Dissecting Cheney
Topic: war in Iraq
Although the "global war on terror" was rooted in a real event, it was conducted in a way fundamentally oriented to the political opportunities this event created rather than the actual dangers it revealed. Thus the administration's neglect of port security, the squeeze on first responders, the negligence at Tora Bora in Afghanistan, the flippant attitude toward the nuclear risks in Russian stockpiles and Pakistani labs. Thus the pathetic system of colored alerts and the roundup and detention of irrelevant people, not a single one of whom has been convicted of a terrorism-related offense in the three years since.

Salon.com article here.

Sex Advice From Role Players...
Topic: Sex
"Cosplay" is a Japanese term for "costume play," wherein fans of anime and manga dress up as their favorite characters and attend conventions. That is where we found this week's sex advisors.

Nerve.com article here.

Radio Raided in Oaxaca, Mexico Members Beaten and Jailed
Topic: police state
Members of Community Radio in Oaxaca, Mexico Beaten and Jailed

http://www.indymedia.org/en/2004/09/111910.shtml

At 6:13 in the morning of the 14th of september, several police units, including forces of the UPOE (Special Operations Police), policia preventiva, turism police, police of the state of Oaxaca, the Federa Agency of Investigations (AFI), and plain clothed officers numbering a sum of 200 violently evicted members of Guetza Radio and the Popular Indigenous Counsel of Oaxaca - Ricardo Flores Magon (CIPO - RFM) with tear gas, cuncusion grenades and water hoses. To this date seven people remain in jail.

Read More...

Blast Furnace Radio report: update by Mumia's lawyer
Topic: police state
From a talk given at CMU 9/28/04. Download MP3 here.

Blast Furnace Radio: http://www.notowar.com
Vincent Scotti Eirene: eirene@telerama.com
---------------------> (888) NO TO WAR

Kaczynski, you dick...
Topic: Philosophy
Davey G. has reprinted Brian Oliver Sheppard's article, "Anarchism vs. Primitivism" here. Check it out.

U.S. Faces Complex Insurgency in Iraq
Topic: war in Iraq
By JIM KRANE, Associated Press Writer
October 4, 2004

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The U.S. military is fighting the most complex guerrilla war in its history, with 140,000 American soldiers trained for conventional warfare flailing against a thicket of insurgent groups with competing aims and no supreme leader.

The three dozen or so guerrilla bands agree on little beyond forcing the Americans out of Iraq.

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Living Systems in Evolution
Topic: Evolution
by Elisabet Sahtouris

By lifting a few constraints upon our Western scientific world-view, we can expand it to include the larger cosmo-vision traditionally relegated to religions... Scientists, who have taken over from priesthoods to tell us `how things are' are urged to recognize the one alive, intelligent universe in which spirit and matter are not separable and in which creation is continuous. Religious leaders are urged to recognize the importance of the uniqueness in each religion's story, as well as in that of science, and the fundamental unity of All That Is. Only true communion with each other can lead us to a common understanding that we are co-creators at the leading edge of evolution, and to a common ethic that will bring renewed health to our species and others.

As an evolution biologist, my work and passion are looking at the evolving patterns of biological living systems in order to make sense of our present human affairs in a broad evolutionary context.

more here.

Clear Thinking and Muddled Thinking
Topic: Philosophy
Jamie Whyte describes himself as "Outraged of Highbury" - someone who endlessly sends furious letters to newspapers complaining about sloppy thinking, logical errors, fallacies and muddles. He does the same at parties - and even on trains. Fortunately he's a professional philosopher or he might have attracted the attention of the authorities long ago. Liz Else and Alun Anderson asked what gets him steamed up and what errors they could commit that would make him explode.

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Brian Wilson completes Smile album after nearly fourty years!
Topic: music
The end result is a great album, albeit one more lighthearted than its myth would suggest. The music I hear is like round pegs in square holes; it's just as insular and manic-compassionate as "In My Room" or "God Only Knows", but filtered through an amiable resolve. It sounds pleasant and assured, lacking the vulnerable, shy wave of hope drenching the old Beach Boys records. Yet, Wilson's voice sounds great. It's a bit lower, and his inflections have lost some subtlety over the years, but it still carries the weight of those angelic melodies (and when it can't, his band helps him out).

Pitchfork Media review here.

Man Says Mind Control Made Him Send Threatening Envelopes
Topic: Mind Control
BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. -- A man accused of sending envelopes full of white powder to more than two dozen Broward County cities said mind control made him do it.

more here.