Dyer: Saddam, Like Evil the Cat, Is a Cartoon Villain, No Real Threat


Cartoon villains have no need of complex personalities or even motives; they're just evil, that's all. From the Joker in the old Batman comics down to Evil the Cat in 'Earthworm Jim', they seek to destroy our hero and conquer the universe simply because evil is their vocation. Saddam Hussein's image in Western propaganda is a lot like that.

Anita Roddick: How I Became a Target for America's Zealots

Check out some of the quotes from the hate mail she has received. It is not really funny when you consider that it is people like these who will also vigorously support Bush's megalomaniacal push to invade a foreign country by himself (ahem, with American Sues and Joes--maybe one of yours or someone you know, at any rate someone also familiar with Wal-Mart and cable tv soon to get a bullet in the head), at the risk of de-stabilizing the region and causing more blowback (foreign policy karma, see also: string theory), at a time when the American economy is good for only a small percentage at the top (at the bottom, see Nickle and Dimed, by the esteemed Barbara E.), poverty is widening, social services cutting, library and education suffering, surplus vanishing JUST SO he and Cheney and the rest of his transnationals-ridin' friends can make even more millions of dollars as if this will buy them a ticket into living ad infinitum (you can't take it--)--it won't. Instead they will have lived their lives as some of the most selfish sons-a-bitches humanity ever saw--and billions will have suffered in their wake.

These very same people quoted in Anita's article sound exactly like the people who comment so extensively in the comments section at Warblogger Watch. I've actually heard a blog who idolizes James Lileks and Instapundit say that something was: " . . . like a watermelon: green on the outside and red on the inside." If you oppose the war and the type of people who actually respect this common crook called Bush then why not go over to Warblogger Watch and tell them how you feel? Release your anger and frustration over the fact that in this country the will of the people is being not only being routinely ignored but held in contempt by this administration who is willing to kill thousands, tens of thousands or more. The Peace Movement is Alive and Growing: help it along; voice your consternation now. This is information war, boys and girls (absolutely nonviolent): speak your words, spread your wares; peacemongers share.

AN OPEN LETTER FROM THE ACADEMIC COMMUNITY OPPOSING A U.S. INVASION OF IRAQ

Newcomer News: A weblog about newcomers to Canada

Governor Calls for State's Poet Laureate to Resign: "Gov. James E. McGreevey called for the resignation of the state's poet laureate Friday, based on a poem critical of Israel that Amiri Baraka read at a festival earlier this month."

cbs: "the executive director of greenpeace is among the more than six-hundred people arrested today during protests against the international monetary fund and world bank. john passacantando says he was just riding his bicycle to work when police made more than two-hundred arrests near a park just outside of the extended white house security zone."

washington post: "joseph mayer, 69, a retired army lieutenant colonel who lives in alexandria and works in the district, approached the police line at the corner of 15th and pennsylvania and was among those caught inside the line of officers. 'they closed freedom plaza and turned it into a non-freedom plaza,' he said. 'they have turned the constitution off'."

This from Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, who features some nice coverage of today's D.C. protests, including his bringing up the possibility that blogger MaxSpeak might be one of those jailed.

It occurred to me only this week that if the benevolent web association can raise five hundred for Mark Woods to get a new computer, we ought to organize something similar to get Unknown News back. Spending time today finishing helping Jason with his upcoming New World Disorder zine and trying to cover the events in DC, but someone needs to do this soon . . .

From NPR this morning I hear [pp]: "Protesters in DC made fake 911 calls, shattered windows, tried to snarl traffic with burning tires . . . " From the DC Indymedia center, I hear:

"Police have targeted: medics, legal observers, law collective . . . "

"10:50am: Freedom Plaza. The police are surrounding everyone and they are starting to make arrests, including an NPR journalist. Everyone is being peaceful, except the cops."

"The police beat up two men and dragged them across the street and threw them into a van."

We can only assume that the corporate media both locally in DC and nationally are going to be (have been) more shrill and alarmist than NPR. Local Seattle NPR affiliate KUOW, more humane than the NPR HQ, is currently running a one-hour show on the protests featuring an interview with Joseph Stiglitz, who won last year's Nobel Prize in economics and served formerly as chief economist from the World Bank. He now speaks out against corporate-only-globalization. Over 500 people in DC have already been arrested.

Iranian Revolutionary Posters. "...social upheavals and revolutionary struggles often give rise to innovative forms of political artistic expression. Posters produced and disseminated during the Islamic Revolution in Iran were no exception. Engaged artists created posters whose iconography opposed and inverted ideas and images that supported the status quo. Not just a secondary reflection of the revolutionary movement, these posters played a vital role in the struggles for change and in the articulation of collective ideologies." From the exhibit Between Word and Image: Modern Iranian Visual Culture at Grey Art Gallery.

An Open Letter to the Members of Congress from The Nation

Oh? You thought the decision to drill in ANWAR was voted upon and decided against months ago? Maybe so, but the "president" is still pushing for the opening up of ANWAR to his oil buddies to be included in this upcoming energy bill. Of course, most Americans are against it, but hey, Bush knows best, right? Add ANWAR to the list of agendas being quietly but vigorously pursued while Bush touts the morality of invasion to the world.

White Noise: Voices of Color Scarce on Urban Public Radio

One particular pleasant exception to this: Tavis Smiley

Is Bush's War Illegal? " . . . And basically saying that we reserve the right to use force in self-defense against any state we say is somehow involved in the events of September 11. Well, the San Francisco Chronicle interviewed me on that and asked what is the precedent for this? I said that the precedent again goes back to the Nuremberg Judgment of 1946 when the lawyers for the Nazi defendants argued that we, the Nazi government had a right to go to war in self-defense as we saw it, and no one could tell us any differently. Of course that preposterous argument was rejected by Nuremberg. It is very distressing to see some of the highest level of officials of our country making legal arguments that were rejected by the Nuremberg Tribunal."

The “Me” Foundation Presents Awards
Each Winner To Receive $500 Million

Thu Sep 26, 6:28 PM ET


A somewhat unexpected winner, George Bush, has been developing new ways to explain why Imperialism is a good thing. I want to dispel the myth that imperialism is bad. I’ve been working on this ad campaign, but want to do it off the books if you know what I mean. The grant money will make that possible. Smart people know what's best for dumb people and I'm plenty smart. Now that George has been awarded the Grant he will be able to expand his work without the annoying scrutiny of the press I'll find more countries that need my guidance he said. Being recognized makes me feel special. I like me just the way I are. I’m a patient man and you can’t fool me.

Having this level of recognition of our work with bulldozers is wonderful, said Ariel Sharon another award winner. Ariel is a specialist at using tools in new ways. I'm thrilled with the opportunity to realize my dreams.

The “Me” Foundation has awarded the no-scruples-attached grants to those best equipped to use them since the beginning of time. It allows them to pursue their work without having to worry about anything.

The Foundation applies three criteria in deciding on winners. No scruples of course. An unwavering focus on "Me" and a record of prior accomplishments that show potential for future advances.

This years winners were announced Thursday. Potential grant winners are selected by hundreds of egotistical bastards; recipients cannot apply for the awards, but bribes are okay.

This year's winners include one British recipient, Tony Blair. "I have some original ideas about kissing asses." he said. Now with this grant I'll be able to find people willing to kiss my ass. Blair who has specialized in ass kissing is uniquely qualified to make important progress in this field.

It was really hard for me to get funding before "because well I’m Prime Minister and people think I have lots of money and there are a lot of ass kissers in the world, and everyone thinks he is an expert.” Tony promises to explore more unconventional ways of gaining favor. I thought the foundation just wanted me to kiss someone's ass. Then they told me about the grant I was just flabbergasted.


Another winner: John Ashcroft plans on working on his music career. “Do Eagles Soar” was just the beginning, he said. I have a song I’ve been working on, “Die When I Say So”, and the money from the grant will help me promote it. I have other songs I want to write. “Give Said The Little Stream” a song inspired by some prostate trouble I’ve been having. I think they’ll be great hits.



Dick Cheney the peripatetic Vice President hasn't decided how to use his grant. “I’m just tripping,” said Dick, The Foundation doesn't require or expect specific projects. I exceeded my travel budget last year. That’s one thing I won’t have to worry about again.

The youngest winner was Ann Coulter an aspiring journalist. I've always wanted to be accepted as a serious journalist, the money will allow me to finish some unfinished business I have with the New York Times building. This could lead to a Pulitzer prize winning story for me.

Friends have told me this will change my life. Perhaps! The ability to pay off my sources of information will make life easier. I’m finally free from any concerns about honesty and integrity. This is an incredible opportunity

"A civilian gang of thieving lobbyists for the military industrial complex  is running the White House. If to be against them is considered unpatriotic -- Hell, then call me a traitor."

   -- Hunter S. Thompson, ABC Radio Network...

I thought I should weigh in on The Body Shop post by Doc earlier ... I work for Anita and I am hugely disappointed in the Body Shop's asinine statement supporting Bush and the war and totally misrepresenting Anita's position. Obviously some scared little boys in suits got some angry mail from some right-wing thugs and panicked. I expected more of them.

BUT. Boycotting isn't the answer.

The New York Post called for a boycott of The Body Shop last week because of Anita's comments criticizing Bush. Of course a right-wing boycott is silly, and could not begin to touch Anita (conservatives never shopped there in the first place, at least not knowingly). But a left-wing boycott of The Body Shop is just as wrong-headed. A boycott will not affect anyone in the executive suite. It will only hurt people way down the line -- young men and women working in stores, trying to finance their dreams; and thousands of people in the Third World who benefit from The Body Shop's unique programs to source ingredients at fair and sustainable prices. These people are not the enemy, they are innocent bystanders.

Don't boycott the Body Shop. Instead, send them an email saying you will withhold your business until they come to their senses, retract the statement, and apologize for abandoning their most loyal customers -- the ones who shop not because it's cheap (it ain't) but because they vote with their wallets. Then, if/when they see the light, let them know that you will resume shopping with them. We need to learn to use stick AND carrot with equal enthusiasm.

Cheney Wants More Money: "Vice President Cheney, whose travel this year has been mainly trips to secure undisclosed locations and GOP fundraisers, has exceeded his travel budget and is asking Congress to approve shifting $100,000 from other White House accounts to cover the tab."

Received in email today:

Dear friends -

Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop and a internationally recognized social activist, is under heavy fire by the right wing in America for criticizing George W. Bush and the US government for their record on civil liberties since 9/11. A few vocal people even threatened to boycott The Body Shop.

Meanwhile, The Body Shop -- where Anita is still on the board but
retired from executive duties -- has failed to support her courage and conviction. The Body Shop website has declared that the company stands "full square" behind George W. Bush and the War on Terrorism.

It is disappointing to learn that a once-progressive company would not only sell out its visionary founder because it feared a boycott, but that it would endorse wholesale and without exception the president, his misguided and dangerous open-ended war, and his flagrant disregard for civil liberties.

Tell The Body Shop that you are disappointed in their decision to endorse Bush and his war, and that you stand with Anita in her belief that it is not un-American to speak out against injustice.

Send an email to The Body Shop USA and tell them, "Anita Speaks For Me!"

usa.info@the-body-shop.com

(copy staff@anitaroddick.com to let Anita know you're with her.)

Send this letter on to your friends, and let the silent minority be heard!

I have a lot of respect for Anita Roddick. The Body Shop link is coming off SLA. I went into a Body Shop a few weeks back looking for some hemp lip balm. It cost six bucks! I thought about it, then decided I would continue on down to the Pike Place Market where I was headed anyway for produce, and there, in a natural foods store, I found some groovily-packaged vegan hemp balm for half the price. Well, the point is I almost bought a six dollar stick of hemp lip balm because I liked the Body Shop and what they used to stand for, but if I had known they supported George W. Bush, I wouldn't even have gone in the place. Now I know. (anybody hear anything about Aveda?)

Although I've referred to this before, I continue to find it matter for obsessive contemplation. From Robert Musil's journals, 1933:

March 33. Three days ago the Reichstag went up in flames. Yesterday the emergency regulations to eliminate the Communist party and the Social Democrat Party appeared. The new men don't wear kid gloves. In the circles with which I have some contact there was, at first, a general feeling of indignation, an instinctive response to this blow in the face for truth, freedom, etc. It is the reaction of the liberal education in which people have grown up. Yesterday, after Goering set out the measures in a radio broadcast, with a calm, friendly, masculine voice, Frau Witte is already starting to waver! 'If it is true what the Communist Party was up to, then things are really in a dreadful state!' The hypothetical part of this statement is shrinking. The feeling is growing that the new arrangements will not be so bad after all and that, overall, there will be a liberation from many of the things that were felt, at an unconscious level, to be oppressive. An impression of decided rejection comes only from the serving girls, even though they keep silent.

Freedom of the press, of expression of any kind, freedom of conscience, personal dignity, freedom of spirit etc., all the liberal fundamental rights have now been set aside without one single person feeling utterly outraged, indeed by and large without people being strongly affected at all. It is seen as a spell of bad weather. The average individual does not yet feel under attack. One might feel most profoundly disappointed over this but it is more correct to draw the conclusion that all the things that have been abolished here are no longer of great concern to people. This was indeed so. Did a person make use of his freedom of conscience for example? He had no opportunity whatever to do so! Nor did he trouble himself over this freedom... The newspaper did this for him and everything that the newspaper did he accepted with a degree of unease, even though it was seemingly indispensable to him. Seen in this way the discipline of the 'fascio' is indeed a creation that goes unerringly to the core of man's instincts.

The general feeling is: it isn't as serious as it sounds -- a process of 'making-things-less-serious'.... 'Life goes on' -- even though, each day, hundreds are killed, imprisoned, beaten up, etc. This is not frivolity, but is rather to be compared to the helplessness of the herd that is slowly pressed forward while those at the very front go to their deaths.

Definition: the modern person is a coward but likes to be forced to perform heroic feats.

Booknotes has alerted me to The Obvious?, which is currently featuring a WOOD S LOT DISASTER FUND. He needs a new computer! The pot is already up to $485! Get him a nice one! (I recommend iMac G4, or the latest) Hey! Why stop there! Get him a year's worth of DSL! Marks Woods is one of my all-time top favorite bloggers. Get his ass back in here!

DON'T MISS this MAP on IRAQ.

A flowchart "Exploring the possibilities following an invasion of Iraq."

Direct, to the point, and easy to follow.

Must be disinformation meant to throw us off.

The Order of Skull and Bones

You might expect this from Disinfo, but from The Atlantic Monthly? Where Alexandra Robbins, also a graduate of Yale, first published her article on the secret organization which she has since turned into a book, as currently seen on MSNBC . . . Or would you expect a story on The Order of Skull and Bones very nearly from Connie Chung on CNN before it was axed? How or why would a story like this ripple up into the mainstream?

An excerpt from the book:

Sometime in the early 1830s, a Yale student named William H. Russell--he future valedictorian of the class of 1833- traveled to Germany to study for a year. Russell came from an inordinately wealthy family that ran one of America's most despicable business organizations of the nineteenth century: Russell and Company, an opium empire. Russell would later become a member of the Connecticut state legislature, a general in the Connecticut National Guard, and the founder of the Collegiate and Commercial Institute in New Haven. While in Germany, Russell befriended the leader of an insidious German secret society that hailed the death's head as its logo. Russell soon became caught up in this group, itself a sinister outgrowth of the notorious eighteenth-century society the Illuminati.

. . . As soon as initiates are allowed into the "tomb," a dark, windowless crypt in New Haven with a roof that serves as a landing pad for the society's private helicopter, they are sworn to silence and told they must forever deny that they are members of this organization. During initiation, which involves ritualistic psychological conditioning, the juniors wrestle in mud and are physically beaten--this stage of the ceremony represents their "death" to the world as they have known it. They then lie naked in coffins, masturbate, and reveal to the society their innermost sexual secrets. After this cleansing, the Bonesmen give the initiates robes to represent their new identities as individuals with a higher purpose. The society anoints the initiate with a new name, symbolizing his rebirth and rechristening as Knight X, a member of the Order. It is during this initiation that the new members are introduced to the artifacts in the tomb, among them Nazi memorabilia--including a set of Hitler's silverware-dozens of skulls, and an assortment of decorative tchotchkes: coffins, skeletons, and innards.

Robert Anton Wilson, co-author of the cult classics The Illuminatus Trilogy, has this to say in a piece entitled, "Perils of Cocaine" currently displayed on his website:

Two recent political leaders allegedly had this nefarious habit.

Both came to power after dubious elections, by non-electorial and
irregular methods.

Both nations immediately experienced attacks on famous public buildings.

Both blamed an ethnic minority before forensics had
any evidence.

Both led "witch-hunts" against the accused minority.

Both suspended civil liberties "temporarily."

Both put the citizenry under surveillance.

Both maintained secret and clandestine governments.

Both launched wars against most of the world.

One had a funny mustache. Can you name the other one?

Of course we all know that Germany's justice minister recently compared Bush to Hitler, which produced this interesting mefi thread . . .

Speaking of Nazis, this also from Disinfo:

G.W.'s grandfather and great-grandfather, Prescott Bush and George Herbert Walker, were among the chief American fundraisers for Germany's Nazi Party. Through industrialist Fritz Thyssen, the Bush-run Union Banking Company and W. A. Harriman & Company, the Bushes sold over $50 million in German bonds to American investors, starting in 1924. Thyssen in turn pumped money into the infant Nazi Party, which had proved its desire to rule and its willingness to use brute force in 1923's Munich Beer Hall Putsch.

George Walker, GW's great-grandfather, also set up the takeover of the Hamburg-America Line, a cover for I.G. Farben's Nazi espionage unit in the United States. In Germany, I.G. Farben was most famous for putting the gas in gas chambers; it was the producer of Zyklon B and other gasses used on victims of the Holocaust. The Bush family was not unaware of the nature of their investment partners. They hired Allen Dulles, the future head of the CIA, to hide the funds they were making from Nazi investments and the funds they were sending to Nazi Germany, rather than divest. It was only in 1942, when the government seized Union Banking Company assets under the Trading With The Enemy Act, that George Walker and Prescott Bush stopped pumping money into Hitler's regime.

Of course, if you don't want to take Disinfo's word for it, or the Bush Body Count's word for it, I can point you to articles about the Bush Family and it's ties to Nazi Germany in the Boston Globe, Sarasota Herald-Tribune and the Jewish Advocate.

And finally, of course, you all know about the CIA's history of hiring Nazis, as well as George Bush Sr.'s record of service there . . . and then there was that reporter reporting from Florida on NPR the day after the last presidential election, who said [pp]: "There are CIA agents swarming all over the place down here."

The most amazing thing is that some Americans have actually fallen for the hilarious deception that Bush is fighting "evil" . . . so go the powers of brainwashing, I guess.

News From The U.N.
The latest satire from Bogon
Gentlemen, War is a Game of Inches

Facing Mortality With Mischief Rather Than Tears The dying cancer patient with a dark, dry wit met one of his doctors for breakfast last week and handed over his two most recent CDs, one titled "Life'll Kill Ya" and the other "My Ride's Here." In his familiar baritone, Warren Zevon explained the gifts to the physician: "These are my last two albums. Maybe now you'll understand that eerie acceptance of death you keep asking me about."

Signs of Water Found on Distant Planets: "If the discovery is confirmed, it will fuel speculation that the Galaxy is teeming with life."

Earth to Life: HELP! Neutralize the Chimp!

Mexico City Declares Air Pollution Emergency, Orders 350,000 Cars Off the Streets: " . . . as the city declared its first pollution alert in almost three years after ozone levels reached about 2.5 times acceptable limits. "

Free U.S. Military Photos in the public domain. That’s right, copyright free high-rez images of Bush & chums, gear, and our boys in action, all courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer. Great for powerpoint, procurement, and parody. Go get your Photoshop on.

Right-wing governments 'increase suicide rates'
So, I propose that all Republicans should be labeled. Like cigarettes. "The Surgeon General has concluded that listening to right-wing rhetoric may cause you to go nuts and off yourself."

Shiny Blue Grasshopper is organizing in the anti-war arena. Get your anti-invasion, "regime-change, my ass" graff now.

Education Week: "The Department of Education is in the process of a massive overhaul of its Web site to make it easier to use and to remove outdated data—and ensure that material on the site meshes with the Bush administration's political philosophy."

The Guardian has a nice profile of Nelson Mandela. Excerpts :-

'Say what you like about Nelson Mandela, but he is not a man known to bear a grudge or lose his temper easily. Having waited 27 years for his freedom, he emerged from jail to preach peace and reconciliation to a nation scarred by racism. When he finally made the transition from the world's most famous prisoner to the world's most respected statesman, he invited his former jailer to the inauguration. '

'So when he criticises US foreign policy in terms every bit as harsh as those he used to condemn apartheid, you know something is up. In the past few weeks, he has issued a "strong condemnation" of the US's attitude towards Iraq, lambasted vice-president Dick Cheney for being a "dinosaur" and accused the US of being "a threat to world peace". '

'Coming from other quarters, such criticisms would have been dismissed by both the White House and Downing Street as the words of appeasement, anti-Americanism or leftwing extremism. But Mandela is not just anyone. Towering like a moral colossus over the late 20th century, his voice carries an ethical weight like no other. He rode to power on a global wave of goodwill, left office when his five years were up and settled down to a life of elder statesmanship. So the belligerent tone he has adopted of late suggests one of two things; either that some thing is very wrong with the world, or that something is very wrong with Mandela. '

[ ... ]

'In order to be deserving of accolades, history must first be rewritten to deprive them of their militancy. Take Martin Luther King, canonised after his death by the liberal establishment but vilified in his last years for making a stand against America's role in Vietnam. One of his aides, Andrew Young, recalled: "This man who had been respected worldwide as a Nobel Prize winner suddenly applied his non-violence ethic and practice to the realm of foreign policy. And no, people said, it's all right for black people to be non-violent when they're dealing with white people, but white people don't need to be non-violent when they're dealing with brown people." '

[ ... ]

'He made similar waves in the US when he refused to condemn Yasser Arafat, Colonel Gadafy and Fidel Castro. Setting great stock by the loyalty shown to both him and his organisation during the dog days of apartheid, he has consistently maintained that he would stick by those who stuck by black South Africa. It was wrong, he told Americans, to suggest that "our enemies are your enemies... We are a liberation movement and they support our struggle to the hilt." '

'This, more than anything, provides the US and Britain with their biggest problem. They point to pictures of him embracing Gaddafi or transcripts of his support for Castro as evidence that his judgment has become flawed over the years. But what they regard as his weakness is in fact his strength. He may have forgiven, but he has not forgotten. His recent criticisms of America stretch back over 20 years to its "unqualified support of the Shah of Iran [which] lead directly to the Islamic revolution of 1979". '

(In other words, Mandela is loyal to those who were loyal to him. This is something which, in the 1980s, Western human rights and anti-apartheid groups predicted would happen after the fall of apartheid. In the long run, it may be better to support the right people than the expedient people).

BWB and BWS of America

Big Warblogging Brothers and Big Warblogging Sisters of America have remained the experts in maintaining the fervor for war since its founding on 9/11/2001. There have always been those who waved the flag and sent children to war in foreign lands, who have protected the Homeland from threats both foreign and domestic BWB and BWS lead the fight against evil doers every day of their lives. Americans adrift, those with only one flag, those who fly it only on holidays, those that are tired of thinking for themselves receive mentoring from these proud Americans and have shown a real understanding of the views expressed by the BWB and WBS of America. Studies have shown marked improvement in levels of aggression for those being mentored. They have all acquired a knack for committing logical fallacies in their arguments. Of ratting on their neighbors, but that is only the TIP of the iceberg. They have gained confidence in defending a sentimental emotional view of the world. WBB and WBS is a way of connecting with models of stupidity, arrogance, and feeling good about it. Think back to your first experience on the internet. Think about the first war blogging brother or sister who shared their world view with you. They introduced magic into your world and your eyes opened for the first time like wild flowers. You're contact with one of our mentors can be your ticket to a giant ego. Never again will you be afraid of the facts.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines success as a "desired outcome." Well then, thanks to our volunteer warbloggers, success abounds! Our BWB and BWS are helping members of the internet community learn, grow and achieve in ways that otherwise may not have been possible. And here's the kicker: Success is achieved without ever having to think for yourself! Here are some of our favorite success stories.

Capt Scott and Glenn
"I wouldn't be who I am or where I am today without Glenn's influence. I'd be sitting on some park bench dreaming about blow-jobs. I was headed in that direction. Glenn is so modest, so cool, so manly. He has no idea what he's done for me." It was only a year ago that Big Warblogger Glenn was matched with Capt Scott. Capt Scott has fond memories of late night sessions with Glenn learning the ins and outs of obfuscation. Glenn was patient even when Scott made posts that got him rightly fisked and when those nasty liberals fact checked his ass. Glenn taught him how to fight back. I remember his patience, he was as patient as could be. I must have made the same mistakes dozens of times. The thing I remember most was the day he permalinked me. I still get chills down my spine. I hardly ever think about blow-jobs anymore. Those were incredible moments for me.

Pejman and Lileks

Pejman and Lileks were matched as Little and Big Warbloggers in August. Holy poo said Pejman on learning the news. Today Pejman is all grown up the proud father of the "Adopt-A-Bomb" program. Lileks and Pej still exchange emails at least once a week Pej requesting a permalink Lileks saying no. What Pej remembers most are the little moments when their names were linked in print at Warblogger Watch. Pej was so happy with the program and his growth as a warblogger that he has become a Big Warblogger himself which leads us to the next success story.

Misha and Pejman

Pejman was matched at his request with Misha a cute little Rotweiller. You're my bitch now he was heard to say. Misha listens carefully to the instructions from his mentor. He has already learned several important warblogger commands. He understands Sic that dude deserves a fisking, but is having trouble understanding the concept of "Fact Check His Ass", he does a lot of sniffing around, but to date hasn't had any success. They seem happy together however. Pej says, "I like patting his head and the way he does whatever I say".

Asparagirl and Sasha Castel

Asparagirl was paired with Sasha Castell Castel, but ended the relationship when she found Sasha had been getting mentored by Ann Coulter on the sly. Well not every story is a success.(update: Sasha has assured me it was only the one time)

On a sadder note the Brothers and Sister's today mourned the passing of mentor War Now but seemed undaunted, word was circulating that "War in Two Or Three Weeks" would take his place.

Overall the success of the program is undeniable, the military has been mobilized. George is refusing to accept yes as meaning yes. More Americans than ever before are behind bars. Criticism of the government is at an all time low, and Tom Ridge has taken off his orange shirt and is once again wearing yellow. George assures us that maybe twenty or thirty years from now he wont need to where any shirt at all. "I'll never end the war until terror is well terrorless," he said.


Disclaimer:
This program is in no way related to Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America

The news spread rapidly ...

"So we're all like, "Hey, let weapons inspectors back in!" and they're all like, "Dude, you pulled out, inspectus interruptus was your idea from the last time you bombed, and you're like spying on us anyway!" and we're all like "Shyeah, as if, let us in or we bomb you!" and they're all like "This is sooo like just a pretext, we say yes and you'll find something else!" and we're like "No, dude, we swear, no pretext and we're serious and we have lots of bombs!" and they're all like "Let me talk to Kofi okay?" and Kofi's all like "Yo, yo, dude!, they mean business and they have bombs fer sher, we've seen 'em!" and they're all like "Jeez, okay already, your inspectors that you pulled out anyway can come in again" and now we're all like "Psyche, dude! Too late! Not good enough! Give us a minute to think of more demands before we bomb you anyway!" So like, what I want to know is, isn't that the very definition of pretext?" - Pen-Elayne

A Skeptical Look at September 11th
How We Can Defeat Terrorism by Reacting to It More Rationally

Clark R. Chapman and Alan W. Harris

Human beings might be expected to value each life, and each death, equally. We each face numerous hazards-war, disease, homicide, accidents, natural disasters-before succumbing to "natural" death. Some premature deaths shock us far more than others. Contrasting with the 2,800 fatalities in the World Trade Center (WTC) on September 11, 2001 (9/11), we barely remember the 20,000 Indian earthquake victims earlier in 2001. Here, we argue that the disproportionate reaction to 9/11 was as damaging as the direct destruction of lives and property. Americans can mitigate future terrorism by learning to respond more objectively to future malicious acts. We do not question the visceral fears and responsible precautions taken during the hours and days following 9/11, when there might have been even worse attacks. But, as the first anniversary of 9/11 approaches, our nation's priorities remain radically torqued toward homeland defense and fighting terrorism at the expense of objectively greater societal needs. As we obsessively and excessively beef up internal security and try to dismantle terrorist groups worldwide, Americans actually feed the terrorists' purposes.

For those of you worried abut the mysterious cessation of Unknown News, I would like to allay your fears and let you know that Helen and Harry Highwater are currently experiencing technical difficulties and will be resuming broadcasting shortly. Furthermore, they miss you all and I can only vouch that this sentiment is more than returned by the alternative news-lovin' community. Hurry back, Highwaters!

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Remembering September 11 1973 - Were the lives of those killed at the World Trade Centre more valuable than the innocents murdered in Chile's US-backed coup, asks Tito Tricot...

Forthright.

Possibly the most significant article this year:

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."

This article also explains how XML can actually help us make sense of the world.
Great ideas on the various categories that help you evaluate the significance of information.
Don't miss this one.

Tomorrow (16th September) is the twentieth anniversary of the

Sabra and Shatila massacre in Lebanon. (The Wikipedia page links to
both Palestinian and Israeli sources).

A Palestinian view.

Kahan Commission of Inquiry. Israel's official
investigation.

Useful, informative military history of the Iran-Iraq War (from the Federation of
American Scientists).

Chemical warfare in the Iran-Iraq War
(Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, 1984).

A map of the Iran-Iraq War. Informative. Here is a list of countries
which gave military support to _both_ sides :-
the USA, Brazil, the UK, France, East Germany, Switzerland,
Italy, the USSR, China, North Korea. Many more countries gave
military support to either one side or the other.

The United States and the Iran-Iraq War. (Z Mag)
'The war between Iran and Iraq was one of the great human
tragedies of recent Middle Eastern history. Perhaps as many as a
million people died, many more were wounded, and millions were
made refugees. The resources wasted on the war exceeded what
the entire Third World spent on public health in a decade.'
[ ... ]
'France became the major source of Iraq's high-tech
weaponry, in no small part to protect its financial stake in that
country. The Soviet Union was Iraq's largest weapon's supplier,
while jockeying for influence in both capitals. Israel provided arms
to Iran, hoping to bleed the combatants by prolonging the war. And
at least ten nations sold arms to both of the warring sides.'
'The list of countries engaging in despicable behavior, however,
would be incomplete without the United States. The U.S. objective
was not profits from the arms trade, but the much more significant
aim of controlling to the greatest extent possible the region's oil
resources ... '

Takahiro Kimura... Broken Face No.165 (29.7x21cm, August 24,2002). Takahiro Kimura (one of our personal favourite collage artists) is now up to 233 in his epic Broken 1000 Faces project. "...The Project of Broken 1000 Faces started in October, 1999. The plan is to create 1000 faces of same size(12x8inch) using same technique(collage and painting on paper). One every day. I find commonplace photos in magazines and photograph collections. It's important that they be random images,chosen by accident. First I tear a face photo into small pieces. Then I reconnect the pieces. I let my sense of the image guide the arrangement. Balance that images from my perception of the subject. I use a nail to scratch the image."

Who armed Saddam?
'An American company, Pfaulder Corporation of Rochester, New
York, supplied the Iraqis with a blueprint in 1975, enabling them to construct
their first chemical warfare plant. The plant was purchased in sections from
Italy, West Germany and East Germany and assembled in Iraq. It was located
at Akhashat in north-western Iraq, and the cost was around $50 million for
the plant and $30 million for the safety equipment. '
(The road to Halabja began here).

Save Nine Ladies!
A stone circle in Derbyshire under
threat.

EU debates measures to restore democracy in Florida - Max Sewicky

Liberal Arts Mafia | Commentary Never before in a time of great peril to our republic have we been gifted by a President as inherently irrational and incapable as we currently are. IF we survive the next two years with only a minimum amount of bloodshed — say less ten thousand innocent lives — we will have to consider ourselves lucky. It is galling that our commander in chief, rather than pursue the guilty parties of September 11 to the ends of the Earth, is willing to drop everything in order to satisfy an ideological vision of American world domination.

One year ago, a few days after September 11, someone had stapled a sign to a lamp post on 7th street in the East Village. I was taking basic Arabic at the time and could just make it out: I Love New York. The next day it was gone. It was half torn when I saw it. No doubt someone finished the job. There was a lot of misdirected anger in the streets then. There still is.

Click on the graphic above for a larger version you can print out and post on a lamp post near you.

[From Social Design Notes.]

Bogside Artists... Petrol Bomber, Battle of the Bogside (2) Mural. "...depicts some scenes from the 'Battle of the Bogside' which took place in August 1969. The mural depicts a young boy in a gas mask, which he used to try to protect himself from the CS gas used by the RUC, holding a petrol bomb." From Works by the Bogside Artists at Political Wall Murals in Northern Ireland. Part of The Northern Ireland Conflict (1968 to the Present).

Anis Shivani: Progressive Irrelevance?

"The left thinks of Bush as an idiot. He is, but only in the sense of not being intellectual. He is the smartest fascist to come down the pike in a long while, and has completely outwitted the opposition.

As long as progressives continue to grant the basic premises of the "war on terrorism--that it is a "war" and that we're fighting "terror" - it will wage a losing struggle. If voices who question the basic reality of events remain isolated--voices like those of the ousted Cynthia McKinney--we are doomed to an era of complete silence. The dictators in Washington are in a great hurry to do away with this country's freedoms and numb us to a new American militarism. If progressives treat them as political actors who will go along with the normal rules of liberal contest, it'll continue to be blindsided by the next shocks in the works. " OutLookIndia [via allaboutgeorge]

Department of futile gestures, Part 2: Joe Conason & Andrew Sullivan are "colleagues," at least according to Conason. Maybe it's just because I'm an academic, where the word colleague still means something more that "co-worker," but I find Conason's use of the word, at best, wishful thinking & at worst a symptom of what Mediawhoresonline would call "Kool Kids Syndrome"--the media ideology that says, "Really, despite our slight political differences, we're all members of the same fraternity." That's what "balance" amounts to, in the final analysis. I wonder if Sullivan thinks of Conason as a "colleague." I had thought Conason had more sense, though I had already begun to despair of Salon. Joan Walsh's piece in today's number, "It's My Country and I'll Cry if I Want To," [premium subscribers only] put me in mind of that old Phil Oachs song, "Love Me, I'm a Liberal":

I cried when they shot Medgar Evers
Tears ran down my spine
I cried when they shot Mr. Kennedy
As though I'd lost a father of mine
But Malcolm X got what was coming
He got what he asked for this time
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

I go to civil rights rallies
And I put down the old D.A.R.
I love Harry and Sidney and Sammy
I hope every coloured boy becomes a star
But don't talk about revolution
That's going a little bit too far
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

I cheered when Humphrey was chosen
My faith in the system restored
I'm glad the commies were thrown out
of the AFL-CIO board
I love Puerto Ricans and Negros
as long as they don't move next door
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

The people of old Mississippi
Should all hang their heads in shame
I can't understand how their minds work
What's the matter don't they watch Les Crain?
But if you ask me to bus my children
I hope the cops take down your name
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

I read New Republic and Nation
I've learned to take every view
You know, I've memorized Lerner and Golden
I feel like I'm almost a Jew
But when it comes to times like Korea
There's no one more red, white and blue
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

I vote for the Democratic Party.
They want the U.N. to be strong
I go to all the Pete Seeger concerts
He sure gets me singing those songs
I'll send all the money you ask for
But don't ask me to come on along
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

Once I was young and impulsive
I wore every conceivable pin
Even went to the socialist meetings
Learned all the old union hymns
But I've grown older and wiser
And that's why I'm turning you in
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal.

But that's mostly an aside. Conason not only abuses the word colleague, he engages in a rhetorical sleight of hand made famous recently by the Washington Post's defense of Susan Schmidt; that is, he claims that the letters Salon received objecting to hiring Sullivan were "similarly worded." Exactly what is being impled here? I would like to know how many letters there were & how many were "similarly worded." Did people copy my letters to Salon, posted here previously? Is there some orchestrated effort that the editors of Salon find offensive? I'd thought that the editors were, at least, liberals & that they might see "orchestrated effort" as a form of political organizing, a concept that used to have some currence on the left, especially in the labor movement. (It was an "orchestrated effort"--or many of them togehter--that finally brought the Vietnam war to a close, though our leaders at the time made sure it was as dishonerable a close as possible.) Were Eric Alterman's & my letters similar, how about the one sent by Dr. Menlo? Or some of the other folks who commented over at American Samizdat? This just seems like a smear to me. Come on, Joe, are your really saying you're being targeted by fanatical leftists?

Eric Alterman & the Media Horse have defended Salon in the past & so have I, but Alterman's column today gets it about right, I think, except that I'm more skeptical of the whole idea of "balance" than Alterman, who notes that he has in the past suggested conservative writers Salon might hire instead of Horowitz & now Sullivan. I'm of the mind that balance is bullshit, frankly. When the right starts hiring real leftists to comment from inside the corporate media then maybe I'll change my tune.

Walter Mosley: Time for a new Black Power movement

Fuel for the Anti-Bush Fire: "Here is my prediction. Corporate America has won this round and just about every round that has preceded this one on global warming. But just as global warming traps too much of the sun's heat (energy) in the lower atmosphere, supercharging our climate system --hence the storms, droughts, and assorted extremes of our once calmer climactic system -- the Marie Antoinette approach is also trapping extreme political pressure in a cauldron that will not be able to hold it. The anti-globalization protesters are not disappearing, just regrouping. Moderate mainstream environmentalists are furious about the state of the planet in a way that I have never seen before in my career. "

Fla. Police Cars To Sport Corporate Logos [via Anodyne]

Zapata Stencil Graffiti by Nico / Industrias Ilegales. "...Nico of Industrias Ilegales, a Chicano street artist from East Los, Aztlan has been decorating the walls that surround his Boyle Heights neighborhood with the mystical power of stencil graffiti. In the tradition of The Basques and the Mexicans who used the same techniques in protests propaganda during the 1970s. Nico has been stenciling the portraiture of Mexican Revolutionary General Emilio Zapata on back alleyways." From Murals at BrownPride.

I live in Seoul now and there is a swanky bar around the corner from my crib called, of all things, Said & Chomsky. They don't seem to do much business.

Bush Threatens To Use Troops Against Dockworkers

PBS Purges Web Content On Israeli Disapproval: "Unfortunately, a few people disapproved of some of that material, and PBS did exactly what any spineless pandering coward would do; they buckled to pressure (or the fear of pressure) from New York's Jewish and Israeli lobbying groups, and removed content from the companion site which dares to tell the Palestinian story without the mandatory pro-Israel bias."

Department of futile gestures: Yesterday when I noticed that Salon had hired Andrew Sullivan as a columnist, I wrote a letter to the editors saying, in brief, that I could not understand why a progressive news outfit like Salon would support the work of right-wing provacteurs like Sullivan & David Horowitz. I actually pay money to read Salon & I asked for my "premium" subscription back. Within an hour, Joan Walsh, Salon's News Editor replied as follows: "If you can read through the list of Salon stories today, from the amazing global warming cover to Spinsanity's incredible debunking of the right-wing smear of the NEA--not to mention the incredible fall fiction package, and throw in Joe Conason twice a day as well--and feel we're not standing up for liberal values and you're not getting your money's worth, well...I don't even know how to end this e-mail. I'm speechless. We rock the mainstream media every single day on a tiny budget, and yes, we occasionally throw an apostate into the mix. I just, well, I give up." I grant Ms. Walsh all her points about the virtues of Salon's writers, and in fact, this morning's piece on Iraq convinced me to write & recind my subscription cancellation. (Both letters I wrote were marked "for publication"--both my cancellation & the retraction. I'm letting it al hang out her, folks.) But I'm still pissed. And I don't think that Salon "occasionally throw[ing] an apostate into the mix" is justifiable in the current cultural & political atmosphere. Before I'd caved, I wote back: "Dear Joan Walsh, Yes, the cover story is fine & I'm a big fan of Joe Conason, but I just can't see myself contributing even an infinitesimal amount to support Sullivan & Horowitz. Frankly, I can't see why Salon would want to either. There are parts of Salon I'll miss, but there is always Eric Alterman, The Rittenhouse Review, The American Prospect & other progressive news sources available--something Salon might want to consider as it--apparently--seeks 'balance'." [I should also have mentioned Josh Marshall's Talking Points & Bob Somerby's The Daily Howler.]

It is not that I am not "getting my money's worth." That's not the issue. The issue is my money, given to Salon because I support their progressive politics, supporting the likes of Sullivan & Horowitz. My thirty bucks a year to Salon is not like a tax I object to, it's voluntary. So this is not like some cracker telling me he doesn't want his tax dollars going to support the National Endowment for the Arts. The cracker can elect representatives to do his bidding, but all I can do with Salon is withold my cash. The beauty of capitalism. Well, as I said, I caved. But I'm still pissed & I still want to make some kind of statement the editors of Salon might recognize. I wrote Ms. Walsh tonight: "as you may have seen I sent a letter retracting my Premium cancellation this morning. Salon remains too valuable to me to give up, despite my continuing sense that you do your readers a disservice by publishing the right-wing screeds of Sullivan & Horowitz. It's not like I can't find their stuff if I need to know what they've said. So, here's what I'm going to do: On days when a Sullivan or Horowitz column appears in Salon I will click away & not come back until the next day. And I'm going to promote the "click away today" idea on my weblog, which is pretty well-linked to other progressive sites. It's not that I want people to put their fingers in their ears & sing la-la-la-la as loud as they can; no, it's just that it is already so difficult to hear progressive opinion in America that I cannot believe Salon would, in effect, turn up the volume on the right." I invite everyone who reads this to join me. Maybe Salon will notice their hits counter's silence on days when they publish the nasty mendacities of Horowitz & Sullivan. Pass it on.

Send Joan Walsh a note telling here that you are going to "click away today" when Sullivan & Horowitz appear in Salon. Make it nice. Joan seems like a nice person; in fact, as I was writing this, the following email arrived: "I didn't see your letter retracting your cancellation (not on that list). You made my day. I'll keep arguing with you, though: We haven't *turned up the volume* on the right. We added Joe Conason five days a week, Keith Olbermann twice. We turned up the volume on the left, and added Andrew for a little balance." My problem is I just don't buy the idea that Salon has any responsibility for "balance" in the current state of the media universe. While the left strives for "balance," the right attacks the Bill of Rights; while the left strives for balance, the Washington Times smears America's teachers & the rest of the supposedly responsible media lap it up as if the shit was chocolate; while the left strives for balance, the right endorses Ann Coulter's attack on American values as cute. Give me a break, Salon. Give me a freakin' break.

[Eric Alterman on this issue. MWO on Alterman's reaction to Salon's move (scroll down to "Salon's New War.")]

An open letter to the US Privacy Officer - CNet


"Over the summer, the Bush Administration revealed plans to appoint the first-ever U.S. chief privacy officer as part of the proposed Department of Homeland Security."

One year after September 11, where is the dissent? - Chronicle of Higher Education


"Can we assimilate and understand legitimate criticism? Is there really room in our culture for complex discourse and debate?"

Internet Freedom Also Victim of Sept 11, Group Says: "New laws extending the time data is held by Internet service providers (ISPs) and making data available to intelligence services has make ISPs and telecommunications companies into 'a potential arm of the police,' RsF head Robert Menard said."

Signs Point To Greater Rich-Poor Wage Gap
See also: Now That's Class Warfare, by Molly Ivins

Bush Expands Government Secrecy, Arouses Critics: "As part of its 'war on terrorism,' the Bush administration has vastly expanded government secrecy, removing information from the public domain, limiting its disclosures to Congress and allowing law enforcement agencies to operate in the shadows."

An editor fires Ann Coulter with this letter: "Hate is easy; love is hard."

Infoshop.org Interviews Katie Sierra

"Katie Sierra is a 15-year-old anarchist who lives in Sissonville, West Virginia. She recently made international news after her high school suspended her for wearing a t-shirt critical of the war in Afghanistan, as well as for her efforts in organizing a student anarchy club at the school. Her legal protest of the school's decision was turned down by the courts. There is an international effort to support her and her fight against the school."

See also: Anarcha-Feminism and Justice for Katie Sierra!

Israeli Hackers Foiled: "Israeli cyber warfare professionals targeted human rights and anti-war activists across the USA in late July and August temporarily disrupting communications, harassing hundreds of computer users, and annoying thousands more."

Human Rights Activists Warn Of Renewed Chiapas Violence

Washington State Labor Council Passes First Statewide Anti-War Resolution

Muslim Peace Fellowship: Humour After September 11, 2001. Gentle and good-hearted.

May Day Posters and Parades.
'The sampling of May Day posters and photographs presented below are all from the Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives and the Tamiment Library at New York University. They give a taste of celebrations over the twentieth century. We look forward to hearing from viewers regarding the whereabouts of other materials, and who might contribute information about the items below.'

Aki Meguri. This is nice.

Remember Chile: General Pinochet and Human Rights Abuses.
'Our position on the problems of human rights violations is basically legal, ethical and preventative. No healthy, solid, stable democracy can build itself upon a foundation of forgetting the most serious crimes against the right to life, integrity and freedom committed in Chilean history and within a policy of state terrorism that unleashed maximum political violence against society. We reaffirm that there is no ethical nor judicial reason why crimes of human rights violations should remain in impunity. We are asking that crimes against humanity be punished in the same way that common ones are. '

The other September 11 :-
Chile Documentation Project. Documents relating to the US-backed military coup in Chile on September 11, 1973, as a result of which some 3000 people died.
Documents reveal US funding for Chile coup.
U.S. Victims of Chile's Coup:
The Uncensored File.
Pursuing the Past. 'Relatives of the 3,000 people killed under Pinochet's rule want him tried in court; his supporters are hoping for a reprieve based on his poor health.'
Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende.

49% of Americans Say First Amendment "Goes Too Far"
America is now also record-breakingly obese--connection? "Better put some guards on those Twinkie factories, boys . . . these terrorists are some mean sons-a-bitches."

Project Censored Presents The 10 Big Stories The Mainstream News Media Ignored In 2001

State Spending On Prisons Grows At 6 Times Rate Of Higher Education

Secretary Rumsfeld is RAISING THE TOUGH QUESTIONS.

"I think also what's important is that people lift their eyes up off their shoelaces and go back to the fundamental and the fundamental issue is that we live in a different world today. We live in the 21st century. We're not back in the 20th century, where the principal focus is conventional weapons. We're in the 21st century, where the principal focus must be weapons -- unconventional weapons -- weapons potentially that could involve killing not hundreds of people but tens of thousands of people -- chemical weapons, biological weapons, potentially nuclear weapons.

"And that means that we have to take that aboard as a people, and we have to talk about it, and we have to consider it. What does it mean? How does it conceivably affect our behavior? There are clearly risks to acting in any instance. But there are also risks to not acting. And those have to be weighed. People have to talk about them intelligently. These are important subjects for Congress, for the press, for the academic institutions, for the world community. And that's what this process is.

"And I keep hearing people say, "Oh, Europe's unhappy with this" or "Somebody doesn't agree with that" or "Some general said this" or "Some civilian said that." I think what's important is the substance of this discussion. And I see too little attention to it and too much attention to the personality aspects of it, if you will, and to the trying to juxtapose what one person said against what somebody else said for the personality aspect of it, rather than for the substance of it. And if you think about our circumstance, when the penalty for not acting is September 11th, if you will, or a Pearl Harbor, where hundreds and a few thousand people are killed, that is a very serious thing. You've made a conscious decision not to act. And the penalty with that, for those people, it's a hundred percent. It's not one thousand or two thousand, it's that person is gone. If, on the other hand, the penalty for not acting is not a conventional or a terrorist attack of that magnitude, but one of many multiples of that, it forces people to stop and have the kind of debate we're having. What ought we to be thinking about? How ought we, if at all, to be changing our behavior? How ought we to live in this new 21st century world? What does it mean that tens of thousands of human beings can be killed in a biological attack if we allow it to happen as a society? Are we comfortable with that? Is that something that we've decided that it's so disadvantageous to take an action without proof that you could go into a court of law and prove beyond a reasonable doubt that something was going to happen, that the capabilities existed for -- of absolute certain knowledge, and that the intent to use those was imminent and clear, and you don't -- you may not have the type of certain knowledge. You may want that kind of knowledge in a law enforcement case, where we're interested in protecting the rights of the accused. You may have a different conclusion if you're talking about the death of tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children. We're not talking about combatants here, we're talking about the kinds of people who were killed on September 11th. So it is that construct that needs to be considered. And it ought to be -- it ought to be talked about and well read through and thought about, it seems to me."

Robben Island Museum, South Africa.
'During the apartheid years Robben Island became internationally known for its institutional brutality. The duty of those who ran the Island and its prison
was to isolate opponents of apartheid and to crush their morale. Some freedom fighters spent more than a quarter of a century in prison for their beliefs ... '

The UWC-Robben Island Mayibuye Archives.
Builders of the Nation poster exhibit.

Dar es Salaam in Delft Blue.
Dutch photographer in Tanzania, explores cultural differences.

Kuru Kalahari Online Exhibition.
'Bushman' art and storytelling project, Botswana.

Redefining Progress.

Decade Online: a "gateway to various web-based environmental and public health online services." Do look up the results for various well known fastfood "restaurants".

China appears to block Web search engine Google.

Open House. (Ramle, Israel) 'Open House Center at 1 Klausner Street in Ramle was founded in 1991 to further peace and coexistence among Israeli Arabs and Jews in this mixed city of 65,000 residents. The ratio of 53,000 Jews to 12,000 Arabs parallels the Jewish-Arab ratio in the State of Israel generally, making Ramle a microcosm of the country. The house on Klausner Street is an even smaller microcosm, for the two families who have lived there before and after 1948 represent the two nations laying claim to the land of Israel/Palestine. '

The Muslim Peace Fellowship, 'a gathering of peace and justice-oriented Muslims of all backgrounds who are dedicated to making the beauty of Islam evident in the world, founded in1994.'

Newsweek puts Tyneside in top eight of world's cultural centres, along with Austin, Tijuana, Zhongguancun, Marseilles, Cape Town, Antwerp and Kabul. (Mind you, this is the same Newsweek which described London as 'the world's coolest city' a few years back).

Blair's summit rebuff to Bush. 'Tony Blair last night launched an unexpected broadside against George Bush over climate change and said the leader of the world's most polluting nation must be persuaded to change his ways. '
[ ... ]
'This was a calculated rebuff to the American president, who, having repudiated the Kyoto agreement, has instructed his team at the earth summit to remove all mention of it from the final 30,000-word "plan of action" being negotiated there. '
'Mr Blair, aware of the US pressure to "lose Kyoto", decided to embarrass Mr Bush by emphasising its importance. '
(Nobody likes being thought of as a poodle, after all).

Great trek from the slums to the promised land. 'Thousands of the world's poor gathered for a march to the suburb where the summit is held.'

Revealed: Last fearful days in India as Empire crumbled. (Observer)
'They are images that will change the way we think about the British Empire. Since the last days of the Raj, historians have wrangled over the imperial legacy in India, but the full extent of the suffering inflicted when Mountbatten, the last Viceroy in charge of the continent, pulled out in 1947, is about to be revealed as never before. '

'Following the enormous success of The Second World War in Colour, ITV is now to screen The British Empire in Colour, an astonishing collection of original colour film footage shot at the far-flung outposts of empire and now restored for its first public viewing. '

'The three-part television series, broadcast later this month, will feature unseen colour sequences from Africa, Australia, Canada and the West Indies. Yet it is frames shot at the time of the Partition of India that have stunned audiences at early screenings and already provoked argument among eminent historians - some of whom have drawn comparisons with ethnic cleansing in Bosnia and Rwanda ... '
(Should also provide some interesting background to at least one of the current conflicts).

A Puritan on the warpath. (Observer)
'The Biblical zeal with which the US President is waging a moral crusade against Saddam Hussein owes much to the dissenting protestantism of America's original settlers.'
(It's an interesting point of view; it's particularly interesting to compare the argument that Bush's crusading zeal is rooted in Puritanism with the idea in some quarters that Islam is inherently an expansionist religion. The truth is perhaps that many different opposing ideologies - peaceful and not so peaceful - can be rooted in the same culture).

Yumiko Kayukawa... Shuriken (Ninja Throwing Stars, 2002, 29.8" x 21"). From a fantastic collection of new Paintings by Yumiko Kayukawa. Yumiko pretty much rules. Her fourth show at Roq La Rue Gallery in Seattle opens on September 6, 2002. Wish I could go...

Fellow liberals, cleave to your faith in anarchy and Krishna!

Thanks to non-partisan federal funding proposed by our valliant President Bush, the Hare Krishnas and Food Not Bombs may soon be able to buy as much food for their free meals as their volunteers can manage to prepare. Maybe we'll replace fast food chains in urban areas with Hindu-style free prasadam lunches someday ...