2. september 2003

"...since Bush declared the war was over" If your only source to information about the Iraq war was Norwegian media, you would be utterly convinced that on May 1, President Bush declared that the war in Iraq was over. For every coalition casualty in Iraq reported (and believe me, they all are), the journalist inserts the phrase "at least X Americans have been killed since President George Bush declared that the war was over." However, those who followed the war and its aftermath a bit more closely than journalists do, will remember that what George Bush declared on May 1, on board the USS Abraham Lincoln, was "Major combat operations in Iraq have ended." No matter what your take is on the broader issue, there is a significant difference between the terms. There has in fact been no major combat operations in Iraq since that day. While I believe the extent of the guerilla operations and terrorist attacks since have taken the administration and the military by surprise, it is also a fact that Bush in the same speech said that "We have difficult work to do in Iraq. We're bringing order to parts of that country that remain dangerous." The claim that Bush declared "the war over" in May is repeated consistently in the Norwegian media. It is uttered on TV and radio practically every day, and a google search reveals that newspaper across the political spectrum (in Norway, that means extreme left to moderate left) uses it constantly. For those who read Norwegian, you can for example look at these items in Dagsavisen, Bergens Tidende, NRK (the state broadcaster), Dagbladet, and VG. The phrase is repeated all over the Norwegian part of the net, on discussion boards and various organisations' websites. The reasoning behind the misrepresentation of Bush is obviously to make it look like he was naive and that events proved him wrong, and to further increase the impression that Iraq is a Vietnam-like quagmire. Remember that many Norwegian journalists lost their milk teeth, as we say here, protesting the Vietman war while burning American flags. Geopolitically, they are still there. 9:36:01 PM    comment []  trackback []

Kazaa threatens Google Ironic legal threat of the year: Kazaa, itself the target of aggressive legal action, has sent a legal threat to Google invoking the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, demanding that the search service remove from its index eight sites that contains the hacked version of the file sharer, called Kazaa Lite. Kazaa Lite removes the annoying spyware and popups from Kazaa, which is good for the users but not for Kazaa itself, which makes a living off the advertising revenue. Google complied, but as they always do, they hit back. In any search for Kazaa, the search results will include the following text: In response to a complaint we received under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, we have removed 12 result(s) from this page. If you wish, you may read the DMCA complaint for these removed results. Of course, if you take a look at the complaint, you will find within it the following list of sites carrying Kazaa lite: a. http://www.kazaagold.com b. http://mp3download.com c. http://www.kazaalite.tk d. http://www.kaaza.com e. http://doa2.host.sk f. http://www.k-lite.tk g. http://www.kazaa-file-sharing-downloads.com h. http://www.kazaalite.nl i. http://home/hccnet.nl/h.edskes/mirror.htm j. http://www.kazaa-download.de k. http://www.zeropaid.com l.  http//www.kazaalite.nl/downloads.htm  [sic] m. http://kazaa.infos-du-net.com n. http://www.kazaa-lite.tk o. http://www.kazaa-lite.info My oh my. It seems my Radio converted the URLs into links automagically. I have no idea how to turn that off... 8:31:55 PM    comment []  trackback []

Not again! Another spoof on the Apple "Switch" ads, but without the junkie girl: Switch to Dean. I wonder if this is friends or enemies of Howard Dean. It's, like, unimaginative. 6:13:56 PM    comment []  trackback []

Happy thoughts make you healthy It's been known for a long time, but now scientists may have an explanation. Happy thoughts make your immue system work better, and depression makes you more prone to illness. A study reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals that happy thoughts in test subjects actually caused vaccines to produce more antibodies. 4:28:19 PM    comment []  trackback []

We have 11 years left to live! Astronomers have discovered a large, fastmoving asteroid heading towards Earth, that will reach us in 2014. The asteroid, labelled 2003 QQ 47,  is around a tenth of the size of the one that probably caused the extinction of the dinosaurs 65M years ago, and its inpact would be sufficient to cause devastation across an entire continent. There are many suggestions about how to deal with a threatening asteroid, however, the first one is to be very far away. But, wait, the chances of it actually hitting the Earth is calculated to be one in 909,000, and will probably fall when more data is available. However, knowing my luck... 1:36:20 PM    comment []  trackback []

Jemaah Islamiyah leader acquitted In a surprise ruling, and a major setback for anti-terror efforts in Indonesia, a court has acquitted Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir for being the spiritual leader of JI and for being behind a plot to overthrow the government. "There is not enough evidence to prove that the defendant… led and organized (a conspiracy) to overthrow the government," said Judge Muhammad Saleh, who ordered Bashir to be set free. Bashir has claimed that the trial and bomb attacks he was accused of being the inspirational leader for were all CIA plots. Update: Initial reports were inaccurate. He was actually sentenced to four years in prison for subversion, but as noted above, acquitted for the more serious charges. Note that the article linked above has been changed since I quoted it; the phrase "who ordered Bashir to be set free" has been removed.  12:40:25 PM    comment []  trackback []

Dutch treat I guess nobody is surprised that The Netherlands becomes the first country to make cannabis available as a prescription drug. Chronically ill patients, typically sufferers of cancer, Aids and multiple sclerosis, can now receive a prescription and pick up medical cannabis on the pharmacy. The prescribed cannabis is not for smoking, though. 11:06:41 AM    comment []  trackback []

© Copyright 2003 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.10.2003; 02:23:48.