Around Oregon – and the rest of the nation, apparently - “Honest Abe” Lincoln’s face has been showing up on $100 bills. But as most Americans who handle paper money on a regular basis know, Benjamin Franklin’s face is supposed to be on the 100’s – that’s why the bills are called ‘Benjamins’, Right? Police in Eugene and Springfield say counterfeiters are bleaching $5 bills and reprinting them as high-quality, yet completely phony, $100s. The bogus bills have been passed at more than a dozen local businesses in recent weeks.
"South of the border, down Mexico way," as the old song goes...Blog del Narco works within iron-clad online computer security. The site’s anonymous author provides inside narco-news of Mexico’s drug wars that you just can’t get anywhere else. Six months ago the violence exploded in silence. And then now there is Blog del Narco - at least until the Narco Kings catch him. Until then the site has become Mexico's go-to Internet source at a time when mainstream media are feeling pressure and threats to stay away from the story. Many postings, including warnings and a beheading, appear to come directly from drug traffickers. Others depict crime scenes accessible only to military or police. The undifferentiated content suggests that all sides are using the blog - drug gangs to project their power, law enforcement to show that it too can play rough, and the public to learn about incidents that the mainstream media are forced to ignore or play down. If you are the praying kind, put in a word for the brave soul who dares to keep blogging his/her way through the blood-soaked cloak of silence.
Kevin Neish is a life-long human rights activist. He was on board the Mavi Marmora when the IDF attacked. Neish saw the bullet holes, he saw the blood, he witnessed crimes being committed. War crimes. Crimes against humanity. You heard his voice and you probably pictured the scene of terror and carnage on the deck in the smokey, violet light of an Eastern Mediterranean dawn.
- KBOO