A couple of interesting photographs from the fall of Baghdad.

John Pilger on Blair's responsibility on war crimes:

A BBC television producer, moments before he was wounded by an American fighter aircraft that killed 18 people with "friendly fire", spoke to his mother on a satellite phone. Holding the phone over his head so that she could hear the sound of the American planes overhead, he said: "Listen, that's the sound of freedom."

OrbitaFM, my favorite mexican radio station is broadcasting on the Internet. Finally I can keep up.

Today: Global March against the war: Occupation is not Liberation, for more details go to the Intenrational Answer site.

I used to wait for Robert Fisk's coverage to reach the sites I track (CommonDreams, ZMag and Jornada), but with his daily coverage from Baghdad, covering the other side of the story, I have been tracking him directly on the Independent newspaper.

The latest articles from Robert Fisk (which Duncan and I had the priviledge of listening to at MIT two months ago):

• April 12th: Flames engulf the symbols of power
• April 10th: A day that began with shellfire ended with a once-oppressed people walking like giants;
• April 9th: he dogs were yelping. They knew bombs were on the way

Michael Moore's has an awesome letter on his web page. The best bits: his movie, his books, and his web site are getting more hits now than ever. His book (Stupid White Men) has jumped for the fourth time to the New York Times bestseller list (very unusual); His documentary Bowling for Columbine has been ordered more than Chicago;

He looks over various cases of people who criticize the war, and finds that the media is not telling you the truth: there is no backlash against those who protest the war, but quite the opposite. But I guess that is what we get for consuming news from a single source.

My new book from John Pilger, arrived this week. The first chapter talks about Indonesia and the dictatorship that was established there on the 60's (Guess who was behind sponsoring it?) and the mass killings of dissenters. I had heard the stories about East Timor, but never got into the details of what happened. Corporate greed, and just like in the case of Vietnam: the desire to control one of the most resource rich parts of the world (tin, oil, rubber, coal).

The IMF and the World Bank appear once again as the stars of the show: sinking Indonesia into deep poverty, and promoting what can best be described as an enslaved society.

Finished Greg Palast's new edition of `The Best Democracy Money Can Buy'. You should go to your library or bookstore, and read this book now. One of the few books that got Nat upset.

I strongly recommend the two books above. Do not wait, just get them today (or come by my office to grab them)

Today's miggy-economic advise to countries all over the world: keep the World Bank and the IMF loans away; Do not cave to pressure to change your laws in favor of foreign investment; Do not erode your civil rights, and civil liberties in favor of a unproven economic plans (do not forget to ask for references, because there is not a single good reference); Do not sign any free-trade agreements; Push for high tariffs if you want to survive; Provide state-sponsored social programs. (Hint: Chile does not count, they smartly cheated on the IMF/WorldBank)