The summer of 2011 has been a long, hot one for Israeli and international companies complicit in human rights violations in the occupied West Bank.

Facing an intense Europe-wide boycott campaign, Israel's largest produce exporter, Agrexco, filed for bankruptcy. French multinational Veolia, an urban systems corporation contracted with the Israeli government to provide light rail services for Israeli settlers in the West Bank, announced massive losses due to sustained pressure by activists around the world.

Meanwhile, in Sweden, the Israeli maker of home carbonation devices, Sodastream, took a direct hit when the Coop supermarket chain announced on 19 July that it would stop all purchases of its products due to the company's activity in illegal Israeli settlements. This marked another important victory for the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, as Sweden is Sodastream's largest market, with an estimated one in five households owning a Sodastream product ("Coop Sweden stops all purchases of Soda Stream carbonation devices," 21 July 2011).

The Israeli company has been the target of a two-year campaign by Swedish activists who seek to highlight the company's complicity with the Israeli occupation. The main production facilities for Sodastream are located at Mishor Adumim, the industrial zone of the Israeli settlement Maaleh Adumim in the occupied West Bank.

Sodastream, whose products are sold in 41 countries, has repeatedly attempted to deflect attention from the factory in the occupied West Bank, claiming that it is just one of many around the world.

In an interview last March with the Israeli financial daily The Marker (published by Haaretz), Sodastream CEO Daniel Birnbaum went so far as to say that "all Sodastream products sold in Sweden are made in China, not Israel" ("Sodastream setting up plant within Green Line," 3 March 2011).

The former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell pledged Tuesday to testify against former Vice President Dick Cheney if he is ever tried for war crimes.

Col. Lawrence Wilkerson told Democracy Now's Amy Goodman that he would participate in a trial even if it meant personal repercussions.

"I, unfortunately - and I've admitted to this a number of times, publicly and privately - was the person who put together Colin Powell's presentation at the United Nations Security Council on 5 February, 2003," Wilkerson said. "It was probably the biggest mistake of my life. I regret it to this day. I regret not having resigned over it."

The grisly discovery of a human foot that washed ashore in Vancouver Tuesday afternoon marks the latest chapter in a mystery that has been going on since 2007.

Since that time, eight human feet have been found on the B.C. coast. Three more have turned up in nearby Washington state.

Here is a brief timeline of BC's foot mystery:

August, 2007: A man's foot was found on Jedediah Island, northeast of Nanaimo, B.C. The foot was associated with a deceased man whose name police withheld at the request of his family.

August 2007: An unidentified man's right foot found on Gabriola Island.

July 2008: Two feet believed to belong to the same man are discovered on Valdez and Westham islands.

More than 100 baby sharks have washed up on Waiheke Island minus their fins, sparking a Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries investigation.

Two visitors to the Waiheke Winter Blues Festival made the gruesome discovery while walking the coastal route around Owhanake Bay on Sunday.

At the western end of Owhanake Beach the two men, Keith Chaplin and Nigel Brunt from Whangaparaoa, found more than 100 dead baby sharks measuring "about a foot long".

"The seagulls had been at them a bit but it was obvious all their backs were missing," Chaplin says.

The two men reported it to Waiheke police on Monday as they had only been able to leave an answerphone message to MAF on Sunday.

A police spokesperson says it will be investigated by a fisheries officer.

A fugitive rapist who went on the run after a frail spinster was murdered in a hammer attack at her home once told a victim: 'I am your everyday psychopath.'

Graeme Jarman, 47, was jailed for seven years for the horrifying rape at gunpoint of his 17-year-old victim who later described him as an 'evil and cunning' predator.

'I suffered seven hours at the hands of that man,' she said. 'He told me to shut up and do what he said, adding, "I am your everyday psychopath". Those words will live with me for ever.'

Jarman, a former civil servant, is now at the centre of a nationwide manhunt mounted by detectives investigating the killing of 77-year-old pensioner Judith Richardson.

"A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery; it cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained and magnanimous. A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which one class overthrows another." ~Mao Zedong

First of all, don't worry, I am not advocating violent overthrow of the Robber Class in this piece - now that your mind is eased (or disappointed), I will go on.

Today, Peace of the Action, and our Re-Creating Revolutionary Communities or Bust Tour is wrapping up near Yosemite in bucolic (and hot), Oakhurst. We began in Eugene, Or. and stopped in Hood River and Newport before heading down to California where we had events in Arcata, Garberville, Fresno and soon in Oakhurst.

At each stop, a community potluck was included and I observed and heard many revolutionary acts being planned by members of each community stemming from the mere act of building community

President Barack Obama's uncle was stopped on suspicion of drunken driving in Massachusetts, told police he planned to arrange bail through the White House and is being held without bail by federal immigration officials, authorities said Monday.

Onyango Obama, 67, was arrested last week in Framingham, about 20 miles west of Boston, after police said he made a rolling stop through a stop sign and nearly caused a cruiser to strike his sport utility vehicle.

Police said that after being booked at the police station, Obama was asked whether he wanted to make a telephone call to arrange for bail. "I think I will call the White House," he stated, according to a police report filed in Framingham District Court.

Police said Obama, who is originally from Kenya and is the half-brother of the president's late father, pleaded not guilty Friday and is being held without bail on a detainer from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In a court document, ICE said Onyango Obama had an earlier deportation or removal order.

His immigration status couldn't immediately be confirmed, but such orders are generally reserved for people living in the country illegally. A spokesman for ICE declined to comment on Onyango Obama's immigration case, and the White House had no comment.

Obama was charged with operating under the influence of alcohol, negligent operation of a motor vehicle and failure to yield the right of way.

Michael Rogers, a spokesman for Cleveland immigration attorney Margaret Wong, said Wong will represent Obama. He confirmed that Onyango Obama is the half-brother of Obama's father and the full-blooded brother of another relative, Zeituni Onyango, of Boston.

A Texas prison official says polygamist leader Warren Jeffs has been hospitalized after not eating or drinking enough since his recent conviction on child sexual assault charges.

Michelle Lyons with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice told The Associated Press on Monday that the head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is in critical but stable condition.

Jeffs attorney Emily Detoto told the AP that Jeffs was taken Sunday night to East Texas Medical Center in Tyler. She says he "hasn't been feeling well" but wouldn't elaborate.

The 55-year-old was convicted earlier this month on charges that he sexually assaulted underage followers he took as spiritual brides.

Jeffs has been housed at the Powledge Unit outside Palestine, about 100 miles (160 kilometres) southeast of Dallas.

Source: The Canadian Press

There's a very good post over at Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis today. ("US in recession right here, right now") Blogger Mike Shedlock makes the case that the economy may already be in recession. It's all matter of whether if one uses the the consumer price index (CPI) or the the BEA's measure of price inflation to make their calculations. There's a fair amount of technical jargon to wade through in the article, but the charts are pretty persuasive and--if nothing else--they reinforce most people's suspicions that the economy is getting worse by the day.

It's too bad we don't have a financial media that's willing to explain what's going on in simple terms (like Mish), but we don't. Instead, we're deluged with daily datapoints that have little meaning to the average working slob who just wants to know whether he's going to have a job tomorrow or if the company he works for is going to pack-it-in and head for Shandong Province.

Monday's report on consumer spending is a perfect example of how the media distorts the news to create a cheery narrative of "economic recovery". Here's a clip from Bloomberg:

"Consumer spending climbed more than forecast in July as Americans dipped into savings to buy cars and cool their homes, showing the biggest part of the economy is holding up.

Purchases rose 0.8 percent, the biggest gain since February, after a 0.1 percent decline the prior month, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The median estimate of 74 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a 0.5 percent increase. Incomes grew 0.3 percent, pushing the savings rate to a four-month low.

Industry data showed autos sold at the fastest pace in three months as supply constraints from Japan's March earthquake began to ease, while outlays on services, which includes utilities like electricity and gas, climbed at the fastest pace since December 2009."

Eight children were hurt on Monday when a staff member went on a stabbing spree at a day care centre for migrant workers' children in the Chinese city of Shanghai, local media said.

The female worker used a box cutter to slash at children aged between three and four years old at the "Little Happiness Star" nursery in an eastern suburb of Shanghai, the Xinmin Evening News said on its website.

"Adults and children were all screaming 'Help'," it quoted one witness as saying.

The incident was the latest in a series of violent attacks against children that have forced the authorities to increase security and brought calls for further investigation into the root causes of such acts in China's schools.

The suspect, who is believed to have suffered from psychiatric problems, has been detained by police, the newspaper said. Her name was not given.