The devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina may not be entirely the result of an act of nature. After a flood killed six people in 1995, Congress created the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project. The Corps of Engineers strengthened and… Read moreEnvironmental policy roots of Katrina disaster
As looting and gunfire erupt in New Orleans, the authorities are shifting their attention from a humanitarian mission to what is starting to look like counter-insurgency. “They have M-16s and they’re locked and loaded,” Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said of… Read moreNew Orleans: laboratory of counter-insurgency
Cindy Sheehan and her entourage have left Crawford, TX, as Bush ended his vacation a few days early in response to the disaster in New Orleans. She is taking her act on the road with a “Bring Them Home Now… Read moreBush: the anti-FDR
Oil prices hit new record highs, crossing $70 a barrel in Asian trading, as Hurricane Katrina threatened the Gulf of Mexico region and Bush urged residents of New Orleans to comply with a general evacuation order. A state of emergency… Read moreKatrina hikes oil over $70 mark; National Guard police New Orleans
On Aug. 13, New Mexico governor Bill Richardson declared a state of emergency for counties along the Mexico border. Governor Janet Napolitano did the same for Arizona on Aug. 15. The states of emergency allow the two governors to spend… Read more“State of emergency” in Southwest border states
In a sure sign that the anti-war movement is finally starting to have some effectiveness, protesters are now coming under violent attack. Over the weekend, police in Pittsburgh, PA, used dogs and tasers against a group picketing a recuitment center… Read moreRepression in Pittsburgh
The Washington Post reports Aug. 8 that the Pentagon “has devised its first-ever war plans for guarding against and responding to terrorist attacks in the United States, envisioning 15 potential crisis scenarios and anticipating several simultaneous strikes around the country,… Read moreWashington Post: Northern Command to lead domestic terror response
Both houses of Congress have now voted to extend the most onerous measures of the PATRIOT Act, which is due to expire in December. (IHT, Aug. 1) But these measures still may not survive judicial review. From Immigration News Briefs,… Read moreJudge: Patriot Act provisions unconstitutional
The New York Times, as usual, gives op-ed space to right wing “free market” fundamentalists. In The Price Is Right, August 3, 2005 Pankaj Ghemawat, a professor of business administration at Harvard and Ken A. Mark, a business consultant in… Read moreWal-Mart good for workers, NY Times says
A little deja vu hearkening back to the ’90s, when the stereotypical terrorist was a redneck—Angry White Male, to use the argot of the day. What’s interesting is how much Eric Rudolph’s rhetoric mirrors that of the jihadis. From the… Read more“American terrorist” sentenced
Perhaps embarrassed by outgoing chief Tom Ridge’s admission that the color coded terror alert was raised for political reasons (USA Today, May 10), the Homeland Security Department appears to be slowing in some of its most egregious (or ambitious) new… Read moreHomeland Security weighs privacy rights
The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado released documents May 18 confirming that the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) in Denver is targeting peaceful political activists for harassment and building files on constitutionally-protected political activities that have nothing to… Read moreJTTF targets protesters
