] The pan-Arab satellite TV pioneer MBC is due to launch an
] all-news channel from Dubai to compete directly with
] Qatar-based al-Jazeera TV in the battle for Arab viewers.

Multiple news sources are always a good thing. :) Now I just hope they also include an english-language version (or at least some other language that I can get at via Babelfish) in their planning!

Al-Jazeera Competitor Launches

] He said he was jailed for 11 years by Saddam's regime for
] refusing to develop banned weapons but that he escaped
] from Iraq in 1991. He now lives in London.
]
] Shahristani said his information came from former
] colleagues and dissidents who had recently fled the
] country.

I am not really all that interested in hearing the suspicions of someone who hasn't even been in Iraq for over 12 years. As for the colleagues and dissidents that he mentions, I *am* interested in hearing what they have to say. Supposedly, there are recent defectors that we are getting this information from. How about getting one of them to come forward to the media? Disguise their voice, their face if necessary, but get them to give a statement, in their native language, with translations available.

It is my firm belief that one of the main causes of a rift between the Arab and Western worlds, is the language barrier. As difficult as it is for us to read what's going on in Arabic newspapers, it's doubly difficult for the people on the street there to understand what we're saying in ours! If we do have sources of information about Saddam's weapons, that can be presented in language that the Iraqi people can understand, let's present it. I'm sure they'd be far more interested to hear such news from someone speaking in their native tongue, and would give it far more weight, than just hearing it from an english-speaking politican.

*I* know to trust most of what I hear from Colin Powell. They, however, have not had the opportunity to build up that level of trust. Let's figure out a way for them to get the news from someone they *do* trust, speaking a language that even the common people can understand.

Iraq Scientist Says Saddam Hiding Arms Underground

] The Iraqi regime, symbolized and personified by Saddam
] Hussein, has in recent weeks come under increasing
] criticism from the Saudi media. Going beyond the
] criticism of Saddam and his regime, there are mounting
] calls on Saddam Hussein by Saudi newspapers to spare the
] Iraqi people the disasters and destruction of war by
] abdicating the presidency and seeking asylum outside
] Iraq.

MEMRI also reported that Egyptian columnists are becoming increasingly impatient with Saddam -- They're not huge fans of the U.S. either, but they can clearly tell that Saddam's behavior is not helping matters.

It's good to see (relative) support from other Arab countries on the situation.

Saudi Newspapers Call on Saddam to Abdicate or Commit Suicide

] In presence of ten foreign ministers from nations with UN
] Security Council seats and many other diplomatic
] missions, UN weapons inspectors declared that they have
] found nothing valuable in Iraq.
] . . .
] The two men told along with about thirty minutes that
] Iraq’s cooperation was constructive in al fields.

So interesting to hear both what the Iraq paper says, and what it *doesn't* say, at the same time. ;)

Iraq Daily Newspaper: Inspectors Affirm Iraq Void of Banned Weapons

] Solid majorities in key European countries think that
] greed is our motive for wanting to depose Saddam Hussein
] . . .
] Although Americans are divided on the wisdom of an
] invasion, only 22 percent of us subscribe to the cynical
] view that it's just about oil.
] . . .
] This doesn't mean that oil is entirely irrelevant to the
] subject of Iraq. It does matter in one very important way:
] Oil revenues make Saddam Hussein much more dangerous than
] your run-of-the-mill dictator, because they give him the
] ability to build not only palaces but also top-of-the-line
] weapons of mass destruction.

A good op-ed piece from the New York Times, discussing the oil part of the war equation.

A War for Oil? Not This Time

] A national "do-not-call" list intended to help consumers
] block unwanted telemarketing calls is moving closer to
] becoming reality and lawmakers say it will likely go into
] effect this year

Please please please, can we also have a national "Do Not Email" list??

House OKs National 'Do Not Call' List

] Mr. Abdullah told German investigators that he lived with
] Mr. bin al-Shibh in a Qaeda camp outside Kandahar,
] Afghanistan, in early 2000. According to the
] investigators, Hamburg cell members, including Mr. bin
] al-Shibh and Mr. Atta, traveled to Afghanistan in late
] 1999 and early 2000 to solidify plans for the Sept. 11
] attacks the next year.
]
] Mr. Abdullah has provided a detailed description of life
] in a camp occupied by Qaeda leaders including Osama bin
] Laden. He told investigators that Mr. bin al-Shibh,
] referred to by his nom de guerre, Obeida, was a prominent
] figure there.

I found this article of interest because it's information that's been coming to light from the trial of Motassadeq, a suspected member of the Hamburg terrorist cell. As usual, there is no reference of the terrorists using steganography to communicate -- instead, it was personal meetings, phone calls, voice-mail messages, and the like.

I saw also in this article that now I have yet another spelling of confirmed cell-member "Binalshibh's" name, as "bin al-Shibh," plus now I also have to research the name "Obeida," too? Argh.

Atta, Motassadeq , Binalshibh, Tomaytos, and Tomahtoes

] Physicists have long jokingly referred to the lower
] reaches of the ionosphere -- which fluctuates in height
] around 40 miles -- as the "ignorosphere," due to the lack
] of understanding of this mysterious realm of rarefied air
] and charged electric particles.

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

Decius wrote:
] ] 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.

Thanks Tom. :)

I wish there were a way to include multiple links in the same meme sometimes! Here's another link to the actual Picasso being discussed:

   http://www.aestheticrealism.org/GUERNICA_dk.htm

RE: 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.

I smell hypocrisy here. On the one hand, we've got U.S. diplomats saying that Iraq has to submit to the will of the United Nations, but when the U.N.'s World Court rules about something in the U.S., the cry goes up that it's an intrusion on U.S. sovereignty???

World Court: U.S. Must Stay 3 Executions