Bill Templer writes "Israeli and Palestinian progressives mourn the death of libertarian activist, anti-Zionist and grand pacifist Toma Sik (1939-2004), killed in a tragic accident on his farm in his native Hungary, to which he returned from Tel Aviv in 1996. He died on the fields of the pacifist organic commune of "new peasants" he was building.

Vigilante in Afghanistan Says He Worked for U.S.

Sayed Salahuddin, Reuters

KABUL (Reuters) — An American arrested in Afghanistan with two countrymen for illegally detaining people he suspected of being Islamic militants said Wednesday he was working for the U.S. government, and he had evidence to prove it.

"Enforced Democracy: The Bolivian Referendum"

Jennifer Whitney

La Paz, Bolivia — After a long day of tension, rumors, and ocasional provocations,
Bolivian polling stations have closed and the counting of votes is
underway. But the results are already known. Regardless of whether the
"yes" vote or the "no" vote wins, Bolivia’s most valuable natural
resource — natural gas — will remain in the hands of the
transnationals.

Youth Converegence for Books Not Bombs

New York City, Aug. 28, 2004

Before a week in the streets against the Republican National Convention... Come to NYC on August 28 to build the youth & student movement!

We are a generation that wants peace, but for the last four years, we've seen only war, terror, occupation. We are a generation that wants freedom for all of us, but theirs is a government that's abandoned the very liberties they claim to fight for.

"Hard Man For a Tough Country"

Paul McGeough, Sydney Morning Herald

His enemies say he was an assassin for Saddam Hussein. Now Iyad
Allawi is accused of personally executing prisoners.

Hold the doctor up to the light and there are flaws in the glass. We
are not quite sure how Iyad Allawi became Iraq's interim Prime
Minister and no one knows just how and why he fell out with Saddam
Hussein. It is unclear whether his preoccupation with security
outweighs a professed love for democracy or what that might mean for
Iraq's 25 million people.

Telos Editor Paul Piccone Dead of Cancer

The long-time editor of the once-radical journal Telos Paul Piccone, died in New York City on Monday, July 12, of cancer. His date of birth, in L'Aquila, Italy, is not known.

Piccone immigrated to Rochester, New York at age 14. He received a Ph.D. from State University of New York at Buffalo in 1970.

We will post more details as they become available to us.

"Stay Inside:
The Republicans Are Coming"

Memo

This memo [follow the link above to the
Village Voice website to see the scan of the
memo] was left on the doormats of residents of
Penn South, a 3,000-unit cooperative development
located near Madison Square Garden.

The city,
already addled by 9/11, prepares for the
inconveniences the convention will bring. Being
told by the management to "If at all possible,
stay inside during the times the convention is in
session" is just the latest in a series of
infringements that have come to define life in
the city. What's interesting is how closely these suggestions mirror hurricane or tornado safety
tips — ("Be sure to shop for extra food and water") — leading one to wonder, what hath god and Mayor Bloomberg wrought, and what the hell did we all do to deserve it?

"South America's New Revolt"

Chris Harman, Socialist Review, July, 2004

Nearly four decades after the murder of Che Guevara, a new ferment of
revolt is beginning to spread across South America. Three governments have
been driven out in three years — in Ecuador, Argentina and Bolivia — by
spontaneous uprisings. In Peru the Toledo government that took office after
the fall of the Fujimori near-dictatorship is being shaken by recurrent
rebellion against its economic policies. In Brazil discontent with the
policies of the Workers Party government of Lula elected just 20 months ago
is giving birth to new left currents. And in Venezuela the intense political
polarisation of the whole country after the two failed attempts to overthrow
the government of Hugo Chavez seems likely to come to a head in the next few
weeks.

Rumsfeld Gave Go-Ahead for Abu Ghraib Tactics, Says General in Charge

Julian Coman, London Telegraph

The former head of the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad has for the first time accused the American Secretary of Defence, Donald Rumsfeld, of directly authorising Guantánamo Bay-style interrogation tactics.

"Cheney Utters 'F-Word' in Senate"

WASHINGTON (Reuters)

— Vice President Dick Cheney blurted out the "F word" at Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont during a heated exchange on the Senate floor, congressional aides said on Thursday.

The incident occurred on Tuesday in a terse discussion between the two that touched on politics, religion and money, with Cheney finally telling Leahy to "fuck off" or "go fuck yourself," the aides said.