13. april 2003

Referrer blocked I noticed the following entry in my referral list, and saw it was present in the referral lists of several other blogs here as well: 22. referrer blocked by AdSubtract If this means that spammers are trying to put themselves into our visitor referral lists, I am glad that Radio is using an AdSubtract product to remove the trash. 11:56:51 PM    comment []

Convert your mobile to a vibrator There's been no end of jokes told about how ladies can take advantage of the vibrating feature on some mobile phones. The general idea of the feature is that soft vibrations will alert you about an incoming phone call or text message without disturbing those around you, like during a meeting. Of course, we know what vibrators are normally for. So why not combine the two? The Purring Kitty, available for many Nokia handsets, transforms a mobile phone into a vibrator Its tender purring vibrations provide perfect company on even the loneliest winter nights! But what if somebody really calls you? First rabbits and now kitties. Nokia mobiles surely brings out the animal in people. 11:50:38 PM    comment []

Sony registers "shock and awe" as trademark Sony is one of many companies wanting to cash in on the media frenzy around the second Gulf war, and it has applied to register the term "shock and awe" in the US, hoping to use the name for a war-based computer game. 11:42:21 PM    comment []

— Destruction of Saddam statue was staged event A conspiracy-related web site is currently receiving a lot of attention to their claim that the world-famous event where locals and US forces tore down a statue of Saddam Hussein was a staged event. Check out the pictures for yourself. It is not exactly unusual that famous photographs are more staged than people would like to believe. Obviously, somebody took the initiative to do whatever happened at this day. It conveniently happened in front of the international press (unlike the destruction of many other Saddam statues and posters around Iraq). The conspiracy site points to a photograph of one idividual who allegedly was a part of exile dissident Ahmed Chalabi's group of "free Iraqis." We are not told exactly where the picture is taken, and apparently have to take their word for it being related to the toppling of the statue. Yet, based on this little information we are given a story that this was an entirely staged event by the Americans and hand-picked Iraqis.  As is typical, the conspirationists can't get their stories clearly right. In another article on the same site, we find the same event discussed: There was some suspicion that the crowd that jumped up and down on the metal carcass had been bused in from the Shia suburb of Saddam City. That was not the case, they were mostly local. But they were the same people who chanted "My blood, my spirit, I shall die for you O Saddam" – until the last day of the regime. Of course, in this article there was another tactic for brushing off the event which is so inconvenient to war opponents. While admitting that the people were "mostly local" (thus demolishing the claims in the other article), they are brushed off as being hypocrites since they earlier expressed support of Saddam Hussein. Naturally, the article doesn't discuss whether they were totally free to express their honest opinion before the fall of the Baath regime. 11:26:00 PM    comment []

— Nokia tortures rabbits Animal rights activists in Lithuania has accused Nokia and the local telephone company Bite GSM of torturing rabbits in an advertising campaign for mobile phones. The activists are deeply offended by pictures showing rabbits being lifted by their ears. In a letter they also gave rather extensive information about proper rabbit handling. Like all sort of fanatics, animal rights fanatics lack a sense of proportions and a sense of humour. 10:02:27 PM    comment []

Backlash for al Jazeera The widely popular Arab news channels al Jazeera and Abu Dhabi TV are experiencing a serious backlash as it becomes obvious that the stories they told were not true. While people in the west laughed at the claims of the Iraqi information minister, millions of Arab viewers actually believed he was telling the truth when he told about glorious Iraqi victories. These independent Arab channels may have reported news from both sides, but they certainly slanted towards the Iraqi side. And when the defence of Baghdad suddenly collapsed, the shock was so much greater. Al Jazeera had given the people what they wanted to hear, and when reality crashed down on the fantasy they themselves had ordered and had delivered from the channels, they blamed the media. This time, however, there is no Iraqi information minister on Al-Jazeera and Abu Dhabi TV to give people the answers they want to hear. Toward the Arab satellite channels, a sense of betrayal is already taking hold. At the same time, there are some signs that many Arabs are in a middle of a serious rethinking of the realtionship to the west, in particular the US. One Arab commenting on the fall of Baghdad said on an Arab satellite television channel: It is wrong to say Baghdad fell. The Baath part is what fell, not Baghdad. The center of Islam and great civilizations of the past will never fall. His feelings are shared by many here. However, some people do believe that the American invasion of Iraq will bring some sort of democracy as it will have removed a tyrant that had his people living in fear for 30 years. But the majority will never look at America as a liberating force. The reason? Very simply put: Palestine. It all returns to the core problem of the Middle East, the mother of all conflicts if you will. the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The neocons whose strategy has been followed through in Iraq is widely skeptical towards a peace plan in Palestine where also Israel will have to compromise. Hopefully it will become clear even to them that there is really no way past getting a lasting solution to that conflict. 9:09:49 PM    comment []

Sharon talks peace In a very interesting interview in Ha'aretz, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon makes it clear that Israel will have to make painful concessions to reach a lasting peace deal with the Palestinians, which he hopes will become possible with the appointment of Abu Mazen as PA prime minister, and after Iraq has been crushed, ending, one should hope, the Palestinians' hope of a military victory against Israel. Sharon foresees that a real Palestinian state will become a reality, and is willing to compromise, except on Israeli security. There are some matters regarding which we will be ready to take far-reaching steps. We will be ready to carry out very painful steps. Asked whether Israel would be willing to give up Netzarim, the illegal Jewish outpost in Gaza, he said: I don't want to get into a discussion of any specific place now. This is a delicate subject and there is no need to talk a lot about it. But if it turns out that we have someone to talk to, that they understand that peace is neither terrorism nor subversion against Israel, then I would definitely say that we will have to take steps that are painful for every Jew and painful for me personally. We'll see if Sharon really can become a Rabin one day. 5:46:01 PM    comment []

Tikrit falls The last stronghold of Saddam Hussein loyalists, Tikrit, has fallen. According to a US spokesman, the US marines are entering the city unopposed and were aided by residents. Seven US soldiers believed to have been prisoners of war have been rescued. 4:45:42 PM    comment []

Second preliminary test on warheads negative A second set of preliminary chemical tests conducted on the warheads found at an airport near Kirkuk proved negative, contrary to earlier tests that found traces of nerve agent. No definitive answer will be known before the warheads have been tested by chemical weapons experts, unknown at what time. 4:41:21 PM    comment []

Man talks himself into Guinness Book of Records Jonah Mungoshi from Zimbabwe has talked himself into what could be a new world record with a speech lasting 36 hours. He was only allowed natural pauses not exceeding 30 seconds and 15-minute breaks every eight hours to eat and use the toilet. Not bad. But you're never going to be invited to a wedding with that reputation, mate. 3:48:33 PM    comment []

Arab media realise Iraq war is not a black and white issue There is a lot of soul-searching in Arab media after the total collaps of Iraqi resistance and in particular the cheering crowds meeting coalition forces. The Arab cable networks, like al-Jazeera, experienced euphoric success in the Arab world as the war started. However, people on the Arab street actually thought the version proclaimed by the Iraqi information minister was correct, and now they are blaming the networks for the betrayal. Many editors see that perhaps they were wrong in portraying this as a US attack on the whole Arab (or Muslim) world. The fall of Baghdad is no reason for loss of Arab pride. There is no national Arab humiliation. This is not a war between Arabs and the US, or between a faithful Muslim state and a crusading, militant Christian West. It is a war between a dangerous tyrant — Saddam Hussein — whom Iraqis are glad to see the back of, and the US, whose motives for carrying it out are dubious. [...] Iraq is not the black-and-white issue presented by some Arab politicians and people in the media — of Zionist-supporting Americans invading and occupying an independent Arab state. The issues are far more complex. To look at things in black and white rather than deal with complexities is blinkered — and those who are blinkered will never see the real picture. The Arab world needs to be more sophisticated in its judgments. A piece of advice that both sides of the argument would be well advised to consider. 3:46:01 AM    comment []

Iraqi army suffered from 'no one in command' A republican guard colonel is interviewed on BBC, and tells about a war where the Iraqi troops had no contact with their leadership after the hostilities started, suffered daily desertions, and the officers fought only because they were afraid of being executed. Under constant bombardment from coalition aircraft, the Iraqi morale suffered badly. One by one, the soldiers put on civilian clothes, left their weapons and went home. Our correspondent says he increasingly believes Iraqi officers followed orders, but did not really want Saddam Hussein to win and so did not make any serious attempts to defend Iraq. If this is correct, and there is no reason to believe it is not, this shows that the claims from the coalition that the Iraqi forces reveleaded lack of leadership was essentially correct. If I remember correctly, the post-war studies of Gulf War I revealed that the Iraqi leadership was not cut off from their forces to the degree that was expected. This has changed. It also shows what totally devastating effect modern air attacks have on even heavily armoured ground troops. 2:54:09 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2003 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.05.2003; 02:59:11.