] Computer screens of the future could offer sound as well
] as vision, eliminating the need for separate loud
] speakers.
]
] A British company called NXT has found a way to turn a
] computer display into a speaker, without interfering with
] the quality of the picture.

BBC NEWS | Technology | PC screen turns into speaker

] When we finally made it to Safwan, Iraq, what we saw was
] utter chaos. Iraqi men, women and children were playing
] it up for the TV cameras, chanting: "With our blood,
] with our souls, we will die for you Saddam."
]
] I took a young Iraqi man, 19, away from the cameras and
] asked him why they were all chanting that particular
] slogan, especially when humanitarian aid trucks marked
] with the insignia of the Kuwaiti Red Crescent Society,
] were distributing some much-needed food.
]
] His answer shouldn't have surprised me, but it did.
]
] He said: "There are people from Baath here reporting
] everything that goes on. There are cameras here recording
] our faces. If the Americans were to withdraw and
] everything were to return to the way it was before, we
] want to make sure that we survive the massacre that would
] follow as Baath go house to house killing anyone who
] voiced opposition to Saddam. In public, we always pledge
] our allegiance to Saddam, but in our hearts we feel
] something else."
]
] Different versions of that very quote, but with a common
] theme, I would come to hear several times over the next
] three days I spent in Iraq.
]
] The people of Iraq are terrified of Saddam Hussein.

Interesting to see something like this on an Arab news site.

ArabNews: Exclusive: %u2018Terrified of Saddam Hussein%u2019

] Modern day brewers are constantly pushing or, rather,
] creating anew the boundaries of brewing, often times
] brewing beers that defy mainstream beer styles and/or
] looking at other alcoholic beverages for inspiration.
] Strong beers are just one of the many byproducts of this
] highly creative and artisanal approach to brewing. They
] span from beers that are more like premium liquors to an
] exaggeration of style to something completely new and off
] the map. Price-wise, you can expect anything from under
] $10 for a small bottle to literally hundreds of dollars
] for some presented in elaborate vessels.
]
]
] The processes involved to create such beers aren't simple
] either. Brewers spend a lot of research time, money and
] trial and error to cultivate their super yeast strains
] that can survive the high-alcohol brewing environment and
] produce well-attenuated beers. They are often designed
] with the idea that they'll be aged for many years, like
] wine, but often treated as a port, scotch, brandy, etc.,
] and poured into snifter-style glassware

World's Strongest Beers | Beer Article [ BeerAdvocate.com ]

Various statistics from the war.

IRAQ-O-METER

Cool video.

RoboDex 2002 - SDR-4X Sony Robot does Tai Chi

] GOD MAY PLAY DICE with the universe, as Einstein once
] feared, but serious gamblers, scorning metaphysical
] crapshoots and the casino's house edge, prefer no-limit
] Texas hold'em poker. Light years removed from the
] alcohol-soaked nickel-dime-quarter games of kitchen and
] dorm room, where the most you can lose is your beer money
] and who walks away with it depends less on skill than on
] luck, no-limit tournament action is always a ruthlessly
] disciplined fight to the death. The beverage of choice at
] these tables is mineral water, and the aces primly
] quaffing it have worked long and hard to make luck as
] tiny a factor as possible.
]
]
] In limit poker, where the size of each bet is strictly
] determined in advance, the winner is almost always
] determined by the dealer: Whoever gets dealt the best
] hand takes the money. No-limit poker, however, gives
] stronger players the leverage to win pots with cunning
] and force while holding unpromising hands. In the famous
] words of Crandall Addington, a Texas oilman of majestic
] hold'em facility, ''Limit poker is a science, but
] no-limit is an art. In limit, you are shooting at a
] target. In no-limit, the target comes alive and shoots
] back.''
]
] The shooting isn't always a metaphor. In the early years
] of the Cold War, the study of poker helped give rise to
] game theory, an unplayful branch of mathematics with
] powerfu

Boston Globe Online / Sunday | Focus / The poker of war

] For three straight days in recent weeks, something
] remarkable happened to the oil pipeline running through
] northeast China to North Korea - the oil stopped flowing,
] according to diplomatic sources, temporarily cutting off
] a vital lifeline for North Korea.
]
] The pipeline shutdown, officially ascribed to a technical
] problem, followed an unusually blunt message delivered by
] China to its longtime ally in a high-level meeting in
] Beijing last month, the sources said. Stop your
] provocations about the possible development of nuclear
] weapons, China warned its neighbor, or face Chinese
] support for economic sanctions against the regime.
]
] Such tough tactics show an unexpected resolve in
] Beijing's policy toward Pyongyang, and hint at the
] nervousness of Chinese leaders about North Korea's
] nuclear ambitions and North Korea's tensions with the
] United States.

From Beijing, stern words for an uneasy ally

] Fox News had its own response to the demonstrators. The
] news ticker rimming Fox's headquarters on Sixth Avenue
] wasn't carrying war updates as the protest began.
] Instead, it poked fun at the demonstrators, chiding them.
]
] "War protester auditions here today ... thanks for
] coming!" read one message. "Who won your right to show up
] here today?" another questioned. "Protesters or
] soldiers?"
]
] Said a third: "How do you keep a war protester in
] suspense? Ignore them."
]
] Still another read: "Attention protesters: the Michael
] Moore Fan Club meets Thursday at a phone booth at Sixth
] Avenue and 50th Street" - a reference to the film maker
] who denounced the war while accepting an Oscar on Sunday
] night for his documentary "Bowling for Columbine."
]
] The protesters said Fox's sentiments only proved their
] point: that media coverage, in particular among the
] television networks, is so biased as to be unbelievable.

Fox news ticker speaks out against NYC protesters

The Veteran's Administration, plagued by recent budget cuts, has had to resort to charging new veterans entering into its system a yearly fee of $250 in order for them to receive treatment. It is a sad irony that the very people being sent to fight the war are going to have to pay to treat the effects of it.

Support the Warrior Not the War: Give Them Their Benefits!

] Iraqi civilians fleeing heavy fighting have stunned and
] delighted hungry US marines in central Iraq (news - web
] sites) by giving them food, as guerrilla attacks continue
] to disrupt coalition supply lines to the rear.

Yahoo! News - Iraqi civilians feed hungry US marines