Citadel of the Blogs The Inbox of the Internet (really)

One thing I like about new RSS readers is that they often come bundled with subscriptions I didn't know about or have before.

While trying NewsFan out, I discovered this travel "tricks and tips" page. <a href="http://www.traveltipsandtricks.com/000286.shtml">This one jarred my attention:</a>

"Imagine for one terrifying moment that you are at a large crowded place like an amusement park, or an air show. Imagine that you just turned around in the crowd and your child is missing. Quick, what was s/he wearing? How recent is the picture in your wallet? Quick, seconds count! What was your child wearing when s/he left for school this morning? Times up! How'd you do?"

The writer says she takes a digital picture of her child on her cell phone before entering a crowded place. Something to think about.

Unusually sinister plot emerges from 14 year old mind: using on-line aliases, he deceives a 16 year old boy into thinking that he must kill someone to enter the British secret service. In so doing, the 14 year connives his <em>own</em> murder plot.

<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,2763,1227362,00.html?=rss">Bizarre, no?</a>

As the presiding judge in the case says:

"Judge David Maddison, the recorder of Manchester, said: "Skilled writers of fiction would struggle to conjure up a plot such as that which arises here. It's staggering to be dealing with a case that arises out of a 14-year-old boy's invention of false personalities, false relationships and events arranged for his own killing at the hands of a 16-year-old boy who he had met via an internet chatroom.""

First, I am no blind puff in Michael Moore's self-rep business. Still, I thought <a href="http://www.michaelmoore.com/special/f911-screenshots.php" title="Scenes from Michael Moore's new documentary">if this weren't sad it would be funny</a>:

<img src="http://www.michaelmoore.com/_media/images/special/911_1-small.jpg" alt="Scene from michaelmoore.com" alt="Scenes from michaelmoore.com" width="300" align="Middle" border="2">

Michael Moore: "Oh, well, see, there's not that many Congressmen that've got kids over there, and in fact, only one. So we just thought maybe you guys should send your kids there first. What do you think about that idea?"

Finally, something relatively sensible on the whole topic: former weapons inspector David Kay admits he repeatedly warned of prisoner abuses while he was stationed in Iraq. Did anyone listen? <a href="http://www.morningnewsonline.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=FMN/MGArticle/FMN_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031775300094&path=!news" title="David Kay on Iraqi Prisoner Abuses">Nada chance, Batman.
</a>

Kay also makes final summaries of his findings:

"Years after Iraq was defeated in the first Gulf War, Saddam Hussein secretly decided in the mid-'90s to get rid of his weapons of mass destruction, mostly chemical stockpiles, because they were too easy to find and could be rebuilt after world sanctions lapsed, Kay said.

Saddam kept up a policy of deception against weapons inspectors because he feared that the Iraqi people and his own army might overthrow him if they were not convinced he still had the weapons, Kay said. <strong>Every Iraqi general who has been interrogated was convinced the weapons were still in Iraq but had not seen them for years, he said.</strong> [emphasis mine]

American intelligence agencies remained fooled because Iraqis who wanted Saddam toppled kept feeding them false stories about his hidden stockpiles of chemical and other weapons, Kay said."