From the Santa Barbara Independent, Feb. 15:

Ignoring the restrictions imposed by the mere geometry of UCSB’s curbs and sidewalks, students marching today in protest of the University of California’s involvement with military efforts stepped across the newly installed roundabout at the campus’s east entrance and walked down Highway 217 toward a cluster of California Highway Patrol vehicles. The crowd—nearly one thousand, according to event planners, though more conservative estimates place the number closer to 500—had convened initially in Isla Vista at Pardall Road, in front of a tunnel underpass through which many UCSB students ride their bikes to get to class. Part of the protest included a strike that discouraged students from attending class in symbolism of a decisive break from “business as usual.” Thus, the spot was integral for the protestors to hail passers-by to drop their daily activities in favor of joining the rally. However, the class walkout—which some students disobeyed, even if they purported to support the protest—paled in comparison to the literal walk down the principal highway leading into campus, which stopped traffic.

From Military.com, Feb. 1:

President Bush and his new military chiefs have been saying for nearly a month that they would "surge" an additional 21,500 troops to Iraq, in a last, grand push to quell the violence in Baghdad and in Anbar Province. But a new study by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says the real troop increase could be as high as 48,000 -- more than double the number the President initially said.

We noted earlier this week signs of an emerging ethnic insurgency in Iran's eastern province of Baluchistan. Now news reports make reference not only to bombs, but "insurgents." We didn't expect to vindicated so quickly. From AP, Feb. 16:

TEHRAN — A bomb exploded in southeastern Iran late Friday, near the site where an explosion this week killed 11 members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, and clashes broke out afterward between Iranian police and insurgents, Iranian news agencies reported.

We've noted before that the laws against Holocaust denial are counter-productive, as they muddy the moral waters, showing "democracy" as the "real" totalitarianism. They serve as effective propaganda precisely for those they seek to silence. Unfortunately, here we go again. From AP, Feb. 15:

President Bush has approved plans to create a Pentagon command for Africa, a move that reflects increasing US strategic interests in the continent. Bush said in a Feb. 13 statement that he had asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates to get the new "Africom" up and running by the end of September 2008. "This new command will strengthen our security cooperation with Africa and create new opportunities to bolster the capabilities of our partners in Africa," Bush said. "Africa Command will enhance our efforts to bring peace and security to the people of Africa and promote our common goals of development, health, education, democracy and economic growth in Africa." But Josh Rushing, al-Jazeera’s military analyst, told the network's Inside Story program that Africa Command came down to "following the oil." (Temoust, Niger, Feb. 13)

Canada is considering withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan, according to an interim report by the Canadian Senate committee on national security and defence. The report demands more money for the operation and a bigger commitment from other NATO countries within a year. If these demands are not met, Ottawa should reconsider its mission, the head of the Senate committee Colin Kenny said when releasing the report. He asked: "Are Canadians willing to commit themselves to decades of involvement in Afghanistan, which could cost hundreds of Canadian lives and billions of dollars with no guarantee of ending up with anything like the kind of society that makes sense to us?" Canada presently has 2,500 troops in the Afghan province of Kandahar, where they have sustained 42 fatalities. (DPA, Feb. 14)

From AFP, Feb. 14 (links added):

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon announced plans to maintain some 27,000 US troops in Afghanistan -- the most since it went to war there more than five years ago -- to try to crush a resurgence of the Taliban.

From AP, via the Carlsbad Current Argus, Feb. 15:

Salt Lake City - Officials fear a backlash against the Bosnian community, while family friends suggested a Bosnian teen's experiences as a refugee may have fueled his deadly rampage through a mall Monday.