“The State Department has announced it is extending the private military firm Blackwater’s contract in Baghdad for another year. The news comes despite an ongoing FBI investigation into the September 16th shooting in Baghdad where Blackwater guards were accused of killing seventeen Iraqi civilians. An earlier investigation by the Pentagon found that all seventeen Iraqis were killed as a result of unprovoked and unjustified fire by Blackwater operatives. We speak with journalist Jeremy Scahill, author of the bestselling book, Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s most Powerful Mercenary Army. Scahill recently confronted the vice president of Blackwater about the September 16th shootings.”

Food Riots Spread in Africa

World Food Program: World is Facing “Perfect Storm”

The executives of the five biggest oil companies— Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, ConocoPhilips and Chevron—were called to testify at a congressional hearing on Tuesday. Lawmakers took them to task for making enormous profits but investing next to nothing in renewable sources of energy. They were also called to justify why they got $18 billion in tax breaks last year when their profits had hit $123 billion and oil prices had reached runaway highs.

Welcome to Wal-Mart, fuck you.

The protesters, some of whom had chained themselves to the front doors and had to be sawed out by police, are demanding Citibank shift their large-scale investments in coal-fired power plants due to coal’s increasing investment risk.

With environmental issues being an important issue in the presidential election, protests such as these will be drawing more and more attention as coal and oil companies fight the publicity and put out healthier, happier, fitter commercials to show the friendly side of the energy industry.

“In conjunction with today’s Citi event, Fossil Fools Day activities are happening from North Dakota to New Zealand. There are over 100 actions planned including Fossil Fool award deliveries to some of the most damaging CEOs and politicians, green job rallies, protests and civil disobedience at power plants, energy companies, and banks. Actions aim to express opposition to dirty energy and show support for climate justice and corporate responsibility. Fossil Fools Day is being organized by the Energy Action Coalition and a number of international allies including the International Rising Tide Network, Rainforest Action Network, and the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition.”

This ties in with the recent government bail out of Bear Stearns that led a homeowners demonstration outside the offices of Bear Stearns, JP Morgan Chase. There, JP Morgan Chase came in and “bailed out” Bear Stearns. Who was really bailed out? Wall Street. The people who have their savings, pension and investments tied in with Bear Stearns are not bailed out by any sense of the word. The Federal Reserve put up $30 billion to help JP Morgan Chase buy Bear Stearns, now worth around $300 million.

The actions of the government, particularly the Federal Reserve - now becoming more entwined with the government - are not common actions. They are not simple injections into an economy for a boost. The Federal Reserve is now in the process of nationalizing banks. What does that mean for you? Well, to give you an idea, that’s what happened during the Depression in the first quarter of the 20th century. Banks went out of business. The Fed, then newly empowered with laws to save the economy, took over. If every economic crisis leads to a more nationalized, centralized bank, our economy will be in the hands of fewer and fewer.