Here we go again. Israel's envoy to Norway complains that a cartoon goes "beyond free speech." What the hell does that mean? Beyond good taste? Beyond acceptable discourse? Beyond what should be permitted in a free society? Where are these lines to be drawn and by whom? Why can't the offended (Muslim or Israeli) protest offending images without calling for their censorship, either explicitly or (worse, because it is more insidious) implicitly? Maybe this kind of sloppy and censorious speech is worse than hate speech? From BBC News July 26:

Shades of the USS Liberty affair. Ian Williams writes for his blog, Deadline Pundit July 26:

Accidentally on Purpose
With the Israeli bombing of a UN camp and the killing of four UN peacekeepers, we really do seem to be in a "deja vu" all over again phase. Already UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is under attack for condemning the "apparently deliberate targeting by Israeli Defense Forces of a UN Observer post."

Join Moorish Orthodox Radio Crusade host and WW4 REPORT editor Bill Weinberg and a panel of international activists on war crimes, the media blackout, and grassroots responses to the Israeli aggression on Lebanon and the occupied Palestinian territories. Tuesday July 25 at midnight, EST on WBAI 99.5 in New York City. To listen online: http://wbai.org/

Our July issue featured stories on the widely divergent ways in which Cuba and North Korea have responded to critical oil shortages since the Soviet collapse (a foreshadowing of a reckoning the whole planet will have to face, sooner or later), as well as the South American Regional Infrastructure Integration project (IIRSA). The July Exit Poll was: "Will 'peak oil' paralyze world commerce and industry before IIRSA can complete its gridding of the South American continent?" We received three intelligent responses.

Just remember, the private automobile stands for freedom, and if you're not with us you're with the terrorists. From Newsday, July 24:

Hummer driver pled guilty to loan-sharking charges

The Lloyd Harbor man who fell asleep and accidentally drove his Hummer into two teenage sisters, killing one, is awaiting sentencing on separate loan-sharking charges -- though that crime won't factor in the investigation into Sunday's accident, authorities said.

Another turn of the screw. The NYPD unveils draconian new regulations in the ongoing crackdown on the Critical Mass bicyclists. The elitist New York Timess refuses to put this fine July 21 column by Clyde Haberman online for free, but we present it here in the interests of free speech and open discourse:

Thousands of people demonstrated across Latin America the week of July 17 to protest Israel's air and ground attacks in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip starting the week before.

About 500 protesters rallied on July 17 outside the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in a demonstration organized by Argentine Arab associations, leftist groups and activist organizations, including the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo and the Anibal Veron piquetero ("picketer") organization of the poor and unemployed. "Today the state of Israel is applying state terrorism and a plan for extermination the way the [1976-1983] Argentine dictatorship did," Confederation of Arab Entities of Argentina vice president Roberto Ahuad told the French news service AFP.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) continued the second phase of its "Return to Sender" interior enforcement operation July 12-20 with raids through the state of Oklahoma and the metropolitan areas of Chicago, Illinois; Louisville, Kentucky; and Kansas City, Missouri. The same operation brought the arrest of 154 immigrants in a July 10-14 sweep through three Ohio cities. In the first phase of Return to Sender, 2,179 immigrants were arrested nationwide from May 26 to June 13. The operation targets immigrants who have final orders of deportation.