7. april 2003

Iraqi rebellion? "Firefight breaks out in the centre of Nasiriya - it is believed the fighting is between Iraqi groups, possibly between Fedayeen members faithful to Saddam Hussein and people opposed to him." (BBC News) 11:14:20 PM    comment []

Great apes threatened with extinction Chimps and gorillas are between a rock and a hard place, threatened by hunters but even more dangerous, by an Ebola epidemic. 9:53:37 PM    comment []

War blogger admits plagiarism Prominent war blogger Sean-Paul Kelly, who is running the Agonist, has been forced to admit that he plagiarised a commercial intelligence source named Stratfor without crediting them. Kelly has apologised to his readers. Sad, stupid and unnecessary. 8:19:05 PM    comment []

US Supreme Court upholds ban on cross burning In what I at least consider a surprise decision, the US Supreme Court has decided that the Virginia ban on cross burning is constitutional. The court was split, but not along the usual left-right line. This decision will most likely prompt other states to enact similar bans. The ruling ends a long tradition for the Supreme Court to protect free speech for unpopular and extremists groups like the Ku Klux Klan. We had a diablog/debate on this topic here on Salon blogs some time back. 7:53:34 PM    comment []

Another report claims chemical weapons are found "U.S. forces near Baghdad found a weapons cache of around 20 medium-range missiles equipped with potent chemical weapons, the U.S. news station National Public Radio reported on Monday." (Reuters) I'm looking forward to seeing a confirmed report on such a find. 5:28:16 PM    comment []

Unlikely coalition propaganda channel CNN writes that Iraq's Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, after telling about the glorious Iraqi victories he dreamed about last night, "chided journalists, blaming Arab network Al Jazeera for 'marketing for America.'" 4:03:10 PM    comment []

Fun with deaths Stick figure death theatre is a particularly sick site, so of course I love it. It consists of flash movies (incl. sound) of stick figures doing a number of crazy things you should not do at home. Think jackass on steroids. Here's a few examples: Fight for life 3 (look out for the Matrix rip-offs!) Bungee Rock Climbing Super Death of Doom or Miscalculation (utterly sick and depraved) I'm not sure if I'd label these "work safe." If you work in a morgue, or in the secret police of some dictature, I guess they are. 2:40:04 PM    comment []

Possible WMD storage site found in Iraq This kind of news is worth being skeptical about, but coaltion experts say they have found a site in central iraq that may have been used as a storage facility for weapons of mass destruction. Early, unconfirmed reports say that there may be sarin, the nerve agent possibky used in chemical attacks on Kurds in the 1980s, at the site. 2:05:26 PM    comment []

Coaltion takes battle to heart of Baghdad An armoured column appeared to have taken Iraqi defenders completely by surprise as it pushed into Baghdad and raided key buildings, including the main presidential palace. Baghdad's citizens and foreign journalists alike could see fierze fighting between the US forces and defenders, and also Iraqi forces fleeing for their lives, with their own eyes. Iraqi information minister Mohammed Saeed Sahaf kept reporting from his own private fantasy world, denying that the Iraqis forces had lost ground, and claiming they had "slaughtered" whole columns of US troops."Don't believe these invaders and these liars. There are none of their troops in Baghdad." US sources call the attack a display of force to demonstrate that they can go anywhere, anytime, and not necessarily an attempt to gain and hold ground. 1:18:49 PM    comment []

Victory for lesbian teacher in Utah Utah's Supreme Court has upheld the decisions from lower courts that Wendy Weaver's employment as a teacher is up to education officials, and dismissed a lawsuit that she should be fired because as a lesbian she is not a good role model. When she disclosed her sexuality to her high school students in 1997, a number of bigoted students and parents wanted to have her fired. The school board withstood the pressure (or, knew they'd lose her lawsuit), and the bigots sued to have her fired. They lost. There is hope, even in Utah. What to say? "Hallelujah" doesn't feel quite right, somehow... 12:13:49 AM    comment []

McCartney claims he is "setting the record straight" Paul McCartney claims he has been "setting the record straight" by reversing the traditional "Lennon-McCartney" songwriting credit to put his own name first on some songs. He also claims that Lennon would understand the decision, and that they had an "agreement" that he could do this. Well, Sir Paul, there is no way we can know that, is there? All we know is that when both Lennon and McCartney went solo, Lennon went on to write a lot of great music comparable in quality to the Beatles, and McCartney went on to write an endless amount of crap. 12:08:01 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2003 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.05.2003; 02:58:59.