HELIOLITH

The NPR morning news today reported that some parents are upset that the military checks into the files of high schoolers ages 16 to 18. The reporter stated that they may look into the students’ grades, ethnicity, and home addresses in preparation for recruiting them when they come of age. The military has access to […]

Amnesty released an extensive report last week, and I started a post, but ran out of time. Amnesty called for an end to “the gulag of Guantanamo,” alleging that the US has “thumbed its nose at the rule of law and human rights.” In a press release on their site, Irene Khan […]

The BBC writes of a newly declassified FBI report, that was released today after requests from the ACLU. The report documents that at least one inmate had raised allegations in 2002 that the Koran was mistreated and flushed down a toilet. It’s odd how quick so many seemed to pretend it was absurd […]

The Slate today mentions (without linking to) an activist group of physicians, “Physicians for Human Rights” who were co-recipients of the Nobel Peace prize in 1997 for their work to ban landmines. In a report released today PHR reveals that “…extensive evidence that psychological torture was systematic and central to the interrogation process of […]

Prentiss of “Aprendiz de Todo” wrote today about Molotov’s song and video “Frijolero” that came out in 2003, and remains popular, being covered by various other bands and continues to receive decent airplay, especially for a 3 year old song. I began to write a comment for him but it ended up being longer […]

I heard on NPR about ten days ago that a bus between Pakistan and India was going to start running again, despite the danger of transporting people through the Kashmir. The program aired the stories of people who hadn’t seen their relatives for years, and were willing to stay with the police […]

There’s a short and succinct editorial in the St. Petersburg Times today, (via talkingpoints). It’s weird how worried about perception management our administration is.
The Bush administration might not appreciate the difference between campaign events that are paid for through private donations and official events put on with the public’s money, but […]

Nicholas D. Kristof of the New York Times wrote an op-ed today entitled, “Nukes are Green.” (Link here until archived) Between this essay and Wired Magazine’s similar article in February, I’m trying to understand what is going on with this sudden upsurge in nuclear optimism. Is Cheney diverting energy task-force funds to journalists? […]

And the TV God watches over me
Opens up my eyes, shows me how to see
All around the world, every night and day on my TV
Teaches how to love, teaches what is real
Tells what life is of, tells me how to feel
All I need to know I can find and see on my TV
[…]

Long live Brazil my friend! The New York Times today (password) runs a nice piece on Brazil and their increasing promotion of opensource software, that many in the open source community have been following closely. (mirror: Int’l Herald Tribune)
They credit “President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva [with turning] Brazil into a tropical outpost […]