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Sunday, Dec 02, 2001

pound foolish

"The policy of using political Islam as an anti-Communist tool was a crucial reason why so much of the Muslim world came to be dominated by stagnant, undemocratic but stable (so it seemed) and adequately pro-Western governments, on one hand, and the traditional forces of political Islam, reconfigured for the latter half of the 20th century, on the other. The crowning achievement of such a policy was the defeat of the modernizing alternative: those movements that hoped to avoid aligning with either the Soviet Union or the United States; to develop their societies along secular lines by, ideally, ever more democratic means; and to substitute nationalism for colonial humility and Islamic traditionalism."

[link]


Friday, Nov 30, 2001

comfy cozy

old brown shoe
long long long
for you blue
only a northern song
savoy truffle
think for yourself
something
while my guitar gently weeps
here comes the sun

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center of attention

The Rabbi and the Centerfold

[link]


opinionadir

Among the isolated, out-of-step losers who dare open their mouths to mutter "doubts" about America's military campaign in Afghanistan, you will sometimes hear the traitorous comment: "This war is just about oil."

We here at the Global Eye take stern exception to such cynical tommyrot. No one who has made a clear and dispassionate assessment of the situation in the region could possibly say the new Afghan war is "just about oil."

It's also about drugs.

[link]


girls who wear glasses

"Nowadays, they do. Whether it’s Ted Koppel being made by the Iranian hostage crisis or Arthur Kent turning into the “Scud Stud” during the Gulf War, historic news stories have become the journalistic fast track to celebrity. And this happens so routinely that the search for the new media star is automatically built into coverage of the events themselves. Within hours of the attack on the World Trade Center, you could already hear people asking, “Who’s going to be made by this one?"

[link]


making copy

Will the FBI's most-wanted terrorist have his place in Time as the magazine's Man of the Year?

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Thursday, Nov 29, 2001

rain or shine

weatherbug has been a good addition to my tray. real time temps.

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partition of the problem

on this day -- un votes to partition palestine
The United Nations Partition Plan
the question of palestine -- un overview
relevant maps

[link]


you give me fever

"Ominous news from Pakistan and Iran indicate that at best a viral pandemic may be brewing among Afghan refugees, at worst that former Soviet biological weapons have possibly made their first appearance."

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reform school

"Following through on promises to curb religious extremism in the region, Musharraf is expected in the next week or two to impose strict new rules on the madrassas, or Islamic academies, some of which have nurtured young holy warriors for recruitment into Afghanistan's Taliban."

[link]