Category: Everything Else

Juan Cole has a lengthy article about how al-Qaeda sees the world, and what it really wants. Whether he’s right, I don’t know, but it’s an interesting assessment of the situation.

A quadruple bypass is not a walk in the park. I’m sending President Clinton & his nearest & dearest some good energy today.

Update – I’m also sending a get-well card – like anyone who’s been sick, I’m sure he’ll appreciate the support. If you’re of like mind here’s a mailing address:

The William J. Clinton Foundation
55 West 125th St.
New York, NY 10027

2 Russian airplanes go boom and it’s barely a blip in the US press. Why? Because it’s internal terrorism.

A top Russian official acknowledged Thursday what many citizens already suspected — that terrorism was the most likely cause of two jetliners crashing minutes apart, a feeling reflected in a newspaper headline warning that “Russia now has a Sept. 11.”

A day later, a Web site known for militant Muslim comment published a claim of responsibility for Wednesday’s twin plane crashes, connecting the action to Russia’s fight against separatists in Chechnya.

OTOH, I suppose the lack of press is good in that at least it won’t inflame the paranoid among us even more.

Yet another report on Abu Ghraib is out but this one at least starts to point the finger in the right direction.

What began several months ago with the emergence of shocking photographs showing a handful of U.S. troops abusing detainees in Iraq has led this week to a broad indictment of U.S. military leadership and acknowledgement in two official reports that mistreatment of prisoners was more widespread than previously disclosed.

The reports have served to undercut earlier portrayals of the abuse as largely the result of criminal misconduct by a small group of individuals. As recently as last month, an assessment by the Army’s inspector general concluded the incidents could not be ascribed to systemic problems, describing them as “aberrations.”

But the findings yesterday of another Army investigation offered a more critical appraisal of what led to the mistreatment at Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad. It implicated 27 military intelligence soldiers in abuse, providing some support for assertions by some of the seven military guards previously charged that they were not acting alone. Counting other intelligence, medical and civilian contract personnel cited for failing to report the abuse, and three more military police officers alleged to have engaged in abuse, the report appeared to raise to nearly 50 the number of people who may face charges or disciplinary action for misconduct at Abu Ghraib.

The people at the top of the foodchain, of course, are probably never going to have to pay for what happened. We’ll be lucky if anyone over the rank of Colonel feels the heat.

Maybe moving back to NYC isn’t such a bad idea after all …. SF beats NY on the “most overpriced places to live” list. At least we don’t live in the most overpriced city – Seattle!