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| 9.18.2001 |
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An article from the New York Times Review of Books takes an inside view of the Camp David talks in July of 2000 between Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat. It's sad to see how incredibly close we came to peace, and how very far away we are now. |
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12:44:09 AM
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I just saw an interview with Bernie Casey, former NFL receiver with the Rams and the 49'ers. What an overwhelmingly intelligent and erudite man. He understood the scam of sports thirty years ago, and interviews with him from that era show the same. Many 80's children like myself will remember Casey as the history teacher from Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. |
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12:16:52 AM
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| 9.17.2001 |
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Congress, in an effort to look like they are doing something, are rolling over on civil liberties even faster than I had imagined they would. In an effort to pacify alarmists (who, me?), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Senator Patrick J. Leahy (D) says, "This is not a question of dealing with someone who owns a gun club or is an anti-abortion protester or a demonstrator against the government." Despite the genuity of this statement, abuse of these powers is inevitiable.
According to a press conference two minutes ago, Ashcroft wants to get:
- The right to tap a person, not a device (i.e. phone or computer)
- One wiretap authorization for all juristictions
- Elimination of statute of limitation on terrorist crimes
- Increasing the penalties for terrorist crimes
I'll wait to see the legal opinions on what this really means. |
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9:51:14 AM
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A thoughtful, excellent Salon.com article calls for peace in Israel as a critical step for stemming the tide of terrorism.
We can turn our country into Fortress America, but no fortress can defend against zealots willing to die. In the end our best, our only real defense will be winning the hearts and minds of those who hate us.
To quote Rafe Colburn, "[this article] gets at a lot of issues regarding anti-American sentiment in the Middle East that I've been thinking about. The degree to which America is seen as not only a friend to, but a pawn of Israel among Arabs cannot be overestimated." We have to face this and use our influence to create peace in this region, to remove the sources of conflict and the reasons for rage. |
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9:37:59 AM
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Matt Leach sent me this article from Jane's which provides a much more in-depth look at the blowback that has occurred in the Middle East. Jane's is a high-profile organization dedicated to researching global defense, aerospace, and transportation. |
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9:32:25 AM
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Information is leaking out that we knew about the attacks as much as six months in advance. Let's wait to see if these reports are corroborated. |
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9:24:07 AM
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Another blogger made an excellent point: bin Laden wants a war between Islam and the West. We're talking about a war on terrorism, but every organization we've named so far is a fundamentalist Islamic group. There are a billion Muslims in the world. bin Laden wants to call them to jihad. We're giving him the bullhorn. |
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9:21:32 AM
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According to CNN's Nic Robertson, (via a videophone from Kandahar, Afghanistan) hundreds of religious scholars are meeting in Kabul to deliberate the demands made on the Taliban by Pakistan to extradite Osama bin Laden for suspected terrorist crimes. Meanwhile, many thousands of refugees are fleeing the cities and are heading toward the Pakistani border before it closes.
Does anyone believe that bin Laden's arrest would stem the tide of American warfare? |
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8:57:11 AM
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| 9.16.2001 |
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In a move that surprised the hell out of me, Texas Representative Tom DeLay (R) has come out against a lifting of the ban on C.I.A. assassinations. DeLay, who on a good day can easily be mistaken for a complete scumbag, had the most amazingly levelheaded things to say:
Representative Tom DeLay of Texas, the majority whip, said that while the C.I.A. should beef up its human intelligence gathering ability, officials should not move rashly to lift the ban on assassinations.
The nation is understandably "a little panicky," Mr. DeLay said. But he added, "I think we need to be very clearheaded, very deliberative, about where we're headed."
I can't for the life of me figure out why he would say this. Hmmm. Of course, I completely agree with his position.
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8:18:59 PM
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It's a real shame when Ferrari decide to run without sponsor graphics this race weekend and Jaguar (owned by Ford) do not. My hat is off to Ferrari for a class move. |
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11:57:47 AM
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