] Bored Boy Behind President Gets Nationwide Attention

awesome.

Bored Boy Behind President Gets Nationwide Attention

] French and German intelligence officers who spoke to
] United Press International on condition their names not
] be revealed say, "the Madrid attacks are far too
] sophisticated to be the work of ETA. There was too much
] logistics involved for this to be the work of ETA."

United Press International: Madrid bombings carry al-Qaida hallmark

] The Arabic newspaper Al-Quds al-Arabi said Thursday it
] had received a claim of responsibility for the Madrid
] train bombings issued in the name of al Qaeda.
]
] The five-page e-mail claim, signed by the shadowy Brigade
] of Abu Hafs al-Masri, was received at the paper's London
] offices. It said the brigade's "death squad" had
] penetrated "one of the pillars of the crusade alliance,
] Spain."
]
] "This is part of settling old accounts with Spain, the
] crusader, and America's ally in its war against Islam,"
] the claim said.

Al Q claims responsiblity (meanwhile the UN is busy condeming ETA for the bombings)

] "We bring the good news to Muslims of the world that the
] expected 'Winds of Black Death' strike against America is
] now in its final stage ... 90 percent (ready) and God
] willing near," the letter said.
]
] The letter, signed by the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades that
] said it was part of al-Qaida, was sent to the
] London-based al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper. A copy of the
] letter was faxed to Reuters in Dubai.

BTW, the same guys that just claimed responsiblity for bombing Spain issued a threat to the U.S. today.

Purported al-Qaida letter says strike on U.S. near

] LOS ANGELES -- A federal judge has declared
] unconstitutional a portion of the USA Patriot Act that
] bars giving expert advice or assistance to groups
] designated foreign terrorist organizations.

Federal Judge Rules Part of Patriot Act Unconstitutional (washingtonpost.com)

] Prime Minister Jean Chretien on Wednesday protested the
] U.S. treatment of a Canadian citizen who was detained in
] New York and deported to Syria last year on suspicion of
] having links to terrorists.

Overzealous officials had an (apparently innocent) Canadian man deported to Syria, where he was tortured for 10 months, because another man suspected of being connected to Al'Q co-signed a rental lease with him in 1997. This person is a Canadian citizen. I cannot comprehend why the U.S. Government felt it was more appropriate to turn him over to Syria, a state that is one of the U.S.'s declared enemies, then Canada, a trusted ally. All of the motives that I can imagine are inappropriate. If you prefer to send suspects to countries that don't have civil liberties and due process then you basically don't support civil liberties and due process. If that is the case you shouldn't be working in the United States Government.

(BTW, the British press used the word "condemns" where the Post says "protests." Chretien's exact words were "unacceptable and deplorable.")

Chretien Protests Deportation of Canadian (washingtonpost.com)

] Power engineers, IEEE members, and
] the Spectrum reporters and editors
] who cover power and energy have been sounding the alarm
] about grid problems and potential
] cascading failures for nearly a
] decade. What follows is a compendium of feature articles,
] news reports, and essays that have
] appeared in IEEE Spectrum magazine
] about previous power outages, grid reliability and
] security, and electric power policy.

If you are interested in the grid failure, everything you need to know is here.

Special Report: IEEE says I told you so (re: the grid)

] "When Iraq broadcast photos of dead American soldiers,
] the U.S. considered that against human rights," Jordanian
] political analyst Sahar al-Qassem said. "So, why are they
] violating that now by showing such inhumane pictures?"

I strongly agree with this position. Although I am sympathetic to the position that hiding the public from the realities of war has as much to do with desensitizing them as it does with respecting the families of the dead, if we are to take the position that it is morally inappropriate to show pictures like this, and we absolutely have taken this position, then to turn around and do so is an abomination. We are obviously violating our own moral platitudes. I am extremely disappointed.

Don't be fooled by explanations that there are "strategic" reasons for this; that people in Iraq need evidence that the "tyrants have been deposed." The Iraqi military had "strategic" reasons for showing the pictures that they showed: that people in Iraq need evidence that American soldiers can be defeated. The POINT of a moral platitude is that it overshadows strategic interests.

If they wanted to prove that these men were dead they could have found another way. Publish the dental xrays. It would be just as open to scepticism as these pictures have been.

Yesterday, if speaking honestly, I'd have told you I was on the fence about the administration. I don't like the way they've been going about things, but I understand the strategy, and it does appear to be working, and you have to give them credit for that.

However, this kind of blatent moral hyprocracy is beyond the pale. If you don't stand behind your own moral platitudes, then what IS it that separates you from the terrorists? Nothing at all.

I'm going to vote for the most promising opposing candidate in the election.

[ I agree with Decius. I remember the outrage and disgust I felt when I saw the pictures of dead American soldiers on that website, and I don't understand why we have "stooped to that level" so to speak. All strategy aside, this is hypocracy. - Nano]

U.S. violates is own moral platitude

] I'm calling in from the highly-guarded border of Iran and
] Kurdistan. A truck is waiting for us to transport CNN
] staff, our personal belongings, and our television gear
] into kurd-controlled northern Iraq. We're crossing into
] this region to cover the northern front of a potential
] war with Iraq, in an area dense with oil-rich fields
] along the northern no-fly-zone.

This guy is fucking nuts. (With apologies to Elonka.)

That having been said, this could be one of the more interesting weblogs in the coming weeks.... Unless someone actually starts blogging from Bagdad. Or, you know, they actually negotiate a peace. Or the Aliens arrive and colonize the planet.

Kevin Sites Blog

] 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