t r u t h o u t | 09.06

George Friedman | New Orleans: A Geopolitical Prize
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/090605R.shtml
Friedman: A simple way to think about the New Orleans port complex is that it is
where the bulk commodities of agriculture go out to the world and the bulk
commodities of industrialism come in. The commodity chain of the global food
industry starts here, as does that of American industrialism.


Official: E. Coli Bacteria Detected in Floodwater
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/090605T.shtml
Floodwater in New Orleans is contaminated with E. coli bacteria. E. coli comes
from human and animal waste and can be found in untreated sewage. Drinking water
contaminated with E. coli can lead to serious illness and death if not properly
treated.


Hurricane Destroys Last of Nature's Speed Bumps
http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/090605EA.shtml
As scientists review aerial photographs of devastation, the evidence of the next
huge challenge facing the Gulf Coast jumps out at them: Katrina ripped through
the coastline's few remaining barrier islands, and with the hurricane season
half over, New Orleans lies naked to the ravages of future storms.


Conservationists Warn Great Apes Face Extinction
http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/090605EB.shtml
Poaching, logging and disease will soon wipe out the last of the world's great
apes unless new strategies are devised to save humankind's closest relatives.
Scientist Richard Leakey said, "it is important to remember we are talking about
the future of a member of our family, not a strange creature that lives in the
jungle."


Experts: Planet Is Growing More Unsafe
http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/090605EC.shtml
The levees in New Orleans inspired a false sense of security. "We rely on
technology and we end up thinking as human beings that we're totally safe, and
we're not," said Dennis S. Miletti, a specialist in disaster prevention. "The
bottom line is we have a very unsafe planet."


Public Health Emergency Declared in Texas
http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/090605HA.shtml
The nation's top health official today declared a public health emergency in
Texas, saying it would speed up federal assistance for the state as it contends
with almost 240,000 evacuees from Hurricane Katrina.


Union Organizers at Poultry Plants Find Newly Sympathetic Ears
http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/090605LA.shtml
No bathroom breaks, speeded up production lines, rock-bottom wages and a general
lack of respect for workers is helping unions organize poultry workers in the
South. Part of the success has come from involving the whole community in the
struggle.


What Does the AFL-CIO Split Mean?
http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/090605LB.shtml
The drama of the split has generated a good deal of attention on the crisis of
US unions. While the rift at the top widens, awareness of the need to strengthen
joint activity and solidarity seems to be growing at the grassroots.
Organizations and campaigns that pull members in across union lines may play a
greater role in keeping linkages alive.


Katha Pollitt | Theocracy Lite
http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/090605WA.shtml
Katha Pollitt: So now we know what "noble cause" Cindy Sheehan's son died for in
Iraq: Sharia ... The new Constitution, drafted under heavy pressure from the
Administration, sets aside the secular personal law under which Iraqis have
lived for nearly half a century in favor of theocracy lite.