__  _____ _       ___   __
  \ \/ /   | |     / / | / /
   \  / /| | | /| / /  |/ / 
   / / ___ | |/ |/ / /|  /  
  /_/_/  |_|__/|__/_/ |_/http://www.acronymchile.com/yawn.html
                         2003-04-23
                         You cannot hope to bribe or twist
                         thank God! The British journalist.
                         But, seeing what the man will do
                         unbribed, there's no occasion to.
                            -- Humbert Wolfe, 1930

###!!!!!###### SERBIA ##############################(##)##################
Very interesting interview with Andrej Grubacic. Describes current state of emergency in Serbia and Montenegro, and the curtailment of civil rights. He likens the assassination of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic to the September 11th attack in the US, in the way it has been used to justify a crack-down on liberty and the opposition. Also interesting as it gives a perspective on Djindjic's term in office and political legacy quite different to that of much of the Western media: http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=36&ItemID=3498
###!!!!_###### PATRIOT #############################(/.)##################
Civil liberties take a hit as PATRIOT starts to become the status quo: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/09/international/worldspecial/09TERR.html Working with the Bush administration, Congressional Republicans are manoeuvring to make permanent the sweeping anti-terrorism powers granted to federal law enforcement agents after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
###!!___###### NLP #################################(GG)##################
http://www.deep-trance.com/ Free information on NLP, self-hypnosis, hypnotherapy and self-improvement
###!!!__###### PHOTOS ##############################(/.)##################
http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/showcase/la-ednote_blurb.blurb On Monday, March 31, the Los Angeles Times published a front-page photograph that had been altered in violation of Times policy. Times policy forbids altering the content of news photographs. Because of the violation, Walski, a Times photographer since 1998, has been dismissed from the staff. The altered photo, along with the two photos that were used to produce it, are below: Some of the slashdot discussion is good: http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/04/02/1650258&mode=nested&tid=149 This comment: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=59363&cid=5647650 discussing these two photos: http://www.milanet.ie/~andrew/pc/tank.jpg http://www.msnbc.com/c/0/91/897/10x7/twip_2002_0704_05.jpg is particularly worth reading. I remember seeing those two pictures before, but never noticed how unskilled the doctoring was. I could do better myself: http://www.acronymchile.com/mick_tank_airbrush.jpg compare with original: http://www.acronymchile.com/twip_2002_0704_05.jpg
###!!!__###### TERROR ##############################(PA)##################
http://www.post-atomic.com/2003_03_01_fallout.shtml#200029901 http://www.libertythink.com/2003_03_01_hivearchives.html#200029291 Powder and gasmask found in handbag but Israeli woman not detained, allowed to board plane to Texas. The Texas FBI won't return calls asking if the woman has been interviewed. The powder tests positive for anthrax, then is declared to be harmless, but ten people become sick and are treated, plus the screeners are decontaminated.
###_____###### NEW ECONOMY #########################(##)##################
This wasn't how i thought these things worked. Amazon.co.uk, looking for "Jarhead" i saw that it was priced like this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/ref=sr_sp_go_as/202-8432183-0953409 HARDCOVER: Jarhead: A Marine's Chronicle of the Gulf War ~Anthony Swofford Scribner Hardcover - 17 March, 2003 Usually dispatched within 24 hours List Price: £14.99 Our Price: £10.49 You Save: £4.50 (30% EBOOK: Jarhead; A Marine's Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles ~Anthony Swofford (Author) Scribner Digital Download Available for download now Our Price: £12.78 How on earth can they charge more for an electronic download than they do for a real physical hardcover book?
###!!!__###### URANIUM #############################(RW)##################
Discussion of the fraud behind allegations of uranium deals between Niger and Iraq. An interesting part of the article is the background it gives, which reveals that this is not such a recent phenomenon, but part of a protracted campaign. http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?030331fa_fact1
###!!!__###### SPAM ################################(RW)##################
Very interesting discussion of spam, and effectiveness of methods to avoid it: http://www.cdt.org/speech/spam/030319spamreport.shtml
###!!!__###### WAR #################################(RW)##################
Interesting background to the strategies and challenges of the United States' invasion of Iraq: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0303/032803nj1.htm The scale is hard to comprehend: An armored or air-mobile division on the move consumes roughly 550,000 gallons of fuel a day. COSCOM, just to supply V Corps's forward forces with the requisite 1 million gallons of fuel, must have 3 million gallons in its pipeline. Veterans' voices on the current war: http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/7472
###!!!!!###### RUMMY ###############################(RW)##################
interesting article about Rumsfeld's attitude to military chiefs: http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?030407fa_fact1 Rumsfeld's personal contempt for many of the senior generals and admirals who were promoted to top jobs during the Clinton Administration is widely known. He was especially critical of the Army, with its insistence on maintaining costly mechanized divisions. In his off-the-cuff memoranda, or "snowflakes," as they're called in the Pentagon, he chafed about generals having "the slows" a reference to Lincoln's characterization of General George McClellan. "In those conditions - an atmosphere of derision and challenge - the senior officers do not offer their best advice," a high-ranking general who served for more than a year under Rumsfeld said. One witness to a meeting recalled Rumsfeld confronting General Eric Shinseki, the Army Chief of Staff, in front of many junior officers. "He was looking at the Chief and waving his hand," the witness said, "saying, `Are you getting this yet? Are you getting this yet?'"
###!!!!_###### CON #################################(RW)##################
A very cogent and well researched article on the larger neo-conservative agendas behind current US adventures in the Middle East. Nicely written and a good read: http://www.buzzflash.com/farrell/03/04/01.html An interesting link from that story is the following... Sydney Morning Herald article on preparations for martial law in US: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/07/27/1027497418339.html When Reagan was preparing to invade Nicaragua, plans were put in place to deal with the eventuality of large-scale civilian unrest at the actions. The plans became public during the Iran-Contra hearings: FEMA, whose main role is disaster response, is also responsible for handling US domestic unrest. From 1982-84 Colonel Oliver North assisted FEMA in drafting its civil defence preparations. Details of these plans emerged during the 1987 Iran-Contra scandal. They included executive orders providing for suspension of the constitution, the imposition of martial law, internment camps, and the turning over of government to the president and FEMA. Somewhat strangely, a former head of the KGB has been employed as a consultant in the Department of Homeland Security. How things change!
###!!___###### FECK ################################(/.)##################
Slashdot story: Spending more time cursing your code than writing it? Well now there's an answer. feckfeck (a language in the vein of Whitespace and Brainf*ck) will help you get back that precious time by converting your foul words into code. http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/04/06/1733235&mode=nested&tid=133&tid=156 http://www.chilliwilli.co.uk/ff/ http://compsoc.dur.ac.uk/whitespace/index.php http://esoteric.sange.fi/brainfuck/
###!!!__###### GATEKEEPERS #########################(IB)##################
The Gatekeepers The Progressive / Left establishment and the marginalization of conspiracy research http://www.questionsquestions.net/topics/left_gatekeepers.html
###!!!__###### CHAOTIC #############################(RW)##################
Iraqi aftermath: http://www.spiked-online.com/Printable/00000006DD4C.htm A little-known Iraqi militia called the Iraqi Coalition of National Unity (ICNU) has apparently taken over the town of Hay Al Ansar in southern Iraq, with the backing of US special forces. According to the Financial Times, the people of Hay Al Ansar were happy 'to be rid of the Ba'ath party government…but they appear to be just as terrified, if not more so, of their new rulers'. The FT says the ICNU 'has taken to looting and terrorising the neighbourhood with impunity'. ... This instability is the by-product of an intervention that destroyed central authority, when there was nothing else to take over. Makes one wonder if the argument that "the iraqis have no viable opposition to Saddam so they must be liberated" was actually an argument AGAINST the war. The absence of any viable opposition obviously makes the aftermath very hard to manage, and very hard to live in for the Iraqis.
###-----###### FIN #################################(##)##################
YAWN INDEX

counter image