On Aug. 31, Judge Maxine M. Chesney of the US District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco issued a temporary restraining order preventing the Social Security Administration (SSA) from sending "no-match" letters to companies whose employees' names do not match the Social Security numbers they used when they applied for their jobs. The letters were scheduled to be sent on Sept. 4 to about 140,000 employers with at least 10 workers whose names and Social Security numbers don't match. Chesney's order also prohibits the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from implementing a new rule, set to go into effect Sept. 14, under which the affected companies would have to resolve any discrepancies within 90 days or face sanctions, including fines.

Shades of the Niger Delta in Yemen. From Reuters, Sept. 1:

ADEN - A Yemeni tribe has freed two foreign engineers and their Yemeni driver, a government source said on Saturday, after the military threatened to storm the area to secure their release.

300 police backed up by helicopters beseiging a small rural town? Starting to look like counterinsurgency in Calabria. From the New York Times, Aug. 31:

Fears of Mob Feud Lead to Arrest of 32 in Italy
ROME — The Italian police carried out a major raid on Thursday, arresting 32 people, in part to stop a deadly feud between warring crime families. The arrests were linked to the fatal shooting of six men outside a pizzeria in Germany this month.

We got sick just reading about it. Good news the New Zealand cops turned it down. Bad news that it exists. From NZ's The Press, Aug. 15:

Police pass on acquiring 'vomit torch'
It is enough to make you sick – a crime-fighting flashlight that makes a culprit vomit.

Our August issue featured the story "Iran: The Anti-Imperialist Case Against Nuclear Power" by Reza Fiyouzat, a reprint from the online journal Dissident Voice, arguing that nuclear development under an undemocratic regime such as Tehran's merely plays into Washington's interventionist designs. "Imperialism feeds on oppressed, un-represented people," Fiyouzat writes. "To the extent that the Iranian regime stifles its own people and their potentials, to the extent that Iranian people's well-being is undermined by their government, they as a whole are more likely to be swallowed up by the plans and designs of the imperialists. Empowered people are the best defense against imperialist aggression." Our August Exit Poll was: "Is it incumbent on anti-imperialists in the West to support Iran's right to develop nuclear power, as some on the left argue? Or is it possible to oppose imperialist designs on Iran while still maintaining a consistent position against nuclear development anywhere in the world?" We received the following responses:

From AP, Aug. 28:

Mexico has broken its record for the most extraditions to the United States in a year, shipping a man north of the border Tuesday who is wanted in Georgia for drug trafficking. Hilario Larrago, who faces methamphetamine trafficking charges, is the 64th fugitive sent to the United States by Mexico this year. Last year, Mexico sent 63 suspects to the United States, U.S. Ambassador in Mexico Tony Garza said in a statement.

From Amnesty International, Aug. 23:

Evictions crisis deepens for Palestinian villagers
The Israeli army has increased efforts to force Palestinian villagers out of the Jordan Valley region of the occupied West Bank, by destroying villagers’ homes and restricting their movement and access to water. Humsa and Hadidiya, two hamlets in the north of the Jordan Valley, are among the targeted villages. More than 100 villagers, most of them children, risk losing their homes and being forced out of the area.

From Amnesty International, Aug. 23:

Iran: Authorities thwart campaign for gender equality
Women's rights activists in Iran face imprisonment. Activists campaigning for gender equality in Iran are unable to exercise their rights to freedom of expression and association, as shown by a number of recent arrests. Many of those arrested are supporters of the Campaign for Equality, a network which works to end legal discrimination against women.