Link: http://www.counterpunch.org/rosen05152009.html

“Removal of clothing was authorized by the Secretary of Defense [Rumsfeld] for use at GTMO [Guantánamo] on December 2, 2002,” acknowledges the recently released U.S. Senate Armed Service Committee report on the use of harsh interrogation techniques. It also reports that the use of prolonged nudity proved so effective that, in January 2003, it was approved for use in Afghanistan and, in the fall of 2003, was adopted for use in Iraq. “Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees in U.S. Custody”

Link: http://socialistworker.org/2009/05/15/war-off-the-battlefield

Phil Aliff, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, draws on his own experience with the military's inadequate mental health care system to make sense of the tragic shooting of five U.S. soldiers in Iraq by an Army sergeant being treated for symptoms of PTSD. WHILE BEING treated for symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in mid-May, Sgt. John Russell shot and killed five fellow soldiers at the Camp Liberty combat stress clinic in Baghdad.

Link: http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_4701.shtml

What do you suppose it is like to be elected president of the United States only to find that your power is restricted to the service of powerful interest groups? A president who does a good job for the ruling interest groups is paid off with remunerative corporate directorships, outrageous speaking fees, and a lucrative book contract. If he is young when he assumes office, like Bill Clinton and Obama, it means a long life of luxurious leisure. Fighting the special interests doesn’t pay and doesn’t succeed.

Link: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46867

Two shots to the head, fired from a van, put a sudden end to the life of Argenis Vásquez, the organising secretary of the Toyota assembly plant workers' union in the city of Cumaná, 400 kilometres east of the Venezuelan capital, as he was leaving his home at 09:00 local time. But his death was just one of the cases that marked the start of another bloody month for Venezuelan trade unionists.

Link: http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/05/my-first-epidemic/

I have to say the N1H1 flu virus became a little alarming when the Fort Worth Independent School District shut down all 144 campuses and the City of Fort Worth canceled Mayfest. I thought these measures were a mild overreaction, but you can never be too sure. It reminded me of my first brush with an epidemic.

Link: http://www.democracynow.org/2009/5/15/argentine_journalist_sergio_ciancaglini_on_sin

Avi Lewis and Naomi Klein documented the struggles of Argentine workers occupying their factories in the 2004 film The Take. We play an excerpt of the film and speak to Argentine journalist Sergio Ciancaglini, co-author of Sin Patrón: Stories from Argentina’s Worker-Run Factories.

Link: http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/obama-to-revive-military-terror-trials-20090515-b5rs.html

President Barack Obama's administration is to announce Friday it will retain Bush-era military commissions to try some terror suspects, but with improved legal safeguards, an official said. The move, word of which has already faced tough opposition from rights groups, reflects the thick tangle of legal and national security arguments Obama is facing as he attempts to overhaul the legal struggle against terrorism.

Link: http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=29367

Reproducing satellite imagery and analysis produced by the Washington D.C. based American Association of Advancement of Sciences (AAAS), New York Times in the Thursday edition said the images "show dozens of structures that appear to have been destroyed between last Wednesday and Sunday, and multiple craters that appear to reflect the impact of heavy weaponry," pointing to AAAS analysis. During the said period, local workers reported heavy shelling by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) killing more than 1200 refugees. Honolulu Advertiser: 50 die in attack on Sri Lanka hospital. WSWS: Sri Lankan military again shells hospital in no-fire zone: In another cold-blooded war crime, the Sri Lankan military shelled the only remaining hospital in the “no-fire zone” on the north-eastern coast on Wednesday, killing dozens of people. A government doctor told Agence France Presse that three shells hit the makeshift hospital. The attack was the second on the hospital in two days.

Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8052999.stm

Civil liberties groups have reacted angrily to US President Barack Obama's decision to revive military trials for some Guantanamo Bay detainees. Mr Obama has previously denounced the Bush-era judicial system, but in a statement said new safeguards would ensure suspects got a fairer hearing.