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September 12, 2005 - The Center for American Progress offers a good run-down on the no-bid contracts going out to administration-connected corporations in the wake of Katrina, making the clear connection to Iraq:

September 12, 2005 - As news stories and first-hand accounts grow of people not getting the aid they need in the wake of Katrina, is it time for independent groups to start organizing accountability teams? Institute friend Joan Browning writes from West Virginia with some interesting history:

September 12, 2005 - The Independent (U.K.) ran an important story yesterday about the growing toxic cesspool that is developing in the lower Gulf. The piece interviews Hugh Kaufman, a toxicology expert at the EPA, and what he has to say about the federal response to the poisoned waters isn't kind:

September 10, 2005 - The title of a Reuters story today tells it all: "Firms with White House ties get Katrina contracts."

September 10, 2005 - One of the reasons the post-hurricane flooding in Louisiana is so dangerous is because of Cancer Alley -- the string of petrochemical operations that line the Mississippi River in largely poor and black communities from New Orleans to Baton Rouge. They've turned the lower gulf into one of the most polluted and blighted parts of the country, which many believe is to blame for the rash of deadly illnesses plauging residents in the area.

September 10, 2005 - Jeremy Scahill and Daniela Crespo of Democracy Now! are in New Orleans, and report on the growing mercenary presence in the city:

September 10, 2005 - From the Atlanta Journal Constitution: