October 15, 2002

Nadim Ladki has a very interesting perspective on the sham election in Iraq.  The Reuters story explains with a straight face that: "Defiant Iraqis lined up to show their support for Saddam Hussein Tuesday as Western powers were deadlocked over how to deal with the veteran leader they say threatens world security. " Just in case everyone doesn't know, there is no choice in this show of support, except maybe select yes, or die.  This is NOT a free people showing defiance.  Even by cold war era USSR standards this is a complete farce. The headline for this article is "Iraqis Vote for Saddam as West in Deadlock at U.N." and yet no intelligent, educated person would really think of this as a "vote".  What is Nadim Ladki, or the editors at Reuters thinking? 2:54:21 PM

Yahoo seeks to convert dial-up to DSL. The portal giant is making a push to convert more dial-up customers to broadband by launching new tools designed to ease the switch from one provider to another. [CNET News.com] 11:40:32 AM

Out of the gate: AOL 8.0 CNET News.com -America Online on Tuesday released AOL 8.0, the latest upgrade of its flagship Internet service, which the company hopes will revive its sagging fortunes. 10:06:12 AM

Microsoft backs off Mac-to-PC convert ad ZDNet - Microsoft, in the wake of an Apple Computer ad campaign to woo Windows users, briefly ran a similar ad of its own.   An ad, titled "Confessions of a Mac to PC convert," was posted to Microsoft's Web site last week. The article purports to be a first-person account of a writer who decided to switch from an Apple Macintosh computer to a PC running Windows XP. You can see the pulled ad in Googles cache. 8:26:19 AM

Iraq's 'glorious day' BBC - He may be public enemy number one in the West, but Saddam Hussein is seeking a "popular" mandate from Iraqis for another seven years in office. Could this be the model for the Palestinian Elections? 8:09:24 AM

Saudi Airlines Says Guards Foil Hijack Attempt ABC News - Saudi Arabian Airlines said on Tuesday that guards foiled a hijack attempt by a Saudi gunman aboard one of its flights from Sudan with 204 passengers and crew on board, adding no one was injured. 8:07:43 AM

Israel Briefly Detain Jerusalem's Chief Muslim Cleric Voice of America - Israeli police briefly detained the top Palestinian Muslim cleric in Jerusalem Tuesday to question him about statements he made in defense of suicide bombings four months ago. 8:06:20 AM

Bush Ties Bombing at Bali Nightclub to Qaeda Network. President Bush said on Monday that the bombing on the Indonesian island of Bali was part of a pattern that included recent attacks in Kuwait and Yemen. By Elisabeth Bumiller. [Headlines From The NY Times] 7:45:56 AM