ABC News' Political Punch blog notes that Samantha Power—the Pulitzer-winning Harvard professor booted from the Barack Obama campaign in March for calling Hillary Clinton a "monster"—has re-emerged as a member of the president-elect's transition team. Power is listed as a member of PEBO's "agency review team" on national security. Surprisingly, Power is said to be focused on the State Department—where Sen. Clinton will likely soon take the helm.

Hugo Chávez says he is ready to talk to Barack Obama despite the president-elect's past criticism of the Venezuelan leader. "We are convinced that the hour has arrived to establish new relations between our countries and our regions, based on the principles of respect for sovereignty, equality and true cooperation," the Venezuelan government statement read. Bolivian President Evo Morales likewise said, "I am sure that relations between the Bolivian government and the US government are going to improve."

For all the grim announcements of a "humanitarian disaster" sparked by the current re-eruption of the Congo war, there is an alarming paucity of clear reportage on who exactly is responsible for what violence. Most western media accounts are heavy on despair-inducing atrocity pornography and very light on actual facts. Within Central Africa, the Congolese media portray Rwandan aggression, while the Rwandan media accuse the Democratic Republic of Congo of sheltering Hutu militias bent on Rwanda's destabilization. And while western accounts emphasize endemic "festering hatreds" left by the 1994 Rwanda genocide (AP, Oct. 30), DRC diplomats accuse Western powers of backing Rwanda in a destabilization ploy against Kinshasa. Some examples...

From Reuters, Oct. 27:

Skinheads held over Obama death plot
WASHINGTON - Two white supremacist skinheads were arrested in Tennessee over plans to go on a killing spree and eventually shoot Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, court documents showed on Monday.

A week after the close of the Third Plenary Session of the 17th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing, officials announced Oct. 19 that new rules have been issued allowing China's 800 million farmers to "lease their contracted farmland or transfer their land use right." The long-anticipated reform is officially intended to double rural incomes by 2020, the official news agency Xinhua reports. The reform is portrayed in the Western media as a response to the growing tide of peasant unrest in China. But Xinhua also made clear the ultimate aim is actually a de-emphasis of agriculture. "This breakthrough is necessary," said Xu Xianglin, an economics professor at the Party School of the Central Committee. "It meets the need of industrialization and urbanization in the current stage."

More than 35 young women wearing tight trousers were arrested in South Sudan for disturbing the peace, senior police officials said Oct. 7. The arrests in Juba, the capital of autonomous South Sudan, were part of an ostensible campaign against youth gangs. The women were arrested the night of Oct. 5 and were released without charge the next day. Many Juba residents reacted angrily to the arrests. "We saw about 30 girls in two trucks piled up like animals," said Nok Duany, a civil servant. (Reuters, Oct. 8)

The Lebanese Industrialists Association is accusing Israel of falsely taking credit for traditional Middle Eastern cuisine. The organization's president Fadi Abboud said his group plans to sue Israel to stop it from marketing hummus and other regional dishes as Israeli. "It is not enough they are stealing our land," Abboud said. "They are also stealing our civilization and our cuisine." He said his group would also seek to claim baba ghanouj and tabbouleh as Lebanon's own. (AP, Oct. 7)

A little-noted news story about the transfer of Iraq-hardened combat troops for active duty at home in the immediate prelude to the elections has been seized upon by Amy Goodman's Democracy Now! Oct. 2 and—with considerably greater paranoia—Naomi Wolf on AlterNet and YouTube Oct. 8, as evidence of an imminent "coup d'etat" or "October Surprise." Gina Cavallaro wrote for Army Times, Sept. 30, emphasis added: