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February 26, 2007 - This week marks the 18-month anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The Gulf Coast is still in crisis -- tens of thousands of people are still displaced, the region's recovery stalled due to a lack of housing, jobs, schools and other basic needs.

February 23, 2007 - Our blog piece this week on the search for CIA "ghost pilots" involved in extraordinary rendition flights -- including new evidence linking three North Carolina pilots to the debate over torture -- is igniting a firestorm of outrage.

February 23, 2007 - The South used to be the place President Bush could count on for support of the Iraq invasion and "war on terror." But over the last year, the tide has steadily turned in the South, leaving the administration with few safe havens to pitch their foreign policy.

February 22, 2007 - It was one of the most heartrending incidents that unfolded during the Hurricane Rita disaster: A motorcoach evacuating frail elderly residents and staff from a Texas assisted living facility in advance of the storm burst into flames on Interstate 45 near Dallas, killing 23 passengers and injuring 21 others.

February 22, 2007 - The folks at Emerging Democratic Majority's Donkey Rising blog (who noticed our post earlier this week about the South's prominent role in next year's presidential primaries) opine on Thomas Schaller's latest ode t

February 22, 2007 - As Chris noted in this recent post, there is growing world-wide opposition to the death penalty, and the numbers are down in the U.S. but it's still most prevalent in the South.

February 21, 2007 - Imagine living near an open-air pool containing thousands of gallons of hog excrement, the acrid stench from which is so overwhelming that it leads to chronic burning eyes, coughs, sore throats and diarrhea. Then imagine that the noxious stuff is sprayed on fields near your home, where it soaks into the water table and contaminates your drinking well.