Once again--which is more appalling? This isn't the first time that clueless or insensitive art geeks have staged bogus bombings on New York's subways, only to face criminal charges from an NYPD which is equally clueless about the first amendment. From AP, Oct. 14:

Portions of an article on torture in Chechnya written by murdered reporter Anna Politkovskaya before her death were published Oct. 12 by the Novaya Gazeta. The report detailed allegations of abuse, including an account by one man who said he was hung from a ceiling and beaten by security officials. Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov denies involvement in Politkovskaya's murder, but her death is a suspected political assassination. Politkovskaya was found shot dead Oct. 7 in the elevator of her Moscow apartment block. Days earlier she said in a radio interview that she was working on a story about torture by Chechen forces with ties to Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised to bring Politkovskaya's killers to justice. (Jurist, Oct. 12) Simultaenously, however, Russian federal authorities appear to be acting like they have something to hide. From the AP, Oct. 14:

Georgia officially charged four Russian servicemen with espionage last month, spurring new tensions between the two countries over the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. (RIA-Novosti, Sept. 29) In a counterintuitive development, Russia is backing the predominantly Muslim Abkhaz separatists to weaken Georgia, which is seen as dangerously close to the West, especially since the December 2003 Rose Revolution. Now, Abkhaz "nongovernmental organizations" have announced they will urge Abkhazia's parliament and President Sergei Bagapsh to start talks with Russia on Abkhazia’s recognition as an independent state and on establishing long-term relations. The appeal states that Russia and Abkhazia must start talks “on the formation of a military-political union, and on the coordination of Abkhazia’s foreign, defense and security policies with those of Russia.”

Jennifer L. Pozner writes for Newsday, Oct. 8:

The terrorists who aren't in the news
Anti-abortion fanatics spread fear by bombings, murders and assaults, but the media take little notice
On Sept. 11, 2006, the fifth anniversary of the terror attacks that devastated our nation, a man crashed his car into a building in Davenport, Iowa, hoping to blow it up and kill himself in the fire.

From the Boston Globe, Oct. 15:

BAGHDAD-- Gunmen killed a radio journalist and kidnapped a television reporter, police said yesterday, continuing a spate of attacks that have killed 14 members of the media in recent weeks.

Subcommander Marcos (now known as "Delegate Zero") and other members of the Zapatista delegation are continuing their tour of northern Mexico, but met an obstacle to their freedom of transit when they attempted to reach the Baja California fishing port of La Paz. Operators of the ferry service across the Sea of Cortez from Topolobampo, Sinaloa, refused to confirm that the rebel leader would be allowed to board without removing his ski mask and revealing his legal name. His local hosts, the Frente Zapatista Sudcaliforniano, charged the company, Baja Ferries, with discriminatory behavior. La Paz port authorities said the military could be called in to mediate. (El Universal, Oct. 13) La Paz Mayor Victor Castro Cosio weighed in favor of Marcos' freedom of transit, calling the issues raised by the Zapatistas' tour critical for Mexico's emerging democracy. (Sol de Tulancingo, Oct. 11) The ferry operators relented and allowed the Zapatistas to pass on Oct. 13. (El Universal, Oct. 13)

Gunmen shot two people at a roadblock in Oaxaca City Oct. 14, killing one. The assailants fired at protesters at a street barricade in the predawn darkness, hitting one in the head and another in the arm, according to activists. The victim with the head wound died later in the hospital. The shooting began after strikers refused to let two apparently drunk men in a vehicle pass across an occupied street, according to the state government. (Reuters, Oct. 14) A report in La Jornada identified the victim as Alejandro Garcia Hernandez, and said the killers were military troops in civilian clothes. (La Jornada, Oct. 15) El Universal identified the attackers merel as "drunken men leaving a bar." (El Universal, Oct. 15) AP reported Oct. 15 that a soldier has been arrested in the incident, but blames the shooting on a "drunken argument." (AP, Oct. 15) Noticias de Oaxaca noted a similar incident of gunfire on protesters Oct. 12, saying the attackers were state police and "porros" (paid provocateurs). (Noticias de Oaxaca, Oct. 12)

Sarah Ferguson writes for the Village Voice, Oct. 11:

Iraqi Body Count: How Many Is Too Many?

Has the U.S. "liberation" of Iraq succeeded in tripling the death rate for people there? That's the conclusion of new study published today by the British medical journal Lancet, which estimates a staggering 655,000 Iraqis (civilians and fighters) have died as a result of the 2003 invasion.