Sites / Stories of interest. (No
endorsement implied)
- INT337 - 03/08 - Torture, American style
- INT336 - 03/08 - Unforgivable Behavior, Inadmissible Evidence
- INT335 - 03/08 - Hay presto! Farmer unveils the 'illegal' mock-Tudor castle he tried to hide behind 40ft hay bales
- INT334 - 03/08 - Just going to work, Palestinians and Israelis travel different roads
- INT333 - 01/08 - In U.S. Name Count, Garcias Are Catching Up With Joneses
- INT332 - 01/08 - Iraq side-splitting :)
- INT331 - 01/08 - 'Anti-torture' Republican takes a pro-torture stand
- INT330 - 01/08 - The Algebra of Occupation
- INT329 - 11/07 - Carnage from the Air and the Washington Consensus
- INT328 - 11/07 - The Pentagon as Global Landlord
- INT327 - 11/07 - How torture once a bipartisan wrong became a bipartisan right
- INT326 - 11/07 - The Last Supper ... in detail...
- INT325 - 11/07 - France's Secret War in Africa
- INT324 - 11/07 - Secret U.S. Endorsement of Severe Interrogations
- INT323 - 11/07 - Is Mormonism Christian?
- INT322 - 11/07 - Right-Of-Center Bloggers Select Their Favorite People On The Right (2007 Edition)
- INT321 - 11/07 - A real success story in the US's Iraq: Iran
- INT320 - 11/07 - The complete Blogging the Bible ... hilarious...
- INT319 - 11/07 - "Verschärfte Vernehmung" "enhanced interrogation"
- INT318 - 11/07 - The defense will not rest
- INT317 - 11/07 - Torture, Al-Qaeda Style
- INT316 - 11/07 - The Other War: Iraq Vets Bear Witness
- INT315 - 11/07 - Fields of Fire demining south Lebanon
- INT314 - 11/07 - animated Bayeux tapestry
- INT313 - 02/07 - Before They Were Despots: Dictators and Their Old Jobs
- INT312 - 02/07 - China's Poison for the Planet
- INT311 - 02/07 - Yes, There is Apartheid in Israel
- INT310 - 02/07 - Reinventing Yassir Arafat
- INT309 - 02/07 - Former U.S. Detainee in Iraq Recalls Torment
- INT308 - 02/07 - Iran: Who Holds The Power
- INT307 - 01/07 - On torture - A Google search on "Torture" on "The Daily Dish" brings up over 4,000 entries. Below are some of those from after September 2006. A damning indictment of this administration on this subject.
- INT306 - 01/07 - ... entire Bush war cabinet adopts Ahmadinejad look...
- INT305 - 01/07 - Truth For Youth in comic book fashion...
- INT304 - 01/07 - U.S. map challenge...
- INT303 - 01/07 - The Seventy Two Virgins Quiz
- INT302 - 01/07 - 2006 Canadian Open Sand Sculpture Championship
- INT301 - 01/07 - The Middle East’s new map
- INT300 - 01/07 - For Dummies Book Cover Generator
- INT299 - 01/07 - How Old Is The Grand Canyon? Park Service Won't Say ... apparently something to do with Noah's flood...
- INT298 - 12/06 - How To Win In Anbar
- INT296 - 12/06 - Death And Taxes 2007 Edition "A visual guide to where your tax dollars go." U.S. 'natch...
- INT295 - 12/06 - IRAN: Who Holds The Power Click on the chart for an explanation of the various parts that make up Iran's political system
- INT294 - 12/06 - Framed A4 papercut
- INT293 - 12/06 - What Makes a Muslim Radical?
- INT292 - 12/06 - Radioactive Spy's Coffin Barred From Mosque And also related to the ongoing Litvinenko saga: Intrigue Over Spy’s Death Spreads to Germany and Alexander Litvinenko: Blackmailer, Smuggler, Gangster Extraordinaire
- INT291 - 12/06 - Mega Mahu Picchu
- INT290 - 12/06 - Glasswing butterfly pictures
- INT289 - 11/06 - Anatomy of a Civil War Profoundly depressing.
- INT288 - 11/06 - Legalizing Tyranny
- INT287 - 11/06 - Rummy's 'Tude
- INT286 - 11/06 - Different views on the Military Commissions Act of 2006:
- INT285 - 10/06 - The Bush Administration Clown Show
- INT284 - 10/06 - Hizb Allah, Party of God By Nir Rosen.
- INT283 - 10/06 - Psychological Operations during the Israel-Lebanon War 2006
- INT282 - 10/06 - Lie by Lie: The Mother Jones Iraq War Timeline (8/1/90 - 6/21/03)
- INT281 - 10/06 - Who's Crazier: Viacom or Tom Cruise?
- INT280 - 10/06 - In Bush's Own Words
- INT279 - 08/06 - Bush Grants Self Permission To Grant More Power To Self
- INT278 - 08/06 -
'Civilian Casualty'? It Depends
- INT277 - 08/06 - Information Operations in Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom: What Went Wrong? (Note: large PDF)
- INT276 - 08/06 - Ehud Olmert's "Convergence Plan"
- INT275 - 08/06 - Peace, Propaganda, and the Promised Land
- INT272 - 07/06 - Ask This - Dogging the torture story questions that Larry Wilkerson suggests should be asked of President Bush and Secretary Rumsfeld, about things like this - Acts of Conscience
- INT271 - 07/06 - Death trap On the front lines in Afghanistan.
- INT270 - 07/06 -Who's Making What In The White House
- INT269 - 07/06 - Come One, Come All, Join the Terror Target List Indiana has the largest number of assets listed in the Department of Homeland Security's National Asset Database....
- INT268 - 07/06 - Blogging the Bible
- INT267 - 07/06 - Mortuary Affairs in Joint Operations
- INT266 - 07/06 - The Tank Man Seventeen years after Tienanmen this now-iconic unknown is still remembered...
- INT265 - 07/06 - Family Security Matters
- INT264 - 05/06 - The Manual of Torture and Forgetting
- INT263 - 05/06 - All the President's books
- INT262 - 05/06 - Google Trends From their "about" - "With Google Trends, you can compare the world's interest in your favorite topics. Enter up to five topics and see how often they've been searched for on Google over time. Google Trends also displays how frequently your topics have appeared in Google News stories, and which geographic regions have searched for them most often."
- INT261 - 05/06 - Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0 W3C Working Draft 12 April 2006
- INT260 - 05/06 - CATO@Liberty Blog from the CATO Institute
- INT259 - 04/06 - "One road for the occupier, one road for the occupied." Avraham Burg, Speaker of the Israeli Knesset, 1999-2003. See The Hebron-Halhoul road, 19 Sept 2003. The road on the left is for Israeli cars only. The blocked road on the right is for Palestinians
- INT258 - 04/06 - USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 - CRS review.
- INT257 - 04/06 - Chirac flees summit in a fury over use of English Quel con!
- INT256 - 04/06 - Breaking the Silence
- INT255 - 04/06 - Islam & Freedom Of Belief - Fatwa on apostasy via Islam Online.
- INT254 - 04/06 - One Promise That's Safe to Break: The Term Limit Pledge
- INT 253 - 01/06 - Analysis of the Legality of the Secret NSA Warrantless Electronic Surveillance Program King George's Constitution Bush's Spy Program and the Fourth Amendment
- INT252 - 01/06 - An Open Letter to Evangelicals and Other Interested Parties: The People of God, the Land of Israel, and the Impartiality of the Gospel
- INT251 - 01/06 - What Sharon Did - The Bulldozer's long, brutal career ended better than anyone expected. By Christopher Hitchens
- INT250 - 01/06 - King-George-gate: Myths v. Realities
- INT249 - 01/06 - The Brick Old Testament and The Brick New Testament "The Brick Testament has been created entirely by The Rev. Brendan Powell Smith who builds all the characters and settings out of LEGO bricks, then photographs them to create the illustrated stories found on The Brick Testament"
- INT248 - 12/05 - Commuting By Bus In Denver? Papers, Please.
- INT247 - 12/05 - Questionable Assumptions
- INT246 - 12/05 - The Top 10 Stories You Missed in 2005
- INT245 - 12/05 - The "Infidel's Revenge" ball-point pen and Safe Bedside Table ... who comes up with this stuff?
- INT244 - 12/05 - Nooka - a new way to look at time
- INT243 - 12/05 - God the Original Fascist Series
- INT242 - 11/05 - Google Earth threatens democracy
- INT241 - 11/05 - U.S. Dumped Chemical Weapons in International Waters
- INT240 - 11/05 - Someone with much too much time on his hands
- INT239 - 11/05 - Becaome a Republican - Funny satirical animation (needs Macromedia flash)
- INT238 - 11/05 - Battle Royale at the Pentagon: David Addington v. Common Article 3
- INT237 - 11/05 - Pork Projects by Year
- INT236 - 11/05 - Make Your Own Flame Thrower
- INT235 - 11/05 - Muslims Condemn Terrorist Attacks Collection of links put together to refute the canard that there have been no Muslim voices denouncing the terrorism committed in the name of their religion...
- INT234 - 06/05 - Guide to reforming Lebanon's Elections
- INT233 - 05/05 - US defence budget will equal the rest of the world combined "within 12 months"
- INT232 - 05/05 - The Network Of Abu Musab Al-Zarquai In Iraq
- INT231 - 05/05 - Tor: An anonymous Internet communication system
- INT230 - 05/05 - Black Hole: The Fate of Islamists Rendered to Egypt From Human Rights Watch.
- INT229 - 05/05 - Who is Pushing Whom into the Sea?
Ben Gurion: "We Must Expel the Arabs and Take Their Place"
- INT228 - 04/05 - The WEEE Man - The WEEE man is a huge robotic figure made of scrap electrical and electronic equipment. Weighing 3.3 tonnes and standing seven meters tall he represents the average amount of electronic products thrown away over a lifetime by each citizen of the U.K. Built to dramatize waste. A new EC "WEEE" (Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment) directive coming into effect will make manufacturers and retailers responsible for recycling.
- INT227 - 04/05 - YaGoohoo!gle - side by side search results from Yahoo! and Google.
- INT226 - 04/05 - The Genographic Project - "The National Geographic Society, IBM, geneticist Spencer Wells, and the Waitt Family Foundation have launched the Genographic Project, a five-year effort to understand the human journey...."
- INT225 - 04/05 - Universi Dominici Gregis The rules for the interregnum and governing the "election" of the new pope.
- INT224 - 04/05 - Lawmakers With Relatives on Payroll
- INT223 - 04/05 - "Terri Schiavo" links:
- INT222 - 04/05 - Full transcript of Ian Masters’ interview with Vincent Cannistraro in which Vince Cannistraro (former head of Counterrorism operations at the CIA and also the Intelligence Director at the National Security Council during the presidency of Ronald Reagan) states that the documents that seemed to indicate that Iraq was seeking "yellowcake" in Niger (and which later turned out to be forgeries) were "fabricated by supporters of the policy in the United States"
- INT221 - 04/05 - Caught on camera: Marines survive frightful explosion in Iraq - pictures of a Humvee caught in a massive explosion... amazingly, no casualties. (Scroll down page)
- INT220 - 04/05 - Opus Dei and John Paul II -
A Profoundly Rightwing Pope A negative appraisal of John Paul II, rare in the current 'tsunami' of hoopla / hagiography surrounding his death.
- INT219 - 04/05 - Grouchymedia.com Site that has military-themed videos to (mostly heavy metal) music.
- INT218 - 04/05 - American army tactics in Iraq Requires subscription - some of the things that loose "hearts and minds."
- INT217 - 04/05 - Watch It Shred - company has built an industrial strength shredder and posted videos of it shredding a boat, washing machine, computers, etc.
A Photographic History of Michael Jackson's Face
- INT215 - 04/05 - Koranic duels ease terror - article re a Yemeni judge who turns around Al Quaeda members by debating Islam with them.
- INT214 - 03/05 - "Block view" on A9
- INT213 - 03/05 - Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction
- INT212 - 03/05 - AWOL - The ultimate party toy This has to be the one of the worst ideas of 2005 :)
- INT211 - 02/05 - React to a Possible Improvised Explosive Device (IED) - Online training exercise re what to do when confronted with an IED (Flash)
- INT210 - 01/05 - Death on the Living Room Floor - Where are the Images from Iraq & Afghanistan?
Article
re the media and showing the dead in the "war on terror." Some similar sentiment to that expressed in OPED35 The Reality of War
- INT209 - 01/05 - 10 x 10 From the site - "Every hour, 10x10 scans the RSS feeds of several leading international news sources, and performs an elaborate process of weighted linguistic analysis on the text contained in their top news stories. After this process, conclusions are automatically drawn about the hour's most important words. The top 100 words are chosen, along with 100 corresponding images, culled from the source news stories."
- INT208 - 01/05 - The Year In Torture "The following are forms of maltreatment visited upon prisoners by U.S. personnel during 2004. The list was compiled from articles detailing information in official U.S. documents."
- INT207 - 01/05 - Web-ranking tool
- INT 206 - 12/04 - Forget Torture: It's the Sex That Matters - Unbecoming Conduct
- INT205 - 12/04 - The Online Guide To Whistling Records
- INT204 - 12/04 - Pope Death Watch
- INT203 - 12/04 - Photos Show George W. Bush Seriously Ill Physically - an alternative explanation for the "mysterious bulge" in President Bush's jacket during the Presidential debates. Previously ascribed to a wireless device feeding him information during the debate e.g. isbushwired.com
- INT202 - 12/04 - Moscow Metro Gallery Pictures of the various metro stations in Moscow... beautiful.
- INT201 - 12/04 - B-2 Stealth Bomber video & FA-18 Magic Carpet Ride ... set to music... (requires Windows Media Player)
- INT200 - 12/04 - Quiet, or I'll call democracy article taking issue with the view that the lot of women has improved since the invasion/liberation of Iraq.
- INT199 - 12/04 - Top Ten Most Outrageous Statements of 2004 as compiled by Media Matters.
- INT198 - 12/04 - That Pre-9/11 Mindset: Meet the New Normal, Same as the Old Normal
- INT197 - 12/04 - Freedom from guilt doesn't imply freedom from blame - editorial from a year ago... Meaningful, as issues continue, see War Without Heroes
- INT196 - 12/04 -Soldiers For The Truth web site. If you have been reading this you would have known about the "Iraq inadequate armor" and "Rumsfeld autopen signing" issues long before Congress-folks apparently woke up out of their slumber and became aware of them.
- INT195 - 11/04 - Tactics of the Crescent Moon William S. Lind's review of retired Marine John Poole's new book through Posterity Press Tactics of the Crescent Moon: Militant Muslim Combat Methods A timely tome given recent events in Iraq.
- INT194 - 11/04 - Red Morals - a web site dedicated to "An examination of the morals of the so-called "Moral Majority."
- INT193 - 11/04 - Purple America map The "red and blue state" maps used by the major TV outlets to show who won each state's electoral votes in the recent presidential election overstate the divide between Bush & Kerry supporters. This map provides county by county election results with "blue for the democrats, red is for the republicans, and green is for all other. Each county's color is a mix of these three color components in proportion to the results for that county."
- INT192 - 11/04 - Stop Terror Sheikhs, Muslim Academics Demand
- INT191 - 11/04 - Surgeon tags patients with WiFi to improve safety
- INT190 - 11/04 - President Bush "trifecta" quotes
- INT189 - 11/04 - You Forgot Poland
- INT188 - 11/04 - The Rapture Index - From the web site: "You could say the Rapture index is a Dow Jones Industrial Average of end time activity, but I think it would be better if you viewed it as prophetic speedometer. The higher the number, the faster we're moving towards the occurrence of pre-tribulation rapture.
- Rapture Index of 85 and Below: Slow prophetic activity
- Rapture Index of 85 to 110: Moderate prophetic activity
- Rapture Index of 110 to 145: Heavy prophetic activity
- Rapture Index above 145: Fasten your seat belts"
- INT187 - 11/04 - The Bush Campaign's TV Commercial If He Was Running Against Jesus - from MAD magazine parody.
- INT186 - 11/04 - Sunni and Shia - Congressional Research Service explains the differences in religious practices among various Islamic sects, along with some historical background. Has a map showing their distribution
- INT185 - 10/04 - Documenting Atrocities in Darfur - The U.S. State Department has published a new documentary account of atrocities committed in the Darfur region of Sudan.
- INT184 - 10/04 - Removing Terrorist Sanctuaries: The 9/11 Commission Recommendations and U.S. Policy - U.S. efforts to shut down terrorist enclaves around the world are examined in a Congressional Research Service report
- INT183 - 10/04 - Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations, 1996-2003," August 26, 2004 - The United States led the world in the sale of conventional weapons for the eighth year in a row, according to a report from the Congressional Research Service.
- INT182 - 10/04 - Don't Mind If I Do:
Congress Says It's Going All Out for the Troops. Here's $8.9 Billion in Pork That Says It's Not. by Winslow Wheeler. See associated info (OPEDs 17 & 19 Updates) on the OPED Updates page
- INT181 - 10/04 - Conduct Unbefitting the Congress lambastes the House of Representatives for passing "for the second time in about two months, a bill to strip the federal courts - including the Supreme Court - of jurisdiction to hear certain cases that conservative House members fear will be decided the "wrong" way by "activist" federal judges." Opposing viewpoint from an author of the bill, first proposed in 2002 - Akin Sponsors Pledge Protection Act of 2002
- INT180 - 09/04 - After Abu Ghraib Report from a female detainee.
- INT179 - 09/04 - George W. Bush Meets "Baghdad Bob" "It started with a joke, but once the laughter stopped I had to admit that the President's sunny statements about Iraq last week did sound disturbingly similar to some of the classics uttered by Saddam's former Minister of Information. "Be assured: Baghdad is safe." - By Greg Mitchell"
- INT178 - 09/04 - Fire Ashcroft for clear incompetence Opinion piece blasting Ashcroft for incompetence in the "war on terror."
- INT177 - 09/04 - Five Reasons Why Guliani Is No Hero
- INT176 - 09/04 - Bush's Bloody Flip-Flop Commentary on how the administration handled the uprising in Fallujah, Iraq.
- INT175 - 01/04 - Panoramas.de Site with great full-screen Quicktime VR.
- INT174 - 01/04 - Factcheck.org Site to 'fact-check' statements made by politicians...
- INT173 - 01/04 - Politics & Science Site by Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA) dedicated to proving that the Bush administration manipulates science to suit its political goals...
- INT172 - 01/04 - Treatment of "Battlefield Detainees" in the War on Terrorism CRS background review for Congress on the laws of war and the treatment of detainees. Also Military Tribunals: The Quirin Precedent & Terrorism & the Law of War: Trying Terrorists as War Criminals before Military Commissions
- INT171 - 01/04 - Nuclear Weapon Initiatives CRS background review for Congress of the administration's nuclear position.
- INT170 - 01/04 - Egyptian Islamist Leaders Fault Al-Qaida's Strategy - A book review from Asharq al Awsat and translated by the CIA's Foreign Broadcast Information Service, in which Egyptian Islamist leaders criticize Al Quida's actions.
- INT169 - 01/04 - Toypresidents.com
- INT168 - 12/03 - Anthrax Powder - State of the Art?
- INT167 - 12/03 - Law Enforcement and Intelligence Access to Information
- INT166 - 11/03 - The Cross Of Iron A view of "the enormous and disturbing power the arms industry exerts on American politics."
- INT165 - 11/03 - Evolution Of The 2004-2009 Plan In A Historical Perspective Shows how DoD spending stacks up historically.
- INT164 - 11/03 - I Don’t Believe What I’m Hearing... The Army is consider court-martialling a Lt. Colonel for "aggravated assault" during the interrogation of an Iraqi. Here are two views - West Incident Reveals Senior Leadership Failure and Colonel West...you've got my back any time
- INT163 - 11/03 - Battle Tips from Iraq Tips from soldiers in the field on what to do watch out for in terms of guerilla activity. Gives you an idea of what the troops are facing in Iraq. Includes pictures of IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices).
- INT162 - 11/03 - Operation Holy Tuesday Der Spiegel story on the preparations for 9/11.
- INT161 - 11/03 - News-Images.com A different kind of news page.
- INT160 - 11/03 - Truth, War, and Consequences Frontline program on the Iraq war.
- INT159 - 11/03 - Suit: U.S. took Jewish riches Suit alleges that U.S. soldiers looted Jewish possessions from a Nazi trove. A surprise perhaps to those pointing fingers at the Swiss, international insurance companies, Ford, etc.
- INT158 - 11/03 - MyLastEmail.com A place to leave e-mails that will be sent after your death... to your loved ones, or a rousing goodbye to someone you hate!
- INT157 - 11/03 - The Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia
- INT156 - 11/03 - The Awful Plastic Surgery page Site dedicated to stars' plastic surgery photos.
- INT155 - 11/03 - PowerPoint slides of an Iraqi MIG being dug out of the sand (Note: multiple pictures - pls. scroll through the images...)
- INT154 - 11/03 - Terrorists And Suicide Attacks - an Aug'03 study on terrorism by The Congressional Research Service.
- INT153 - 11/03 - The US Department of Justice has set up a web site to defend the USA PATRIOT Act - Preserving Life and Liberty
- INT152 - 11/03 - A couple of old war atrocities recently come to light - Buried Secrets, Brutal Truths - A War Of Memories
- INT151 - 11/03 - Machine Readable Travel Document (MRTD) Web site devoted to international travel documents (e.g. a passport or visa) containing eye-and machine-readable data, of the ICAO International Civil Aviation Organization.
- INT150 - 11/03 - Rumsfeld's war-on-terror memo Memo which may or may not have been "leaked."
- INT149 - 11/03 - Statement By David Kay On The Interim Progress Report - On The Activities Of The Iraq Survey Group (ISG) Before The House Permanent Select Committee On Intelligence, The House Committee On Appropriations, Subcommittee On Defense, And The Senate Select Committee On Intelligence, October 2, 2003.
- INT148 - 10/03 - Imagining Everest - history and pictures of Mount Everest.
- INT147 - 10/03 - Read about the 'new' U.S. currency here.
- INT146 - 10/03 - "Soft Walls" Will Keep Hijacked Planes At Bay - an idea to protect targets by GPS and software tied to navigations systems.
- INT145 - 10/03 - The Infrared Zoo - infrared pictures of various animals.
- INT144 - 10/03 - The Falling Man from Esquire magazine.
- INT143 - 09/03 - Night satellite map of the Korean peninsula - Note that North Korea is totally "dark", an indication of the miserable state of development of this nation..... See here for more.
- INT142 - 08/03 - US Army Official Report on 507th Maintenance Co., An Nasiriyah, Iraq (PDF file).
- INT141 - 08/03 - Soldiers for the Truth "The Voice of the Grunt."
- INT140 - 08/03 - Using Private Lynch - Colonel David H. Hackworth's commentary on Private Jessica Lynch being awarded a Bronze star "for exemplary courage under fire during combat operations to liberate Iraq..."
- INT139 - 06/03 - A DIY Cruise Missile - a person in New Zealand is documenting his progress building a "cruise missile" in his garage for under USD 5,000.
- INT138 - 05/03 - SecDef Rumsfeld has sent legislative proposals to Congress, ostensibly to "streamline" various DoD reporting requirements. The following letter was sent by members of Congress to its leadership warning about the extent of the proposal. The proposal would repeal over 100 reporting requirements and in five years sunset all DoD reports except the SecDef's annual report to Congress (which Rumsfeld has failed to submit in two of the past three years!) Reports eliminated would include those involving cost overruns, operational failures, etc. The proposal also exempts the DoD from environmental regulations, exempt it from civil service laws, etc.
- INT137 - 05/03 - Civilian members of shuttle investigation board are on NASA payroll The Federal Advisory Committee Act would require that the board investigating the shuttle accident hold public meetings, keep records that would be public, and justify any closed-door meetings. However, to circumvent this, NASA has hired the entire board and put them on the payroll...
- INT136 - 05/03 - Complaints over the handling of suspects at Guantanamo are raising hackles in Washington Apparently the detainees at Guantanamo Bay include "..one 13-year-old, one 14-year-old, two 15-year-olds, one 16-year-old, an 88-year-old, and a 98-year-old..."
- INT135 - 05/03 - The photographs tell the story.
- INT134 - 05/03 - Privacy International's "Stupid Security" Competition Read about the candidates and "winners."
- INT133 - 05/03 - Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Study by the Congressional Research Service.
- INT132 - 05/03 - The Duck Tape Guys' Wall Taping Gallery - no comment.
- INT131 - 04/03 - Fear and Grokking On the War Crimes Trail Article on how Patrick Ball at the Science and Human Rights Program at the AAAS uses database software to turn information on human rights abuses into actionable information.
- INT130 - 03/03 - 2002 Human Rights Reports released by the U.S. Department of State.
- INT129 - 03/03 - Queen Noor's website
- INT128 - 03/03 - Link to the various "laws of war"
- INT127 - 03/03 - First Stop Iraq article from Time Magazine, subtitled "How did the U.S. end up taking on Saddam? The inside story of how Iraq jumped to the top of Bush's agenda—and why the outcome there may foreshadow a different world order."
- INT126 - 03/03 - Controlling Nuclear Warheads and Materials a report "providing comprehensive, “one-stop-shopping” information on this global issue: the threat posed by inadequately managed nuclear weapons and materials; what is being done now to address that threat; and what should be done to prevent nuclear weapons terrorism from ever occurring."
- INT125 - 03/03 - Water for Life: The Impact Of the Privatization of Water Services on Child Mortality These days there is often a robust discussion underway about the effect of the privatization of water supplies. Many oppose this feeling that water, a necessity of life, is too precious to loose from government control to a for-profit enterprise. This paper looked at the record of privatization in Argentina and concluded that while delivering profits the companies also decreased prices for water usage, increased access to water, and resulted in a significant lowering of child mortality...
- INT124 - 03/03 - Rhino rescue plan decimates Asian antelopes Another example of the law of unintended consequences. In the early 1990s some environmental groups (e.g. the WWF) were concerned that rhinos were endangered partly because they were hunted for their horns, which are prized in China for use in traditional medicine. So to ease pressure on the rhino these groups promoted the use of saiga horn as an alternative. The Saiga (an antelope found in Russia and Kazakhstan) has now been hunted almost to extinction...
- INT123 - 03/03 - FDA Proposes Bar Codes for Drugs, Blood, New Adverse Reaction Reporting
- INT122 - 03/03 - These Weapons of Mass Destruction cannot be displayed Clever satire (on ??).
- INT121 - 03/03 - This is the cost of Blair's "moral" war Scroll down for some (horrifying) pictures of recent civilian deaths that have occurred in error.
- INT120 - 03/03 - War games become all too real Apparently the Hezbollah terrorist group has developed a video game in which players kill Israelis, including Ariel Sharon... What next?
- INT119 - 03/03 - Franks to 'redouble' efforts to hide info Hiding info from the Iraqis?? Nope, his wife! SecDef Rumsfeld will take no action against General Tommy Franks after a Pentagon investigation found that Franks' wife had been present at classified briefings... A Pentagon spokesman said that General Franks "agreed to redouble his efforts to safeguard such information."
- INT118 - 03/03 - Britain's dirty secret - Article claiming that a chemical plant (Falluja 2) which the U.S. says is a key component in Iraq's chemical warfare arsenal was secretly built by Britain in 1985, over internal objections.
- INT117 -2/03 - Clotting Bandage for Combat Medics: The fighting in Afghanistan saw several American soldiers bleed to death because they were badly hit, unable to be evacuated because of enemy fire, and the medics didn't have anything that
could stop, or slow down, the bleeding. A new bandage, containing a clotting agent, is being put into service after years of development. Genetic engineering has allowed the production of the two proteins (the protein-cutting protein called thrombin and a common blood serum protein called fibrinogen) used to form clots and scabbing when you are cut. This new bandage has a synthetic mesh containing the two proteins in a freeze-dried state. The proteins are activated when exposed to blood from
a bleeding wound. A scab begins to form in seconds. Applying one of these special bandages will stop most bleeding in two minutes.
- INT116 - 02/03 - DOD confirms Iraq e-mail campaign - U.S. using e-mail for psyops against Iraq...
- INT115 - 02/03 - The Myth of Security at Canada’s Airports The Senate Committee on National Security and Defense in Canada recently released a report on airport security measures.
- INT114 - 02/03 - Japanese Emoticons
- INT113- 02/03 - Gulf War II "the mother of all flash games"
- INT112 - 02/03 - Duct and cover Fun take on the recent exhortation to buy duct tape...
- INT111 -02/03 - Draft of USA Patriot II
- INT110 - 02/03 - Request for Executive Order Limiting Space Shuttle Operations Letter sent 08/02 to the President by a former NASA engineer asking him to declare a moratorium on space shuttle flights for safety reasons...
- INT109 - 02/03 - FDA ENCOURAGES NDA SUBMISSIONS FOR PRUSSIAN BLUE AS A TREATMENT FOR THALLIUM OR RADIOACTIVE CESIUM CONTAMINATION Apparently the pigment Prussian Blue helps protect the body against radioactive elements such as Cesium-137 and Thallium-201 (possible radioactive elements that might be used in a "dirty" bomb) by binding with them so that they are excreted harmlessly...
- INT108 - 02/03 - Googlert a service from Google where you can sign up so that Google regularly performs your defined search and e-mails you an alert when it discovers new results...
- INT107 - 02/03 - Web Genocide Documentation Center Resources on Genocide, War Crimes, and Mass Killing.
- INT106 - 01/03 - Health Care Workers Not Liable for Smallpox Vaccine Spread
- INT105 - 01/03 - WHY MOTHER TERESA SHOULD NOT BE A SAINT By Christopher Hitchens.
- INT104 - 01/03 - The Dec 19th edition of The Economist had an article on conspiracy theories. The article started out listing some of the weird conspiracy theories re who was responsible for 9/11, including this: "One fellow in a Cairo café told The Economist that the culprit was clearly not al-Qaeda, but rather something called al-Gur. Was this, perhaps, a terror network still more murderous than the Bin Laden gang? No. On closer listening, it transpired that the evil al-Gur was bent on avenging not some wicked Yankee geo-blunder, but the theft of the 2000 American presidential election. It's obvious, declared the café sage. Who else could have wanted to hurt George Bush more than his rival, the former Vice-President al-Gur?"
- INT103 - 12/02 - Enron’s video skits
show ironic twists "It all seemed funny at the time. A newly-surfaced videotape of former top Enron executives along with a future and former President of the United States is either an innocent office joke, or an eerie glimpse of fraud to come."
- INT102 - 12/02 - The Web Economy Bullshit Generator
- INT101 - 12/02 - US Bombing Watch Comprehensive listing of all US and allied bombings in Iraq.
- INT100 - 12/02 - WALLOP DEFENCE SYSTEMS - INFRARED AIRCRAFT COUNTERMEASURES Company that designs flares to protect against infrared missile attack....
- INT99 - 12/02 - Various "clocks" - The WWW Gun Defense Clock purportedly showing the number of times guns have been used in self-defense in the U.S. - The War on Drugs Clock showing Federal and State expenditures on the 'war on drugs.'
- INT98 - 12/02 - The Unseen Gulf War Graphic photos of Iraqi dead from the first Gulf war, by Peter Turnley.
- INT97 - 12/02 - Implosion World Controlled demolition information and films..
- INT96 - 11/02 - Webpage of Eric Le Fou In french. Eric Le Fou has been certified by the Guiness book of world records as owner of the world's "most practical suit of clothing", for carrying 1,300 different tools and objects on his person. Eric's outfits weigh 15 kilograms, 12 of which are gadgets of every kind. See here for the English version.
- INT95 - 11/02 - The Selling Of Terrorism Insurance Critique of the justification offered by President Bush for Congress to pass a terrorism insurance bill.
- INT94 - 11/02 - Dumb Bombs & Smart Munitions
- INT93 - 11/02 - Purdue University simulation of 9/11 Pentagon attack
- INT92 - 11/02 - 61cm space imagery from www.digitalglobe.com Take a close look at and download some of Saddam Hussein's palaces
- INT91 - 11/02 - The self-healing minefield
- INT90 - 11/02 - Secrets of the Tomb Book published about the Skull and Bones secret society...
- INT89 - 11/02 - No Go Logo Humorous look at a couple of logos created for new government agencies.
- INT88 - 11/02 - The Pentagon Plan to Provoke Terrorist Attacks
- INT87 - 11/02 - Diplomatic Struggle Follows Bungled Assassination Attempt in Jordan Interesting story in which fentanyl (speculated to be the gas that the Russians used to end the hostage standoff in Moscow that killed over a hundred) is used as an assassination weapon..
- INT86 - 11/02 - The hawala alternative remittance system and its role in money laundering Interpol article.
- INT85 - 11/02 - The Museum of Online Museums
- INT84 - 11/02 - Why Did the World Trade Center Collapse? Science, Engineering, and Speculation
- INT83 - 11/02 - Project SHAD 60's testing on chemical and biological agents that exposed veterans...
- INT82 - 11/02 - George W.'s Missing Year
- INT81 - 09/02 - FAS' page on the 2002 Congressional Hearings - Joint Investigation Into September 11th
- INT80 - 09/02 - INDEFINITE DETENTION: Using Outdated Precedents To Defend Unjust Policies criticizes legal precedents cited by the administration to support the President's (alleged) authority to declare a person an "enemy combatant" and then lock him up indefinitely without access to a lawyer or the courts.
- INT79 - 09/02 - Vocera Communication's Vocera Communications Badge that use a 802.11b wireless network to enable voice communications.
- INT78 - 09/02 - Visualjournalism's The President's Day, September 11th, 2001
- INT77 - 09/02 - Page 1, Page 2 , Page 3 , of a spreadsheet showing the perks GE was paying for retired CEO Jack Welch when he was in residence at his various properties, from magazine subscriptions, to wine and groceries, to helicopter and limo service, to tips for his staff, etc. Wow! (Note: after bad press re this Welch gave it all up..)
- INT76 - 09/02 - Polygraph?? Supposed letter confirming that some guy is truthful when he claims to have been part of a US military group that considered defenses against attack scenarios of hijacked planes being crashed into buildings, 25 years ago......
- INT75 - 09/02 - Steven Hatfill fired by LSU - The Anthrax attack chronology
- INT74 - 09/02 - Kissinger Watch of the International Campaign Against Impunity.
- INT73 - 09/02 - One Year Later - The Financial Impact of 9/11 by the Comptroller of the City of New York, putting the total economic impact at between $83 and $95 billion.
- INT72 - 09/02 - Cultural Revolutions
- INT71 - 08/02 - Performance Maintenance During Continuous Flight Operations A Guide for Flight Surgeons. Publication (NAVMED P-6410) from the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center dated 1 Jan 2000, about the use of "go" (Dexedrine) and "no-go" (Restoril) pills by Air Force personnel. Official use of drugs for performance maintenance and performance enhancement. For example, in a survey of Desert Storm deployed fighter pilots, 57% reported using stimulants at some time, and 61% of those who used them reported them "essential to mission accomplishment." - Article speculating that this might have been a factor in the April 'friendly fire' incident in Afghanistan, when four Canadian soldiers were killed and eight injured when a 500lb laser-guided bomb was dropped on their position. Another article raising questions about the result of the ensuing inquiry that blamed the pilot for the incident....
- INT70 - 08/02 - Analysis of Federal spending across the nation's congressional districts... AP Analysis: Billions in federal spending shifted to GOP districts after 1994 House takeover "There is an old adage," said House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, "To the victor goes the spoils."
- INT69 - 08/02 - After the hoopla of the signing ceremony - Bipartisan outrage
- INT68 - 08/02 - No comment necessary - GI Joe toy disarmed at airport
- INT67 - 07/02 - Kartoo Interesting search engine.
- INT66 - 07/02 - Asleep at the Switch - Stockholders filed a lawsuit (later dismissed with prejudice) against WorldCom more than a year ago, in June 2001, accusing it of deliberately understating costs, hiding bad debt, backdating contracts to book orders earlier than accounting rules allow, etc. No one paid attention...
- INT65 - 07/02 - Jury Says Salvadoran Generals Liable for Torture A Florida jury found two retired Salvadoran generals liable for the torture of three civilians by their troops during the Central American nation's civil war and ordered them to pay $54.6 million in damages.
- INT64 - 07/02 - FBI files on celebrities Obtained under the FOIA and scanned in (poor quality & heavily redacted)
- INT63 - 07/02 - In a third world nation a career like this would probably be classified as "crony capitalism" - Notes On A Native Son - Right On the Money - The Facts About Bush and Harken - Steps To Wealth - Harken Energy - Bush’s No Good Trade
- INT62 - 07/02 - 9/11 Exposed Deadly Flaws in Rescue Plan NY Times article on analysis of the police and firefighter response at the WTC says that problems with communications hindered efforts and possibly contributed to the number of deaths.
- INT61 - 07/02 - Russia is currently helping keep down oil prices by having
increased its output significantly, so that it is producing as much as Saudi
Arabia. Unfortunately this can not last, see here.
- INT60 - 07/02 - CEO compensation has gone through the roof over the
past 20 years - see Explosion at
the top: 10 highest-paid U.S. executives
- INT59 - 07/02 - Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust - read the world odyssey of
a cargo of 14 tons of ash from Philadelphia incinerators, still a problem more
than a decade later.
- INT58 - 07/02 - The
Sunshine Project used the FOIA to get a report on a Pentagon
research program on the uses of drugs as 'calmatives'. The report concluded
that "the development and use of [psychopharmacological weapons] is achievable
and desirable." Read the entire The Advantages and Limitations of
Calmatives For Use as a Non-Lethal Technique" here. (PDF file)
- INT57 - 07/02 - How times change... A little over a decade ago it seemed
that Japan had come in to its own and was taking over. Doomsayers predicted
the worst for the US. Compare the list of top 15 firms in the world 1990 vs. 2001
- INT56 - 06/02 - Wow, according to a White House aide the commencement
speech that President Bush gave at Ohio State University June 14th was
inspired by the writings of Alexis de Tocqueville, Adam Smith, George
Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Rush, George Eliot, Emily Dickinson,
William Wordsworth, Pope John Paul II, Aristotle (specifically his Nicomachean
Ethics), and lastly Cicero. Read the speech here and decide for yourself....
- INT55 - 06/02 - "Taking Stock in America - Resiliency, Redundancy, and Recovery in the U.S.
Economy Fabulous report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
Read the complete report starting at page 3, and you will see that no
terrorist group can destroy American civilization (contrary to dire warnings
from over-heated politicians...)
- INT54 - 06/02 - Web site has put together a timeline leading up to 9/11
that attempts to "show" that elements of the US government knew ahead of
time... Oh Lucy! - You Gotta Lotta 'Splainin' To Do
- INT53 - 06/02 Majority of U.S. Citizens Want Vaccine, Poll Says
About 60 percent of U.S. citizens recently surveyed have said they would be
willing to be vaccinated against smallpox, even with potentially fatal side
effects and a low risk of an attack...
- INT52 - 06/02 - Study of corruption in Russia claims Russians Pay Out $36 Billion Per Year In Bribes
- INT51 - 06/02 - The
Museum of Hoaxes
- INT50 - 06/02 - Washington Post article on the NSA and 9/11... the NSA was
monitoring Bin Laden's satellite phone from 1996 through 1998. Too Much, Not Enough
- INT49 - 06/02 - Some people have way too much time on their hands... For
example, the folks that came up with this - Coincidence or
Conspiracy
- INT48 - 05/02 - The US Department of Energy is considering how to mark the
Yucca Mountain nuclear repository so that ten to a hundred thousand years from
now anyone wandering across the site will be warned to stay away.... The
current idea includes "...thousands of small warning tablets that will be
randomly buried throughout a wide area, each bearing warnings in one of seven
languages (the six official United Nations languages plus one Native American
language). Like Hammurabi's stela, the messages are expected to remain legible
for at least 4,000 years. A roofless, 15-foot-high granite "information
center" will be built at the site center, with symbols and detailed written
warnings engraved on the walls and floor. Twenty-ton polished granite
monuments, patterned after the Stonehenge megaliths, will encircle both the
immediate site and a wider perimeter, engraved with warnings in the seven
languages and symbols..." Read about this in Archaeology magazine, or in the following article How do you design a "Keep Out!" sign to last 10,000 years? from
salon.com
- INT47 - 05/02 - The Cold War
Museum
- INT46 - 05/02 - Thoughts on the abandoned UN inquiry into what exactly happened in Jenin.
- INT45 - 05/02 - The RQ-4A Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has been
a star of the conflict in Afghanistan. Its price is going up - originally OK'd
by Congress at an estimated $15 million apiece, the ones currently in service
run $48 million, and new ones are going to cost $75 million each.
- INT44 - 05/02 - A problem with a terrorist list
- INT43 - 05/02 - Euro Currency
pictures
- INT42 - 05/02 - Article says Drug
companies maintain "astounding" profits
- INT41 - 05/02 - Article by "Spartacus" - Mr. Smith Is
Dead: No One Stands in the Way as Congress Laces Post-September 11 Defense
Bills with Pork - takes to task Congressional leaders who use 9/11
as an excuse to lard on pork....
- INT40 - 05/02 - A study published in JAMA, Timing of New Black Box Warnings and Withdrawals for Prescription
Medications, concludes that "Many serious ADRs are discovered only after a
drug has been on the market for years. Only half of newly discovered serious
ADRs are detected and documented in the Physicians' Desk Reference within 7
years after drug approval." and "Based on our results and those of others,
clinicians should avoid using new drugs when older, similarly efficacious
agents are available."
- INT39 - 05/02 - Now Anyone Can Discover a Comet
- INT38 - 05/02 - Security vendor N-Cipher recently studied 137,000 websites
using SSL that claimed to use "strong" encryption and found that 19 percent of
them were using relatively short encryption keys (defined in the study as
below 900 bits). Many were using 512 bit keys, including a number of banks.
(512 bit keys have been broken by computer networks). View abstract
or full article The Risks of Short RSA Keys. The use of "short" keys ranged
from 15 percent in the US to 41 percent in France.
- INT37 - 05/02 - New Interface Mechanism for Portable and Wearable Information
Terminal by NTT DoCoMo.
- INT36 - 04/02 - Pilots' Security Duties Make for Airborne Balancing Act - Dead link 01/03
- INT35 - 04/02 - Ant supercolony found
- INT34 - 04/02 - If you've read any business magazine or newspaper in the
US you've surely seen one of Oracle's "unbreakable" ads. Reality? Not exactly,
just marketing. Read about it in the Feb 15th
Crypto-Gram newsletter from Bruce Schneier.
- INT33 - 04/02 - Red
Heifer is born in Israel . Well, so what?
Some people believe this is the first step in prophecy that will lead to a
rebuilding of the Temple Mount and the rapture ... However this doesn't seem to be the first "red
heifer" to come down the pike - there was one in
1997.
- INT32 - 04/02 - Financial Times article on DoD push for legislation that
all foreign acquisitions of US companies valued over $100m need
approval from the CIFUS , the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US.
- INT31 04/02 - The Monorail
Society , an "all-volunteer organization founded to foster more awareness
and promote this unique method of transit".
- INT30 04/02 - Counterterrorism Analysis Course - An introduction to terrorist
intelligence analysis.
- INT29 04/02 - Anyone flying is exposed to small doses of cosmic radiation.
On a long flight on a polar route this can be up to the equivalent of 2 or 3
x-rays. Use this site to calculate your radiation exposure in microsieverts
- INT28 03/02 - Results of 1991 - 2000 Baldrige Award Recipients 10-Year Common
Stock Comparison showing investments placed in MBNQA winners' stocks
outperformed the S&P 500 by 2.94 to 1.
- INT27 03/02 - Update to INT0 (below) - the DoD has published Military Commission Order No. 1 , the rules governing trials by
military tribunals of "certain non-US citizens in the war against terrorism."
Note: PDF file.
- INT26 03/02 - Citizen's Guide On Using the FOIA to Request Government Records
(US 'natch)
- INT25 03/02 - Site of the Independent Commission of Experts concerning Switzerland's role
in WWII. The mandate of the commission was "to investigate the volume and fate
of assets moved to Switzerland before, during and immediately after the Second
World War from a historical and legal point of view..." (Note: Final report is
a 2MB pdf file)
- INT24 03/02 - Article on airport security or lack thereof since 9/11.
Confirmation that security can not be achieved through mere inspection. - Dead link 01/03
- INT23 03/02 - Interesting article on Afghan warlord. Dead link 01/03
- INT22 03/02 - Article on the fog of war...
- INT21 03/02 - Washington Post story illustrating the risks posed by simple
errors with sophisticated devices (with tragic consequences).
- INT20 03/02 - S2048 the Consumer Broadband And Digital Television
Promotion Act has been introduced in the US Senate. Written to prevent digital
piracy, it regulates "any hardware or software that reproduces copyrighted
works in digital form", with serious penalties for infractions. However as
written it is overly broad, and would effect just about everything - all
computers, software, etc. Read more about the CBDTPA at
Politechbot
- INT19 03/02 - The basketball team of the University of North Colorado, a
group of Native American and non-Indian players, have called themselves the Fighting Whites
to "promote cultural awareness through satire". See their 'mascot' .
- INT18 03/02 - From the Project
On Government Oversight this nugget on defense spending audits: The
Defense Criminal Investigative Services (DCIS) investigates fraud, waste, and
abuse in Department of Defense programs. In FY2000 its budget was $59.7
million and it recovered $810 million, or $14 in savings
for every dollar spent. This would seem to be a great return, but
DCIS's staffing levels have been cut 11% between 1996 and 2001. Similarly, the
DoD Inspector General's office has had its budget cut 26% since 1995, the
Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) has had its staffing level reduced
from 26,000 in 1999 to 12,500 in 2001, and the Defense Contract Audit Agency
(DCAA) has shrunk from 5,616 employees in FY 1993 to 4,256 in FY2001.
Increasing spending while decreasing oversight... Useless government
bureaucracy is one thing, cost effective management is another.
- INT17 03/02 - Coinstar
is a company that operates self-service coin-counting machines in grocery
stores around the US (over 9,700 machines in 38 states). People pour their
coins into the machine, which counts the coins at a rate of 600 coins per
minute and then spits out a voucher which can be redeemed for cash. The
company keeps 8 cents on the dollar. So far Coinstar has put over 114,000 tons
of coins back into circulation, last year it processed 15 billion coins. Due
to all the coins going back into circulation that might otherwise be sitting
in jars in people's homes, the US Mint in Philadelphia will only be producing
15 billion coins in 2002 rather than the 23 billion originally planned. As a
result the Mint is laying off 357 workers nationwide! Coinstar estimates that
the average person has between $30 and $50 in change in their homes, or a
total of over $7 billion nationwide...
- INT16 03/02 - From the 3/9/2002 New Scientist: The European Commission is
concerned about the living conditions of lab animals and a task force is
preparing guidelines for different animals for 'enriching' their environments.
Enrichment is increasing the complexity of the animals' environment e.g.
providing mice with nesting material, giving guinea pigs places to hide e.g.
pipes or small huts. However, experiments have shown that changing their
environments can have big effects on the animals' behavior. For example 3 sets
of mice carrying a gene for Huntington's disease were tested for motor
coordination. One set lived in the usual individual cages, one set were in
individual cages with a cardboard tube, while the third set were in a cage
with 9 mice and various objects - a running wheel, toys, etc. The "enriched"
mice did much better on the coordination tests. Thus, researchers may now have
to standardize the living conditions of lab animals when conducting
experiments, so that the results are comparable. And, if the results of
experiments vary more, it may be necessary to do more testing to make sure
that the results are statistically significant..... Now that's rich!
- INT15 03/02 - Space Imaging web site. Great satellite pictures. Rather than
exercise "shutter control" (which would possibly have provoked lawsuits) the
Pentagon signed an exclusive contract with them so that others could not get
pictures of the war in Afghanistan.
- INT14 03/02 - Information on the thermobaric bomb (BLU-118/B) now being used in Afghanistan.
- INT13 03/02 - Attorney General John Ashcroft's rendition of "Let The Eagles Soar", a patriotic song he wrote. (You need
RealPlayer, MediaPlayer, or Quicktime, and need to get by a short CNN promo)
- INT12 03/02 - The California Public Employees Retirement System (CALPERS)
is a heavyweight in the field of institutional pension investors. An article
in BusinessWeek (3/11/02 page 50) reports that CALPERS has developed criteria
to rate emerging markets to determine if CALPERS should invest in those
markets. Neither India nor China made the cut. The weightings of their various
criteria are: Political Stability 17%, Transparency 16%, Labor Practices 17%,
Market Liquidity/Volatility 10%, Legal Regulation 15%, Market Openness and
Investor Protection 10%, Ability to settle transactions 10%, Trading Costs and
Taxes 5%. You can read the criteria developed by the Wilshire Group here - Permissible Equity Markets Investment Analysis and
Recommendations. (PDF)
- INT11 03/02 - Still devastated from its civil war that ended in 1996,
Liberia's transportation system is in shambles. The railways closed years ago
and much of the track was dug up and sold as scrap. However, in a testament to
the indomitable human spirit the "Make-a-way" sprung up a few years ago. (Listen to this NPR
news segment from 2/28/02).
- INT10 02/02 - An appraisal of Operation
Enduring Freedom from the Project on Defense Alternatives.
- INT9 02/02 - From the Wall Street Journal: A first-class passenger fell
afoul of a rule passed by the FAA that restricts passengers' movements within
30 minutes of Salt Lake City during the Olympics. Approximately 25 minutes
before landing he got up and went to the lavatory. On his exiting the lavatory
a flight attendant saw him and ordered him to his seat. He did not immediately
do so and the attendant felt he was trying to intimidate her when he stared at
her. He then sat down and gave a 'thumb's up'. A sky marshal saw this and
interpreted it as a hand signal to another passenger, so took over control of
the cabin and made all the passengers put their hands on top of their heads
for the remainder of the flight. The passenger was charged with interfering
with a flight crew, and if convicted will face up to 20 years in prison and a
fine up to $250,000. The passenger claimed he didn't hear the pilot announce a
warning (not to get up) over the intercom as he was dozing, and that he stared
at the attendant since he thought she was being rude....
- INT8 02/02 - If you've wondered where "Desert Storm", "Enduring Freedom",
"Rolling Thunder", and "Able Sentry" came from, read this article by George
Sieminski The Art of Naming Operations from 1995.
- INT7 02/02 - From the Christian Science Monitor, a report that the Russian
Academy of Sciences polled Russians to find out what they consider the main
benefit of the ten years since the fall of Communism. 28% cited free speech, while 50% chose
the introduction of a western-style shopping culture.
- INT6 02/02 - An article in the Wall Street Journal 2/8/02 "Can We Talk
Price?" reports that more patients are getting discounts on their health care
bills by haggling with their doctors. They quote a recent Harris poll that
found that "17% of consumers had asked for a discount on a medical bill in
the past year. More importantly, almost half say they succeeded." The
Journal provides the following tips on how to haggle: 1. Pay upfront. 2. Do
your homework. 3. Get the "bundle" rate. 4. Forgo your rights. 5. Hire a
negotiator. 6. Pick your battles.
- INT5 02/02 - In a paper in The Journal of Conflict Resolution researchers
from Harvard and Ohio State University explain a 'conflict barometer' that
they have developed to 'predict' crises in countries. A program that they
developed crunches thousands of stories daily from Reuters news feeds, and
parses events into 200 categories. From the category counts they calculate the
proportion of events related to civil unrest, outbreaks of violence, and
repressive government actions, and then calculate each country's "Conflict
Carrying Capacity". These are trended over time. The researchers have found
that the CCC has predicted a number of crises and conflicts up to six to nine
months in advance.
- INT4 02/02 - Excerpts from an interview that the former Director of Shin
Bet (the internal intelligence and security agency in Israel) gave to Le Monde
December 2001. Former Israeli Shin Bet Head Speaks up for Peace
- INT3 02/02 - Link to an article written August 1917 by T.E. Lawrence
(a.k.a. "Lawrence of Arabia") about dealing with Hejaz Arabs. The 27
Articles of T.E. Lawrence
- INT2 01/02 - January 7th a federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled that expert
witnesses providing testimony about fingerprints can not claim matches. Printing errors .
- INT1 01/02 - Over the past few months several proposals have been made to
increase security (e.g. checking airline passengers) that involve the set up
and maintenance of large databases. This article examines the difficulties of
maintaining accurate data. Database
Flaws Could Hamper Any National ID System, Experts Warn
- INT0 12/01 - Chart showing the differences between the President's executive order on
military tribunals for terrorists and provisions in the Uniform Code Of
Military Justice. Note: the final rules for military tribunals have not yet
been drawn up by the DOD.
SNi 03/21/2008
