Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman is broadcasting from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Unable to sleep, I turned on the TV at 5am PT to Free Speech TV channel carried, thankfully, by DISH satellite.


Update [2005-9-12 12:1:7 by susanhu]: NOTE: Do not miss the following segments, including DN!’s report on the Blackwater guards — as first reported here by Spiderleaf — including one Blackwater guard who told Amy Goodman that this is a “trend” (i.e., the use of private contractor guards in American cities). Jeremy Scahill, speaking on camera, says that he overheard one Blackwater contractor bitching that he was only getting $350/day plus per diem, while other private contractors were making a lot more. And, Jeremy Scahill, a longtime DN! producer/journalist, has a special written report: “Overkill: Feared Blackwater Mercenaries Deploy in New Orleans.”


Update [2005-9-12 13:19:18 by susanhu]: From Keith Olbermann’s newsletter:

President Bush on Monday got his first up-close look at the destruction in New Orleans, afterwards telling reporters that he didn’t believe there was any racial component to people being left behind after Hurricane Katrina. Bush made the remarks at the end of a tour that took him through several flooded New Orleans neighborhoods. Occasionally, Bush had to duck to avoid low-hanging electrical wires and branches. (I can see Keith smirk over this.)


I was stunned that Amy Goodman and her producers, along with activist Malik Rahim — who removed a body-sized piece of sheet metal and a respectful sheet to show the body — were able to stand so close to the body because of the odor. They photographed the body close up. The decomposition is evident. They did so because they know it’s important. (That kind of reporting makes a fool of the likes of Geraldo Rivera, who rescued the same woman twice — the second time for the cameras — pushing an Air Force worker out of the way to do so.. Hope I don’t get sued for saying so. Geraldo, who claims it’s untrue, says he’s going to sue the NYT for reporting that story.)


In the segment, Amy Goodman repeatedly asks all kinds of soldiers and police — who start driving by — why the body has not been picked up for two weeks.

[THE INTRO to the SEGMENT] The city remains under a curfew and there are police and military checkpoints everywhere. In the time we have been here, we have encountered law enforcement officers from nearly every possible agency under the sun. New Orleans has been transformed into a complete militarized zone. There are still areas of the city that have not been reached by rescue workers and there are a number of large makeshift morgues that have been set up. There is still no firm death toll. Last night, President Bush reportedly slept aboard the USS Iwo Jima and he is touring the area once again beginning here in Louisiana. In New Orleans itself there are people who are refusing the evacuation order and are calling on the government to restore their gas and electricity. But most areas remain like a ghost town.


We spoke with community organizer Malik Rahim in the Algiers neighborhood. He is one of those who has refused to leave.


Malik Rahim, a veteran of the Black Panther Party in New Orleans. For decades he has worked as an organizer of public housing tenants both there and in San Francisco. He recently ran for New Orleans City Council on the Green Party ticket.


NOTE: 5:00am PT is when DN! broadcasts live. You can watch, or listen, at any time via DN!’s Web site. (DN! also provides audio for dial-up listeners, and I’ve never had trouble listening no matter how old my computer or slow my dial-up.) Another superb alternative channel, LINK TV — carried by both DISH and DirectTV (Rupert Murdoch) — also airs a taped version of DN! at least twice daily.

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