Fascinating report. Of course, it's going to get mis-quoted all over the place.

Points that I found particularly of note:

- He said Baghdad was actively working to produce a biological weapon using the poison ricin until the American invasion last March.

- He resigned, not because he felt the hunt for weapons was misguided, but "because he disagreed with the decision in November by the administration and the Pentagon to shift intelligence resources from the hunt for banned weapons to counterinsurgency efforts inside Iraq."

- According to Kay, Iraqi scientists realized they could go directly to Mr. Hussein and present fanciful plans for weapons programs, and receive approval and large amounts of money. Whatever was left of an effective weapons capability, he said, was largely subsumed into corrupt money-raising schemes by scientists skilled in the arts of lying and surviving in a fevered police state

- "We know that terrorists were passing through Iraq," he said. "And now we know that there was little control over Iraq's weapons capabilities. I think it shows that Iraq was a very dangerous place. The country had the technology, the ability to produce, and there were terrorist groups passing through the country — and no central control."

(Update: The New York Times article has been moved into archives and is now only freely available in abstract form. A mirrored extract can be seen here:
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/nation/7798415.htm )

Ex-Inspector Says CIA Missed Disarray in Iraqi Arms Program

] The October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iraq's
] Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) has been dissected like no
] other product in the history of the US Intelligence Community.
] We have reexamined every phrase, line, sentence, judgment and
] alternative view in this 90-page document and have traced their
] genesis completely. I believed at the time the Estimate was
] approved for publication, and still believe now, that we were on
] solid ground in how we reached the judgments we made.
 . . .
] The only government in the world that claimed that Iraq was not
] working on, and did not have, biological and chemical weapons or
] prohibited missile systems was in Baghdad.
&nbsp. . .
] Those who conclude that no threat existed because actual weapons
] have not yet been found do not understand the significance posed
] by biological and chemical warfare programs in the hands of
] tyrants.

A November 2003 statement from the CIA's Stu Cohen, the Chairman of the National Intelligence Council.

And yeah, I also have a soft spot for the page, since they use a picture of Kryptos in the banner. :)

Iraq's WMD Programs: Culling Hard Facts from Soft Myths

] Despite the fact that no cache of mass destruction
] weapons has been found in Iraq, a number of crucial
] questions about Iraq's past weapon efforts - raised by
] nearly a decade of U.N. inspections - remain unanswered.

(1) VX - The inspectors never could figure out what happened to 3.9 tonnes of VX, the deadliest kind of nerve gas. Iraq admitted producing VX in 1988 and 1990, but furnished no convincing evidence that it was destroyed in 1991, as Iraq claimed.

(2) Anthrax - Iraq admitted producing 8,425 liters of anthrax

(3) Other Germ Warfare Agents - Iraq did not explain what happened to thousands of liters of other biological agent that it admitted producing, including more than 340 liters of clostridium perfringens - though inspectors concluded that Iraq had enough growth medium to have made "much larger quantities."

(4) Chemical and Biological Munitions - Inspectors could not account for 550 mustard-filled artillery shells that Iraq claimed to have lost. The inspectors determined that Iraqi mustard gas was still of a very high quality. Also unaccounted for are 29 germ-filled bombs, some possibly containing anthrax.

iraqwatch.org : Iraqi Weapons - Unanswered Questions

] Hamdi Shukuir Ubaydi told CIA officials that he was
] ordered to bury a gas centrifuge used to enrich uranium --
] a necessary piece of equipment for developing a
] nuclear weapon -- in order to be ready to rebuild
] Iraq's bomb program.
]
] Ubaydi, who was head of Iraq's pre-1991 centrifuge
] enrichment program, told U.S. intelligence officials he
] was acting on orders from Saddam Hussein's government.
 . . .
] Other items of interest found buried in his garden
] included:
]
] A 2-foot-tall stack of related documents.
]
] A number of the most-difficult-to-make parts.
]
] Examples and templates which would be used to make a
] large number of centrifuges. A large number of
] centrifuges are needed to make nuclear weapons.

This story is from several months ago. *I* read it, but it seems that many other people, including certain Democratic Presidential candidates, haven't.

I find it so frustrating when I hear of anyone trying to make Saddam's regime out as some sort of misunderstood and innocent pawn in an evil Bush-administration plot.

Stories about Iraq's WMD programs were *not* fictional. Iraq had the weapons, had the programs, and was provably concealing those programs. Just because we're not finding stockpiles of weapons, doesn't mean that Iraq was clean.

Nuke Parts Unearthed in Baghdad Backyard

This'll make sense for those who follow the path of Kibo. :) For everyone else, you can safely ignore this one.

For the Kibologists: Cones in Love

] Long Island native Bob Keeshan, who gently entertained
] and educated generations of children as television's
] walrus-mustachioed Captain Kangaroo, died Friday at 76.

(sigh)

Bob Keeshan, 'Captain Kangaroo' Dies

Okay, *this* is what I was looking for! I've been searching high and low on the web so that I could meme it.

This webpage contains multiple 20-question quizzes on the issues. For example, the "Presidency 2004 Quiz" asks you where you stand on 20 different issues, pro and con, strongly or moderately or not at all. Then at the end you can compare your own answers against the answers of the major candidates, and see which candidates most closely match your own views.

Note: If you don't want to sign up for an account, just click on "Don't save" and it'll let you in without registering.

VoteMatch Quizzes

] Select a state, then click on a Senator's name to see
] their Senate votes and other quotes:

This is an incredible site. It starts with a map of the United States -- you click on which state you're interested in. It then lists all the current senators for that state, as well as their opponents. You can then click on each name, and get a list, by issue, of how that individual has voted in the past. Or, if not how they've voted, what their "on the record" stance is.

For example, look under "Abortion" and see the last half-dozen abortion-related issues, and whether that person voted yes or no. There are over 20 other categories as well: Budget, Welfare, Homeland Security, Education, Environment, etc.

Good stuff!

ontheissues.org - Senate Candidates on the Issues

] This chapter investigates America's two-party system and
] its role in American politics. It traces the historical
] development of political parties in the United States,
] examining the role of minor parties and the reasons for
] the emergence and persistence of the two-party system.
] The chapter also discussed the effects of this system on
] policy and coalition formulation.

Here's a one-page description of America's two-party system. Or, if you think you already know this stuff, click on "Multiple Choice Quiz" on the lefthand side of the page, and prove it. :)

Online Learning: Political Parties, Candidates, and Campaigns

This is the blog of Greg Costikyan, one of my game industry friends and associates. He's a writer, consultant, game designer, exec, and organizer.

There are plenty of people in my industry who say they know things, but don't. Greg is one of the people who *does* know things. Plus he's just a nice guy. :)

Greg Costikyan's Blog