Subterranean Homepage News

March 21, 2003 - (Last week's weblog)

For the last three days, this blog has aimed to offer links to a wide range of news sources worldwide. The links are arranged in the order I found them and readers emailed them to me. I'm especially grateful to Lou Josephs of MediaNetwork, who sent many of the radio and TV links. And...The Station Fire weblog has been updated.

Inform yourself, Day 3:

Peace rally: Sunday, State House Lawn, Providence, 3-4 p.m. Rain, snow or shine.

Hijacking the flag: J.D. Lasica writes,

"Yesterday I emailed a letter to the editor to the San Jose Mercury News, my first such letter since the New York Times published a couple of mine more than 20 years ago. Here's what it said:

Linda Peterson (Letters, March 20) suggests flying the flag to show support for the military campaign against Iraq and disapproval of anti-war protests.

At our house, we’re flying the flag, too – to remind passersby of what it stands for: respect for individual life, liberty and ideals. Sadly, those elements are missing from this reckless, needless war and the inevitable killing of innocent civilians.

We won’t let our flag again become hijacked by those with narrow political agendas.

In response I sent him this link to a brilliant cartoon by Steve Breen of the San Diego Union Tribune.

The Lebanon Daily Star: English-language version.

National Public Radio's war coverage.

Kevin Sites' blog has "paused": The CNN correspondent in Iraq hopes to come to an "agreement" with CNN, his employer in the future. The blog was not affiliated with CNN.

Iraq Body Count: The worldwide update of civilian casualties in the war on Iraq.

Radio Cairo: Radio stream in English.

France's view: English-language radio schedule from RFI.

Map Of Iraq and Operations at The Agonist, which has a running log of war events. Troop movements are indicated on the map with colored lines.

The first minutes of the aerial bombing: From Abu Dhabi television.

New link for BBC reporters log.

Popdex's War On Iraq - Continuous Coverage: Creator Shanti Braford suggests his "war-news aggregator" for this collection of links.

Lots of folks linking to DEBKAfile, the Israeli news site's war coverage. In its enthusiasm to be first, it's not always right.

Al Bawaba: "Aggression against Iraq" special report from the Amman, Jordan news organization that bills itself as "The Middle East Gateway."

International news from swissinfo, the Swiss news platform: Yet another perspective.

Current Events in the blogosphere, new in the last 2 hours at Technorati. An email from Doc Searls pointed me to this raw feed of the news links bloggers are pointing to. The swarm finds the leading edge.

"Salam Pax" in Baghdad waits for the American B52 bombers that took off from RAF Fairford, in the west of England.

In other news... United Way to build wireless Internet network in poor neighborhoods in Philadelphia.

The project, to be completed in April, will create two Internet "hot spots" in West Philadelphia that will allow anyone with the right equipment to tap in to a broadband connection as powerful as any offered by a commercial service.

The service will cost between $5 and $10 per month, less than what many people pay to dial up the Internet on a modem.

Only people with a computer and a wireless Internet adapter card will be able to get the signals, but the United Way plans to start giving away machines to area families this summer, starting with 100 in the city's West Powelton and Haddington sections.

"The long-term plan is to have a wireless coverage blanket in neighborhoods where people probably couldn't afford the service on their own," said Stephen Rockwell, director of technology outreach for the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania.

The plan's purpose, he said, is to give some of the state's poorest residents the same easy access to information about jobs, daycare, education and government services that people in the middle class have long enjoyed.

Ringo's tribute: Starr talks about new song dedicated to George Harrison. Eric Clapton plays guitar on it, according to the Toronto Sun.

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March 20, 2003

Inform yourself, Day 2:

Portraying the Graphic Face of War: At Online Journalism Review, J.D. Lasica looks behind the scenes at digital photojournalism, and serves up a fine bunch of links to past and very present news photo collections.

Rabble.ca: A Canadian alternative news site with attitude.

New link for BBC reporters log. Most recent: EU summit, Brussels :: Andrew Marr :: 2055GMT

It has got off to a very bad start here indeed for the Prime Minister Mr Blair.

"Salam Pax" in Baghdad posted at 2:33 p.m. EST (10:33 in Iraq):

the all clear siren just went on.

The bombing aould come and go in waves, nothing too heavy and not yet comparable to what was going on in 91. all radio and TV stations are still on and while the air raid began the Iraqi TV was showing patriotic songs and didn't even bother to inform viewers that we are under attack. at the moment they are re-airing yesterday's interview with the minister of interior affairs. THe sounds of the anti-aircarft artillery is still louder than the booms and bangs which means that they are still far from where we live, but the images we saw on Al Arabia news channel showed a building burning near one of my aunts house, hotel pax was a good idea. we have two safe rooms one with "international media" and the other with the Iraqi TV on. every body is waitingwaitingwaiting. phones are still ok, we called around the city a moment ago to check on friends. Information is what they need. Iraqi TV says nothing, shows nothing. what good are patriotic songs when bombs are dropping

around 6:30 my uncle went out to get bread, he said that all the streets going to the main arterial roads are controlled by Ba'ath people. not curfew but you have to have a reason to leave your neighborhood, and the bakeries are, by instruction of the Party, seeling only a limited amount of bread to each customer. he also says that near the main roads all the yet unfinished houses have been taken by party or army people.

United for Peace Providence events today:

War and Public Health: Humanity’s Toll with Dr. Barry Levy
Thursday, March 20th 2003 4:00 PM
Part of "No War: An Educational Forum" at Brown University

Emergency Response
Thursday, March 20th 2003 4:30
11:30 Brown University Student Walkout
3:30 Brown Rally on the Green
4:30 Demonstrate at Providence Federal Building
5:30 Candle Light Vigil at Beneficent Church
6:30 Organizing Meeting at Beneficent Church

War in Iraq from Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty.

Electronic Iraq: Breaking news links from unusual sources on the left side of the page.

Baghdad Headline News from HomeTownFreePress.

Shock and Awe: Achieving Rapid Dominance: Full text of the 1996 book from the National Defense University, Institute for National Strategic Studies.

Antiwar oganization websites, UK and US (scroll down), from The Guardian

Back to Iraq 2.0: Indy news blogger Christopher Allbritton in Kuwait, now leading with "Iraq air defenses better than expected?"

Warblogs:cc -- a portal created in part by Allbritton

IraqWar.info: Operation Iraqi Freedom

Kuwait News Agency. Very slow.

I Want Media watches war coverage.

Iraq latest: At-a-glance from the BBC. Also, BBC news front, Iraq front.

Cursor.org has Middle East media links on the left side of the page.

Saddam's speech in full

Pregnant Iraqis rush to give birth: At Gulf News.com,

The sound of screaming filled the maternity ward at Elwiyah hospital yesterday as women rushed to give birth ahead of an impending U.S. invasion.

Many pregnant women demanded to have caesarean rather than risk delivering their babies during war, even though they were sometimes well short of their natural due date. "I am so relieved," said Intizar Mohsen, 28, pale but elated after the birth of her premature son, Mohammad.

... Medical staff said families recalled the 1991 Gulf War when some women could not reach hospital because of coalition bombing raids and died during delivery or else lost their babies.

...Hardworking doctors said they were trying to induce women rather than give them caesarean, but after years of economic sanctions, there was no anaesthetic for epidural injections, meaning patients faced agonising, draining deliveries.

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March 19, 2003

Inform yourself from these sources:

Bush Message Machine Is Set To Roll With Its Own War Plan: From today's Washington Post, "Once the war starts, the administration plans to fill every information void in the 24-hour worldwide news cycle, leaving little to chance or interpretation." So...

Here are some links you might want to explore on your own. Thanks to Lou Josephs for some of them.

Live, unedited video feeds from Reuters
Information Clearing House: Live 24 hour news coverage from BBC 24, world radio news index.
Comfm: Worldwide radio and tv portal

Back to Iraq 2.0: Independent journalist Christopher Allbritton is in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The Washington Post is compiling a feed -- bloglike links -- of Iraq alerts from many sources.

Journalist Express: General news portal for reporters

BBC reporters log
Guardian UK Iraq page
Sydney (Australia) Morning Herald

Short wave

Blogger "Salam Pax" in Baghdad today:

It is even too late for last minute things to buy, there are too few shops open. We went again for a drive thru Baghdad’s main streets. Too depressing. I have never seen Baghdad like this. Today the Ba’ath party people started taking their places in the trenches and main squares and intersections, fully armed and freshly shaven. They looked too clean and well groomed to defend anything. And the most shocking thing was the number of kids. They couldn’t be older than 20, sitting in trenches sipping Miranda fizzy drinks and eating chocolate (that was at the end of our street) other places you would see them sitting bored in the sun. more cars with guns and loads of Kalashnikovs everywhere.

The worst is seeing and feeling the city come to a halt. Nothing. No buying, no selling, no people running after buses. We drove home quickly. At least inside it did not feel so sad.

The ultimatum ends at 4 in the morning her(e) in Baghdad, and the big question is will the attack be at the same night or not. Stories about the first gulf war are being told for the 100th time.

Iraqi media on the eve of the war: At Radio Netherlands, via BBC. What's being published and broadcast today.

VOA Pronunciation Guide: How to say foreign names and places, with audio, from Voice of America. via Lost Remote

Iraq Anti-War Resources is a broad collection of links -- songs and video, leaflets, photos, articles, news, organizations, the kitchen sink -- by Stephen Soldz of Psychoanalysts for Peace and Justice in Boston. Thanks to Carol Williams for the link.

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California coastline panorama: A continuous sequence of 10,000 aerial photos imaging the entire California coast from Oregon to Mexico. Tim Barmann, who sent the link, found a camp ground on it where he and his wife had camped in 1990.
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Kaleidoscope maker: Draw your own. Very cool, very well done. Pick a color and use the "fills" for a quick idea how it works.
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March 18, 2003
Updated 6:06 p.m.

Timely links as war fears swirl

6:06 p.m. British House of Commons gives go-ahead for war
· Government Iraq motion passed
· 217 MPs vote against war.
· 140 estimated Labour rebels
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Peace Blogs: Peaceblog.org is calling for a show of links:

The warbloggers have staked their claim on the internet, now it's our turn.

Peaceblogs.org is a site devoted to making connections between bloggers who oppose the impending war against Iraq. Regardless of your ideology or political affiliation, your nation of origin, or the size or scope of your site, if you oppose the war and use your weblog to express that opposition, your site is welcome among our listings. Click here to add your blog to the listings.

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A New World? I Prefer the Old One by Eric Alterman at MSNBC

When George Bush took office in January 2001, he did not have majority support of the nation or the legitimacy of a genuine winner, but he did have a nation at relative peace, a budget in surplus, a Dow Jones Industrial Average that was approximately 30 percent higher than it is today, a nation with most of our civil liberties intact and the good opinion of much of the world, particularly our NATO allies. That America is gone forever now. And while much of the changes that ensued can be laid at the feet of Al-Qaeda and the attacks of 9/11, a great many of them are merely the result of the Bush Administration's unconscionable but successful exploitation of that tragedy.

We are now about to enter a world in which the values we practice are pre-emptive war, fiscal indiscipline, domestic theocracy and the good opinion of human kind be damned. Since 9/11, Bush and company have done almost everything possible to alienate the world and inspire more terrorists to hate us, despite the initial wellspring of sympathy and solidarity the attacks inspired worldwide. Meanwhile, for all its collective bluster, the Bush crowd has done almost nothing to protect the nation from the entirely predictable consequences of their folly and the hatred we have engendered across the Islamic and Arab worlds. [more]

This is a clip from Craig's BookNotes -- he's definitely a peace blogger.
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Media Watchdogs Caught Napping: Wired reports,

In the run up to a conflict in Iraq, foreign news websites are seeing large volumes of traffic from America, as U.S. citizens increasingly seek news coverage about the coming war.

I'm one of them. Below are a couple of links from The Guardian (UK). And here's the constantly updated BBC news homepage, for those watching for the House of Commons votes on Iraq, set for about 5 p.m. EST. (Note: still debating at 5:40) 6:02 p.m., The Guardian reports, "Parliament gives Blair go-ahead for war, but an estimated 140 Labour MPs rebel. More details soon..."

US churches urge Blair to stop war

Bill Clinton: Trust Tony's judgment

Leader of the House Of Commons Robin Cook's resignation speech

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Lawsuit Against Iraq War Refiled In Boston. AP reports,

BOSTON -- A lawsuit challenging President George W. Bush's authority to launch a war against Iraq was refiled in court Monday as Bush gave Iraqi President Saddam Hussein an ultimatum to leave his country or face a U.S.-led war.

Last week, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's decision to dismiss the lawsuit, which claims Bush needs a formal declaration of war from Congress before launching a war against Iraq.

The lawsuit was filed last month by six Democratic congressmen, three unnamed servicemen and parents of servicemen who claimed that even though Congress authorized the use of force with Iraq in an October resolution, it has not specifically declared war as required by the Constitution.

In its ruling last week, the appeals court said it had no business intervening without clear conflict between the legislative and executive branches. The court did not address the plaintiffs' argument that the congressional resolution authorized war with Iraq only with United Nations approval, saying the claim could not be evaluated because war has not started.

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Pope urged to become Iraq human shield by a French parliamentary deputy.
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Baghdad Express: From MIT Tech Review,

A subway planned for Iraq’s capital was never built—or was it? Saddam’s biggest secret may be a weapon of mass transit.

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Not Iraq, but Anniston, Ala. From the St. Petersburg (Fla. ) Times,

Though the United States is required by international treaty to be rid of chemical weapons by 2007, nearly 75 percent of the nation's now-banned arms still exist. It amounts to a nationwide stockpile of 23,415 tons of liquid sarin nerve agent, blister-causing mustard agent, a deadly nerve liquid called VX and variants.

That's 46,830,000 pounds of chemicals. A teaspoon of any of them is enough to kill or maim.

Most of it is stored at eight sites around the country, still in the munitions into which it was loaded at the factory in the 1940s and '50s. It was never used in battle, only in practice. There are hundreds of other "nonstockpile" sites, as the Army refers to them, around the country. Several are in Florida, including the Tampa Bay area.

In Anniston, the more than 600,000 munitions that arrived in trains and trucks in the 1960s have long been the subject of whispers in the town of 24,276 in a county of 112,249. But as the date for their incineration approached last month, the whispers turned to debate.

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Rodeo songs, and an Irish pub on St. Paddy's day:

Last night, Joe and I went to an Irish pub that shall remain nameless a few miles from Providence. We'd never been there before. We arrived for the last set of a cocktail-hour band led by an elderly guitarist, and found a table at the edge of the dance floor. After Tura Lura Lura and a couple of George M. Cohan tunes, the band lit into old war songs. An old campaigner led a short parade around the dance floor, singing Over There and When the Caissons Go Rolling Along.

We'd come to hear some Irish music, not to go back to 1950. Joe looked at me and said, "Uh-oh, the Good War." We knew what was coming next.

It wasn't, as at the Houston rodeo, Lee Greenwood that came next. It was God Bless America. It's a great song, and in another setting, at another time, I've been on my feet singing it. But in America you don't have to stand up for popular songs, even patriotic ones, and -- having just yesterday blogged about the man who was assaulted for not standing up to I'm Proud to Be An American -- we didn't, on principle.

"I don't want to get beat up here," Joe said. "We won't," I said -- imagining the headline today: "Journal editor assaulted for sitting during song."

But we weren't beaten, hassled or harassed. Nobody said anything to us. They sat down and continued the party. God bless America.

Songs you do not have to stand up for in America:

American the Beautiful
America (My Country Tis of Thee)
Battle Hymn of the Republic
Born in the U.S.A.
God Bless America
I'm Proud to Be An American
Little Green Apples
When the Caissons Go Rolling Along
Over There
When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again
You're a Grand Old Flag
Ballad Of The Green Beret
Anchors Aweigh
Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean
Dixie
God Bless the USA
I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy
Off We Go Into the Wild Blue Yonder
Tie a Yellow Ribbon
I Didn't Raise My Boy To Be A Soldier
Mademoiselle From Armentieres
Onward Christian Soldiers
Praise The Lord And Pass The Ammunition!

Songs you do have to stand up for in America:

The Star-Spangled Banner

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Peace poster competition:

So today is the day. And what is left to do or say?

Creative work isn’t just a means to communicate; it’s also a release. Therefore, the most productive thing I can offer now is to hold a peace poster competition. To make it worth your time and effort, the following prizes will be awarded:

Click the headline above for prizes, rules, links for inspiration, etc.

Related: Window Lights for Peace. Brought to you by the folks who assembled the candle vigils Sunday night:

Around the world, thousands of us are putting lights in our windows to keep the light of reason and hope burning, to let others know that they are not alone, and to show the way home to the young men and women who are on their way to Iraq. Join us in sending this message of hope and peace by signing below.

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Exactitudes: The more we dress uniquely, the more we resemble others. Interesting photos.
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Pumping Life Into the Pay Phone: Wired reports,

Bell Canada has also discovered that the pay phone is a convenient way to offer passersby wireless Internet access.

In a pilot program that will run until sometime this spring, Bell Canada is offering customers in Toronto, Montreal and Kingston free Wi-Fi wireless Internet access. Sixteen booths, sprinkled in airports, hotels, libraries, train stations and other public transit locations, will provide the service. As with regular Wi-Fi access, customers must be within 100 feet of the booth to get a signal.

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Dixie "Chiks" parody site. Excerpt:

I hope everyone understands, I'm just a young girl who grew up in Texas. As far back as I can remember, I heard people say they were ashamed of President Clinton. I saw bumper stickers calling him everything from a pothead to a murderer. I heard people on the radio and tv like Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Newt Gingrich and Trent Lott bad mouthing the President and ridiculing his wife and daughter at every opportunity.

I heard LOTS of people disrespecting the President. So I guess I just assumed it was acceptable behavior.

Here's the real apology on the real Dixie Chicks site:

"As a concerned American citizen, I apologize to President Bush because my remark was disrespectful. I feel that whoever holds that office should be treated with the utmost respect. We are currently in Europe and witnessing a huge anti-American sentiment as a result of the perceived rush to war. While war may remain a viable option, as a mother, I just want to see every possible alternative exhausted before children and American soldiers' lives are lost. I love my country. I am a proud American."

In case you missed the "crime," Natalie Maines said, in the midst of a performance in London: "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas."

Soundbitten notes,

In Shreveport, over 150 patriots armed with a crop tractor spent Saturday crushing dissent (literally) in more humane fashion: the only casualties of their ritual Dixie Chicks cleansing were CDs, tapes, and any claim of moral seriousness. As Fort Worth Star-Telegram columnist Bud Kennedy put it: "What's really frightening is that the British or anyone else might attach the least bit of significance to the political opinion of a 28-year-old music-school dropout and country singer from Lubbock."

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Full text of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441 on the disarmament of Iraq.
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The Anti-Bloggies: Awards that diss awards for bloggers.
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Star-Spangled Ice Cream: Billed as "At Last - A Conservative Alternative To Ben & Jerry's," it comes in such flavors as I Hate The French Vanilla and Nutty Environmentalist.
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Cool game: Chasm.
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The Station Fire web log has been updated again.
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March 17, 2003

UN resolution to eject the United States from the United Nations: Arabicnews.com suggests ousting U.S. from U.N.:

Time for the USA to get out of the UN. If not, it should be kicked out. This should be Monday's proposed resolutions at the UN security Council and at the UN General Assembly. Time for the United Nations to grow up and become independent of the USA, and it is time for democratic international institutions. Let a new era of world development begins.

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This Is War: an unblinking look -- in words and images -- at the reality of warfare.
Extremely disturbing historical photos.
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Your Religion's Stance on Iraq: At Beliefnet.com. Only the Southern Baptist Convention is for it.
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Robin Cook, leader of the British House of Commons, resigns from government in protest over Prime Minister Tony Blair's stance on Iraq.
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Blogging the war, (cont.): In addition to CNN's Kevin Sites (linked here last week), online reporter Ben Arnoldy of csmonitor.com is blogging from Kuwait. Christopher Allbritton, former AP and New York Daily News reporter, is funding his blog, Back To Iraq 2.0, with a PayPal tip jar.
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Unembedded: Men's Journal had "embedded" Hampton Sides, the author of Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission and other books, with the Reconnaissance Battalion of the 1st Marine Division. Sides writes in the New Yorker about what led him to say, "No offense, but I can’t do this" just before the buses left Kuwait for the Iraqi border.

Related: The New York Observer on the all-star magazine talent shipping out.
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Brawl erupts after song played at rodeo: KTRK TV in Houston reports,

With some 15,000 to 20,000 folks at the rodeo drinking beer and having fun, things can get a little out of hand at times. It happened when a tape of Lee Greenwood's song Proud To Be An American was playing. Some rodeo fans were standing and others were sitting down. Felix Fanaselle and his buddies chose to remain seated.

"This guy behind us starts yelling at us (because) we're not standing up," said Fanaselle. "He starts cussing at us, telling us to go back to Iraq."

The 16-year-old said the man seated behind him started spitting at him and spilling his beer on him and his friends.

"By the end of the song, he pulled my ear. I got up. He pushed me. I pushed him," said Felix. "He punched me in my face. I got him off me."

When the dust settled, Fanaselle had been handcuffed and released. He and John McCambridge were cited for "mutual combat" and fighting in public. That's a $200 fine. Fanaselle's lawyer says you don't have to stand for a country and western song.

"I guess next time, he'll think maybe we need to stand for the Okie From Muskogee," said attorney Clayton Rawlings. "This is phony patriotism. This man needs to be ashamed of himself for what he did."

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This little light of mine... : Globalvigil.org reports 6,400 vigils in 129 countries last night. Photos are pouring in.
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Suitcase surprise: Rebuke written on inspection notice. From The Seattle Times,

Seth Goldberg says that when he opened his suitcase in San Diego after a flight from Seattle this month, the two "No Iraq War" signs he'd picked up at the Pike Place Market were still nestled among his clothes.

But there was a third sign, he said, that shocked him. Tucked in his luggage was a card from the Transportation Security Administration notifying him that his bags had been opened and inspected at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Handwritten on the side of the card was a note, "Don't appreciate your anti-American attitude!"

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The first presidential campaign with a weblog: The Howard Dean 2004 Call to Action Weblog. They're scheduling Meet-Ups, too.
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MagicGallery.com: Vintage magic posters and related items from the golden age of magic, 1890 - 1930.
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Blak's Story: Transcript of a moving radio documentary by Sound Portraits:

My uncle was a pimp, my mother was murdered, and my daddy died a dope fiend
Tell me, with family values like this, from where should my hope spring?

But Blak was saved by his books...
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Irish day: The Lennons have always been poets, priests and musicians; the McQuillians, on my mother's side, were "lords of the road" who never died in bed. So the note from my colleague Tim Barmann was most welcome: "If you need a break from all this war talk, check out some Irish pub webcams ..."
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The Station Fire web log has been updated again.
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Subterranean Homepage News
by Sheila Lennon
features & interactive producer of projo.com