How many times a day do we have to say "A plague on both your houses"? First Saddam vows to "crush the heads" of Kurds testifying about his genocidal 1988 "Anfal" campaign. Then the judge in the case, Adullah al-Almiri, responds by re-assuring him that he was "not a dictator," which makes about as much sense as saying he didn't have a moustache. Not to be outdone in cynicism, Prime Minister al-Maliki promptly responds by having Justice al-Almiri summarily removed in dictatorial manner—thereby further compromising the case against the ex-dictator. And one of the charges against Saddam concerns lack of judicial independence under his regime! It seems Iraq's new bosses are starting to emulate their own much-demonized ousted tyrant.

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept. 17, via Chiapas95:

Labor turmoil following disaster draws in USW
Accused by government of $55 million theft, leader of Mexican mine union flees to Canada with help of Pittsburgh-based labor giant

The horrific Pasta de Conchos mining accident sparked a leadership crisis in Mexico's mammoth mine and steelworkers union, and officials with United Steelworkers of America are taking sides.

A textbook case in how Venezuela's Hugo Chavez is viewed differently by the Imperium and the global south. First this, from the Voice of America, Sept. 20, on day two of the annual UN General Assembly debate:

Chavez brought his anti-U.S. campaign to the world body Wednesday. He called on like-minded world leaders to stand up to what he called "American imperialism," which he said is a "threat to the survival of the human race".

We sure hope this is Jewish paranoia! From the Jerusalem Post, Sept. 19 (emphasis added):

Venezuelan Jews fear Chavez-Iran ties

On the day that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived for a 30-hour visit, it seemed appropriate that Venezuela's Jewish community should organize a conference on the Middle East conflict and its local repercussions.

From Newsday, Sept. 19 (emphasis added):

BLOCK 7, AYACUCHO PETROLEUM FIELD, Venezuela -- The Islamic world may be roiling over remarks by the pope, but in this remote patch of eastern Venezuela, President Hugo Chávez suggested yesterday that a little revolutionary fervor -- and perhaps a lot of oil -- is all it takes to unite Christians and Muslims.

From Indian Country Today, Sept. 19:

NEW YORK - Tribal leaders and the Aymaran president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, held a historic meeting September 18 before Morales' speech at the United Nations, where they discussed the dangers facing the natural world as well as human rights issues for Native peoples.

Sarah Ferguson writes for the Village Voice, Sept. 19:

Anti-War Crowd Dogs Bush at the U.N.

Protesters swamped Dag Hammarskjold Plaza opposite the United Nations Tuesday as President Bush was inside pledging to deliver "democracy" to the Middle East.

We'll have a clearer idea of what is going on here when the dust settles, but two things are worth noting about the Sept. 19 coup d'etat in Thailand. First, the coup leader Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratglin is the first Muslim to head the nation's armed forces, and was apparently appointed in an effort to win hearts and minds in the Islamist insurgency in the country's south. Secondly, the coup comes days after Thailand was implicated as possible host of one of the now-acknowledged secret CIA prisons established after 9-11 for the Global War on Terrorism.