Airborne Combat Engineer

What rights should a dead killer have?

VT officials are saying school rules prohibit them from releasing certain records about Cho.

NBC copyrighted the material he sent them, and saw a pike in viewership last evening. (Shouldn't NBC have simply called the FBI as soon as it saw the name and address of the sender? )

ACE has to wonder if he didn't grant exclusive rights to his biography to someone, who is hastily throwing a book together, to hit the bookstores soon.

A-C-E Question of the Day (for discussion in comments):

What rights should a deceased mass murderer (and his estate) retain?

Shouldn't a person forfeit his/her rights once he shows complete disregard for the rights of others?

more questions in the continuation

The UAE

To assume a strong position on the port issue, one should know more about UAE than most of us do.

John Little at Blogs of War has compiled a number of links to get us up to speed.

From the CIA World Factbook:

The Trucial States of the Persian Gulf coast granted the UK control of their defense and foreign affairs in 19th century treaties. In 1971, six of these states - Abu Zaby, 'Ajman, Al Fujayrah, Ash Shariqah, Dubayy, and Umm al Qaywayn - merged to form the United Arab Emirates (UAE). They were joined in 1972 by Ra's al Khaymah. The UAE's per capita GDP is on par with those of leading West European nations. Its generosity with oil revenues and its moderate foreign policy stance have allowed the UAE to play a vital role in the affairs of the region.

Location:  Between Saudi Arabia and Oman, bordering the Persian Gulf

Hispanic group demands apology from Wilbanks

AJC reports:

A Hispanic advocacy group vowed Tuesday to stand outside Jennifer Wilbanks' home until she apologizes for telling police that a Latino was one of two people responsible for her abduction.

She owes an apology to White Women also, for also falsely implicating a white woman. (She's not a White Woman. She's a retarded development teen who never grew up mentally, making her a White Girl. She's an embarrassment to all Women, and a setback to their cause of being treated equally to men.)

Sean Hannity has all but adopted the couple (after her groom-to-be? John Mason got all excited when a reporter joked that Sean Hannity would be at his house soon).

Gwinnett Co. DA Porter had a great comeback when Sean Hannity asked where the balance was when a man from the BC administration got away with only a misdemeanor for stealing top secret documents but many were calling for charges and repayment of costs from a confused young woman. Porter's reply (which made Holmes chuckle in the background):

"If Sandy Burger had expressed remorse and paid for the [documents], would you have been satisfied?"

Just how wild was Hanoi Jane?

The AJC reports British tabloids are leaking out some pretty racy stuff, which might not actually be in her embargoed book:

Of her marriage to "Barbarella" director and first husband Roger Vadim, the Daily Mail quotes Fonda saying that Vadim insisted on sexual romps with Fonda and other women.

In addition to dishing on threesomes, the popular British tabloid quoted Fonda as writing that Vadim encouraged her to use the techniques she employed while playing a prostitute in her 1971 Oscar-winning "Klute" to entice the other women.

Sounds like she'd be smart to lift the embargo ASAP, before the rumors get even wilder.  But, let's enjoy it while we can.

Wonder when Kerry (the second best known seditious character of the Vietnam era) or his wacko wife will publish a book? Inquiring minds want to know.

Given enough $, a 67-yr-old can look good.
Is that a big ring, or a big bug?

Dummy's Guide to Fake Indians

Gordon @ Cranky Neocon bursts our bubble regarding some highly revered "Indians" and links to other blogs who are doing the same.

Next thing you know, he'll be trying to tell us Tonto was a halfbreed.
CLARIFICATION: I don't know if he was half Indian or full Indian.

Jay Silverheels (born Harold J. Smith in Canada - son of Mohawk chief)

I refuse to add to WC's publicity stunt, so I'll sneak in the back door this way.

What was (and was not) accomplished at G-8?

FRI 11JUN04. Atlanta J-C.

Capping three days of informal diplomacy, President Bush garnered strong Group of Eight support on issues close to his heart and crucial to his presidency — Iraq, the Middle East and terrorism — while mending frayed relations with allies.

At its core, the Sea Island summit reinforced the Group of Eight industrialized democracies' shift from their early focus on matters economic to a post-Sept. 11, 2001, emphasis on combatting terrorism.

But, few new commitments of G-8 money and troops for Iraq appear forthcoming. And promises to shrink Iraq's staggering $120 billion debt didn't materialize.

For complete G-8 coverage, see this special AJC G-8 section.

A pentagonal round table for 10

Seven new NATO members from old Soviet-bloc

Mon 29 MAR 04. AP. Tom Raum. via Yahoo News.

President Bush welcomed seven former Soviet-bloc nations into NATO Monday: Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

NATO now has 26 member nations.

Links to world news in English by Kidon

Sun 28 MAR 04. Kidon.com. Via Politburo Diktat

Kidon provides a great resource for reading news from around the world in English (or other languages if you prefer). You can select news sources by continent and country. For the US, you can select news sources by state.

Since the US media very selectively feeds news to us [based (I assume) on what they think will entertain the majority of us and keep us from clicking the remote, and not some evil motive], links like these are invaluable for finding out what's up in the rest of the world.

I'll be adding it under NEWS in the left sidebar.

Why doesn't American media report Iran news?

Thu 18 MAR 04. Hootinan is linking to a blogger in Iran who is reporting massive "civil disobedience" but we're hearing and reading very little about it in the American media.

"All reports indicate that almost every neighborhood in Tehran is on fire. People are throwing home-made bombs, Molotov cocktails, etc. into the homes of mullahs, and burning pictures of Khamenei in complete defiance of his recent edict to mourn during the month of Muharram."

Why doesn't this have a headline on the front pages of CNN and Fox News?

Either it's not easy to have news crews there, or, more likely, the media has determined most Americans are just not interested in what happens inside Iran. Apparently, surveys show we'd rather hear hours and hours of pundit discussions on the fate of Martha Stewart.

I don't even see it on the Al Jazeera news page nor the Tehran page of the Arab World News site.

If I just don't know where to find media coverage, please comment giving the links.

In this case, blogs are providing better coverage than the media (assuming it's not just optimistic exaggeration on the blogger's part -- a possibility). In the old days, short wave radio provided a similar function.

Democracy and freedom are infectious ideas. The Iranian people want what they're seeing in neighboring Iran (the open society, not the bad guys trying to impede it). Remember when we worried about the "Domino Theory" by which the whole world was going to fall to Communism? Looks like the other side is worrying now (Spain's appeasement under terrorist threats notwithstanding.)

UPDATE 19 MAR 04: Upon further research, with the help of the comments, I've found groups have been protesting for years in Iran. We can't give the liberation of Iran as much credit as I would did in the comments above. Murdoc mentions protests last year, which were also ignored by the world media. The worst putdown was on July 9, 1999. Murdoc provides some links to articles re. that event. Protests have been scheduled around that date ever since, but are now all but ignored by the world press. Apparently, protests groups are well organized and now protest at other times. Thanks to blogs, we can get the news from them. Since we can't verify their accounts with trusted sources like Reuters, we have no way to know if they are exaggerating.

I'm linking the Peyk e Iran source for news from Iran (which RPF provided in a comment) in the NEWS category in the sidebar, so I (we) can periodically check on what going on in Iran. We can also check blogs such as the linked in Hootinan's post.

Here's what a report in the Iranian news source says:

Protests began in the town of Fereydounkenar on Friday after the hardline Guardian Council, an oversight body with sweeping powers, annulled the votes cast in three ballot boxes, handing victory to the incumbent conservative member of parliament.

Protesters set fire to cars and attacked buildings including the home of the town's Friday Prayer leader, the ISNA students' news agency said.

Anti-riot police fired plastic bullets to disperse the protesters, ISNA said

So, blog reports of the beginning of a revolution do indeed seem to be exaggerated, just as this report may well be minimizing the protests. But, more power to them! Other news clips there mention a hardline Guardian Council, which has the power to veto candidates it deems unfit to run for office. That's not good.

UPDATE Fri 19 FEB 04: Interesting comments on this at the Robert L. Simon blog.

Follow Project Free Iran for future updates.

UPDATE Sun 21 FEB 04: In a comment below, RPF says: "PeykeIran is a dissident news portal located in Europe that publishes anti-mullah news." If I understand his comment correctly, the anti-US bias I thought I saw might be because it is using newsfeeds (having limited translation resources).

Nukes, from ICBMs to ADMs & RDDs

Russia has deployed another batch of state-of-the-art intercontinental nuclear missiles after a two-year break in the program caused by a funding shortage.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov inaugurated the new set of Topol-M missiles at the Tatishchevo missile base in the central Saratov region Sunday, describing them as a "21st-Century weapon" unrivaled in the world.

"This is the most advanced state-of-the-art missile in the world," Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said in remarks broadcast by Russian television stations Monday.
"Only such weapons can ensure and guarantee our sovereignty and security and make any attempts to put military pressure on Russia absolutely senseless."

The Cold War may be over, but ICBMs are far from extinct.

A nation having a large nuclear arsenal is like an individual carrying a hand grenade he can only throw 5 ft for self defense. It's a good deterrent, but using it is not likely to result in survival. Hopefully, we will never see the dreaded global nuclear war. Attempts to build defense systems are fought vigorously, as they might render the deterrent ineffective. What if the US could build a satellite system which would destroy a missile anywhere which exceeds a certain altitude, even ours?

The use of mini-nukes against hard targets is another matter, and we may live to see it. The US is reportedly developing such weapons, as noted in a post this weekend, and Russia, China, and possibly smaller members of the growing Nuclear Club may be as well. Remember, the US has had nuclear field weapons for decades.

-----

Perhaps the risk most worthy of worrying about right now is that of a nuclear bomb (or a conventional bomb which spreads radioactive nuclear waste) set off in the heart of a major city by an al Qaeda operative. The Soviet Union developed "suitcase nukes" and al Qaeda may have some of them.

Carrying case for atomic demolition munition (ADM)

-----

Somewhat more likely is the use of radiation dispersal devices (RDDs) which spread radioactive waste, rendering the target area uninhabitable until after a lengthy and expensive cleanup.

-----

We might as well let the authorities worry, but be on the lookout for suspicious individuals carrying large packages (possibly gift wrapped), or any unattended boxes, cases, or knapsacks. Make that 911 call! If they turn out to really be TVs or whatever, better safe than sorry. If foreign-looking citizens or visitors are offended, feeling they were "profiled," the authorities will apologize profusely. We didn't start the fire.

During the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, after the bombing during the opening ceremonies, all containers were checked (a royal pain), and we were repeatedly warned not to leave anything of any size unattended or all the spectators at a venue might have to be evacuated.

To learn more, check out WMD411.