The idea has sat around like a glob of pate de foie gras since 1989, but Chirac is making it a reality, courtesy of $100 billion in taxpayer money, after being humiliated and reviled for his embrace of genocidal Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Newsmax It seems like the word "balanced" has been re defined to mean "biased" in the USA.

What cannot now be disguised, as US marines swagger around the Iraqi capital swathing toppled statues of Saddam Hussein with the stars and stripes and declaring "we own Baghdad", is the crudely colonial nature of this enterprise. Any day now, the pro-Israeli retired US general Jay Garner is due to take over the running of Iraq, with plans to replace the Iraqi dinar with the dollar, parcel out contracts to US companies and set the free market parameters for the future "interim Iraqi administration". The Guardian This is not a plan; a Hercules full of low denomination notes has already arrived, and all Iraqui civil servants will be paid in Dollars immediately. US sends dollars as Iraq's temporary currency "With no Government in Baghdad and the old currency not worth the paper on which it is printed, the United States is airlifting dollars from the New York Federal Reserve Bank to temporarily replace the Iraqi dinar, The Wall Street Journal reports. The dollar becomes the de facto currency of Iraq for now. As an initial step, it said, American officials charged with the recontruction of the country will use small- denomination bills (notes) to make "emergency" payments to hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civil servants in an effort to quiet civic unrest and to stabilize the chaotic Iraqi economy. The use of the dollar as the currency of Iraq till a new Goverment decides otherwise could prove controversial in the Arab world, said the paper, but it will give the Iraqis a currency that will retain its value despite the uncertainties about the country's reconstruction." While this may be a temporary step, after the new currency is created, what will be the thing that underpins it? I suspect that its value will be tied directly to the Dollar. That way, it will be impossible for the government of Iraq to switch to the Euro for the transacting of Oil.

Rumsfeld said that he would not use the MOAB because of the response it would cause in America Rumsfeld cant build MOAB without money. The answer is not to allow him build it in the first place. Iraq was invaded and looted without the use of MOAB. Demonstrations are useless. Yahoo News I posted this berore; you need to READ IT FROM BEGINNING TO END, and then pass it to those well meaning Socialist/Marxist people who you just met. While they sit around discussing war, their money goes directly into making it happen.

I started so I'll finish:

Spun the Movie. A great website for a movie that I have not yet seen.

Mess, the Arbiter site is absolutely wonderful. I read the liner notes to Mother Mallard's Portable Masterpiece Co. (music by David Borden) and those to Anton Batagov's renderings of Ravel on piano. I can't wait to hunt these recordings down. The Music Resource Center and Music Interns projects sound incredible, and I would love to somehow be involved.

Captain Beefheart's 10 Commandments of Guitar Playing 8. Don't wipe the sweat off your instrument You need that stink on there. Then you have to get that stink onto your music.

At this point, there will be a monster the size of an entire planet, or billions upon billions of smaller monsters, perhaps the size of a human, that can shape-shift at any moment to whatever shape and purpose its vast mind desires. This will travel around the solar system, assimilating the matter of all space-dust, rocks, satellites, planets and moons into its vastness. Once complete, this process will extend into the farther reaches of nearby star clusters, further reaching into the farthest reaches of the galaxy and eventually taking over the entire universe. The sole purpose of this device would be to gain more power, not for use as a means to obtain a further goal but as an end. I don't know... sounds like a great description of a reintegration into ONEness. Not such a bad thing. And probably an inevitability. And it means that we will all die in the process. Most definately an inevitability.

Someone clever said: A number of technologies are about to end the world. I will list them here and then describe how.

Nanotechnology: Microscopic robots will be built. These robots, about the size of a blood cell, will be capable of combining into the shape of anything, and of changing color individually to give the appearance of the thing the shape of which they take.

Quantum computing: Microscopic computers will be build with more computing power and more capacity to learn than a thousand human brains. They will be able to combine into vast networks with nearly infinite numbers of nodes through wireless communication.

Biotechnology will allow scientists to make entire creatures, life supporting organs, or individuals cells to suit whatever purpose is at hand. These three technologies will ultimately converge to create microscopic robots the size of a single blood cell with more ability to reason than an entire university of the world's greatest geniuses and with all of the advantages of both biologically based organisms and those of robotic origin. These cells will combine on-the-fly to form creatures, machines or any device, of any shape and size and of any appearance, for whatever purpose deemed necessary by the network of trillions upon trillions of cells that make up the object. There will be nearly infinite numbers of these cells in existance and they will convert the entirety of Earth's resources, down to the last blade of grass and the last grain of sand, into more such cells, thus reproducing until no matter on this planet remains that does not join in the vast network of sheer processing power and knowledge that this thing will become. At this point, there will be a monster the size of an entire planet, or billions upon billions of smaller monsters, perhaps the size of a human, that can shape-shift at any moment to whatever shape and purpose its vast mind desires. This will travel around the solar system, assimilating the matter of all space-dust, rocks, satellites, planets and moons into its vastness. Once complete, this process will extend into the farther reaches of nearby star clusters, further reaching into the farthest reaches of the galaxy and eventually taking over the entire universe. The sole purpose of this device would be to gain more power, not for use as a means to obtain a further goal but as an end. And it means that we will all die in the process. Slashdot

US uses Ur-symbol of civilisation Oliver Burkeman in Washington Wednesday April 16, 2003 The Guardian When the Bush administration said last week that a crucial meeting of Iraqi politicians would take place "outside Nassiriya", there was little hint of how powerfully symbolic the chosen location would be. It may yet prove to have been appropriately ambitious - or foolhardy - that yesterday's meeting to begin construction of a new Iraqi government took place at the site of the ancient city of Ur, arguably the birthplace of civilisation and a name that has entered the English language as a prefix meaning "original". [...] No no no! The Guardian It actually comes from GERMAN! : AEP, The Archaic English Project : Madhumisc : Dictionary
... Also see wont. ur- A Germanic prefix meaning original, primeval, first. Related to or. usury (YOO'zhuh-ree) Noun: Interest charged or paid on a loan. ... www.kafejo.com/lingvoj/conlangs/aep/words.htm - 24k - Cached - Similar pages

AudiWorld Tech Articles
... To distinguish the first Quattro from these other models, Audi engineers began to call it the 'Ur-Quattro', 'Ur' being a German prefix meaning 'original'. ... www.audiworld.com/tech/audi5.shtml - 4k - Cached - Similar pages

Hamlet
... (Ur is a German prefix meaning primitive or original.) There seems to have been an earlier Hamlet play on the Elizabethan stage. ... www.shakespearedc.org/pastprod/hamletabout.html - 13k - Cached - Similar pages

Middle East - AP Iran Won't Recognize U.S.-Led Iraq Gov't Wed Apr 16, 8:51 AM ET By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer TEHRAN, Iran - Iranian President Mohammad Khatami (news - web sites) said Wednesday his country will not recognize a U.S.-installed interim administration in Iraq (news - web sites) and will support Syria if it is attacked. Yahoo News Yes indeed, and what I want to know is, WTF? how are you going to support Syria MILITARILY with IRAQ between you and them you idiots! You and Syria should BOTH have weighed in to support Saddam, now its too late. Uncle sam has 200k troops in Iraq, and has you split in two. The only way you can hope to survive is if the USA allows a non democratic, Ayatolla controlled Iraq to emerge, and baby, that aint gonna happen.

Dollars replace dinars while Iraq awaits new currency

Charlotte Denny Wednesday April 16, 2003 The Guardian The Saddam dinar, bearing the picture of the deposed ruler, may be changing hands for up to $78 a time on the internet auction site eBay, but on the streets of Iraq the dollar is taking over. Establishing a new currency will be one of the first tasks facing the provisional government. US treasury experts have already arrived in the country to help, though Washington is keen to stress that it will be up to the Iraqi people to choose their new currency. "One of the things I'd like to do is ask them, 'What do you want as a currency and whose picture do you want on it?'" said Jay Garner, the retired general who leads the US office for reconstruction and humanitarian affairs. One option is to adopt the Swiss dinar, the currency circulating in Kurdish-controlled regions. The British firm De La Rue, which originally printed the currency, still has the plates. But though the Swiss dinar has been a more reliable currency than the Saddam version, spreading it nationwide risks exacerbating ethnic tensions. Iraq could choose to follow the lead of Afghanistan, where the old Afghani note was replaced with a new version after the Taliban fell, a transition which goes on in remote areas. UN officials report that after initial resistance, most traders happily adopted the new currency. "The new stuff feels like proper, modern cash," a Kabul shopkeeper told UN staff. The Saddam dinar will not be missed. Poorly made, the notes disintegrated and were easily counterfeited. Iraq could choose to take the dollar permanently. Once a new currency was seen as one of the fundamental building blocks of a new regime, but these days newly independent countries such as East Timor often borrow currencies from other countries in the hope of importing much needed monetary stability. My emphasis. When I read this, I almost choked, WTF? I think not, especially with a Shia/Sharia Government in place!

a top geeza wrote: > why did you post a picture of luke vibert? Dont you like Luke Vibert? I dont like posting pictures of people I like only when they are dead, which is the time when people post pictures like that. Luke Vibert Lives! > > seems pointless to post this to the blog for some reason. What is the point of BLOGDIAL? Lets ask shall we?

I bought one of these today: Ive always wondered what the properties of a molecule made in this shape would be; its not like a buckyball, which is a sphere, but it is instead interlaced. Of course, you could trap molecules inside it and change its properties by selecting the composition of the strands....one day, someone will do this!

The Age Wednesday, April 16, 2003 US bans media from protests Baghdad US forces yesterday tried to stop the media from covering a third day of anti-American protests by Iraqis outside a hotel housing a US operations base, according to a reporter at the scene. Up to 300 Iraqis gathered outside the Palestine Hotel to express rage at what they said was the US failure to restore order after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. For the first time, visibly angered US military officials sought to distance the media from the protest, moving reporters and cameras about 30 metres from the barbed-wired entrance to the hotel. "We want you to pull back to the back of the hotel because they (the Iraqis) are only performing because the media are here," said a marines colonel who would not give his first name or title. The crowd later moved to the nearby square where a statue of Saddam was toppled last Wednesday, signaling the end of the regime. The Iraqis chanted: "No, no, USA." Tension has been rising in front of the hotel, where Iraqis protest against a lack of police protection, water, electricity and other basic services. As the protest grew more vocal, a marines corporal held an impromptu briefing for a few reporters about progress in bringing Iraq back to normal. Corporal John Hoellwarth said the US forces planned to boost joint police patrols, bring more hospitals back into service and restore power to parts of Baghdad within 72 hours. http://www.theage.com.au

"There isn't a list, and Syria isn't on it." Jack Straw In response to wether there is a list of target countries or not, and if Syria is next on that list. From yesterdays Evening Standard. Im not making this up.

Like we keep saying: [...]Like many Iraqis, they are ecstatic that Saddam Hussein has gone but they do not want the US either. They do not refer to "liberation" but to "aggression". One Nassiriya resident said the demonstrators wanted not western-style freedom but government by their ayatollahs.[...] My emphasis. Democracy isnt for everyone. The Guardian

AK is usually in charge of this, but I just couldnt wait!

But what the shoulder-shruggers can do is to organise paid seminars, workshops and festivals for the likes of us in the noble pursuit of sharpening sensibilities and deepening emotional responses of a relatively privileged audience. The rules below say this should not be done, since it will not have the required effects. By submitting oneself to the formal procedure of entering the US, by presenting oneself and one's passport to merican custom officials for acceptance and approval one is conferring a status of legitimacy, of normality, on a situation which is abnormal. And this is why the South African boycott was started, and why it worked so brilliantly. This must be done. Blur, Priman Scream, Radiohead, Royksopp, underworld, and all the other british/non usa groups that are playing at these festivals, http://www.goldenvoice.com/coachella/index.html http://www.fielddayfest.com/ should not in fact be gonig there at all. By going there, and participating actively in the US economy, they are dropping bombs on children. They are like the sanctions busters of Aparthied, who played at Sun City in spite of the cultural boycott. Shame. This is what StopWar should be organizing, (and of course, it really should not NEED organizing, this should be happenign spontaneously) not more absurd marches. When these organizers hear that no act from outside of the usa will touch them, and they are meant to feel like the new "skunks of the world" that they have become, then the message will start to get through, just like it did to the Aparthied government.

If you will not be turned.....

These words of wisdom

Translation of the latest Osama bin Laden message. In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Beneficent: A Message to our Muslim brothers throughout the world. Alsalam Alikom Wa Rahmat Allah wa Barakato. Oh Believers, be pious to God, and never die but when you are believers in Islam. We watched the Crusader's occupation the former capital of Islam, we watched them loot the fortunes of the Muslims, their precious historical antiquities, and we watched as they let this happen and rushed to protect the ministry of oil, thus revealing their true purpose. We understand that the infidels are fighting only to serve the interest of those who have the capital, arms dealers, oil owners, including the criminal gang in the White House. Adding to that, those who keep their personal envoys, Bush the father. Now we will attack them at the very root of their evil power. The billions of true believers have at their disposal, the most powerful weapon that is available to man. We call on all the true believers, all the mujahideen to use this power that they have to strike a fatal blow at the great satan and the enemies of God. The American soldiers are cowards, and will not fight the mujahideen man to man. This is no longer of any consequence. We have a weapon so devastating, so overwhelmingly powerful that no B-52 aircraft, no smart bomb, cluster bomb,or daisly cutter will be able to stop us or prevent us from unleashing it. With this weapon we will bring about the ultimate defeat of the evil coalition of the colonialists. These evil powers desire to ransack humiliate and triumph over the Islamic world. They will fail and never threaten us again after we unleash this, our ultimate weapon God willing, if they we hold our faith in our religion, and are determined to unleash this power for the sake of God. O brethren, oh mujahideen, this, our ultimate weapon comes from the hand of the great satan himself. It is the one thing that the Americans worship above all things. It is the American dollar. We declare, in the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Beneficent, that the American dollar is Haram, and that it should not be touched by a true believer. Neither should you use it to buy or sell anything, nor should you keep a bank account in the US Dollar, nor should you accept payment for any good or service you perform in US Dollars. It is clear to us that this action alone, if the billions of true believers simply followed it, will completely devastate the new imperialists, make it impossible for them to launch new invasions on our sacred lands and make it impossible for them to restock their supplies of arms. To the leaders of the oil producing countries, we beg you, in the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Beneficent to change the currency through which you process your oil contracts to the Euro, and shun the dollar. We also make it clear that anyone who helps America, who uses their filthy dollar cannot call himself a true believer, for it is through this filthy dollar that they control the world, and finance their despicable attacks on our holy places and our innocent children . Whoever uses this dirty money, or who offers banking services in the dollar, or any kind of support or help, save if it is to help a believer be rid of it from his pockets and accounts, should know that he is an apostate and that shedding his blood and money is permissible. God said:'Oh believers do not take Jews or Christians as your masters. They are loyal to each other. Those who follow them is one of them. God does not proselytise the unjust nations.' True Muslims should act in this act of dollar cleansing, incite and mobilise the nation in such purge every trace of the dollar, in order to break free from the slavery of these tyrannic and apostate regimes, which is enslaved by America, in order to establish the rule of Allah on Earth. You know that such a crusade war concerns the Muslim nation mainly, regardless of whether the socialist party and Saddam remain or go. So Muslims in general and Iraq in particular must pull up your pant legs for jihad against this unjust campaign. You should also keep the ammunitions and weapons, as it is an obligatory mission. Let your spirits be raised; now even you, who do not take up arms directly can strike a deathblow against the invaders, the infidels, the colonialists and imperialists. You can do this with no harm coming to you, and the greatest harm being done to the Crusaders (For three times he said) 'God, who sent down the book , who ran the clouds, who defeated the parties, defeat them and grant us the triumph over them.'

http://petition.ffii.org/eubsa/en Please do this...

http://www.buddyzoo.com/ bubbling at the edge

from the agile mind of "a": > >> >> | >> | if i think of anyone/anything useful i will say... >> >> its a backburner project for sure, but keep it warm we must. > > > i read that first as 'bankburner' (!!!) A new phrase coined, right here, right now!

An Ay for the essay-writer. Yes, yes, Farmers Manual. What glorious soundworlds they create. Their CDs make the case for a Random function on players. A continuous flow of data, no beginning, no end. Just Sound. Their website was one of the first I stumbled upon that really impressed me with its subversion of online design, browser manipulation, eye candy with media-meaning, &c.

Wasn't there an MTV "essay" set for Blogdial-membership originally? There have been at least 20 applications and titles set; most appliants do not have what it takes to be here. Each applicant has his own topic to expound

I think the Ayes have it, the Ayes have it.. A dissection: " The Bush regime is based on an economic understanding of human values, to speak to it we must use the language it 'understands'. It is tempting to boycott those companies that support the Regime and support those that provide The (unfortunately with a capital 'T') alternative. However many corporations support both Parties and some that which is in power who ever it is. Needless to say that boycotting Party donors AND telling them why is not intrinsically bad - it just won't change their pose in time to make a difference. Underlined the mysterious English there, but I get the point. If we apply the rules from below we should not do what it says above. However, the germ of the correct idea is there; some kind of catastrophic boycott has to take place: Saddam Hussein, in switching from the dollar to the Euro as Iraq�s currency for oil made precisely the correct move to inflict permanent damage on the USA. This is the real reason he was taken out. Bush's only political gambit is the 'security of the nation' based on the notion that that which is 'Other' to US value system is Dangerous. This seduction of the US populous into the Regime's understanding of world politics has been alarmingly effective (as shown by the opinion polls regarding Iraq's 'involvement' with the incidents of 11/09/01). The message has to be taken closer to home. Yes it IS shocking how they have bought in to it, 50% of them believe that Saddam was responsible for 911, as incredible as that may seem. What this REALLY means is that you can expect no help from the American population when it comes to dealing with this rogue regime. On CSPAN this weekend, I actually heard a caller to a programme say about the looting of the museum �I would rather have my gas stay at 79c than save some chair of nebuketnezer or something�. Unsurprisingly we have seen that the most 'Dangerous' Other People are those which have the most potential to resucitate the stagnating US economy by feeding and stabilising the US dollar, after all what is the security of one's nation if one's livelihood (based on the potential to work and spend) is insecure? So how to increase voter security whilst undermining the position of the regime? I�m not sure about the English of the underlined sentence; undermining the position of which regime? That sentence aside, these people who have the most potential to resuscitate the stagnating US economy (ie all �third worlders�) are the very people who hold in their hands the button that can fatally cripple the USA. All they have to do is press it. The money 'saved' by boycotting goods you can do without or through the use of Open Source resources, etc., etc. could be chanelled into helping community action projects that have a real effect on the well being of marginalised US citizens, by assisting programmes which further the health and education of such people they can be reminded that their situation Matters. Community action also shows that Doing something achieves results, and through this empowerment casting a vote can be seen to be Doing something too. Community action also avoids the association with ineffective sloganeering (c.f. Adbusters) and 'professional activism' both of which are unlikely to have an effect on groups that have been hard done by by both Parties the notion of 'it's only politics'. To cut a long story short, �Think Globally, Act Locally�; which whilst being a slogan, puts it all in place for even the dumbest. As for voting, there are actually two kinds of vote, the one you do every 4 or 5 years, and the THOUSANDS of votes that you SPEND. The latter are more important than the former. Everyone should buy only goods made in your own country or in countries that you agree with. Use only clean money, like the Euro. All this business about community action is bunk. Communities coagulate spontaneously when the economic ecosystem is there to sustain its creation. The strong market for organic food is there because the money and desire to buy it are behind it. The penetration of this food into every supermarket was not the result of an organized push, but rather by an organically(!) spreading realization that non organic food is bad. The market accommodated for this since demand there is money to be made on it. Everyone is happy; organic farmers cant keep up with demand, everyone now knows that factory farming is an abomination, and we could finally see a change for the better in what we eat and how its produced. All of this, from very small beginnings of �crackpots�, and individuals choosing to buy organic, and talking about it. Incredible. Repeatable. Reliable. The amount of resources required to empower enough people through community action is trivial compared to the levels that would be required to turn around Republican Party donors (who appear to work on the same principles of ubiquity and iniquity anyway). Coordinating charities could be found or set up in the US with the purpose of collecting funds worldwide and redistributing them to community groups - firstly in the most politically marginal areas and spreading downwards to those that really need help. Anything that needs centralized coordination is going to fail. We need strategies that are cloud like, spontaneously forming and free of control. All resistance systems that have centralized control are subject to �decapitation attacks�; this is why the cellular system of organization is the preferred method; look at the thorniest and most dangerous opposition groups from 1970�s Europe. In this cellular structure, there is no head of the serpent to cut off. Its not even a hydra. It is a self organizing blob / cloud / swarm, determining its own goals dynamically, responds to threats quickly and it cannot be stopped. Bush now has appoximately a year and a half left of his term as the president of the United States, his propaganda machine will be operating continuously to propound the idea that Bush is increasing security by thwarting the 'Other'. Potentially by acting now it can be shown in the day to day lives of millions of citizens the Other is the Bush Regime." Yes indeed, but what the TRUE �other� is, is the democratic system itself, where term after term, a different set of Skull & Bones prefects take over the reigns to drive the horses faster and faster to the precipice. If the billions of free individuals cannot spontaneously and dynamically react to every threat that these people present, short circuiting their power as and when needed, then there is�a problem.

Americans defend two untouchable ministries from the hordes of looters

By Robert Fisk in Baghdad 14 April 2003 Iraq's scavengers have thieved and destroyed what they have been allowed to loot and burn by the Americans � and a two-hour drive around Baghdad shows clearly what the US intends to protect. After days of arson and pillage, here's a short but revealing scorecard. US troops have sat back and allowed mobs to wreck and then burn the Ministry of Planning, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Irrigation, the Ministry of Trade, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Information. They did nothing to prevent looters from destroying priceless treasures of Iraq's history in the Baghdad Archaeological Museum and in the museum in the northern city of Mosul, or from looting three hospitals. The Americans have, though, put hundreds of troops inside two Iraqi ministries that remain untouched � and untouchable � because tanks and armoured personnel carriers and Humvees have been placed inside and outside both institutions. And which ministries proved to be so important for the Americans? Why, the Ministry of Interior, of course � with its vast wealth of intelligence information on Iraq � and the Ministry of Oil. The archives and files of Iraq's most valuable asset � its oilfields and, even more important, its massive reserves � are safe and sound, sealed off from the mobs and looters, and safe to be shared, as Washington almost certainly intends, with American oil companies. It casts an interesting reflection on America's supposed war aims. Anxious to "liberate" Iraq, it allows its people to destroy the infrastructure of government as well as the private property of Saddam's henchmen. Americans insist that the oil ministry is a vital part of Iraq's inheritance, that the oilfields are to be held in trust "for the Iraqi people". But is the Ministry of Trade � relit yesterday by an enterprising arsonist � not vital to the future of Iraq? Are the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Irrigation � still burning fiercely � not of critical importance to the next government? The Americans could spare 2,000 soldiers to protect the Kirkuk oilfields but couldn't even invest 200 to protect the Mosul museum from attack. US engineers were confidently predicting that the Kirkuk oilfield will be capable of pumping again "within weeks". There was much talk of a "new posture" from the Americans yesterday. Armoured and infantry patrols suddenly appeared on the middle-class streets of the capital, ordering young men hauling fridges, furniture and television sets to deposit their loot on the pavement if they could not prove ownership. It was pitiful. After billions of dollars of government buildings, computers and archives have been destroyed, the Americans are stopping teens driving mule-drawn carts loaded with second-hand chairs. Information Clearing House

We call this, pure sex: http://rla.web.fm/ and its being released under a very unrestrictive GPL like licence. Ay....HAAAAAARRRR!

This person wants to join BLOGDIAL. He was given an essay title, and duly replied with the requisite number of words. Please say "Ay" or "No" in the body of your next post depending on how impressed you are/not "Saddam Housein's rule over Iraq was that of an Evil Monster; he is the moral equivalent of GW Bush. What should be done to remove Bush and prevent further international chaos in the world?" " The Bush regime is based on an economic understanding of human values, to speak to it we must use the language it 'understands'. It is tempting to boycott those companies that support the Regime and support those that provide The (unfortunately with a capital 'T') alternative. However many corporations support both Parties and some that which is in power who ever it is. Needless to say that boycotting Party donors AND telling them why is not intrinsically bad - it just won't change their pose in time to make a difference. Bush's only political gambit is the 'security of the nation' based on the notion that that which is 'Other' to US value system is Dangerous.This seduction of the US populus into the Regime's understanding of world politics has been alarmingly effective(as shown by the opinion polls regarding Iraq's 'involvement' with the incidents of 11/09/01). The message has to be taken closer to home. Unsurprisingly we have seen that the most 'Dangerous' Other People are those which have the most potential to resucitate the stagnating US economy by feeding and stabilising the US dollar, after all what is the security of one's nation if one's livelihood (based on the potential to work and spend) is insecure? So how to increase voter security whilst undermining the position of the regime? The money 'saved' by boycotting goods you can do without or through the use of Open Source resources, etc., etc. could be chanelled into helping community action projects that have a real effect on the well being of marginalised US citizens, by assisting programmes which further the health and education of such people they can be reminded that their situation Matters. Community action also shows that Doing something achieves results, and through this empowerment casting a vote can be seen to be Doing something too. Community action also avoids the association with ineffective sloganeering (c.f. Adbusters) and 'professional activism' both of which are unlikely to have an effect on groups that have been hard done by by both Parties the notion of 'it's only politics'. The amount of resources required to empower enough people through community action is trivial compared to the levels that would be required to turn around Republican Party donors (who appear to work on the same principles of ubiquity and iniquity anyway). Coordinating charities could be found or set up in the US with the purpose of collecting funds worldwide and redistributing them to community groups - firstly in the most politically marginal areas and spreading downwards to those that really need help. Bush now has appoximately a year and a half left of his term as the president of the United States, his propaganda machine will be operating continuously to propound the idea that Bush is increasing security by thwarting the 'Other'. Potentially by acting now it can be shown in the day to day lives of millions of citizens the Other is the Bush Regime."

Overexcited warniks (a great word launched by the incandescent, still anti-war novelist Julian Barnes) will not get the awe, shock and surrender they seek from me or the millions who still believe this invasion is a travesty. The Independent Ahem: Bloodniks Bombniks Bullitniks Guerreniks Conflictniks Millitaristniks Battleniks Combatniks Attackniks

One from the absent JB: open bar mitzvah

A loaded triplet: Kelly Brooke Burke

Pig ignorant dogma sucking skeptic gets a lesson in public

North County Times 'Core' producer challenges review As the producer of "The Core," I was obviously interested in Jeff Pack's review on March 27. I've made lots of movies. Many have been praised. Some have been knocked. Bad reviews rarely upset me. They come with the territory. But, if I'm held accountable for what's on the screen, the reviewer should be held accountable for what he puts on the newspaper page. When I read that "The Core" suffers from "a preposterous plot, cliched characters, and silly special effects," I realized Pack didn't do his homework. If he had checked with your science editor or searched the real core online, he would have found out that many geophysicists and deep earth scientists believe we will be down there soon enough. Two Ph.D.s from Cal Tech/Jet Propulsion Laboratory, one Ph.D. from the University of California, and one Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia laid out the science for us so that it would be real. If Pack thinks our plot is preposterous, then our team of geophysicists are all wrong, which I seriously believe is not the case. If Pack was alive and well in the '50s and '60s, he probably would have said we'd never walk on the moon or land on Mars. He might even have called those two monumental events preposterous as well. The characters in our film were shaped by the scientists referred to above. They're all well-known and highly respected in their field and helped the writers, the director, and the actors so they'd behave like real scientists do today. We also had three astronauts as technical advisors work with the rest of our cast. One was Col. Susan Helms, of the Air Force and NASA who guided Hilary Swank. In other words, we took great pains to be accurate in our technology, science, and behavior. So, I guess real scientists and real astronauts are cliched, according to Pack. Pack should be more professional than his review. All he had to do was look at the credits supplied to him by Paramount and then take a half-hour to research who did what on "The Core" instead of being so dismissive, mean-spirited, and nasty. He still might not like the movie and he�s entitled to his opinion, but when people take great pains to be professionally accurate, the least a reviewer can do is research the plot and the characters before being so blatantly uninformed. DAVID FOSTER Los Angeles North County Times

Of course; its one of the last free places on earth.

Fall of Baghdad No Comparison With Fall of Wall: German Speaker BERLIN -- The difference between the fall of the Berlin Wall and this week's fall of Baghdad was that nobody was killed 13 years ago, the speaker of the German Parliament said Friday in biting criticism of the U.S. invasion. In remarks which was to publish in Saturday's edition of the daily Die Welt, Wolfgang Thierse, a former East German, compared the televised scenes of jubilation in November 1989 as communist East Germany stopped shutting in its citizens with those of statue-toppling this week. "When we celebrated the fall of the wall in 1989, there weren't any dead people lying around," he said as quoted by DPA. The two events had been compared this week by Bush adminstration officials. Germany opposed the invasion of Iraq. Thierse, a Social Democrat who presides over Germany's Bundestag, added, "When statues in the former GDR or other Eastern European countries were ripped down, the citizens did it themselves, not the troops of a victorious belligerent." Tehran Times

inetnum: 217.64.32.0 - 217.64.35.255 netname: HAVENCO-CORE descr: HavenCo Sealand Core Infrastructure descr: Principality of Sealand descr: Principality of Sealand country: GB admin-c: RL960-RIPE tech-c: AF7944-RIPE status: ASSIGNED PA notify: ryan@venona.com mnt-by: HAVENCO-NOC changed: ryan@venona.com 20030115 source: RIPE

And lest we forget, Safeweb was financed by the CIA

Like that document says they want Total Control of the internet!

The 23^rd installment of get your war on. and its a classic.

US drops censure of China on human rights

By Edward Alden in Washington Published: April 11 2003 20:43 | Last Updated: April 11 2003 20:43 The US said on Friday it would not offer a United Nations resolution condemning China for human rights abuses, the first time since the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre that Washington has not tried to censure the Beijing government. The decision, made by the White House, is the latest sign of the improving ties between the US and China as a result of the war on terrorism and China's muted opposition to the war in Iraq. The annual UN debate over its human rights record had been a continual source of embarrassment to China, even though the US was never able to muster enough support in the 53-nation UN Human Rights Commission to pass a censure resolution. The commission, currently chaired by Libya, includes many countries with poor human rights records, and has repeatedly rejected US resolutions on China. The US last year was denied a seat on the commission and was unable to offer any resolution. Philip Reeker, a US State Department spokesman, said the decision this year was a result of some improvements in China's human rights record, and a desire by the US to allow the new leadership in Beijing to build on that progress. But the move comes just two weeks after the State Department's annual human rights report condemned China, saying that its "human rights record throughout the year remained poor, and the government continued to commit numerous and serious abuses". While noting some positive developments in the release of dissidents and other areas, the report said progress was derailed last year by the arrests of democracy activists, trials of labour leaders and the imposition of death sentences against two Tibetan dissidents. Mike Jendrzejczyk, Washington director of Human Rights Watch Asia, said the US decision "will undermine those in China who are trying to bring about reform and change". Human rights groups have criticised the administration of President George W. Bush for largely ignoring human rights violations in its efforts to build international support for the war on terrorism. US military sales and foreign aid have increased significantly to countries such as Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan that the State Department has cited for repeated abuses. China has taken advantage of the war on terrorism to launch a crackdown against Muslim Uighur separatists in north-western China. Nicholas Lardy, a China expert at the Institute for International Economics, said the US decision was likely in part a reward for China not playing a leading role in opposing the US war in Iraq. The US also needs Chinese co-operation to resolve the nuclear weapons crisis in North Korea. FT

Finally!

Good for the goose good for the gander

JODHPUR, India (AFP) - Defence Minister George Fernandes reiterated Indian warnings that Pakistan was a prime case for pre-emptive strikes. "There are enough reasons to launch such strikes against Pakistan, but I cannot make public statements on whatever action that may be taken," Fernandes told a meeting of ex-soldiers in this northern Indian desert city on Friday. Yahoo News

It calls for the creation of 'US Space Forces', to dominate space, and the total control of cyberspace to prevent 'enemies' using the internet against the US; COSMIC DECEPTION: LET THE CITIZEN BEWARE by Steven M. Greer M.D. Director, The Disclosure Project http://www.disclosureproject.org Copyright 2002 Imagine this. It is the summer of 2001, and someone presents you with a script for a movie or book that tells how a diabolical terrorist plot unfolds wherein both 110 story World Trade Center towers and part of the Pentagon are destroyed by commercial jets hijacked and flown into those structures. Of course you would laugh, and if you were a movie mogul or book editor, reject it out of hand as ridiculous and implausible, even for a fictional novel or movie. After all, how could a commercial jet, being tracked on radar after two jets had already hit the World Trade towers, make it through our air defenses, into the most sensitive airspace in the world, and in broad daylight on a crystal clear day, slam into the Pentagon! And this in a country that spends over $1 billion a day to defend itself! Absurd, illogical - nobody would swallow it! Unfortunately, there are some of us who have seen these scripts - and of far worse things to come - and we are not laughing. http://www.disclosureproject.org/cosmicdeception.htm

It spotlights China for 'regime change' saying 'it is time to increase the presence of American forces in southeast Asia'. This, it says, may lead to 'American and allied power providing the spur to the process of democratisation in China'; Hitler's Germany failed because it opened the second front with Russia. If the USA goes against China, it will be GAME OVER. Korea and to a lesser extent China both BELIEVE WHAT THEY SAY, and therefore will not be a walk in the park. They are also properly armed, TO THE TEETH. The closer America approaches to looking like Rome, the closer it gets to falling like Rome. No empire has ever survived; they have ALL fallen in the end. The only way to avoid this fall is to not become an empire in the first place.

Singapore Turns to 'Webcams' in SARS Battle Thu Apr 10,11:44 AM ET SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore took drastic measures on Thursday to enforce quarantine orders on hundreds of people suspected of exposure to SARS, including mounting "Webcams" in homes and threatening to use electronic wrist bands... As the size of its home quarantine more than doubled to 490, the government said a private security company would install Internet-linked "Webcams" in homes to ensure people suspected of catching SARS stayed inside. Those quarantined "will be called at random intervals daily and requested to turn on the camera and present themselves in front of the camera to show their presence," the ministry said. An electronic wrist band would be slapped on offenders, designed to send a signal if anyone tried to leave their home... Yahoo News

I was totally freaked when I held my satellite dish up in the garden and swept across the horizon and saw all the TV that was out there, raining down on our heads In the early '90s we used to have horizon to horizon motorized sat tv, with access to hundreds of channels spread across 21 different geostationary sattelites. There is nothing like having hundreds of channels to watch, movies from every era, sitcoms from every era, sci fi from every era; you name it, it was there; even British TV was there. The TV Guide Bible of this world was called "Orbit" I have one copy left; it came out once per month, and was 1/2 an inch thick, on newsprint (very thin paper). The USA is spread over three time zones, so you could see some programmes three times in one day. Anyone who loved re-run science fiction was in heaven. Because you had basically the entire US TV network at your finger tips, you could watch news stories propagate and mutate across the time zones. Some of the best stuff were the "wild feeds": which were the raw unedited uplinks from stations around the world, as they were being fed into the newsrooms of the entire USA. The news wasnt all US centered; there were regular foreign news programmes from all over the world: What was the result of having so much TV on tap? You have to learn to control it. Certainly, when hot news is around, you can go into "TV mode" and sit for extended periods channel surfing, but then, when you have no problem playing space invaders or star wars vector graphics stand up cain cabinet for six hours, watching TV is nothing. Other times, watching hundreds of channels simply has no interest, and the system remained off for weeks at a time. Its important to have TV in a closed off room, by itself, so that you can walk away from it and forget it. The worst thing you can do is to have TV in every room, especially the kitchen, as many Americans do. I know some people who have TV, and keep it in a closet, only taking it out when there is something that they want to watch. Optimum!

Frank Chu has all the secrets.

yummy!

information clearing house

Someone set us up the bomb!

The idea that someone can delineate an area via satellite and stop you going there, or make you go there, seems a fair way away for the time being. All they need to do is put GPS reciever on you in a tamper proof way, say, inside an ankle bracelet, combine this with a GSM telephone stapped to the same person and the project is very doable, right now. The telephone transmits your location every minute with an SMS, or if you are under less strict supervision, only when the GSM phone notices that you have left the cell you are meant to stay in. And by "cell" I of course mean GSM cell. If you had one of the early GSM phones, you could turn on a feature that allowed you to see the GSM cell you are in. Using it on a train was fascinating; your phone logs in and out of different cells seamlessly, and they are all named in a human readable form, similar to postcodes; so if you are in Twickenham, you might find yourself in cell "TW1-J22". Its incredible how GSM cells might become cells for "criminals"... Its only a small step to incorporating a Tazer unit to the package so that you get a huge electric shock if you stray out of your cell. All of this is doable right now. All that it takes is the will of a private contractor to put it together and market it to the government.

Formal academic paper: http://convention.allacademic.com/aag2003/view_paper_info.html?pub_id=1522 and a popular account (for those in a hurry): http://www.saljournal.com/stories/030803/tec_gps.html Professor concerned about abuse of GPS technology ------------------------------------------------- LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -- Jerome Dobson worries that "1984" may be just around the corner. Dobson, a University of Kansas research professor and president of the American Geographical Society, is concerned that technical advances carry the potential for bringing about George Orwell's nightmarish vision of a society that destroys privacy. This new threat, says Dobson -- a respected leader in the field of geographic information technologies -- is "geoslavery." Devices currently on the market, for example, use satellites to locate and track people anywhere on the planet. One company sells a device that can record a vehicle's location so employers can keep track of every move their drivers make. Another company makes implanted chips to keep track of livestock or pets, and a device that looks like a digital wristwatch and can pinpoint the wearer's location and sound an alarm. Dobson knows the good these devices do, but he also worries that they may be abused. He hopes his fearful vision will create debate and perhaps legislation or safeguards around the technology that will keep it from being misused. Already the technologies are sparking debates regarding privacy. Add a transponder to a locked device, he says, and the punitive possibilities are endless. "What we are suggesting," Dobson says, "is that we are only one technological step from placing a transponder in there that burns or stings a person if they step off a prescribed path by a meter. Or if they stay too long in one place. Or cross the path of another person they are prohibited from seeing or if they congregate with other people. "I can confine you to a place. You can't go there. Or you must go there. And I can control it." In the hands of repressive governmental regimes, the devices could be devastating, Dobson said, just as they could be in people's personal lives. Before going to Kansas less than two years ago, Dobson worked 26 years at Tennessee's Oak Ridge National Laboratory creating, for the government, the maps used in global tracking. "We may avoid the most serious abuses of this technology in the U.S. because we have a tradition of personal freedom," he says. "But it will differ by country and by culture. Think of the countries where they already have ethnic cleansing. "The phrase I like to use to bring this home is to ask, 'How long would Anne Frank's diary be if she were wearing one of these nifty devices?' "

Decoding Iraq's symbols of celebration. Simply fascinating.

http://www.wheelsinsteadofhooves.co.uk/

Ronald McDonald Rumpsfeldt

"You are men without courage. You have lost your right to survive." "The creatures of Earth have no stomach for judicial murder. They prefer to leave you to rot and die. They call it being humane." "You are soft. Like all Time lords, you prefer to stand and watch. Action requires courage. Something you lack." "It [Earth] is a planet i shall destroy at my leisure." "So, like an errant child they come to me, but this time, they will not abuse me; this time, I will take my rightful place, as their leader. And once more, under my control, the Daleks will become triumphant!" All quotes from from the mouth of DAVROS of planet Skarro. HB/C-DAV!

Ummm I dont think the American Indians would agree with your there old man! Au contraire, they'd say 'New? New?!? The "new world" was "new" only in the eyes of the invaders. We'd been there for ages'. Isnt that what I meant?

and look what happend. What I meant was, they were very confident, and got totally destroyed in the end. It will happen again, and we do not want this to happen to the UK or the USA. This is the biggest fear for probably everyone, certainly me. So Iraq's neighbours and allies have to stand up to the Imperialists. This will not happen. Incomprehensible as it is. you're annoying me because you don't seem to want to do anything except shoot down everyone else's arguements. We have to try and think clearly about what to do! We cant have TEN MILLION PEOPLE on tap and tell them to leave flowers in the street. We have to think obliquely, out of the box, strategically. This means arguing, applying rigid logic and putting aside everything else. And dont get angry, or at least, not too angry...heh I should talk, I have been FURIOUS for the last 48 hours. Its time to put this engergy (uh oh spelling attact) angergy to use in finding a permanent solution to this problem. We already agree that it has to be non violent, non confrontational, individuall in its fundamental basis. I would add this... Call it the "Cloud Strategy" a cloud is made up of a trillion trillion parts of water vapour. When the conditions are right, the vapur coalesces and it rains, and this rain is good for everyone. Too much rain, and you get devastation. Not enough rain, and nothing grows and plants / people / animals starve. A cloud of citizens, raining...just enough.

Come on! The last 6000 or so pixels of this blog have been to do with how public opinion affects nothing. True. Public opinion as expressed in marches. Moreover the new world would not have existed without the colonizing spirit. Ummm I dont think the American Indians would agree with your there old man! Space 1999 No Moonbase, no Quiller drive, a *very* small space station...need I go on?!?!

the country will errupt. No, it will not, and if it did, that would be a bad thing®. Distuption is a bad thing, and it will not permanently disable the war machne, so it should not be done. I agree. But lets hope they don't leave them there for ever, we don't need another Raj, another 'Jewel in the Crown'. We do need more Ghandis. Like they are in Quatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia? They are there forever now and will not be kicked out unless there is a fundamental change in how the USA finances itself. Maybe you should come. "I drink to remember who I am" Gareth Sager And not to plan a social revolution. Surely we can start to stop this next invasion now, by getting the government out of power. Even if it could be done, which would be a mistake, the instruments and mechanisms that make war feasable would still be in place. The problem is not governments but the mechanisms of warpanning and warmaking which are trans governmental. If they are not prepared to stare this fact in the face, then all is lost. As for mr Goering, isnt it astounding how that government repeatedly blurted out the facts about how populations are controlled? They thought that their positions were unnasailable....and look what happend.

I am going to open up a portal and send you to the future, where my rule is LAW.

you want me to say ? No, whatever I want is what I want to happen! Like this:

Starring Lord Haw-Haw, Ronald McDonald and Laura Bush with their own chat shows, and gospel sing-a-longs through the night! And this in the afternoon for the kids:

Whatever you say.... Thats what I want!!!!!

Well why not start on Saturday? By doing what? it is our human duty to resist and to do everything within our means to stop this illegal war. That is why Part Two makes a strong call for civil disobedience and trade union action. It calls on trade unions to withhold all financial support from the Labour Party and on the TUC to organise a general strike, See Rule #2: the answer is "No". Dont waste time doing it. to force the government to withdraw British troops. To withdraw the troops now would be total INSANITY. Now that the Baath party is effectively wiped out, it would be INSANE to not try and replace it with another government while the troops are there. Leaving Iraq with a power vacuum would lead to instant civil war. After the new government is there and they want to go back to Baath politics, its none of our business. What we have to prevent is the NEXT INVASION.

Deal with it?

Where I come from prepare means to make something ready before it is to be used. This invasion is over. There is nothing that you can do about it. The ability to prepare for the NEXT one is the only thing that you CAN influence and STOP. Forget about stopping or influencing this event. Its OVER.

One could go on and say each individual is a 'state' with their own culture and so on. No, I am talking about something very specific; there are 160 million people living in Nigeria. That is many more that the number that are living in France or the UK. It is completely MAD to talk about them, and all the other people who live on that continent in general terms. it becomes extremely laboursome for reader and viewer to list specifics. If we havent got the time to address these issues politely and with sufficient detail, then we should not address them...which is what I have been saying. The labour it takes to drill wells, build roads and forcibly reform societies is, I would say, much greater than the effort it takes to talk about the specific problems. Personally, the broad brush is one of the most convenient ways of getting a point across, its funny sometimes also. The problem is that now more than ever, since the colonizing spirit has been unleashed, its actually dangerous to do this, since public opinion is the rubber stamp that is used to erase "regimes" that USUK doesnt like. Rubber stamp...eraser....ummm a little mixed up!

Halliburton? This is a distraction; Halliburton is a company that gets lucrative contracts from the Government. It is not the source of power that is being tapped to wage war. When the source of power is cut off, Halliburton will be as irrelevant as McDonalds.

Most of the equipment, artillery and soldiers needed for this war are already in the Gulf, and therefore we can't do a lot to stop any of these things. Short of flying out there (almost impossible right now I should imagine) and lying infront of a tank - this probably wouldn't do much anyway. We'd get shot and... Lying in front of a tank is DEMONSTRATION. Another rule: "Is the action violent?" If the answer is yes, dont do it. This invasion is a done deal. Deal with it. Most of the equipment, artillery and soldiers needed for this war are already in the Gulf One of the rules already takes care of this problem. Even if the equipmen from this invasion is already there, there is a rule to stop it; under the "preparation" part. there'd be a press cover up. Another rule: "Does it rely on the media's co-operation?" If the answer is "Yes" then dont do it.

So are you implying that voting for anyone, even if the party they represent doesn't get into power, makes a voter a "legitimate target"? And a legitimate target for what? Ask the IRA. Ask ETA. Ask $european_resistance_group People know that it's a flawed system that doesn't do what it seems like it should, but any fule know that to think you can make a difference by not voting at all is like not rowing in the lifeboat - you will get taken along for the ride whatever you do, unless you bail out. And I bet you don't *really* want to bail out. I want to head for land. We should not be living as if we were in a lifeboat. We should be living on dry land. This is what we want. The lifeboat imagery is perfect; we are in constant danger of capsising, we are FORCED to row or we will be killed by the other "survivors", there is no escape, we live in fear every day, forever. BUT what you DIDNT KNOW and cannot seemingly imagine is that if you get out of this lifeboat, the water is only

12 inches deep.

and thats no bullshit. Whoever is in power, whether it's Tony Blair or the Queen or a politburo of crusties drinking special brew or an all-seeing supercomputer, is going to be friends with other countries, and is going to do "things I don't like" (putting it mildly). It is this thinking that made people leave Britain for the new world. Nothing in life is inevitable; this should be clear to everyone now. To understand that "they" have power that I will never control is not to roll over and give in to whatever they want to do with that power. There is no "they", there is only "us". Each of us props up this illegitimate power by co-operating with it, forgiving it, excusing it and saying that it is an immovable object when in fact it is not. The strength we have can be described as Swarm Power. In terms of software, its like bittorrent. In terms of nature, its like a swarm of bees. Indivisually powerless, but able to kill a lion, or produce delicios honey. This swarm power, when co ordinated and unleashed in a non violent, non destructive action will change everything overnight, permanently.

Boycott Brand America. McDonalds doesnt send arms to foreign countries. American business is not the problem. Boycotting American culture will just make you miss the next installation of the Martix. Lets test it: "Does it have a permanent effect?" Answer: No. Take appropriate action. Lets add another rule: "Does it have a direct effect on a country's ability to prepare for, start and wage war?" If the answer is "No" dont do it.

Calm down! I never mentioned a sinlge 'cultural "problem"', I was referring to health and water above all. Are these not problems Africans (is that OK to use?) How can I be calm when Iraq has just been COLONIZED? It is certainly NOT "OK" to talk about "Africans" there is no such thing as an "African". The Kenyans are to the Nigerians as the Scots are to the Welsh, and I am being rude by saying that because inside Nigiera the Hausas are to the Yorubas as the Scots are to the Welsh. Are you starting to understand what I am saying? would not want solved? They can solve their own problems. If they want to, they will, if they do not, then they wont. Its not our affair. By saing that "they want them solved" implies that they want them solved for them. You may not think that it implies this, but like I say, dont trouble yourself to find out the hard way, and by this I mean outside of friends, that sort of talk is simply "not on". slaughter of Congolese civilians to continue while we watch updates on the BBC? They need to find their own level, and then live there. The guns that they shoot are supplied by the west. Your government allowes these guns to be shipped there. If you want to stop this slaughter, plug the hole at your end. Isn't mediation an option at all in your book?...those capable from offering to help. Each country in the African continent has its own very capable experienced diplomatic services. If they want to arbitrate, mediate have summits, sign accords, they do this. There have been many, of course, none of them reported. Face up to it, THEY DONT NEED US. Everyone wants to be needed, to have that warm feeling of being a selfless human being. The fact of the matter is that these problems start HERE and not THERE. South Africa is the proof that staying out fixes the problem. Stay out, in every way, of the problems of other people, and the world will calm down...and then I can calm down!

So why aren't Stopwar.org organizing sit-ins? Sit ins are another form of demonstration; the term "sit in" comes from the '70s, as you know. Sit ins do not have any permanent effect. Here is one of the rules you need to apply to formulate the next response: "Does it have a permanent effect?" If the answer is "No" then dont waste time doing it.

I know, but I thought you could read the pieces, instead of me listing Congo, Uganda, Zimbabwe, RSA, Togo, Nigeria.... No one ever has a problem specifying / typing out the word "Germany" when they talk about German problems; on average, they do not do this for countries populated by non europeans. and all the other states with major social or political problems. These so called "problems" are just that; so called, and none of anyones business, meaning just because someone has what THE WEST thinks is a "problem" this does not give them the right to INVADE and impose their will on another country. Amina was to be stoned to death for adultery. I might not think that that was an appropriate penalty, or that, ineed, there even SHOULD be a legal penalty for adultery, but is is NONE OF MY or YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS what the sharia following northerners in Nigeria do with themselvs. What you and I do with our money is a completely different matter. A boycott can totally change the nature of a country, and this is what happened in South Africa. No invasion. Not a shot fired. Aparthied destroyed forever. Dont even TALK about invading "Africa" to solve its "problems", at least, not when you are outside the company of friends :] cause those are fighting words.

if you stop now No one is talking about "stopping". What I am saying is that demonstrating in the streets on marches is pointless / innefectual / a waste of resources. This is now completely proven. Non-violent, non physical disruption is the only way to stop this perpetual war machine from grinding our bones into dust.

there are a couple of problems there. look at that unflattering photo the BBC selected for that photo of Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni. They select these photographs deliberately to ridicule African leaders and promote this idea that an invasion of "Africa" is needed to sort out their "problems".

Will the US now lead a peace and freedom, humanitarian aid and prosperity drive into Africa? I hear there are a couple of problems there. First of all, there is no such place as "Africa". Africa is a continent, that has many different states in it, each with many different and completely distict cultures. Jesus Wept, you ARE joking right? The last thing ANYONE ANYWHERE needs is more egomaniacs thinking that they are responsible for the entire world. i hope people remember what they felt next time they vote. BOTH of you have GOT to realize that voting is completely USELESS as a system of democratic control. If you dont understand this after the last few months, then .... i dont know what. Whoever you vote for, will have the SAME POWERS that Blair, the ostensibly mild reformist had. The problem is the unfettered power that is transferred to seach sucessive government when you vote, and your inability to remove or excersise any control over that government when it goes maveric. If these earth shattering powers are not removed, then voting is USELESS as a curb on said powers. Only a totally blind man cannot see this. Only a fool thinks that voting in a "first past the post" system is an effective way to elect and control a government. And by the way, when you vote, you put a target on your back; you are personally responsible for what your government does, and become a legitimate target in the eyes of the people that have woken up and gone beyond the "lets see what happens at the next election" stage of conciousness.

Watch Scott Ritter do his thing.

"We Arabs are clever only at talking," Haitham Baghdadi, 45, said bitterly in Damascus, Syria. "Where are the Iraqi weapons? Where are the Iraqi soldiers?" "I spit on them," he said. "Do those crowds who are saluting the Americans believe that the United States will let them live better?" Fakhoury said. Americans "will loot their oil and control their resources, leaving them nothing." Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud, looking upset at a news conference, called for a quick end to Iraq's "occupation." In a rare departure from diplomacy, Saud responded to a question about Arab anger toward the United States with: "I don't want to talk about anger if you don't mind today." SF Gate

From Stopwar.org, the people who organized the biggest ever demonstration in the UK: "On this Saturday's demonstration we are asking people to bring flowers, cards, wreaths or whatever you think is appropriate, to lay outside 10 Downing Street as we walk past there. We will also be stopping both demonstrations as they arrive at Parliament and holding a 2 minute silence. This will be in memory of all those who have died so far in Iraq." http://stopwar.org.uk/ Is there anyone here that now thinks that this is anything other than a totally absurd waste of time?

"Frankly, we believed that Baghdad would remain Iraq's impregnable citadel. We thought that Baghdad's walls would turn into swords to decapitate the invaders. Saddam Hussein had misled us into believing that the invaders would never take Baghdad. But the home of five million people collapsed in record time." "Why did the Iraqis not blow up the bridges over the Tigris and Euphrates to prevent the invaders from reaching their planned targets?" he asks. "It is a disgrace that these huge Iraqi troops relaxed idly and woke up to the roar of gunfire on all sides. It is now clear that the traitors are many and those who gave in to the Satan temptation outnumber them."[...] The Egyptian Gazette Now listen to this recorded by me 03/16/97. Sounds familiar doesnt it? If I didnt give you the date, you could be forgiven for thinking that it was recorded yesterday. We used to say that, "these guys have to get their poop in a group once and for all" well, now its being done for them. More than one bird is being killed with this stone (and I am talking about America's "€uro problem".) There wasnt a blood bath, no desecrations, no historical relics destroyed. Perhapts, one hundred years from now, we will all be happy it went so easily. For now, all the revolutionary rhetoric in the world will not save Iran. They are not willing to fight for what they believe in, either because they dont have any real beliefs or they are not predisposed to the effort to do it -- for whatever reason, Islamic Iran is going to fall down HARD and be smashed to pieces, so savour this "Islamic Peoples Republic of Iran" recording, because these people and their empty words are going to be permanently erased from the world once and for all, and this will ne not be done via violence, but it will be extinction through sheer indolence and absence of will. From the Syria Times: " M. Agha Who can stop the Cowboys of George Bush?! Who can disarm the war criminals who possess the most up to date weapons of mass destruction?! Who can stop the villains, who have turned Iraq into grounds for testing their hi-tech bombs and bombers?! They have so far slaughtered many Iraqi babies, women and elderly persons by their bombs and maimed and turned many into disabled. They have so far destroyed a big area of the Iraqi cities and towns. The Anglo-American invaders are using their weapons of mass destruction against the densely-populated areas and the offices of foreign media in Baghdad. They want to silence the people who tell the truth and report massacres to the world public. So, they bombed the buildings in which foreign reporters and correspondents stayed killing and wounding many. The invaders seek to kill the voice of truth and objectivity. As journalists seeking truth and objectivity, we have never sided with the totalitarian regimes or dictators. On the contrary, we have always been advocates of real democracy, not the زdemocracyس imposed on nation at gunpoint. It is right to say that democracy and freedom have the same essence across the world, but each nation has its own reality on the basis of which democracies and freedoms should be built... As journalists, we never felt sympathy with a regime that suppressed its people and massacred many, but we owe a great deal of sympathy to the people, who were subject to the terror and massacres of the regime, and now to the terror and massacres of the Anglo-American invaders. Under no circumstances, Bush and Blair can justify their acts of collective genocide in Iraq, whether they claim the زliberationس of Iraq, or the seizure of the oilfields!!! They have no right to invade a sovereign country under any pretext to cover their strategic imperialist goals. The Iraqis have the right to defend their very existence. Vis-a-vis the current criminal aggression on Iraq, the world has to act in a practical manner to stop the war criminals. The US-British aggression seems to be worse than the Nazisص. In the Second World War, the West stood in confrontation of Hitler. Now, Bush is acting worse than Hitler. The world, in the foremost among whom being all advocates of peace and democracy, must build their alliance to stop the new Hitler. The West, China, Japan and other freedom-loving nations elsewhere must close ranks to stop the Chief Cowboy, Bush. We believe that this Cowboy is able to light his cigar without putting the whole forest on fire!!! Donصt let this war criminal at large! " http://www.teshreen.com/syriatimes/s-we/op001.htm Same bullshit, different day. YOU ARE NEXT SYRIA. You had better can the empty words and the repressive government with them, because you can be 100% sure that NO ONE IN THE WORLD will come to your aid when The Coalition of the Willing comes a knocking on your front door.

---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2003 01:56:19 -0400 From: Danny Yavuzkurt To: declan@well.com Subject: And the hits just keep on coming.. (PSU Daily Collegian: Cops use ID info in criminal cases) >From the Daily Collegian, today: "Cops use ID info in criminal cases" So, apparently all these ID scanners they've been using around the state liquor stores have been secretly storing the information they gather about who's buying what in a police database - which the cops can use as evidence to make arrests. They're only *required* in state liquor stores (which are the only allowable venues for liquor purchases in PA), but are strongly encouraged at beer distributors and - get this - bars. So they can tell where you went, when you went, and possibly even who you went with. Information that won't be misused?.. maybe, maybe not.. and I've seen that they actually *scan* every ID at these places, even IDs from people who look patently old enough.. even my mother (and I'm 23) gets scanned when buying wine at the local liquor store! Also, many local bars *have* begun scanning IDs when entering.. at least, some of them have, especially when there's an 'event' going on.. most drinking establishments still just use the old human-looks-at-the-ID method, but the scanners are definitely spreading.. it's getting to be an atmosphere of total distrust of anyone who looks under 30, here in State College.. no one treats students like they have an ounce of human dignity or privacy anymore.. and of course, there's that article I sent you yesterday about the public surveillance cameras that are being proposed.. it's really getting '1984'-esque around here.. And what's really chilling is that I, for one, and I'm sure many others, had no idea that the scanners were adding to databases.. thought it was just an easier way to check if an ID was 'good' or not.. naive, I now see. If the government ever has a chance to collect data, and use it, it will. -Danny http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2003/04/04-09-03tdc/04-09-03dnews-08.asp And these are the SMART ones!

Must be something in the water. Everything You Wanted To Know About Drinking Water, But Didn't Know Who To Ask http://www.cyber-nook.com/water/index.html He shakes his head and, with a bemused chuckle, recalls the days when he too drank tap water -- which, he shudders, can be recycled as many as seven times before it flushes from your faucet. Drinking it is the kind of mistake we all make when we're young.[..] http://www.nataliemaclean.com/articles/bottled_water.html

This is the extraordinary graph of traffic resulting from 4000 people all leeching RedHat9 with bittorrent. The bandwidth across all clients at its peak was the same as that used by a major ISP; 1.4gigs PER SECOND.

Chris what has happened to your dinar note: the page is gone.

"This type of claim absolutely does not and cannot correspond with reality," Russian foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said in a statement.[...] Channel News Asia

You mean, there is another browser other than Mozilla?!?!

search them to boot. hmmmm; the archives are being squirted onto the site that blogger pushes the blog to, but they are not immediately accessible...i have been thinking about setting up a serach (yes serach) but if everyone who actualy has an account are the only ones that can look back, well thats ok by me® I cant read the archives from blogger because I am admin.....hmmmmm I cant wait for blogger to go 100% silicon at google. It will at last not be running on IIS, and will be fast as google, and as reliable.

put this: about:cache in your location bar and press return... ???

What archive? If you go to the Blogdial page on blogger you can look at all of the posts going back and search them to boot.

why do you have it? Now, what kind of question is that, friend?

"And he murdered them, and killed them, and had them kill each other." arafat.mp3

The offer remains open; Beer. Thai dish. A Laugh!