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9. januar 2004
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Terror alert back to yellow
The US terror alert level is to be lowered from orange (high) to yellow (elevated). A number of cancelled international flights over the last weeks put the scare in many travellers, but nothing concrete has been revealed about the actual threats.
Even with the reduced threats, the new security procedures for flights will remain in place.
The terror threat level, instituted after 9/11-01, has never been anything but yellow or orange.
6:21:39 PM 
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TV crew scared by ghost. Film at 11.
A British satellite TV company has decided that its coverage of the supernatural needs a bit of extra advertising, and comes up with a ridiculous ghost story to make the print press bite. A TV crew was allegedly hunting for the ghost of legendary highway robber Dick Turpin, executed in 1706, and of course thinks get spooky:
A FRIGHTENED television crew had to be rescued from the dark depths of Epping Forest after stumbling upon the ghost of Dick Turpin during a live night-time broadcast.
The crew from the LivingTV cable and satellite channel went into the forest with a psychic medium who, live on air, tracked down the famous highwayman's spirit and enjoyed a revealing conversation with him.
However after the close encounter the crew realised they had strayed from the path and were hopelessly lost.
You know, guys, The Blair Witch Project is so 1999.
4:57:10 PM
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Free trade — real dedication or lip service?
Michael Kinsley defends free trade in his latest Slate opinion piece, and argues that anything but a consistent application is useless:
"I'm for free trade but" usually means you're not for free trade at all.
Exactly. Most objections to free trade is based on either extreme short-sightedness or a total lack of understanding of the law of comparative advantages (which is very economics 101).
The core of free-trade theory is the concept of "comparative advantage." Schumer and Roberts make the classic college-student mistake of confusing comparative advantage with absolute advantage. Nations trade because for each one there are goods or services it is more efficient to buy from abroad than to produce at home. If there is nothing America can offer the world that is either uniquely desirable or cheaper than elsewhere, the world will not buy anything from America. And after a while the world won't sell anything to America either, because we won't have the foreign currency to pay for it. So, even in this extreme case there is no need to restrict trade because trade will restrict itself. But in fact, as Ricardo demonstrated, there will always be something worth trading. Even if Nation A can produce both apples and oranges more efficiently than Nation B, it will still make sense to concentrate on producing one fruit and import the other. And Nation B will make itself poorer, not richer, by keeping out fruit from Nation A. If Nation A retaliates by keeping out fruit from Nation B—and why shouldn't it?—Nation B will be doubly punished.
Very simple and obviously true. It is of course unfortunate when you work in the trade where your conutry is suddenly unable to compete effectively, but if exceptions were made for all such instances, free trade totally ceases to be meaningful. "Free trade but...", as Kinsley calls it, is like being in favour of law and order except when you have commited a crime.
2:26:20 PM
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Mullah Krekar presented as Ansar leader on al-Jazeera
 In his defence here in Norway, Mullah Krekar (picture) and his lawyer Brynjar Meling has insisted that the Islamist is a retired leader for the Kurdish extremist movement Ansar al-Islam. However, no more than five weeks ago, Krekar appeared in a television programme on the Arab satellite network al-Jazeera, being called leader of the group.
Newspaper Aftenposten reported Friday that in the Al-Jazeera program, broadcast December 2, Krekar appeared as a guerrilla leader. Wearing a head covering and military fatigues, he offered no protest or correction when he was identified several times as zaim, or leader, of Ansar al-Islam.
Moreover, Krekar confirmed in the debate program called Al-Ittijah-al-Muakis that Ansar al-Islam was behind a suicide bombing in Northern Iraq on March 22. Three people were killed in the bombing, and that incident plays a key role in Norwegian prosecutors' charges against him.
Krekar also displayed detailed knowledge of the incident, saying that after "the Americans bombed us in our areas... one of our brothers, one of the martyr candidates, fastened explosives to himself and his car and drove into an American position." Before he left, Krekar added, the suicide bomber "gave USD 5,000 that he had to his brothers and exchanged his new shoes with old ones."
Then he left, continued Krekar, "and detonated the explosives, and in that manner hit five Americans and 19 from the PUK and an Australian journalist who was with the American in a military vehicle."
Lawyer Brynjar Meling will have a problem explaining away this evidence, freely given to the world by his client.
Krekar's defense attorney initially refused to comment on the Al-Jazeera broadcast, telling Aftenposten that he was standing by Krekar's claims that he hasn't been the leader of Ansar al-Islam since May 2002.
On Friday morning, however, Meling told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) that he would take up the Al-Jazeera interview with his client and was confident he'd be able to explain the contradictory claims.
I earlier predicted Krekar would be released by the city court. The court actually made the right decision, in my opinion, by rejecting the police's request for protective custody for Mullah Krekar, simply because the police had done a ridiculously bad job in presenting evidence against him. It will be interesting to see if this new evidence (or other evidence the police claims) makes the appeal more successful.
It will also be interesting to see what PR defense Meling puts forth to the media now. He has so far had great success spinning all negative evidence against his client as CIA conspiracies (yes, that works well in Norway), and the press has been overwhelmingly pro-Krekar despite his clear expressions of sympathy for terrorism, Bin Laden and the Islamofascist agenda generally.
10:36:31 AM
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Define "suffering"
"Dozens of women are suffering from a condition that makes them have hundreds of orgasms every day. Researchers have identified the condition as persistent sexual arousal syndrome." (Ananova)
7:56:58 AM
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More preaching to the choir
If you thought the Hitler-Bush ad from Moveon was way over the top, have a look at this creation (flash movie; sound).
Now, don't hold back. Tell us what you really mean about Bush!
6:57:04 AM
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Bush to launch space initiative
US President Bush plans a major speech next week where he will outline a vision for a major space programme that will bring astronauts back to the moon, establish a permanent base there and finally a manned mission to Mars.
This is the kind of stuff that appeals to the dreamer in all of us. Except maybe, these days, democrats.
6:48:04 AM
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Norway closes Egypt embassy after threat
The Norwegian embassy in Cairo, Egypt has been closed after a specific terror threat. The report was confirmed by the Norwegian foreign office (UD) who declined to provide any further information. The embassy will remain shut at least until Sunday.
In May, an al-Qaeda tape with the voice of Bin Laden's right hand man Ayman Al Zawahri threatened terror attacks against, as Reuters put it, "the embassies and commercial interests of the U.S., Britain, Australia and, oddly, Norway." Al-Zawahri is Egyptian.
5:46:10 AM
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Get ready to be dizzy
Have a look at this very cool flash movie: recursive (no sound).
4:04:18 AM
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© Copyright 2006 Jan Haugland.
Last update: 04.09.2006; 09:24:17.
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