12. april 2003

Tony Blair for the Simpsons British prime minister Tony Blair will make an appearance in the Simpsons. Supposedly, Blair will give the Simpson family tourism tips for their visit to the UK. Tony Blair replaced footballer David Beckham, who the producers thought was not famous enough. 10:45:01 PM    comment []

Damned if you do, damned if you don't Thousands of protesters in London, Paris (picture), Rome and other cities are urging the US to immediately end the occupation and withdraw from Iraq. At the same time, the UN, the Red Cross, countless aid organisations and the entire worldwide press corps is criticising the US for not being able to completely secure the vast occupied areas in a few days, demanding the US to strengthen the occupation to be able to provide adequate security. 8:41:38 PM    comment []

Possible warhead with nerve agents found Preliminary tests on a suspected chemical warhead found in an airfield near Kirkuk indicates trace amounts of nerve agents, military sources say. I'll give them this last chance. If this story turns out to be bogus, too, we have learned a bit about the quality of "preliminary testing." 7:27:59 PM    comment []

North Korea backs down on talks In an indication that the North Korean government is backing down from its demands of unilateral talks with the US, its news agency reported the country was ready to talk and would "not stick to any particular dialogue format." After the latest nuclear standoff with NK started, the US has insisted on mulitlateral talks also involving its neighbours China, Japan, Russia and South Korea. 6:55:18 PM    comment []

Evangelizing to Iraqis Franklin Graham, son of Billy, is one of many evangelical Christians who have the idea that they should go to Iraq to preach Jesus to the masses. It's such an incredibly stupid and counter-productive idea that if the Bush administration doesn't stop it, these clowns can seriously undermine the whole project of democratisation. 4:54:17 PM    comment []

War protesters find imaginative target As the war in Iraq draws to an end, and coalition forces were met with cheering Iraqis, die-hard ward opponents find new targets for their protests. In London, the Stop the War coalition predicted 250,000 protesters in the street, but BBC estimated less than 10,000. So what exactly are they protesting now? Something in their own imagination. They protest a continued "colonial occupation." So there! 2:41:03 PM    comment []

Information Minister speech generator The disappeared Iraqi information minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf has a massive following on the Net after his imaginative press briefings in the last phases of the battle for Baghdad. Latest: speech generator (req. flash, sound) 2:17:28 PM    comment []

Iraqi volunteers to stop chaos and looting Hundreds of volunteers in Baghdad, some of which police officers, has answered a US call for help to restore law and order to the capital. The US is also sending 1,200 police and judicial experts to Iraq to advise in setting up a new police force. 1:47:51 PM    comment []

In case you missed it... Our hero's fan site is up again, after initially being knocked off the net by a surprise surge in traffic: www.welovetheiraqiinformationminister.com. Remember: "There are no American infidels in Baghdad. Never!" 4:49:26 AM    comment []

International law of war There has been a lot of talk about the "rules of war" during this war. NYT Magazine contains a very comprehensive article by law professor Kenneth Anderson about the history of the laws of war, and what they are. Of particular interest, perhaps, to this war, is his discussion of how the US-rejected Protocol I of the Geneva convention seems to reward the most unscrupulous and desperate party in a war, and put the burden of following the laws of war more strongly on the technologically superiour force. 2:28:43 AM    comment []

Stroke victims benefit from Irish Coffee "A caffeine and alcohol cocktail similar to an Irish coffee could prevent severe brain damage in stroke victims, new research has revealed." (New Scientist) The new drug caffeinol, corresponding to two cups of strong coffee and a small shot of alcohol, has had an amazing effect on rats with an artificially simulated stroke, cutting brain damage by 80%. And, interestingly, neither caffeine nor alcohol worked alone. 2:03:44 AM    comment []

Conspiracy theories prosper in the Arab world Not taking the shock defeat of Saddam Hussein's forces well at all, people on the "Arab street" are not accepting that the overwhelming firepower and tactical superiority of the coalition explains the swift capture of Baghdad. Instead, there is a general belief in various conspiracy theories, one of the more popular one being that Saddam Hussein and the Americans stuck a deal: his life against a swift capitulation. Such an absurd conspiracy theory may have one interesting side effect: preventing that Saddam Hussein becomes a heroic martyr for Arab nationalism. 1:26:37 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2003 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.05.2003; 02:59:09.