A new communique from Subcomandante Marcos—this one more typically personable and verbose—sheds further light on the "red alert" recently declared by Mexico's Zapatista rebels. The screed notes the deadlock which has persisted in the Zapatistas' struggle for indigenous rights since 2001, and takes all of Mexico's political parties to task for betraying their commitments on this issue. Around halfway through he addresses the Zapatistas' current "consulta" in which the organization's base communities will decide if a new direction is called for:

This from the BBC, June 24. We know that the Indonesian regime (which the White House is seeking to reward with renewed military ties) is harshly intolerant of marijuana-smokers as well as ethnic separatists. We were hoping the separatists of Aceh were more progressive. This report appears to indicate that these hopes may be misplaced—yet it notes at the end that the armed Free Aceh Movement (GAM) opposes the sharia measure. Is Jakarta trying to play conservative Muslims against the GAM? Can any of our readers provide more information on the politics of sharia law in Aceh?

Just as the White House has rejected creation of an independent commission to investigate abuses at Gitmo and elsewhere (Reuters, June 21), comes this deeply disturbing news. It is (as we've recently noted) taboo to say this sort of thing, but how is the analogy to the Nazi doctors avoidable? No, it is not the same as Mengele. The point is, you stand up and point out the similarity before it gets to that level of evil. The fact that the analogy is taboo, ironically, just abets the Nazification of the USA. Thanks to TruthOut for passing this one along.

The US may soon be facing a counterinsurgency quagmire in Afghanistan as well as Iraq soon, even if the former still fails to grab headlines. Largely because the US has been more effective at grooming proxies to do the fighting, and dying--but US troops are dying too:

Forces surround rebel hide-out in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces surrounded a rebel hide-out in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, and the number of insurgents killed from three days of fighting rose to 102, the defense ministry said.

The continuing violence in Lebanon seems to be forcing the situation there to a head:

June 24, 2005
Lebanon's anti-Syrian coalition urges president to resign

Lebanon's anti-Syrian coalition on Thursday accused President Emile Lahoud of being responsible for a series of political assassinations and urged him to resign.

"The gathering affirms ... that the president is providing protection for the existing system and is responsible for all its practices," said a statement by the coalition, which makes up the majority in parliament. "The president's departure would be a main path to law and justice," it added.

A friend writes from Philadelphia, scene of the recent anti-biotech protests (where, as we noted, a police officer died of a heart attack):

Please donate bail money!
A dozen or so protesters were arrested at the Biodevestation protests in Philadelphia this weekend. They are all still in jail, and need your help to get out. Only 3 people have been arraigned - it's $960 for each one of them to get bailed out. There is at least 1 other person facing felonies - one from Quebec who is facing 2 counts of felony assault. Everyone else is facing misdemanors - disorderly conduct and misdemanor. Thier bails should be set over the next 12 hours, but we know we'll need a lot of money to get them out. Every little bit helps, so please send money. You can Western Union it to Cynthia Pitt,Philadelphia. You can also paypal it to cyndipitt@gmail.com. Or just bring it to the jail support vigil at 8th and Race Streets in Philadelphia.

Freedom's on the march. That's why a South Asian man gets detained by the police for taking photos on the streets of New York. Gotta love the irony. Thanks to the Independent Press Association's Voices That Must Be Heard, "the best of New York's ethnic and immigrant press," for passing this along.

With Congress considering new privacy-eroding measures in Patriot Act (and making the law permanent), and similar measures being weighed by the Homeland Security Department, comes this disturbing news. This did make the front page of the NY Times today, albeit below the fold. A good thing this came to light, even if years after the fact. But what's scary is that this is going on without even token approval of Congress. As lawmakers debate the Patriot Act, the bureaucracy bends the rules without even asking permission...