Mississippi: Toeing the line
Source: Sun Herald


" Since Katrina departed, some residents have been faced with confusion and frustration. To compound the confusion, residents were shocked Friday to see a work crew laying out double coil rows of razor wire, also called concertina wire. Lynn Bauer, who is living with her mother after her MIlls Avenue home was damaged, said she also was stopped from accessing her home. "I want to get to work taking out the drywall, insulation and flooring. The longer I wait, the worse it's going to be," Bauer said.
At a briefing of the Emergency Operations Center Saturday, Col. Joe Spraggins, chief of emergency services for Harrison County, said he decided to install the razor wire to secure the stretches of land between checkpoints. "I can put 1,000 national guardsman there (instead), but that's a waste of assets," Spraggins said. He said the wire is easy to lay down and remove. "We are not trying to put you in a concentration camp or make it look like a war zone," he said. A concentration camp is exactly what Bauer thought of when she first saw the wire. The razor wire is being installed from Gulfport to Pass Christian. Biloxi is installing three-foot high metal barricades instead of razor wire, said Vincent Creel, Biloxi public information manager. They are the same barricades used for crowd control during parades. Spraggins said the wire and the increased security at the checkpoints is to protect residents. "Razor wire is there to prevent others from accessing their home. It's there for their own safety," he said." (09/10/05)

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/special_packages/hurricane_katrina/12618194.htm

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St. Patrick's Four protesters offer an explanation
Source: Common Dreams
Author: Peter Demott, Clare Grady, Danny Burns and Teresa Grady


"On Sept. 19, the four of us will go on trial a second time for trying to prevent the Iraq war. We are charged with conspiracy to impede "by force, intimidation and threat" an officer of the United States and three lesser charges. If convicted of federal conspiracy, we face up to six years in prison, a period of probation and $275,000 in fines. .... In April 2004 we were tried in state court, where nine of twelve jurors voted, after listening to our defense, that we were not guilty. The judge declared a mistrial after 20 hours of deliberations. .... Now, with an ever worsening situation in Iraq, the United States government wants to retry us for conspiracy. We believe our actions were moral, legal and necessary. As with our first trial, if the jury is allowed to hear about the illegality of the war, our country's history of nonviolent resistance to injustice, and how our faith in God calls us to work for a world unified by love, solidarity and mutual cooperation, we expect our peers will vote to acquit." (09/15/05)

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0915-34.htm

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Everybody loves martial law
Source: Strike the Root
Author: Joe Plummer


"At some point the propaganda we're subjected to becomes so utterly ridiculous, you've just got to ask yourself: "Is this really being said?" Chris Matthews (MSNBC - HardBall) nonchalantly informed his viewers today that EVERYONE just LOVES the military occupation in New Orleans. .... Is ANYBODY so ignorant as to not see through this "in our face" whitewash of yet ANOTHER power grab; this precedent-setting violation of our country's founding principles? Who do they think they're kidding? What will they tell us next? Will they claim people are dancing in the streets because they've been forcibly disarmed? . . . Or maybe that they're thrilled to be getting shipped off to the "safety" of a concentration camp?" (09/15/05)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/52/plummer/plummer2.html