As I learn more and more about New Orleans and the effects of Hurricane Katrina, I keep asking myself, what is wrong with humanity? By definition, humanity is characterized by humanness or benevolence, but how is it humane to knowingly flood a city? (It’s like reading Watchmen, knowing that Adrian Veidt is plotting the end [...]
Read the rest of this entry »Author Archive
Preparing for the shocks
Shock Doctrine author Naomi Klein coming to Ithaca
By Qina Liu
While the chaos theory says “something as small as the flutter of a butterfly’s wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world,” award-winning Canadian journalist Naomi Klein subscribes to a different ideology, one where “only a crisis—actual or perceived—produces real changes.”
After the Debris Clears
Fighting compassion fatigue in Haiti and New Orleans
By Qina Liu
First there are the news reports, projecting the dilapidated houses, the masses of human suffering and recent wreckage. Then, there are the floods of information on benefit concerts, charities and what the average person can do to help. After a week, a month or a year, [...]
Nobody’s Perfect, You Better Work it
In capitalistic America, the Dream has always been wealth, power, beauty and fame. But how far is too far in pursuit of this?
Read the rest of this entry »Troy Davis: The Next Tom Robinson
Murder case reveals continued racism
By Qina Liu
In the flurry of the Alabama courtroom, a thick blanket of humidity clung to the sticky wooden pews as occupants waited for the jury’s verdict.
The defendant, Tom Robinson, represented by lawyer Atticus Finch, was a black field-hand accused of raping 19-year-old Mayella Ewell. Hours later, Robinson was convicted of [...]
