A communique from the Federation of Worker Councils and Unions in Iraq (FWCUI), July 27:

Killers of the employees of the Tasloja Cement Factory must be brought to justice

On July 27,2006, the police and security forces of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan opened fire on 700 workers of the Tasloja Cement Factory near the city of Suleiumanyia in the Iraqi Kurdistan. Three workers were killed and sixteen more were injured in this cruel attack. The workers came under attack because they launched a strike asking for [a] wage rise and that 300 workers previous fired by the administration be reinstated in their jobs. The response of the security and police forces in Suleimanyia to these demands expressed peacefully was to open heavy fire on workers as if they were facing an enemy entrenched in a battlefield. Incidents like this [in which] 20 workers are killed or maimed at working place for stopping work are rare even in countries ruled by oppressive regimes. An authority serving a capital owned by militia only cannot tolerate stopping production for a moment even when it is decided by the workers themselves.

Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the left-populist Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) raised the stakes in Mexico's electoral standoff July 26 by declaring himself "the president of Mexico." Cesar Nava, a spokesman for candidate Felipe Calderón of the ruling National Action Party (PAN) dismissed the claim as "messianic." (Seattle Times, July 27)

From Mexico's La Jornada, July 24, via Chiapas95, our translation:

The Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) and the narco-traffic in Chiapas "are factors that affect the national security," says an internal document of Superior Center of Naval Studies (CESNAV) of the Secretary of the Navy.

From Mexico's El Universal, July 24, via Chiapas95:

OAXACA, Mexico - Gunmen attacked a university radio station that has backed efforts to oust the Oaxaca state governor, as violence flared once more in protests that has driven many tourists from this colonial city.

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.