The mouth of Sauron was on television tonight with a short prepared speech to exhort Americans to support military action against Iraq. While our rubber stamp congress has almost completely fallen in behind the president to ‘speak with one voice’ he has continued to suffer from a lack of public support for his administration’s takeover attempt, so this message tonight on television, a speech in front of a friendly crowd Republicans in Ohio did nothing to provide additional evidence supporting the Bush line that Iraq is a threat to the United States. In fact during the entire speech I was struck by how Bush simply attempted to sway the emotions of the audience rather to prevent any argument supported by reason or evidence. He persisted in referring to Saddam Hussein simply as Saddam. I cannot imagine another world leader with a beef against another using their first name. Can you imagine Hussein using the same language: “George is a threat to the Iraqi people. George is a threat to the world.” It is puzzling. I can only guess that he wishes to reduce the image of Hussein to that of some swarthy, mideast Stalin. Maybe the repeated use of the Iraqi dictator’s first name is some attempt to imply some linguistic connection of Saddam to Sodom. I can’t imagine why else. In short, this speech to me shows two things: that the Bush administration is desperate to secure the support of the American public, and that the Bush administration is further desperate to win what could be a potential black eye for American foreign policy.
07
Oct 02
bin Laden reportedly alive and well
I guess this means our government doesn’t know anything after all and that you can’t believe anything they say. It might be good news in a way since it might make it harder to put the so-called ‘War on Terror’ on the back burner to muscle in on Iraq and rain death on some poor Iraqis. Although, maybe Big Brother has something else in store with this piece of timely information (disinformation?).
From the Guardian Observer:
Osama bin Laden is alive and regularly meeting Mullah Omar, the fugitive leader of the Taliban, according to a telephone call intercepted by American spy satellites.
In the conversation, recorded less than a month ago, Omar and a senior aide were discussing the American-led hunt to track them down. The two men, using a mobile Thuraya satellite phone, spoke about tactics for several minutes. Omar then turned to a third person who was within a few yards of him, voice analysis has revealed. After exchanging a few words, Omar said that ‘the sheikh sends his salaams [greetings]’. Senior Taliban figures habitually refer to bin Laden as ‘the sheikh’.
Voice analysis appears to corroborate the identification of bin Laden. ‘It shows he was alive recently at least,’ said a senior Afghan intelligence officer. ‘Some people might like to think he is dead, but that’s just wishful thinking.’
07
Oct 02
Finger in the eye of the music industry
I love reading about the conniption fits the music and movie industries are in. Strong copyright must die. It no longer serves its original purpose and now makes corporations the slave masters and beneficiaries of human cultural production. Down with the parasites. They do not produce anything they simply wish to control it and make money from it.
Here was a funny passage in this article about hiding Kazaa’s source code from rapacious industry lawyers:
Nikki Hemming, the chief executive of Sharman, which is based in Sydney, Australia, is scheduled to meet with the entertainment industry’s lawyers soon to give a deposition, though at the request of her lawyers, the meeting will probably take place in Canada. Niklas Zennstrom and Janis Friis, who developed the software, are being sought in Europe. And according to a lawyer for the record industry, the programmers in Estonia who once possessed a copy of the program’s source code told a judge there last week that they no longer had it, but they would not say where it was.
06
Oct 02
Yemen Tanker Blast
A French oil super-tanker has caught fire and is sinking. It appears most likely to be the result of a sabotage attack although this is coming from the captain of the tanker who might have some interest in removing responsibility from himself or the corporation which owns the tanker. If this was indeed a ‘terrorist’ attack it could signal a new strategy…attacking the enemy where it hurts, in their addiction to cheap oil, destroying business infrastructure. Business is the invisible hand behind government, especially the American and European governments. I look forward to see what the future will hold. It’s always surprising.
However, the most significant aspect of the latest attack is that U.S. intelligence missed it.
Despite the U.S. and allied military presence throughout the region — and intelligence-sharing by many Middle Eastern governments, particularly that in Yemen — Washington did not anticipate the supertanker attack. Indeed, in U.S. President George W. Bush scaled back the terrorism assessment alert status in late September from “high” to “elevated,” saying the al Qaeda network had been disrupted.
The implication is clear: The United States is flying blind in the Middle East.
06
Oct 02
A Must Read Article
Oil has always been top of Bush’s foreign-policy agenda:
October 7 2002
As the United States prepares for war with Iraq, a report commissioned early in George Bush’s presidency has surfaced, showing that the US knew it was running out of oil and foreshadowing the possible need for military intervention to secure supplies.
The report forecasts an end to cheap and plentiful fuel, with the energy industry facing “the beginning of capacity limitations”.
Prepared by the influential Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations and the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, it urged the Bush Administration to admit “these agonising truths to the American people”.
Strategic Energy Policy Challenges for the 21st Century, written early last year, was a policy document used to shape the new administration’s energy policy.
It applauded the creation of Vice-President Dick Cheney’s energy task force to address the creation of specific energy plans, and suggested it consider including representation from the Department of Defence.
Saying “there is no alternative” and “there is no time to waste”, the document projects periods of exploding US energy prices, economic recession and social unrest unless answers are found.
It suggests that a minimum three to five years is needed to find a solution, and says a “reassessment of the role of energy in American foreign policy” is called for, with access to oil repeatedly cited as a “security imperative”.
The involvement of the Council of Foreign Relations in the report’s preparation adds weight to its findings. The council ranks as one of the most influential groups in US political circles, with members including Mr Cheney and the former secretaries of state Henry Kissinger and James Baker.
The report also explodes the myth that the US is insulated from Middle East oil supply problems because it receives the bulk of its oil from less volatile sources outside the Persian Gulf. It says Middle East pricing and supply trends “will affect energy costs around the globe regardless”.
06
Oct 02
Afghan Government Hails U.S.-Led War as Liberation
That should read the puppet Afghan government installed by American interests from without. It is also not mentioned that the ‘government’ of Afghanistan, the Karzai regime, really only controls Kabul, and that Karzai has to use American bodyguards and skulk from place to place because his own people have tried to have him assassinated multiple times. I don’t predict longevity for this ‘government’ especially if the American occupation forces continue to humiliate and abuse the local population. You should read this Reuters piece. You’ll get to see Karzai’s elusive American bodyguards.
06
Oct 02
I love pirates
Raise the Jolly Roger, you scurvy dogs! VCD (Video CD) pirates take to the high seas to avoid detection:
The manufacturers produce thousands of pirated copies on board ships anchored in international waters. They will then dock their vessels at the various ports or jetties along the state’s coastline to drop off their products,” he told AFP.
Mazlan said the marine police had been asked to be on the lookout for the pirate ships in the busy Malacca Straits between Malaysia and Indonesia.
Police in Penang last week launched “Operation Green Ribbon” to nab peddlers of illegal CDs and VCDs and Mazlan said they had already arrested four retailers and seized over 1,000 pirated copies.
06
Oct 02
Pope canonises Opus Dei founder
Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer’s canonization, only 27 years after the Spanish priest’s death, was achieved in remarkably swift time by the Vatican’s saint-making timetables, which often stretch over decades or even centuries. …
Many of Opus Dei’s members come from top professional ranks, including law, medicine, publishing and other businesses.
The many suits and ties, conservative dresses and string pearls worn by the faithful to the ceremony reflected the rather upscale membership of much of the organisation. ….
Opus Dei has rejected charges that it is elitist and secretive, and much of the criticism of Escriva’s personality seemed to be tempered as Catholics saw the pope move along Escriva’s cause for sainthood at a quick pace.