We hold that although Congress authorized the detention of combatants in the narrow circumstances alleged here, due process demands that a citizen held in the United States as an enemy combatant be given a meaningful opportunity to contest the factual basis for that detention before a neutral decisionmaker.

Yaser Esam Hamdi v. Donald H. Rumsfeld

Decius wrote:
]] Jihad today has become an individual duty that applies to
]] each and every Muslim. It is forbidden for a person to
]] remain silent. When the Muslims fought in
]] Afghanistan they destroyed the Soviet Union, which was a
]] superpower. It collapsed and Allah willing, so will this
]] [the U.S.] collapse.

As If.

Someone needs to translate the Castells trilogy into Arabic -- especially "End of Millennium".

Also, viewers of Saudi TV ought to ask their investigative reporters to follow the money that enabled the mujahideen to fight off the Soviets. They'll find that it came from a democratic, capitalist superpower, not from madrassas or from Saudi "charities."

RE: A sampling of the state run television in Saudi Arabia

Different Channels. Different Truths.

Control Room, by Jehane Noujaim, an award-winning Arab-American filmmaker who has lived within and embraced both worlds, provides an opportunity to re-examine what is perhaps the most pressing question of international relations today: "is America radicalizing or stabilizing the Arab world?" Without miring itself in shadowy conspiracy theories.

Control Room provides a balanced view of Al Jazeera's presentation of the second Iraq war to their worldwide Arab audience, and in so doing calls into question many of the prevailing images and positions offered up by the US news media.

Control Room neatly bridges the gap between timeless and timely; timeless because it locates itself in the midst of the ongoing cultural clash between Western and Arab worlds, timely because it does so through the prism of satellite television's impact on how viewers receive information worldwide from news providers, driven by the patriotism of their audiences, to Army information officers, driven by military objectives. Control Room is a seminal documentary that explores how Truth is gathered, presented, and ultimately created by those who deliver it.

Control Room

We'll handle everything. You just listen to the music.

This company's marketing is a little over the top, but they seem to have interesting technology.

Mood Palette

There are a number of technologies available that allow users to search for songs, based on their relationship to other songs. Our mood palette is the first visual tool that allows users to search for music that matches a mood or experience.

Starting with your frame of mind, the colored palette adjusts and focuses with each selection, zeroing in on the music whose style, rhythm, and tempo reflects your mood or desired energy level.

Verve Life

In light of this history, the author analyzes where the United States has gone wrong in Iraq; what unique challenges the conflict presents to coalition forces deployed there; and what light both shed on future counterinsurgency planning, operations, and requirements.

Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in Iraq [PDF]

... The next morning, Lisa and several other kids in their bathing costumes stand at the edge of a pier, looking down at a ragged canoe.

Lisa: Uh, are you sure that's safe?
Kearny: Well it ain't gettin' any safer.

Safe at Kamp Krusty

In today's mail, I received an advertisement from Comcast offering high-speed internet service at only $19.99 per month for 6 months. After mentioning 3 Mbps download speed and other features, it reads:

Now available!

Ask us how to connect up to 5 computers with Home Networking

Go wireless, share your printer and files and feel safer with our built-in firewall!

The book review is on page 2. Ultimately, this reviewer calls the book "rewarding if unsatisfying." But, then, he's British. :)

The visionary contributions of Marshall McLuhan go unremarked.

I'm surprised by this ...

Human-built World is a virtuoso overview of the various relationships between technology, commerce, society, art and the military.

At least one Nature reader ( http://www.lettersfrombabylon.com/2004/05/popular-science.html ) felt that the review was clouded by an attempt to make political statements in the process of discussing the book. I tend to agree.

Nature Review of 'Human-Built World' [PDF]

America's foremost historian of technology delivers the goods. A must-read.

To most Americans, technology has been reduced to computers, consumer goods, and military weapons; we speak of "technological progress" in terms of RAM and CD-ROMs and the flatness of our television screens.

In Human-Built World, Thomas Hughes restores to technology the richness and depth it deserves by chronicling the ideas about technology expressed by influential Western thinkers who not only understood its multifaceted character but who also explored its creative potential.

Hughes nimbly charts the myriad ways that technology has been woven into the social and cultural fabric of different eras and the promises and problems it has offered.

Human-Built World: How to Think about Technology and Culture

Kroger (R)
Enzymatic Cleaner
Especially for Sensitive Eyes

Please read carefully and keep this package insert for future use in case you have a problem.

For daily and extended wear soft (hydrophilic), rigid gas permeable (silicone acrylate) and hard contact lenses.

DESCRIPTION: Each table contains highly purified pork pancreatin as its active ingredient.

ACTIONS: After a period of wearing, your SOFT (hydrophilic), rigid gas permeable (silicone acryl ate) and hard contact lenses will develop a film on the lens surface caused by protein and other deposits from the tears. KROGER (R) Enzymatic Cleaner contains enzymes which break up protein and other deposits (e.g., lipids, mucin) to facilitate their removal.

INDICATIONS (USES): KROGER (R) Enzymatic Cleaner is indicated for use in heat (thermal) or chemical (not heat) lens care systems of daily and extended wear soft (hydrophilic) and for chemical (not heat) lens care systems with rigid gas permeable (silicone acrylate) and hard contact lenses. For use as recommended by your eye care practitioner.

CONTRAINDICATIONS (REASONS NOT TO USE): Persons who are allergic to pork should not use this product.