The call cost the man his liberty. It may yet cost him his life but, more importantly, it could have provided America with the "smoking gun" evidence it has long sought and which apparently links the Iraqi regime to an active al-Qa'ida cell committing terror killings and planning others across Europe and the Middle East. One thing is certain: it has left Iraq needing to do a lot of explaining.

Posted by GeeTee at February 07, 2003 06:54 PM | TrackBack 0

The Center for Public Integrity has obtained a draft, dated January 9, 2003, of this previously undisclosed legislation and is making it available in full text (12 MB). The bill, drafted by the staff of Attorney General John Ashcroft and entitled the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003, has not been officially released by the Department of Justice, although rumors of its development have circulated around the Capitol for the last few months under the name of "the Patriot Act II" in legislative parlance.

Posted by GeeTee at February 07, 2003 06:07 PM | TrackBack 0

The drug tax is due as soon as the dealer takes possession of the marijuana or controlled substance. Payment of the drug tax will purchase the drug tax stamps. Attach the stamp to the marijuana and/or controlled substance immediately after receiving the substance. The stamps are valid for 3 months. Drugs seized without stamps or having expired stamps may result in criminal or civil penalties which may include fines, seizure of property or liens against real estate.

Posted by GeeTee at February 07, 2003 02:44 PM | TrackBack 0

"If you think of foreign policy as a toolbox, there are a whole range of options - you can convene allies, impose economic sanctions, expel ambassadors, jam hate radio," she said. "There is always something you can do, but if you look at most of these cases, you see that the toolbox stays closed even when the violations are bad, really bad, even when they are in the red zone."

Posted by GeeTee at February 07, 2003 01:41 PM | TrackBack 0

The Washington Post this week asked Ms. Newkirk if she had ``considered asking Arafat to persuade those who listen to him to stop blowing up people as well'' as animals.
[...]
``It's not my business to inject myself into human wars,'' Newkirk told the Post.

Posted by GeeTee at February 07, 2003 01:37 PM | TrackBack 0

Esther Dyson, one of the key figures in the development of the commercial Internet, advisor to Al Gore, promoter of the Net in Eastern Europe and poster woman for the dotcom millionaires, went to massive lengths today to distance herself from the failures of ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. Despite having been a Founding Director, Dyson now says that her involvement in ICANN's development was actually very limited.

Posted by GeeTee at February 07, 2003 08:03 AM | TrackBack 0

That site and others allowed citizens to swap Gore votes in states where Bush was likely to win anyway for the Green party candidate Nader. A Nader supporter in a state with a closer contest would then pledge to vote for Gore in return. Swaps of votes for other candidates were also theoretically possible.

Posted by GeeTee at February 07, 2003 07:51 AM | TrackBack 0

"This system may be designed to prevent MPs blushing from blue emails, but in practice it is blocking discussion of the new Sexual Offences Bill. "

Posted by GeeTee at February 07, 2003 07:48 AM | TrackBack 0

The problem in Vietnam was that we couldn't get these people to negotiate. Johnson always believed that there was no such thing as victory--only negotiation. He never could get the Vietcong to the negotiating table. A lot of people urged him to go all out, as Richard Nixon did later, to bomb them into the Stone Age; he refused to do that, ultimately to his detriment.

Posted by GeeTee at February 07, 2003 06:54 AM | TrackBack 0

They worry people under 18 are "invisible" as citizens because they have no say in politics.

Posted by GeeTee at February 07, 2003 06:14 AM | TrackBack 0

Deidre Sullivan, a comedian and writer, thinks the tension between lesbians and former lesbians is understandable: "Lesbians who live in the lesbian ghetto and hang out in lesbian bars named after dog food and cat food, dreaming of the hot transit worker at the end of the bar, are myopic and suspicious. The hasbian is very threatening because she crosses in and out of a sacred space. People fought so hard for the right to congregate in gay bars and to express their love openly, and now the interloper comes along."/p>

Posted by GeeTee at February 07, 2003 06:12 AM | TrackBack 0

...the three films for which the lead actresses are sure to be nominated are all essentially the same film. They tell the same sad story: Women are tragic, under-appreciated figures trapped in their own lives. Worthy and well-told as this story is, it is not the only storyline available for womankind. And it limits the emotions that the actresses get to play to two: either muted sorrow (The Hours, Far from Heaven) or feisty bitchiness (Chicago).

Posted by GeeTee at February 07, 2003 06:02 AM | TrackBack 0

Channel Four News has learnt that the bulk of the nineteen page document was copied from three different articles - one written by a graduate student. On Monday, the day before the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell addressed the UN, Downing Street published its latest paper on Iraq. It gives the impression of being an up to the minute intelligence-based analysis - and Mr Powell was fulsome in his praise. Published on the Number 10 web site, called "Iraq - Its Infrastructure of Concealment Deception and Intimidation", it outlines the structure of Saddam's intelligence organisations. But it made familiar reading to Cambridge academic Glen Ranwala. It was copied from an article last September in a small journal: the Middle East Review of International Affairs.

Posted by GeeTee at February 07, 2003 04:57 AM | TrackBack 0

"I look forward to welcoming President Bush on his first state visit to Canada," said the Prime Minister. "His visit will provide a valuable opportunity for us to continue our discussions on a range of bilateral and international issues of mutual interest and concern to our two nations."

Drop by while you're here, Dubya, I'm just around the corner from your embassy.

Posted by GeeTee at February 07, 2003 04:51 AM | TrackBack 0

Of the 13 sheep with pig hearts, one rejected the new heart. Five more showed milder rejection signs, and were successfully treated with anti-inflammatory medications. The remaining sheep showed no signs of organ rejection for as long as 70 days.

Posted by GeeTee at February 07, 2003 04:49 AM | TrackBack 0