For the second time, I try to ditch Internet Explorer and replace it
with Mozilla. The last time, I changed back because my blog software
from Radio Userland did not support a wysiwyg editor; that has since
changed. Now, the security problems of IE forces a change. This time, I have installed Firefox.
I am very happy with Firefox, except the wysiwyg editor absurdly
inserts <br> for line breaks instead of paragraphs, ie
<p>.This threatens to be a serious issue, but I have to look at
it more closely.
An American-Iraqi joint patrol has captured two Iranian intelligence officers in Baghdad. The men were carrying explosives indicating they were planning to conduct a car bombing.
The Iraqi government has earlier accused neighbours Iran and Syria
of not only allowing terrorists to enter the country, but also training
and financing them. Now it is apparent that Iran is actively engaged in
acts of war against Iraq.
This is a further escalation even from Iran capturing and humiliating British sailors a few weeks ago.
I think it's time to send a very tough warning to Iran. Like destroying a few military bases.
Bloglines has had a major overhaul and facelift. I use the service to read RSS feeds of many of my favourite blogs, but now it also offers a blog service (which I doubt I will use) and a much welcome clippings service for those of us who want to include feed material into our own blogs.
Old media journalist Brian Faler can hardly hide his horror.
But neither party has ever allowed bloggers to cover one of its presidential conventions firsthand -- and the decision seems to promise a clash of two very different cultures. The conventions have become carefully staged productions intended, primarily, to reintroduce the parties' nominees to the general public. Independent blogs -- especially those focusing on politics -- are far more freewheeling, their authors mixing fact with opinion and under no obligation to be either fair or accurate.
And under no obligation to pretend impartiality while cherrypicking "facts" and quotes to fit preconceived opinions, either.
Jane's lists two potential new targets for international terrorism, based both on threat assessments and documents obtained investigating terrorist groups. First, international shipping, where key shipping routes are passing through numerous choking points where they will be vulnerable to attacks, like the Strait of Malacca. A typical attack could be similar to the ones against the USS Cole in October 2000 and the French oil tanker Limburg in October 2002, both off the coast of Yemen.
If ships were to explode close to major harbours, a major environmental and humanitarian disaster could follow. Also, a high profile attack on shipping could cause international shipping rates to soar, with the damage that would do to the global economy.
Related to the first, the increasing trade in liquefied natural gas (LNG) provides another tempting target for terrorists. An explosion on a large LNG tanker would be similar to a small nuclear explosion in strength. If it happened close to a harbour city, the casualties would easily run into the tens of thousands. The US is for this reason heavily escorting tankers to Boston harbour, a prominent if hard target, but there are many other potential LNG targets around the world.
