Some powerful stuff at Salon.com today:

• Ask the Pilot: "Propped up by a culture of fear, TSA has become a bureaucracy with too much power and little accountability." The government has responded to the threat of international terrorism by instituting a pointlessly totalitarian system of regulation on our airplanes and at our borders. It is squandering immense resources, both from the salaries of an army of security guards and also from wasting the time of travelers. It has erected barriers between Americans and the rest of the world, even as the friendship of foriegners is increasingly important. Finally, we now have to surrender all privacy just to use a form of transportation that is essential to our economy and the lifestyle of the American middle-class. This has to change.
• Why progressives should keep organizing on MyBarackObama.com: Progressive/Liberal activists are being sold out by the political elite. How can they maintain relevance? A good quote:"Political cynicism on the left is growing, and with good reason. We won both houses of Congress back in 2006, but we've seen almost nothing change. Most recently, a bipartisan coalition -- which included Barack Obama -- voted to subvert justice by granting the telecom special interests retroactive immunity for lawlessly spying on Americans."
• The dangerous hostility game with Iran: A mediocre review of some recent developments, and a reminder that "war is the health of the state"--or at least, the Republicans.
• From clearing crap to modeling fashion: Some attempts to help India's "untouchables" and bring awareness to their condition.