Thursday, March 27, 2003

First-hand Account of Waiting for SARS to Catch You "Now I understand what it's like to be a leper," writes Jan Wong. An interesting, poignant account of being under quarantine - with a family that hopes she finds out what the rules are. Today's Thursday; I have classes and so there will be fewer updates during the day. comment []  permalink  5:45:20 AM

Rather Embarrassing Al-Jazeera, the Qatar-based television station, has rewarded for "upholding freedom of expression." It won an award for the best circumvention of censorship at Index on Censorship's third annual Freedom of Expression Awards last night. (See also who's upholding freedom of speech.) comment []  permalink  5:04:28 AM

War Could Last Months According to military officials cited in a Washington Post article, "The combination of wretched weather, long and insecure supply lines, and an enemy that has refused to be supine in the face of American military might has led to a broad reassessment by some top generals of U.S. military expectations and timelines.." (See article) comment []  permalink  4:34:46 AM

36 Civilians Killed in Yesterday's Market Attack Iraq's health minister says that 36 people were killed in the previous day's US and British air strikes on Baghdad. CNN TV, reporting on the health minister's briefing says that he said "a couple dozen or so," but that's "not yet confirmed." comment []  permalink  4:22:39 AM

Preventive War vs. Pre-emptive War President Bush calls the current action a 'preventive' war. Some analysts however, suggest that "strict conditions exist to undertake pre-emptive war" and by not having met those criteria, we have, in essence scrapped the UN Charter on war. The Malaysian Chair of the Coordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), told the UN that the war in Iraq is iilegitimate and in "violation of the principles of international law and the UN Charter." At the heart of the debate seems to be the definition of imminent attack - the unwritten, agreed upon standard that okays a preventive war. Does Pakistan pose an imminent threat - a clear and present danger- to India or vice versa? Does North Korea pose and imminent threat to South Korea or the west coast of the US? Does this mean if we choose to add bias or perception to the definition of a word, we'll see more pre-emtpive wars? comment []  permalink  4:16:38 AM

© Copyright 2003 Jennifer Hicks. Last update: 3/31/03; 7:06:04 AM.

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