This Christian Science Monitor article mentions a technology that I hadn’t heard of before. Some sort of magnetic tape that acts as indicator to US pilots that a target is friendly:
And each Alizai truck has a magnetic sticker provided by “the Americans.” The Alizais say they were told that the stickers signal to US [...]
Saudi Arabia is running out of patience with the US media, according to the state run media there and Saudi Arabia’s defense minister. What they should be asking themselves is why the US has given their miserable country a free pass for so long, despite the fact that their national sport is deflecting criticism [...]
Today, Salon Premium has an article on Fouad Ajami, the prominent Arab scholar and talking head who’s been discussed here before.
Hamas says it’s suspending suicide bombings and mortar attacks against targets inside Israel. Israel’s government has dismissed the announcement, saying that it’s a “ploy” and a “tactical move.” If Hamas goes through with the suspension, does it really matter what their motivation is as long as the suicide bombings stop? Obviously it would [...]
Going back to the questions about how al-Qaeda works that I had yesterday, the CS Monitor has an article today on the organization’s structure. It has alliances with many independent groups, but also obviously carries out its own operations as well. The article also points out that while some operations were centrally planned, [...]
Slate’s Scott Shuger has a good little piece about interservice rivalry in the US military today.
I oftentimes consider posting what book I’m currently reading, or keeping some sort of log of books I’ve read and what I thought about them here, but I never do. I think that stems largely from the fact that I don’t read as many books as I’d like to, and I’m kind of ashamed [...]
Salon has an interview with James Woolsey, the former CIA director who has Iraq on the brain. You might also say that Woolsey is part of the shadow government — he has no official job in the administration, but is nonetheless part of a lot of defense-related policy decisions. In the interview, he lays out [...]
Mike Godwin: Coming Soon: Hollywood Versus the Internet
It doesn’t surprise me a bit that Tyson Foods was busted yesterday for running the largest corporate immigrant-smuggling ring in history. Anybody who’s read Fast Food Nation already knows that the meat processing industry is built on exploitation at every level and that its plants are filled with illegal immigrants. The fact that Tyson [...]