al-Khwarizmi.' [Ninth century Persian mathematician who lived in Baghdad, known for his contribution to the development of algebra.]
I said: 'You're the one who invented mathematics and arithmetic?' He said: 'Yes. What's your situation like today?'
I said: 'The Arabs and Muslims are in a deep sleep; they can't do anything. They have moved away from all the sciences.'
He [Al-Khwarizmi] said: 'Yes, I know that. The day will come when the Arabs will return to their glory. And you - you have a great duty, which is to take an interest in the Islamic sciences and to protect them from being forgotten.'
I said, 'I promise,' and left the door.
I turned to the next door; there Hitler awaited me. I said, 'You're the one who killed the Jews?'
He [Hitler] said: 'Yes. I killed them so you would all know that they are a nation which spreads destruction all over the world. And what I ask of you is to be resilient and patient, concerning the suffering that Palestine is experiencing at their hands.'
I said [to Hitler]: 'Thanks for the advice.'
Then I turned to the third door, and met Naguib Mahfouz [Nobel Prize- winning Egyptian author], who was the one who knew best the value of time and how to use it.
He said: 'People's pastime, these days, has become killing time and wasting it, as though they are punishing themselves. So strive to use your time in the best way.'
At the fourth door I meet Saladin Al-Ayoubi [Muslim leader who defeated the Christian crusaders and conquered Jerusalem in the twelfth century]. He said: 'I am Saladin.'
I said: 'You were the one who liberated Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa [Mosque].' He answered: 'Yes.'
I said: 'Return, oh Saladin, for Jerusalem and Palestine cry out and no one answers.'
He [Saladin] said: 'I know, but every time has its men, and the right man to liberate Jerusalem is still to come.'
And before I could finish my dream, the alarm clock rang and I woke up. It was seven in
the morning, and I needed to go to school early, because I had promised Naguib Mahfouz that I would use time well."
, February 2011]
Although repugnant, a Palestinian teenager's admiration for Hitler because he killed Jews, alongside other Muslim role models, is not unexpected. As PMW documents,
Palestinian children are brought up with the teaching that killing Israelis and Jews is heroic.
The PA has named streets, schools, sporting events and more after Palestinian terrorists who have killed hundreds of Israeli civilians. In Palestinian cultural, educational and social events, every Palestinian child is exposed to repeated glorification of terrorists who have killed Jews. Palestinian children have participated in summer camps named after Dalal Mughrabi who led a bus hijacking in which 37 civilians were killed, and played in football tournaments named after Abd Al-Basset Odeh, a suicide bomber who killed 31 Israelis at a Passover dinner. It is not surprising that a Palestinian child who has been educated to see
those who have murdered Jews as heroes and role models
will conclude that Hitler, the one who murdered the most Jews in history, is likewise worthy of admiration.
About the publishers and advisory staff of
The magazine is published by the
Association for Development of Children's Culture, and sponsored by the PLO's Palestinian National Committee for Education, Culture and Sciences.
The magazine's advisory board is comprised of Palestinian Authority officials and educators, including PA Deputy Minister of Education Jihad Zakarneh, and former PA Minister for Women's Affairs Zuheira Kamal. [
, February 2011]
magazine is part of a larger education program funded by the Palestinian Authority which contributed 90,000 Shekel ($24,370) in 2010 and 10,000 Shekel ($2,700) a month in 2011.
Since August 2011, the magazine is also sponsored by UNESCO and the MDG Achievement Fund (MDG-F), a UN humanitarian foundation funded by the Spanish government. [
, August 2011.] In the October 2011 issue a note appears: "Opinions expressed in this magazine don't necessarily express UNESCO's views."
Deputy Chairman of the
organization Abd Al-Karim Ziyada has explained the following about the funding of
"The magazine has advertisements, which cover some of the costs. For the year 2010-2011 we have subscriptions by students and schools, and that also helps [funding the magazine]. We are fortunate in that the Palestinian Authority and the Prime Minister [Salam Fayyad] have helped us this year with aid in the amount of 90,000 Shekel ($24,370) to cover the magazine and organization costs, and that has given us a push forward. Allah be praised, there is a new agreement for a monthly [PA] payment of 10,000 Shekel ($2,700) to cover the magazine [costs]."
[PA TV (Fatah), May 9 and 13, 2011]
This excerpt above is from a chapter in the book Deception: Betraying the Peace Process, recently published by PMW. The book includes a longer analysis of the other material as well found in issues of Zayzafuna from May 2010 through August 2011, focusing on messages relating to Israelis and Jews. A short summary of the positive messages in Zayzafuna and that are unconnected to Israel, is also included.
To purchase Deception: Betraying the Peace Process click here
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text:
Obama doubles down on agenda
President Barack Obama expanded his push for a sweeping agenda in his State of the Union address Tuesday, continuing his defense of more robust government — and his attempt to cast his political opponents as fighting "common sense" solutions.
The speech picks up directly on the themes of his inaugural address, a clear sign that the president believes he is winning the political argument against congressional Republicans and has no interest in backing down. But Obama drew the longest applause toward the end of the speech as he invoked victims of gun violence, from Chicago to Newtown to Tucson, saying they deserved a Congressional vote on all the gun control legislation he's proposed.
Story Continued Below
( PHOTOS: Scenes from the 2013 State of the Union)
"It is our unfinished task to restore the basic bargain that built this country — the idea that if you work hard and meet your responsibilities, you can get ahead, no matter where you come from, what you look like, or who you love," Obama said.
Obama kept the focus on what have become his main agenda items: staving off the looming sequester cuts with $2.5 trillion in deficit reduction through $1.4 trillion in spending cuts and $600 billion in new tax revenue, reforming the country's immigration system and enacting an array of gun safety proposals.
( Also on POLITICO: Obama swings left in retro State of the Union)
He urged Congress agree to keep the government open and to avert the sequester, which is scheduled to take effect in March. "Let's agree, right here, right now, to keep the people's government open, pay our bills on time, and always uphold the full faith and credit of the United States of America," he said. "The American people have worked too hard, for too long, rebuilding from one crisis to see their elected officials cause another."
Obama also proposed raising the minimum wage to $9 per hour, new climate legislation, major infrastructure initiatives and an education agenda that includes universal pre-school support and increased accountability for federal grants to colleges.
"It's not a bigger government we need, but a smarter government that sets priorities and invests in broad-based growth," Obama said.
On the foreign policy front, Obama announced plans to withdraw 34,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan in the coming year. He did not talk about the U.S. role there after the Afghan National Security Forces take control of ground operations and a senior administration official said before the speech that Obama has not made further decisions about the drawdown or whether U.S. forces will stay there after the end of 2014.
( See also: Full text of Obama's 2013 State of the Union)
"Today, the organization that attacked us on 9/11 is a shadow of its former self," he said. But "different Al Qaeda affiliates and extremist groups have emerged – from the Arabian Peninsula to Africa" and, where possible, the United States will employ tactics other than deploying tens of thousands of troops. "Where necessary, through a range of capabilities, we will continue to take direct action against those terrorists who pose the gravest threat to Americans," he added, in a broad allusion to the use of drones and other nontraditional modes of warfare.
Obama confirmed his planned visit to the Middle East next month, which his first trip to Israel since becoming president.


text:
Leading Ladies: Connecticut, Louisville Set For Championship
Connecticut has been to the women's NCAA championship round twice in the last five years. In 2009, they were up against Louisville.
And here we are again. (Or, we will be on Tuesday.)
Connecticut beat Notre Dame 83-65 in the Final Four round Sunday night, clinching its ride to the title game. Earlier, Louisville rallied a comeback against California, ending at 64-57.
The Fighting Irish had a history with UConn going into Sunday's game. As The Associated Press reminded us:
"Notre Dame has beaten UConn three times this season by an average of three points — although the largest margin of victory, a six-point victory in South Bend on March 2, came in triple overtime."
It was not to be Sunday. UConn's Breanna Stewart scored 29 points. By halftime, Connecticut had a 10-point lead.
Our Original Post Continues:
It was a surprise either of them made it. California, which was playing its first Final Four, lost to Louisville. Louisville had already brought down top teams Baylor and Tennessee earlier in the women's NCAA college basketball tournament.
The No. 5 Cardinals won 64-57, becoming the first team seeded worse than fourth to win a Final Four game, CBS News says. The San Jose Mercury News reports:
"After opening the game with one of their best halves of the tournament, the Bears (32-4) saw their double-digit lead evaporate in the second half."
NPR's Tom Goldman tells our Newscast Desk that Louisville's comeback was largely thanks to Antonita Slaughter, who scored 18 points with six 3-point shots. Tom reports:
"Her shooting really kept Louisville close when nothing else was going right because Cal was controlling the boards, they were controlling the tempo. When the game got tight in the second half, Cal committed several turnovers on successive possessions. That let Louisville back in the game."
SB Nation called it "one of the best games" of the women's contest this year.
Tuesday, Louisville will go on to play the winner of Sunday night's UConn-Notre Dame matchup. It will be the Cardinals' first time back in the title game since 2009.
Oh, and Louisville also made it to the top of the men's tournament. They face Michigan Monday night.


text:
The term "life cycle safety" simply refers to the electrical safety factors that must be considered for the life of a piece of equipment or system. Such safety considerations begin at the initial design stages of a project. Although design cannot eliminate unsafe acts by irresponsible employees, it can incorporate measures to reduce the individual's ability to take a risk.
One of the biggest challenges to life cycle safety is cost. The Figure (click here to see Figure) illustrates the cost influence curve, which shows that influences to overall project/system safety considerations have more of an impact and cost less when factored into the mix early on. Using this cost influence curve concept allows designers to minimize cost impact while positively influencing the safety considerations and implementations to systems and projects.
Cutting too many costs at the design level, however, can compromise workers' safety and result in long-term economic losses associated with system downtime, on-site design repairs, and injury to workers that may result in legal action. Obviously, cutting too many corners can be more costly and unsafe than if the original budget had provided sufficient funding for life cycle safety.
Design considerations
The safe design of an electrical system begins with the design engineers. Although they must consider many topics in the course of their work, they should never lose sight of the following areas of overall safety.
Operator safety
Accessibility of control is paramount. In particular, stop buttons and stop cords must be readily accessible. An operator should neither have to travel nor reach any extended distance to activate a stop button, especially an emergency stop function.
Arrangement of controls and displays should be oriented so that the operator can easily interpret the information.
Identification of devices should be standardized and included in the safety design reviews. Proper labeling and color coding, as well as shape and location of control devices, are an important consideration for rapid, reliable, and safe response.
Component selection should take ergonomics into account.
Maintenance safety
Adequate working space and illumination inside of cabinets must be considered. For example, maintenance personnel must be provided with proper lighting and safe access for voltage testing within the enclosure.
The arrangement of components within an enclosure can also improve safety. A few considerations are locating, monitoring, and adjustment devices for easy access and physically locating commonly tested equipment at a convenient height.
Fail-safe design
A fail-safe design may be identified as one in which failure of a wire, circuit component, or energy source will not cause an accident or process upset. The fail-safe design should consider all prime energy sources by the electrical, pneumatic, and/or hydraulic systems.
Adequate spacing and illumination
The NEC establishes the minimum required guidelines for the working space in front of electrical equipment in Table 110.26(A)(1) and 110.34(A) for various conditions. Sufficient access and working space shall be provided and maintained around electrical equipment to permit ready access, safe operation, and proper maintenance.
Proper grounding
Grounding is an important consideration and must comply with NEC/IEEE standards. The accumulation of static electricity on equipment and personnel is a serious concern in areas that are classified as electrically hazardous. The design engineer has a responsibility to ensure a properly grounded electrical system. This is not a task that should be delegated to the field.
System and equipment lockouts
The NEC (430.102) and OSHA (1910) require a means for disconnecting motors. The lockout should be designed so that each person working on the equipment can put their personal lock on the disconnecting switch.
Equipment and circuitry identification
The identification of equipment should be considered early in the design stage. The NEC (110.22) and OSHA (1910.310) require that all disconnecting means for motors and appliances shall be legibly marked to indicate their purpose. The markings shall be of sufficient durability to withstand the environment involved. This rule, although simple, is often delegated as a low priority to the field installation or operational startup team. The use of duct tape or masking tape with handwritten markers does not meet the intent of the Code.
Human factors
The human factor should not be overlooked in the design of electrical equipment. The layout, arrangement, and documentation of equipment need the same attention as is given to hardware selection. Physical size of the equipment needs to be considered to reduce lifting and movement risks required to get the equipment to its final location.
Various project/system reviews
Project/system reviews should be held periodically through the duration of the design stages with participation by both the design team (including all applicable disciplines) and client team with operations and maintenance personnel as applicable. These reviews should consist of the following:
- Constructability reviews
- Participation in HAZOPS
- 3-D model reviews
Electrical design safety checklist
Considering the many different types of electrical projects and systems, there is a significant number of design factors that should be evaluated/implemented to ensure life cycle safety. Given the fast-paced schedules of most projects today, there is always the possibility for something to be missed — a reality that has the potential to produce devastating results. In order to minimize this risk, the development and use of an electrical safety considerations checklist, such as the one shown in the Table (click here to see Table), should be used.
The intent of this checklist is to identify topics that should be considered in the design to achieve the safest design possible. It's also recommended that the list be considered a "living" document, which is maintained and updated constantly, including the addition of lessons learned. It's important that all personnel involved with the design are aware of the checklist, have access to it, and use it consistently. Regularly scheduled design reviews for the design team to walk through the checklist will ensure proper considerations are being met.
Codes and regulations exist for the protection of personnel and property. However, it is the design engineer's interpretation and application of these regulations that will lead to a safe industrial processing facility. Field personnel have important inputs with respect to operating procedures, equipment identification, accessibility, and lockouts as well as ergonomic and maintenance issues. Discussions of these topics during the early planning and design stages will provide sufficient opportunity for their inclusion into the final facility.
Ultimately, it is the design engineer's experience and knowledge — in addition to the implementation of developed practices and procedures for life cycle safety — that lead to a facility that is safely designed, installed, operated, and maintained.
Parikh, P.E., is a supervising design engineer for URS Corp., Cleveland, Ohio. He can be reached at [email protected]. Kolodziej, P.E., is a consulting engineer with URS Corp., Princeton, N.J. He can be reached at [email protected]. Salas is an electrical engineer with URS Corp., Denver, Colo. She can be reached at [email protected].
Based on "Electrical Life-Cycle-Safety: The View from the Design," by Satish Parikh, P.E., Kaz Kolodziej, P.E., and Carmela Salas. © 2009 IEEE.


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Difference between revisions of "Research Topics"
From ForensicsWiki
Joachim Metz (Talk | contribs)
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* [http://itsecurity.uiowa.edu/securityday/documents/guan.pdf Digital Forensics: Research Challenges and Open Problems, Dr. Yong Guan, Iowa State University, Dec. 4, 2007]
* [http://itsecurity.uiowa.edu/securityday/documents/guan.pdf Digital Forensics: Research Challenges and Open Problems, Dr. Yong Guan, Iowa State University, Dec. 4, 2007]
* [http://www.forensicfocus.com/project-ideas Forensic Focus: Project Ideas for Digital Forensics Students]
* [http://www.forensicfocus.com/project-ideas Forensic Focus: Project Ideas for Digital Forensics Students]
Latest revision as of 06:29, 28 April 2019
Interested in doing research in computer forensics? Looking for a master's topic, or just some ideas for a research paper? Here is our list. Please feel free to add your own ideas.
Many of these would make a nice master's project.
Programming/Engineering Projects
- tcpflow
- Modify tcpflow's iptree.h implementation so that it only stores discriminating bit prefixes in the tree, similar to D. J. Bernstein's Crit-bit trees.
- Determine why tcpflow's iptree.h implementation's prune works differently when caching is enabled then when it is disabled
- SleuthKit
- Write a FUSE-based mounter for SleuthKit, so that disk images can be forensically mounted using TSK.
- Modify SleuthKit's API so that the physical location on disk of compressed files can be learned.
Digital Forensics Education
- Survey existing DFE programs and DF practitioners regarding which tools they use. Report if the tools being taught are the same as the tools that are being used.
Data Sniffing
- Create a method to detect NTFS-compressed cluster blocks on a disk (RAW data stream). A method could be to write a generic signature to detect the beginning of NTFS-compressed file segments on a disk. This method is useful in carving and scanning for textual strings.
Anti-Frensics Detection
- A pluggable rule-based system that can detect the residual data or other remnants of running a variety of anti-forensics software
Develop a new carver with a plug-in architecture and support for fragment reassembly carving. Take a look at:
- Carver 2.0 Planning Page
- (Rainer Poisel') Multimedia File Carver, which allows for the reassembly of multimedia fragmented files.
Correlation Engine
- Logfile correlation
- Document identity identification
- Correlation between stored data and intercept data
- Online Social Network Analysis
Data Snarfing/Web Scraping
- Find and download in a forensically secure manner all of the information in a social network (e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) associated with a targeted individual.
- Determine who is searching for a targeted individual. This might be done with a honeypot, or documents with a tracking device in them, or some kind of covert Facebook App.
- Automated grouping/annotation of low-level events, e.g. access-time, log-file entry, to higher-level events, e.g. program start, login
Enhancements for Guidance Software's Encase
- Develop an EnScript that allows you to script EnCase from Python. (You can do this because EnScripts can run arbitrary DLLs. The EnScript calls the DLL. Each "return" from the DLL is a specific EnCase command to execute. The EnScript then re-enters the DLL.)
Volume/File System analysis
- Analysis of inter snapshot changes in Windows Shadow Volumes
- Modify SleuthKit's NTFS implementation to support NTFS encrypted files (EFS)
- Extend SleuthKit's implementation of NTFS to cover Transaction NTFS (TxF) (see NTFS)
- Physical layer access to flash storage (requires reverse-engineering proprietary APIs for flash USB and SSD storage.)
- Add support to SleuthKit for ReFS.
Error Rates
- Develop improved techniques for identifying encrypted data. (It's especially important to distinguish encrypted data from compressed data).
- Quantify the error rate of different forensic tools and processes. Are these rates theoretical or implementation dependent? What is the interaction of the error rates and the Daubert standard?
Research Areas
These are research areas that could easily grow into a PhD thesis.
- General-purpose detection of:
- Stegnography
- Sanitization attempts
- Evidence Falsification (perhaps through inconsistency in file system allocations, application data allocation, and log file analysis)
- Visualization of data/information in digital forensic context
- SWOT of current visualization techniques in forensic tools; improvements; feasibility of 3D representation;


text:
Last night I was watching the latest RailCast screen cast, where Ryan showed a cool technique in Ruby on Rails on how to pass data from your Controller straight to your JavaScript:
Essentially, it involved using a gem called Gon which enabled you to do this in your controller:
I thought that was pretty cool, and it'd be awesome to have the same thing in ASP.NET MVC. Enter NGon. The code is actually very simple, but I think the usage is quite elegant (It's up on GitHub here, complete with Unit Tests and a sample app).
The first step is to register the NGonActionFilterAttribute in the global filters in your Global.asax.cs page:
Then, in your Controller, you do this:
Next, in your HTML page (probably in your Layout.cshtml page so it's available everywhere) you add this line:
At this point, you'll now have access to the values in your javascript:
The cool thing is that it works on more than just simple types. It works on any object which in turn gets serialized into JSON (using the JavascriptSerializer). This allows you to do something like this:
and in your javascript:
Under the hood:
It's actually all quite simple. The first thing that happpens, is when an action gets called, the NGonActionFilterAttribute fires, and it creates a new ExpandoObject called NGon on the Controllers ViewBag property:
Then, as you keep adding items to the ViewBag.NGon property, you're adding it to this underlying ExpandoObject. Finally, when you call the IncludeNGon in the HTML, this is where all the magic happens:
What it does is, it first creates an empty javascript object on the window object. Then, for each property in the ViewBag.NGon property, it adds the serialized version of it to that javascript object on the window object. What you end up with, is something like this:
Cool huh? Drop me a comment, let me know what you think!