25. mai 2003

Iranian reformists appeal to Supreme Leader After years of deadlock between the democractically elected reformists and the religious extremists who hold the judiciary with its veto powers, almost 130 members of parliament has signed an appeal to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to have him intervene to break the intolerable position. The reformist deputies who signed the letter warned the Supreme Leader that time was running out. They said political and social rifts inside the country were coinciding with an external threat, with the emergence of a clear American plan to change the region's geo-political map, making this, they said, probably the most sensitive time in Iran's recent history. A dangerous tactic, maybe, but one which is necessary to avoid the people's patience running out with the medieval clerics who block progress. At the same time, the Iranian moral police (yes, it's called that!) has stepped up its patrols to make sure women are properly attired (buttoned up!), and are even warning clothes stores and factories against selling and producing women's clothing that strays from the strict dress code. Reform is long overdue. 11:54:14 PM    comment []

Moroccans demonstrate against terror Tens of thousands of Moroccans, some say as many as a million, marched through the streets of Casablanca today in a strong demonstration against terrorism. Among the participants were Morocco's Prime Minister Driss Jettou and other government officials, as well as dozens of other political parties and associations. A large crowd from Morocco's Jewish communities joined the march and demonstrators defended the country's "mosaic of cultures," the French news agency AFP reports. Al-Qaeda has been blamed for the attacks, which were executed by 15 Moroccans from Sidi Moumen, a slum district of Casablanca. 9:57:21 PM    comment []

Can't wait for Matrix Revolutions One word: wow! Two words: see it! If I post any spoilers here now, my life will be terminated in the most violent manner, so that's all I will say for now. 8:58:36 PM    comment []

Matrix Reloaded Finally going to see it. Now! 4:53:06 PM    comment []

— Afghanistan left behind An article in The Observer outlines the evidence that what should not happen is about to happen. The west is about to abandon Afghanistan to its own poverty and chaos, and the Taliban is waiting in the mountains, occasionally spreading fear and terror. Once again, statistics highlight the staggering scale of the Western betrayal. In Bosnia there was one peacekeeper for every 113 people, in East Timor every 66, in Kosovo every 48. There is one Isaf soldier for every 5,380 Afghans. Without an international security presence the Afghan countryside has fallen back into the hands of the warlords and their militias, conservatively estimated at some 200,000 strong. The international presence is feebly trying to counter-balance the power of the warlords by building up the central government security framework. So far those attempts have been at worst disastrous and at best meaningless. Again an example of the actions of the western world being guided by the short attention span of the TV cameras. 3:24:46 PM    comment []

Facts? We don't need no stinking facts! "No professional organization keeps statistics on the percentage of newspaper stories that are fact-checked, but the consensus is that it's quite low." (Slate) Do a simple test. Take a topic where you are personally well-informed. It might be your profession, an area where you have personal experience or a topic you have studied to some depth. How accurate are newspapers and other media when they write about your particular topic? Right. You can safely assume they have the same level of accuracy across the board. 4:07:07 AM    comment []

Another "women are stupid"-law The Republican-controlled Texas legislature is working on a law that will require a 24-hour waiting period before having an abortion. In true orwellian fashion the fundies want to call it "Women's Right to Know." Only 15 of the 254 counties in Texas have abortion providers and the new law would lead women who travel in the expansive state to receive the procedure to spend an extra day to have an abortion. I picked this up at Rayne Today, who has some heartfelt opinions on the subject. It never ceases to amaze me how important it is for religious nuts to control women's bodies. Has anyone investigated whether there is a negative correlation between religious fundamentalism and penis size? 1:52:54 AM    comment []

Precision-guided dollars General Tommy Franks, the US army commander during the Iraq war, now confirms that special forces succeeded in bribing a number of important Iraqi commanders to put down their arms. "I had letters from Iraqi generals saying: 'I now work for you'," General Franks said. This information may go some way in explaining why the defence of Baghdad had all but evaporated when the US forces entered the city. "What is the effect you want?" a senior Pentagon official said. "How much does a cruise missile cost? Between $1m and $2.5m. Well, a bribe is a PGM [precision guided missile) ­ it achieves the aim but it's bloodless and there's zero collateral damage. Apparently, equipping special forces with serious amounts of hard currency had great success in Afghanisan, and now also Iraq. 1:26:47 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2003 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.06.2003; 03:30:27.