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Hispanic Heritage Month began in the U.S. this past Sunday. Food, music, dance, art, language - our lives are richer for the far-reaching cultural contributions of our Hispanic neighbors. Who or what aspects of this varied culture would you join me in toasting this month? Me, I raise my glass to some of the wonderful contemporary artists who keep traditional folk themes alive.
comment posted at 12:59 PM on Sep-17-02
comment posted at 1:05 PM on Sep-17-02

Bush is "skeptical" about Iraq's announcement to allow weapons inspectors unconditionally. As the administration prepares for war with Iraq, the rogue state led by everyone's favorite madman agrees to pretty much everything the U.S. has demanded. So, we're not going to invade, right? And the fact that this is an election year has nothing whatsoever to do with any of this, right? And Iraq didn't just agree to this to make the U.S. look stupid, right? Right?
comment posted at 6:42 AM on Sep-17-02

City officials to give away weed. A Santa Cruz councilman wants to show solidarity with those arrested in a recent federal raid on a medicinal growing operation. Apparently "the whole community is up in arms about this." This, being the raid, not the medicinal use of marijuana. Is the general public's attitude finally starting to sway?
comment posted at 1:28 PM on Sep-17-02

Radioactive Recycling. "If the Department of Energy has its way, the nation's nuclear garbage could end up in everyday items like bicycles, frying pans, and baby strollers." The East Tennessee Technology Park, was once known as "the K-25 site. Its mission: to produce highly enriched uranium for nuclear weapons." Now, efforts are being made to recycle some of the irradiated scrap metal into unlabeled household objects. On the plus side, any radioactive metal that finds its way into your kitchenware won't be headed for Yucca Mountain.
comment posted at 3:39 AM on Sep-17-02

Iraq accepts weapons inspectors unconditionally , think vice president cheney is ready to start thinking about a peaceful settlement to the stand-off?
comment posted at 4:19 AM on Sep-17-02

The United States has invited you to "War on Iraq"
comment posted at 4:16 PM on Sep-16-02

What's our government doing right now? Nobody cares. (via David Cogswell) "There is this gap, you see, this enormous, gaping separation between what the honest and ardent and yet often shockingly misinformed populace believes drives the heart of this great nation, and what actually drives it." Slap a new adhesive flag over the one bleached by the summer sun and let's get to it. This really has to stop.
comment posted at 2:58 PM on Sep-16-02
comment posted at 5:06 PM on Sep-16-02

An Editorial from Jane's, 9/11: in search of context and meaning "Fiction, non-fiction, news, news analysis and opinion... And unfortunately we continually mix and merge these groupings, using them in similar ways and often believing them to contain similar weight and importance." "We now tend to respond to the news rather than attempting to get behind it and create policy."
comment posted at 11:30 PM on Sep-15-02

On Iraq, Where Are The Democrats? "Oh, the party's leaders speak: They appear on talk shows; they write op-eds; they convene congressional hearings. But most of what they say is best understood as highly articulate evasiveness. They have devised a series of formulations designed to make the party appear to be offering a clear response to the president's proposed war, when it is actually doing the opposite.". But now some are willing to outright question the timing of our newfound desire to eliminate Hussein: "It's hard not to notice that the sudden urgency of war with Iraq has coincided precisely with the emergence of the corporate scandal story, with the flip in the congressional [poll] numbers and with the decline in the Republicans' prospects for retaking the Senate majority"
comment posted at 10:34 AM on Sep-16-02

IRAQFILTER: Coercive inspections - COMPLY OR ELSE. Full 60 page .pdf from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. TRANSCRIPTS: Donahue and Ollie North square off on Afghan covert ops and Iraq. Scott Ritter squares off with Fox News. SUBSTANTIVE DISCUSSION (inside, as per request):
comment posted at 7:00 PM on Sep-15-02
comment posted at 12:38 AM on Sep-16-02
comment posted at 11:32 AM on Sep-16-02
comment posted at 11:41 AM on Sep-16-02

"Pax Americana" "The blueprint, uncovered by the Sunday Herald, for the creation of a 'global Pax Americana' was drawn up for Dick Cheney (now vice- president), Donald Rumsfeld (defence secretary), Paul Wolfowitz (Rumsfeld's deputy), George W Bush's younger brother Jeb and Lewis Libby (Cheney's chief of staff). The document, entitled Rebuilding America's Defences: Strategies, Forces And Resources For A New Century, was written in September 2000 by the neo-conservative think-tank Project for the New American Century (PNAC)."
comment posted at 5:51 PM on Sep-15-02

The Mind of a Madman. PRESIDENT SADDAM HUSSEIN’S ADDRESS ON THE ELEVENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GRAND BATTLE "MOTHER OF ALL BATTLES" JANUARY 16-17, 1991. See also President Saddam Hussein's speech on the occasion of the 14th anniversary of the day of the great victory over Iran and other funny stories. And now, for the rest of the story.
comment posted at 5:07 PM on Sep-15-02

"Today we have nothing, no food, no money, no work for our young people. We thought the foreigners were going to help us, but they haven't." For some, the Taliban simply offered protection. Now that protection is gone.
comment posted at 5:36 AM on Sep-15-02
comment posted at 5:39 AM on Sep-15-02

The Homeless Guy Weblog A weblog written by Kevin Barbieux, who lives in a homeless shelter in Nashville and has been homeless since 1982. The guy can write and has put together an amazing blog through some of the Bill Gates computers in the public libraries.
comment posted at 9:08 AM on Sep-15-02

Saddam Hussein Trained Al Qaeda Fighters - Report Blair's evidence to convince the Brits that attacking Iraq is going after Saddam is needed because he has been directly involved with Qaeda network.
comment posted at 5:29 AM on Sep-15-02

Terrorists to make us "cry on 9/13" Looks like some terrorists have been picked up on I-75 in Florida, apparently on their way to the Ft. Lauderdale/Miami area. Seems like the news media is definitely glomming on to the "special dates" scenario that's been spoken about a few times, i.e. 9/11, Friday the 13th, Halloween, et al. Do you buy into that, or is it just coincidence? Watch out for terrorists at your local Shoney's!
comment posted at 7:13 AM on Sep-14-02

WOD hits new low in ridiculosity. From the Shameless Scare 'Em for Ratings files: Flush from the 911 hyper-commemoration news frenzy, but just a little disappointed that the evil-doers didn't do any (as hyped), the news media finds itself on 912 with too much time on their hands. What to do? Break out the tried-and-true emerging drug menace story you keep on hand for just such a news lull!
Khat, (briefly) touted as a new drug menace back when our boys were (briefly) in Somalia, was then shilled as the drug that made somalis into raving homicidal maniacs. IT'S BACK!! According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, chronic use can cause violence and suicidal depression similar to amphetamine addiction, though the agency said it was unaware of any examples(emphasis mine). no laughing now, they want you to take this threat seriously Some say its harmless, others like to compare it to Methedrine
comment posted at 8:15 AM on Sep-14-02

Ship searched for nuclear material after it was diverted from New York harbor, reports MS-NBC. Apparently a Department of Energy Nuclear Emergency Search Team (NEST) was involved. Initial report states that elevated gamma and neutron emissions were detected.

Aside from this report--which is unconfirmed--how likely is such an attack? How do we deal with thousands of container ships, each holding hundreds of anonymous containers? This kind of attack scares me much more than airplanes dropping out of the sky.
comment posted at 7:39 AM on Sep-14-02

When patriotism wasn't religious (nytimes) Last night in front of the Texas Capitol in Austin, the 9/11 memorial vigil featured singing of The Lord's Prayer; a Baptist reverend who talked mostly of caution against the "Islamic government of Sudan" and "Islamic mobs" who attacked Christians and Jews in Pakistan; and a Catholic bishop who addressed "our God" over 100 times. Am I wrong to think this amount of religiosity was inappropriate in front of a mixed public crowd at the statehouse? How can we be free when church and state are so intertwined?
comment posted at 7:17 AM on Sep-14-02

Today some of us thought it would be fitting to build a thread made exclusively of links, where each link would be allowed to speak for itself and be each user's personal take - his or her own wordless comment, as it were - on any of the many issues, meanings and aspects surrounding today's date. (Here's the MetaTalk thread where it was discussed).
comment posted at 11:48 AM on Sep-14-02

The problem with America's colleges - Are schools of higher education too liberal minded?
comment posted at 10:43 PM on Sep-9-02

Do not instant anything. Don't multitask. Don't think about tomorrow. Matt Richtel, in a somewhat op-ed piece about technology, thinks we should disconnect ourselves. Just for a day, mind you. I love being connected, and will miss my email greatly, but I'm thinking about doing it. Take a step back, interact with people fully. "That person sitting across from you at lunch deserves all your attention. Pretend that he or she is a New York firefighter. Do not once say: "Hold on. That's the other line." " Anyone wanna try it with me?
comment posted at 11:45 AM on Sep-8-02

Looks like it's already started, American and British aircraft make an unusually large strike against Iraqi air defences near the jordainian border. Is this the precurser to Bush and Blairs looming Gulf war?
comment posted at 3:53 AM on Sep-6-02

Iraq 1, USA 0? Retired Marine Paul Van Riper claims free-play war game scripted after 16 warships refloated after his "enemy" forces sunk them in the Persian Gulf. He believes nothing was learnt from the exercise as it was twisted to give the outcome the Pentagon wanted. "A phrase I heard over and over was: 'That would never have happened,'" Van Riper recalls. "And I said: nobody would have thought that anyone would fly an airliner into the World Trade Centre... but nobody seemed interested."

The Pentagon say all scenarios must be replayed in order to examine other outcomes and the whole exercise was a valuable learning experience. Let's hope so.
comment posted at 3:24 AM on Sep-6-02
comment posted at 3:32 AM on Sep-6-02

Secretary Rumsfeld is RAISING THE TOUGH QUESTIONS. [Quote inside.] Any links to substantive material on these questions, above and beyond an individual's personal opinion?
comment posted at 5:48 PM on Sep-3-02

U.S. faces bigger issues than hitting Iraq. A former Japanese diplomat--now chairman of the English-Speaking Union of Japan-- offers a quintessentially Japanese view regarding the manifest folly of a US attack on Iraq. (From The Japan Times). Mr. Hanabusa underscores the formidable difficulty of the victor's creating anything but a puppet "regime change." Since Japan has had some recent experience in this regard, his words merit contemplation by those who favor an immediate attack and damn the foreseeable consequences thereof.
comment posted at 6:04 PM on Sep-3-02

Return of Bush's Faith Based Initiatives "So the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives is pursuing a new agenda that does not depend on the consent of Congress, starting with the development of proposals to change a host of federal regulations to lower the barriers encountered by religious groups in dealing with the federal government." Kind of surprising this was leaked out before the November elections, because much like how social security privatization has been downplayed due to unpopularity ("My social security was in Enron??") - it's intriguing campaign fodder.
comment posted at 6:20 AM on Sep-1-02

You think your neighbors are bad? Try living with a lady who kept cows in her upstairs apartment.
comment posted at 8:42 PM on Aug-31-02
comment posted at 8:41 AM on Sep-1-02

FORD Pulling Plug on Electric Car... Ford Motor Co. on Friday said it was pulling the plug on its Think electric vehicle division due to poor customer demand and lack of government support for the environmentally friendly cars. "The bottom line is we don't believe that this is the future of environmental transport for the mass market."
comment posted at 9:07 PM on Aug-31-02

Virtual reality schizophrenia. Ever wonder what it may be like to experience madness? Coming soon to DVD.
comment posted at 12:07 AM on Aug-30-02

This explains everything! Mystified by the recent flurry of corporate meltdowns? Do you find yourself thinking: "Are those CEOs CRAZY?" Well maybe they are!
comment posted at 11:35 PM on Aug-29-02

Gourmet Magazine had a pretty interesting article (wish it was up on line) about farm-raised salmon v. wild salmon. Farm-raised salmon is scary, especially with regards to disease, waste handling, food (feather meal, blood meal, bone meal and other things that wild salmon do not eat) and an industry which is controlled by a very small number of multinational companies.
comment posted at 4:51 PM on Aug-29-02

Neighbour jailed for branding pedophile's genitals. A man attacks his two young nephews and his neighbours find out and burn him with a hot spatula as punishment. The neighbour is then imprisoned. I realise this is vigilante justice and on an intellectual level, it's wrong, but emotionally I'm finding it hard to muster much sympathy for people who attack kids and face a backlash like this. What are your reactions?
comment posted at 6:13 AM on Aug-29-02

Who owns our water? An interesting question considering the droughts going on and this lady has some good insight into where things might lead. Should a few large corporations be allowed to control our most important resource?
comment posted at 2:54 PM on Aug-29-02

Is Current Israeli Policy Incompatible With Judaism? Jonathan Sacks, Britain's Chief Rabbi and arguably the outstanding Jewish intellectual of his generation, has apparently broken away from the established stance of Orthodox Judaism and made public a series of worries and reservations that rabbis have been making privately ever since Sharon took power. It's not so much politics (though everything is) that is at stake but the dissonance between the highly peaceful (indeed anti-military) and human character of Judaism and the hard, secular realism of present-day Israeli politics. Are they becoming irreconcilable? Were they always so?[Jonathan Freedland, who interviewed Professor Sacks, had this to say about the bigger picture.]
comment posted at 5:25 AM on Aug-27-02
comment posted at 4:17 PM on Aug-28-02

Target Iraq - Global Security.org - One stop war / anti-war portal.
Military options, pros and cons of attack, anti-war sites, government, diplomatic, NGO links, military policy, breaking news, military targets, Iraq weather.
comment posted at 5:13 PM on Aug-26-02

"In the war on terrorism, alliances are not an obstacle to victory. They're the key to it." General Wesley Clark on the lessons of Kosovo and why diplomacy and international cooperation are essential to winning the war on terrorism.
comment posted at 6:52 PM on Aug-26-02

Administration Says It Can Attack Iraq without Congressional Approval Not a new story, per se, but this Post article lays out pretty well the arguments behind the administration's case, one being simply Bush's role as commander-in-chief. It's strange how closely this issue reflects earlier attempts by the administration to avoid Congressional and/or public scrutiny (Cheney's Enron meetings, for example). Why this aversion, and why fight so hard? And I have a sneaking fear that Bush will seek Congressional approval only after invading, and he will bully votes by claiming that reps have a patriotic duty to support a president in a time of war.
comment posted at 4:03 PM on Aug-26-02
comment posted at 5:48 AM on Aug-27-02

Catching hepatitis while shopping seems to be not limited to one location in North America. North Carolina and Toronto supermarkets, a McDonalds in Wisconsin, is this a "new" trend?
comment posted at 8:19 AM on Aug-24-02

A one-hour Dateline NBC report examines at the relationship between the U.S. and the Saudi royal family. Is the Arab nation we consider to be an ally actually doing us more harm than good in the fight against terrorism? Wow, you think?
comment posted at 8:02 PM on Aug-23-02