Update

I've just received my beautiful, two-inch-wide, Give Fascism The Finger button from CafePress, and it's now proudly displayed on my backpack. Got yours yet?

My next Physics exam is a week from today and I've got to make sure I know all about capacitors and inductors by then. Posting will be light to moderate. There's a ton of stuff I want to write about and I won't be able to get to all of it, but this blog won't come to a standstill either.

I've ordered an upgrade for my 17" PowerBook, which should be coming in within the next week. That'll allow me to get more done, faster and more easily. Also I'm focusing on sharpening up my computer skills because I am going to try to get into the IT line of work this year; so that means I'll be reading up on workplace applications like Excel and PowerPoint, learning the ropes of my OS X and Win XP systems, and maybe getting to know a thing or two about HTML and Unix. We'll see how it goes.

Morning Report: February 17, 2005

Lebanon asks for foreign help in Hariri case. The Lebanese government has asked for foreign assistance in investigating the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, VOA reports. Hariri was killed in an apparent suicide bombing in Beirut on Monday, which claimed the lives of 14 other people as well. The Lebanese leader was seen as a symbol of popular resistance to the Syrian occupation of Lebanon. Syria is widely suspected in the blast, and the United States has recalled its ambassador to Syria in protest. (VOA)

Iraq election update. From Debka: 'Shiite United Iraqi Alliance’s 140 lawmakers hold secret ballot Friday on premiership nominee. Top members failed Wednesday to choose between al Daawa’s Jaafari, who pledges to ask US troops to stay, and secular Iraq National Congress leader Chalabi. Kurds will back winner in return for presidency.' (Debka)

Sunnis admit election boycott was a blunder. The Command Post carries an article from the Guardian indicating that Iraqi Sunnis who boycotted the January 30 election now regard the boycott as a mistake, and see value in participating in the political process: '"Our view is that this election was a step towards democracy and ending the occupation," said Ayad al-Samaray, the assistant general secretary of the Iraqi Islamic party. He said unnamed Sunni leaders blundered in depicting the election as a deepening of the occupation.' Full story and comments available at link. (Command Post, Guardian)

Testimony on security issues. The Belmont Club critiques the testimony before Congress of various officials regarding strategic threats to the United States. 'All in all, the intelligence briefings painted a picture of an enemy that had not yet realized its power potential. It had been stayed, but not fatally wounded. On the contrary, if it could overcome its disorganization and mend fences with enablers it could become even more dangerous.' Wretchard concludes that 'of the testimonies is that Rumsfeld alone, of all the witnesses, articulated a complete grand strategic view. In particular, he understood that the threat, so well described in component by the representatives of intelligence and finance, menaced the world  as a whole and not simply the United States and that it had been emerging over a long period of time.' (Belmont Club)

Varying accounts of Iran blast. Last Wednesday, an explosion shook the southern Iranian city of Dailam, Bushehr province, in the vicinity of a nuclear facility. Beyond that, there seems to be little agreement as to what happened. Free Iran news carries a roundup of media reports and commentary. (Free Iran)

RLS: No Tears for Eason Jordan

Roger L. Simon (and that's Roger L. Simon, the blogger) will not be weeping for the recently deposed Eason Jordan:

... It is hard to find sympathy for Jordan, although a great many in the "MSM" do. This is a man who was willing to overlook the evils of Saddam so that his reporters in Iraq would be safe. Or so he claimed. How about telling the truth about Saddam from the outside? Evidently he wasn't interested in something so obvious. The people of Iraq were irrelevant to him. Only CNN and his own career, it seems. ...

Apropos Valentine's Day, Roger also offers his thoughts on Eason Jordan's love life. Read the whole post here:
Roger L. Simon: A Moral Issue

And we may gain some insights into the culture of CNN by reading about the network's role models (hat tip: Little Green Footballs).

Armanious - Garas Killings: "Money, Not Religious Extremism"

Religious hate was probably not the motivating factor in the murder of a New Jersey family of four last month, according to law enforcement authorities.

Tom Troncone of NorthJersey.com, writing about the horrific slaying of Hossam Armanious, Amal Garas, and their two daughters in Jersey City a month ago, reports:

"We're getting somewhere that hopefully is going to give us a clear indication as to what the motive is," said Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio. "And once you have motive, that helps lead you to the people involved."

DeFazio still won't discuss the intricate details of the case or explain why investigators are leaning toward a financial motive for the killings. But he did provide a glimpse into the probe, which has included assistance from an FBI profiler.

"The FBI does not think that, based on the information gleaned from the scene, it's based on religious extremism," the prosecutor said, without elaborating.

For full details, as well as the reactions of Armanious and Garas family members and other members of the Coptic community, read the article at NorthJersey.com.

Freedom and Peace

R. J. Rummel of the University of Hawaii has made a strong case for the thesis that the promotion of democracy is the promotion of peace, and that a free world is a peaceful world. Please go visit his website here.

Thanks to Diane for this link.

German Pilot, Passengers Thwart Iran Extradition

Many thanks to Spenta for translating this Persian news item from Peykeiran at the Free Iran message board:

Pilot of a Luftansa flight from Frankfurt to Tehran refused to take off and return an Iranian woman to Iran!

According to a report from the Women's 8th of March Organisation, dozens of Iranian and Afghani activists from the organisation, activists from the German Leftist groups, and members of other Iranian opposition groups, participated in a protest action to stop the deportation of an Iranian woman political refugee at Frankfurt airport. They notified passengers of this inhuman act, and asked them to refuse to fly on the flight. As a result of this unified action, the pilot of the Lufthansa Frankfurt to Tehran flight, in solidarity with the protestors, refused to takeoff. According to other reports some of the passengers also supported this protest action. The German police arrested the protestors, including many memebrs of the 8th of March Women's organisation and German groups, many of whom are still detained. Today the German police was not successful in deporting Zahra Kameli. This action showed again that with united and aggressive international action the impossible can be made possible.

Zahra Kameli, who faces certain death if deported to Iran, is still alive because of the actions of decent people. There is hope. Read the story, with Spenta's comments, at the link. And keep working for Zahra Kameli - and the thousands of prisoners of conscience, as well as the millions of ordinary citizens still held hostage by fascism in the Middle East.

Iraq Update

Iraqi leader loses two sons, guard. 'A few days ago, Mithal Al-Alusi; an Iraqi politician and the head of the "Hizb Al-Umma Al-Iraqiya" or the (Iraqi Nation Party) survived an assassination attempt when a group of terrorists attacked him in front of his house but his two young sons and his guard were killed in the attack.

The brave politician, despite his tragic loss made very strong statements during an interview he gave to RFI "Radio free Iraq".

Al-Alusi: Again, the ghosts of death are going out. They are ready to kill a person, ready to kill the peace, ready to kill the victory of Iraqis and their right to life. Again, henchmen of the Ba'ath [Party] and dirty terrorist gangs, Al-Qaeda and others, are going out convinced that they can determine life and death as they desire. Iraq will not die.

My children, three people [in all] -- one of my bodyguards and two of my children -- died as heroes, no differently from other people who find their heroic deaths. But we will not, [I swear] by God, hand Iraq over to murderers and terrorists. ... '

Read the rest, and Omar's comments, at Iraq the Model.

Ali on America's mistakes. The third Fadhil brother, responding to a post by Michael J. Totten, takes a look at what he sees as America's mistakes: 'When I say America here, I mean the administration or the people they chose to help Iraqis in their transformation to democracy. While I agree that many regular Iraqis are still misled and have some anti-American feelings as a result of decades of brain washing, I cannot but wonder why should Americans chose such people and trust them in serious issues when there are so many Iraqis who do not suffer from such problems. ... In my mind such mistake comes from two places; first from underestimating Iraqis and thinking that the only Iraqis that are willing to cooperate are those who can be bought in different ways, even if what they were asked was for their own country's good. And second because it seems that Americans themselves have a mixed feeling about what's happening in Iraq. They think that somehow they did something wrong to Iraqis while liberating them since it meant occupying their country and thus they think it's perfectly natural that even those who cooperate with them should have hostile feelings towards America. It hurts me because it wastes so much valuable time, effort, money and most importantly lives and also because it shows that Americans don't think highly of Iraqis.' Read the whole post at the link.

Iraqi forces foil attack in Abu Mustafa. Small Town Veteran (hat tip: Mrs. Greyhawk) reports that Iraqi forces outsmarted the terrorists in the town of Abu Mustafa, south of Baghdad: 'Iraqi security forces foiled a trap set for a local security patrol by 40 terrorist in the village of Abu Mustafa south of Baghdad. After a confrontation between the two sides, the terrorists fled to a near by school. The Iraqi security forces among other forces pursued the terrorists and surrounded the school. The ensuing gun battle resulted in the killing of 12 terrorists and the arrest of 30 more. ...' Read it all at the link.

Let's blogroll!

Jeff draws a lesson from Mother Nature while steeling himself for a confrontation with a psycho. Let's hope the laws of karma work their magic on the vermin who did this.

Mamamontezz unfurls the new flag of Howard Dean's party. (Readers of the lavender persuasion shouldn't take the polychromatic theme amiss ... it's an allusion to Reverend Jesse Jackass's "rainbow" outfit.)

Auntie Cracker has a chat with her mom about a serious subject.

The Democrats have a new leader ... but what about the NAACP? Chris Muir has an idea.

Chapter 4 of "Pacific Memories" is up.

"And so, reluctantly ... " our hero leaves New Zealand.

Update

Posting will be sporadic over the next week while I get caught up on school and other stuff. Morning Report will make occasional appearances.

Morning Report: February 11, 2005

US: No talks with North Korea. The United States continues to refuse bilateral talks with the newly-declared-nuclear North Korea, according to this CNN report. 'White House press secretary Scott McClellan said North Korea would have plenty of opportunities to raise issues directly with the United States if it agreed to resume six-party talks. Those have been on hold since Pyongyang withdrew last year.' The six-party talks included the two Koreas, the US, China, Japan, and Russia. Debka says: 'White House plays down North Korea claim of nuclear weapons, calls for return to multi-nation disarmament talks but rules out concessions. DEBKAfile’s Washington sources: Administration has no real proof that Pyongyang really has manufactured nuclear bomb although it has enough plutonium. Its announcement may be bluff. No indication nuclear test ever conducted. Kremlin concurs with this skeptical view'. (CNN, Debka)

Death of a playwright. Arthur Miller, America's foremost playwright, has died. The reclusive writer died at his Connecticut home Thursday night of heart failure, at the age of 89. Miller was the author of the classics "All My Sons", "The Crucible", and "Death of a Salesman", (CNN)

Shahna Lax

I believe I mentioned Shahna Lax without providing a link.

I believe I'll correct that oversight now:
Shahna Lax at Tribe of the Winds
Crestone Artisans Gallery