On Sept. 21 the Mexican government’s National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) urged President Felipe Calderon Hinojosa to start “the gradual withdrawal” of the military from a high-profile anti-crime campaign he launched at the beginning of the year. The CNDH based… Read moreMexico: report army drug war abuses
Employment and wages declined in Mexican maquiladoras (tax-exempt assembly plants producing for export) during the 2000-2006 administration of former president Vicente Fox Quesada, according to a report by Huberto Juarez Nunez, an economics analyst at the Distinguished Autonomous University of… Read moreMexico: maquilas declined under Fox
Although the group says it disavows violence, more than one criminal case related to the San Diego Minutemen is now pending in the California courts. In one case now coming to trial, John Monti of Bellflower, a Los Angeles suburb,… Read moreAnti-immigrant violence in San Diego
On Sept. 15, some 100 people rallied outside the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, a privately-run immigration prison, to protest the treatment of immigration detainees. The rally culminated a week-long 105-mile march through six counties, organized by the Prison… Read moreAnti-ICE protest at Georgia prison; nationwide raids continue
From the New York Times, Sept. 19: World’s Languages Dying Off RapidlyOf the estimated 7,000 languages spoken in the world today, linguists say, nearly half are in danger of extinction and are likely to disappear in this century. In fact, they… Read moreGlobal language die-back accelerates
From the New York Times, Sept. 19: Settlements Do Not Deter 9/11 Plaintiffs Seeking Trials Families of 14 of the people killed in the planes hijacked on Sept. 11, 2001, have settled their lawsuits, but relatives of other victims said… Read more9-11 survivors play into hands of police state?
Like the similar claims being made about Iran arming its Sunni-extremist deadly enemies in Iraq, this strikes us as utterly improbable. Recall that before 9-11, Iran was on the brink of war with Afghanistan, over the Taliban’s ethnic cleansing of… Read moreIran arming Taliban?
From the front page of the New York Times, Sept. 22: At State Deptartment, Blog Team Joins Muslim Debate WASHINGTON — Walid Jawad was tired of all the chatter on Middle Eastern blogs and Internet forums in praise of gory… Read moreState Department goes bloggo
Female genital mutilation—or “circumcision,” as its apologists call it—has been banned even in Eritrea, as it faces US accusations of harboring Islamist terrorists. We recently noted the irony that the US has launched criminal prosecutions over the practice, even as… Read moreEgypt: controversy over genital mutilation
No comment. From Reuters, Sept. 17: DUVANNY YAR, Russia — Sergei Zimov bends down, picks up a handful of treacly mud and holds it up to his nose. It smells like a cow pat, but he knows better. “It smells… Read moreMammoth dung may speed global warming
We have predicted again and again that Washington will goad Israel into throwing the first punch at Iran—thereby allowing US elites to shill the blame for the adventure off on the Jews as they jump in with massive air power… Read moreWurmser spills the beans: Israel to bomb Iran first
James Freedman writes for the Fayetteville Free Weekly, via Jewish Journal, Sept. 14: A shul grows in Dixie—Insha’Allah With Wal-Mart attracting a huge number of minority religious groups to Arkansas, it is not surprising that Fayetteville is becoming increasingly diverse…. Read moreJewish-Muslim co-existence —in Arkansas
