The Economist has a survey of America’s “homeland security”. CNN: the faces of bin Laden. His years as a terrorist have not treated him kindly. The CS Monitor reported today that Osama bin Laden is still in Afghanistan according to the Taliban’s chief of intelligence, who’s hiding out in Pakistan.
A Secret Service agent working in President Bush’s security detail was removed from a flight because the flight’s pilot doubted his security credentials. It won’t shock you to learn that this man happens to be of Arab descent.
I’m back from my brief Christmas trip. On Saturday, I had a connecting flight through Laguardia in New York, and even though I didn’t see the former site of the World Trade Center, just travelling through the city felt somewhat surreal. It brought the depth of the tragedy back to me and I actually felt ill. The terrorists really took a lot away from us as a society. The most troubling news going into the new year has to be the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan. Pakistan seems to be trying to cool things down with India, but India is rightfully pissed that terrorists backed by Pakistan’s spy agency decided to try to gun down India’s parliament. Needless to say, the spectre of war between two countries with massive armies and nuclear arsenals is incredibly chilling. ...
Mozilla 0.9.7 is out, just in time for Christmas. I’m going to be travelling for a few days. Updates will resume after Christmas.
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 be better if they suddenly decided that suicide bombings are an atrocity and should never be used, but the first step toward stopping for good is stopping for now. I have no idea whether Hamas will really follow through, but I hope that they do. I think that Israel’s response has been counterproductive. ...
Lord of the Rings was inspired in large part by the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic poem. Fascinating stuff. Here’s a link to part two of the Washington Post’s series on the Clinton administration’s efforts against al-Qaeda. 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 had actually created a system for bringing in illegal immigrants is just the next logical step. Given that Republicans are running things these days, the odds are low that this incident will actually motivate any sort of increased regulation for this severely dysfunctional industry. ...
The demise of adcritic.com is a pity. Such a useful site. The New York Times has an article about one spot in the front lines of the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians – the Termit border post that separates the Gaza Strip from Egypt. The post, largely manned by Muslim Bedouins who are Israeli citizens, is under constant attack by what seems like anybody who can get their hands on a weapon. What a desolate and miserable place. The story talks about a 14 year old Palestinian kid who throws homemade grenades at Israeli tanks for what seems like lack of anything better to do. He’s a third generation resident of a refugee camp, and there are no jobs for anyone in his family. What a meaningless existence. ...
John Sutherland: America and its advantages … I need to spend more time in other countries so that I can appreciate this stuff more. (Link via kenlayne.com.) Paul Krugman on Enron, Death by Guru: Enron sold lots of things, but above all it sold itself: it crafted a self-portrait that business gurus loved. Like a schematic diagram from The McKinsey Quarterly or The Harvard Business Review, Enron’s business plan made a perfect PowerPoint presentation. Other companies hired business gurus as consultants; Enron, in effect, put the gurus in charge. (Jeff Skilling, who made Enron what it is today, is a former McKinsey consultant.) What they created was a company so trendy that investors were dazzled. And that let executives get away with financial murder. ...
One question that’s been on people’s minds is when Ramadan ends exactly. Of course, one reason people are wondering is that there were lots of rumors of terrorist attacks at the end of Ramadan, but let’s brush that aside for now. Anyway, National Geographic has an article that explains how Ramadan ends and Eid-al-Fitr begins. (Ramadan ended Saturday night. My neighbors had a lot of cars in front of their house yesterday, their Eid-al-Fitr celebration must be in full swing.) ...
The Washington Post has an article on the psychological effects of bombardment today. For future reference: Sudan’s Offer to Arrest Militant Fell Through After Saudis Said No (this is the story on Osama bin Laden’s expulsion from the Sudan). At the time, the Sudanese government contacted the CIA and offered to turn bin Laden over to the Saudis, but no deal could be reached. (I keep needing a link to this story and didn’t link to it here at the time.) ...