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Each political note has its own anchor in case you want to link to it.

29 April 2007 (Fighting in Mogadishu) Fighting between Ethiopian troops and Islamists continues in Mogadishu.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] Since this article says nothing about the departure of Ethiopian troops, which they previously said would happen very soon, I wonder if Bush has convinced them to make their occupation of Somalia permanent.

29 April 2007 (Sunni-Shi'ite killings) Sunni-Shi'ite killings are back in Baghdad.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] Note that the Al Qa'ida attacks described in this article are not terrorism. "Iraqi" soldiers and police are collaborators, working for the Bush forces, and attacking them is attacking the occupying army. It happens that most of these collaborators are Shi'ites.

29 April 2007 (News announcements and propaganda) The Bush wants army news announcements to cooperate with propaganda operations, just as they did in the Vietnam War. Of course, the "facts" provided for army news announcements are often pre-cooked for propaganda purposes. The US government systematically ordered troops to lie about the death of Pat Tillman from friendly fire, just as they systematically lied to make Jessica Lynch out as a hero. Now the Democrats are showcasing these lies.

29 April 2007 (Obtaining confessions through torture) How Bush's "military tribunals" will treat confessions obtained by torture as evidence.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] This means they are designed to function as part of a system for torturing and "convicting" people regardless of the facts.

29 April 2007 (The Panchen Lama) The Panchen Lama, imprisoned by China at the age of 5, is now 18 (if indeed he is alive), and is still in prison.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.]

29 April 2007 (Al Qa'ida gains ground) Al Qa'ida successfully attacked Bush forces troops in Iraq.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] This will enable Al Qa'ida to win more support among Iraqi Sunnis, nearly all of whom want to fight the occupiers of their country. They don't all support Al Qa'ida's other mission, which is killing Iraqi Shi'ites. But even those who dislike sectarian war may give Al Qa'ida more support if it conspicuously fights the Bush forces.

28 April 2007 (Supermarket chains too powerful) Large supermarket chains are so powerful that they are driving down wages for farm laborers in India.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] This article refers to the UK, but I'd expect it is even more true of the US.

28 April 2007 (Crisis in Somalia) The fighting in Mogadishu has driven 300,000 people to flee the city.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] The Ethiopians, and the US-constructed "provisional government", have little popular support, and thus no chance of defeating the Islamists.

28 April 2007 (Fake news) A brief history of fake news in the US.

28 April 2007 (Bush's skewed view of Iraq) Bush is using skewed statictics to prove that Iraq is safer. But car bombs are not the only form of killing that Bush omits from these figures. Aerial bombardment by the Bush forces kills lots of Iraqis, and they systematically underreport it.

28 April 2007 (Tsetsegee Munkhbayar) Mongolian herder Tsetsegee Munkhbayar launched an environmental movement that made many mines stop polluting.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.]

27 April 2007 (No treatment till you are blind) The UK's national health service won't pay for drugs to treat macular degeneration until the victim goes blind in one eye.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] However, privatized medicine is no solution. The private sector won't treat most of these victims at all (they can't afford it).

27 April 2007 (Using ill-gotten gains for charity) Bill Gates gives some of his money to charity, hoping thus to persuade society to overlook the harm he does to get that money. But how good is this charity really?

27 April 2007 (Pacific leatherback turtles) Pacific leatherback turtles are headed for extinction, wiped out by human fishing and habitat destruction. A migration "race" with turtles as competitors is trying to get children interested in their fate. The threats that these turtles face can be found in the "threats" section of this page.

27 April 2007 (Greenland ice sheet) A part of Greenland is revealed as a separate island after the ice shelf connecting it to Greenland melted away. The Greenland ice sheet is melting faster and faster, threatening to raise sea level by 23 feet and inundate many major cities.

27 April 2007 (Rigged elections) Nigeria's ruling party rigged the elections there. The opposition has denounced the elections as fraudulent and calls for a new election. The US elections in 2000 and 2004 were also rigged, and Greg Palast says they are working on rigging the next election already.

25 April 2007 (Plight of Sunnis in Baghdad) The Sunni inhabitants of a Baghdad neighborhood don't think that building walls will make them safer. (Perhaps because the death squads that kill Sunnis are Iraqi police and can go where they wish.) Iraqi prime minister al-Maliki says that the construction should stop, but he can't do anything to stop it, showing how powerless he is.

25 April 2007 (Mugabe threatens western diplomats) Mugabe has threatened to expel western diplomats unless they stop meeting with opposition figures and going to their trials.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] It is better to have the ambassadors expelled than have them remain while neutralized. However, what this shows is that diplomacy is useless. Only armed intervention will save the people of Zimbabwe. As a dictator and a murderer, Saddam Hussein was no worse than Mugabe. Yet Bush, who called for an attack on Iraq because Hussein was such a tyrant, has no interest in liberating Zimbabwe from Mugabe. Perhaps Zimbabwe has no oil.

24 April 2007 (Abandoned interpreters) B'liar has abandoned Iraqi interpreters who worked for the Bush forces in Iraq, and now need to flee for their lives.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] I don't have much sympathy for Iraqi collaborators, who are rightly being attacked as traitors by their countrymen. But this policy shows the moral corruption of B'liar  the same moral corruption that led to his participation in the attempt to conquer Iraq.

24 April 2007 (Iran's nuclear bomb) Iran has made progress in uranium enrichment, but is still a few years away from having the uranium needed for a bomb.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] I share the suspecion that Iran is planning to make nuclear weapons, but since they seem to be the only thing that can deter an attack by the US, I can't be very critical of this. Iran might use them for attack, but so might the US. The US refuses to promise not to be the first to use nuclear weapons, even against countries that don't have any.

24 April 2007 (Ban on irrigation) After a 6-year drought, Australia is about to ban irrigation, essentially wiping out agriculture. This drought is unpredecented and is probably due to global warming. Howard, who had ignored warnings that global warming would reduce rainfall in Australia, now reluctantly recognizes that global warming may be real.

24 April 2007 (Political censorship) The European Union took a small step towards political censorship by making it a crime to deny that various genocides took place, when done in a way that constitutes "incitement to racial hatred".

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] The added second condition makes the step smaller, but it still goes in a dangerous direction. Even Nazis have the right to advocate their views, and to make "incitement to hatred" a crime is dangerous censorship in itself.

24 April 2007 (Wang Xiaoning sues Yahoo) Chinese political prisoner Wang Xiaoning has sued Yahoo! for giving the Chinese government information that led to his being imprisoned and beaten.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] If there is no way for companies to operate in China without supporting torture, then they shouldn't operate in China. (The same applies to the US.)

24 April 2007 (Releasing the prisoners) Uri Avnery: Why Israel should release its Palestinian prisoners.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.]

24 April 2007 (Abortion law) Bush's appointees on the Supreme Court upheld the ban on a specific late-term abortion procedure, even when it is the best way to protect the pregnant woman's health.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] In effect, they have found a way to make Roe v Wade meaningless while pretending to uphold it. (Dishonesty from the right-wing is normal practice.) The law is vague enough to be stretched to cover all abortions after 12 weeks.

24 April 2007 (Planners of the invasion) The neocons who planned the invasion of Iraq are not the leaders of the plot. Others more powerful than they asked them to plan it, and made the decision to carry it out.

24 April 2007 (Slanted patriotism) The US news media systematically and intentionally slanted the news to support Bush's invasion of Iraq. Opposition to the war was labeled "unpatriotic", and talk show host Phil Donahue was fired for not looking "patriotic" enough.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] I would like to know more about the "patriotism police"  how it operated, and who organized it.

24 April 2007 (Islamic law in Iran) Iran officially encourages vigilantes to kill people who don't obey Islamic rules. The Supreme Court just ruled that vigilantes that killed 18 people-- for crimes such as having sex-- can't be executed as murderers. They may however face imprisonment for the killings. I don't criticize the outcome as such, since I think the death penalty is wrong. But it comes from a combination of two wrongs (having the death penalty, and supporting lynching). They cancelled each other out in this case, but that isn't usually so. Both of these wrongs come out of Islamic law, which is just another name for brutal tyranny. Respecting individuals' religious freedom does not mean tolerating Islamic law.

24 April 2007 (Merbau wood) Demand for merbau wood for floors is destroying the forests of New Guinea. In 35 years, this will stop, because that species will all be all but gone.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.]

24 April 2007 (Hard to flee) Four million Iraqis have already become refugees, and more are trying to flee, but they are finding it increasingly hard to gain admission anywhere (even in other parts of Iraq).

24 April 2007 (Restoring peace in Iraq) Large explosions in Baghdad killed many civilians, and showed that the Bush forces cannot bring security to Iraq.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] My proposal for restoring peace in Iraq is to pull the Bush forces out, cancel all actions to steal Iraq's oil and privatize its state assets, and give both the Sunnis and the Shi'ites armed help-- in the form of troops from Islamic countries they can trust-- in maintaining defensive perimeters around their parts of Iraq (and their parts of Baghdad).

20 April 2007 (Corrupting consumer groups) US telephone companies are corrupting many consumer groups into lobbying for them.

20 April 2007 (The real massacre) As Bush wins favor among Americans by bemoaning the massacre of some 30 people, Americans mostly do not hold him responsible for massacring 600,000 Iraqis.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.]

20 April 2007 (Preferring the Taliban) In Kandahar, ordinary citizens prefer the Taliban to NATO for simple safety. They might be happy with a strong secular government too, but they don't see any possibility of that.

19 April 2007 (Press photographer imprisoned in Iraq) Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein has been imprisoned for a year by the Bush forces in Iraq, with no charges filed. It's too bad that the AP won the Pulitzer Prize, rather than Bilal himself. If he had won such a prize, the heat on the Bush regime might be enough to make them release him.

19 April 2007 (Democratic leaders firm against Bush) Democratic leaders seem to be standing firm against Bush regarding their flawed but useful bill for Iraq troop withdrawal.

19 April 2007 (Bush regime trying to disinform internet) The Bush regime has turned disinformation through the mainstream meda into a weapon, and the world has become aware of this. Now it is trying to disinform the Internet as well.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.]

19 April 2007 (Republican Congressman left the party) Former Republican Congressman McCloskey left the party, saying "A pox on their values", and became a Democrat.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] While this is good news in the short term, it is partly a reflection of the fact that today's Democratic Party largely has adopted values and policies that once belonged to the Republican Party. As people who sincerely support the former Republican values become Democrats, we who sincerely support the former Democratic values become Greens.

18 April 2007 (International Whaling Commission) B'liar has done one good thing: a campaign to win control of the International Whaling Commission away from Japan and maintain the controls on whaling.

18 April 2007 (Internet radio) A court decision in the US, made in the name of copyright law, will shut down Internet radio unless it is reversed. Its retroactive application will bankrupt the netcasters.

18 April 2007 (Threatening the Galapagos islands) The UN as well as Ecuador recognize that human activities are threatening the ecology of the Galapagos islands.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] I think that controlling the human population of the islands must be part of the solution.

18 April 2007 (Courageous ex-Muslims) Courageous ex-Muslims in Europe have founded an organization to oppose religious bullying by Muslims. The death threats they have received illustrate the evil they are trying to oppose.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.]

16 April 2007 (Police in Baltimore) Police in Baltimore arrested a 7-year-old child for riding a motorbike on the sidewalk. Then they handcuffed him and took him to the police station.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] I shudder at the thought of what they would do to an adult caught riding on the sidewalk.

16 April 2007 (Police in Pittsburgh) Police in Pittsburgh attacked peaceful protestors, then arrested them. One protestor tried to photograph a policeman who had just made a nasty remark and the policeman beat him up. Others who tried to photograph the attack on the first one were then attacked and arrested. This is part of a long-term systematic campaign of violence and sabotage against antiwar activity in Pittsburgh.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] The police are probably right-wing extremists who believe that dissent is treason. This is par for the course, for police, but Bush is also responsible since he created a climate of disrespect for human rights and dissent.

16 April 2007 (Suicide bomber) A suicide bomber attacked the Iraqi parliament, having penetrated 8 lines of Bush forces security checkpoints. It is a dramatic indication that Bush's troop increase has failed to crush the resistance.

16 April 2007 (Wildlife preserves) A UN campaign aims to make "sacred" sites double as wildlife preserves.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.]

16 April 2007 (School for theocratic Christians) Bush has systematically appointed the graduates of a school for theocratic Christians, many of whom are incompetent or dishonest. And they are already planning to keep this up after Bush is gone.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.]

16 April 2007 (Prisoner treatment) How did Iran treat its British prisoners? Some of the ex-prisoners describe treatment that is rather nasty, though not as bad as what Bush does.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] However, there is some reason to think the ex-prisoners were pressured into by the B'liar regime into making false accusations. I don't find this evidence conclusive. I would not be surprised if the Ahmadinejad regime abuses prisoners, nor if B'liar made the ex-prisoners lie. In any case, we should focus our criticism on the bigger and worse offender: the Bush regime.

14 April 2007 (Extend tours of duty) Bush's wars have so drained the army that he hijacked to conquer Iraq that he has decided to extend tours of duty. That will not help morale.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] Lots of West Point graduates are leaving the army as soon as they can -- the highest rate of leaving since the Vietnam war.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] The weakening of the US Army is a good thing. It is far stronger than it needs to be to face any actual military threats to the US, and any additional strength it has is used for unjust wars on behalf of the corporations our government serves. There are a number of places in the world where governments oppress people so badly that they justify a war of liberation. They include Darfur, Zimbabwe, and Uzbekistan. (Afghanistan was one of them, but Bush failed to follow through because he really wanted to attack Iraq instead.) But there's no chance Bush would use the army for such a worthy cause. What he wants to do is attack Iran.

14 April 2007 (Even more power) Bush's new spy chief wants even more power to do surveillance in the US.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] I have a suspicion that "monitoring foreigners...by tapping phones and email accounts" includes tapping the phones and email accounts of US citizens that the foreigners talk with, or might talk with. In other words, absolutely anyone.

14 April 2007 (Currencies other than the US dollar) Iran is increasingly selling its oil in currencies other than the US dollar. This may puncture the power of the US.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] If the US loses its ability to borrow from the rest of the world through commerce conducted in dollars, the full weight of the US economic weakness will come home to roost, and the burden will probably fall on ordinary Americans, as the rich people who benefited from the policies which caused this weakness will evade it. Injustice after injustice.

14 April 2007 (Wolfowitz girlfriend on the payroll) Wolfowitz, installed by Bush as president of the World Bank and disliked by nearly everyone there, is now in trouble for having kept his girlfriend on the payroll. I don't think the initial situation was actually wrong; I think it is unfair to fire someone because "Your lover just became head of the organization." On the other hand, the World Bank / State Department shuffle that they set up to disguise the situation cannot be excused at all.

13 April 2007 (Syria) Speaker Pelosi's visit to Syria threatens to undermine Bush's desire to isolate Syria just as Speaker Wright's discussions with Nicaraguan President Orgeta brought an end to Reagan's policy of arming the Contras to try to overthrow him.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] Jimmy Carter praises her visit.

13 April 2007 (Tigers) Tigers are on the way to extinction, because the government of India has failed to protect them.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.]

13 April 2007 (Antivehicle mines) The antivehicle mines used by the Iraqi Resistance produce shock waves that can cause brain injuries in people who are not visibly injured. One can compare the unseen effects of TBI from the resistance's IEDs with the unseen effect of radiation from the Bush forces' DU (dirty uranium) weapons, or the unseen effect of standing in "stress positions" for hours or being denied sleep for days.

13 April 2007 (Martin Luther King Jr.) The official story is that Martin Luther King Jr. was killed by James Earl Ray, acting on his own for no particular reason. King's relatives do not believe this story, and in 1998 they won a wrongful death suit against others who admitted to conspiring to kill King.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] Supporting evidence about this conspiracy.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.]

13 April 2007 (Luis Posada) Bush's "war on terrorism" includes releasing terrorist Luis Posada on bail. Venezuela is seeking to extradite him so as to try him for the bombing of a Cuban airliner.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.]

13 April 2007 (No fly list) Legal scholar and professor emeritus Walter Murphy has been placed on the "no fly" list for criticizing Bush.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] The "authorities" will probably not admit that that was the reason for putting Murphy on the list. But since they refuse to justify what they do, we are entitled to judge them based on surmise.

12 April 2007 (Torture) Israeli prisons regularly torture Palestinians 16 years old, and sometimes down to 14 years, just the way they torture adults.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.]

12 April 2007 (Coral reefs) Over half of the tropical coral reefs for which data is recorded are being degraded by overfishing.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.]

11 April 2007 (Cheney claims) Cheney is trying once again to claim that Saddam Hussein worked with Al Qa'ida.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.]

11 April 2007 (Nature reserve in Indonesia) A substantial new nature reserve established in Indonesia provides hope for preservation of hundreds of bird and mammal species. However, this is a small fraction of Indonesia's forests, and the overall forest situation in Indonesia remains bleak.

09 April 2007 (Threats to the world and humanity) A coming UN report will detail the many threats to humanity and the natural world if we don't cut the CO2 emissions.

09 April 2007 (Lead mine poisons town) A whole town in Australia was poisoned by a lead mine, but even after all the birds died, the authorities insisted nothing was wrong.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] This sort of thing happens when governments value big businesses above the citizens, which is common with today's sick democracy.

09 April 2007 (Ethanol fuel) Making ethanol fuel from straw instead of corn may be on the verge of commercial feasibility. But it is not quite certain.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.]

09 April 2007 (Pressing for information) Canada, Eritrea and Sweden are pressing Ethiopia for information about their citizens among the hundreds that Ethiopia holds prisoner secretly on behalf of the Bush regime.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] At least one US citizen is believed to be among these prisoners, but his government won't do anything for him.

09 April 2007 (No reference to 'war on terrorism') Democrats in Congress decided not to refer to the "war on terrorism" in the military budget.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] This change is both correct and important. Since terrorism is a tactic, not a movement or a people or a nation, the idea of fighting a war "against terrorism" is basically absurd. It is not good to endorse absurdities, in laws or anywhere else. Meanwhile, Bush uses that expression to keep Americans scared, so that they will support measures that hurt themselves or others. Cutting down this practice is very important.

09 April 2007 (Youtube in Thailand) Thailand has "banned" Youtube for a video that insults Thailand's king. So Youtube (a product of Google) says it will implement a special feature so Thailand can block just those videos. That's not what I would call resolute defense of freedom of speech.

06 April 2007 (Censorship law) The US-backed Afghan government is preparing a press censorship law.

06 April 2007 (Officials to control pollution) Continuing the War on Integrity, Bush wants to appoint three officials to control pollution who have represented the polluters they would be supposed to regulate.

06 April 2007 (Iraq withdrawal bill) The Iraq withdrawal bill passed by Democrats in Congress states various conditions for the Bush forces to remain for more than a few months. One shameful condition is passage of the law that would hand over Iraq's oil to western oil companies.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.]

06 April 2007 (Watching people in public) The UK has some 4 million TV cameras watching people in public. Most of them perform surveillance, but some are used to scold people immediately for fighting and littering. I don't much mind TV cameras when the limit of what they do is enable someone to watch for fighting, littering or theft. They become a threat to freedom when they are used to make permanent records of where people go. Many of the cameras in the UK are doing just that: the police aim to record all car travel.

06 April 2007 (Control order) UK resident Mahmoud Abu Rideh has won a court battle against a "control order" which greatly denied his freedom even though he was never charged with a crime. I would like to find out what the new control order says.

06 April 2007 (Carbon trading scheme) The EU's carbon trading scheme is failing to curb emissions from big polluters.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] It seems to be yet another case of the subservience of government to business. If our governments don't find the will to stand up to business and impose major cuts in their emissions, the rich people that own the large businesses will buy their way out of the resulting problems -- but that will be impossible for everyone else.

06 April 2007 (Marijuana for sick people) New Mexico has passed a law saying that the state must supply marijuana to sick people that need it. In other states, which have authorized sick people to grow their own marijuana, the federal government sometimes arrests them. I wonder what it will do in New Mexico.

06 April 2007 (Victory is impossible) Henry Kissinger says that victory for the Bush forces is impossible. He also hints at a solution along the lines previously suggested here, in cooperation with neighboring countries.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] No plan that is based on establishing permanent control of Iraq will be accepted by the Iraqi people.

04 April 2007 (Nonviolent peace activist) Hussam Shaheen, a Palestinian nonviolent peace activist, was arrested by Israel for a protest chant, and faces 24 years imprisonment.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.]

03 April 2007 (Iran) A report perhaps coming from Russian intelligence says that Bush is planning to attack Iran on April 6.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] There is speculation that the Iranian capture of some British members of the Bush forces may have been intended to prevent an attack.

03 April 2007 (Released from torture) After the US released some Russian citizens from torture in Guantanamo, it sent them back to Russia, where some have been tortured into confessing crimes. Russian officials gave diplomatic assurances that it wouldn't do this, but I am sure they knew that the Bush regime would wink at noncompliance. This is why diplomatic assurances that "we won't torture them", coming from a regime that regularly practices torture, are worthless.

02 April 2007 (US-imitating policy) B'liar's government plans to reverse its US-imitating policy of more and longer prison sentences, and aim for rehabilitation instead.

02 April 2007 (Baby Seals) Remember the cute baby seals that were killed in Canada for their fur? Thanks to global warming, all the baby seals in the Gulf of St Lawrence died this year. This problem, together with several years of unsustainable hunting, has devastated the population.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] But Canada will allow hunting there anyway. The other populations of these seals are not yet affected by the warming, but they will be in the future. Global warming is leading to the elimination of permanent ice in the arctic, and this could cause the species' extinction -- along with that of polar bears.

02 April 2007 (Anyone found near a protest) In Denmark, anyone found near a protest can be arrested, and is considered guilty unless proved innocent.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.]

02 April 2007 (Soybean production) As the Amazon rainforest is cut down for soybean production, often illegally, the shutdown of an export terminal could be a substantial victory, if it is not reversed.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.]

02 April 2007 (Imprisoned in Guantanamo for 5 years) Bisher al-Rawi, who has been imprisoned in Guantanamo for 5 years despite having worked for British Intelligence, may be released to return to the UK. The UK government for a long time refused to even try to get him out.

01 April 2007 (Dishonest accusations) The US mass media repeatedly and systematically attacked Gore using false and distorted quotations. They accused him of "lying" for words he didn't say. I don't support Gore, and I didn't in 2000, because he bows down to big business almost as much as Republicans do. He supports antidemocratic "free trade" treaties. When he was vice president, he tried to pressure South Africa not to authorize licenses for generic medicines for AIDS -- acting, in effect, on behalf of the drug companies. (Nowadays the Bush regime does the same thing.) However, Gore's real faults don't make the media's dishonest campaign against him any more excusable. It was in no way based on Gore's real shortcomings. It was simple character assassination. I would expect it was planned by the executives of the media companies, who know which candidate they favor. Gore is not the only victim of this. Remember how Howard Dean was attacked, when he was the front runner for the Democratic nomination, by playing his shout of victory in a distorted way? He had recently criticized media concentration, so the media lied about him nonverbally. I can testify myself to the arrogance of reporters. Many of them insist on calling the GNU system "Linux", and present the shallowest of reasons to justify this unfairness -- and then they expect me to be desperate for their attention.

31 March 2007 (Pulling out the troops) The US Senate joined the House in passing a requirement to remove the Bush forces from Iraq. But it lacks the binding deadline of the House bill.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] These bills are not what ought to be done. What ought to be done is to pull out all the troops, without delay. Nonetheless, they are much better than nothing, as evinced by Dubya's reaction. It is interesting to analyze the fallacious Bush responses -- all based on trying to confuse the issue.

31 March 2007 (B'liar, Iran and the captured marines) B'liar says the captured Bush forces marines and sailors were in Iraqi waters. This article argues that, although no one can be sure, it is more plausible that that location constitutes Iranian waters. However, the Iranians could have just told those Bush forces personnel to leave. That they did something more serious might be a response to threats of war, undercover forces infiltrating, terror attacks, etc.

31 March 2007 (Toolbox to defy regulation) When businesses face criticism for mistreating the environment or the public, they have a large toolbox of arguments they use, whether valid or not, to deflect pressure for regulation.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.]

31 March 2007 (Inadequate apology from Abe) Japanese Prime Minister Abe made an inadequate apology to the women that the Japanese Army used as prostitutes. not recognizing that the Army forced them into this. In Indonesia, the Japanese occupiers convinced families to send their teenage daughters for "education in Japan", but the ships took them to military zones where they were forced to act as prostitutes. After the war, those who survived were too ashamed to try to go home. Pramodya Ananta Toer encountered some of them while a political prisoner, and later collected testimony which shows how widespread and systematic this practice was.

30 March 2007 (War crimes) A highly respected Spanish judge who has been involved with the trials of many important terrorists, has called for war crimes charges to be filed against Bush, B'liar, and their former Spanish supporter, Aznar.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.]

30 March 2007 (Picture of threatening message) The New York Times published a picture of threatening message from a wall in Baghdad. This article claims that the message must have been written by someone that didn't really speak Arabic.

30 March 2007 (EU constitution) The EU may try again to write a constitution (without using that name).

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] With current political leadership, no good can be expected from this. The proposed constitution enshrined the power of business, and they are likely to try that again.

30 March 2007 (No right to sue) A US lawsuit accusing Rumsfeld of presiding over the torture of prisoners was thrown out on the grounds that the prisoners have no right to sue. A system that refuses to hold officials that allow torture responsible for their actions is a system that endorses torture.

30 March 2007 (Lancet study) After The Lancet published a study estimating that the invasion of Iraq had caused the violent deaths of 600,000 Iraqis, B'liar's scientific advisors told him that the study's analysis was valid. B'liar and his men then told the public that the report was invalid.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] The B'liar regime has still not admitted the truth. I have read elsewhere that the BBC used the Freedom of Information act to find out what the advisors said. No wonder B'liar wants to destroy the Freedom of Information act. For more information see here.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.]

28 March 2007 (Bush forces mercenaries) The Bush forces use around 50,000 private mercenaries in addition to the soldiers who are officially soldiers. Around 800 have been killed, but they are not included in the casualty lists. Since military regulations do not apply, it is hard to get any information about them.

28 March 2007 (Iran captures sailors) Iran captured some Bush forces marines and sailors who were inspecting a civilian ship.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] Iran says they were in Iranian waters, while B'liar says no. Neither side can be trusted, though. International double standard: Iran and the US.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] The government of Iran is no champion of human rights either; it arrests people without trial and sometimes tortures them. However, it has not started wars of aggression. Iran's democracy is rather limited, since elected officials can be overruled by the mullahs, and candidates cannot even run without their approval. The US' democracy is rather limited, since elected officials can be overruled by the "free trade" treaties that transfer power from the state to business, and candidates have little chance of winning national office without support from business.

27 March 2007 (Provance on Abu Ghraib) Former Bush forces Sergeant Provance, who was gagged when he tried to push the Abu Ghraib torture investigation to the higherups that instigated the torture, reports on what he saw at a screening of "Ghosts of Abu Ghraib": Senator Lindsey Graham openly endorsed torture.

27 March 2007 (Mugabe opponent's wife killed) After opposition activist Tendayi Goneso fled Zimbabwe, the police killed his wife because they couldn't get him. Now, as Mugabe's rule heads for absolute cruelty, the UK seems to be preparing to deport him back to Zimbabwe. That site has badly designed HTML; you may need to go to the 18th article by hand.

27 March 2007 (Gagged by NASA) Dr. Hansen testified to Congress about how NASA gagged him.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] The orders were given verbally so as to be able to deny they were given.

26 March 2007 (Arrested without charges) The Israeli police had arrested a Palestinian, without charges of course. To put pressure on him, they humiliated his family and made them pretend to be prisoners.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.]

25 March 2007 (Backed down) Congressional democrats have backed down on plans to block Bush from attacking Iran -- obeying AIPAC over the objections of most American Jews.

25 March 2007 (War on Integrity continues) Dubya's War on Integrity continues one that was started by Reagan.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] One point that this article does not mention is Reagan's destruction of anti-trust law, which was only partly reversed by Clinton. This, together with the transfer of power to large companies brought about by Clinton's "free trade" treaties, has made the general politcal situation much worse for progressives in a long-term way.

25 March 2007 (Siria Valley of Honduras) In the Siria Valley of Honduras, a gold mine takes all the water, so that poor people have to buy water to drink. The government hardly taxes the mine at all, so they get very little in exchange for the loss of their water.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.]

23 March 2007 (Taxes and low-paid workers) Gordon Drown announced plans to cut taxes on some low-paid workers, but increase taxes on the lowest-paid workers. What poor people need is not a tax cut (assuing their taxes are fairly low already), but rather increased social services paid for by taxing the rich.

23 March 2007 (Fear deportation) Uddhav Bhandari, who fled to the UK from Nepal after exposing police corruption there, went to a hearing that could have decided to deport him back to Nepal. Rather than plead his case, he set himself on fire and died. Refugees like Bhandari should not have to fear deportation. Shame on the UK!

23 March 2007 (Proyecto Varela) Proyecto Varela is a campaign for human rights in Cuba. Oswaldo Payá obtained more than 10,000 signatures on a petition for a referendum for basic freedoms, such as freedom of the press and association, and release of political prisoners. According to the Cuban constitution, that means the referendum must be held -- but it has not been. Payá seeks peaceful reconciliation among Cubans, and wants to preserve the achievements of the Cuban revolution (health care, education, elimination of extreme poverty, and independence from the US and multinational business). As a result, the right-wing Cuban exiles in Miami don't like him either. Most reports say that Castro regime holds 284 people prisoner without trial in Cuba, but the last reliable figures are from late 2005: 70 political prisoners. The bulk of the prisoners held without trial in Cuba -- almost 400 -- are not held by Castro's government. They are prisoners of the Bush regime, in Guantanamo. All of these prisoners, whichever government holds them, deserve to be freed, or given fair trials.

23 March 2007 (Changes in government reports) A Bush official who came from the oil business made hundreds of changes in US government reports, all to deny global warming. Even more disgusting, some Republicans in Congress support it.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] I disagree, however, with the accusation that Cooney acted out of loyalty to Bush, who had appointed him. I would say that Cooney continued was working for the oil companies once he was nominally working for the US government -- just like Bush and Cheney.

23 March 2007 (Policy of secrecy) Congressional democrats are trying to reverse part of the Bush regime's policy of secrecy.

23 March 2007 (Supermarkets in Venezuela) Supermarkets in Venezuela have been pushing up prices of basic foodstuffs--doubling them in some cases. Chavez told them that if they do this, they will be nationalized.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] Price controls have a tendency to cause shortages, so they may be part of the cause of the problem. However, businesses that take advantage of such situations with speculation are not innocent. Nonetheless, I would probably prefer to break up the big supermarket chains, introducing more competition, rather than control prices.

21 March 2007 (The price of oil) A secret Bush regime plan, written for the State Department by oil company executives, called for using the occupation of Iraq to raise the price of oil, so as to make a windfall for the oil companies. A high oil price promotes conservation, so in itself it is good. But it ought to be accompanied by a windfall profits tax, so that the windfall goes to the treasury and not to Bush's cronies. However, that's not what Bush would want. Enriching his cronies is his aim.

21 March 2007 (Sick woman prosecuted for Marijuana) A court ruled in favor of prosecution on drug charges of a sick woman, whose doctors say only marijuana can keep her alive. If she is convicted and sentenced to prison, it would amount to a death sentence with a very painful method of execution.

20 March 2007 (Confession in secret trial) The Bush regime says that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has confessed planning the 9/11 attacks in the US and other terrorist attacks. Since this confession was presented in a secret trial, we have no way of telling whether he really confessed at all. If he did, we cannot be sure the confession is true. Torture will make people confess to crimes they did not commit, and we know he was tortured. Beyond general suspicion, there is evidence that this confession is not true: he confessed to planning to bomb a bank which was founded only after he was captured.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.]

20 March 2007 (Torture) Bush regime continues to torture prisoners, in Iraq as well as in Guantanamo. Bush deserves a fair trial before he is imprisoned for this. And he should not be tortured.

19 March 2007 (Poisoning the public) The old Union Carbide plant in Bhopal is poisoning the public again. The Indian government is ignoring its own laws and court judgment by failing to supply them with potable water.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.]

18 March 2007 (Palestinian unity cabinet approved) A new Palestinian national unity government might end the fighting between Hamas and Fatah. It has also won recognition from Norway. The conditions that the US and EU demand of the Palestinians would be fair if they were demanded also of Israel. Israel must recognize the existence and territorial integrity of Palestine in exchange for a similar recognition from Palestine. And it makes no sense to demand that Palestinians end their rather small level of violence without demanding that Israel end its much greater level of violence.

18 March 2007 (Banana grower's paramilitary links) Chiquita Banana funded paramilitaries in Colombia, and shipped arms to them. They killed union organizers, which Chiquita must have found useful. Eventually Chiquita informed the Bush regime, and continued supporting the paramilitaries for almost a year after. The article says Chiquita sold its Colombian subsidiary, but I wonder what relationship they continue to have. Perhaps it is enough relationship that Chiquita remains morally responsible for its current conduct, though I do not knoow. Compare this with the world-wide boycott of Coca Cola Company for using paramilitaries to kill union organizers in Colombia.

17 March 2007 (Evicting the poor) In a wealthy area of Sao Paulo, poor squatters who live in an abandoned building wait to be evicted.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] They are squatting because they are poor, not on principle. They would surely be happy to be bought out for a price that would be small potatoes to the rich people that want to use the site. Their refusal to pay that amount just reinforces the nastiness of their greed.

17 March 2007 (Disaster for rights workers) An Iranian blogger who was arrested for reporting on a police raid has been freed -- but other human rights activists have been arrested. I've seen reports that the US does support violent separatist groups in Iran. And the US does have a practice of feeding money to opposition groups even in democratic countries, for motives that have nothing to do with human rights. This is a disaster for human rights workers, since it means that US funds are tainted.

16 March 2007 (Taking his job too seriously) Pakistan's ruler Musharraf has arrested the chief judge, who was taking his job too seriously in a case about hundreds of human rights activists that have been disappeared, Bush-style. Lawyers protested this, and were attacked by policemen, receiving the treatment usually reserved for poor and unprestigious people that protest.

15 March 2007 (Paramilitaries of Colombia) Amnesty International reports on how the paramilitaries of Colombia have built corrupted much of Colombian society.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] These paramilitaries were supported by the Colombian government which was in turn supported by the US government.

15 March 2007 (Rite Aid) Rite Aid drugs works closely with the tobacco companies and lobbies against measures to reduce smoking. So when the American Heart Association cooperate with Rite Aid, is that honest? To me, it is an instance of the systematic corruption of civic institutions in the US by corporate money.

15 March 2007 (Acts of brutality in Kosovo) Serbs were not the only ones to commit acts of brutality in Kosovo. After the Albanian Kosovars won, they more or less chased out the Serbs. The former leader of the KLA is now accused of ethnic cleansing.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] (I think that it was less bad to have the Serb minority chased out than to have them oppressing the Albanian majority. So the de-facto independence of Kosovo was a good thing. But this does not justify mistreating unarmed Serbs.)

15 March 2007 (Wal-Mart ) We all know how Wal-Mart mistreats its own workers, but that's just the tip of the iceberg of the harm it does. Through its size, it almost compels producers to run sweatshops, making Wal-Mart a substantial producer of poverty world-wide.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.]

15 March 2007 (Human rights in the US) China's report on human rights in the US.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] The first section, about levels of violent crime not committed by the government, seems like a side issue to me; go past that to see the real meat of the report. Isn't it a shame that the US has sunk so low that it is no longer in a position to criticize China?

14 March 2007 (Police attacked non violent protest in Tacoma) Police in Tacoma violently attacked a nonviolent protest against the embarcation of army combat vehicles to join the Bush forces in occupation of Iraq. The protestors are undeterred. Police in the US must decide whether to serve the people or the traitor in the White House. Please do not look at the videos on Youtube, because you would have to install a non-free program (the Flash player) to do that, and installing non-free software is not ethical. I am unhappy with the fact that some of my speeches have been posted on Youtube, where they act as inducement for people to do exactly the thing I believe they should not do. I hope to write to the people who run the indybay site and ask them to post videos on their own site rather than on youtube.

14 March 2007 (Woman arrested over police rape claims) Bush's "Iraqi government" has arrested the woman who accused three "Iraqi policemen" of rape. This reflects the junction of the civil war with the Islamic attitude towards women: that they are men's property. It is the same attitude that shows itself when women are murdered by male relatives who believe the woman has damaged her value to them by choosing her own lover.

14 March 2007 (Misusuing power) The FBI has often misused the warrantless surveillance powers that were given to it by the U SAP AT RIOT Act, says a DOJ investigator who reviewed FBI practices. That law gives the police power that cannot be allowed in a democracy, but even that wasn't enough to satisfy them.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] The Bush regime tried to avoid having such reviews, so that we would not find out about this.

14 March 2007 (A planned invasion) Israel planned last summer's invasion of Lebanon in advance, and planned to use the capture of some Israeli soldiers (whenever that should happen) as an excuse. Avnery draws an interesting conclusion: that these events refute the theory that Israel controls US foreign policy. However, lobbyists are pretty effective at stopping US politicians from criticizing the occupation.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.]

14 March 2007 (Spying for Britain) The Taliban claims the kidnapped Italian reporter was spying for Britain. I wonder if they tortured him to get this confession.

12 March 2007 (Bush is touring Latin America) Bush is touring Latin America -- mostly countries whose goverments are subservient -- hoping that promises to "pay more attention" to the region will win support. Note the deception embodied in presenting the issue as one of how much attention the US pays or will pay to Latin America: it assumes that such attention is beneficial, which is contrary to the facts. But the people of these countries are not fooled.

11 March 2007 (Polluting the oceans) Human production of CO2 is not just heating up the atmosphere. It also makes the ocean more acidic, and this has unpredictable effects on life and chemistry in the ocean.

11 March 2007 (Temporary surge) Bush's "temporary surge" is turning into a permanent increase. Who would ever expect Bush to tell the truth?

11 March 2007 (Youth centre torn down) The city of Copenhagen evicted and tore down a youth center which was originally a squat, but later was authorized. The city cannot justify this on the fact that the building had been sold to a church, because selling it and providing no replacement was the initial wrong, and it was the city's fault.

10 March 2007 (Criminal becomes attorney) As part of Bush's plan to reduce US attorneys to slavish obedience, he appointed a man who helped Bush steal the 2004 election, using a scheme to systematically disenfranchize Black voters who are homeless, away at school, or in the armed forces. Greg Palast argues that this scheme was a felony: this man should be a defendant, not a prosecutor.

10 March 2007 (Deported and tortured) Amnesty International denounces the UK for deporting people to deporting people to countries where they are likely to be tortured.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] B'liar justifies this on the strength of formal assurances from those governments that they won't torture these people -- but those governments are well aware that B'liar would rather help them cover up such torture than take them to task for it.

10 March 2007 (Scooter Libby) Scooter Libby, Cheney's former aide, has been convicted on several charges, taking the fall to protect Cheney from something (and conceal from us what that something is). People suspect that Bush will eventually pardon him.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] The US needs a constitutional amendment to prevent presidents from pardoning people that commit crimes on their behalf.

10 March 2007 (Fighting the Talibans) US forces tried to bomb Taliban fighters in a village, and killed a family instead.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] Yes, it was dirty of the Taliban to retreat into a village, but the US forces have to learn that, unfair as it may seem to them, they must not bomb the village when that happens.

10 March 2007 (Banning folk tales) Hamas removed a book of Palestinian folk tales from Palestinian schools because it talks about sex. Other Palestinians have protested this.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] The success of Hamas is due to its refusal to accept the occupation. The harm done by Hamas' imposition of strict religious standards is therefore indirectly due to the occupation. (Hamas was originally built up by Israel in order to weaken the PLO.)

09 March 2007 (US-style sprawl development) 10 ways that US-style sprawl development is harmful.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] I could add that low-density living makes it hard for buses and trains to work well, condemning people to dependence on cars, which means more energy use, more likelihood of wars over oil, etc.

09 March 2007 (Anti-terror laws) Only 4% of those arrested under the UK's "anti-terror laws" has been charged with anything. Clearly the laws are being used for fishing expeditions (as well as to suppress protests).

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] Bush would have pushed that percentage up higher, by framing the people arrested by mistake, or kidnaping them and not reporting it.

08 March 2007 (Spies) Several men arrested filming the attacks on the World Trade Center appeared to be Israeli spies. It looks like they were part of a network that was monitoring the hijackers, and that maybe they knew about the attack in advance.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] Bush had them released and shut down the investigation into what they were doing.

08 March 2007 (State secret) While Germany issues arrest warrants for the CIA kidnapers of Khaled El-Masri, a US appeals court rejected his lawsuit on the grounds that the relevant evidence is a state secret. The court explicitly said that the regime can protect any sort of injustice, no matter how egregious, and need not even explain why. It adds up to carte blanche for kidnaping and torture, even murder.

08 March 2007 (Standard tactics for tyrants) A reporter for Al Jazeera, who has been held prisoner in Guantanamo for 5 years without charges, is being force-fed through the nose after two months on hunger strike. He says that the Bush regime's agents tortured him when he refused to incriminate Al Jazeera, and that they threatened to harm his children. Standard tactics for tyrants.

08 March 2007 (NIH reports on chemicals) The NIH makes reports on chemicals likely to damage human reproductive systems, but outsources this to a consulting company that mostly works for other businesses. Its other employers may be influencing the reports.

08 March 2007 (Studies funded by drug companies) There is a systematic pattern that studies of drug effects are less likely to show any problems when the studies are funded by drug companies. Is this because the funding corrupts the investigators, or is it because the drug companies study "safer bets"? One approach that might make it unnecessary to answer this question is to put a tax on the sale of patented drugs, and use that money to fund studies of drugs that drug companies want to produce.

08 March 2007 (Conscientious objector) Augustin Aguayo, who was sent to the Bush forces as a medic, was forced into combat duty despite being a conscientious objector. So he refused to go to Iraq again. Now he faces 7 years imprisonment. (He was convicted, I read later.)

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] I do not agree with Aguayo's belief that war is never justified. For instance, because the occupation of Iraq is a crime, fighting against it is justified. However, the treatment of Mr. Aguayo is a different issue. US laws recognize that people with his views have a right to conscientious objection, and he ought to be allowed that status. What we are seeing is yet another instance of the Bush regime's pattern of denying people their legal rights.

07 March 2007 (Harriett Nahanee) Harriett Nahanee, an Indian in Canada who protested against plans to sell off tribal land for a highway, received a two-week prison sentence. As she was old and sick, this was a death sentence.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] This article does not say what Harriett was accused of, nor whether she actually did it, nor give us a basis for judging whether it was right or wrong if she did do it. However, sentencing a sick person to prison without what's needed for that person's health cannot be justified by any possible crime. Killing people this way is done in the US too.

07 March 2007 (Photographing acts of violence) France has passed a law making it a crime for anyone but a professional journalist to photograph an act of violence. This means that police who want to attack someone on the street, perhaps a protestor, are protected from video recordings. If someone does catch them in the act, that someone probably won't dare testify. And anyone making a video of a protest, when the police start attacking the protestors, will also be in danger of imprisonment. France needs a hero who will defy this law -- and then dare the French government to prosecute him, because by doing so it would prove how evil it is.

07 March 2007 (Ethanol) Substituting ethanol for gasoline is creating grave environmental destruction in Brazil, where environmental laws are not enforced. And it is driving up the price of food. People could starve to fill your car's ethanol tank.

07 March 2007 (Troops in Afghanistan) US troops in Afghanistan panicked after an attack, and fired at cars and pedestrians just passing by. This has led to big protests. Such events happen in every war, and especially when a foreign army is involved. The local people will tolerate it if they feel that army is fighting for their cause and doing its best. Otherwise they will tend to turn more and more against the foreign army. It is a dynamic that is almost inevitable. When Afghan journalists took pictures of the civilian cars that US troops had destroyed, the soldiers destroyed the pictures. Then Bush spokesmen denied that this had been happening, trying to destroy the news of the destruction.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] This follows the general Bush policy towards unfavorable press: block it.

07 March 2007 (Blocked Palestinians from fishing) Israel has blocked Palestinians from fishing in from boats for most of a year. This exacerbates food shortages in Gaza.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] The excuse of blocking communication with Egypt is absurd, since it would be just as easy to patrol further off shore instead. Harassment of civilians, with an excuse that covers it when you don't look very hard, is standard practice in the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

05 March 2007 (Independent Jewish Voices) Prominent British Jews who oppose Israel's treatment of the Palestinians have formed a new organization, Independent Jewish Voices. This breaks the apparent monopoly of an old organization that supports Israel 100% and claims to represent all British Jews.

05 March 2007 (Road taxes based on surveillance) Faced with an outcry against road taxes based on surveillance, the UK now proposes: "we won't track which street you are on, only which part of which city you drive to."

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] That is still too much surveillance.

05 March 2007 (Canceled deal) The US canceled a deal for North Korean nuclear disarmament in 2002 based on an incorrect US assessment of North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.] Everyone makes mistakes, but given Bush's propensity to pressure the CIA to tell him what he wants to hear, I have to wonder whether this was something worse than a mistake.

04 March 2007 (Elephant poaching) Elephant poaching in Africa, formerly under control, has rebounded to the point where it threatens the survival of some elephant populations.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.]

04 March 2007 (Welcoming a trial) Australian Prime Minister Howard "welcomes" Bush's plan to subject an Australian citizen to an unjust military tribunal. Which shows how important Australian citizens are in his mind, compared with the US.

03 March 2007 (Pirates) A UN ship delivering aid to Somalia has been captured by pirates. For once, here is an action against piracy which deserves support.

02 March 2007 (War resistor Kyle Snyder) US war resistor Kyle Snyder was arrested by Canadian police, who said they were obeying the US Army. He was freed after appeals to the Canadian government, which had to recognize that the US Army does not have authority there.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.]

02 March 2007 (Secret CIA prisons) Human Rights Watch has identified 38 prisoners that were held in secret CIA prisons, and are now missing. In effect, the US government has disappeared them.

02 March 2007 (The troops that deserve our support) Disregarding arguments that Lt Watada cannot be prosecuted again on the principle of double jeopardy, the Army intends to try. Meanwhile, other soldiers are imprisoned for refusing to fight for Bush, and 8,000 other soldiers have run away to avoid the evil of fighting in Iraq. These are the troops that deserve our support.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-18 because the old link was broken.]

02 March 2007 (Sudanese minister) A Sudanese minister has been named by the ICC as a suspect for massacres in Darfur. The US message to Sudan is undermined by the US's own example, since the US has pressured many countries to agree to exempt US personnel from the ICC.

28 February 2007 (Arrest warrants for agents) Germany has issued arrest warrants for 13 CIA agents. Next step — figure out who they were. Given the extent collusion between European goverments and the CIA over this, there may be people in the German government that know the answer.

27 February 2007 (Establishing martial law) Bush has made both legal preparations and rehearsals for establishing martial law in the US-- disguised. I won't say that nationwide police cooperation to arrest criminal suspects is necessarily unjust, or that there is no possibly use for it. I am skeptical of the article's claim that murder suspects were deliberately "left on the street" to be arrested in this sweep. Before accepting that conclusion, I'd want to see if a large sweep has practical advantages as a means for arresting them. Nonetheless, the lack of clear information about why these people were arrested makes these FALCON raids are suspect, and need to be investigated to see if it is justified. Were all the people arrested the subject of arrest warrants? How many of them have been charged with crimes? What is the complete breakdown of offenses? If those answers are not forthcoming, that would be a sign of guilt. Meanwhile, given the legal changes that increased Bush's power, the possibility that this is a rehearsal for martial law, and for mass arrests of dissidents is very threatening, even if these FALCON sweeps did nothing actually wrong.

27 February 2007 (Supporting terror) The US government is supporting terrorists in Iran. They can't stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons, but they could create chaos and suffering there.

27 February 2007 (Dr. kKlly's murderers) The suspicious death of Dr. Kelly, who exposed the falsehoods about Saddam's weapons, was not properly investigated; the B'liar regime assumed it was suicide, but did not demonstrate this. Many in the UK, including an investigating opposition MP, have concluded it was murder, but they are reluctant to consider the suspect with the most obvious motive: the British government.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.] I do not know who killed Dr. Kelly, but an investigationt hat fails to consider this plausible suspect is a sham investigation.

26 February 2007 (Great Barrier Reef) The Great Barrier Reef, already in danger from global warming, is being polluted by pesticides.

26 February 2007 (Habias corpus lawsuits) A US appeals court has dismissed all the habias corpus lawsuits of Guantanamo prisoners, thus accepting and implementing the official transformation of the US into a state that does not respect the most basic human rights.

26 February 2007 (Gross underestimate) Americans grossly underestimate the number of Iraqis killed by Bush's invasion of Iraq.

25 February 2007 (Damaged whaling ship) The Japanese whale meat factory ship is sailing away from the penguin rookery that could have been damaged by an oil spill. The refusal to be towed away by Greenpeace prolonged the danger, unnecessarily.

25 February 2007 (Iraq Oil Assets) Bush's Iraqi government has almost finished its law to allow foreign oil companies to take over Iraq's oil assets. The Iraqi Resistance denies the validity of the Iraqi government and all its acts; it will certainly reject this law.

25 February 2007 (Israel asks pemission to attack Iran?) Israel is reportedly asking the US permission for an air attack on Iran. I think that statement presents the Israel-US relationship in a strange way, as if the desire for an attack came from Israel and the US had to be persuaded to go along. But it does not seem that Bush is reluctant to attack.

25 February 2007 (EU agrees 20% CO2 cut) The EU agreed on a 20% further cut in CO2 emissions, but has not decided how to achieve this.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.] The fact that the poorer Eastern countries get to count the decreases that have already occurred is probably a good idea, because they are disadvantaged and probably don't make a large fraction of the emissions. The plan to reduce by 20% unilaterally, and increase it to 30% if the rest of the world joins in, seems wise to me, because that both shows leadership and encourages the rest of the world.

24 February 2007 (Fanatical prudes) Fanatical prudes are threatening to cut the funds for a public library unless it imposes complete censorship of porn, even on adults. The people running this library should say, "Shut us down if you want, but you can't make us endorse your policy."

24 February 2007 (Executed) Saudi Arabia convicted four foreigners of robbery and sentenced them to prison. Then -- surprise -- they were executed. The trial wasn't fair either.

24 February 2007 (See-saws) First there was news that a US representative had told the Palestinian Authority it would continue the boycott against the national unity government. Then Condoleezza Rice said that this statement was an erroroneous report. Then she made the same statement herself.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.] What see-saws!

24 February 2007 (Resembling apartheid) A UN envoy, who is South African and an expert on the apartheid system, is the latest prominent person to point out how the Israeli occupation of Palestine resembles that. The reason his report may appear to one-sided, paying much less attention to Palestinian violence against Israelis, is that the latter is much less in both quantity and quality, and thus deserves less attention.

23 February 2007 (CO2-limitation treaty) US legislators and representatives of other major countries reached a tentative agreement on a plan for a CO2-limitation treaty, which could perhaps be adopted once Bush is no longer in a position to interfere. Will it come in time to save civilization? Or will Bush block the rescue mission until it is too late?

23 February 2007 (International Criminal Court) If Bush uses nuclear weapons against Iran, all the current members of Congress could be held liable by the International Criminal Court, if they were ever to go to places such as Europe which support the court.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.]

21 February 2007 (The corporate economy) The corporate empire's economy compared to a tapeworm. I am not sure whether the suggested measures would be beneficial, or feasible; but the issue is worth thinking about.

21 February 2007 (Ready to attack) Bush seems to be ready to attack Iran if he thinks that certain Iranian activities have been proved. Given Bush's standard of proof, this means he could attack at any moment.

21 February 2007 (Costs of the war) The costs of the Iraq war are deepening the cracks in the US economy.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.] I don't know whether the proposed solutions are good ideas, or whether they would be sufficient to solve this problem. If we look at the Iraq war merely as a problem for Americans, it might be valid to say that low wages and high debt are a bigger problem. However, that way of looking at the occupation of Iraq misses the main point. The occupation is not merely burdensome, it is a crime.

21 February 2007 (Prisoners on hungerstrike) Palestinian prisoners, imprisoned without trial, are on hunger strike because they have bad food and no blankets, and forced to urinate in their clothing.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.]

21 February 2007 (Whales and penguins) The Japanese whaling factory ship caught fire. This will keep the whales safe whales for a year; but if oil leaks from the the ship, it could be a disaster for penguins.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.]

19 February 2007 (Poisoned farm workers) The true cost of cotton includes poisoned farm workers.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.] "Free trade" treaties are the reason why governments of countries as powerful as India don't dare act to prevent use of these dangerous chemicals.

19 February 2007 (Carbon-offsetting) A new program of cheat offsetting shows what carbon-offsetting programs can turn into if you're not careful.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.] (This problem of "cheating" has a much better solution: polyamory.)

19 February 2007 (Water shortage in Iraq) With the water shortage in Iraq, people have to walk long distances to get water from rivers-- water that can make them sick.

19 February 2007 (CO2-limitation treaty) US legislators and representatives of other major countries reached a tentative agreement on a plan for a CO2-limitation treaty, which could perhaps be adopted once Bush is no longer in a position to interfere. Will it come in time to save civilization? Or will Bush block the rescue mission until it is too late?

19 February 2007 (One-sided demands) Most countries don't ask other countries, even former enemies, to recognize "their right to exist". They only ask to be recognized as existing. But Israel makes a special demand of the Palestinians: part of a system of one-sided demands that ensure peace is impossible.

19 February 2007 (Illegal farming) Illegal production of strawberries in part of Spain, using illegal wells, is drying up the rivers. This threatens to cause an irreversible environmental disaster long before the shortage of water forces the growers to stop.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.]

18 February 2007 (Eating fish) A study found that nutrients in fish are important for babies. But, thanks to human pollution, eating fish can poison babies (and adults) with mercury.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.] If mothers do try to eat more fish, it will speed the depletion of the seas, which is already projected to be nearly complete in a few decades.

18 February 2007 (Bush hindering unity) Palestinians are trying to resolve the violent dispute between Fatah and Hamas by forming a national unity government, but the Bush regime does not want them to succeed. The fighting between Fatah and Hamas was provoked by the same outside pressure that is being continued here.

18 February 2007 (Saving the frogs) Scientists plan to try to preserve hundreds of frog species in captivity, as a fungus whose growth is boosted by global warming wipes them out in the wild.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.]

18 February 2007 (Making NZ carbon-neutral) New Zealand's PM proposes to make the country carbon-neutral, but the plan uses methods such as biofuels and tree-planting which have their own serious problems.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.]

18 February 2007 (Nowhere to escape) Anne Frank and her family were sent to Auschwitz because the US and other countries wouldn't let them in as refugees.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.] Today, once again, many refugees fleeing places of great danger can't find a country that will let them in.

18 February 2007 (British spies) The same UK soldiers who in Northern Ireland ran spies in both sides, provoking murders, are now at work in Iraq for the Bush forces. If they are doing in Iraq what they did in Belfast, Bush nay be more directly responsible for the civil war than we realized.

18 February 2007 (Loans to poor nations) "Vulture companies" buy up poor country debts that are about to be forgiven, then demand repayment in full. There is one anomalous point in this article. If governments really want to forgive these debts, why do they agree to sell the debts? Another point worth noting is that these "debt forgiveness" programs typically impose harsh privatization requirements that keep the country in permanent suffering. There is very little good about the practice of making loans to poor countries-- it is supposed to enable them to develop, but its real effect is to put them in a permanent trap. The main cause of these debt traps is the expectation that the exploitative loans will be repayed. Therefore, what really is needed is for debtor countries to start simply canceling their debts. Once rich people learn that by trying to exploit poor countries this way they are likely to lose, they will stop.

18 February 2007 (Medical marijuana) DEA judge calls for government to end obstruction of medical marijuana research. The DEA prevents any research from being done to study the medical effects of marijuana, by refusing to provide marijuana for studies.

17 February 2007 (Journalist of the year) The US prosecutor who has imprisoned Josh Wolf for six months says he is a journalist "only in his imagination". Meanwhile, a chapter the Society of Professional Journalists has named him "journalist of the year".

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.]

17 February 2007 (Sergeant punished for posing nude) The US Air Force punished a sergeant for posing nude, removing her from active duty. She responded by resigning from the national guard. If you want to avoid participating in a criminal war in Iraq, and you are not heroic enough to follow Lt. Watada's path, this is the easy way out!

17 February 2007 (Road pricing) A petition against the plan for "road pricing" in UK received over a million signatures in a short time. The arguments presented by the authors included falsehoods such as denial of the danger of CO2 emissions from cars, but also a valid reason: opposition to government surveillance of car travel. The UK already does total surveillance of car travel; this wrong must be corrected. If road pricing based on surveillance is introduced, ending the surveillance will be impossible.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.] The right way to discourage driving and reduce CO2 emissions is to increase the gas tax. Each gallon of gas burnt produces approximately the same amount of CO2 regardless of circumstances, so why discourage it more in one place than in another? Of course, the UK should also make trains and buses cheaper and more frequent. Privatization of trains in the UK has backfired, resultingx in trains that are so expensive that people fly instead.

16 February 2007 (Charges dismissed) Charges were dismissed against some British troops in the Bush forces, who were accused of beating Iraqi prisoners (one of whom died from this). Because they blindfolded the prisoners, the prisoners couldn't identify the soldiers who beat them. So where does this leave all the Iraqi prisoners that Bush forces soldiers might want to beat in the future?

16 February 2007 (Lies and censorship from Google) Google has stopped indexing the uruknet.info site, in effect carrying out a form of censorship.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.] Google claims that this is due to some sort of technical problem, but the claim is implausible and seems not to be true anyway. Google has resumed indexing urknet as a news source.

15 February 2007 (Harassed for using Tor) A professor at Bowling Green University was harassed by the police for using a free software browser plug-in, Tor, which blocks some methods of surveillance of what users browse.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.] The attitude that merely blocking surveillance is a crime is common among the "security forces" of universities. I am disappointed with this professor for granting even partial legitimacy to the desire to suppress Tor. No matter what method they use -- just making nasty threats, or by writing a policy against anonymity -- it has to be resisted.

15 February 2007 (Fired for reporting evidence) An ex-CIA-agent is suing the CIA, saying he was fired for reporting evidence suggesing that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.] I am both shocked and perplexed by the measures to forbid the agent from even identifying himself to the public.

15 February 2007 (New level of absurdity) The Bush regime's accusations against Iran have sunk to a new level of absurdity. It says that Iran is supplying the antitank mines used by Sunni resistance groups, counter to all evidence.

14 February 2007 (Real ID plan) The State of Maine has rejected the US government's Real ID plan to convert drivers' licenses into national ID cards.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.] Excessive government power is far more dangerous than terrorists. For more information on the danger of Real ID, see here

14 February 2007 (Arrested Muslim leader) The UK arrested a Muslim leader who called for Muslims in the UK army to be killed. He also endorsed the standard Muslim policy of killing anyone who leaves Islam.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.] This belief shows the basic injustice of Islam as an organized religion, in its current form. In most Muslim countries, rejection of Islam by a Muslim is a capital crime. This offence against religious freedom must be strongly condemned.

14 February 2007 (Teenagers prosecuted for sexy photos) Two teenagers in Florida were prosecuted for taking sexy photos of themselves together. It is legal for them to have sex, but if they take a picture, that is "child pornography". The judges argued that they should be punished now because the photos might be released some day, even if it were against their will.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.] Meanwhile, this case reveals the dishonesty of the word "child" in the expression "child pornography". When they use that term, they want us to think of 10-year-olds, but then they apply it to sexually mature young adults.

12 February 2007 (Tentative agreement) Hamas and Fatah have made a tentative agreement to stop fighting each other and produce a "national unity" government.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.] The fighting, and the agreement, is a response to the blockade imposed after Palestinian democracy elected Hamas. But Israel is not satisfied with inclusion of Fatah: it demands total surrender by the Palestinians to the occupation. A real peace must include recognition of Israel, acceptance of all former treaties except as modified, and a clear renunciation by all sides of all terror and violence. A real peace must also include ending the occupation and giving the Palestinians sovereignty over the West Bank and its resources. It is unfair to demand that the Palestinians make all their concessions at the outset, while Israel does not.

12 February 2007 (Antitank mines from Iran) The Bush forces say that the Iraqi Resistance is getting its antitank mines from Iran. These accusations could be true: why shouldn't Iran (or any country) help the Iraqi Resistance kick out the occupying army? (We're not ashamed of the help provided by France to the American Revolution.) They could also be false; we can't trust what Bush says about this. If Iran is working with the Iraqi Resistance, is it working with Iraqi Shi'ites? That would mean that Iraqi Shi'ites are an important part of the Resistance. Or is Iran helping Iraqi Sunnis? Neither relationship is impossible, but either one would undermine the Bush view of the situation.

12 February 2007 (Terms for peace) The Iraqi resistance has stated terms for peace. They include canceling all the decisions that the Bush regime has imposed on Iraq. This is a legitimate demand, since such decisions (which include privatization of many state activities, plant patents, and debts, with the theft of Iraq's oil in progress) have no validity when imposed by a conqueror. However, the fact that Iraq is now effectively divided makes it futile to make peace with the Sunnis alone. Things are much worse in Iraq now than they were 3 years ago.

12 February 2007 (Monsanto false advertising) Monsanto advertised in France that Roundup is biodegradable and safe. It was convicted of false advertising, then fined a trivial amount. Monsanto will probably tell its ad agencies in other countries, "Go ahead and try it: the worst that can happen is we pay a small fine, and millions of people will still believe what we told them." Fines need to be millions of euros if they are to succeed in deterring corporate crimes like these.

12 February 2007 (Distorted intelligence reports) A DOD report confirms that the Bush regime distorted intelligence reports in order to fabricate an excuse to attack Iraq.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.]

12 February 2007 (Bush regime has accused Iran of aiding) The Bush regime has accused Iran of aiding in a effective tricky attack on a Bush forces base in Iraq. There is no evidence for this, but Bush wants to prepare excuses to attack Iran. But there is another theory: that the attackers were Americans. I won't take for granted that the Iraqi resistance lacks the capability to organize such an attack. I also won't assume that the Bush regime has the moral scruples not to attack its own troops. Brzezinsky recently warned Congress that Bush might be planning to do that. (There's also the possibility that the Bush regime participated somehow in the 9/11 attacks.)

12 February 2007 (Trials without defense lawyers) The Iraqi government is executing captured members of the resistance as "criminals", after "trials" without defense lawyers. Do these leaders want to be executed when the resistance captures them?

12 February 2007 (Imprisoning and torturing) Ethiopia, an ally of Bush, is imprisoning and torturing political opposition.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.] Teaching allies to torture is standard US practice since at least the 60s. Maybe the Bush regime taught the Ethiopian government some of the techniques.

12 February 2007 (Lt Watada's mistrial) Here's more detail about Lt Watada's mistrial.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.] It seems that prominent authorities on the law agree that he cannot be prosecuted again. But who knows whether the Bush regime will respect the law?

12 February 2007 (Crimes that damage the environment) The EU proposes to establish Europe-wide criminal penalties for crimes that damage the environment.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.] If this is enforced energetically against shipment of waste to the poor countries where a large amount of it now winds up, it could make a big difference.

11 February 2007 (Enforcing overpopulation) To demonstrate the absurdity of the main supposed argument against gay marriage, a ballot initiative proposes to annul any marriage that does not produce a child within three years. In an overpopulated world, the idea that the state has an interest in encouraging births is suicidally insane.

11 February 2007 (Victory for Lt. Watada) The judge in Lt. Ehren Watada's court martial found he was unable to keep Watada's defense -- that the war is illegal and therefore the order for him to fight is illegal -- from being heard in court. So he found a strained excuse to declare a mistrial. This probably means Watada cannot be prosecuted again, and therefore cannot be convicted. But that would be less of a defeat for the Army than to see him found not guilty. It is a great victory, but if another officer follows Watada's in footsteps, the Army will probably find a different legal strategy.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.]

11 February 2007 (Law-decrees in Venezuela) President Chavez was recenly given limited power to decree laws in a certain range of issues. This article explains more about law-decrees in Venezuela. They can be overturned by the legislature or by a referendum, or by the Supreme Court if it finds them unconstitutional. I am confident that Chavez intends to respect democracy.

11 February 2007 (Death penalty) B'liar is accused of sabotaging a UN push to abolish the death penalty.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.] Note the British diplomats' half truth: they say they are "skeptical about the resolution's chances of passage". This is dishonest if they are the ones preventing it from passing. But even if it were honest, it would not be a valid reason to oppose the resolution.

10 February 2007 (Floods in Jakarta) Devastating floods made 340,000 people homeless in Jakarta. They were caused by deforestation of nearby hills, which was done to make houses for the wealthy.

10 February 2007 (Looking for an excuse) Zbigniew Brzezinski told a senate committee that the Bush regime is looking for a provocation to excuse attacking Iran, to carry out its "self-fulfilling prophecy" of such a war. He also condemned the Iraq war as morally wrong.

10 February 2007 (PM Howard supporting hooligans) The Australian government attacked concert organizers who tried to restrain hooligans, because the hooligans literally draped themselves in the Australian flag. The opposition, and mass media joined in the attack. The concert organizers made a mistake by going on the defensive. They should have accused Prime Minister Howard of supporting hooliganism.

10 February 2007 (Professor Yayla Job) Professor Yayla job in Turkey criticized some of the ideas of Mustafa Kemal, founder of modern Turkey. For this, people called him a traitor, and he was fired.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.] Academics in the US have been punished for their views in recent years, too. This is equally wrong in any country.

09 February 2007 (UN troops that control Haiti) On Feb 7 there were protests in many countries against the UN troops that control Haiti. This article also explains why.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.]

09 February 2007 (Kidnaped an Iranian diplomat) Soldiers of the Bush forces, in the "Iraqi" army, kidnaped an Iranian diplomat, then released him.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.] The Bush regime could have ordered it as part of their campaign against Iran, denying it afterward. Or perhaps these soldiers were working on some other account.

09 February 2007 (Just for belonging to a group) Spain arrested 18 people just for belonging to a group that had recently been declared "terrorist". Apparently there is no need for them to be personally connected with any crime in order to be convicted and punished.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.] In Spain as in the US, this practice constitutes guilt by association -- which is unjust use of government power. ETA bombings are injustices, but that doesn't legitimize government injustices. (I am not a supporter of Basque independence; treating people this way is wrong no matter what cause they support.)

08 February 2007 (Car company lobbies) Car company lobbies made the EU water down its CO2 emissions limits. In order for governments to get serious about preventing climate disaster, or protecting freedom, or reducing poverty, or anything except pandering to business, they must have the strength to tell business lobbyists to buzz off: "What you say is surely only half true, and you are not very important anyway." Note how the car companies blocked the previous effort by agreeing to "voluntary standards", which they then ignored. Business always proposed voluntary standards as a compromise because it can ignore them, so that is really just a way for business to deflect the pressure for regulation. A government which is serious about achieving a goal will respond to such a proposal by saying, "Business can't be trusted to keep voluntary standards. We'll make mandatory standards, and avoid an unnecessary risk."

08 February 2007 (Legislate by decree) You may have read that President Chavez convinced Congress to give him the power to "legislate by decree". The story is true, but only partly; this is limited to a few specific areas. I find this somewhat disturbing, because bypassing constitutional procedures is generally worrisome, and because I don't see why it should be necessary. However, these areas are not the ones that are significant in terms of human rights, so I don't think this is outright bad. I will wait and see what laws he makes this way before I criticize.

07 February 2007 (Steve Jobs and DRM) Steve Jobs called on the record companies to end use of DRM. Here is his actual article.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.] The article pleads for us not to hold Apple responsible for iTunes' DRM. However, nobody held a gun to Jobs' head to make Apple implement iTunes; he and Apple cannot evade responsibility for what they did. The article also insults people who share by calling them "pirates" and calls sharing "stealing". Nonetheless, this article may help in the pressure to abolish DRM.

07 February 2007 (Uranium) Iran is about to announce increased production of weapons-grade uranium -- partly as bluff; some experts say it will need years to really produce enough for weapons. I do not believe Iran's claims that this is meant for peaceful uses; they do face an oil crisis in the future, but if they only wanted nuclear power plants, they could get them without this confrontation. However, I would be more inclined to regard Iran as a particular menace if the nuclear-armed US were not so aggressive, and more inclined to blame Iran if the US had not made it clear that nuclear weapons are the only way for other countries to protect themselves from US attack.

07 February 2007 (Disposable clothing) Disposable clothing boosts pollution both before and after it is worn.

07 February 2007 (Fleeing) Iraqis fleeing the murder in Iraq can find refuge in Syria, but Palestinians fleeing Iraq are stuck in a camp at the border.

07 February 2007 (Denied asylum) In order to support the official pretense that Afghanistan was a safe place, UK officials denied asylum to a refugee who said he and his family faced the threat of murder there. They deported him, and sure enough, he was murdered. The B'liar regime, like many, is more interested in creating an appearance of validity for its lies, than with what they do to people.

07 February 2007 (ID card plan) The Conservatives say they will scrap the B'liar's ID card plan if they are elected. They are trying to scuttle the scheme even sooner by scaring companies off of bidding to implement the scheme. This approach should be applied to "free trade" treaties too.

07 February 2007 (Palestinian civil war) Fatah and Hamas are meeting in a last-ditch chance to avoid a Palestinian civil war. The conflict between them is the result of the Israeli blockade and financial embargo. I would guess that many in the Israeli government are hoping that civil war does break out among Palestinians. But I think that if it does, they will eventually regret it.

07 February 2007 (Ashamed to be a MP) A Labour MP writes that he is ashamed to be a Labour MP, after he was unable to stop a family of Pakistani refugees from being callously deported from the UK. The minister who deported them, trying to look tough on immigration, considered the case in such a cursory fashion that he never had the evidence the family offered, as proof that their lives would be in danger in Pakistan, translated into English.

07 February 2007 (Global warming) The UK plans to teach all school students about global warming.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.] However, the focus on what individuals can do-- supposing they pay constant attention and that their work pressures allow them time to do so-- could be an excuse not to do what is really needed to limit global warming: firm and effective goverment policies.

06 February 2007 (Street children in Jakarta) There are now over 140,000 street children in Jakarta. Many poor people can't afford to care for their children.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.] The best way to avoid this sort of problem is to help (and convince) people to have fewer children.

06 February 2007 (Police raids) The B'liar regime is using recent police raids as an opportunity to demand imprisonment of suspects for 90 days, even though these raids have nothing to do with such a policy. Note the argument that "we can imagine circumstances in which this power would be needed." Any conceivable proposed government power could have such a "justification" -- therefore, if we value any kind of freedom at all, we must conclude that such we-can-imagine "justifications" are not sufficient reason to abolish a freedom.

06 February 2007 (People who opposed the invasion) The people who opposed the invasion of Iraq are now seen to have been right, but they cannot take much pleasure in it.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.] The most noteworthy point in this article is actually the details of the pressure that was put on some of these people to lie and support Bush. That is fundamental corruption of the political system, waiting to be used by any dishonest president for any purpose.

04 February 2007 ("Vishnu Strategy") The "Vishnu Strategy": persistent massive use of armed force, which breeds the hatred that eventually defeats it.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.] I'm told that the writer has misunderstood the Hindu conception of Vishnu, and that the proper translation of that part of the Bhagavad-Gita is "I am Time, that comes to destroy worlds", the point being that everyone Arjuna fights in the coming battle is going to die sooner or later anyway. I wouldn't consider that alone a justification for war, but the point is that people shouldn't take this article as a lesson about Vishnu. It is nonetheless interesting for what it says about Bush.

04 February 2007 (Drug companies) Novartis and other drug companies are pursuing a campaign of mass murder, through a lawsuit in an Indian court that attempts to change Indian patent law.

[Reference updated on 2018-04-15 because the old link was broken.] When people die because the WTO made medicine too expensive for them, their tombstones should say, "Patented to death by the WTO." This is what the world needs to generate, over time, the movement that will destroy the WTO. The WTO deserves to be destroyed because it subordinates democracy to the unjust power of business.

04 February 2007 (Islamic Courts Union) The destruction of the Islamic Courts Union in Somalia has brought back to Mogadishu the chaos and violence that existed before the ICU. The contents of "bin Laden tapes" has repeatedly produced suspicion that they are made by someone working for the Bush regime (who may or may not be Osama bin Laden). The statement connecting Somalia to al Qa'ida is cons