From a Sept. 10 TruthOut account by Jeremy Scahill and Daniela Crespo: Heavily armed paramilitary mercenaries from the Blackwater private security firm, infamous for their work in Iraq, are openly patrolling the streets of New Orleans. Some of the mercenaries… Read moreIraq mercenaries deployed to New Orleans
Survivors of Hurricane Katrina who refuse to follow the mandatory evacuation order have been handcuffed as soldiers and police force them to abandon their homes. Up to 10,000 “hold-outs” are still thought to be in New Orleans, and many are… Read moreForcible evacuation of “Occupied New Orleans”
From the Arizona Daily Star, Aug. 31, online at Chiapas95: The North American Free Trade Agreement may have boosted big business, but it has had a disastrous effect on Mexicans, a Chiapas economist said. “There have been losers, and the… Read moreChiapas economist: NAFTA displaced Mexican campesinos
A heat wave with high temperatures peaking at 120 degrees Fahrenheit has led to a record number of deaths of migrants crossing into the US through Arizona. The US Border Patrol reports that at least 229 immigrants have died in… Read moreBorder deaths hit all-time high
The Denmark IMC reports that Danish police have raided part of Christiania, a longtime squatter community in an abandoned military base in Copenhagen, Denmark. About 200 riot police stormed the “freestate” compound and quickly sealed off “Fredens Eng” (Meadow of… Read moreCopenhagen squatters raided
The New York Times Sept. 5 made it official: the oil shock has arrived. Online at the International Herald Tribune: When Hurricane Katrina ripped through the oil rigs and refineries along the Gulf Coast last week, it set off the… Read moreOil shock: NY Times makes it official
A Sept. 8 Wall Street Journal story, run in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, finds that New Orleans’ “old-line” elite is already charting a racially-purged future for the city: [I]n an exclusive gated community known as Audubon Place, is the home of… Read moreNew Orleans: redevelopment as ethnic cleansing
Another chilling story of the authorities breaking up an inspiring citizens’ self-help effort in New Orleans. EMSNetwork News Sept. 6 runs a first-hand account by Larry Bradshaw and Lorrie Beth Slonsky, paramedics from California and both shop stewards with SEIU… Read moreParamedics: police turned back N.O. refugees with gunfire
From Reuters, Sept. 8, via TruthOut: Baghdad – The United Nations raised the alarm on Thursday about mounting violence in Iraq blamed on pro-government militias and urged the authorities to look into reports of systematic torture in police stations. In… Read moreUN report: death squads in Iraq
From the Boston Herald, Sept. 7, emphasis added: Oil companies came under new fire yesterday when it emerged that ExxonMobil’s profits are likely to soar above $10 billion this quarter on the back of the fuel crisis. That’s $110 million… Read moreExxon reaps Katrina windfall
A Sept. 5 interview with Charmaine Neville, a member of the third generation of New Orleans’ legendary Neville musical family, contains a first-hand account of how she helped many of her neighbors escape the stricken city—first with a flat boat,… Read moreNew Orleans: ethnic cleansing revisited
Juan Gonzalez of the NY Daily News Sept. 6 calls out FEMA for promoting the newsworthy Rev. Pat Robertson’s private charity for Katrina disaster-relief donations—and recalls the group’s links to the sleazy African diamonds trade, unearthed by a law enforcement… Read moreFEMA promotes Pat Robertson’s charity —despite Congo diamond scandal
