An official investigation by Mexico's National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) has confirmed the participation of military troops in May's deadly police operation at the village of San Salvador Atenco. The CNDH reports it has uncovered a document in which the Federal Support Forces (Fuerzas Federales de Apoyo), an agency which provides back-up to state police forces in emergencies, called for troops of the Third Military Police Brigade to join Mexico state police in putting down the protests at Atenco. CNDH chief Jose Luis Soberanes Fernandez said that authorities must not only clarify the facts, but bring criminal charges against those responsible for the beating and sexual abuse of 26 detainees. (APRO, Oct. 17)

As odds for the legal removal of Gov. Ulises Ruiz seemed to narrow Oct. 16, Oaxaca activists camped out in Mexico City's historic center began a hunger strike aimed at pressuring the federal government to find a solution to the five-month crisis. Senate sources indicated to the daily El Universal that a bid to declare the Ruiz administration unable to govern will likely fail in the looming vote. The paper reports that a subcommittee majority has prepared a report concluding that no "disappearance of powers" is justified in Oaxaca. However, Government Secretary Carlos Abascal, who is charged with settling the Oaxaca conflict, seemed to differ with the Senate committee, saying, "The local authorities haven't had the capacity to maintain peace, order and security. That's why what's happening in that state is happening."

Now that it has pretty much been confirmed that North Korea did explode a nuclear bomb, if a very small one, comes the news that it may be ready to repeat the feat on short order. Yes, this is deeply disturbing, but Selig Harrison (who has a penchant for saying things the Washington elite doesn't want to hear) warned weeks before the blast that it was coming, and that it would be a tactic by Pyongyang to press Washington for direct negotiations—another possibility we have noted before. If this is true, Bush's intransigence essentially prompted North Korea to cross the nuclear threshold. From AlJazeera, Sept. 23:

From UPI, Oct. 17:

Hit-and-run deaths at 10-year high

WASHINGTON, DC -- Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in Washington show that hit-and-run pedestrian deaths have risen 20 percent since 2000.

From the Center for Constitutional Rights, Oct. 17:

Bush Signs the Military Commissions Act: CCR Calls it a Blow to Democracy and the Constitution
New York, NY - Today, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) denounced President Bush's signing into law of the Military Commissions Act (MCA). The final version of the bill emerged only four days before the Senate's 11th hour vote. Although President Bush declared that "time was of the essence" when he called for the legislation, he has waited nearly two weeks to sign it into law. Congress has once again been cowed into doing the President's bidding and abdicated their Constitutional powers in the process, say attorneys.

From the New York Times, Oct. 17:

BAGHDAD -- The blackened shells of five cars still sit in front of the Church of the Virgin Mary here, stark reminders of a bomb blast that killed two people after a recent Sunday Mass.

After a much-publicized cancellation, "My Name is Rachel Corrie," based on the activist's writings, has opened in NYC. The following commentary ran Oct. 16 in Newsweek:

This seems like a worthy cause, but how much is the American Jewish Committee actually hurting Choudhury's chances of acquittal or clemency by campaigning on his behalf?