discovery :: hegemony :: prophecy :: conspiracy :: eschatology :: anthropology :: cosmology :: philosophy :: epistemology :: teleology  [?]

Thursday, October 31, 2002

"Missing" Pentagon Attack Jet Found At Last!

Flight 77 shown in death dive as Ehud Barak demands attack on Iraq.
Note the light color of the lower fuselage on American Flight 77 in frames 1 & 2 as it dives very quickly towards the Pentagon. This is a totally different color from the dark grey belly of United 175 as it flies into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.
Sniper sold alleged murder weapon in 2000

According to gun shop manager John Welcher, store records indicate Muhammad bought the rifle on Dec. 28, 1999 -- after the store conducted an FBI background check on him. Muhammad returned to Welcher's on May 23, 2000, to sell the rifle back.
"We purchased that gun back from him," Welcher said. "We have since sold that gun to another individual and it was not involved in the D.C. shootings."
The rifle authorities confiscated from the car in which Muhammad was arrested -- another .223 Bushmaster-style rifle -- was apparently purchased from a different Tacoma gun shop, Bulls Eye Shooter Supply. Earlier this week, ATF agents met with Brian Borgelt, the store's owner, to look through sales records.
Turkey Grows More Worried Every Day About a U.S. Attack on Iraq

Barely a day goes by without Turkey's prime minister, Bulent Ecevit, saying just how little he wants a war with his neighbor Iraq. He complains about being "caught in the middle." He bluntly raises Turkey's importance to the United States, on the map and as the only Muslim country in NATO.
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"We know that the United States cannot carry out this operation without us," he said last week. "That is why we are advising that it abandon the idea. We're telling Washington that we are worried about the matter."
In the end, there seems little doubt that Turkey, however reluctantly, would side with its big friend and patron. But months into the American drive for support against Iraq, Turkey's leaders are still withholding their wholehearted support, and their discomfort grows daily.
ASIO raids slammed for 'heavy-handedness'

Police and ASIO officers, who have raided four Australian homes in search of information about the Jemaah Islamiah terrorist group, have been accused of engaging in a publicity stunt.
A witness of one of the raids said: "They had on black helmets, balaclavas covering their face, flakjackets, carrying submachine guns, they were very frightening to look at".
Sniper claims to work for a secret Special Forces group

Muhammad explained that he was working for a secret Special Forces group to recover missing C-4 explosives stolen from a military base by drug smugglers. Muhammad was accompanied by a teenage boy named Lee. ?Lee?s not my son,? Muhammad explained. ?He?s on the special team with me. He was hired to blend in with the juveniles on the street. See that boy? He?s highly trained.
Bush Fears Tenacious, Popular Wellstone

This was published a year before Wellstone's death:
Let there be no doubt as to the identity of George W. Bush's least favorite Democratic U.S. senator. It's Wellstone, the rabble-rousing Progressive who represents not just Minnesota but what remains of the fighting populist spirit of the Upper Midwest.
As Wellstone prepares to seek a third term next year, it would be reasonable to assume that he might finally be in for some smooth political sailing. But reasonableness doesn't figure into the calculations of the Bush White House, where the president himself, Vice President Dick Cheney and political commissar Karl Rove practice the politics of vengeance.
Policeman chasing thieves in a jungle finds cave paintings up to 40,000 years old

KAKRERI, Northern India (AP) — A police officer chasing thieves in a jungle in northern India stumbled upon long-forgotten rock shelters and cave paintings believed to be 25,000-40,000 years old.
The state government's Archaeological Survey department has certified Kumar's discoveries, saying they were invaluable.
"It's an archaeological treasure and needs to be protected," L.P. Tiwari, said chief of Uttar Pradesh's Archaeological Survey department.
"The style of Vindhya rock paintings and its subject clearly establishes the fact that these are 25,000 to 40,000 years old and depict the lifestyle of human civilization (during that era)," Tiwari said.
France still opposed to US Iraq policy as key UN vote nears

As the United States stepped up pressure on the UN to adopt its resolution on how to disarm Iraq, France threatened to submit counter-proposals and warned that a war against Saddam Hussein would lead to more terrorism.
"More attacks would be feared," if a new conflict over Iraq breaks out, said French Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie.
"Apart from organised networks, individual acts (of terrorism) would be feared," and they would be "more difficult to predict and to fight against," she said at the end of a visit to Saudi Arabia.
Her comments came as Iraq called on the UN Security Council to block the tough new disarmament resolution that the United States wants to push through the divided body this week.
'Gun shop employee' says FBI doesn't have sniper rifle

Monitoring KIRO's Dave Ross program in Seattle that just concluded. He just had a representative from Welcher's Gun Shop in Tacoma (Tel: 253-472-1113) on the air... Welcher's did originally sell a Bushmaster to John Allen Muhammad in December of 1999 ... BUT... Welcher's BOUGHT THE RIFLE BACK from Muhammad on May 23, 2000. That weapon was later resold to another customer in the Tacoma area who presently has that weapon in his possession under safe-keeping. This means the alleged sniper rifle the FBI has in its possession DID NOT BELONG to John Allen Williams Muhammad.

Wednesday, October 30, 2002

BP chief fears US will carve up Iraqi oil riches

Lord Browne, chief executive of BP and one of New Labour's favourite industrialists, has warned Washington not to carve up Iraq for its own oil companies in the aftermath of any future war.
The comments from the most senior European oil executive, who has impeccable political connections in the UK, will be seen by anti-war protesters as further proof that US president George Bush has already made his mind up about an early attack. They will also serve to underline concern that the US is primarily concerned with seizing control of Saddam Hussein's oil and handing it over to companies such as ExxonMobil rather than destroying his weapons of mass destruction.
Stonehenge revisited, Washington, USA

Stonehenge is located on a cliff overlooking the Columbia River. A concrete replica of the 4,000-year-old Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England, it is a memorial to the men of Klickitat killed in World War I.
Stonehenge was the first memorial to be built to honor servicemen who had died in WW I, and dedicated in July, 1918.
Prominently displayed on the circular structure, a bronze plaque reads: "In memory of soliders and sailors of Klickitat County who gave their lives in defense of their country. This momument is erected in the hope that others inspired by the example of their valor and their heroism may share in that love of liberty and burn with that fire of patriotism which death alone can quench."
In Hill's version of Stoneheng outer circle of 30 pillars measure 16 feet in height while the inner circle of 40 pillars measure only nine feet in height.
Senator Wellstone murdered? Shadow government and Israeli Mossad involved?

Senator Wellstone was seen as a leader in a movement that would have the U.S. take a more equitable approach in Middle East policy. There is a growing cabal of Zionist controlled political officials that has taken over our government.Putting pressure on Israel to give the Palestinians their own state is the last thing these dangerous individuals want. Senator Wellstone was seen as a threat,a voice of reason. This must be investigated. Ask Rudy Boshwitz or better yet, ask the Bush family.
Australian Media Comments on Hostage Crisis

This is how Russia's 'Pravda' saw the Australian reportage of the hostage crisis:
Sunday morning - Australian public is told that the rescue operation was somewhat a failure. News reports focus on the fact that 90 hostages were killed and some 500 are still in hospitals, suffering from 'gas poisoning'. Today's 'Sun-Herald' informs us on page 1: 117 KILLED AS SOLDIERS STORM THE BUILDING. The origin of the count is not clear, perhaps the newspaper treats Chechen terrorists and their victims equally, while seeing spetznaz as indiscriminate killers at the same time.
The apology to families issued by President Putin tends to be seen here as a form of admission of guilt. Chechen gunmen are called 'rebels' and the word 'terrorism' is never used. Commentators tell the public about the 'Russian war in Chechnya' somehow implying that Russia is an aggressor currently occupying a sovereign state of Chechnya.
Afghanistan: Tribal conflict in north

The UNO has requested Afghan warlords Abdul Rashid Dostam and Atta Mohammad to begin negotiations following conflict in northern Afghanistan between their forces.
Mohammad is a Tajikh, a member of the Northern Alliance and Dostam is an Uzbekh, who holds the position of Vice-Minister of Defence. 6 people had died in the fighting between the two factions, near Mazar-i-Sharif.
[n.b. Mohammad Atta was said to be the chief hijacker in the 911 attacks]
Pravda defends Russia's use of gas to end hostage crisis GaZeTa published the opinion of an intensive therapy doctor, director of a narcological clinic Irina Voyevodskaya. The doctor maked her conclusions based on the symptoms of poisoning of the hostages. "Judging by some features, the gas belongs to a definite group of substances that are harmless for people under regular conditions. The gas likely contained valium or seduxen, which are really harmless substances. The gas has an effect in closed rooms. It has rather a soporific and not hallucinogenic effect. It influences only the part of the brain that is responsible for breathing. When people leave the room where the gas is spread, the effect considerably reduces".

Monday, October 28, 2002

Soporific Used During Special Operation

It's likely that the special forces that stormed the theater building where Chechen terrorists held hostages used soporific to neutralize the terrorists, according to NEWSru.COM commenting on the video shot on the attack scene and demonstrated on the Russian ORT television.
Pentagon Plans to Gas US Citizens

The Department of Defense has petitioned the UN for a ruling on the use of its new compressed high potency Valium gas for the purposes of domestic riot control. The United States is a signatory in an agreement that allows domestic law enforcement to use tear gas and pepper gas, but since the UN Commission makes no specific mention of it, the Department of Defense wants a specific ruling as to whether it can dispense to the Office of Homeland Security and other domestic law enforcement agencies (including US troops based on US soil) its new high potency Valium gas for use against US citizens for the purposes of riot control.
How Can We Exterminate Terrorism?

When the storm at the theatre where hundreds of hostages were held was over, everybody started thinking of what was to be done to the bodies of the killed terrorists. It is reported that a hot-line phone was active within the three past days, which people used to suggest ideas concerning dead bodies of the terrorists. It is suggested that dead bodies of Shakhids are to be buried wrapped in pig skins filled up with pig's manure. This, as some Muslim theologians think, will not let the terrorists into the vakhabit paradise.
Air monster set to wreck peace of wine valley

One of the quietest regions of rural France is fighting to save its bucolic lifestyle as the world's biggest engineering project threatens to end centuries of peace among its vineyards. With intensive work due to begin next weekend, green movements and isolated villages are intensifying their protests. The specially widened highway will attract a flood of unwanted daytime goods traffic, they say, destroy roadside trees, pollute the cleanest air in the country, disturb rare wildlife and wreck a string of organic farming projects.
Article describes Wellstone as a target five months before death

Getting rid of Wellstone is a passion for Rove, Dick Cheney, George W. Bush and the special-interest lobbies that fund the most sophisticated political operation ever assembled by a presidential administration. "There are people in the White House who wake up in the morning thinking about how they will defeat Paul Wellstone," a senior Republican aide confides. "This one is political and personal for them."

Thursday, October 24, 2002

Underwater structures look like ancient ruins

HAVANA -- Peering through her glasses, ocean engineer Paulina Zelitsky spent months studying the grainy, black and white sonar images on her computer screen, searching for a scientific explanation for the fantastic geometric patterns she found beneath 2,000 feet of water.

Wednesday, October 23, 2002

Venice airport used for covert ops

The airfield where Mohamed Atta and his terrorist cadre learned to fly has a long history of?being used as a training base for paramilitary operations by federal authorities.
Earth's little brother found

Astronomers have discovered the first object ever that is in a companion orbit to the Earth.
Asteroid 2002 AA29 is only about 100 metres wide and never comes closer than 3.6 million miles to our planet.
But it shares the Earth's orbit around the Sun, at first on one side of the Earth and then escaping to travel along our planet's path around the Sun until it encounters the Earth from the other side. Then it goes back again.
Africa's Ice Age In Final Meltdown

A detailed analysis of six cores retrieved from the rapidly shrinking ice fields atop Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro shows that those tropical glaciers began to form about 11,700 years ago.
The cores also yielded remarkable evidence of three catastrophic droughts that plagued the tropics 8,300, 5,200 and 4,000 years ago.
Lastly, the analysis also supports Ohio State University researchers' prediction that these unique bodies of ice will disappear in the next two decades, the victims of global warming. These findings were published today in the journal Science.
French authorities refuse to link missing officer with US sniper attacks. 21/10/2002. ABC News Online

The French Defence Ministry refused to establish a link between the disappearance of the man, enrolled in a prestigious officers' training school in western France, and a series of deadly sniper attacks in Washington.
Iraq as Prison State, a review of Milan Rai's War Plan Iraq

All the recent chatter in the media about a forthcoming war on Iraq conveniently ignores the fact that the US and Britain have been waging war against Saddam since 1990-although its been a decidedly one-sided affair, too one-sided to mention apparently. Since the accords that brought an end to the Gulf War Round One, Iraq has been remorselessly bombed about once every three days. Its feeble air defense system is shattered and its radars jammed; its air force is grounded, the runways cratered; its primitive Navy is destroyed. The nation's northern and southern territories are occupied by hostile forces, armed, funded and overseen by the CIA.

Tuesday, October 22, 2002

World Oil Exchanges Burning Up

It is obvious that the world has not evaluated the new factor yet: the so-called ?Islamic Renaissance.? One could realize after Shah Reza Pahlavi was overthrown in Iran that the permanent Islamic revolution would play a key role in the world. Muslims have already come to power in Egypt, in Algeria, and even in NATO member Turkey, as a result of democratic elections. This recently happened in Pakistan as well. Only the army and the cancellation of constitutional liberties caused situation to stabilize.
One can now understand the USA?s wish to destroy Hussein?s regime in Iraq and to gain unrestricted access to Iraqi oil. The growth of Islamic terrorism makes the rest of the Arab world more unpredictable and hostile. - Pravda
Kyoto Protocol Is Not Worth a Thing

A Russian ecologist says that there is no greenhouse effect at all
Ecologists, who watch the situation with the global climate, have been recently shocked with a piece of news from a UN intergovernmental committee which stated that the economic losses of the humanity double every ten years due to global warming. It was also said that the economic losses would reach $150 billion during the coming decade.
Why was that information shocking? Studying the climate on planet Earth with the help of scientific methods proves that the so-called greenhouse effect can not actually be found. World leaders of 156 countries gathered for a conference back in 1992 in Rio. They signed the convention for climate change. This document became known as the Kyoto protocol of 1997. - Pravda
Bush offers condolences to Australians

President Bush offered condolences to the people of Australia on Saturday for the loss of life in last weekend's Bali nightclub bombings, vowing to work together in the fight against terrorism "to keep the peace and to make the world more free".
"Together we face an enemy which does not value innocent life, an enemy which tries to terrorize the free world into inaction," Bush said in a videotaped address to the Australian public. "They will fail. Together we will hunt down the killers so that there's justice in the world." - CNN
Ivory Coast's warriors take war to Web

Their uprising is only four weeks old and the Patriotic Movement of Ivory Coast's Web site is even newer.
"We should have a phone number by the end of the week," the site's manager said in response to an e-mailed request for information Wednesday. - CNN.com
Cheney: 911 Investigators, Keep Out

Dick Cheney played a behind-the-scenes role last week in derailing an agreement to create an independent commission to investigate the 9-11 attacks. Last month the White House endorsed the formation of the panel. But on Thursday, hours after congressional negotiators hailed a final deal over the scope and powers of a 9-11 panel, Cheney called House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Porter Goss, sources told NEWSWEEK.
New Evidence of Christ?

Writing in Biblical Archaeology Review, Andre Lemaire, a specialist in ancient inscriptions at France's Practical School of Higher Studies, says it is very probable the find is an authentic reference to Jesus of Nazareth. That Jesus existed is not doubted by scholars, but what the world knows about him comes almost entirely from the New Testament. No physical artifact from the first century related to Jesus has been discovered and verified. Lemaire believes that has changed, though questions remain, such as where the piece with the inscription has been for more than 19 centuries. The inscription, in the Aramaic language, appears on an empty ossuary, or limestone burial box for bones. It reads: "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus." Lemaire dates the object to 63 A.D. - ABCNEWS.com
French Soldier Missing in North America

France has alerted Interpol about a French army deserter who is known as a marksman and is missing in North America. A Defense Ministry spokesman said there was speculation of a link to the investigation into the Washington-area sniper.
The 25-year-old second lieutenant, who was not identified, did not return to class in September at the elite military school, Saint-Cyr Coetquidan in Brittany, in western France, after going on vacation in August, officials said. Interpol was notified of the disappearance of the officer, a normal procedure, and a judicial investigation was opened, which is also routine, said Defense Ministry spokesman Jean-Francois Bureau. - ABCNEWS.com
Child porn swoop nets 90 police

The discovery that many paedophiles were working in jobs of the highest sensitivity will send shock waves through the child protection world and lead to calls for even more stringent safeguards. Investigators knew paedophiles targeted jobs which brought them into contact with children, but were shocked by how many British suspects had been undetected by the usual checks. - Observer
War plans under fire as even Bush heartland talks peace

As the United States edges towards a possible war against Iraq, a sudden torrent of concern has begun to flow - a revolt by the intelligentsia spreading beyond the expected opposition political circles and penetrating the heart of the media and foreign policy establishment.
The esteemed New York Review of Books, in an article by one of the country's leading commentators, Anthony Lewis, argued that a regime change in Iraq could be 'the first step towards a new American imperium'. Meanwhile, wrote Lewis, 'the fear of looking unpatriotic inhibits dissent'. - Observer
Weapons of mass distraction

The Vice President, Dick Cheney, is now facing a civil law suit for fraud from the NGO Judicial Watch. This alleges that the Vice President and others inflated the earnings of Halliburton, a company he ran, in order to raise the share price. The Vice President has had a much lower public profile of late: he is said to have spent much of the last six months hunkered down with his lawyers preparing a defence. The President himself has yet to give satisfactory answers about his sale of shares in an oil company for a large profit just ahead of bad news which would have slashed their value. You may recall that President Clinton had to face a government investigation from an independent prosecutor for what became known as the Whitewater affair. War fever has so far protected the present leadership from such scrutiny - after all, this is not the time to weaken the government. - Dan Plesch, Guardian Unlimited Observer
Robert Fisk: How to shut up your critics with a single word

Thank God, I often say, for the Israeli press. For where else will you find the sort of courageous condemnation of Israel's cruel and brutal treatment of the Palestinians? Where else can we read that Moshe Ya'alon, Ariel Sharon's new chief of staff, described the "Palestinian threat" as "like a cancer ? there are all sorts of solutions to cancerous manifestations. For the time being, I am applying chemotherapy."
Where else can we read that the Israeli Herut Party chairman, Michael Kleiner, said that "for every victim of ours there must be 1,000 dead Palestinians". Where else can we read that Eitan Ben Eliahu, the former Israeli Air Force commander, said that "eventually we will have to thin out the number of Palestinians living in the territories". Where else can we read that the new head of Mossad, General Meir Dagan ? a close personal friend of Mr Sharon ? believes in "liquidation units", that other Mossad men regard him as a threat because "if Dagan brings his morality to the Mossad, Israel could become a country in which no normal Jew would want to live". - Independent UK
'Washington sniper is not a professional'

Perhaps "he had some disappointment in his childhood, felt inadequate, snapped and decided to do something about it." That disappointment could well have been a rejection from the military or marksmanship training, criminologists said.
Certainly, the shooter's mediocre marksmanship, in which he missed one target entirely, indicates that he had not been trained, they said.
"He's not an expert," said Elba Silva Vargas, a Colombian prosecutor in Washington on official business.
"A sharpshooter never misses." - AFP
The world is slowing down

The planet we live on is losing two-and-a-half milliseconds evey hundred years, according to Dr Ludwig Combrinck of the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory, located west of Johannesburg. - IOL Independent
Outrage as Iraq views UK arms

Peace campaigners angered as Saddam's top brass 'rub shoulders' with British firms at weapons bazaar...
A British Minister will lead a major sales drive by UK weapons and military technology firms at an exhibition attended by high-ranking Iraqi military officials this week. The news has sparked outrage among arms control campaigners and groups opposed to military action against Iraq. 'It is absurd that we are gearing up to fight a war against these people and simultaneously rubbing shoulders with them at an arms bazaar,' said Martin Hogbin of the Campaign Against Arms Trade. - Guardian

Friday, October 18, 2002

Mossad wants you!

"If you are sensitive, creative and charming, Mossad wants you," says a Mossad recruitment poster published in The Jerusalem Post and other Israeli newspapers on 22 June 2001.
Trying to entice brilliant and talented young Jews, the poster says, "The Mossad has opened its gates. Not to everybody, not to many, but maybe to you".
CIA issued Bali warning

The CIA issued a warning in September about a potential terrorist threat to Bali and other tourist resorts in south-east Asia, a US intelligence source said yesterday, provoking new questions over whether the attack could have been foiled.
The CIA warning was more specific than has been officially acknowledged and it fuelled a growing row - not only in Washington but also in London and Canberra - over whether Indonesia could have acted sooner against Islamist militants or whether tourists could have been given more warning of the dangers of travelling to resorts like Bali. - Guardian

Ex-Mossad Agent Speaks Out


Over the years there have been claims and counter-claims of Mossad involvement in Australia. The Israeli secret service prefers to operate well away from the spotlight of publicity. In this exclusive interview New Dawn
asked the courageous whistle blower, Victor Ostrovsky about his books, the current situation in the Middle East, the powerful U.S. Israeli lobby, and Mossad links in Australia.
Troop withdrawal attracts mixed response

NEW DELHI: The international community has responded warmly to India's decision to withdraw troops. Though the move has earned immediate gains for India, securing appreciation for its mature action, the withdrawal is also being viewed as a prelude to an Indo-Pak dialogue. - The Times of India
An American Spirit of Justice for Iraq

We all know this war on Islam and Muslims masquerades itself as a ?war on terrorism?, yet America time and again couches its intentions with claims of altruism or the establishment of justice. It claimed it acted to liberate the poor Afghani people from the brutality of the Taliban, and seeks to launch a war on Iraq to protect the security not only of America but also Iraq?s neighbours. Regime change in Iraq has been spun to paint a picture that hides the true reality of this intervention. The US and British claim that they seek to topple a dictator to save a people from the brutality of a regime which has Weapons of Mass Destruction and has in the past used biological weapons against its own people. - Khilafah.com
France enabled Iraq to launch WMDs : CIA allegation

PARIS, Oct 15: In a major document published here, the CIA has accused France of having provided Iraq with the aircraft permitting it to carry and launch weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).
In the story, written by Le Monde's intelligence specialist Jacques Isnard, the CIA - in a 24-page document titled "Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programme" - is said to have accused France of having provided Iraq with the aircraft - notably the Mirage F1-EQ - which has been specially adapted to carry biological weapons. - Khilafah.com
Killer UFO in India

Seven people have been killed by what locals describe as a ?killer sphere with red and blue flashing lights? which appears at night, burning the victims to death. The objects have appeared in the province of Shanwa, Uttar Pradesh, northern India.
One resident, Raghurai Pal, whose father was killed by these objects recently, stated that ?His stomach was torn open and he died two days later?. However, the Indian authorities dismiss these stories as mass hysteria and claim that the objects are nothing more than insects. - Pravda.RU
DC Killings Done By A Government Sniper Team

The fact that this operation is taking place in the United States and so near to the largest concentration of supposedly sophisticated law enforcement and intelligence practitioners in the country - and that this team has not been even close to getting caught - leads me to favor the hypothesis that this is a domestic operation, or a foreign operation that is being permitted to take place to serve the interests of the ongoing coup.

Partial plate checked in sniper case - Oct. 16, 2002

U.S. investigators to question al Qaeda detainees about sniper attacks; sources emphasize no current evidence links shootings to terrorism. Details to come.
-CNN.com
Variance Deviations on September 11

The most striking departures of the GCP data from expectation on September 11 were in the variance measure, that is, the second-by-second internode variation. Beginning at about 4 or 5 in the morning, New York time, the variance showed a persistent, slight increase, that continued until about 11:00. It then became slightly smaller than expectation and again, maintained the tendency for several hours, until about 18:00. The following figures show the cumulative deviation of the variance from its mean value for one day, the 11th, and then the same measure in a larger context of three days and 12 days. The first represents the formal, scientific view, but the second and third figures, although they show the actual data, emphasize an aesthetic perspective, and give a thought provoking, broader context.

Thursday, October 17, 2002

Rumsfeld OKs military assist in sniper hunt

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Tuesday approved the use of military reconnaissance and surveillance equipment in the hunt for the Washington area sniper.
Rumsfeld's Style, Goals Strain Ties In Pentagon

Senior military officers at the Pentagon complain of a pronounced civilian-military divide at the Pentagon under Rumsfeld's leadership. Their best advice is being disregarded by someone who has spent most of the last 25 years away from the military. Rumsfeld first served as secretary of defense from 1975 to 1977, in the Ford administration.
- washingtonpost.com
Jakarta got US warnings of attack

JAKARTA - The Megawati administration is under renewed pressure after revelations that her government was warned repeatedly by Washington in the weeks before the Bali blasts about possible terrorist strikes against Americans and Westerners.
The disclosure in yesterday's New York Times that US Ambassador to Indonesia Ralph Boyce delivered the latest warning a day before the blasts will serve only to reinforce criticism about Jakarta's slow response and failure to heed intelligence about the terror menace in its midst.
Troop pullback sends mixed signals

NEW DELHI: Ten months after the Army's unprecedented mobilisation along the entire Pakistan border, the Vajpayee government has ordered its withdrawal without coming any closer to achieving its stated goal of forcing Islamabad to stop cross-border terrorism.
Though the successful completion of the Kashmir elections is being cited as evidence that the troop mobilisation has produced the desired results, the government had noted as recently as October 4 that Pakistan "has consistently failed all tests, litmus or otherwise".
- The Times of India
Defence Satellite Tracked Siberian Fireball that Might have Hit Earth

The U.S. Department of Defense has confirmed an apparent space rock that lit a fire in the night sky above a remote region of Siberia last month. Meanwhile, scientists struggle to pin down whether or not the object slammed into the planet.
Eyewitnesses in the Bodaibo district reported seeing a fireball race across the sky Sept. 24. Hunters later said they found a crater surrounded by burned forest. A seismic monitor in the region, according to the British NEO Information Center possibly recorded the event.
New Walls Encircle Pyramidal Complex at Giza

Since the beginning of 2002, investigators and explorers have been recording the construction of a massive system of walls being placed around the historic pyramidal sites and the larger unexcavated area of Giza, Egypt — in total, an area covering approximately eight square kilometers. Why build these massive walls at this time?
Bush says Iraq "unwise" to test US resolve

President George W. Bush warned allies and foes alike not to doubt US resolve to disarm Baghdad, as he signed a congressional resolution authorizing him to wage war on Iraq.
"Either the Iraqi regime will give up its weapons of mass destruction or, for the sake of peace, the United States will lead a global coalition to disarm that regime," he said Wednesday at a ceremony in the White House's ornate East Room.
"If any doubt our nation's resolve, our determination, they would be unwise to test it," added the president, who was surrounded by lawmakers of both major US parties and both chambers of the US Congress.
Israeli intelligence: Bin Laden is dead, heir has been chosen

TEL AVIV — Osama Bin Laden appears to be dead but his colleagues have decided that Al Qaida and its insurgency campaign against the United States will continue, Israeli intelligence sources said.

Wednesday, October 16, 2002

Reality TV: From Popstars to Presidents

WASHINGTON Friday, September 20, 2002 — From the people who produced the political documentary The War Room and the director of the Austin Powers series comes a new concept that takes reality TV into the political world.
Cable network FX, a subsidiary of News Corp., the parent company of Fox News, is planning a show called The American Candidate. The idea is to search the country for untapped political talent, and possibly even the next commander-in-chief.
Producer R.J. Cutler told the entertainment publication Variety: "We will be making available to every American who is qualified ... the opportunity to run for president."
"We're trying to see if there's a young Abe Lincoln out there, somebody whose vision could turn on the public in an exciting way," Cutler added.
The political possibilities are mind-boggling. Approximately 13.4 million people watched American Idol. That's roughly a third of the audience for the last Bush/Gore debate. It's nearly 13 percent of the number of people who actually voted in the 2000 presidential election.
If a dynamic, appealing and knowledgeable political version of Kelly Clarkson emerged and caught fire with voters, he or she could end up drawing a significant portion of the popular vote.
"The kind of third party candidates they tend to go for in significant numbers, are those who get over the threshold of not being known. In other words, they have to be celebrities," said political analyst Michael Barone.
That has worked before. Former pro-wrestler Jesse Ventura defied predictions to become the governor of Minnesota. Independent candidate H. Ross Perot didn't win the presidency, but in 1992, the billionaire drew 19 percent of the popular vote, some say capturing enough Republican votes to cost President George H.W. Bush the re-election.
Astronomers wrangle over Earth's "new moon"

PARIS (AFP) Sep 12, 2002: An enigmatic object spotted in the night sky last week by an amateur astronomer has set experts wondering whether the Earth may have gained a new moon.
Others say the answer could be quite different, but almost as exciting. They believe it to be a piece of space history left over by the Apollo lunar pioneers, and that the Earth has now reclaimed it, saving it from the fiery embrace of the Sun.