This from the BBC, June 24. We know that the Indonesian regime (which the White House is seeking to reward with renewed military ties) is harshly intolerant of marijuana-smokers as well as ethnic separatists. We were hoping the separatists of… Read moreSharia law in Aceh
Just as the White House has rejected creation of an independent commission to investigate abuses at Gitmo and elsewhere (Reuters, June 21), comes this deeply disturbing news. It is (as we’ve recently noted) taboo to say this sort of thing,… Read moreDoctors involved in Gitmo interrogations
The US may soon be facing a counterinsurgency quagmire in Afghanistan as well as Iraq soon, even if the former still fails to grab headlines. Largely because the US has been more effective at grooming proxies to do the fighting,… Read moreAfghan war widening
The continuing violence in Lebanon seems to be forcing the situation there to a head: June 24, 2005 Lebanon’s anti-Syrian coalition urges president to resign Lebanon’s anti-Syrian coalition on Thursday accused President Emile Lahoud of being responsible for a series… Read moreWho is behind Lebanon violence?
With Congress considering new privacy-eroding measures in Patriot Act (and making the law permanent), and similar measures being weighed by the Homeland Security Department, comes this disturbing news. This did make the front page of the NY Times today, albeit… Read moreSocial Security shared data with FBI
A very unfortunate turn of events at the protests against the biotech industry confab that just concluded in Philadelphia, organized under the banner Biodevastation to Biojustice. This June 21 account from Philly’s KYW News Radio: A Philadelphia police officer involved… Read moreCop dead in Philly biotech protest
The EZLN has issued a new communique clarifying somewhat the “red alert” announced two days ago. This English translation from the website of the Zapatista Front, civil counterpart of the armed organization, states that the alert is a “precautionary measure”… Read moreZapatistas speak on “Red Alert”
The Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Human Rights Center in Chiapas (Centro FrayBa) offers this June 21 list of “antecedents” to the “red alert” declared by the Zapatista Army two days ago: 1.- Military movements: For the past two months… Read moreChiapas: “antecedents” to Red Alert
Here’s an ominous one. We bet this won’t be the last we hear of this news item. Where the hell is “Southwestern Asia” and why the secrecy about the location of the crash? Doesn’t the secrecy combined with the unsubtle… Read moreIran gets “Gary Powers” affair?
This one is truly pathetic. Last week Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) quoted from an FBI agent’s memo describing detainees at Guantanamo Bay as being chained to the floor without food or water in extreme temperatures. “If I read this to… Read morePropaganda system scores victory: Durbin apologizes for stating the obvious on Gitmo
A surge in violence during the past three months has left hundreds dead across eastern and southern Afghanistan. Presumed Taliban militants have carried out suicide bombings and kidnapped or killed aid and election workers, and fighting has also increased between… Read moreViolence rises ahead of Afghan elections
The circumstances are still sketchy, but the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) in Chiapas, Mexico, has announced it is going on “red alert”. This account from VOA, June 21: Mexico’s Zapatista rebel group has declared a state of emergency,… Read moreZapatistas go on “Red Alert”
