] To this end, I have decided to publish the top ten signs
] that your son is a hacker. I advise any parents to read
] this list carefully and if their son matches the profile,
] they should take action. A smart parent will first try to
] reason with their son, before resorting to groundings, or
] even spanking. I pride myself that I have never had to
] spank a child, and I hope this guide will help other
] parents to put a halt to their son's misbehaviour before
] a spanking becomes necessary.

Before reacting to this piece, I advise reading all of it very carefully and thoroughly. And especially check the embedded hyperlinks. My own reaction is that it's very clever satire, since it's far too well-researched to be as ignorant as it sounds (grin). But many of the people who replied to it seem to have very different opinions . . .

Is Your Son a Computer Hacker?

] NEW YORK, April 21 (Reuters) - An Iraqi scientist told a
] U.S. military team that Iraq had destroyed chemical
] weapons and biological warfare equipment only days before
] the war began, The New York Times reported on Monday.

This would tie in to the (unconfirmed) reports about high concentrations of cyanide and mustard agent being found in the Euphrates a couple weeks ago, too. Rather than being caught with the stuff, Iraq was likely dumping and destroying it.

Scientist says Iraq destroyed WMD just before attack

Jessica wrote:
] Today, April 21st, is Rattle's birthday!!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!
] Everyone, near and far, raise a toast (or several) to this
] great man!!!!!!! :)

And the women go wild! *smooch!* Happy Birthday Nick. :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RATTLE!!!!!!!!!!

] On Mar. 20, the FBI arrested Hawash at gunpoint in
] Intel's parking lot near Portland for reasons that remain
] confidential. A 38-year-old American citizen with a wife
] and three children, he has not been charged with a crime.
 . . .
] Hawash is being held as a "material witness" under a 1984
] law that the Justice Department believes should let the
] government detain American citizens at will for an
] arbitrary length of time. A well-researched Washington
] Post article from last fall (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A31438-2002Nov23)
] said the Justice Department
] has imprisoned at least 44 people, including seven U.S.
] citizens, under the same law, with some held for many
] months and possibly for more than a year.
 . . .
] U.S. District Judge Robert Jones, who is overseeing the case,
] held a secret hearing last week and concluded that Hawash has
] so far been lawfully detained. But Jones did give the Justice
] Department a deadline, ordering prosecutors to take Hawash's
] testimony before a subsequent closed-door hearing on April 29.

I very much agree with the last paragraph of this article:

] If prosecutors can show good cause why they need to ask someone
] vital questions about terrorist activities, let them. But
] detaining American citizens indefinitely as "material witnesses"
] to undisclosed crimes is unreasonable and unjust, and it sets
] a very worrying precedent.

CNet News: [Hawash] Guilty until proven innocent

] A new sense of the shifting Internet population
] The online population is fluid and shifting. While 42% of
] Americans say they don’t use the Internet, many of them either
] have been Internet users at one time or have a once-removed
] relationship with the Internet through family or household
] members. This report focuses on several new findings about those
] who say they do not use the Internet

Fascinating data.

Statistics on Who Does (and Especially Who Doesn't) Log On

] Private investors, who have chipped in $40 million to
] develop the process, aren't the only ones who are
] impressed. The federal government has granted more than
] $12 million to push the work along. "We will be able to
] make oil for $8 to $12 a barrel," says Paul Baskis, the
] inventor of the process. "We are going to be able to
] switch to a carbohydrate economy."

Interesting! If this pans out, it really could change everything . . .

Anything into Oil

] In this last instalment of the reporters' log they record
] some final impressions and look back at what it was like
] reporting the war.

Today's the last day of the BBC's "Reporters' Log", which saddens me. I enjoyed reading the raw data stream as it came in each day. I also liked getting to know the names of the various reporters, so that I could filter their various biases as I was reading: "Oh, that's so-and-so, he's been stuck in one location for the last 3 days, and is getting fed up reporting that nothing new is happening in his location." "Oh, that's whatshisname, he's really negative and tends to report the most anti-US spin that he can." "Oh, there's that guy, he generally sticks to the facts, what's he got to say today?"

Several (but not all) of the reporters got to post a wrap-up comment for today's final log. Their opinions are across the spectrum, though most seem to express some frustration that they only saw a very small part of the conflict. Some felt that they were barred from the real story by the embedding process, others felt that it really did give them unprecedented access (and danger). My overwhelming sense from reading all of their reports though, is that they feel a kind of disappointment now that the main fighting is over. Which I guess is to be expected.

Interesting reading, nonetheless, and I'm glad that the BBC provided the log!

BBC NEWS: Reporters' log: Final thoughts

] London (KurdishMedia.com) 16 April 2003: The family of
] the suspected war criminal, Nizar Al-Khazraji, has
] disappeared yesterday from Denmark, reported Al-Sharq
] Al-Awsat, the Arabic daily.

A few months ago, Khazraji disappeared from Denmark while "out for a walk". Certain reports suggest that he was spirited out of Denmark by the CIA, to be offered as a potential leader in the new Iraqi government. More info here: http://www.memestreams.net/thread/bid5495/

Now, Khazraji's remaining family members have "disappeared" from Denmark too?

Who needs UFO abductions, when you've got this kind of fun stuff going on?

KurdishMedia News - Khazraji's Family Disappears from Denmark

Arch-conservative Newsmax.com's site says:

] These playing cards are the same ones the U.S. government
] is using to produce for our servicemen and women in Iraq.
] We even offer the cards made by the same manufacturer the
] Pentagon uses.

But according to the Stars & Stripes today (http://www.stripes.osd.mil/article.asp?section=104&article=14912):

That’s not possible, Brooks said, because DIA gave the cards to CENTCOM, not the embassy, and has never had the cards printed by a commercial contractor.

NewsMax.com 'Iraqi Cards' Fraud

] ARLINGTON, Va. -- The Pentagon's "most wanted" playing cards
] are turning into the hottest collector's item since Beanie
] Babies, but with an ugly twist: unscrupulous sellers are
] offering "real" cards that were never produced by the
] U.S. government.
]
] Meanwhile, Pentagon officials say, those decks that have
] been printed — fewer than 200, total — are still sitting
] at U.S. Central Command headquarters, waiting for
] distribution to selected troops in Iraq.
 . . .
] Less than a week since the public learned about the playing
] cards, sellers have burst out of the woodwork, ready and eager
] to offer “the real thing” to gullible buyers.

I'd still be willing to buy a "copy" deck, if I could find a reputable seller... I have genuine concerns though that most of the sellers out there are offering an item that they have neither the original *nor* a copy of.

Buyers beware: The real Iraq 'Most Wanted' cards are still awaiting distribution