] Peace in a country like the Ivory Coast is a myth. It's
] tribe vs. tribe, religion vs. religion, till one side
] wipes out the other. And if that never happens, then the
] sneak attacks and small-time massacres will just go on and
] on. And if that seems terrible to you, try this thought on:
]
] Maybe they LIKE it.

An informative if also informal brief on the basic problems in Africa.

eXile #157 - War Nerd - Live from the Skeleton Coast - by Gary Brecher

] A poster depicting missiles hitting the U.S. Capitol
] building hangs on a wall of a shoe factory in Sinuiju,
] North Korea, in this Sept. 25, 2002 file photo. The
] isolated regime's bellicose rhetoric reached a new
] pitch in the past week, when North Korea escalated
] its nuclear standoff with Washington, warning of a
] 'Third World War,' 'a sea of fire' and a 'holy war'
] against the United States.

AP Photo - North Korea bombing US Capitol

Here they are, all in one place.

Top Ten Conspiracy Theories of 2002

] But the two heads of state who drew the most attention
] and applause were Fidel Castro of Cuba and the embattled
] president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, who recently invited
] Mr. da Silva to join him and Mr. Castro in what he called
] a Latin American "axis of good."

Well, they have a sense of humor..

Axis of Good

] In foreign affairs, Washington is chronically
] unable to deal with more than one crisis at a
] time. As deputy secretary of state in the Carter
] administration, I helped to negotiate the
] release of 52 Americans held hostage in the
] United States Embassy in Iran. I recall how this
] relatively confined crisis submerged all other
] issues for 14 months, including the Soviet
] invasion of Afghanistan. Similarly, in the early
] years of the Clinton administration, our
] concentration on Bosnia and Haiti may have drawn
] our attention away from the killings in Rwanda.

] While Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld may be
] right in saying that our military can fight two
] wars at the same time, my experience tells me
] that we cannot mount a war against Iraq and
] still maintain the necessary policy focus on
] North Korea and international terrorism. Anyone
] who has worked at the highest levels of our
] government knows how difficult it is to engage
] the attention of the White House on anything
] other than the issue of the day. For example,
] the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — a major
] crisis by any standard — now seems to be
] handled largely by an assistant secretary of
] state. Likewise, Afghanistan, which is at risk
] again of becoming a haven for terrorists, seems
] to be getting less attention than it deserves.

Warren Christopher, former Secretary of State, thinks we should be giving North Korea more attention then Iraq.

Iraq Belongs on the Back Burner

This site contains translations of articles from Middle Eastern media, broken down by subject and viewpoint.

The site also inclues translated political cartoons.

The Middle East Media Research Institute

] "Al-Jazeera, the Arab satellite television channel known
] to broadcast statements from Osama bin Laden (news - web
] sites), will reach out to the West starting in February
] with an English-language Web site. "

Yes!

I've been craving the opportunity to read the Al-Jazeera news stories directly, and not just be limited to excerpted bits from BBC and CNN. I have yet to find a good online translator that would convert Arabic websites into something English-readable. So it'll be great to get Arabic news from the source (or at least closer to the source).

In the past, I have attempted to read Al-Jazeera stories via several web translators. It never translates well. I am very happy about this.

Al-Jazeera to provide English-language Web site

] "Hundreds of Iranian and other Middle East citizens were
] in southern California jails on Wednesday after coming
] forward to comply with a new rule to register with
] immigration authorities only to wind up handcuffed and
] behind bars."

If this dosen't wind up in the TV news rotation by the end of the day, our media isn't functioning properly.

I'm pissed. I feel the comparisons people are making to Japaneese internment are valid. Our justice dept cannot be allowed to go off half-cocked. I better be seeing some sort of statement from Ashcroft before lunch tommorow. This is something that needs to be explained and justified, not just happen without anyone noticing.

I want to detailed breakdown of what the people were arrested for. This will have a backlash. They better be prepared. They better be transparent in their handling of this.

If I had to guess at the near-future outcome at this point, based on the two articles I have read thus far... Optmistic: Next week we hear in the sweep they caught a few people with terrorist ties, they release everyone else, and appoligize for the nature of the sweep but claim it was necessary. After, a program for speed up naturalization starts to aid these people attain their citizenship. Given the timeframe of several months, its viewed as part of a critical restructure of the INS's handling of foriegn nationals. Pessimistic: We just don't hear about it again or its the first of many, and many immigrants get the shaft.

I am keenly aware of the effects of immigration in America. I do not have to look any farther then my granparents to see where half my blood line entered this country. No farther then my great grandparents for the other half. I am an average American in that respect. Even people such as the creator of MemeStreams would not be in the US if not for our open immigration and borders.

Here in Jersey, we have a downright huge Middle Eastern population. Ironicly, they tend to work in all the gas stations and its the brunt of many jokes. They view Jersey as a good place to "start in America".. They live and work here for a few years, save up money, and move elsewhere. Its the modern American Dream for the immigrant. This is a critical part of New Jersey's heritage. If I see this type of shit going down here, you can be assured I will be one of the people holding a sign in front of a jail.

Yahoo! News - Hundreds of Muslim Immigrants Rounded Up in Calif.

Comparing current government policy to bad television reception.

dubyadubyadubya.com - Technical Difficulties

In protest of TIA John Gilmore provides Poindexter's home address, phone number, and aerial photographs of his house!

If there is a Sainthood equivalent for technology peeps, John Gilmore will recieve it in his lifetime.

Eyeballing Total Information Awareness