Fragment for the 'dead City on a hill " to latch to ( for
empathy): never mind lawyers and judges now.


"What weather phenomenon kills the most people in America?

            Hurricanes? Tornadoes? Floods? Add those up and they will
still not
            total the deaths attributed to the real killer: heat
waves. The
            other phenomena yield good pictures, and that is one
reason you
            don't hear much about heat deaths. But according to Eric
Klinenberg,
            an assistant professor of sociology at New York
University, there is
            another, more subtle reason.

Victims of a heat wave "are primarily
            social outcasts - the elderly, the poor, and the isolated
- from
            whom we customarily turn away." In _Heat Wave: A Social
Autopsy of
            Disaster in Chicago_ (University of Chicago Press),
Klinenberg has
            looked at the week-long heat wave of July 1995, which
killed over
            700 people.

(Another comparison: the famous Chicago fire of 1871
            killed about three hundred.) In Chicago, the heat hit up
to 106
            degrees, with a heat index over 120. Cars broke down in
the streets,
            and bridges, rails, and roads buckled. Even with the
windows open,
            brick homes could heat up to 120 degrees. The heat killed,
but it
            did not just kill randomly. In clear, objective, but often
biting
            pages, Klinenberg shows the patterns of urban life that
brought
            death to certain regions and certain social groups.

            One group was the elderly, clearly disproportionately
killed by the
            heat. This might be attributed simply to their bodies
having fewer
            physiological resources to protect them. Indeed, the
government of
            Chicago tried to explain the deaths of elders this way;
the heat
            only culled those who were going to be dying soon anyway.

             There is
            no medical evidence that this was the case; they simply
were
            unconnected with society, and when they died alone in
their rooms,
            it was long before absences were noticed. Klinenberg
argues
            forcefully that the Chicago government, at different
levels, did not
            respond to the disaster as it would have a big fire or a
train
            wreck.

            When deaths mounted, Mayor Daley was able to frame the
issue
            as a "debate" about the rising number of deaths, when
there was no
            scientific controversy about the matter. Human Services
Commissioner
            Daniel Alvarez did a classic move of blaming the victim,
saying,
            "We're talking about people who die because they neglect
themselves.

SEE!
            We did everything possible. But some people didn't want to
even open
            their doors to us."

SEE - DEAD

The media also come in for criticism. They took
            up the artificial controversy generated by the mayor about
whether
            the heat deaths were "real" or not. There was little
analysis about
            which regions were being the most affected and why, and
the official
            city version of how little could be done against an act of
God was
            repeatedly parroted. By the time the reporters did a
comprehensive
            story, it was "old news" and didn't run.

            No one was more forgotten than forty-one victims whose
bodies no one
            claimed or cared about.
SEE

 They languished in the county morgue until
            August, when they were buried in a huge common trench in a
potter's
            field. Visiting the site in preparation for the book,
Klinenberg
            learned that a few reporters had come now and then to see
it, but no
            Chicagoans and no family members.

Social and governmental forces  can't control the heat, he reminds us,
but they can
make deaths easy  to overlook and forget.

 His book is a pointed effort to keep that from happening.


SEE - they do not want to forget you, "dead city on the hill"


           " Eric Klinenberg's new book "Heat Wave" gives readers a
tremendous
            insight into the Chicago heat wave of 1995. He approaches
this
            tragedy from several fronts. He begins with an account of
what
            happened during the several days of stifling heat and
continues with
            a look at the social impact of living and dying alone, why
certain
            neighborhoods lost more people than others and exposes a
city
            ill-prepared to handle the mounting number of deaths.
Klinenberg
            continues with an assault on the politics of Chicago, the
response
            of the mayor and those around him and finishes with an
adept look at
            the media's role and response to the deaths of over 700
people.

            Although at times the author writes in a dry style he
nonetheless
            portrays the Chicago heat wave as a catastrophic failure
on many
            levels. Klinenberg gets down to the root of some socio-
economic
            problems that beset Chicago and tells us the "whys" of
their causes.
            Many things stood out as I read this important and often
scary book,
            but one thing kept coming through....although heat waves
are
            discriminating killers the solutions are there if right
decisions
            are made at the right times, by governments and citizens
alike.
            A sad and ironic end to "Heat Wave" is told in the form of
a senior
            editor at The Chicago Tribune who decided to relate this
tragedy
            from both a human and social side. As Chicago cooled down
his work
            went on. Unfortunately, only a small part of the story was
ever
            printed as the paper decided that in the chill of November
few
            readers would be interested in a story that had occurred
during the
            blistering heat only a few months before.
            I highly recommend this book. It is a service to help us
understand
            what happened during July of that year. As the author
points out,
            this could happen again. "

SEE , that is not Eric saying it.


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"            I first heard about this book on NPR, and the topic
really disturbed
            me. When I got around to reading it, I found out there was
much more
            to this tragedy than the ghastly... "
"           A detailed exploration from an unconventional
            perspectiv b Heat Wave was one of the required readings
for my class on medical
            sociology, and it is almost single-handedly responsible
for sparking
            my interest in public health.

" A great expose into the frailty of our social
            structure.
            When asked about weather related events that incur the
deaths of
            hundreds of people, most think of hurricanes, floods, of
large
            tornado outbreaks.




          " A very interesting, if somewhat dry and academic,
            book
            On Thursday, July 13, 1995, the temperature in Chicago
climbed to
            106 degrees Fahrenheit. Over the course of the next week,
while the
            city sweltered in the stifling heat, and... "


             " An Excellent Candidate for Course Syllabi
            The only think I would add to what has been said already
is that
            this book should be strongly considered for courses that
emphasize
            the interaction between medicine and public..."
Published on February 25, 2005 by Buddie & Arthur

                   Klinenberg's investigation of the conditions and
outcome of the 1995
            tragedy deals with issues of human interdependence and
examines the
            importance of local and regional... Read more
            Published on December 17, 2004 by Michael Donahue
..............................................................................................................................


ABOUT AUTHOR:




Eric Klinenberg is Professor of Sociology at New York University. His
first book, Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago, won
six scholarly and literary prizes (as well as a Favorite Book section
from the Chicago Tribune) and was praised as “a dense and subtle
portrait” (Malcolm Gladwell, The New Yorker); “a remarkable, riveting
account” (American Prospect); “intellectually exciting” (Amartya Sen);
and a “trenchant, persuasive tale of slow murder by public
policy” (Salon). A theatrical adaptation of Heat Wave premiered in
Chicago in 2008, and a feature documentary based on the book is
currently in production.
(...)
Klinenberg is currently working on two new projects. One, a study of
the problem of urban security, examines the rise of disaster
expertise, the range of policy responses to emerging concerns about
urban risk and vulnerability, and the challenge of cultivating a
culture of preparedness. The other project is a multi-year study of
the extraordinary rise in living alone. He reported on parts of this
research in a recent story for NPR’s This American Life, and is now
working on a book, Alone in America, which will be published by The
Penguin Press.
..................

AND HERE HE COMES - THE SAVIOR ( HOW MANY TIMES WE HEARD THAT):

"Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School,
where he was the first African American president of the Harvard Law
Review. He was a community organizer in Chicago before earning his law
degree. He worked as a civil rights attorney in Chicago and also
taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from
1992 to 2004."

THAT IS NOT A LEGAL ISSUE FOR OBAMA TO HAVE HIS FALKS DIE LIKE THAT.
(I KEEP MISSIONG WHICH COMMUNITY KILLED WHICH AND WHY
UNDERTHTA COMMUNITY ACTION BY OBAMA.; I AM NOT MISING THAT
 FOR LAWYER WHEN DEAD, NO CASE)