Sarah Ferguson of the Village Voice reports Sept. 8 of the feds shutting down yet another citizens' self-help initiative:

Although the effort was trumpeted in the media as an example of grassroots ingenuity in the face of disaster, local officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency have nixed an attempt by Houston activists to set up a low-power radio station at the Astrodome that would have broadcast Hurricane Katrina relief information for evacuees.

The project was unplugged even though it had key support. On Monday, the Federal Communications Commission quickly granted temporary licenses to broadcast inside the Astrodome and the adjacent Reliant Center. The station was also backed by the Houston Mayor's office and Texas governor Rick Perry. But local officials said FEMA bureaucrats KO'd the station—dubbed KAMP "Dome City Radio"—because of "security concerns."

From AP, Sept. 9, via TruthOut:

The deployment of thousands of National Guard troops from Mississippi and Louisiana in Iraq when Hurricane Katrina struck hindered those states' initial storm response, military and civilian officials said Friday.

Contrary to earlier reports, the St. Petersburg Times states Sept. 9 that nobody has yet been arrested for disobeying evacuation orders—but authorities are preparing to carry out forcible evacuations if "hold-outs" continue to resist. The paper acknowledges that this suspension of rights presents a "constitutional dilemma," and quotes the libertarian Cato Institute, which opposes the mandatory evacuation:

Surely we can distinguish houses that are . . . compromised beyond habitation and those that are perfectly livable," said Roger Pilon, vice president for legal affairs at the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C.

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 say they have been "deputized" by the Louisiana governor; indeed some are wearing gold Louisiana state law enforcement badges on their chests and Blackwater photo identification cards on their arms. They say they are on contract with the Department of Homeland Security and have been given the authority to use lethal force. Several mercenaries we spoke with said they had served in Iraq on the personal security details of the former head of the US occupation, L. Paul Bremer and the former US ambassador to Iraq, John Negroponte.

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 armed. (ITN, Sept. 9) The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette notes Sept. 9 that it feels like an "occupied" city:

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.

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 Arizona so far in the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, a 57% increase over the previous year's total. The large number of deaths has forced the Pima County Medical Examiner's Office to use a refrigerated trailer as a temporary morgue to handle the overflow of bodies. The morgue has a capacity of 120 bodies. The trailer can hold 60 to 70 bodies, depending on whether remains are intact or skeletal. (Arizona Daily Star, Tucson; Reuters, Sept. 1)

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 peace), where people live in trailers. In one of the biggest mass sweeps in Denmark ever, the police made over 100 arrests. Most were charged with not following police orders, although some face charges of physically resisting. The trailers have to leave under a new zoning ordinance, to clear the area for development. Writes the IMC: "The people from Christiania have resisted this new legislation for years. They wish to keep their autonomy and self managed decision making structures that have kept the place running for over 20 years..."