With the following pithy statement, the two monoliths of the anti-war movement in the US have agreed to cooperate on a joint demonstration in Washington next month:

The two major antiwar coalitions that have initiated and organized for a massive anti-war March on Washington for September 24 have agreed to organize a joint rally followed by a joint march. Both coalitions will organize under their own banners, slogans, and with their own literature for the September 24 demonstration. The joint rally will begin at 11:30 am at the Ellipse in the front of the White House. We urge everyone around the country to unite and come out for the largest possible anti-war demonstration on September 24.

1980s nostalgia fans should enjoy the political battle which is heating up in Nicaragua, even if the sides are more confused this time around. Hopefully, the situation will not come to armed conflict this time, but echoes of the war that rocked the country 20 years ago are being raised.

After 12 days camping out with supporters on the roadside near President Bush's ranch in Crawford, TX, Cindy Sheehan announced Aug. 18 she was leaving because her mother in Southern California just suffered a stroke. "I'll be back as soon as possible if it's possible," she said. After hugging some of her supporters, Sheehan and her sister, Deedee Miller, departed for the Waco airport.

Louai Sakra, a supposed al-Qaeda operative held responsible for the November 2003 bombings in Istanbul and plans to launch attacks against cruise liners carrying Israeli tourists in Turkish ports, was arrested by Turkish authorities in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir last week. The apprehension of the Syrian national was hailed by the British embassy as "a significant success in the global struggle against Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organisations." (MSNBC, Aug. 17)

With the northern border town of Nuevo Laredo occupied by Mexican federal agents following a wave of deadly violence between rival drug mafias, the resort city of Acapulco in southern Guerrero state may be headed in the same direction. Under a deal Guerrero politicians negotiated last week with the federal government, Acapulco will be the first beach resort to receive teams of federal agents and soldiers, under the same "Operation Safe Mexico" program created for Nuevo Laredo, in Tamaulipas state on the Texas border, and Culiacan, Sinaloa. Already, 100 federal police have arrived to boost security, officials said. Guerrero's new governor, Zeferino Torreblanca, said federal help is needed in light of some two dozen suspected drug-related killings in recent months. But he said he doesn't want army tanks along Acapulco Bay, visited by 1.5 million tourists every year, including 150,000 US citizens.

Cindy Sheehan's brave protest encampment down the road from the Bush ranch in Crawford, TX, where the commander-in-chief is vacationing as the corpses pile up in Iraq, has succeeded in grabbing national attention in a way that countless of unimaginative anti-war rallies never have. All too predictably, this success is being met with violent harassment--including intentional desecration of the "Arlington West" cemetery activists have established, made up of hundreds of white crosses emblazed with the names of soldiers killed in Iraq (including, of course, Cindy's son Casey). Reports William Rivers Pitt in an on-the-scene Aug. 16 account for TruthOut:

A New York Times business section story Aug. 14, "The Oil Price to Be Scared Of," notes that the current price shock has significantly lowered the bar for what constitutes a crisis:

Once upon a time, not too long ago, the prospect of crude-oil futures hitting $50 a barrel sent waves of anxiety over consumers, business executives and politicians, evoking the specter of gasoline rationing, not to mention a global recession and general economic mayhem.

In the last intallment of a series on the looming disaster in Nepal, Newsday's courageous reporter Matthew McAllester Aug. 17 highlights a little-noted ethnic dimesion to the conflict, which is usually portrayed soley in terms of fanatical Maoist guerillas versus an autocratic monarchy. The story, entitled "Local militias add to Nepal's deadly mix," notes the emergence of paramilitary vigilante groups to fight the guerillas, backed by the army and big land-owners. The Royal Nepalese Army has denied creating the "village counterforces," as the militias call themselves. But militia leaders boasted to McAllester of receiving training and official ID badges from the army, prompting Brig. Gen. Dipak Gurung to admit the army's involvement--and the risk it entails. "Once you train them, you have to take responsibility for them... I hope it doesn't come to a situation where we have to disarm them. You never know."