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4. februar 2003
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A speculative theory on latest "smoking gun"
Are the disclosures from the Iraqi defector Abu Hamdi Mahmoud and Ms Nicholson's information recently given to Mr Blix in any way related?
Why was the story about the Iraqi bodyguard first published in the Jerusalem Post and then apparently yanked (see Kane's)? Why isn't this story, assuming the sources are half-credible, making headlines across the world right now?
Here is a speculative theory about what has happened, that I just posted in a comment in Rayne's:
The defector drops into Mossad's lap. Sharon contacts Bush about it, gloating about the catch. The US administration goes pale, realising that it will look really bad if the "smoking gun" leading to an attack comes from Israel. Thus, they twist Sharon's arm and make him accept that the information is being dropped in Blix' lap through a British EU parliamentary.
However, this pisses off some Israeli intelligence officers big time, who makes sure the story is leaked to give them credit for the job.
This, of course, assumes that those two "smoking guns" being from the same source. We'll have to wait and see.
PS: Don't miss Rayne's latest note on the British parliamentary, indeed Baroness Emma Nicholson. I must learn to do my homework more systematically. Whatever the case, this does not weaken my theory.
Update: Curiouser and curiouser. A webpage of dubious credibility, belonging to talk show host Jeff Rense, posted the information about Abu Hamdi Mahmoud's defection to Israel on January 28st.
8:59:09 PM 
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European Parliament member gives Blix information on Iraqi weapons
Emma Nicholson, a member of the EU parliament for the UK, has given Hans Blix fresh evidence on materials that can be used for weapons of mass destruction. The information was given on the condition that Ms Nicholson's source, apparently in Iraq, was not disclosed. She has previously been in talks with Iraqi officials. The UN arms inspectors are currently assessing the information.
Does this tie in with the defected bodyguard discussed below?
8:02:50 PM
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— Saddam's bodyguard reveals "smoking gun"
According to some news sources, Hussein's senior bodyguard Abu Hamdi Mahmoud has defected to Israel and provided hard evidence that Saddam Hussein has a chemical weapons facility in Baghdad, a SCUD assembly, and two underground bunkers with biological weapons. Once the inspectors go there and find the evidence, time is up for Saddam Hussein.
Supposedly, Ariel Sharon has not shared all the information with western intelligence, since he wants to use it to "shatter the growing anti-war movement."
And wouldn't he do that by making sure Colin Powell could present this evidence to the UN Security Council now?
Thanks to Rayne and Paul (in comments) for bringing this to my attention.
Update: Let's keep an eye on how this story spreads in English-language newsmedia.
6:15:54 PM
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Now that is FAST!
(source)
5:11:22 PM
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How to use images with Radio Userland
This is not intended to replace whatever documentation is available from Radio Userland (though frankly I think it could be needed). I wrote the below as emails to a friend who started a blog, and asked me to explain how to use images with Radio Userland. I got the same question from a number of people, and ended up forwarding the same email to many people. The sensible thing to do was to put the little how-to text out on my blog. [Read more...]
3:49:58 PM
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Writer's block?
May the muses of blogging protect us from Rayne's blogging when she does not have writer's block!
In fact, atheior protect us all whenever Rayne makes any announcement indicating that there is "slow blogging ahead." Oh well. I guess it's her method of overcoming writer's block.
2:33:02 PM
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Spoonbender defends Michael Jackson
"Celebrity psychic Uri Geller defends Michael Jackson after a TV documentary in which the singer said he still shared his bedroom with children." (BBC News)
I was about to say something about strange bedfellows, but that didn't really sound right.
11:43:34 AM
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While we're waiting for St Valentine
To the early Christians, sexual love was at best a necessary evil to control 'lust', at worst a distasteful distraction from the love of God. How come the Christian church transformed a Roman festival known for its debauchery and sexuality into a Christian festival in memory of St Valentine? William Hopper investigates.the story from the skins of bloody dog flesh to today's greeting cards and chocolate.
11:27:42 AM
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Propaganda leaflets over Iraq
The US-led coalition is already targeting the Iraqi population with propaganda leaflets and radio broadcasts. The message is, this is a war against Saddam not the ordinary Iraqi, and, don't get in our way.
9:01:01 AM
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I feel lost already
"It's easy to get confused now. There's yet another hall, the Central Hall. The main building, called the North Hall, has two main exhibit rooms called the North Hall and South Hall. Then there's the building called South Hall. Creative naming, eh?" (Byte editor explains geography of the Consumer Electronics Show 2003)
I am sure they provide some fancy gadgets to help you find your way around.
8:42:19 AM
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Briton wants his body eaten by white sharks
.jpg) Robert Blackwood has applied to the South African Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism to be fed to the great white sharks after he dies. He wrote the request after seeing a documentary on sharks.
A spokesman for South Africa's Marine and Coastal Management Directorate, apparently the right address for such requests (I can just imagine the rounds this letter did in the bureaucracy!), declined because they were unable to commit to an event with an undetermined date.
Shark experts, however, say that white sharks are not interested in human blood, so his body would rot and be eaten by crayfish instead.
Crayfish? Oh, the disgrace! No, better the earthworms then.
7:42:04 AM
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Silent women
Christian apologists often assert that the resurrection of Christ is well attested. Nothing could be further from the truth. Not only are the sources we have far removed in time and space from the alleged events, they are widely contradictory, as any comparison of the four gospels will reveal.
Here is one single, very clear example, of an irreconcilable difference between Mark, the oldest gosepl, and the other synoptics:
Mark 16:8 "Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid."
However, possibly realising the obvious implications of having the only eye witnesses remain silent about the event, the later gospels named after Matthew and Luke gives the exact opposite claim:
Matt 28:8 "So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples."
Luke 24:9 "When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. "
You don't have to be particularly skeptical to understand that "they said nothing to anyone" on one side and "they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others" and "ran to tell his disciples" on the other cannot reasonably be reconciled.
7:30:43 AM
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Speak is golden
Since people can be lying with their mouths, but not their wallets, looking at the markets gives a good indication of what people really believe. And the markets are expecting war. The price of gold hit a six-year high at $US374 an ounce as the world is waiting for Colin Powell's address on Iraq.
5:30:01 AM
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US court orders stay on Microsoft Java ruling
The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit stayed an order requiring Microsoft to ship Sun's Java technology with Windows XP and Internet Explorer. It was U.S. District Court Judge Frederick Motz who had ordered Microsoft to do this in a Dec 23 ruling that would go into effect on Tuesday.
3:46:23 AM
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© Copyright 2003 Jan Haugland.
Last update: 01.03.2003; 00:14:30.
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