(photo from sandiego.indymedia.org)

• California's Fire Evacuees Tell Their Stories
• Southern California's Undocumented Immigrants Hit Hard by the Wildfires
• White House Censors Global Warming/Public Health Testimony, Democrats Respond
• US Secretary of Defense Says Planning for an Attack on Iran is "Routine"
• Issues Surrounding Iran Begin to Appear in Presidential Campaign Rhetoric
• Low Income Tenants in East Harlem File Suit to Save Their Homes

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California's Fire Evacuees Tell Their Stories

It's day six of California's wildfire emergency, and although the blazes are threatening fewer homes, they are not yet fully contained. At least 12 people are reported dead and 60 injured. The fires have burned a total area twice the size of New York City. Authorities have given some residents permission to return to their homes, while others remain evacuated in nearby shelters. Yasmin Madadi visited one evacuation shelter in Orange County and spoke to some of the victims.

Southern California's Undocumented Immigrants Hit Hard by the Wildfires

Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union and legal observers say that some victims of the fire have been refused emergency services due to racial profiling. FSRN's Producer Monica Lopez spoke with Andrea Guerrero, field and policy director for the ACLU in San Diego and Imperial counties.

White House Censors Global Warming/Public Health Testimony, Democrats Respond

Public health and environmental experts are up in arms over the White House's editing of Congressional testimony about the potential public health effects of global warming. Dr. Julie Gerberding, the director of the Centers for Disease Control, submitted testimony to Congress on Tuesday. ABC News is reporting, the original transcript of the testimony is 14 pages long – but the White House Office of Management and Budget edited and released a version that was only six pages long.

Comparing the original and edited versions, it appears the White House deleted any section that said climate change was a public health concern. These include increases in air pollution, extreme weather, and an enhanced risk of water and food-borne illnesses.

Officials at the Centers for Disease Control are denying they are being censored. The White House press secretary says the testimony went through the normal review process, and that the deletions were made at the behest of John Marburger, head of the White House Office of Science and Technology. He maintains the information was deleted because it did not align with findings made by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC.

Senator Barbara Boxer, a democrat from California, denounces Marburger's reasoning. She released a statement saying his claim "is a lame defense of the White House action to censor information the American people deserve to know about the dangers of global warming."

The IPCC report actually has an entire chapter dedicated to the human health impacts of climate change – covering many of the same issues censored by the White House.

US Secretary of Defense Says Planning for an Attack on Iran is "Routine"

US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told reporters yesterday that planning for military action with Iran is 'routine'. He dismissed suggestions that an attack is immanent, but said it is one of the many scenarios that are planned. Shervin Boloorian, is an independent Iranian analyst: (sound clip) Meanwhile, US lawmakers are taking precautions. Assistant Majority Leader, Richard Durbin of Illinois, introduced legislation that forces the president to ask congress before any military action is taken against Iran. This comes one day after a group of lawmakers in the House of Representatives introduced a measure that would strengthen congress' role in the war powers act. In their bill the president must also come to congress and provide detailed reports of military strikes.

Issues Surrounding Iran Begin to Appear in Presidential Campaign Rhetoric

These and other developments in US policy towards Iran are slowly trickling down the political stream. Among Democratic and Republican presidential hopefuls, the situation is quickly becoming the central arguing-point of the campaigns. In this week's political round up, FSRN's Leigh Ann Caldwell has more on the issue – and the media's exclusion of some candidates.

Low Income Tenants in East Harlem File Suit to Save Their Homes

The Movement for Justice in El Barrio in East Harlem, New York just filed a lawsuit against the London Based Corporation Dawnay Day. The organization claims the company has harassed residents and plans to evict low income and immigrant tenants who live in the 47 buildings that the company recently purchased. But as Andalusia Knoll reports, The residents of East Harlem have a long history of grassroots organizing: They say they will not allow Dawnay Day to evict them.