On April 19, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested 1,187 immigrant workers employed by IFCO Systems North America, Inc., which manufactures and recycles pallets and crates. ICE also arrested seven current and former IFCO Systems managers on criminal charges of conspiring to transport, harbor and encourage unauthorized workers to reside in the US for commercial advantage and financial gain. Two of the seven were arrested in Guilderland, New York; one in Amsterdam, New York; two in Houston, Texas; one in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and one in Westborough, Massachusetts. All seven were released on bond and are to appear May 4 in Albany, New York, where the criminal complaint was filed. Two other IFCO employees were arrested in Guilderland on criminal charges relating to fraudulent documents.

From Reuters, April 20:

TORONTO - Native protesters used a mound of burning tires and parked vehicles to blockade a road in a southern Ontario town on Thursday after provincial police evicted a group occupying a local construction site.

Anti-mining protests have made some international news from Mongolia and Indonesia. The latest entry is from the French colonial holding of New Caledonia. Note that protests causing "millions of dollars" in damages to the mine took place weeks ago with not a flicker in the world media, and that a labor-indigenous alliance is now emerging around the issue. From Radio New Zealand, April 21:

Here's a clue as to the political scorecard in Kyrgyzstan. From Turkey's Zaman, April 20:

The United States was asked to evacuate its military base in Uzbekistan last year and now it has been delivered a "note over its base" in Kyrgyzstan.

The situation in Mongolia certainly seems to be escalating. But what can be gleaned of the politics? The ruling Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) certainly seems throroughly market-oriented and globalist, its name as much an anachronism as that of China's Communist Party. Meanwhile, note the Buddhist and even shamanist imagery and tactics associated with the protesters. Again: dare we hope that this is a real indigenous ecological movement, with autonomy from any outside powers? From New Eurasia via Mongolia Web News, April 19:

The New York Times does it again. The placement of two seemingly unrelated articles (perhaps unintentionally?) reveals more about the world than either would alone. On the op-ed page today, Tony Judt weighs in, somewhat sympathetically, on the Walt/Mearsheimer thesis that the "influence" of the Israeli Lobby accounts for the US presence in Iraq. Meanwhile, a story about President Hu's visit to Washington (on the front page, if below the fold) reveals far more about the real reason the US is in Iraq—and, alas, will likely soon be in Iran. Emphasis added.

Via Kibush:

Activists describe West Bank violence
by Katherine Cox
The Stanford Daily
18 April 2006

Two young human rights activists spoke last night in California about the Palestinian population of Tel Rumeida, Hebron, a West Bank neighborhood that also contains some of what were considered the most fanatical Israeli settlements.

Now we can forgive him for Let's Roll and supporting Reagan. The crazy, mixed-up populist crooner, we knew his heart was still in the right place! From the New York Times, April 18:

LOS ANGELES, April 17 — Neil Young, who has periodically touched on political themes during a four-decade career, plans to release a hastily recorded new album ruminating on the war in Iraq and directly calling for the impeachment of President Bush.