For three weeks the U.S. Navy has been pleading with the Burmese government to fly in aid to Burma’s rural areas. The Washington Post’s Amy Kazmin reports that the effort has for now been abandoned.

The U.S. federal government has had limited success getting aid into the cyclone-torn country controlled by a military junta. The Pentagon and U.S. AID in the State Dept. have done airlifts into Rangoon, the country’s biggest city. But the junta refuses to let supplies into rural areas despite the U.S., U.N, and international aid organizations inviting government leaders to accompany their relief missions. Read Kazmin here. MB

An encouraging change came out of a divisive hearing yesterday as Immigrations and Customs Enforcement told a House subcommittee they would now report when immigrants in detention centers died. The Washington Post’s Amy Goldstein reports that deaths at detention centers will be reported to the same part of the Justice Dept. that tracks prison deaths.

The hearing stemmed from a Post investigative series on the ghastly medical care given to immigrants who, for widely varying reasons, are rounded up and put in detention centers across the country. Since ICE, which is under the Dept. of Homeland Security, started the practice in 2003 a reported 83 people have died. About 250 were administered psychotropic drugs.

Sure this all sounds grossly inhumane. But, hey, as Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) points out you don’t want to just give away “Rolls-Royce medical care for illegal aliens.”   Read Goldstein here. MB

Three weeks ago the Wall Street Journal reported on a heated dispute between private Blackwater Worldwide and the city of San Diego. The mayor of San Diego didn’t want the notorious private security company to build a counterterrorism facility in a warehouse that included a firing range.

Well, as Congressional investigators, Iraqi civilians, and even the FBI have learned: don’t mess with Blackwater. The Associated Press reports that a district judge ruled that the company needed the firing range to teach a class. The Navy gave Blackwater a $400 million dollar contract to train Navy sailors in counterterrorism tactics. This is on the heels of the State Dept. renewing their contract with Blackwater to provide security for dignitaries in Iraq. Read AP here. MB