Somalia's transitional government has announced it will take tough measures against those behind the violence and killings that are increasing in the capital, Mogadishu. "The security forces of the government will double its clearing operation against the insurgents hiding in Mogadishu to ensure the security and fight against crimes," said deputy defence minister Salad Ali Jelle, pledging an "iron first" against "extremists." (Somali NetRadio, Jan 30)

J. Zel Lurie writes the following for the South Florida Jewish Journal (via Kibush), Feb. 15 edition:

Military rule of West Bank surpasses South Africa's apartheid
Abe Foxman, the ADL chieftain should stop crying gevalt over Jimmy Carter's best-seller Palestine: Peace or Apartheid and start discussing the apartheid issues imposed for almost forty years on the West Bank Palestinians by their military rulers, the Israel army.

An international campaign to boycott diamonds polished in Israel coincides with the Valentine's day season, Moyiga Nduru writes from Johannesburg, South Africa, for IPS Jan. 26:

Avocados, Diamonds at Core of Anti-Israel Trade Campaign
A call from a South African trade unionist for national supermarket chains to stop importing avocado from Israel could ultimately lead to the banning of all imports from the Jewish state, if unions and human rights activists have their way.

For starters, a couple of apologies.

Yes, our February issue is coming out five days late, and our daily weblog has been inactive for nearly a week. This is because your hard-working editor (yours truly) has been down with the flu. (At first I thought it was an ultra-virulent genetically-modified strain of SARS, but I was just being bionoid.)

Mike Ferner writes for Voices for Creative Nonviolence, Feb. 6:

From Alaska to Washington, D.C. yesterday, peace activists escalated their tactics and occupied Congressional offices, demanding elected officials vote against George Bush’s request of $93,000,000,000 to extend the war.

We have already noted rampant conspiracy theories in the fluctuating oil prices. We'll here's more grist for the mill. From NBC News, Jan. 26:

Oil traders and others believe that the Saudi decision to let the price of oil tumble has more to do with Iran than economics.

Samir Adil, president of the Iraq Freedom Congress, reports on the progress of the new popular Safety Force, Jan. 18:

Samir Adil meets with the IFC Safety Force

Accompanied by Raid Salih, head of the Safety Force in Baghdad, Samir Adil met with members of the Safety Force to evaluate and discuss the latest period. The new Bush strategy and its implications for on the ground, and priorities for the Safety Force also were on the agenda.

On the same day as the "Soldiers of Heaven" battle in Najaf—and eclipsed from the headlines by it... From The Scotsman, Jan. 5:

7 pupils killed as schools in Iraq are targeted

SEVEN children died and 30 were wounded in Iraq yesterday when one school came under mortar fire and another was hit by a suicide bomb blast.