Lessons unlearned: special reports on 9/11 and Katrina

HOMELAND INSECURITY: The Bush administration's approach to protecting us from another 9/11 is best summed up by its 2002 homeland security strategy: "Sufficient incentives exist in the private market to supply protection." In an investigative series, senior correspondent James Ridgeway (author of The 5 Unanswered Questions About 9/11) examines how the government has let security languish, with dire consequences. Also:

* What happened to the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, which Democratic leaders promised to make a top priority?

* What are the most deadly potential targets no one talks about--and who's lobbying against securing them?

* What's the one measure that could improve our chances of preventing an attack--without costing a penny?

* Why are the 2008 presidential candidates--Republicans and Democrats alike--nowhere on this issue?

On motherjones.com starting September 5.

THE NEXT HURRICANE: Five years ago, Pulitzer-winning New Orleans Times-Picayune reporter John McQuaid wrote that a direct hit from a major hurricane could devastate South Louisiana. In a new Mother Jones investigative series, McQuaid reports that two years after his prediction came true, getting ready for the next big storm isn't just about fixing levees--it's about fixing the pork- and lobbyist-driven disaster-prevention system. This isn't a concern for New Orleans alone: Yale economist William D. Nordhaus says global warming will double the cost of U.S. hurricane damage to $16 billion a year. While Katrina-sized disasters used to occur every 86 years on average, he calculates that they will now come every 28 years, putting cities such as Houston and New York at risk.

On motherjones.com starting August 27.