Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack has been chosen by President-elect Barack Obama for agriculture secretary, the LA Times reports Dec. 17. The Organic Consumers Association warned a month ago against choosing Vilsack, calling him "Monsanto's buddy" and "a shill for agribusiness biotech giants." The OCA delineates six reasons why appointing Vilsack "would be a terrible idea":

Masked youths attacked the riot police headquarters in Athens Dec. 16, throwing petrol bombs and stones, damaging police vehicles parked outside. Elsewhere in the city, schoolchildren blocked streets, and scores of teenagers halted traffic outside the main court complex. (AP, Dec. 16) Protesters also stormed a studio of the state NET TV network, breaking into a newscast and unfurling a black banner reading: "Stop watching television, take to the streets." The newscast had been broadcasting statements by Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis on the riots that have rattled Greece since the Dec. 6 police shooting of a teenage boy. NET president Christos Panagopoulos called the incident "a premeditated act that went beyond all measures of social tolerance and protest." (NYT, Dec. 16)

From Times Up!, Dec. 16:

NYPD Police Officer Patrick Pogan, who was caught on video aggressively knocking cyclist Christopher Long off his bicycle during the July 25, 2008 Critical Mass bicycle ride, has been indicted on five charges, including Falsifying Business Records and Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, both Class E felonies, and Assault in the Third Degree, a Class A misdemeanor. The felony charges stem from the false arrest report and criminal court complaint that Police Officer Hogan allegedly filed about the incident. Officer Pogan's aggressive behavior and subsequent falsification of official documents are not isolated events in NYPD's dealings with cyclists.

Reporter Muntadhar al-Zeidi notoriously hurled his shoes at Bush—a vile insult in the Muslim world—during a press conference in Baghdad, yelling "this is a farewell kiss, you dog. This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq." He was arrested right after the toss. (Blast, Dec. 16) Predictably, like many journalists, he had been detained by US forces. But to the discomfiture of just about all sides in Iraq, he was also disgusted by the "insurgents" and Iranian influence in his country. Thus reports AP Dec. 16:

For the first time, the US has released Guanánamo Bay detainees in response to a court order, sending three Algerian-born prisoners to their adopted homeland of Bosnia Dec. 16. The three are among five Algerians ordered released last month by a federal judge who ruled that the Bush administration had failed to support its claim that they planned to travel to Afghanistan to fight US forces in 2001.

Another 44 people were killed in Mexico's narco wars this weekend, including four police officers in the border city of Ciudad Juárez, which has been the scene of some 1,500 violent deaths this year. Two police were killed at a post protecting the city's General Hospital, authorities said. A list naming 28 threatened police officers was found near the bodies of another five dead men. The bodies of two handcuffed men were found at a bus stop, repeatedly shot in the face. Medical staff, veterans and students took part in a 24-hour strike and public marches Dec. 12 in Juárez to protest the city's narco violence. More were killed over the weekend in the state capital of Chihuahua and across the Sierra Tarahumara region. (AFP, Dec. 16; EFE, Dec. 14)

A US anti-kidnapping expert was himself kidnapped in northern Mexico Dec. 10, Coahuila state authorities revealed. Felix Batista—a veteran FBI agent now working for ASI Global Kidnap & Ransom Response of Houston who claims to have helped resolve nearly 100 kidnapping cases—was seized by gunmen in a mini-van when he stepped outside a restaurant in Saltillo to answer a phone call. He was apparently working under contract to private businesses and families. There was no word on whether a ransom has been demanded. (Milenio, Notimex, Dec. 15)

General Motors Mexico will temporarily shut assembly lines at three of its Mexican plants as part of an overall strategy to cut production due to falling demand, the company announced Dec. 15. The plants in San Luis Potosi and Ramos Arizpe (Coahuila state) factories in Mexico, which make Chevrolets, Saturns and Pontiacs, will both go offline from Dec. 22 to Jan. 5. The Silao factory (Guanajuato), which makes Chevrolets, GMC trucks and Cadillacs, will shut down from Dec. 22 to Jan. 8. The three plants have more than 10,000 employees—the bulk of the 13,000 GM jobs in Mexico. GM, now asking the US Congress for immediate cash injections to avoid collapse, announced two days earlier it would slash first-quarter production in North America by 60%. (Reuters, Dec. 15)