The Science Museum is opening its archive of 170000 objects to public guided tours.

An interview with a woman who had a 'bionic ear' implanted. She went from complete deafness to hearing things other people can't.

The strange story of a guy who posted himself home.

A list of embarassments Microsoft has suffered because of ignorance of geography and cultural misunderstandings.

I'm in Cambridge, U.K., today is the end of the workshop that brought me here, happening at the Newton Institute. It's been fun and quite productive! With this my summer travelling season ends.

A review of Roger Penrose's new book. I had the pleasure to help him with some references on quantum information!

Reading groups are a phenomenon in England. An atypical one has won a prize -- all male, they meet in a pub and have quite lively (OK, swearing) literary discussions. What one member says:

"Despite the brickbats from workmates - 'I know people who haven't read a book since primary school' - Owen has no regrets: 'It's an excuse to drink with male colleagues. It was this or a morris dancing troupe.' "

An article about Nigerian musician Fela Kuti, whose music I like a lot.

A Guardian review of Ruy Castro's book on Garrincha.

On a book debunking the myths surrounding the original Olimpic games.

A controversial essay on drug use in sports.

I'm on holidays in Rio de Janeiro, hence the silence here. Fittingly, here's an apology of idleness.

A democrat is investigating unexplained withdrawals by the U.S. from the fund which should be accumulating Iraq's oil money for reconstruction work. As if profiting from destroying the country and then again from reconstructing it wasn't enough for Bush's mates, they seem to be taking money directly from the source.

An article on how it is like to have been born with no sense of smell.

Slavery shame blights Brazilian interior.

About short short stories (a la Scliar).

An article in The Guardian about the myth of Ernesto Che Guevara, my namesake.

The life-story of a Pulitzer prize winning author who was once homeless and now, at 53, published his first novel to great acclaim.

An article about the British and French honours system (Knighthoods and the like). O Brasil também tem, mas é muito menos conhecido do público. Aliás, existe até uma Academia Brasileira de Ciências...

De volta ao Canada, depois de duas semanas em Paris.

Ate 2020, poluicao em Sao Paulo deve custar aos cofres publicos R$5 bilhoes, para tratamento de doencas causadas ou agravadas pela poluicao. Para se ter uma ideia do problema, isso corresponde a 9 vezes o orcamento de Saude de SP.

An exhibition put together by Israeli soldiers shows pictures and interviews with soldiers in the Palestinian city of Hebron. The army confiscated the damning testimonies.

At least 92 Russians were killed in militant attacks in the Russian republic of Ingushetia, which is risking becoming a new Chechnya.

A collection of links about the summer solstice (today!).

A Pulitzer prize-winning jornalist exposes Israel's strategy to support Kurdish separatists.

An article in the magazine "Philosophy Now" about the unease with which many scientists view philosophy.

An extract of the new book by Germaine Greer, "Whitefella Jump Up: The Shortest Way To Nationhood", on the unresolved tension between white and aboriginal identities in modern Australia.

If everything goes according to plan, this next Monday, June 21st, there will happen the first commercial launch of a recoverable manned spacecraft. It belongs to a company intending to bag the X Prize, to be given to the first private company to take three people to a suborbital flight (min 100Km of altitude) and repeat the feat with the same spaceship within two weeks.

Mongolians have traditionally used only first names for a long time. Now the government needs them to pick family names, only they are all going for 'Borjigin', which was Genghis Khan's tribe name...

I also have problems with countries whose phone books have low entropy. Try, as I have, finding a particular paper on quantum physics by an author called Wang!

A profile of Ikea.

A concerned U.S. parent failed to make his daughter's school exclude the line 'one nation, under **god**' from their daily pledge of alliance. He argued that this violated the separation between state and religion, but (unfortunately, in my opinion) the process was dismissed on a technicality.

Tem gente que reclama que o meu blog é impessoal... acho que em parte é porque costumo escrever textos acadêmicos de física -- difícil encontrar um registro mais impessoal e objetivo do que esse. Além disso, pelo que vejo pela internet, blogs de auto-contemplação tendem a ser chatíssimos!

Escrevo as notinhas deste blog em inglês porque é a língua dos textos que comento, e da maior parte das minhas conversas e leituras desde que fui morar fora do Brasil. Infelizmente eu quase não tenho chance de falar português aqui no Canadá. A exceção é minha boca suja quando estou jogando sinuca com o pessoal do Instituto. Agora de vez em quando meus parceiros de sinuca exclamam ´Carrraio!´ ou ´putaquiparriuu!´ com sotaque fortíssimo, sempre me pegam de surpresa e isso me diverte.

Meteorito atinge casa na Nova Zelandia. Do artigo:

["Estava na cozinha preparando o café da manhã quando escutei uma explosão", disse Brenda.
Seu marido se deu conta que havia uma pedra embaixo do computador, que estava quente e que antes havia arrebentado o sofá da sala.]
Imagina o susto!

An article on the network of prisons around the world where the U.S. government sends prisoners (from Al-Qaeda and Iraq) to be tortured for information. This includes a well-known case of a Syrian-born Canadian who was captured in a flight stop-over in New York and sent to be tortured in Syria.

VIP clubbers in Barcelona now can have a computer chip implanted in their arms. They can buy drinks and with a quick scan their accounts are debited accordingly.

D-day probably wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for the huge Red Army offensive on the eastern front. This article details the scale and significance of the Soviet attack, which is not being recalled and celebrated as much as D-day. Quote:

"It does not disparage the brave men who died in the North African desert or the cold forests around Bastogne to recall that 70% of the Wehrmacht is buried not in French fields but on the Russian steppes. In the struggle against Nazism, approximately 40 "Ivans" died for every "Private Ryan". Scholars now believe that as many as 27 million Soviet soldiers and citizens perished in the second world war."

An article about the Bilderberg group, a secretive society of very influential people who meet anually.

The U.S. is now one of a handful of countries demanding a special visa for foreign journalists. A Guardian journalist was not aware of that, and in spite of being married to a U.S. citizen and having an american son, was detained for 26 hours and deported back to the U.K. .

For the first time a German chancellor will be alongside Allied leaders in D-day commemorations. The resentment with Czech republic and Russia still remains -- not enough time to thaw since 1989.

On the murder of a 12-year old by a class-mate inside their school. In 2002 the age for criminal responsibility in Japan was decreased from 16 to 14. Looks like Battle Royale, doesn't it?

Another article about the mea culpa of the New York Times, about bad reporting in the run-up to the Iraq conflict. The NYT was just one out of a number of players who should have known better than blindly supporting the drive to war based on lies.

Some time ago I reported on a conference in Cuba, to remember and discuss the Cuban missile crisis 40 years after it happened. This is another report of a close shave with nuclear war, prompted by a deffective Russian radar system. People tend to overestimate the competence and common-sense of civil and military leaders, while sub-estimating the risk of accidental, or purposeful, nuclear war.

A thoughtful article by Susan Sontag on Bush's government stance on, and the public acceptance of, violence and torture.

This small island off the coast of Japan used to house a thriving community of coal miners. In 1974 the coal ran out and the island was abandoned. This site has two photo galleries, of the island during its downfall in 1974 and another from the abandoned island. The latter pictures show a desolate scenario where Man seems to have gone extinct.

This photo gallery reminded me of my last visit to Venice, when I saw a strange fortress-like island off the main one. Later I found it to be Venice's San Michele island, the city's cemetery since 1810.

The story behind an amateur nerd and his gargantuous project of a computer-generated movie, and how it is now being finished as a big production. I wonder if, and when, it will become practical to create a whole film single-handedly using a personal computer.

A cool fun/educational kit which enables you to build a fuel-cell model car.

The essay referred to below is available on-line here.

A chilling reminder of the dangers of U.S. military power - an extract from an article in the Guardian:
"In 1992, General Colin Powell, chairman of the joint chiefs, awarded the prize for his strategy essay competition at the National Defence University to Lieutenant Colonel Charles Dunlap for The Origins of the American Military Coup of 2012. His cautionary tale imagined an incapable civilian government creating a vacuum that drew a competent military into a coup disastrous for democracy. The military, of course, is bound to uphold the constitution. But Dunlap wrote: "The catastrophe that occurred on our watch took place because we failed to speak out against policies we knew were wrong. It's too late for me to do any more. But it's not for you."

The Origins of the American Military Coup of 2012 is today circulating among top US military strategists. "

An article about the genius of Nabokov and his novel Pnin. He's one of my favourite writers, and coincidentally I'm just awaiting delivery of this novel...

An interview with Pedro Almodovar, in which he speaks about his new film, elections in Spain, and his maturing as a film-maker.

I've just re-watched the film 'Chungking Express' by Wong Kar Wai. It is very good, it seems a bit of a Hong Kong take on the French Nouvelle Vague. It actually tells two stories, I like the second much better. His later 'In the mood for love' is a much bigger production with great atmosphere and sound-track of Argentinian tangos.

An European patent which can be described well as the Doomsday Device of Dr. Strangelove.

Um blog de um grupo de artistas de Viena: monochrom. This video was found there, it shows an unfortunate encounter between a deep-sea robot and a crab.

A dispatch from within Falluja, describing the situation there.

Who would guess, Mickey Mouse once spent a week trying to kill himself.

A website called 'Insultingly stupid movie physics', which delivers what it promises. Worth a look!
By the way, I found this website by browsing a nice blog on technological/cultural trends, see boingboing.

An extract from O: The Intimate History of the Orgasm by Jonathan Margolis

At least half of the 700 or so Iraqis killed by allied troops in Falluja were women or children. So much for the American claims that "95% of the killed were insurgents".

18 years ago, an Israeli scientist was imprisoned for letting the world know about Israel's nuclear weapons. He is about to be released now, this is a Guardian profile of him.

Today I read an article on Philosophy Now magazine, describing points of contact between existencialism and Peanuts, the comic strip. Existentialist angst similar to that appearing in Peanuts also shows up in Douglas Coupland's writing, notably in Life After God. Keeping more or less on this track, a tongue-in-cheek article on How to achieve happiness.

Walter Salles Jr writing about great South-American films.

A long profile of painter Lucian Freud, whose recent work is in an exhibition in London.

"Found Magazine" publishes notes, photographs and other personal objects found in parks, streets, libraries... the idea is intriguing, and the magazine has enjoyed a fair amount of success.

An article by a biographer of Edward Teller, father of the H bomb. The article is titled: Meet the real Dr. Strangelove.

An article about wikis, webpages that anyone can edit at will. I browsed, and even contributed to wikipedia, it's an interesting idea on "open source" content.

Israel's supreme court is close to deciding whether state-sponsored assassinations are war crimes or not.

This sounds like science fiction, but it's fact. Some researchers have developed a plant that turn its leaves red to signal it's growing over a land mine.

A week spent with refugees in England. See also the film 'Dirty Pretty Things'.

An article about ideas of terraforming Mars.

An interesting peek at Stanley Kubrick's archive.

Marco Evaristti, a Danish artist, has just dyed an iceberg red. He's the one with the golden-fish-in-blender fame.

An interesting article about traditional Chinese medicine, and how western medicine is catching up with it, identifying the active compounds in some of the extracts used.

Bush had approved a plan to attack the Taliban before September 11th, it transpires.

On a curious film I saw recently, whose star is a dwarf: The Station Agent.

A few reviews of Mel Gibson's 'Passion of Christ' film: one by David Mamet, and one by Julia Neuberger, a rabbi.

An article by Andrew Jarecki, director of the film 'Capturing the Friedmans', a very good, if disturbing, documentary I've seen recently.

The Coca Cola company has another PR disaster in their hands. In the U.K., they're withdrawing their Dasani water make from the market, because it contains unacceptable levels of a cancer-causing substance. On top of that, it was revealed that they were just adding some minerals to water from the tap, and contaminating it in the process (as well as increasing the price from 0.03 to 95 pence per bottle). What a shame! This reminds me of their launch, and subsequent withdrawal, of their Fruitopia juice drink in Brazil, which failed spectacularly as we have much better, cheaper, fresh juice in any corner shop...

A bizarre website, with no apparent goal other than befuddle the visitor. It works.

A well-humoured account of a climb of the Kilimanjaro. It reminded me of a 12-hour long ordeal I went through with some friends (?) up a mountain in the Spanish Pirenees...

An interview with the British prisoners recently released from Guantanamo.

A comment on the use of torture by US officials in Guantanamo.

How to behave in a public bath-house, or sento, in Japan.

An article about how Rio funk may find its way into the U.K.'s music scene.

An article on the popular success of contemporary documentary cinema. And a link to the work of Edward Burtynsky, a photographer whose exhibition at Art Gallery of Ontario I have just visited today. While we're at art, check out a peculiar journal, Strange Attractor.

A profile of John Kerry, probable democrat candidate to the white house.

A profile of Wladimir Putin, now he's running for a certain new term as Russian president.

An article on Christiania, the world's best known commune.

The account of a professor of cinema and his two-decade long obsession with finding the original print of John Cassavetes' first film, 'Shadows'. It resulted in a book. This reminds me of other Quixotic film quests, like the fictional one described in Paul Auster's 'The book of illusions'. In William Gibson's latest, 'Pattern recognition', there also is a cult of film snippets being distributed anonymously on the web.

Some of the Britons detained at Guantanamo are going to be released. This is an article describing the conditions they, and other 650 or so, have been held in.

Shark bites more than it can chew. An Australian had to swim to shore and drive away to get help to detach a shark from his leg.

An article about the nuclear bombing of Paris in 2009. You read it right.

An article on a group of Israeli women who go to military checkpoints to try to stop soldiers harassing Palestinians.

The first of a series of articles on ethical living.

An extract from the new book by George Soros, who is taking it upon himself to campaign to avoid having Bush re-elected.

An article by Naomi Klein, on the clashes in Iraq resulting from the popular demand for direct elections.

On the debate raging in Japan over sending troops to Iraq, or more generally over re-militarization.

An article in the Guardian about how homosexuality came to be viewed with naturality in the U.K., in part thanks to reality shows. The same thing happens in Brazil with controversial issues and minorities, but this time due to the novelas, soap operas.

Iraq phase 3: civil war. An article in the Guardian about the situation in Iraq.

Religions always seem to find a way of crossing each other. Now the Russian orthodox church is upset with the Mormons, who are buying records of dead Russians in order to baptize their dead souls in the Mormon religion.

A list of 40 good and promissing film directors. Some I don't like (Todd Haynes and his terrible 'Safe'), some I admire (Almodovar, Wong Kar Wai, , Takeshi Kitano, etc etc,), overall an interesting list.

An article about Israel's secret prison.

Two billionaires in the U.S. (one of them is Soros) are paying up to $5 million of their own money to fund anti-Bush advertisements.

An article by George Monbiot on how the U.S. and the U.K. did everything to avoid a peaceful solution to the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts.

Um artigo do The Guardian sobre uma nova novela da Globo, ambientada numa favela.

An article by Naomi Klein on why the Iraq privatization of firms is against the rules of the U.S. army, the Geneva and the Hague conventions.

Have a look at the size of the bite of this shark...

An article about the poor in the U.S..

An article by Tariq Ali, the 'Baghdad Blogger', entitled "Resistance is the first step towards Iraqi independence". Strongly opinionated, good reading for those who still believe the talk of Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz about how well the Iraqi occupation is going.

Two articles on the current situation in North Korea.

A review of the Brazilian film 'Estacao Carandiru' in The Guardian, UK.

An article on the Three Gorges dam in China.

On a tiff between Fox News and an episode of the Simpsons.

Wolfowitz gets too close for comfort to the reality of the continuing Iraq conflict.

On some detainees the U.S. still keeps, from the Reagan-government invasion of Grenada. The way they were judged by a make-shift military tribunal, and incarcerated since, seems to have been a rehearsal for what the U.S. is doing in Guantanamo these days.

A very interesting article on some debate happening in Germany today, on the Allied fire bombing of civilian targets towards the end of World War II.

A review of the comic/graphic novel Maus, which I read a couple of years ago and which impressed me much.

An article about how the U.S. is augmenting its military presence around the Caspian, with a view to explore the rich oil resources of the region, at the expense of friction with the regional powers Russia and China.

About the coersion/torture used in the interrogation of suspected Al-Qaeda members.

The second part of the Gilberto Gil article.

An article in the Guardian about Gilberto Gil, written by a reporter who spent a week with him. The title? The Minister of Cool!

On how the U.S. is determined to suppress the independent Arab media.

An interview with Michael Moore.

A curious article/interview with Shiff, a pianist tackling Bach's Goldberg's variations. It's a glimpse into a world alien to me, all these subtleties and different interpretations for a piece of music.

An article explaining the current situation of the Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona. I saw noticeable advance between my two visits there, in 1999 and 2002.

On some new evidence of who was actually behind the putch attempt in Russia in 1993.

On an almost off-the-record interview with Wladimir Putin on Chechnya and democracy.

An article on Oxford viewed by a tourist.

An article about the recent court victory of the Metis people in Canada.

An article on Paul Krugman's ideas on Bush's government and his influence as a New York Times columnist.

The U.S. has vetoed a UN resolution demanding that Israel neither kill nor expel Arafat.

An article on this years' Man Booker prize shortlist.

An article on Sweeden's reasons to say 'no' to joining the Euro.

An article in The Guardian commenting on the Project for a New American Century, drafted by U.S. conservatives now in power much before September 11, and whose predictions and guidelines suggest the war on terror is an excuse to extend American power in the world.

An article on the Patriot Act and other surveillance activities in the U.S.

A bodyguard of Allende in Chile talks about the other September 11 -- Pinochet's coup.

An article by George Monbiot drawing similarities between today's inequality and the state in pre-revolutionary France, discussing the role on the WTO in this.

An article on how the French are dealing with the deluge of English terms entering their language.

An interesting article by a former Trade Minister from the UK, about Cuba.

The top U.S. official in Iraq admits the obvious: that rebuilding Iraq will cost much more than destroying it. This is not much of a concern for the U.S. government, as both endeavours enriched, or will enrich, the corporations that brought it to power. It's payback time.

Some entries in the diary of a man who recovered sight after a lifetime of total blindness. It makes for interesting reading.

On religious fundamentalism in the U.S. .

Clare Short's evaluation on what the Hutton inquiry has found so far, regarding Britain's reasons for going to war against Iraq.

An article on what happens when Wall-Mart comes to a small village in the U.S.

An article on new research about mental and emotional states of animals, and the rights they should have.

On the use of the word 'love' or even 'lover' in Bristol, as a treatment pronoun even to strangers.

US study concludes that conservatism is rooted psychologically in "fear and aggression and the intolerance of ambiguity". This kind of study is dubious, but the reactions to it are interesting.

Dr. Strangeloves meet to plan new nuclear era. US government scientists and Pentagon officials will gather today behind tight security at a Nebraska air force base to discuss the development of a modernised arsenal of small, specialised nuclear weapons which critics believe could mark the dawn of a new era in proliferation.

A good-humored take on how the British always end up as villains in Hollywood films, and the Americans as heroes.

A good-humored take on how the British always end up as villains in Hollywood films, and the Americans as heroes.

A good-humored take on how the British always end up as villains in Hollywood films, and the Americans as heroes.

Um artigo sobre a criacao do maior recife artificial do hemisferio sul, em Rio das Ostras, RJ.

Agora brasileiros que fazem conexao aerea em aeroportos americanos vao precisar de visto. Isso vai me afetar...

Mel Gibson had already impressed me (negatively) through the roles he's been chosing to play, including many Patriots (that's actually the title of one of his films), and some chillingly fascist types. Now he's at the center of a row with both Jewish and Christian academics, over a film he co-directed with his own money, and which he claims was the work of the Holy Ghost, with him as a mere instrument. Article on the controversy.

Why the US fears Cuba
On the situation in Cuba now, and on the often-overlooked successes of the Cuban revolution.

Now we pay the warlords to tyrannise the Afghan people
an article in the Guardian, commenting on the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, 18 months after the US/UK bombing campaign.

A committee of British members of the Parliament has warned that the Iraq war has not lessened, and probably has increased, the risk of Al Qaeda attacks against British targets.

An article by Claire Short, former international development secretary of the UK, criticizing the British policy of occupation of Iraq.

Alguns artigos que sairam na Folha de Sao Paulo, sobre educacao no Brasil.

America is a religion: an article by George Monbiot on the religious fervour behind American leaders' actions.

A really weird idea: the Pentagon wants to set up a futures market in which people would bet on events in the Middle East, including timing of bombings, assassination attempts, coups etc.

Burmese citizens in California are trying to sue a gas company for using slave labour etc in their country. I'd like to see Nigerians sueing Shell, and so on.

On a silent film depicting one day in the life of Havana.

About an open-minded Brit and her activities helping asylum seekers in Britain.

About an open-minded Brit and her activities helping asylum seekers in Britain.

Mr. Berlusconi starts well his presidency of the EU.

Actors in the US who express their anti-war opinions are being antagonized, and may lose their jobs. An article about Martin Sheen.

An article by Martin Amis on the threat of war, and the new world order.

In the US the pledge of allegiance, said by all students every morning, contains the phrase 'under God'. A civil action questioned that, on the basis that it violates the separation between State and Church. Check out an article in the Guardian about it.

Hans Blix: I was smeared by the Pentagon.

The UK government launches a study into the benefits and risks of nanotechnology.

The previous posting has been withdrawn by the Guardian. I'm curious about what Wolfowitz actually said. Unfortunately the only available text now is the correction that appeared today in the Guardian:

Paul Wolfowitz
A report which was posted on our website on June 4 under the heading "Wolfowitz: Iraq war was about oil" misconstrued remarks made by the US deputy defence secretary, Paul Wolfowitz, making it appear that he had said that oil was the main reason for going to war in Iraq. He did not say that. He said, according to the department of defence website, "The ... difference between North Korea and Iraq is that we had virtually no economic options with Iraq because the country floats on a sea of oil. In the case of North Korea, the country is teetering on the edge of economic collapse and that I believe is a major point of leverage whereas the military picture with North Korea is very different from that with Iraq." The sense was clearly that the US had no economic options by means of which to achieve its objectives, not that the economic value of the oil motivated the war. The report appeared only on the website and has now been removed.

Wolfowitz has confirmed publicly: the Iraq war was about oil. I hope the naive US citizens and politicians who supported the war because of the false WMD propaganda will stand up and protest about this, as is happening in the UK.

An article by Gary Younge on dissent in the US media.

Specialists removed questionable evidence about weapons from draft of Powell's speech to UN. Basically, it appearse that Powell was extremely unconfortable and skeptical about 'evidence' of WMD in Iraq provided to him by Wolfowitz.

Transcripts of a private conversation between Jack Straw and Colin Powell expressing serious doubts about the reliability of intelligence on Iraq's banned weapons programme are being circulated in western government circles where there is a growing feeling that officials were deceived into supporting the Iraq war.

Actor Sean Penn has published a one-page ad in the NYT about the cost of dissent in the US, and his own experience speaking out against Bush's policies.

Some candid comments of Mr. Wolfowitz on the real reasons for the war in Iraq.

Some candid comments of Mr. Wolfowitz on the real reasons for the war in Iraq.

A series of reports on how Afghanistan, Sierra Leone and Kosovo are now, a few years after foreign military intervention.

On the differing body counts of the war in Iraq.

The US finally finds evidences of WMD (Weapons of mass destruction) -- in Maryland...

The US is putting more pressure on Iran. The Pentagon has a plan of regime change in Iran, by overt and covert means.

An article commenting on US's biggest defense budget ($400 billion) since the cold war.

An article commenting on US's biggest defense budget ($400 billion) since the cold war.

An article on how the Iraq conflict accelerated the crisis in the IMF, World Bank and WTO.

An article by George Monbiot about a Belgian court which may prosecute the US general in charge of Iraq, over war crimes.

On an American conservative commentator. It also discusses how the Bush administration is not a freak event, but is backed by a large part of the media and public.

An article on the real dimension of the problem of overfishing in all the oceans.

Clare Short, the international development secretary of the UK, has resigned over Britain's handling of Iraq.

Sobre o numero de mortes por tiroteio no Rio: mais de 100 bandidos em um mes, e 71 policiais no ano ate agora. Isso e' guerra civil!

Iraq body count is an organization which keeps track of civilian deaths during the war and in its aftermath. It is challenging the Pentagon over the number of civilians being killed by cluster bombs. Right now the death count is at least 2200.

The two faces of Rumsfeld

2000: director of a company which wins $200m contract to sell nuclear reactors to North Korea
2002: declares North Korea a terrorist state, part of the axis of evil and a target for regime change

An article (with links) on software for social interactions over the web, e.g. weblogs, teleconferencing, etc.

An article criticizing the methodology the World Bank uses to claim that poverty is decreasing in the world.

The US is paying a company to gather all types of information on citizens of Latin America.

One more jornalist killed, this time a British in the Gaza strip, killed by an Israeli tank shell.

An article reminding us that it's already possible to radically change human nature through genetic engineering. This is bound to happen sooner or later, and will make the debate about cloning seem very silly indeed.

Israeli ambassador to the US called for regime change in Iran an Syria

Almost 200 factories in Argentina have been occupied by its workers, who keep the production a bit like a commune.

American to oversee Iraq oil industry.
The US is preparing to install an American chairman on a planned management team of the Iraqi oil industry, providing further ammunition to critics who have questioned the Bush administration's agenda in the Middle East.

On the mayor of Tokyo, a belicist right-winger who may one day become prime minister.

Brussels is discussing how political power is going to be organized in the future of the European Union.

The US is keeping 'enemy combatants' (note, they do not qualify as prisoners of war) who are 16 years old and younger.

Hans Blix has declared that in his opinion the US has used 'shaky' intelligence (including forged documents) in an effort to prove Iraq had banned weapons.

The US sugar industry is blackmailing the World Health Organization into withdrawing a damning report.

Why Syria is US's new target. An analysis by an ex-embassador of the UK in Syria and Saudi Arabia.

Apparently the White House has ruled out attacking Syria before Bush's attempt at reelection. Hopefully that's true, and hopefully that won't happen even in the dire possibility of a second Dubya term.

Naomi Klein: what is being planned in Iraq is not reconstruction, but robbery.

Suzanne Goldenberg in Bahgdad tells of the chaos reigning there.

Israeli military shoot another foreign pacifist. It's the third in the last month or so.

'We shouldn't tolerate such barbarity'

The press is outraged by Castro's roundup of dissidents

The battle for American science

Creationists, pro-lifers and conservatives now pose a serious threat to research and science teaching in the US, report Oliver Burkeman and Alok Jha

Britain has created a 'baby bond', a savings account that will automatically be opened for every newborn in the UK, to help save for the future.

Uma materia sobre a possibilidade dos servicos secretos russos e americanos terem entrado em conflito para decidir quem ficaria com os arquivos secretos do governo de Saddam Hussein.

An article by Stiglitz on the ruin brought to Russia by neoliberalism.

US forces in Bagdhad seem to be targeting the news media. Three reporters were killed after a tank fired at the hotel where most journalists are staying.

On repression in the UK against anti-war protest.

On the current SARS (deadly pneumonia) outbreak in Canada.

The situation in the Corean peninsula is deteriorating. There may be a war there soon.

An article on the way that the Europeans have historically viewed the Americans.

A second American peace activist was seriously wounded by Israeli troops in Palestine.

On the deteriorating relations between Cuba and the Bush administration.

On how the US is preparing for the battle of Baghdad by learning Israeli strategies used in the invasion of Jenin.

Some criticism about the brutal way used by US soldiers with civilians in Iraq, as opposed to the more measured British soldiers.

A reminder of US use of chemical weapons in Vietnam. The legacy is terrible for hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese.

On how George Bush has decided to extend secrecy of documents concerning his government. Dick Cheney now also can decide whether and for how long keep the documents secret.

An article, with links, about the ideas of Richard Perle, the Pentagon's chair of Pentagon's Defense Policy Board. In particular, points to an extremely right-wing paper delineating the strategy US-Israel should follow to 'change regime' in Iraq and other countries in the Middle East.

McCarthy's ghost

Democracy is under threat in the United States; anyone who objects to the conflict in Iraq is not allowed to say so. An article by Gary Younge.

Bugs were found in EU offices.

On the backlash against anti-war voices in the US.

On the uncertainties of the coming war.

Some emails from the American peace activist killed in Palestine by an Israeli bulldozer.

An interview with Boutros Boutros Ghali.

An American peace activist is crushed by an Israeli bulldozer as she tried to prevent the Israeli army from destroying a Palestinian home.

On the contracts awaiting US firms to rebuild Iraq (after it has been conveniently obliterated).

More on the bugging that the US was doing on UN officials.

The Pentagon asks Congress to build and test "mini-nukes".

On torture at the US military base in Afghanistan, resulting in at least two dead prisoners.

A case study about the US penal system: a non-violent shoplifter who got a 50 years' jail sentence.

An article on Stalin, 50 years after his death.

Naomi Klein on civil disobedience as a way to prevent war.

On how the NSA spies on UN members to foster US interests.

An interesting article on the celebration of 60 years of the battle of Staliningrad, and the different ways official history has treated its importance.

Sobre a mais recente onda de violencia no Rio: em uma semana, 45 veiculos incendiados, seis supermercados atacados e nove onibus depredados.

The US is considering direct military intervention in Colombia.

A text by Naomi Klein on the midia war in Venezuela.

An analysis (by an Oxford scholar) on why the US wants war.

Sobre a diferenca na cobertura dos protestos pacifistas, dentro e fora dos EUA.

O governo Lula se declara contra o plano Colombia (intervencao militar americana na Colombia).

Sean Penn is against the war, and has been speaking about it for a while now, in a mostly silent Hollywood. Now he's sueing a producer, claiming that he was dismissed from a film because of his anti-war views. This brings to mind the McCarthy's era in Hollywood, with black lists etc.

The US government instills panic in its citizens, telling them to store water, money, flashlights and plastic sheets in case of a terrorist attack. This is unlikely to help, but it creates panic and support for the authorities. In my view, it's all part of the drive for war.

An article by a reporter who was in Iraq in 1991, reporting on what 'collateral damage' really means.

On the ethics of nanotechnology. This reminds me of Prey, a book by Michael Crichton that I recently read.

A nice collection of anti-war sites.

An article on the left in the US today.

On how US Green Berets are training troops in Colombia.

Weapons of mass destruction? The vast stockpiles in the former Soviet Union are much more dangerous than Iraq.

Weapons of mass destruction? The vast stockpiles in the former Soviet Union are much more dangerous than Iraq.

On the likely number of Iraqi deaths and wounded in case of war.

On the likely number of Iraqi deaths and wounded in case of war.

On the use of torture by US officials.

Israel detains hundreds without trial.

Sobre o filme 'Cidade de Deus' e a realidade que ele retrata, do correspondente do Guardian no Rio.

On the hypocritical protectionism of first-world markets.

On how the car culture of North America has shaped cities and foreign policy of the U.S.

On the threat that terrorists could easily provoke nuclear leaks by attacking nuclear power stations and storage facilities in the UK.

Direct action has started in the UK against the possibility (inevitability?) of war. Some Scottish train drivers refused to run trains transporting ammunition to Gulf forces.

On the right-wing stance of American media.

A report on the state of the world today (it doesn't look good...).

Sobre como os batalhoes de engenharia do exercito brasileiro vao ajudar na construcao de estradas e fiscalizacao de obras.

Exemplo de como o Brasil esta mudando. As cooperativas brasileiras estao doando 24000 toneladas de alimentos para o programa fome zero, o proprio ministro "Fome zero" ja foi presidente da Organizacao das cooperativas brasileiras.

On the need for more vigorous anti-war demonstrations in the UK.

On the need for more vigorous anti-war demonstrations in the UK.

On the self-censorship of American media, and how it may be softening now. It's actually very tentative, nothing that could be interpreted as 'anti-patriotic' or touching the CIA or Bush is being shown on TV.

Granta's list of great young English prose writers, edited once every ten years, is out. Should check it out and read some of them.

Um perfil de Jose Saramago, em ingles no The Guardian.

On the use of Palestinian human shields by the Israeli army.

On the use of torture by US officials abroad. The US keeps about 3000 prisoners outside of Guantanamo Bay.

An article by a state minister in South Africa, comparing the apartheid regime there with what Israel is doing in Palestine.

On the policy of assassinations being pursued by the US.

About the operations of the US army in Afghanistan, and how unsuccessful and brutal they have been.

On the Washington Post and other newspapers in the US which seem to be doing pro-war propaganda.

On seeing Cuba> through its people.

Comment on the previous entry, a leader in the Guardian.

How the CIA assassinated some Al-Qaeda SUSPECTS outside of a war zone. This creates a dangerous precedents. Instead of arresting and judging suspects, the USA is just killing them at will.

On the decrease of oil production in the world, and how this will shape the future of Britain and other countries.

On subviral advertisement.

On the US's illegal programme for biological weapons.

A leader in the Guardian on Lula's victory.

Lula se elegeu presidente do Brasil!!! estou muito feliz.

An article in the Guardian about Iran today.

George Monbiot on all the US' systematic drive to prevent a peaceful solution to Iraq's disarmament.

On the great American misleader - Bush, and his televised speech yesterday.

On how Israel treated the man who blew the whistle about Israel's nuclear weapons.

An article on how to keep art alive during the intifada.

The press secretary of the White House says the cost of an invasion of Iraq could be saved by the 'cost of a bullet'. It's this kind of barbarianism that makes many in the world cringe when the US says they defend 'civilization'.

On Giuliani's uncivilized stance.

A selection of supposedly very good british blogs.

On how the hawks took the White House. It discusses the appointment and past 'glories' of the hawks Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz et al.

More on the Bush doctrine.

Bush's new policy on external threats: we'll attack them before they are fully formed.

On how even refugees from Iraq oppose an attack by the US and UK.