A glimmer of hope. From AP, April 12:

STAMFORD, Conn. -- Federal prosecutors said Wednesday they will no longer seek to enforce a gag order on Connecticut librarians who received an FBI demand for records about library patrons under the Patriot Act.

This wave of peasant protest is the first glimmer of real opposition in China since Tiananmen Square. Yet it is getting little media coverage, and the outside world is largely ignoring it. The protests have been sweeping the industrial heartland along the South China Sea coast for months, and some have been incredibly violent—almost paramilitary in their level of organization and militancy, if not weaponry. But is there any leadership or coordination? Or are the protests all still "spontaneous"? From Reuters, via Environmental News Network, April 13:

From UPI, April 3:

HANIA, Greece — The director of the Mediterranean Architecture Center in Hania on the Greek island of Crete is incensed that all the center's security cameras have been stolen.

And this is the "stable" country and chief US ally in the region. Interesting how Pakistan's internal conflicts have spun out of control since the US established it as a staging ground for destabilzing and then policing neighboring Afghanistan. From AFP, April 13:

KARACHI: The Pakistan government sent its army to Karachi on Thursday after unrest broke out ahead of funerals for Sunni Muslim leaders who were among 57 people killed in a suicide blast two days ago, officials said.

The Taliban denies it. So who did do it? AP, April 12:

ASADABAD, Afghanistan — A rocket exploded Tuesday in a schoolyard in eastern Afghanistan, killing seven students and wounding 34 other people in an attack possibly aimed at a nearby U.S. military base, officials said.

From Bloomberg, April 12:

Iran Could Produce Nuclear Bomb in 16 Days, U.S. Says

Iran, defying United Nations Security Council demands to halt its nuclear program, may be capable of making a nuclear bomb within 16 days, a U.S. State Department official said.

We have received the following from a group calling itself A for Anarchy:

V for Vendetta
A for Action!!!!

4/17: International A for Anarchy Action Day!

While V for Vendetta has been playing for a few weeks in the US, its only just premiered in Spain and a range of other for countries. The time is now here to ramp up this effort! We're calling for creating actions worldwide to educate moviegoers on the promise of anarchy and to take a parting shot at the corporations behind the film V for Vendetta film for eviscerating the anarchist politics of the original V for Vendetta graphic novel.

From AP, April 4:

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The only conscientious objector to receive a Medal of Honor in World War II has been buried at a national cemetery with a 21-gun salute, although he refused to carry a weapon while serving as an Army medic.