General

Simple, yet powerful.

The Blue Man Group’s eloquent little 9/11 video memorial, “Exhibit 13,” can be viewed online here. (Thanks to Charly Z for the link.) [Scott Rosenberg’s Links & Comment]

I assume that Scott knows that this direction came from the Special Forces Command, and not from any oversight organization or other military leadership.  There’s valid reasons for what they’ve requested.

Did anyone else find this story about the U.S. military freaking out over soldiers growing beards in Afghanistan as strange as I did? I understand the armed forces require (literal) uniformity, but these are Special Forces troops who apparently have good reason to want to blend into the local population. It just seems that our leaders might have more pressing matters to focus on. [Scott Rosenberg’s Links & Comment]

Slight bit of exaggeration here.  The two face an Article 32 hearing which might lead to a General Court Martial for the charges requested by the investigation board – however, they’ve not actually been charged yet.

I love the crap the media pulls. Granted that the military justice system is a tad bit complicated, but their sources on this one suck.

All that said, the report that’s up on CENTCOM’s website makes for some pretty interesting reading, redactions and all.

Air Force charges two Illinois National Guard pilots with involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault. AP via New Jersey Online Sep 13 2002 11:45PM ET [Moreover – Crime and punishment news]

I understand AT&T’s issue with this, but why in the world is their system setup to allow this to happen?!

AT&T says no more free multiple IPs. AT&T Broadband is telling cable modem customers with multiple IP addresses to pay up or risk having their addresses shut off. [CNET News.com]

What do we do when he doesn’t let the inspectors back in?

We goto war, with the world.  Bush’s speech yesterday, if anything, set the groundwork for that to happen.  The world will go with us.  And it will be the right thing to do.

“thinkusaalignright”Lance asks why there is no debate on war in Iraq in the US. Good question. I’ll do my part. I’m in the US. I am against the US going to war with Iraq. Saddam has had chemical and biological weapons for a long time. Nothing new there. The US apparently doesn’t believe he has nuclear weapons, but even if he does, or if he gets them, he’s about as likely to use them as India and Pakistan were in their war earlier this year. In the end the same balance that applied betw the US and the Soviet Union and China in previous decades applies in Central Asia. Nuclear weapons are not tactical devices, they are strategic. They are only useful as potential weapons. They say Saddam is a madman. I don’t think he’s so crazy as to use nuclear weapons. My hope is that this war talk is just posturing to get the inspectors back in, which of course would be a good thing. [Scripting News]

Bryan will like this one… A Simple Click Stirs a Lot of Outrage [New York Times: Technology] [Kerri Hicks’ Work Blog]

Mob Life Resumes, Darker by the Day. In the fourth season of “The Sopranos,” which begins Sunday on HBO, the writing and acting work together more powerfully than ever. By Caryn James. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]