State authorities in Chiapas have requested that federal army troops be deployed to assure security in the upcoming elections in the conflicted southern Mexican state. Elections are to be held in two weeks for local authorities in 118 municipalities and for 40 state deputies. The state government says ten municipalities are "zones of alert" due to a "climate of tension." (Mirada Sur, Chiapas, Sept. 24) In response, the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) issued a communique Sept. 22 charging that the state government, under the control of the center-left Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), is "attacking the poor and needy, and courting and benefiting the rich and powerful." (Mirada Sur, Sept. 25) The EZLN denied rumors that it is supporting candidates from any party in the elections. (Heraldo de Chiapas, Sept. 19) However, the rebels pledged not to interfere with the elections in their zones of control. (Cuarto Poder, Chiapas, Sept. 23)

For those who know their history, the notion of Serbian neo-Nazis is almost as wacky as Israeli neo-Nazis. Serbia was occupied by the Nazis in World War II, and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (ruled by the Serb royal family) dismantled by the Axis powers. It's a particular irony that this rally is to be held (or not held, if the ban prevails) in Novi Sad, capital of Serbia's northern province of Vojvodina—which was detached from Serbia and handed over to Hungary by the Axis occupation. However much these guys may hate Jews and Roma—what could they be thinking? "March for Serb Unity"? Huh? From Reuters, Sept. 26:

Another blow in Iraq's escalating Sunni civil war—and further evidence that any attempt at "reconciliation" will be doomed as long as the US remains in Iraq, allowing the jihadis to pose as the "resistance," and anyone advocating co-existence to be tarred as collaborators. (Not that these collaborationist sheikhs necessarily do want co-existence with Shi'ites.) Contrary to the depressing conventional wisdom, the first absolutely necessary requisite for a de-escalation in Iraq and isolating the al-Qaeda types is a withdrawal of all occupation troops. From the New York Times, Sept. 25:

While Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Sept. 24 soapbox session at Columbia University sparked high-profile protests and a media feeding-frenzy, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's appearance that same day at a Shi'ite mosque in Queens went largely unnoticed—despite the fact that he runs a death-squad state and also aspires to Iran-style Shi'ite totalitarianism. Why is that? OK, here's a clue: The mosque where he appeared is named after and linked to the foundation established by a late imam of al-Maliki's tendency who was no more progressive (or "moderate") than Iran's reigning mullahs where rights for women, gays, secularists or Sunnis is concerned—but who happened to be on the CIA payroll. In other words, as FDR said of a particular Central American dictator, "our son of a bitch." While al-Maliki's visit did make the New York Times, it was only the Queens Times-Ledger which noted (without comment) his rather sinister comments at the affair (emphasis added):

History is being made in Burma, as some 100,000 protesters led by Buddhist monks marched through Rangoon Sept. 24, the largest demonstration since a 1988 pro-democracy movement was brutally crushed by the military regime. Surreptitiously shot photographs and videos show thousands of civilians marching with the monks; audio recordings document shouts of "Do-aye!"—"It is our task!"—a slogan also heard in 1988. Protesters raised the political ante Sept. 22 when more than 500 marched past the home of detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, where she greeted them in her first public appearance in more than four years. (SMH, Sept. 25) In a media footnote, dozens of activists protested Sept. 25 against a visit to Rangoon by India's Petroleum Minister Murli Deora to discuss energy cooperation, including new contracts between Indian and Burmese firms for three deep-water gas exploration blocks. The protesters, who included school children, held placards reading "Hey, Murli Deora, Don't Go For Gas, Go For Democracy" and "India Stop Supporting Burmese Military Rule." Said a written statement from the protesters: "It is a shame for the world's largest democracy to send its cabinet minister to Burma for reasons of exploiting more natural gas from the country at the time people and monks are protesting against the fuel shortages and economic hardships in Burma." (Reuters, Sept. 24)

In an unusual move, the US State Department has protested the police sweeps of opposition politicians in Pakistan over the weekend. "Some of this is troubling and we've certainly told the Pakistanis," Condoleezza Rice told Reuters. The detainments come as Pakistan's Supreme Court is hearing challenges by critics of strongman Pervez Musharraf, who say he is not eligible to stand in scheduled presidential elections. Police clashed with protesters outside the court in Islamabad Sept. 24. (BBC, Sept. 24) That same day, high-level talks opened between Pakistan and Iran on an Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline to export natural gas from the Islamic Republic to the Subcontinent. (Tehran Times, Sept. 25)

Here's a rather perverse irony. Amid all the war hysteria over Iran's nuclear ambitions, a US utility has ordered a new nuclear plant for the first time since the 1979 Three Mile Island accident. Of course this time they are promising that "innovations" will avoid the cost overruns that plagued the industry in its last big thrust of development in the '70s. (They are not even particularly talking about the health and safety concerns, alarmingly.) But note that this time it is a utility in New Jersey which wants to build the reactors in Texas—a fruit of the deregulation regime imposed in the last 20 years, which effectively bars utilities from generating electricity for local consumption. As we argued after the 2006 Queens blackout, this new regime exaggerates the dangers of the system by eroding public accountability. And with all the horrors in the headlines these days, this summer's radiation leak at a commercial reactor in Niigata, Japan, barely registered a blip—although reporter Matthew Wald does, to his credit, at least work in a parenthetical reference to the Niigata accident in this New York Times account, Sept. 25:

Not for the first time. From AFP, Sept. 24:

UNITED NATIONS — Iranian pro-democracy activists strongly oppose any military attack on their country but want the world to condemn Tehran's human rights violations, Iranian dissident journalist Akbar Ganji said in a petition seen Monday.