Katrina Was Less a Natural Disaster, and More an Artificial One Caused by Government

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“Harry Shearer in the documentary “The Big Uneasy.”” Source of caption and photo: online version of the NYT article quoted and cited below.

(p. B6) . . . Mr. Shearer is serious about his reasons for adding to a Katrina genre that includes two documentaries by Spike Lee (“When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts” and “If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don’t Rise”), another about custody battles over pets lost in the storm (“Mine”), and Werner Herzog’s reinterpretation of “Bad Lieutenant” (“Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans”).

“What they are missing is why it happened, why people suffered,” said Mr. Shearer, who spoke last week from his home in New Orleans.
At one-day screenings in about 160 theaters around the country on Monday, “The Big Uneasy” will fill in the blanks with a feature-length description of what it sees as failings by the Army Corps of Engineers and others.
Mr. Shearer said he was inspired to make the film last year, after hearing President Obama refer to the hurricane as a “natural disaster.” Mr. Shearer argues there was nothing natural about the breakdown of systems that were supposed to protect the city.

For the full story, see:
MICHAEL CIEPLY. “Katrina Film Takes Aim at Army Corps of Engineers.” The New York Times (Mon., August 30, 2010): B6.
(Note: ellipsis added.)
(Note: the online version of the story is dated August 29, 2010.)

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