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9/10/2005

ASPARTAME = DEATH :.

Once upon a time, aspartame was listed by the Pentagon as a biochemical warfare agent. Today it's an integral part of the modern diet. Sold commercially under names like NutraSweet and Canderel, aspartame can be found in more than 5,000 foods, including fizzy drinks, chewing gum, table-top sweeteners, diet and diabetic foods, breakfast cereals, jams, sweets, vitamins, prescription and over-the-counter drugs.


9/9/2005

FEMA Scraps Debit Cards for Katrina Victims :.

When will the chipping begin? I can't believe They haven't gone that route yet:

"We tried it as an innovative way to get aid to evacuee populations in Texas. We decided it would be more expeditious with direct deposits," she said, citing the large staffing operation that would be required to replicate the Texas operation in other states.



Disarming Grandma :.

See the tough men disarm grandma and load her on the back of a truck.

Research Credit: BW



Water Crisis Looms as Himalayan Glaciers Melt :.

Imagine a world without drinking water.

It's a scary thought, but scientists say the 40 percent of humanity living in South Asia and China could well be living with little drinking water within 50 years as global warming melts Himalayan glaciers, the region's main water source.


Research Credit: KH



Private Property Seized in Houston :.

Mayor Bill White commandeered a vacant supermarket Thursday so it could be used as a central location for administering federal aid to Katrina evacuees in the area.

White had been involved in negotiations for several days with the owners of a large empty warehouse at 6059 South Loop East that once housed an Auchan supermarket.

The owner declined Wednesday to lease or rent the building as offices for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, prompting White's action.

FEMA officials have not said whether they will need the building, but White said he wanted to ensure it is available.


Research Credit: BW



The Pentagon's Freedom Walk Lockdown :.

Via ranprieur.com:

The march, sponsored by the Department of Defense, will wend its way from the Pentagon to the Mall along a route that has not been specified but will be lined with four-foot-high snow fencing to keep it closed and "sterile," said Allison Barber, deputy assistant secretary of defense.

The U.S. Park Police will have its entire Washington force of several hundred on duty and along the route, on foot, horseback and motorcycles and monitoring from above by helicopter. Officers are prepared to arrest anyone who joins the march or concert without a credential and refuses to leave, said Park Police Chief Dwight E. Pettiford.



New Orleans Begins Confiscating Firearms as Water Recedes :.

The Blackwater mercs can keep their guns, as for the rest of you, get on the truck, or else:

Waters were receding across this flood-beaten city today as police officers began confiscating weapons, including legally registered firearms, from civilians in preparation for a mass forced evacuation of the residents still living here.

No civilians in New Orleans will be allowed to carry pistols, shotguns or other firearms, said P. Edwin Compass III, the superintendent of police. "Only law enforcement are allowed to have weapons," he said.

But that order apparently does not apply to hundreds of security guards hired by businesses and some wealthy individuals to protect property. The guards, employees of private security companies like Blackwater, openly carry M-16's and other assault rifles. Mr. Compass said that he was aware of the private guards, but that the police had no plans to make them give up their weapons.



ABC NEWS VIDEO OF GUN CONFISCATIONS IN NEW ORLEANS :.

"No one will be able to be armed. We will take all the weapons."

Research Credit: BW


9/8/2005

Mexican Military Enters U.S. to Give Aid :.

In other Superpower news:

Mexican army convoys and a navy ship laden with food, supplies and specialists traveled to the United States Wednesday to help in the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. It was a highly symbolic journey marking the first time Mexico's military has aided its northern neighbor.

A convoy of 45 vehicles and 196 soldiers arrived at the border city of Nuevo Laredo Wednesday night. It was to cross into U.S. territory early today, Gen. Francisco Ortiz Valadez told reporters as his men refueled at a local gas station.



CNN Live: Go F*ck Yourself, Mr. Cheney :.

Nice one.



Powerful Solar Flare Erupts :.

The lunatic fringe is talking about unusually high earthquake activity in the Western U.S. I noticed that some of the maniacs were waiting for a, "trigger event." You know me: Whenever lots of freaks think something is about to happen, it doesn't. But if there's a massive earthquake in the Western U.S. over the next few days, the freaks called it:

One of the largest solar flares on record was recorded by the NOAA Space Center in Boulder, Colo., at 1:40 p.m. EDT on Sept. 7. Forecasters are predicting significant solar eruptions over the next few days.

Electric power systems, high-frequency communications, low-frequency navigation systems and spacecraft operations may experience disruptions over the next two weeks.



U.S. Seeks Larger NATO Role in Katrina Aid :.

The STRATFOR analysis of New Orleans as a strategic asset makes even more sense as we see NATO mobilizing to assist:

The United States asked NATO on Thursday to take on a bigger role transporting European aid to areas hit by Hurricane Katrina and the alliance immediately ordered military experts to draw up plans to offer more assistance.

The U.S. made the request at a special meeting of ambassadors from the 26 allies. After getting their orders, NATO military experts began discussing ideas, including the possible use of ships from the elite NATO Response Force, with the U.S. Northern Command.


9/7/2005

Refinery Crisis Faked to Drive Up Gas Prices :.

The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR) today exposed internal oil company memos that show how the industry intentionally reduced domestic refining capacity to drive up profits. The exposure comes in the wake of Hurricane Katrina as the oil industry blames environmental regulation for limiting number of U.S. refineries.

Research Credit: Sploid



New Orleans: A Geopolitical Prize :.

Excellent article about New Orleans, in terms of strategic commercial value:

New Orleans is not optional for the United States' commercial infrastructure. It is a terrible place for a city to be located, but exactly the place where a city must exist. With that as a given, a city will return there because the alternatives are too devastating. The harvest is coming, and that means that the port will have to be opened soon. As in Iraq, premiums will be paid to people prepared to endure the hardships of working in New Orleans. But in the end, the city will return because it has to.

Research Credit: PT



New Orleans Mayor Orders Forced Evacuation :.

To the estimated 10,000 residents still believed to be holed up in this ruined city, the mayor had a blunt new warning: Get out now - or risk being taken out by force.

As floodwaters began to slowly recede with the city's first pumps returning to operation, Mayor C. Ray Nagin authorized law enforcement officers and the U.S. military to force the evacuation of all residents who refuse to heed orders to leave.


9/6/2005

FEMA Accused of Flying Evacuees to Wrong Charleston :.

WTF? WTF? WTF?!

Add geography to the growing list of FEMA fumbles.

A South Carolina health official said his colleagues scrambled Tuesday when FEMA gave only a half-hour notice to prepare for the arrival of a plane carrying as many as 180 evacuees to Charleston.

But the plane, instead, landed in Charleston, West Virginia, 400 miles away.

It was not known whether arrangements have been made to care for the evacuees or transport them to the correct destination.

A call seeking comment from FEMA was not immediately returned.



FEMA Cut Phone Lines?! :.

According to Broussard, FEMA prevented water shipments from reaching the parish before the storm, stopped aid shipments after the storm and cut phone lines of emergency personnel. Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee had to post deputies to protect the parish's communication network from being destroyed by FEMA, our own federal government! While FEMA has been causing havoc in Jefferson Parish, they have been doing next to nothing throughout the state to provide aid to hurricane victims. According to Republican U.S. Senator David Vitter, the agency deserves a "F."

More:

Other reports indicate that FEMA blocked the Coast Guard from providing 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel, turned away three trailer trucks sent by Wal-Mart filled with water, refused an offer from the American Ambulance Association to provide 300 emergency vehicles, and rejected major assistance from the city of Chicago. FEMA apparently cut the emergency communications line to Jefferson Parish. When the sheriff fixed it, he assigned armed guards to protect it from FEMA.

Research Credit: RT



Fire Fighters Forced to Sit Through FEMA Public Relations Class :.

BEYOND BELIEF! F FEMA!

Many of the firefighters, assembled from Utah and throughout the United States by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, thought they were going to be deployed as emergency workers.

Instead, they have learned they are going to be community-relations officers for FEMA, shuffled throughout the Gulf Coast region to disseminate fliers and a phone number: 1-800-621-FEMA.

On Monday, some firefighters stuck in the staging area at the Sheraton peeled off their FEMA-issued shirts and stuffed them in backpacks, saying they refuse to represent the federal agency.

The firefighters, several of whom are from Utah, were told to bring backpacks, sleeping bags, first-aid kits and Meals Ready to Eat. They were told to prepare for "austere conditions." Many of them came with awkward fire gear and expected to wade in floodwaters, sift through rubble and save lives.

"They've got people here who are search-and-rescue certified, paramedics, haz-mat certified," said a Texas firefighter. "We're sitting in here having a sexual-harassment class while there are still [victims] in Louisiana who haven't been contacted yet."

The firefighter, who has encouraged his superiors back home not to send any more volunteers for now, declined to give his name because FEMA has warned them not to talk to reporters.


Research Credit: Sploid



Feeding the Oil Monster with a Dixie Cup :.

But these steps, however welcome, aren't likely to calm a supply chain where players at every level -- refiners, wholesalers, retailers, and consumers -- fear a supply squeeze and price hikes.


9/5/2005

Oil Prices Fall :.

Take a breath and calmly get out, while you can:

Oil prices fell on Monday, extending Friday's sharp drop, after the release by industrialized nations of emergency stocks to prevent a U.S. fuel crisis after Hurricane Katrina.



Scholarship in the Shadow of Empire :.

I took a Middle East area studies class with Professor Brand when I was a student at USC. She is one of the few people I know in "polite circles" who isn't afraid to let it rip:

...my point is that if one has reservations about aspects of US policy, one cannot simply accept one's Fulbright and then deny implication in the broader imperial/political system because the funding comes from the Department of Education, as opposed to a department that militarily invades another country or an agency that hides away so-called illegal combatants. If we take funding from the empire, we cannot deny a degree of responsibility for its actions. When bombs drop on Iraq, when Apache helicopters are used against a refugee camp in Palestine, to one degree or another, we are implicated.



French Quarter Holdouts Create 'Tribes' :.

Do you know your neighbor?

In the absence of information and outside assistance, groups of rich and poor banded together in the French Quarter, forming "tribes" and dividing up the labor.

As some went down to the river to do the wash, others remained behind to protect property. In a bar, a bartender put near-perfect stitches into the torn ear of a robbery victim.

While mold and contagion grew in the muck that engulfed most of the city, something else sprouted in this most decadent of American neighborhoods - humanity.

"Some people became animals," Vasilioas Tryphonas said Sunday morning as he sipped a hot beer in Johnny White's Sports Bar on Bourbon Street. "We became more civilized."


9/4/2005

The Ugly Truth :.

Bubbling up from the flood that destroyed New Orleans are images, beamed around the world, of America's original and continuing sin: the shabby, contemptuous treatment this country metes out, decade after decade, to poor people in general and the descendants of African slaves in particular. The world sees New Orleans burning and dying today, but the televised anarchy - the shooting and looting, needless deaths, helpless rage and maddening governmental incompetence - was centuries in the making.




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