From the Jerusalem Post, Ariel Sharon speaking to a crowd of supportive Evangelical Christians:
Sharon even received a positive response when he told the largely Evangelical crowd of visiting Pope John Paul II prior to his visit here in 2000. Sharon said that the pope told him that Jerusalem was holy to Jews, Christians, and Moslems. Then Sharon related, the pontiff added, "But it was promised only to the Jews."

Well at least we know were God stands on the issue of Jerusalem.

Color my day:

Name of Isreali operation on Arafat's compound: "Matter of Time"

"This operation was planned jointly in Washington and Jerusalem as a strategic step in the military and intelligence preparations that are bringing open war on Iraq very close." Article on Debka (www.debka.com)

"They act out of hatred; we don't seek revenge, we seek justice out of love."— George W. Bush on terrorism, Oklahoma City, Aug. 29, 2002

On the "Bush Doctrine":
The administration isn't targeting Iraq because of 9/11. It's exploiting 9/11 to target Iraq. This new fight isn't logical — it's cultural. It is the latest chapter in the culture wars, the conservative dream of restoring America's sense of Manifest Destiny." Maureen Dowd, NYtimes op-ed
9/19

On the "Bush Doctrine
"At other points, the paper sounds more like a pronouncement that the Roman Empire or Napoleon might have produced." Nytimes editorial, 9/19

From the Pakistani Newspaper Dawn

Government rejects US concern over democracy: ISLAMABAD, Aug 23: Government today rejected as "ill-informed" US expressions of concern over its commitment to democracy, on the eve of a visit by Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage. US officials upbraided President Pervez Musharraf for awarding himself sweeping powers by single-handedly amending the constitution to enable the president to sack parliament, and cementing a military role in politics. Foreign Office retorted that the Musharraf government was in the middle of restoring democracy by holding elections as promised within three years of the coup. "Elections are being held, on time, all parties are participating in the election, what else is the path to democracy?" spokesman Aziz Ahmed Khan told AFP.

What else is the path to democracy, indeed? If the votes actually counted, then just think of the chaos. Pretend democracy is for the best for now. Look how well it works for us. Remember, this November every vote sort of counts. l'm only half kidding. If they elect Islamist, then what do we do?

Airports securtiy soon might not ask if you had someone else pack your bag. Instead they will ask, "are you now, or have you ever been a member of an Islamist Jihad party."

THANKS FOR CLEARING THAT UP
This one is funny.
From the official taliban web-site come photos showing that it was the Devil that knocked down the world trade center. I used to think that this site was for real but it's starting to smell like a prank. Either way it's pretty funny. And their anti-Bush rants do have some points. I think the publishers are British. If the link doesn't work poke around for the photo section and look for the one about the WTC.

betting on the wrong horse
Pakistan's President Musharaff has unilaterally changed the constitution of Pakistan to reinforce his rule with a whopping 29 amendments. You know, kind of like a dictator. Musharaff is a big ally in the War on Terror. "He's still tight with us on the war against terror, and that's what I appreciate," said Bush on Thursday. He added"We'll stay in touch with President Musharraf in more ways than one." More ways than one. How mysterious and I guess based on the latest intelligence. But Saddam and Noriega were also Bush friends who recieved the family support only to have it revoked. The Bushies have a tendency to bet on the wrong horse. Saddam was helpful in keeping Iran in check. Lately, we worry about Saddam having nukes. We know Musharaff has nukes. NPR reports that Bush still feels Musharaff is a big supporter of our war on terror. How would you handicap this scenario?

Warfare in the information age:
China is the sponsor of the newest version of a music pirating web service. The record industry is try to block the site in a lawsuit. Regardless of your feelings about big record companies, you have to ask: Why would China want to sponsor this kind of service? Is it possible that in the 21st century disrupting the profits generated from intellectual property could be considered an attack? If our best export is "soft" products, then taking away the profit from these products could severly undermine our information based post-industrial economy. From Bruce Sterlings' novel "Distraction" comes a vision of what could happen in a info-war world when he describes America in 2048; "the American people would just have to get over the fact that software no longer had an economic value. It wasn't fair, and it wasn't just. but it was fait accompli. In many ways, Oscar had to give the Chinese credit tor their cleverness in making all English-language intellectual property available on their nets at no charge. The Chinese hadn't even needed to leave their own borders in order to kick the blocks out from under the American economy."
And now in an update the site live4music.com is poof gone. From the Nypost; "a representative of the site, inetified as Mike Smith, reportedly said. "For some reason, the site is closed and will never come back.""

Indigenous file:
From the nytimes: "An Islamic high court in northern Nigeria rejected an appeal today from a single mother sentenced to be stoned to death for having had sex out of wedlock." Another victory for Shariah law in the third world. Check out the story they have a sweet photo of the woman holding her child. Keep in mind that the child is a bastard.

PAX EUROPA:

NPR reported that Iran may switch from the Dollar to the Euro for it's oil transactions.

A MODEST PROPOSAL: HAVING IT ALL.

CNN reports that an Iraqi official called President Bush an "Idiot controlled by Zionist." I have to say that as a Zionist I wouldn't rank President Bush's I.Q. among the highest in the land, but the fact reamains that those are fighting words. War and rumors of war. In today's world can you be pro-environment and pro-war? I say you can. Many Americans are pro-life and pro-death penalty. I would think a more encompansing "Choose-life" ethos would seem the simpler point of view when debating those issues. But what about worrying about the impact of nuclear and chemical weapons on the environment versus a desire to see the "herd' of humanity thinned a litte. Like my fellow Americans I say let the delimma be dammed. Take a look at population growth. If I live to be 80, I will have lived through a population growth of 3.5 billion to a world population estimated between 8 and 10 billion. ( You might want to take a look at today's Nytimes science section on the issue of sustainable growth. special section)The C.I.A. has estimated there won't be enough fresh water for humanity by 2020. I don't care to think what they have in mind for 2040. We may want to avoid having so many people. Think conflict as a solution instead of conflict solution. And there are bad people out there. I saw the video of Al-qeada gassing the dog. The world trade center was one thing. But that dog was cute. I think it's time to seperate the wheat from the chaff. I say you can love the world and want to see a little less of it.

Columist Paul Greenberg writes that Wal-Mart is hell. It's also America, God and Country. Last week Wal-Mart reported record profits. In a related story in the United States was down last month. I guess the stuff they sell at Wal-Mart isn't actually made in America. See the link below to the Asian smog cloud to figure out where some of the stuff is made. If you put the three stories together you would get a snapshot of globalization in 2002.

A smog cloud hangs over Asia. Europe faces it's worst floods in over 150 years. The lower 48 are universally in a drought. Still, there is no evidence that human activity is changing weather patterns.

Ozzfest update:
The lead singer of the band drowning pool was found dead on his tour bus. He missed his chance to die by drowning in a pool and thus obtaining the greatest rock and roll death of all time.

"Use jets while you can" - Douglas Coupland
Boeing, stung by faltering commercial carriers, bounced back today with a big order from the Pentagon.

FROM THE WW3 FILE:
If attacked by Iraq, Isreal might use nukes. in response