From the University of Arizona Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program via the Rainforest Foundation, Sept. 7:

On September 4, 2007, Hurricane Felix hit land on the Northeast Coast of Nicaragua as a level 5 hurricane. Initial reports have told the story of the eye of the hurricane passing directly over Awas Tingni, resulting in complete devastation of all the homes in the community, as well as destruction of all nearby crops and transport routes. Rains have continued since the hurricane hit, causing floods and ongoing dangerous conditions in the entire region.

This Sept. 6 report from Computer World hails a victory for the privacy rights of cyberscenti, but as we have noted, this also concerns us old-school types who go to libraries and read books. (We know, how quaint.)

Judge: Court order needed before ISPs turn over user info without notification
A federal court today ruled that the FBI can't compel ISPs to turn over user records without notifying those users unless it has a court order or a grand jury subpoena. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York struck down part of the amended Patriot Act's National Security Letter (NSL) provision, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which had filed a lawsuit challenging the provision.

The Indo-Asian News Service is justly proud of Bhairavi Desai of the New York Taxi Workers' Alliance in this Sept. 5 account. New York City is fast becoming a laboratory for the new surveillance state, and the heroic taxi drivers are in the vanguard of the resistance:

Bhairavi Desai leads taxi strike in New York
Fewer taxis were seen on the roads in New York and it was taking longer to hail one as the two-day strike by a section of the city's 13,000 cab drivers started on Wednesday morning. Drivers of yellow cabs—about 60 per cent of them are South Asian—have been protesting the installation of GPS software and credit card readers by the government.

Sri Lanka's government is dividing districts in the east to prevent a Tamil homeland being created, potentially spoiling chances for a peace settlement, charged R. Sampanthan, parliamentary leader of the Tamil National Alliance party. The aim is to create an ethnic Sinhalese region between the port of Trincomalee in the Eastern Province and Mullaiththeevu in the Northern Province, Sampanthan told the TamilNet Web site. The army won control of the Eastern Province in July after 14 years of fighting with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The LTTE still controls parts of the northern Jaffna peninsula. (Bloomberg, Sept. 6)

Twenty Burmese security officials taken captive for several hours by Buddhist monks were released unharmed Sept. 6. The officials had arrived at the monastery in the town of Pakokku to apologize for injuries caused during a protest on the previous day over fuel price rises. Angry monks set fire to their vehicles and refused to let them leave. Hundreds of local residents gathered outside the gats of the monastery to applaud the monks. The officials were freed after a senior abbot intervened. At the Sept. 5 protest, security forces fired shots into the air to disperse 400 people in a rare demonstration by monks in Pakokku. At least three monks were injured.

From the Iraq Freedom Congress, Sept. 3:

The Anti-Oil Law Front Stages a Mass Demonstration in Baghdad
US Forces Try to Provoke the Demonstrators
The Anti-Oil Law Front staged a demonstration in the center of Baghdad (Liberation Square) under Liberty Monument. The demonstrators raised slogans in English and Arabic denouncing the oil Law and chanted against the US administration and its appointed government. The US forces surrounded the rally for half an hour and took pictures of the demonstrators who carried the banners. They also blocked the traffic to prevent people joining the demonstration in an attempt to spread terror among whoever intends to join the rally. The area was filled with hundreds of police and National Guard of whom dozens sympathized with the demonstrators and the cause.

The Secretary of the Navy Sept. 5 handed down letters of censure to three US Marine officers for improper performance of duties in the reporting and investigation of the killings of 24 Iraqi civilians at Haditha in November 2005. A previous investigation into the officers' alleged misconduct revealed no evidence of a plan to conceal the Haditha incident which would violate the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). As the investigation did not indicate a UCMJ violation, the officers were not brought before an Article 32 panel to determine whether they should face courts-martial for their actions. Letters of censure are the most severe administrative punishment available to the Secretary of the Navy. The censured officers—Maj. Gen. Richard A. Huck, Col. Stephen W. Davis and Col. Robert G. Sokoloski—may be denied promotion and may lose full retirement benefits as a result of the letters.

From the sarcastically-named RNC Welcoming Committee, Sept. 3:

We Will Not Be Intimidated
On Friday, August 31, nineteen people were arrested after police brutally attacked cyclists with Tasers, pepper spray, and excessive physical force. The cyclists were part of the monthly Critical Mass bike ride.