At least, it seemed to be Marcos. He was, after all, wearing his trademark black ski mask.

Followers were convinced. They listened over the weekend as Marcos ticked off complaints and critiques — of Mexico's war on drugs, the events in the Gaza Strip, even the perceived shortcomings of President-elect Barack Obama.

Apparently a year out of the limelight had given Marcos lots to say.

"We came to know each other in war, and in war we continue," he said.

Marcos spoke in San Cristobal de las Casas, in Chiapas state, at a four-day conference marking the 15th anniversary of the short-lived rebellion by his Zapatista National Liberation Army. It was part of a "first annual" event called the Festival of Dignified Rage, which ends today.

History and Warfare
If history has shown the observer one thing, it is that war follows man like a shadow. According to one source, documented history has recorded an estimated 300 years of known peace on our planet – leaving thousands of years open to conflicts of varying degrees. Interestingly enough, this mostly unknown fact forces us to recognize that there has been some source of conflict – be it religious, ethnic, territorial or otherwise – between two or more groups on our planet on a consistent basis for thousands of years.

The crisis of global capitalism is unprecedented, given its magnitude, its global reach, the extent of ecological degradation and social deterioration, and the scale of the means of violence. We truly face a crisis of humanity. The stakes have never been higher; our very survival is at risk. We have entered into a period of great upheavals and uncertainties, of momentous changes, fraught with dangers – if also opportunities.

Osama bin Laden is dead, but the U-S-A chant lives on. One of the strangest things about the Al-Qaeda leader's death has been the patriotic and at least a little absurd celebrations that have taken place from last night's Phillies-Mets game at Citizens Bank Park to the campus of Iowa State University and beyond, and especially at the White House, where my colleague Alexis Madrigal captured an atmosphere of "aimless celebrating" in which Washington Capitals hockey fans formed a mob alongside college kids and other onlookers. And perhaps stranger still is that all of these scenes gave rise to cheers of "U-S-A! U-S-A!".

In the immediate aftermath of his death Tillman became a caricature, used to promote and encourage war.

But the Pat Tillman his family has fought to be known is the actual, thinking, opinionated human being. This Pat Tillman believed that 9/11 had been manipulated to justify an illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq.

As his biographer Jon Krakauer said, "He thought the war was illegal. He thought it was a mistake. He thought it was going to be a disaster. And in the Army, you're not supposed to talk about that. You're not supposed to talk politics. And Pat didn't shut up. He told everyone he encountered, 'This war is illegal as hell'."

KC in la

A definite improvement over the original