] Calling heads of state pygmies, labeling whole countries
] as evil, denigrating powerful European allies as
] irrelevant -- these types of crude insensitivities can do
] our great nation no good. We may have massive military
] might, but we cannot fight a global war on terrorism
] alone.

Sen. Byrd (who may be a former Klansmen, but we'll just file that for the moment), rakes the Bush administration over the coals on the Senate floor. Much of this criticism is well deserved...

Reckless Administration May Reap Disastrous Consequences

] Federal scientists are looking for evidence that a bolt
] of electricity in the upper atmosphere might have doomed
] the space shuttle Columbia as it streaked over
] California, The Chronicle has learned.

Cosmic bolt probed in shuttle disaster / Scientists poring over 'infrasonic' sound waves

] Feb. 6, 2003, 2230 hrs, PST, (FTW) - A story is sweeping
] the world tonight and it says a great deal about those
] who are forcing the world into a war it does not want. The
] famed dossier presented by British Prime Minister Tony Blair
] to his Parliament was plagiarized from two articles and a
] September 2002 research paper submitted by a graduate
] student. Worse, the Iraq described by the graduate student
] is not the Iraq of 2003 but the Iraq of 1991.

This is a very interesting story. From what I can tell, the central claim is accurate. Britain plagiarized large sections of the student's report in their report. The students report was compiled from open sources (the intelligence kind not the computer kind :). The link here is a good one, because it provides both reports. You can do your own comparisons.

I'm not sure what to make of this politically. I'd like to see what other people on MemeStreams have to say.

The link here makes the claim that the student's report is about the Iraq of 1991. That certainly would be a smoking gun, but it doesn't appear to be accurate. The student's report mentions that there are very few open sources on Iraq. A large number of documents were release in 1991, and these are used as one of the reference sources for the article, but there are many other reference sources, the majority of which are relatively recent.

Furthermore, Britain ought to be using open sources, and one could imagine that they are careful to keep open source intel and closed source intel separate, and for a public report they would rely completely upon open sources. So one can imagine how this text might have crept into their report. It doesn't mean the information in the student's analysis is bad.

On the other hand, it does appear that the author of the British report took some amount of journalistic liberty with the student's words in an attempt to make things sound more dramatic. Furthermore, Britain should have attributed their sources. Both of these things are certainly dishonest. Whether or not they amount to a smoking gun on the war issue, I'm just not sure. What do YOU think?

Britain's Intelligence Dossier on Iraq was Plagiarized from a Grad Student

] The drapes were installed last Monday and Wednesday
] — the days the council discussed Iraq — and came down
] Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, when the subjects included
] Afghanistan and peacekeeping missions in Lebanon and
] Western Sahara.

Elonka deserves credit for finding this link, a complete
coverage of the Picasso issue. The absurdity of this is so
thick you could cut it with a knife.

The picasso cover-up

] When the suit was filed last month, the United States
] argued that granting Mexico's request for a stay of all
] executions would be an unwarranted intrusion on the U.S.
] criminal justice system and U.S. sovereignty.

The US has been doing this for several years now. Frankly, I really don't understand it. If we don't offer forgein citizens legal counsel when they are arrested in the United States, then why should we expect the same when we travel? This inexplicable policy of neglecting to inform embassies and ignoring international protest only hurts Americans. These guys are putting my ass at risk, and I don't like it one bit.

World Court: U.S. Must Stay 3 Executions

] Powell said the Iraqi authorities had conducted
] experiments on people, with one source reporting that
] 1,600 convicted prisoners had been transferred to special
] units where such experiments were carried out. Autopsies
] were later conducted to check the results, he said.

BBC | Powell UN briefing: Key points

Elonka wrote:
] But in terms of security at airports? I agree with the sign
] that is posted at St. Louis Lambert International Airport,
] which, to the best of my recollection, says: "Passengers
] wishing to fly are not required to submit to search of their
] persons or belongings. Such search may be refused, in which
] case the airlines have the right to refuse to allow the
] individual to board the aircraft."

You might be interested in this, its a lawsuit covering this issue which is currently in the courts:

http://cryptome.org/freetotravel.htm

The lawsuit brings the following issues to bare on the comments you made:

1. You state that an ID requirement to fly is ok if it isn't also coupled with ID requirement as bus terminals, hotels, train stations, and other travel related businesses. The case argues that it is.

2. A search at an airport isn't legal just because you can avoid it by not flying. This kind of excuse could be used in any context. (You can avoid the search by opting not to, say, buy groceries, go to church, visit a doctor, or vote...) The searches are legal only because they are specifically intended to find weapons and explosives and are directly related to airline security. This doesn't mean that they can't bust you if they find evidence of a crime, but it does mean they can't LOOK for it. For instance, they can't pass out a picture of a stolen artifact and ask airport security to keep an eye out for it. This would constitute a warrentless search that has nothing to do with airline security.

Consider how this fact relates to the no fly list. If they can't look for evidence of crimes, then can they look for people who may be wanted for crimes? There seems to be a very fine line here.

An ID check is only useful to the extent that the IDs are cross referenced with a database. Prior to 911 the *ONLY* reason that ID checks were performed was to prevent people from reselling tickets. (Consumers bought into this because they beleived it was security related, but in practice ANY form of ID was acceptable and they were not cross referenced with anything other then your ticket.)

What database should these IDs be cross referenced with? It would clearly be illegal to cross reference the IDs with traffic ticket information. Again, this is a search with no cause. Its a dragnet.

Where do you draw a line between this and the no fly list?

Frustraing matters, of course, is the fact that the government security regulations are "secret" as is the no fly list. This might explain why the experience is inconsistent. The airlines probably don't really know what the actual rules are.

This also creates an incredible opportunity for abuse. What do we know about who is on this list? Do we even know if its well maintained?

RE: How to fly without ID!

] BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Major Iraqi newspapers reported the
] space shuttle Columbia tragedy on their front pages on
] Sunday, but it appeared at the bottom, overshadowed by
] one of Saddam Hussein's almost-nightly meetings with
] military commanders.
]
] Although no official Iraqi government statement was
] issued, individual Baghdad officials expressed sympathy
] for the American people, despite the tense confrontation
] between the United States and Iraq.

This story is dramatically different from most of the coverage that I've been hearing about the position of Iraq on the Shuttle incident. Most of the press seems to be running with the story that Iraq says they are glad the shuttle went down. This story includes responses that are a lot more human. Compassion can cut through hate, but only if you get to hear it.

Shuttle Tragedy Played Lower in Baghdad

] President George W. Bush will propose a nearly $470
] million boost in NASA's budget for fiscal 2004, an
] administration official said on Sunday, promising
] investigators would look into whether past cutbacks
] played any part in the space shuttle Columbia disaster.

Someone shouldn't have had to die in order to make this happen.

Forbes.com: Bush to propose budget increase for NASA

] In all of the years of my involvement, I have never been
] as concerned for Space Shuttle safety as I am right now.
] That concern is not for the present flight or the next or
] perhaps the one after that. In fact, one of the roots of
] my concern is that nobody will know for sure when the
] safety margin has been eroded too far. All of my
] instincts, however, suggest that the current approach is
] planting the seeds for future danger.

This presentation was given to Congress by the former chair of the Aerospace Saftey Advisory Panel in April. Apparently NASA can't afford the right sort of safety improvements and upgrades.

Space Shuttle: It gets political...