“This is not a test,” New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said at a midday news conference.

Katrina  is a now a Category 3 hurricane, and could become a Cat 4 or even a 5. Current projections have it hitting metro New Orleans dead on. New Orleans has levees and most of the city is beneath sea level. Yikes.

Voluntary and mandatory evacuations have been ordered in Louisiana and Mississippi, with all lanes on Interstates 55 and 59 now being northbound only. The Superdome may be used as a shelter for those without cars who can not get out.

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President George W. Bush demanded on Saturday that the Palestinians respond to the Israeli pullout from Gaza and portions of the West Bank by cracking down on terrorism.

Fresh from his debacle in Iraq, where he arrogantly ordered everyone what to do about the Constitution and was ignored instead, Dubya is now telling Palestinians what they need to do to make him happy. I’m guessing the outcome will be the same. He, unlike previous Presidents, has no moral authority left as he’s gone and blown that up. He’s only left with military force, and that’s just not working out well in Iraq, is it?

The big problem is the U.S. insists on blundering into the affairs of whatever country it wants, usually with predictably negative results for all involved. It’s called imperialism, and it’s ugly and nasty - and it didn’t start with Bush, it’s been US policy for decades.

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Right here

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This reportback from The World Festival of Youth and Students in Venezuela this month is by Muna Coobtee of the ANSWER Coalition. She covers the current political situation, some history, what’s coming, as well as reporting on speeches by President Chavez and other ranking officials at the festival.
Recorded at an ANSWER LA Forum on Aug. 26, 2005.

MP3 (28.41 min ,9.85 MB)

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Temperatures for the next ten days will be between 110-116.

Electricity and water supplies are still spotty, so grab water when you can, and sleep on the roof where it’s cooler (But watch out for U.S. attack helicopters who might confuse you with insurgents.)

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India moves to spread wealth

India passed its most ambitious antipoverty program in decades Tuesday in an effort to spread more widely the spoils of the country’s rapid economic growth.

Presenting the bill in parliament, Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi said, “An economy growing at 7 percent per year, can and must find the resources … to improve the lives of its millions of poor.”

Meanwhile, the Bushites are moving in the opposite direction, destroying the social net started here in the 30’s, doing their best to concentrate wealth in the hands of a tiny few (who coincidentally, happen to be themselves.) 

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Tropical storms have doubled in destructive potential in the past 30 years because ocean surfaces have become warmer, according to a leading climate researcher.

This is the first time that an increase in the size, duration and power of tropical storms has been linked to global warming.

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