JOSEPH GERSON, jgerson at afsc.org Gerson is director of programs for the American Friends Service Committee in New England. He said today: “It’s been an interesting 18 hours, since we heard the helicopters overhead. I live in Watertown, about a mile and a half from the 20-block area which has been the focus of the…

BBC is reporting: “Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters have blocked a major motorway in Bahrain ahead of Sunday’s F1 Grand Prix in the Gulf kingdom. Some in the crowd carried banners with the slogan: ‘Don’t race on our blood.’ The rally along Budaiya Highway followed a night of heavy clashes between demonstrators and security…

The New York Times reports: “A Guatemalan judge on Thursday annulled the genocide trial against the former dictator Gen. Efraín Ríos Montt, a stunning ruling that could force prosecutors to begin the case all over again.” ALLAN NAIRN, [in Guatemala City] allan.nairn at yahoo.com A noted investigative reporter, Nairn just wrote the piece “The Genocide Trial…

Reuters reports: “A deadly explosion and fire tore through a fertilizer plant in a small Texas town late on Wednesday, injuring more than 100 people, leveling dozens of homes and spewing toxic fumes that forced evacuations of half the community, authorities said. They said an undetermined number of people had been killed, and that the…

BEAU GROSSCUP, bgrosscup at csuchico.edu Grosscup is author of several books on terrorism including Strategic Terror: The Politics and Ethics of Aerial Bombardment. He said today: “Initially, President Obama called the Boston bombing a ‘tragedy,’ a label for which he was roundly criticized by the political right. A day later he declared it ‘an act…

Parents from children in 33 New York public schools are boycotting testing.

“Gosnell is a rogue actor who does not represent the abortion provider community. Nonetheless, many anti-choice groups are using his case to further restrict access to legal, safe abortion care.”

Venezuela’s electoral authority reported that governing party candidate and interim president Nicolas Maduro has won Sunday’s special presidential elections to succeed the late president Hugo Chavez.

More than four out of five small business owners (85%) oppose a territorial tax system, which would permanently exempt offshore profits from U.S. taxation. See the poll [pdf].

“The largest share of federal income taxes went to the military, which accounted for 26.5 cents of every dollar. Meanwhile, education programs accounted for 3.5 cents on the dollar and science took a single penny.”