] In the battle to influence public opinion, the antiwar
] movement's worst enemy may prove to be the television.
]
] Daily reports from the front lines put the troops
] foremost in American thought - an omnipresence that makes
] it easier for taxi drivers and hairdressers, white-collar
] workers and televangelists, to sympathize with the
] servicemen and -women, and to argue that protesters
] should be supporting those fighting in Iraq instead of
] holding rallies to oppose the war.

Antiwar protesters in a PR fix | csmonitor.com

] MIAMI (AP) - Surviving members of a family whose van was
] fired on by troops in Iraq said they were traveling
] toward allied lines because they thought an air-dropped
] leaflet had advised them to flee for safety.
]
] In a report published Wednesday in the Miami Herald and
] other Knight Ridder newspapers, Bakhat Hassan said
] American soldiers had waved his family's car through a
] checkpoint as they left their village Monday. But at the
] next checkpoint, the soldiers fired.
]
] ``We were thinking these Americans want us to be safe,''
] Hassan, 35, said through a translator.
]
] Hassan, interviewed Tuesday by a Knight Ridder
] correspondent at the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital near
] Najaf, said 11 members of his family were killed in the
] incident - his daughters, aged 2 and 5, his son, 3, his
] parents, two older brothers, their wives and two nieces,
] ages 12 and 15. His wife, Lamea, who is nine-months
] pregnant, said she saw her children die.

Family Slain at Checkpoint Sought Safety

] ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico - Two high school teachers said
] they have been placed on leave for refusing to remove
] war-related student artwork posted in their classrooms.
]
]
] Highland High School teachers Allen Cooper and Geoffrey
] Barrett said Tuesday they were told Monday night that
] they would be suspended if they did not remove the
] posters.
]
] Barrett, who teaches history and current events, said the
] student art carried both anti-war and pro-war messages,
] and was created as part of a class assignment.
]
] "I think this is mostly a violation of the students'
] rights to have a voice and express their opinions,"
] Barrett said. "Asking me to take down the posters was
] taking away the voice of the students and I was not going
] to do that."

Two New Mexico teachers placed on leave over war posters

] The sacking of Peter Arnett by NBC for appearing on Iraqi
] television is just one sign of the enhanced sensitivity
] of the American news media to charges of being
] unpatriotic as the Iraq war enters its third week.
]
] Mr Arnett was not the first reporter sacked for his war
] coverage. Last Friday, Phil Smucker, a Christian Science
] Monitor reporter, was escorted to the Kuwait border after
] Marines charged he was revealing sensitive information
] about the location of troops while broadcasting.
]
] And Fox News celebrity correspondent Geraldo Rivera, who
] was with the 101st Airborne Division, was asked to leave
] Iraq on Monday by the US military for the same reason;
] Fox reportedly said it was looking into the matter.

BBC NEWS | Americas | Analysis: US media under fire

] A software designer was being held Thursday as a material
] witness in a terrorism investigation after FBI agents
] searched his Hillsboro home and his office at Intel.
]
] According to neighbors and co-workers, Maher Mofeid
] Hawash, 38, was the target of Thursday's searches by the
] FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force.
]
] Hawash was booked into the Multnomah County Detention
] Center on Thursday afternoon and put on a "material
] witness hold" at the request of the U.S. Marshal's
] Service, a sheriff's department spokesman said. A
] material witness designation allows the government to
] hold someone in order to compel testimony.

On Thursday, March 20, 2003, our friend and colleague Maher (Mike) Hawash was arrested ("detained") as a "material witness" by the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force in the parking lot of Intel Corp's Hawthorne Farms parking lot. Simultaneously, FBI agents in bulletproof vests and carrying assault rifles awoke Mike's wife Lisa and their three children in the home, which they proceeded to search. Since then, Mike has been held in the Federal Prison at Sheridan, OR.
http://www.freemikehawash.org/#action

FBI, Joint Terrorism agents search home in Hillsboro

] Michael Moore's anti-war speech at this week's Oscars
] made his website the most visited political site, in a
] week where traffic to political websites rocketed by 16%
] in response to the invasion of Iraq.
]
]
]
] According to Hitwise, 16% of hits on MichaelMoore.com
] came from Google, after British viewers saw the comedian
] and satirist making his "shame on you, Mr Bush" speech
] when he collected the best documentary award for 'Bowling
] for Columbine'. The site captured nearly 8% of the market
] share, and figures show that 6.27% of visitors bookmarked
] the site.

Michael Moore's anti-war Oscar speech drives web traffic

] Madonna has pulled the controversial video for her latest
] single following criticism that it was "un-American".
]
] The video for American Life, due to be shown on US
] television later this week, showed the pop superstar
] dressed in combat uniform and throwing a grenade at a
] President Bush lookalike.

Madonna dumps 'un-American' video

] NEAR KARBALA, Iraq, March 31 -- As an unidentified
] four-wheel-drive vehicle came barreling toward an
] intersection held by troops of the Army's 3rd Infantry
] Division, Capt. Ronny Johnson grew increasingly alarmed.
] From his position at the intersection, he was heard
] radioing to one of his forward platoons of M2 Bradley
] Fighting Vehicles to alert it to what he described as a
] potential threat.
]
] "Fire a warning shot," he ordered as the vehicle kept
] coming. Then, with increasing urgency, he told the
] platoon to shoot a 7.62mm machine-gun round into its
] radiator. "Stop [messing] around!" Johnson yelled into
] the company radio network when he still saw no action
] being taken. Finally, he shouted at the top of his voice,
] "Stop him, Red 1, stop him!"
]
] That order was immediately followed by the loud reports
] of 25mm cannon fire from one or more of the platoon's
] Bradleys. About half a dozen shots were heard in all.
]
] "Cease fire!" Johnson yelled over the radio. Then, as he
] peered into his binoculars from the intersection on
] Highway 9, he roared at the platoon leader, "You just
] [expletive] killed a family because you didn't fire a
] warning shot soon enough!"

A Gruesome Scene on Highway 9 (washingtonpost.com)

] US broadcaster NBC has sacked celebrated journalist Peter
] Arnett after he gave an interview on Iraqi television
] saying the US-led coalition's initial war plan had
] failed.
]
] NBC said on Monday: "It was wrong for Mr Arnett to grant
] an interview to state-controlled Iraqi TV, especially at
] a time of war.
]
] "And it was wrong for him to discuss personal
] observations and opinions in that interview."
]
] Within hours of his dismissal, Arnett was hired by the
] Daily Mirror, a UK tabloid newspaper strongly opposed to
] the war in Iraq.

Arnett hired by UK AntiWar Daily Mirror Pub

] Adam Osborne, 64, a technical writer, business executive
] and computer pioneer whose Silicon Valley achievements
] included the introduction of the Osborne 1, the first
] portable personal computer, died March 18 at his home in
] Kodiakanal, India.
]
] Dr. Osborne had an organic brain syndrome and died
] following a series of strokes.
]
] He introduced his computer in June 1981 at the West Coast
] Computer Fair. The computer, which retailed at $1,795,
] weighed 24 pounds and was about the size of a sewing
] machine. Dr. Osborne designed the machine to be light
] enough to carry as luggage and compact enough to fit
] under a commercial airline seat.

Computer Pioneer Adam Osborne Dies at 64