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
Saudi special forces overran a seaside villa in Damman Sept. 6 where Islamic militants had been holed up, ending three days of heavy fighting that left at least nine dead. For two nights, special forces pounded the villa with rocket-propelled… Read moreJihadis to take the war to Saudi Arabia?
A front-page story in Army Times Sept. 2, “Troops begin combat operations in New Orleans,” states: Combat operations are underway on the streets “to take this city back” in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. “This place is going to look… Read moreUrban “combat” in New Orleans —and ethnic cleansing?
The Navy has hired Houston-based Halliburton Co. to restore electric power, repair roofs and remove debris at three naval facilities in Mississippi damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Halliburton subsidiary KBR will also perform damage assessments at other naval installations in New… Read moreHalliburton gets hurricane reconstruction contract
If the uncorroborated quotes here are accurate, this reality is almost too horrific to comprehend. What is most alarming is that the refugees are effectively captives. This is turning into human warehousing of the same type practiced against the Japanese-Americans… Read moreNew Orleans: grave human rights violations reported
President Bush has ordered 7,000 active duty troops into New Orleans, including 2,500 from the 82nd Airborne Division in North Carolina, 2,700 from the 1st Cavalry Division in Texas, 2,000 from the 1st and 2nd Marine Expeditionary Forces. “I think… Read moreNew Orleans: Bush sends in the Marines
