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Tuesday, April 09, 2002
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Ron Kitrey, IDF spokesman speaks. 23 terror attacks were carried out by terrorists from Jenin before Operation Defensive Shield got underway. Several were suicide attacks,... [The news, Uncensored.]
In addition, repeated offers to assist the PA residents in burying their dead have been declined due to pressure to leave the bodies where they are for PR impact against Israel as the PA continues efforts to show a ãmassacreä by Israeli soldiers.
I had been wondering about this since the American media was reporting bodies in the streets.
9:00:21 PM 
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U.N. Ratifies Terror Finance Treaty. A new U.N. treaty aimed at halting the flow of cash to terrorists comes into force on Wednesday, with the vast majority of countries ratifying the agreement after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States. [AP World News]
This treaty has lots of provisions forcing banks to spy on their customers. Governments (especially the US) have been wanting this for years, they're just using terrorism as an excuse in the same way that Congress did last year.
8:46:42 PM
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I had a very unpleasant surprise when I got home today. There was an official-looking proclamation taped to the front of my apartment building saying that some sort of government agent would be coming to the building on April 16th. This person ’s to be escorted around the building by someone with access to the apartments.
Although the proclamation didn't explicitly say so, ’t appears that this government agent intends to conduct a search of all the apartments in the building. Obviously this possibility makes me very unhappy. I will stay home from work that day, and if anyone shows up wanting to "inspect" my apartment, I will demand to see a search warrant. Nobody will be getting into my home without one.
Standing up to the government is never a safe thing to do. There's even a risk that I could be killed for resisting. It seems like it would be a good idea to locate a competent civil rights lawyer ahead of time.
Hopefully there won't really be a door-to-door search, or whoever does it will take "no" for an answer. I still wouldn't be too happy about someone from the government searching my building, even if they leave my apartment alone, but I don't have any say in that.
7:57:20 PM
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AlterNet - Your Cell Phone Is Watching You. Last year, the Federal Communications Commission ordered cellular companies to equip all new cell phones with Global Positioning Satellite tracking devices that can pinpoint a user's location to within 300 feet, anywhere on the planet. The agency ordered the move at the behest of law enforcement agencies, who have long wished to be able to tell where 911 calls made on cell phones originate. [Privacy Digest]
In fact, there's only one foolproof way to beat the system: Turn off your phone. But how likely is that to happen?
I don't really have a problem with turning my phone off. It's not like I'm overwhelmed by incoming calls. However, there is an even better solution--those prepaid cellular phones you can buy with cash in various stores. It doesn't matter if the government can track your phone when they don't know it's yours.
1:26:45 PM
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The cold knives of analysis. Originally published in Ha'aretz, Professor Itamar Rabinovich wrote a interesting analysis of the Saudi peace initiative, titled "The warped Saudi... [The news, Uncensored.]
There are a couple of interesting points in this article which got little or no attention in the US media. First is the "right of return" for Palestinian refugees. This was not in the initial reports of the Saudi proposal, but it appeared later with a one-sentence mention that was not commented on. According to this article, it was added later by the Syrians.
This is very important because the Arabs aren't talking about the return of actual refugees (who aren't that numerous 60 years later), they want Israel to allow all Paletinians to move to Israel, regardless of when or where they were born. This is a thinly-disguised demand for Israel's unconditional surrender.
The other point, not mentioned at all in the US media, is the demand that Israel give up its nuclear weapons capability. This would make Israel more vulnerable to the Arab countries, but would also make it vulnerable to the much stronger non-Arab countries which have in the past made their hostility towards Jews clear--such as various members of the European Union.
1:11:57 PM
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Slashdot | Tattered Cover v. Thornton Reversed. In a victory for all those who like the First Amendment, the Colorado Supreme Court today reversed and remanded 'Tattered Cover v. Thornton'. The case concerned the Thornton police attempting to use a search warrant to gain access to the book-buying records of a suspected criminal. The Tattered Cover asserted First Amendment rights and refused to comply with the warrant. It is believed this will be heard by the US Supreme Court eventually. An excerpt from the decision "Anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority. It thus exemplifies the purpose behind the Bill of Rights, and of the First Amendment in particular: to protect unpopular individuals from retaliation--and their ideas from suppression--at the hand of an intolerant society," wrote Justice Bender. [Privacy Digest]
This is good news, and hopefully will encourage other bookstores to stand up to the government. Just as well this happened in Colorado, though--I expect it wouldn't have gone so well if it was before the California Supreme Court.
At any rate, it's worth pointing out once again that there won't be any records for the Feds to snoop in if you buy your books with cash and refuse to give any personal information to the bookstore.
9:47:13 AM
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Nikon sets price of D100 - UPDATE. Today we can confirm that the "expected street price" for the Nikon D100 is: USA - US$1,999, Canada - CAD$3,350, Europe - around €3000 (EUR), UK - below £2000 (UKP). This makes the price of... [Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)]
That's a great price! It's only $7-800 more than the film F100, and that difference will be made up very quickly just on film and processing costs.
9:42:57 AM
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Are Politicians Doomed to Repeat History?. A recent report on CNN stated that, in the last century, over 170 million people worldwide were killed by their own government. And liberal politicians want to take the citizens' guns away? [FirearmNews.com]
I'd like to see a cite for that report. I find it hard to believe that a pro-statist organization like CNN would admit something like that.
9:23:14 AM
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NYT. An online trading pure-play: Ameritrade/Datek Is it worth ~$2.6 b? I think it is. Why? Online trading is one of the few activities that is substantially better than its offline equivalent. It is the best way to buy and sell a stock. Ameritrade now owns nearly a third of all active online traders (2.7 m total customers). Its customers make more online trades than any other firm. When trading picks up, and it will as the economy improves later this year, Ameritrade is in a poised to make a mint. In an active market it is likely that average trading volumes will grow 3-4x. That would push Ameritrade's revenue to over $2 b a year (from its current ~$800 m level) without much of an increase in its cost structure. Nice. That also means that Ameritrade is currently priced at 1x 2003 revenues. [John Robb's Radio Weblog]
I've never bought or sold stock offline. I have, however, attempted to exercise my stock options using e-trade--because there was no other way to do it. The experience was so painful that I shuder to think what the offline equivalent is like. And for that matter I'm still waiting for my check.
9:08:38 AM
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How 'Bout Relocating Israel to Mexico?. Baja California Sur has 46,920 square miles. Israel has 10,840 square miles ÷ including the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Surely President Fox could spare a chunk of his least populated state for the sake of peace.Ê
Would Israel rather be forever surrounded by hostile Islamic fundamentalists and progress-hating dictators or be a day's drive or one-hour flight from Southern California and all the friendly Jews and non-militant Muslims in Los Angeles? [FOXNews.com]
Ironically, this is the most practical solution to the whole mess I've seen yet.
6:24:52 AM
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© Copyright
2006
Ken Hagler.
Last update:
2/14/2006; 6:49:37 PM.
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