September 22, 2004

Having not learned anything about proprietary formats like Beta, Sony was trying to push Atrac format in its portable music players. Well, MP3 is the most widly used, and in order to get some of that pie, Sony has added MP3 support for MiniDisc. 10:30:24 PM

Musharraf: Time for peace is now CNN International - Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said on Wednesday that this was the "moment for peace" with India and he would be bold and flexible in his first meeting with the new Indian prime minister this week. 10:25:24 PM

Hard to believe that some people are still trying to say the US should have waited for UN approval: "In late 2002, while Mr. Annan was lobbying against U.S.-led removal of Saddam, he was running a U.N. program in which money meant for baby formula, among other goods, was very likely flowing into the pockets of Saddam and his sons and cronies. " Boil it down to stealing food from babies, that might just work. 1:57:37 PM

Just in case you thought you knew it all: German Minister Justifies Israeli Barrier Interior Minister Otto Schily said the controversial West Bank barrier is effective because it has led to a drop in attacks on Israel. He also rejected comparisons between the Israeli fence and the Berlin Wall. "Those who draw comparisons with the Berlin Wall are wrong, because it does not shut people in and deprive them of their freedom," Schily told Deutschlandfunk radio on Monday. "Its purpose is to protect Israel from terrorists."  Wow! 1:51:30 PM

From Reuters (via Dhimmi Watch): An Iranian woman, beaten every day by her husband, asked a court to tell him only to beat her once a week.... "Just tell him to beat me once a week ... Beating is part of his nature and he cannot stop it," Maryam told the court. The Tehran court found the man guilty and banned him from beating the wife, the paper said. "If I do not beat her, she will not be scared enough to obey me," the husband said. From the Quran (The artist formally known as Cat Stevens refers to this book often): "Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women). So good women are the obedient, guarding in secret that which Allah hath guarded. As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them. Then if they obey you, seek not a way against them. Lo! Allah is ever High, Exalted, Great" (Qur'an 4:34). Why would anyone support this as a muslim court system in Canada? 11:11:39 AM

CBS Rathergate - Blogging the Story Alive 11:06:26 AM

'Watch-Listed' Cat Stevens to Be Deported After Plane Diverted A London-to-Washington flight was diverted to Maine when it was discovered that passenger Yusuf Islam - formerly known as singer Cat Stevens - was on a government watch list and barred from entering the country. United Airlines Flight 919 was en route to Dulles International Airport when the match was made Tuesday between a passenger and a name on the watch list, said Nico Melendez, a spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration. The artist formally known as Cat Stevens has expressed support for Hamas, a known terror organization, in the form of ten's of thousands of dollars in donations.  He is also on record as supporting the Rushdie Death Sentence Fatwa. When you hear the statement: "No right thinking follower of Islam could possibly condone such an action: The Quran equates the murder of one innocent person with the murder of the whole of humanity.''  You need to realize that the definition of innocent is missing.   The same Quran can be used to show that no one is innocent.   10:05:10 AM