The 43rd President of the United States will be confronting levels of complexity, both at home and abroad, that are of greater intensity and impact than faced by any of the previous inhabitants of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
~~ Don Edward Beck. Ph.D. "Centrism In A Transpartisan World." (December 2000)

Special Note: Check out the in-progress Disinfo Glossary: Specialist Terms page for details of the analytical language and tools mentioned throughout each entry. Check out the Expanded Spiral Dynamicsฎ Bibliography for details of the color codes mentioned throughout each entry, and background/further reading suggestions. Two useful resources for understanding the daily shifts in the 3Gs (geoeconomics, geopolitics and geosecurity) are Foreign Policy Magazine and Stratfor Strategic Forecasting. For profiles of countries and non-governing self-territories, check out the annual CIA World Factbook. For information on global resources, check out the World Watch Institute's annual State of the World report, and the osEarth Resources and Worldometers™. For a different view of geostrategic space, check out the Dymaxion Map and Spaceship Earth™.

Wednesday, 3 April 2002

• BBC World News summary (audio and video).
• Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
• United Nations Press Briefing (video).
• CNNTV.
• MSNBC Video.
• C-Span Recent Video (video).
• IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
• Freespeech Internet TV.
• UN DESA Briefing on Monterrey and Johannesburg Summit (video).
• Washington Post Bush Backs Israel on Self-Defense (video).
• Washington Post Rumsfeld: Iran, Iraq Aid Terror (video).

Grid-Lock: North Korea will resume talks with the US. China frees its longest-serving political prisoner. One hypocrite's crusade against lawsuits. Why are drug firms silent online? Did games trigger a suicide? Bush's influence on debt-limits. Tom Ridge will brief panels on Homeland Security.

Hot-Spots: Stratfor situation reports. The US pursues a quiet agenda with Syria. Shootings in France reveal explosive social tensions. Britain's press on Zimbabwe and imperialist interventions.

Diasporas: Israeli troops invade Nablus, the West Bank's largest city. Girl suicide bombers. Blogging from Jerusalem. Wounded in Bethlehem. The pointless proliferation of peace plans. Critics attack Bush on his Mideast policy. The White House discusses a peace deal without a cease-fire. Arafat pleads for help, although Israel connects him with bombing. Egypt scales back their ties with Israel. Journalists attack Israel’s call for them to leave. Dispatches from Ramallah. Open letter to a Ramallah commander.

Flash-Points: A car bomb kills four people in Indonesia. Socialist analysts argue that the judge shows a pro-government bias at John Walker Lindh's trial. A US civil liberties group is challenging closed deportation hearings. Special Forces turn the tide in Afghanistan. The Afghan Army makes its debut. Hanssen spied for money. The ban on medical marijuana is overturned in Washington DC.

Cutting-Edges: Technology is altering how future wars are fought. DrinkorDie on piracy. Trying to solve the Turing Test. Digital pens are under development. Robots help hospitals. The Japanese are developing lip-reading cell-phones. Why Janna Levin is the latest star cosmologist. Revisiting the Robert Gallo affair. Clifford Pickover's latest book.

Regressions: Andersen staff were at odds with Enron.

Media Memetics: Why cigarette smoking is a metaphor for sex. The battle over Web radio. Video objectification. Why video games are sounding like movies. Filtering software is under attack. A Myst mini-series is in development. Phil Donohue gets a show on MSNBC. National Magazine Awards aren't 9/11 related. SouthHighSucks.com site gets teen reporter suspended. Michael Moore tours America. Outspoken media critic Robert McChesney. Why Viacom is a survivor. Eighteen tales of media censorship.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: New York's controversial Nazi art show. Scientologists remember L. Ron Hubbard. What is queer food? A Boston student is caught with $15k worth of marijuana. An introduction to Patti Smith.

Personal Mutations Exercise: Get NLP savvy.

Monday, 1 April 2002

• BBC World News summary (audio and video).
• Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
• United Nations Press Briefing (video).
• CNNTV.
• MSNBC Video.
• C-Span Recent Video (video).
• IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
• Freespeech Internet TV.
• Washington Post Bush Urges Arafat to End Suicide Attacks (video).
• Washington Post David Hoffman on Middle East Violence (video).
• Washington Post Rumsfeld Comments on Key Al Qaeda Captive (video).
• Washington Post Prosecutors on Evidence in Lindh Case (video).

Grid-Lock: The Democrats are split by infighting. A California case will challenge '3 strikes' laws.

Hot-Spots: Stratfor situation reports. The 1982 Falklands conflict has scarred Argentina. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf is confident he would win a referendum. Protests continue at the School of the Americas.

Diasporas: Denying the Kurdish genocide. A car bomb rocks Jerusalem. Two suicide bombers kill 17 people. Why the Palestinians won't make a deal. Israel and Washington debate the murder of Arafat. Israel hunts down Arafat's lieutenants and will attack any Palestinian units (view photos). Israeli forces, given a wide latitude by Bush, have moved into Bethlehem. 'Yellow alert' status remains in the US. Islamic nations have moved to address "terrorism" and links with attacks on Israel. Thomas Friedman has called the situation "utterly, utterly, depressing." Palestinian gunmen have confiscated footage and Israel claims that foreign journalists are at risk. Dan Rather has a close call with a bomber. The Pope dwells on the Mideast in his Easter speech.

Flash-Points: A veteran British Labour MP challenges the destruction of Lockerbie evidence. Lawyers for Russian hacker Dmitri Sklyarov argue that the judge should throw out the case. Prosecutors have backed away from claiming that John Walker Lindh has killed US citizens (view indictment). The US captures Abu Zubaydah, a key bin Laden aide.

Cutting-Edges: A new global copy-protection scheme. Kiwis are using livestock for biotech and cloning research. The end of the Taliban may prove to be a renaissance for Afghan film.

Regressions: Japan is rolling from an economic meltdown to a political crisis. Jakarta's flood victims face bureaucratic indifference. Tech firms are still facing quarterly earnings warnings and startups have venture capital hurdles. Xerox will pay a record $10 million SEC fine. Andersen yanked an adviser from Enron. Arthur Andersen is losing more clients.

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "Debunking Lynxgate." Bob Woodward's 9/11 mythmaking. Former CNN staffer Ed Turner is dead. Upside's new CEO is courting advertisers while his predecessor is compared to Osama bin Laden. Phil Donohue may return to the talk-show wars. Viacom tries out maxipurposing.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: Where are the Mahirs of yesteryear? Naomi Campbell versus the British tabloids. Waterlogged digi-camera art. Jesse Ventura plays an April Fool's joke on reporters. Taming the Internet's data. Death by rabid bat. A bill to ban chemtrails testing disappears. How your mobile phone watches you.

Personal Mutations Exercise: Learn about Milton Erickson's clinical hypnosis techniques.

Friday, 29 March 2002

• BBC World News summary (audio and video).
• Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
• CNNTV.
• MSNBC Video.
• C-Span Recent Video (video).
• IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
• Freespeech Internet TV.
• NECN Raids on Arafat’s HQ (video).
• Washington Post Powell's Briefing (video).

Grid-Lock: Colombia's anti-drug plans run into problems. A biology study warns of drilling risks should Bush lift the Arctic ban. Defending the Darth Vadar of campaign finance reform. The US Army releases a friendly-fire report about Operation Anaconda. Bush makes five recess appointments.

Hot-Spots: Stratfor situation reports. The worst ecological disaster of the 20th century. Africa's betrayal of Zimbabwe. The First Amendment's reluctant defender. Bush expands "voluntary interviews" of Middle Eastern immigrants. Bush's "nuclear offensive" endangers the prospects for world peace.

Diasporas: The Israeli Army attacks Yassir Arafat's compound and calls up reservists. Arab leaders rally behind Arafat and world leaders criticize the assault. Parallax views of the raid include an eyewitness account, an Israeli spokesman and an Arab diplomat. Two suicide bombers kill four people. Secretary of State Colin Powell calls on Arafat to end the bombings. Israel prepares for a drawn-out campaign. Why this may be Arafat's toughest challenge yet (photos). The US Mideast initiative faces collapse. Did Israelis really shoot a twelve-year-old Palestinian boy? What are the Al-Aqsa martyr brigades? Why the Middle East violence makes some analysts nostalgic for the Cold War. Daniel Pipes on why the Arab Summit was meaningless.

Flash-Points: How to punish convicted terrorists. Washington presides over social chaos in Afghanistan. How al Qaeda influenced the Bush Doctrine. The FBI and Pakistan join forces to interview captured al Qaeda agents.

Cutting-Edges: Predicting when volcanoes will erupt. Seeking art-loving sperm. Spray-on plastic solar cells are being developed. Harvard University scientists have stopped light altogether. The battle for renewable energy.

Regressions: The death toll is rising in the latest Dubai floods. Is housing the next economic bubble?How Enron's team controlled Andersen's audit. Andersen names its transition leaders. Andersen's staff in fight-or-flight mode. Should accountants go to jail? Why Playboy wants an Enron centrefold.

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "CLEAR for launch." Has Black America been changed by the Oscars? Director David Fincher gets trapped in the Panic Room. Why Joe Lieberman will like Clockstoppers. Why former GE chairman Jack Welch won't be tarnished by his HBR editor "trophy romance." Four suspects in the Daniel Pearl murder case will face trial on 5 April 2002. If you were a reporter, whatwould you write about? Is there a future for Pacifica? The Left eats its own at KPFK.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: Nine inventions that David Pogue wants to see. How the rich get richer. Feminists who backstab other feminists. Gerhard Richter masquerades as a painter. The rebirth of Marvin Gaye. Probing H.R. Giger's mind. Zappa lives on in Lithuania. Chinese soldiers can't use mobile phones.

Personal Mutations Exercise: The physiology of ecstatic states of consciousness.

Thursday, 28 March 2002

• BBC World News summary (audio and video).
• Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
• United Nations Press Briefing (video).
• CNNTV.
• MSNBC Video.
• C-Span Recent Video (video).
• IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
• Freespeech Internet TV.

Grid-Lock: Sri Lanka plans peace talks for May 2002. Venezuela rebutted charges that it was hiding Colombian rebels. Bush signs the finance reform bill and focuses on fundraising. Political parties fight over the US budget. Prescription drug costs continue to rise. Pentagon credit card abuse will be targeted. Bush pushes a welfare plan to include family time. Bush adopts a partisan tone on some issues.

Hot-Spots: Stratfor situation reports. Rebels lose their edge in Colombia's civil war. Justice a la carte. Denmark’s anti-immigration movement is growing. A South Korean delegation will visit North Korea next week. The FBI must release Carnivore information.

Diasporas: Israel calls up reserves. Israel forces raid Arafat's compound. Arafat claims to be ready for a cease-fire. Arab leaders approve the Saudi peace plan. Israeli army officers find a suicide bomber's equipment in a Red Crescent society ambulance. Will Mideast turmoil threaten the War on Terrorism?

Flash-Points: Would a referendum egitimize Pakistan's leadership? Competing visions for Pakistan's future. Are 9/11 victims more deserving? US troops are trying to keep the peace between warring factions in Afghanistan, while avoiding land-mines. Hundreds of Taliban fighters will be set free. Walter Hewlett sues HP.

Cutting-Edges: The US prepares to invade your hard-drive. Turning muscle movementsinto sound. Online privacy finally gets some respect. Filming the seas' great depths. Does the drug Cytotec endanger pregnancies?

Regressions: What Dick Cheney's energy panel is still hiding. The White House faces more calls for disclosing energy documents in the Enron debacle. Andersen will sell its non-audit units.

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "Think Tanks in a Time of Crisis." Billy Wilder dies (characters, huge films and quotes). Harry Shearer on corporate corruption. Milton Berle, TV's original Jew. Michael Fraase on the entertainment industry's war against everyone else. Senator Fritz Hollings' digital copy-protection bill could rendermillions of home networks useless. Kazaa wins a court appeal. Oxford University Press launches Oxford Online. Suspects in the Daniel Pearl trial will be treated to OJ Simpson-style coverage in Pakistan. Censored Russian journalists will found a new television station. A new study has linked television and violence. How the media have colonized our imaginations.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: The cult of Teddy Roosevelt. Remembering Andy Warhol. Why Edward Limonov is Russia's most feared dissident-artist.

Personal Mutations Exercise: Read how Pattie Maes is exploring intelligence augmentation.

Wednesday, 27 March 2002

• BBC World News summary (audio and video).
• Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
• United Nations Press Briefing (video).
• CNNTV.
• MSNBC Video.
• C-Span Recent Video (video).
• IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
• Freespeech Internet TV.
• UN Briefing on Second World Conference on Ageing (video).
• Washington Post Bush to Arafat: 'Stop killing' (video).
• Washington Post Suicide Bomb Attack Levels Passover Feast (video).
• Washington Post Dana Millbank on Campaign Finance Reform (video).

Grid-Lock: Detainees will be freed in Kosovo. Run, Al run. The return of bell-bottom economics. David Brock is still lying. Will campaign finance reform heal American democracy? The campaign finance reform bill was quietly signed. Rethinking tolerance. Cheney's energy panel tries to operate behind closed doors. The FCC will refund license money. Apple ousts a young developer.

Hot-Spots: Stratfor situation reports. Nelson Mandela's reluctant comeback. The Indian government approved anti-terrorist legislation. The Nigerian government is fighting spam. Air travel's communications killer. Slave reparations are unlikely. Demand challenges for new mobile phones. A smallpox vaccine turns up. The Bush family's Whitewater interest.

Diasporas: A US delegation spars with Sri Lankan separatists. A suicide bomber kills at least 19 people and wounds over 120. US peace hopes may unravel. The Arab Summit: winners and losers. Is the Saudi proposal the last chance for Mideast peace? Israel blames Arafat for the latest suicide bombing. The Al Jazeera network cancelled an interview with Sharon. Two observers are killed in the West Bank. Kurds are ready to be the next Northern Alliance.

Flash-Points: A quake kills over 1200 people in Afghanistan and leaves 100,000 homeless. Russia has ordered a former KGB spymaster now living in Washington DC to return and face charges. Pakistan police released a composite photo of a church attacker. Why do women wed? Sudden impact in space. Unarmed border guards may get guns.

Cutting-Edges: Greenhouse and solar panel homes. NASA investigates recycling food. How med-mar became a hot issue.

Regressions: Bush's recipe for Latin America. Army Chief Thomas White denies any Enron impropriety. Andersen's CEO got a warning about Enron.

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "Saudi Editor Admits That Jews Aren't 'Vampires'." Hollywood uncensored. Tom the Dancing Bug. Why don't movie studios advertise during the Oscars? Roger Ebert's scathing critique of music copy-protection schemes. Vanity Fair wants Tina Brown as a diarist. NPR and ABC News receives the Peabody Award for 9/11 reportage. Another alternative paper moves into the San Francisco market. Milton Berle dies at 93. Poets may lead the publishing revolution.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: The Myth of the Paperless Office. A mathematical beauty in space. The creation of psychopharmacology. The silence machine.

Personal Mutations Exercise: Read a great Genesis P-Orridge interview.

Tuesday, 26 March 2002

• BBC World News summary (audio and video).
• Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
• United Nations Press Briefing (video).
• CNNTV.
• MSNBC Video.
• C-Span Recent Video (video).
• IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
• Freespeech Internet TV.
• Los Angeles Times Arafat Won’t Go to Summit, Blames Sharon (video).

Grid-Lock: Campaign reforms and James Carville. The US economy is predicted to be improving. Richard Carmona is the Surgeon General nominee.

Hot-Spots: Stratfor situation reports. Socialist analysts believe that the danger of war grows on the Korean peninsula.

Diasporas: The Arab League Summit falls apart in Beirut. What is the Arab League? Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak bows out of the now-weakened Summit. Arafat won't go to the Summit and blames Sharon.

Flash-Points: A quake ravages Afghanistan. The post-9/11 tech boom. Correspondence about the Milosevic trial. Defense alleges a conspiracy in John Walker Lindh trial. Tribal ties bind the Afghan army.

Cutting-Edges: The future of virtual worlds. Rodney Brooks on how robots will change us. China launches a third unmanned space vehicle. Can Open Source deliver on privacy? The Gameboy Generation goes mutant. Fourteen people spend three months in bed to simulate weightlessness.

Regressions: Bushism of the Day. The Argentine economy is a net loss. A surge in syphilis fuels fears of HIV. Chasing the Shadow government. Must judges have empty heads? Why Starbucks found it was hard not to be Green. Business magazines develop a pit-bull attitude in the post-Enron era. Andersen’s CEO will resign, the SEC files an accounting suit. Enron complained to UBS PaineWebber to get a broker fired.

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "Ethiopia Spent $5.6 Million for Lobbying." Will Internet radio survive? Why the government is investigating Clear Channel. Why political consultants despise McCain-Feingold. Who gave the most self-serving speech at the Oscars? Paul McCartney's best disco moves. The mystery of missing text messages. A Federal trial on porn filters reveals that filtering software is often worthless. Damien Jaques was surprised to discover he was part of Noam Chomsky's 9/11 speech. How Maxim manipulated the market-driven media. AOL is generous to its executives. Bush's Bono act. Rap the vote.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: The latest research suggests that the brain has an internal gravitational model. Scientists who doubt the existence of black holes. Get your Jeffrey Dahmer action figures. Bob Mould discovers electronica. Among UFO believers.

Personal Mutations Exercise: Learn about different models of the human brain.

Monday, 25 March 2002

• BBC World News summary (audio and video).
• Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
• United Nations Press Briefing (video).
• CNNTV.
• MSNBC Video.
• C-Span Recent Video (video).
• IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
• Freespeech Internet TV.
• Los Angeles Times Bush Prods Sharon and Arafat on Summit (video).
• Los Angeles Times U.S. to Help Train Afghan Army (video).
• Los Angeles Times Koreas to Resume High-Level Negotiations (video).
• Los Angeles Times Oscars Arrivals (video).
• Los Angeles Times Oscars Interviews (video).
• Los Angeles Times Oscars Backstage (video).
• Washington Post Oscars Coverage (video).

Grid-Lock: Will Weblogs ruin Google? Assessing the state of dotcom startups. The two Koreas will resume high-level negotiations. China will launch a dummy astronaut. The therapeutic cloning debate is redefining the liberal-conservative divide.

Hot-Spots: Stratfor situation reports. The European Union is stealing the trade momentum from the US. Economic shock therapy for Argentina as the peso tumbles to a new low. Is the Left missing the chance to fight fascism? The EU is silent about US plans for an Iraqi war. Bush lauds democratic progress in El Salvador. Chechnya's warrior tradition. The High Court will rule on state rights to curtail speeches on campaign finance reform. Does Bush respect the non-religious? Education cash credits are Bush's payback to the religious right.

Diasporas: Arab leaders will vote on Saudi Arabia’s land-for-peace deal. Bush prods Sharon to let Arafat go to Mideast summit, which is at a cross-roads. US Special Envoy Anthony Zinni's non-impact on the Mideast peace process. How Sharon has silenced his political opposition. Israel eyes-off a broad assault.

Flash-Points: The gulf between Western and Eastern minds. The good news about the War on Terrorism. The judge hearing appeals for the Children's Internet Protection Act has ejected the press and public, citing vendor claims of proprietary information. Two al Qaeda leaders have been spotted. Ex-Afghan leader Mohammad Zaher Shah's homecoming has been complicated by security fears. The US will help to train the Afghan army. The US stations jets near Kabul. Why the Powell Doctrine is out and ground troops are in.

Cutting-Edges: Reebok in trouble for funding social activist prizes. Dean Kamen runs his annual bot competition. India lifts its ban on Internet telephony. Rethinking black holes. The Lollapalooza of the Left.

Regressions: Cuba bans PC sales to the public. Does America face a youthful obesity crisis? What's causing recent business scandals? What the Enron scandal hasn't accomplished. Is Enron over? Pud releases F'd Companies.

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "Homefront Confidential." The Oscars play tribute to African-American artists. Tom Tomorrow's This Modern World. Halle Berry's Oscar meltdown. Behind the music that sucks. Napster gets deader. You, too, can be a DVD movie critic. Karen Hughes tries spin control. Marvin Kitman contends that broadcasting is for corporate interests. Latin American journalists ask more questions as conditions get worse. Premium crosswords bring the New York Times about $770,000/year.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: Why do tall people make more money? NASA tries to verify claims of anti-gravity. Why EMDR remains a controversial therapy.

Personal Mutations Exercise: Venture into Allen Ginsberg's world.

Friday, 22 March 2002

• BBC World News summary (audio and video).
• Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
• United Nations Press Briefing (video).
• CNNTV.
• MSNBC Video.
• C-Span Recent Video (video).
• IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
• Freespeech Internet TV.

Grid-Lock: Key pharmaceutical firms disagree with the UN on AIDS drugs. Kenneth Starr will fight campaign finance reform. The Democrat National Committee has a new hero: a $7m benefactor from the entertainment economy. How Carly Fiorina sold out Silicon Valley's soul with the HP/Compaq merger. A bipartisan plan will make the INS into two units. The Kansas court will decide on when life beings. The Senate will force energy utilities to move towards renewable energy sources. Campaign finance reform will create new money routes.

Hot-Spots: Stratfor situation reports. The new cold war on embryo adoptions. Peru will tighten security for Bush's visit. China is cracking down in Muslim regions. The UN Millennium Conference chastises the rich. Dormant terror groups are awakening in Peru. Beijing fends off dust storms. Why does the world ignore Madagascar?

Diasporas: Israelis are in demand for US security. The US increases pressure for Arafat to stop Palestinian violence. A Jerusalem bombing killed four people and Israel cancels the cease-fire talks.

Flash-Points: Google restores Xenu links censored by the Church of Scientology. 38 people are killed in Colombian fighting. Political slayings in Spain have been blamed on Basque separatists. Army and rebel clashes intensify in the Philippines. An offshoot of the Red Brigades has claimed it killed an Italian economist. What would Saddam do if he was on the brink of annihilation? What will happen if Senator Fritz Hollings' anti-copy bill is passed. Al Qaeda forces on the run and parry. Zimbabwe after the elections. The colonialist undercurrents of the Afghanistan war. Peacekeeping forces in Afghanistan. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld promises fair tribunals for al Qaeda and Taliban detainees (how evidence will work). Bush touts a 'smart' US-Mexico border.

Cutting-Edges: Mormon experts are helping the FBI. Lilith spearheads access for geek girls. Why the Japanese upgrade their Macs. Microsoft is considering images for security access. The Bush team will drop its privacy rule for medical records. The revival of grassroots media.

Regressions: Bomb scares in Manila are raising more questions than answers. Were the 1990s the decade of the worker? Will tech rebound in 2002? Paul O'Neill on the Enron clean-up and new accounting rules.

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "Anderson Holds 'Spontaneous' PR Stunt." Why the Brits have a monopoly on humorous magazines. The early 1980s and Reagan-era hypocrisy return with the E.T. re-release. Are Australians being arrogant about the Oscars? The Oscars get Napsterized. Five proposals to fix the Oscars (now a subsidiary of the global beauty business). AOL Time Warner staff can now use a non-AOL e-mail system. Media commodities of Europe.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: Frank Miller's return. Blade II revisits the vampire disco. Five critics argue over the best movies of 2001.

Personal Mutations Exercise: Visit the award-winning Zen site created by Kodai-ji Temple, Kyoto, Japan.

Thursday, 21 March 2002

• BBC World News summary (audio and video).
• Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
• United Nations Press Briefing (video).
• CNNTV.
• MSNBC Video.
• C-Span Recent Video (video).
• IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
• Freespeech Internet TV.
• Washington Post John Mintz on Military Tribunals (video).
• Washington Post Senate Leader Tom Daschle on Campaign Finance Reform (video).
• New York Times Car Bombing in Peru (video).
• New York Times Senate Vote on Campaign Finance Reform Bill (video).
• Los Angeles Times Devastation in Lima (video).

Grid-Lock: Senator John McCain savours the approval of the campaign finance reform bill, thanks to persistence and coalition-building. Inflation rises moderately in February. A House panel reaches agreement on the INS. President Bush announces a US-Mexico border plan.

Hot-Spots: Stratfor situation reports. The US will interview more immigrants. Will the Internet save China? A geopolitical crisis looms between the US and Russia. Muslims fear for their future after riots in India.

Diasporas: A Palestinian bomber wounds thirty people in downtown Jerusalem. Diplomatic envoy Anthony Zinni fails to negotiate an Israeli-Palestinian truce. On-going talks continue despite the bombings. Are the Kurds trying to trigger a US invasion of Iraq?

Flash-Points: The UN Millennium Summit on Poverty opens in Mexico with pledges from the US and Europe. Nine people were killed in a Peru car bombing. The blast occurs outside the American embassy and Bush will still travel to Peru. Afghan refugees return to Kabul (examples: rebuilding a school and the Afghan army). US forces might pursue the Taliban and al Qaeda forces to Pakistan. The Bush administration outlines its rules for military tribunals, closer to court martials. Scientologists use a DMCA threat to delist Xenu.net pages from Google. The US frees Iranian agents. Saddam's al-Qaeda connection. The Pope breaks his silence on a sex scandal.

Cutting-Edges: Nanotechnology may be the New New Thing. How e-mail may reform elections. New American and Russian rockets. A newly-discovered fossil of a human skull could change archaeological history. Eyeball squeezing could correct eyesight. Tone therapy could turn tinnitus off. Food for the future. Monterrey plans to turn garbage into electricity.

Regressions: A Michigan town wants to jail an anti-spam activist. Andersen employees launch a grassroots counter-attack. The Andersen trial is set for 6 May 2002. Party lines emerge in the Enron debate.

Media Memetics: Simpsons-watchers analyze the show’s depiction of maths. Surviving the torrents of media images. The Philadelphia Inquirer falls prey to an e-mail prank. Maxim has thirteen different versions of its "Greatest City" issue. Tom the Dancing Bug. Why the Academy will screw scriptwriters at the Oscars. Senator Fritz Hollings introduces a copy protection bill. Putting the party back in politics.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: Nixon's tapes on the Decline of American Civilization. DJs mixing business and music. Why an original Macintosh box is a collector's item. The self-heating can arrives. Cadaver art: Body of Knowledge. Alternative macrohistory: The Year of Rice and Salt. Secrets of artificial brains. Why globalization remains disappointing. Why 411 is a joke.

Personal Mutations Exercise: Learn about the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment and the fate of a BBC recreation.

Wednesday, 20 March 2002

• BBC World News summary (audio and video).
• Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
• United Nations Press Briefing (video).
• CNNTV.
• MSNBC Video.
• C-Span Recent Video (video).
• IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
• Freespeech Internet TV.
• Los Angeles Times Bomb Kills 8 on Bus in Israel (video).
• Washington Post Roundtable on Campaign Finance Reform (video).
• Washington Post President Bush on Military Tribunals (video).
• Washington Post US Seeks More Terror Interviews (video).

Grid-Lock: Proxy politics in the Hewlett-Packard and Compaq approved merger: Fiorina won. Transsexuals and conservatives. The FTC budget may be cut by pro-merger advocates. The Federal Reserve may soon shift its policy. The Whitewater probe's final report finds criminal activities but clears the Clintons. Getting out of highway gridlock. The Senate passes measures for campaign finance reform, which President Bush will likely sign-off on. The Federal Government is running a $69b deficit.

Hot-Spots: Stratfor situation reports. The Antarctic ice-shelf collapses into the sea. A massive dust storm chokes Beijing. The magnetic North Pole is drifting. Brazil combats media-endorsed piracy. Turkey remains wary on EU membership. Reclaiming Kenya's husbands from alcohol addiction. Why Democrats love free trade. The CIA's dirty international war. The FBI unveils reforms after mishandling Timothy McVeigh's records. Why Americans are targets in Pakistan church bombings. US military tribunals are forming. Religion's influence is seen to be fading in America.

Diasporas: A bus bomb kills eight people in Israel. Why the US Left has problems attacking Israeli fundamentalists. Cheney proposes to meet Arafat. Israeli Bedouins are turning militant.

Flash-Points: Arianna Huffington on homeland security. Denis Halliday on the US invading Iraq. Zimbabwe's Opposition faces treason charges. Unemployed Chinese workers pose a problem for the Opposition. The EU economic summit makes a revealing decision. Britain agrees to send marines to Afghanistan. The DEA fights a war against hemp food products.

Cutting-Edges: Tracking atomic matter. The Furrybot arrives. Moore's Law is alive and kicking. Desmond Tutu's renewed calls for peace. Former World Bank chief economist Joseph Stiglitz on corporate malfeasance. Is Bono's campaign helping to fight world poverty?

Regressions: Losing a child. Japan's youth are selling their bodies for clothes. The dark history of Australia's female convicts. Why Bush is addicted to perpetual war. PBS probes the early 1990s financial swindles. Anderson auditors plead not-guilty to charges (forcing a trial in May) as testimony about Enron's lies continues. Andersen's employees are fighting for survival.

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "The Loyal Opposition." The myth of the digital divide (is it a "black thang"?). The film director as DJ. Utah Govrnor Mike Leavitt is being sued for deleting his e-mails. Movie musicals are back . . . MTV style. Soundbite patriots. The Wall Street Journal will publish an anthology of Daniel Pearl's writings. Marianne Pearl appears on Larry King Live. The National Magazine Awards are announced.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: How a Pentagon "background" briefing gets posted on the Internet. What Fox could teach the Pentagon (which is remaining tight-lipped about casualties). England allows a German art exhibition of human cadavers. Universe expansion is increasing. Secrets of the Soviet moon program have been revealed. The town that banned Satan. The mystery of misogyny. Rob Zombie offers advice on music industry careers.

Personal Mutations Exercise: Read online excerpts from The Satanic Bible.

Tuesday, 19 March 2002

• BBC World News summary (audio and video).
• Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
• United Nations Press Briefing (video).
• CNNTV.
• MSNBC Video.
• C-Span Recent Video (video).
• IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
• Freespeech Internet TV.
• Washington Post CIA Director Tenet on Al Qaeda Threat (video).
• Washington Post Cheney Gives Arafat Conditional US Vow (video).
• Washington Post Bush Pledges Tax Relief for US Business (video).

Grid-Lock: Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner on Human Rights, won't be seeking a second term. Vice President Dick Cheney confronts fears during his Middle East tour. Liberals who support anti-cloning. Is US Trade Representative Bob Zoelick a protectionist? The family of accused 9/11 terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui won't cooperate with investigative authorities. FBI agents have been blamed for the delay of files on Timothy McVeigh. Democrats oppose 'soft' money. During Andrea Yates' sentencing, her family criticized her husband. Did the White House give pharmaceutical companies veto power over FDA appointments? Bush presses for conservative judges. The White House and Senate clash on homeland security. No-one (in the mainstream media) blames Bush for anything.

Hot-Spots: Stratfor situation reports. Ismael Zambada eyes-off the US-Mexico coastal drug trade. 25 North Korean defectors have arrived safely in South Korea. Arab fighters in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge are creating regional instability. CBS anchor Dan Rather predicts another terrorist attack on the US. The trouble with Taco Bell.

Diasporas: Israel pulled its troops out of Bethlehem and other occupied areas. How Israeli violence creates better soccer. Cheney admits he would meet Arafat.

Flash-Points: A stealth asteroid has narrowly missed Earth. Thousands of laid-off Chinese workers confront a major oil company and globalization. US forces kill 16 people in Afghanistan (one US officer is wounded). Britain will send more troops to Afghanistan. Al Qaeda remains a threat. Afghans are eager for their king to fill the leadership void. A hacktivist confronts Slobodan Milosevic. Hewlett-Packard's Carly Fiorina declares her merger a winner. Massive protests at the EU Summit in Barcelona. The US Supreme Court on urine samples and college scams. Did 9/11 snuff the American Left? The Pentagon will reduce air patrols over American cities. 89 people were charged when police uncovered an online porn network. A Cuba analyst admits to spying. 9/11 charity cons are being investigated.

Cutting-Edges: Czechs enact an important pollution law. The FCC outlines its wireless plans. Bots battle to take-over your house. New Zealand's kakapo may soon be off the endangered species list. Bush proposes a tax cut for small businesses. Europe's renewed cosmopolitanism.

Regressions: Are the WWF's days numbered? ICANN icon sues . . . ICANN. Class war in British Columbia? Murder in a Colombian cathedral. Pakistani authorities are investigating how a church killing may have targeted Americans. Four people were killed during rioting in southern Kyrgyzstan.

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "MBD's Tobacco Work Exposed." Sonic fusion. Users reject paying for online content. The mogul crunch. Lachlan Murdoch believes that Australians are great journalists. The HBR scandal revisits the firing of past editors, will damage Welch's reputation and has created the image of him as an uber-trophy man. Why charging for Web video may be a no-brainer. A New York Post freelancer is fired after angering Disney. What's next for Oprah and her $1b empire?

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: The CIA cans cookies. Future mothers of America. Entrepreneurial start-ups. The future of television.

Personal Mutations Exercise: Read some Riane Eisler and start practicing sacred sexuality.

Thursday, 14 March 2002

ท BBC World News summary (audio and video).
ท Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
ท United Nations Press Briefing (video).
ท CNNTV.
ท MSNBC Video.
ท C-Span Recent Video (video).
ท IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
ท Freespeech Internet TV.
ท Washington Post Attorney General John Ashcroft on Pearl Indictment (video).
ท Washington Post Pickering Attacked, Defended (video).

Grid-Lock: Why Netscape lost the "browser wars." Mental illness is no longer a defence for murder. Fallout from the Andrea Yates verdict. The FCC sides with cable firms. The House Budget is $46 billion out-of-balance. Daschle orders a vote on the electoral reform bill. Bush's judicial nominee is rejected. Bush seeks $5 billion in foreign aid.

Hot-Spots: Stratfor situation reports. Changes in US military structure have implications for Korea. Russian officials insist that terrorists are in Georgia. Hindus take a stand on vigils. North Korea remains defiant on a 1994 arms pledge while Beijing protests end and 20 North Koreans seek asylum. Bush's geopolitical plans change nuclear deterrence. Colombia may get anti-terror aid. Canada presses Bush on aid-related issues.

Diasporas: Kashmiri separatists demand their future. How Israel's right hijacked the Middle East (round up the usual suspects). The US demands that Israel backs off. US envoy Anthony Zinni urged Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to pull his forces out of Palestinian territory.

Flash-Points: Yemen is divided over its US ties. UN diplomats believe that the US will regain its seat on the UN Human Rights Commission. US forces mop up east Afghanistan. The Powell Doctrine gets tested in the Battle of Gardez.

Cutting-Edges: England's doctors claim that marijuana isn't as deadly as portrayed. A Mayan archaeological discovery. How to copy DVDs. What are the rights of dead people?

Regressions: The former East Germany sinks into an economic backwater. Indonesia's central bank head has been jailed for graft. A prisoner's day at Guantanamo. The 101 Dumbest Moments in Business (2001). Cyborg Steve Mann versus airport security. The minimal disclosure precedent. Bush refuses to hand over energy data. Andersen has been charged with "widespread criminal conduct" in shredding Enron's documents. The SEC has established new rules for auditing firms. The Enron-Andersen dance signifies another 1990s bust. Enron claims its first White House victim.

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "Ferraro Lobbies for Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository." Inside the Vivendi-Murdoch war. And now Harvard Business Review becomes its own ethics study: Jane Welch talks divorce, The Wall Street Journal refuses to update its readers, and the CEO interviews are revealed as PR exercises. The prime suspect in the killing of Daniel Pearl is indicted.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: A conversation with Jon Ronson. Obscuring survivalists. The first annual Keanu awards. David Horowitz blames liberals for terrorist attacks.

Personal Mutations Exercise: Read commentary by Idries Shah on the Commanding Self.

Wednesday, 13 March 2002

ท BBC World News summary (audio and video).
ท Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
ท CNNTV.
ท MSNBC Video.
ท C-Span Recent Video (video).
ท IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
ท Freespeech Internet TV.
ท United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Press Conference (video).
ท Washington Post Bush Meets Press (video).
ท Washington Post Rumsfeld on US-Russia Nuclear Pact (video).
ท Washington Post Cheney Mideast Tour (video).

Grid-Lock: The Senate kills stronger fuel standards. Bush calls for a probe of the INS. Bush's nominee for judge awaits a vote. Who should run the Internet? Why the IRS refuses to pay slavery reparations. The secret life of index funds. More stem-cell confusion. Is a faster FDA better? Bush is furious over 9/11 hijackers being issued student visas. How to fix-up unemployment insurance. Vitamin manufacturers face tough European legislation.

Hot-Spots: Stratfor situation reports. Bush backs a nuclear pact with Russia. Queer harassment surges in the military. Vice President Dick Cheney visits Yemen and is met with a mixed reception. Economic misery breeds Pakistan's terror. Attack of the killer drones. Famine in Malawi. Bush signals that the War on Terrorism will shift to Iraq. Will al Qaeda team-up with Hezbollah? The CIA warns of Saudi instability.

Diasporas: 20,000 Israeli Army troops moved deeper into the West Bank. Bush calls on Israel to ease its campaign. Ramallah residents see their dreams foreclosed. Three Israelis were killed in a Gaza bombing. Arab regimes remain indecisive. Secretary of State Colin Powell talks with mediator Anthony Zinni. In Egypt, Vice President Dick Cheney calls for greater consensus. The UN calls for creation of a Palestinian state and a cease-fire. Why the Israeli right wants to kill Arafat.

Flash-Points: Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe is declared the winner of Zimbabwe's election. US analysts claim the Zimbabwe vote was rigged. US commanders declare that their battle against al Qaeda and the Taliban has been a success.

Cutting-Edges: An experimental brain implant enables a monkey to move a cursor by thought. Comcast picks up on HDTV. Cyberia meets Ghana. Video game odyssey. Bush praises peace in Northern Ireland. The cancer 'smart bomb' needs more testing. Organic food might reduce heart attacks.

Regressions: When the War on Dissent widens. Raves get cyber-narced. Attorney General John Ashcroft's patriotic jingles. Andersen faces charges and doom. What will be Andersen’s fate? Deloitte claims it won't pursue a merger. Andersen will be cross-examined by the SEC and Department of Justice.

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "Nichols Dezenhall Sees Eco-Terrorists Everywhere." Record companies on payola. Remembering Bill Hicks. How to avoid e-mail impersonations: the prime suspect in the Slate diary hoax. Jack Welch splits with his wife: his fling with Wetlaufer may cost him $350m to $450m and injure Harvard University's reputation. Why authors of critical media books are ignored by the media. Naomi Klein on Brand USA.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: Ralph Bakshi remembers hunting the One Ring. Dressing up the Art of Seduction. Sex tips for Victorians. Surviving ordinary madness. James Watson's sex life. Support for ID Cards is waning. The CIA's non-classified network has been mapped. AD&D creator Gary Gygax tells all. The danger of energy drinks. How Van Eck surveillance works.

Personal Mutations Exercise: Find a floatation tank and go for a planet-side trip.

Tuesday, 12 March 2002

ท BBC World News summary (audio and video).
ท Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
ท CNNTV.
ท MSNBC Video.
ท C-Span Recent Video (video).
ท IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
ท Freespeech Internet TV.
ท Los Angeles Times Protesters Target Arafat (video).
ท Washington Post Andrea Yates Case: Texas Jury Verdict (video).
ท Washington Post Terror Alert System Unveiled (video).
ท Washington Post Bush on Volunteerism (video).
ท Washington Post Pentagon Rejects al Qaeda Escape Deal (video).

Grid-Lock: The extradition of Tijuana drug cartel boss Benjamin Arellano Felix may take years. Post-WTC America’s obsession with tall buildings has ended. Bush and the GOP's energy plan reaches stalemate. Andrea Yates is guilty of murder.

Hot-Spots: Stratfor situation reports. Mozilla will have its revenge on Richmond. Jordan's King Abdullah II warns against killing Iraq. The Egyptian economy is facing a major crisis. Intelligence-gathering confronts language difficulties. The widening tech-savvy gap.

Diasporas: Israeli forces have seized the West Bank town of Ramallah in a tank operation that killed thirty-one people. Seven Israelis were also shot. Vice President Dick Cheney will press for peace.

Flash-Points: Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt may have been kidnapped but still plans to run in May's ballot. China uses a human rights report to criticize the United States. Why "phases" of the War on Terrorism is a misleading description, complicated by the specter of nuclear weapons. Few al Qaeda forces have been found (view graphic). Bush seeks more Allied help in the War on Terrorism and claims that his nuclear plans have precedents. The US-Afghan joint force is ready to attack al Qaeda’s caves. Justice slows on the US-Mexico border. A key uranium pact was manipulated by a Russian official. A leading official of Zimbabwe's opposition party has been charged with treason. An advance team arrives in Yemen.

Cutting-Edges: Newspapers suggest Bush axe the "Axis" label. River runoff becomes exportable. Scientists are creating a three-dimensional map of the universe. New art: DNA and bacteria. Countries who flourished without IP laws. Bush touts the importance of public service.

Regressions: Brazil printer companies are targeting refills. How the War on Terrorism masks the War on Civil Liberties. Saying no to War on Drugs propaganda. The California Attorney General's office has filed suit against four energy companies. Will Andersen face charges for obstructing audits and be forced to split? Andersen's disappearing act. Anderson's accounting jitters are affecting the market. Anderson dumps The Street over public comments.

Media Memetics: Digital music video rocks the house. Black Hawk Down sells out. Canada will raise tariffs on recordable media. 9/11 eulogized in stories. Why Britney should shut-up. Steve Mann, wearable computer icon, becomes a cyborg film star. Visit Ally McEmbassy. Vivendi sues Rupert Murdoch. Will journalism survive when networks dump newscasts? Jack Welch’s wife is suing him for divorce.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: Surveillance cameras reveal that sometimes Winona Ryder's reality bites back.

Personal Mutations Exercise: Read George Gurdjieff's aphorisms.

Monday, 11 March 2002

ท BBC World News summary (audio and video).
ท Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
ท United Nations Press Briefing (video).
ท CNNTV.
ท MSNBC Video.
ท C-Span Recent Video (video).
ท IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
ท Freespeech Internet TV.
ท United Nations International Conference on Financing and Development (video).
ท Washington Post Tribute in Light (video).
ท Los Angeles Times President George Bush on Tribute in Light (video).
ท Los Angeles Times Michael Bloomberg on Tribute in Light (video).
ท Los Angeles Times Rudy Giuliani on Tribute in Light (video).
ท Washington Post Jerry Knight on Anderson (video).

Grid-Lock: Argentines are turning to the Internet for work and life-focus. Operation Anaconda may have questionable outcomes for the US. When did childhood begin?

Hot-Spots: Stratfor situation reports. North Koreans suffer culture shock. Will Bush take on Big Tobacco?

Diasporas: Did Oslo destroy the Middle East? Twelve people have died as Israeli forces pursue militants. The latest tactics have been questioned by observers and endanger an American-led plan for a cease-fire agreement. Arafat's headquarters has been bombed beyond recognition yet Israeli authorities say he will be allowed to move freely.

Flash-Points: Jimmy Carter and Bill Gates Sr. file from Africa. Protests have marked Zimbabwe's elections. Bush's nuclear plans were meant to deter rogue nations. President Bush vowed to continue the widening War on Terrorism (after gaining support from the United Kingdom). The anti-terror coalition has issued a progress report. Afghans are poised for a new assault despite criticism from US forces. Suspects have been transferred to other countries for questioning.

Cutting-Edges: The rise of digital biology. An exploding supernova may have damaged life on Earth. Smart ID cards are worrying Hong Kong. Microdots are the new security. Stem cell research progresses. Chip implants are the new body art. WTC memorial: Tribute in Light (view photos). Claims of nuclear fusion have caused academic furore. Homeland security has a new color-coded system.

Regressions: Has spying become America's way of life? Forget Moore's Law: the future of computing may be flat. NASA's budget trouble threatens safety. Andersen is in merger talks with Deloitte. Some analysts contend that the troubled accountancy firm should split. Enron's new CEO will earn $1.3 million a year. Will Enron be evicted from its fifty-storey tower?

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "Beat the Press." Irrational humans meet stupid spending. Bang The Machine debuts. Ted Koppel's geezer audience. T3 faces a rocky road to production. Michael Wolff critiques Thomas Friedman ad-sounding bid for global peace. Salon gets another $500,000 investment. David Letterman says he will stay at CBS. Marienne Pearl says living with Daniel Pearl was "like a comic-book." Bush calls on reporters to write to Pearl's son. Jack Shafer, interim Slate editor, vows to expose the diary hoaxer. Jack Welch advised Harvard Business Review editor-at-large Suzy Wetlaufer during negotiations. Two editors have resigned. Critics claim that HBR culture is false and that they haven't mastered a basic business lesson.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: Masterpiece: Prince's "Sign O' The Times." Tom Tomorrow's This Modern World. Failed dotcom entrepreneurs get into the porn industry. The tourists that ate Florida. Dot.USA sites have been shutdown. Nukes to the Moon? Hollywood plays dirty before the Oscars.

Personal Mutations Exercise: Read the Extropy Journal debate about Vernor Vinge's Singularity meme.

Thursday, 7 February 2002

ท BBC World News summary (audio and video).
ท Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
ท United Nations Press Briefing (video).
ท CNNTV.
ท MSNBC Video.
ท C-Span Recent Video (video).
ท IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
ท Freespeech Internet TV.
ท Washington Post Bush Sends Envoy Anthony Zinni to Middle East (video).
ท Washington Post President Promotes CEO Accountability (video).
ท Washington Post Greenspan Says Recovery Underway (video).

Grid-Lock: The White House has stepped back from plans to pay less than the minimum wage. Analysts now believe that a balanced US budget may be possible. The dark side of Bush’s judicial nominee. The Helms-Dole connection. Can Democrat presidential candidates survive new campaign finance laws? Why the Democrats are sending out conflicting messages.

Hot-Spots: Stratfor situation reports. Europe's battle of will in the Balkans. US allies may finally get a combat role in Afghanistan. Hindus are building a controversial temple that may trigger more religiopolitical violence. South Korea's youth go West. How wearable computers can defeat terrorism.

Diasporas: The ancient world was a vast melting pot, according to the latest findings in human genetic history. The Mideast conflict spirals further. The US shifts to deploy special envoys.

Flash-Points: Italian police are exploring an al Qaeda link to a cyanide plot. Scientists claim that the latest palaeontology findings are in fact illusory. US forces prepare for a final assault against al Qaeda and Taliban forces. US captives in the Philippines claim to be healthy. The world's reaction to American steel tariffs. An explosion kills three US soldiers. Photos of the Pentagon on 9/11 are released. The US claims to be quickly repatriating detainees.

Cutting-Edges: Iraq has renewed dialogue with the UN over nuclear weapons. Modern scientists have discovered that we share a DNA heritage of Neanderthals. Wind power is the fastest growing new energy source in the world. Scientists want to drill Mars for the truth. Mozambique artists are turning weapons into peace symbols. A study has found links between assisted birth and birth defects. Doctors in Saudi Arabia have performed the first human uterus transplant. The Shuttle crew will revive the Hubble Telescope's camera.

Regressions: "Maybe we've just redefined inhumanity." The Pentagon plans to curb foreign staff. Has Enron's management fueled a trend in minimal disclosure? The Justice Department’s Leslie Caldwell is probing Enron for further evidence. The White House defends Army Secretary Thomas White. Enron's board will likely be protected from lawsuits.

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "The War Against Propaganda." Why digital cinema is still a dream. When blinking modem lights means data-hacks. What happens when the Pentagon loses hold of its war scripts. Why Germaine Greer was hostile to "the best kind of feminism." How Bernard Goldberg missed out on the wider view of media distortion.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: Iran steals Sara Aronson to wage war against infidel Barbie. The Hindu Kush may be the next battleground in the Great Game. How digital cameras created a porn Internet. Revisit the megafauna days. Kylie Minogue: Australia exports Diva Pop to America (finally). Did Chinese explorers discover America?

Personal Mutations Exercise: Read the complete Confessions of Aleister Crowley.

Wednesday, 6 March 2002

ท BBC World News summary (audio and video).
ท Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
ท CNNTV.
ท MSNBC Video.
ท C-Span Recent Video (video).
ท IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
ท Freespeech Internet TV.
ท United Nations Ms. Louise Frechette on UN Reform (video).

Grid-Lock: US-Colombian relations may be in trouble because of narco-trafficking. Lawyers for Microsoft and the Department of Justice are trying to convince a judge to accept their antitrust settlement. Will 2002 be the Year of the Tycoon? US congressional investigations into 9/11 have been delayed. The Senate and President George W. Bush feud over judicial nominees and the fate of an appointee. Boosting unemployment benefits wins over Bush’s planned business tax-cuts. The final report on l'affaire Lewinsky is issued.

Hot-Spots: Stratfor situation reports. China remains bitter about spam allegations. Indonesia is being pressured to join the War on Terrorism. How demand for pool cues endangers Indonesia's orangutans. Open source multimedia is growing in the wake of fees for next-gen multimedia. Bush's stance on trade tariffs may spark a trade-war.

Diasporas: After dialogue with Bush, Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak has re-asserted his role in the Mideast. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon vows to continue his attacks "without let-up." Sharon was criticized by US Secretary of State Colin Powell. The latest Israeli attacks have killed ten people. Palestinian militants warn Israeli civilians of future reprisals. A school bomb unveils the threat of Israeli militants. Is the Saudi peace plan ludicrous?

Flash-Points: Dozens of human embryos have been cloned for stem-cell research in China. Zimbabwe's vote nears as pre-election violence surges. Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters remain resilient against 1000 newly deployed American soldiers. A key al Qaeda fugitive is caught in the Balkans.

Cutting-Edges: The discovery of tiny fossils could rewrite the history books about human evolution. The Hubble Space Telescope has been rebooted with its power unit. Some people can predict chaotic sequences. One lifetime is not enough for a trip to the stars. The genomics race goes philanthropic. Forecasters may soon be able to predict the arrival of droughts. The All Species Foundation is planning to identify and catalogue every living species in the next 25 years.

Regressions: New Enron CEO Stephen Cooper is facing a turnaround challenge. Army Secretary Thomas White remains under fire for his unethical handling of Enron stocks. Bush is considering widespread corporate reform. Can Enron return to power? Enron and the Supreme Court.

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "The Action Coalition for Media Education Takes Off." File-swapping rifts have elevated Gnutella as a haven. Why 3G is vapourware. Slate on being duped. Betsy Morris hopes her children grow up to be like Danny Pearl. Eileen McNamara contends that the embattled Harvard Business Review cedes editorial control to the corporate hot-shots it writes about. Ted Koppel met with Disney management to discuss the fate of Nightline. Photographer Bernard Weil and other journalists faced a Kabul flash-point where some were badly injured.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: Does Western science exclude Blacks? Adrian Lamo is the latest notorious hacker. Check out furniture porn. Has Germaine Greer gone mad? Does celibacy turn priests into child molesters? Why Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle is abused. What books would you force on your neighbours? How anime editing works.

Personal Mutations Exercise: Read this article about Kim Stanley Robinson's future scenarios and check out relevant articles on macrohistory and the future and alternative futures of the Islamic Ummah.

Tuesday, 5 March 2002

ท BBC World News summary (audio and video).
ท Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
ท CNNTV.
ท MSNBC Video.
ท C-Span Recent Video (video).
ท IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
ท Freespeech Internet TV.

Grid-Lock: How the War on Terrorism stratifies leaders. The wireless Internet is still trying to cross-the-chasm. Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji has called for greater economic growth in reaction to the global downturn. Is Tony Blair incompetent? The Pentagon has more poisonous ideas. Why are Bush’s controversial steel tariffs legal? Why missile defense won’t work. A US federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit that claimed video games fueled the Columbine massacre. The US Senate has begun debating a key energy bill. Scientists are sceptical on the latest claims of cold fusion success. Campaign finance reform debate: the morning after. Bush's nominee morphs judicial truth.

Hot-Spots: Stratfor situation reports. Washington's War on Terrorism and Japan's economic status pose a threat to China. Will the intelligence community be overwhelmed by Open Source intelligence? How Alan Greenspan read the markets during the dotcom boom. The new drug hysteria: drinking.

Diasporas: Israelis and Arabs may be caught up in a ruthless cycle of violence. Hindu and Muslim clashes provoked recent religious clashes in India that have impacted on its ruling party. The latest Palestinian attack has killed seven people.

Flash-Points: Do American copyright laws apply in Russia? Al Qaeda's casualties are growing. Russian tycoon Boris Berzovsky has accused Russian leader Vladimir Putin of having foreknowledge about a series of September 1999 bombing attacks. New troops have Operation Anaconda against al Qaeda.

Cutting-Edges: Scientists have created a database of the 11,000 species of ants. The Open Source movement continues to grow. India is now building a nationwide grid of supercomputers. A scientific study has found links between pollution and cancer. Astronauts have attached a second wing to the Hubble Space Telescope.

Regressions: Sudan's government has continued bombing the south. A 6.8 quake plunges the Philippines into darkness. British corporations are ignoring government pleas to harness natural capitalism. Bush versus welfare mothers. Bush and Enron drilled for oil together. More on Bush's first Enron deal. Why consulting work and audits go hand-in-hand. Warren Buffet calls on investors to be more adversarial. Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling married former Enron executive Rebecca Carter in a private ceremony on the weekend. Is there an Enron-Cheny-Taliban connection? Jonathan Chaitt defends economist Paul Krugman in the Enron debate. Why the Enron hearings were painful. Enron: the spectacle of a corrupt plutocracy.

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "I Say Irradiation, You Say Pasturization." War journalists are pursued by gunmen. Slate was hoaxed by its phantom diarist. Prosecutors on the Daniel Pearl murder case are going to court. Pearl’s editors have been asked if they put him in harm's way. How women's magazines get away with lying. The embattled Pacifica network faces-off corporate media monoliths. Will Monica Lewinsky become a post-feminist icon? Has U2's Bono changed the mind of retired senator Jesse Helms? A media merger in your living room.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: Modern Masterpiece: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Could Raelians endanger scientific research on cloning? Southwest Research Institute have created a slippery slime for crowd control. The Pentagon tests high-tech projects against al Qaeda. More 9/11 conspiracy theories. Tell your kids the truth about drugs.

Personal Mutations Exercise: Read this essay and watch Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).

Monday, 4 March 2002

ท BBC World News summary (audio and video).
ท Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
ท United Nations Press Briefing (video).
ท CNNTV.
ท MSNBC Video.
ท C-Span Recent Video (video).
ท IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
ท Freespeech Internet TV.
ท United Nations Norway's Ambassador Ole Peter Kolby on the Security Council (video).
ท Los Angeles Times US Copters Take Fire (video).
ท Washington Post Vernon Loeb on Operation Enduring Freedom's Casualities (video).

Grid-Lock: Vice President Dick Cheney has defended a widening of the War on Terrorism. Doris Kearns Goodwin lusts after corporate boards. The House of Representatives is not keen to pursue legislation on copy-protection enabled consumer devices. News Corp executives have blasted P2P-enabled piracy.

Hot-Spots: Stratfor situation reports. The US may face problems with allies over the War on Terrorism. Election losses have intensified in-fighting within India’s ruling coalition. Bush is planning a 30% trade tariff on steel.

Diasporas: Eight US soldiers were killed, including a Special Forces soldier, when a helicopter crashed during the latest raid on al Qaeda. A Palestinian gunman wounded at least thirteen people and killed thirteen people in Tel Aviv. Israeli raids killed nineteen people in retaliation. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has ordered more strikes. The Saudis have established conditions for their peace plan. Syria and Lebanon have rejected the offer. Egypt has offered to host a Mideast peace summit.

Flash-Points: Colombia's civil war goes cyber. A field guide to the Afghan conflict. Turf wars and ethnic rifts plague Afghanistan. Are the Taliban plotting to retake Kabul? Zimbabwe's election has stratified into land versus law. US bombers have strafed Russian hackers in the Dmitry Sklyarov case have claimed they are immune in a US case because they were part of a Russian company. Hilary Rosen demands that copy-protected CDs continue to be developed. Are consumers really criminals? Prosecutors will conduct a simulation of Richard Reid's shoe-bombing device.

Cutting-Edges: New strategies to wipe-out terrorism: destroy boredom. Switzerland joins the United Nations. Will SETI teach extraterrestrials about altruism? US justices have agreed to open electric grids to computers. Danish scientist Dr. Bjorn Lomborg is creating a storm with his views on environmental policy.

Regressions: Has the Bush presidency lowered the bar? Why legislating against future 401k blow-outs may cause problems. Jockeying for a Pulitzer because of Enron coverage: Wall Street Journal staffers complain about their enthusiastic coverage being overlooked and Fortune goes for footnotes. A UBS PaineWebber advisor claims he was fired for telling people to sell their Enron stocks.

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: ”Playing The Blame Game with Mad Deer and Game Farms.” A critique of major life-style sites. Scholars continue to digitize literary classics. O lord, when will the dotcom crash-prompted magazine bust be over? Must see TV: Kabul news. Are the latest news expose books filled with nonsense theories? Gary Condit continues to seethe with Zen-like intensity: he doesn't talk to tabloids. He has a tell-all book deal in the wings (hopefully). Harvard Business Review is under fire since a reporter became romantically involved with Jack Welch during a profile.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: Tom Tomorrow on the Pentagon’s disinformation campaign. Was William Shakespeare just a front identity for Christopher Marlowe? Secret underground bunkers for everyone. Pioneer 10 phones home. Could Bush's post-9/11 secret government have spearheaded a dictatorship? Have a new group of scientists tested cold fusion?

Personal Mutations Exercise: Read some excerpts from Robert Anton Wilson's Chaos and Beyond.

Friday, 1 March 2002

ท BBC World News summary (audio and video).
ท Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
ท United Nations Press Briefing (video).
ท CNNTV.
ท MSNBC Video.
ท C-Span Recent Video (video).
ท IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
ท Freespeech Internet TV.
ท Los Angeles Times 'Shadow' Government Stands Ready (video).

Grid-Lock: Does the hunt for Osama bin Ladden matter anymore? Colombia's domestic reform faces drug-war gridlock. The IRS is planning more audits. The Senate debate on copy-protection has split along party lines. Bill Clinton's real legacy: new candidates. Rising land prices are changing business ecosystems in cities. Is there a breakdown in US administration for Homeland Defense? Special Ops are now deployed on humanitarian aid missions. The debate on US election reform makes slow progress.

Hot-Spots: Stratfor situation reports. A UN study has found that the world's population is rapidly aging. The White House wants 9/11 military tribunals to be scrapped by 2008, fearing a threat to national sovereignty. Are you a Pentagon drone? Is the US presence in Georgia really about oil reserves? The US continues unilateral talks with Yemen.

Diasporas: Does the Saudi peace offer hide another agenda? Six Palestinians were killed when Israeli troops invaded a camp. Israeli reservists continue to protest over military policies.

Flash-Points: Al Qaeda and Taliban forces are massing along Pakistan's border. 300 people were killed in India's latest religious riots. DEA agents are not shocked by a tunnel found on the US-Mexican border. The US military still wants to topple Saddam Hussein.

Cutting-Edges: Cyborg-like perception augmentation has arrived. An accord has been reached on the 'living wage'.

Regressions: What killed @Home? Enron's place in the swindle cycle. Online company flamers are facing lawsuits. How will Enron's fallout affect corporate whistle-blowers? The business press on punishing corporate fraud.

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "Meat Man's Mad Rant Ignores Wisconsin's Mad Deer." Why Narco News won't allow reprints by Alternet. Daniel Goldhagen's latest manuscript may be the year's most controversial book. Veteran reporters are unsure about the robo-scribe being sent to Afghanistan. The fall of magnate Leo Kirch. Will Sony regain its former status? The Wall Street Journal asked networks and other publications to keep quiet about reporter Daniel Pearl's Israeli heritage. Pearl's murder has prompted a re-examination of dangerous beats, the safety of foreign correspondents and home-base support. Families are seeking a delay on a CBS 9/11 documentary.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: Why some political iconoclasts never go away (like Monica and Fidel). The brain-waves of meditating monks have been mapped. What would Jesus surf? The most feared woman on the Internet. Roger Waters buries the bone deeper. What we always knew: Bush has a shadow government.

Personal Mutations Exercise: Read a summary of Ken Wilber's "Pre/Trans Fallacy."

Wednesday, 27 February 2002

ท BBC World News summary (audio and video).
ท Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
ท United Nations Press Briefing (video).
ท MSNBC Video.
ท C-Span Recent Video (video).
ท IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
ท Freespeech Internet TV.
ท Washington Post Alan Greenspan on the Economic Outlook (audio).
ท Washington Post Alan Greenspan on the Enron Situation (audio
ท Wisconsin Governor Scott McCallum Attacks On-Air News Anchor (video).

Grid-Lock: Fashion crisis at the Supreme Court. The House passes a key broadband bill. Stronger jail-terms for hackers? Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan endorses the coming recovery as GDP figures rise. Bush will tout retirement planning. Democrats critique the Pentagon.

Hot-Spots: Stratfor situation reports. The US counter-terrorist support of Georgia angers Russia. Iran obtains missiles from China, angering the US.

Diasporas: The Saudi Arabian peace offer gathers more backers. Nine people were killed when Israelis attacked a refugee camp. Islamic militants are winning a propaganda war in Macedonia.

Flash-Points: Local warlords are dividing Afghanistan. A tunnel has been found under the US-Mexican border. The US considers joint counter-terrorist missions with Yemen. The US steps back from becoming embroiled in Colombia's civil war.

Cutting-Edges: The United Kingdom approves human cloning. How George Soros bought the world. Can streptococcal virus cause Tourette's Syndrome? In Japan you can hire someone to end an affair. More women are voting. Will the next generation of US scientists face a nuclear weapons brain drain? Americans are taking more self-defense classes in the post-9/11 climate.

Regressions: Newspapers mourn the death of Angolan strongman Jonas Savimbi. The White House is ordered to release its energy information. Inside Enron's sexual politics: Watkins v Skilling. Arthur Andersen offers a $750 million settlement to stop the flood of civil lawsuits. Analysts now claim that Enron lied to them. The Enron debacle inspires major accounting changes. Alan Greenspan on the Enron situation (audio).

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "The Great Deception." Fear of Planet Internet and the Doomsday Clock. High-tech magnates want the US Congress out of the debate with Hollywood on digital rights. A news anchor is attacked on-air by Wisconsin’s governor (video). A hacker gained access to the New York Times op-ed database. The Grammy winner list.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: Meet the mobsters and terrorists next-door. Why Snapple is scary.

Personal Mutations Exercise: Read the complete text of Eric K. Drexler's nanotechnology book Engines of Creation (1986).

Tuesday, 26 February 2002

ท BBC World News summary (audio and video).
ท Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
ท CNNTV.
ท MSNBC Video.
ท C-Span Recent Video (video).
ท IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
ท Freespeech Internet TV.
ท Los Angeles Times Bush on Welfare Plan (video).
ท Washington Post Skilling Denies Misleading Congress (audio).
ท Washington Post Enron VP Watkins on Former CEO Skilling (audio).

Grid-Lock: Bush's doctrines are reshaping foreign policy priorities. How Bush fumbled on global warming. Bush faces-off the GOP on campaign finance. Protect your cell phone from spam. A prayer for America.

Hot-Spots: Stratfor situation reports. Servicing the Hubble Telescope will be a drama. Recent tests suggest that Britain's mad cow contagion may be fading. The US has begun anti-terror assistance to Georgia. Dangers of the Homeland Security Initiative. Why the antiglobalist movement is merging with patriotic dissenters from the War on Terrorism. The hidden specter of racial profiling. The US seeks to extend the ban on cloning.

Diasporas: Saudi Arabia is caught in a tight spot. The US has lauded Saudi Arabia's proposed peace plan.

Flash-Points: 250 million butterflies are dead. Afghan villagers have voiced their anger over US attacks while refugees have returned for nation-rebuilding. Muslim militants in Serbia are arming themselves. Bush sends a dubious envoy to Taiwan. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has killed off the Office of Strategic Influence, but reporters considered its possible headlines and future lies. A Green Beret was killed during a training exercise in North Carolina. Are US military incursions in Afghanistan a by-product of mission creep? At least 500 possible al Qaeda agents have escaped facing military tribunals due to Pentagon administration errors. US planes have fired on Pakistan and US soldiers infiltrated Iraq to try assassinating Saddam Hussein. New York officials make a pilgrimage to Ground Zero.

Cutting-Edges: A new vaccine may keep AIDS infections in-check. Bush proposes a work ethic and a pro-marriage stance in his welfare plan. How Sandia tackles terrorism. Scientists plan a Pluto flyby. A woman with Alzheimer's disease gives birth to a baby free of the illness. Could animal therapy help heal Chronic Fatigue Syndrome? What do "moral obligations" have to do with Bush's energy policy? Voodoo environmentalism, anyone?

Regressions: View the beginning of Enron's paper trail. Why Williams Companies could become Enron II (and who the exposers are). Executives confronted each-other in the latest Senate testimony. Why former Enron vice chairman Thomas White must go. Can Goldman Sachs reform Enron? How Enron influenced the Clinton administration. The scandal continues to affect Bush’s energy plan.

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "ABC Depicts Tobacco Flack Rick Berman as a Hero in the War Against 'Eco-Terrorism'." Ten questions that the War on Terrorism hasn't answered. How not to understand the death of Daniel Pearl. ABC stole a BBC interview with Marianne Pearl, who may write about her husband's last assignment. Daniel Pearl had planned to return to the US just before he was kidnapped. The Bush administration remains optimistic they will take custody of Pearl's kidnappers. Media fallout: Connie Chung has viewed a copy of Pearl's murder tape and columnists are taking sleeping pills. Pacific Lutheran University students remembered Pearl with ribbons. Russian radio journalists are quitting rather than work for Vladimir Putin. DVD pirates hijack Tolkien. Dan Simmons explains today's fiction. Piracy has been blamed for a slump in CD sales.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: Meet Erik Jan Hanussen: Hitler's clairvoyant. Take a ride in the robo-taxi. Historic documents for Black History Month.

Personal Mutations Exercise: Take a quick Transactional Analysis relationship test.

Monday, 25 February 2002

ท BBC World News summary (audio and video).
ท Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
ท United Nations Press Briefing (video).
ท CNNTV.
ท MSNBC Video.
ท C-Span Recent Video (video).
ท IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
ท Freespeech Internet TV.
ท Washington Post Enron's October 2000 Meeting (video).

Grid-Lock: Mumbai cyber-caf้ owners have been asked to track the surfing habits of their customers. US domestic outlooks on inflation. Bush's budget has sparked a debate on reading. Bush will offer a stricter welfare plan. Bush is also examining a medical benefits plan for seniors.

Hot-Spots: Stratfor situation reports. Does the Pentagon have the right to lie? The dirty underside of high technology: US waste becomes a Third World problem (and for post-techwreck Chinese villagers). Brazil's dengue fever epidemic is growing.

Diasporas: Saudi Arabia offers a land-for-peace deal that may reframe the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A vicious cycle of Israeli-Palestinian relations continues. Five people were killed in the latest attacks in Israel.

Flash-Points: The Colombian government moves to retake its demilitarized zone. 76 communist rebels were killed in Nepal. Mexican and Texan farmers are fighting over water supplies. Why it's crazy to attack Iraq. Iran continues to aid rogue Afghanis, angering the US Army. India's president has taken a tough stance on Kashmir. The US and Europe will soon crack al Qaeda's key arms supplier. The trial of Slobodan Milosevic continued today with recounts of his sanctioned atrocities. The FBI purportedly knows the identity of the anthrax remailer but won't make an arrest (federal authorities have denied these allegations). The Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City ended amidst fireworks and controversy. John Perry Barlow has criticized the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Cutting-Edges: ICANN has troubled visions and its plan for a government-controlled Internet was quickly rejected. Mexico wants an e-revolution. Europe's Envisat satellite is set to launch. Why the War on Terrorism creates a battleground for geopolitical truths. Robo-therapists may soon be helping rehab. While President Bush has inspected energy-saving hybrid vehicles, he still plans to drill in the Arctic. Skeptics have stalled plans for cyber-schools (but yoga is fine).

Regressions: States are cutting back on aid for poor children. Are you fed up after Enron? More corporate bailouts we don't need. The Senate will grill ex-Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling. View Enron's October 2000 meeting (video). The accounting scandal could trigger positive changes for frontline workers.

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "Toxic Haste." On assignment in Afghanistan: an MIT robot reporter. Primary wounding for the MTV generation. Meet the satellite subversives. More Daniel Pearl obituaries: The Christian Science Monitor, The Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Washington Post, Stanford Daily, San Francisco Chronicle and Legacy.com. Pearl's yearbook photos have been released. Ironically he drafted safety guidelines for journalists. Check out his 1994 story "Stradivarious Violin, Lost Years Ago, Resurfaces." Pearl's abductor will be charged with murder. A report has suggested that Pearl's abduction was part of a larger plot. A Pakistani news agency has received a copy of Pearl's grisly murder on videotape. Carolyn Condit has filed a damages lawsuit against The National Enquirer. Time for new contracts in Hollywood.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: Rodney Brooks on the future of robotics. Corporate religions 2002: what's so great about General Electric? College student Rebecca Hessel has attacked Seventeen for 'dumbing down' her life in a profile. Tony Blair's office was subject to a phone hoax. California mellows about marijuana.

Personal Mutations Exercise: Check out the Worldometers.

Thursday, 21 February 2002

ท BBC World News summary (audio and video).
ท Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
ท United Nations Press Briefing (video).
ท CNNTV.
ท MSNBC Video.
ท C-Span Recent Video (video).
ท IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
ท Freespeech Internet TV.
ท New York Times Statement on Daniel Pearl's Death (video).
ท Washington Post Post's Hoffman on Journalism's Hazards (video).
ท Washington Post President Bush on Daniel Pearl's Murder (video).
ท Rage Against The Machine Tom Morello on Activism and Labor Movements (video).

Grid-Lock: The White House is ready for a long legal battle over its energy records. The campaign finance reform bill edges closer to passing the US Senate. Why the US controversy over mammograms was ridiculous (read speech).

Hot-Spots: Stratfor situation reports. The US military is pressured to define global propaganda.

Diasporas: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has appeared on television and pushed for a "buffer security zone."

Flash-Points: A US military helicopter has crashed in the Philippines. Why Zimbabwe's MDC opposition was caught in an assassination plot. A wreckage trail embodies the Egyptian railway disaster. The Colombian military has attacked a rebel stronghold. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has publicly admitted sixteen civilian deaths in an Afghanistan raid. Global allies will be crucial as the War on Terrorism expands. Bush continues to flout the Geneva Convention on Afghan POWs.

Cutting-Edges: President Bush has appeared on Chinese television and touted American values. The news conference with Chinese Premier Jiang Zemin was "a reality check." Biometrics may be useless for fighting terrorists. Scientists capture antimatter for the first time. The British will have biometric passports by 2006.

Regressions: Enron will seek a new start and a name-change. Why the Enron debacle is a re-run of America’s corporate history (view graphic). Why the Enron fallout is spreading. Enron's monster mess. Accounting for dummies. How Enron short-changed the Myths of Capitalism.

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "Pentagon & Disney/ABC Turn War Into Gung Ho TV Entertainment." Kidnapped journalist Daniel Pearl was murdered by his Pakistani kidnappers. Wall Street Journal colleagues have mourned his death. Tributes include Timothy Noah, The New York Times, MSNBC, Christian Science Monitor and Pearl's family. Television on Black History Month. How pirates hijacked television. Media merger nightmares. College journalists are fighting back against USA Today. The New York Times publisher is worried about Microsoft and AOL Time Warner's control of future publishing systems.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: Can an antiquarian book-seller bring down Disney? Mitnick meets his pigeon. Dean Kamen's IT still needs government licensing. Microsoft's new Media Player tracks you. Meet Andre the Giant.

Wednesday, 20 February 2002

ท BBC World News summary (audio and video).
ท Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
ท United Nations Press Briefing (video).
ท CNNTV.
ท MSNBC Video.
ท C-Span Recent Video (video).
ท IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
ท Freespeech Internet TV.
ท Washington Post Bush Praises US Troops in South Korea (video).
ท New York Times Ariel Sharon on the Israeli counter-strikes (video).
ท New York Times Yasser Arafat on the Israeli counter-strikes (video).

Grid-Lock: Asian exports are rising but companies face IT and logistics problems. Nine states are continuing their litigation against Microsoft. The GOP is blocking the debate on campaign finance reform.

Hot-Spots: European nations are expanding their surveillance capabilities. The battle on abortion is hotting up. The US has stepped back from launching military strikes on Iraq.

Diasporas: Background on the Mideast escalation. Many Israelis are tired of the conflict and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon faces increasing criticism for his policies. Israeli troops moved into Gaza City. Israel has vowed that this is part of a new offensive. 22 Arabs were slain in the counter-strikes. Up close and personal: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict cuts across personal relationships. Israel's diamond trade may be a factor in the on-going conflict. Media spin in the Middle East.

Flash-Points: 3000 languages are headed for extinction. Hundreds died when a fire engulfed an Egyptian train. Zimbabwe’s election is clouded in fear. The CIA has warned, amidst revelations that President Robert Mugabe was to be assassinated, that different factions may cause havoc. Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi faces more public doubt about his leadership. Argentines must now obtain visas to enter the US. The European Commission has formulated new patent laws that may spark a trade-war with the US. President Bush began his tour of China with optimism. He will push for religious freedom and increased aid in the War on Terrorism. China's leadership is currently in transition. Bush has refined his views on North Korea (read text of Bush’s DMZ speech). He vowed that the US would not invade North Korea. He believed that China and the US wanted to see both Koreas reunified. Thousands protested Bush's Korea visit. The US Army faces a shortage of Green Beret recruits. Spy planes are surveying the Philippines for al Qaeda terrorists.

Cutting-Edges: The most-detailed image of Earth from space. Why Saudi teens love to cross-dress. Scientists have discovered that Mars had water—10 million years ago. The US Supreme Court continues to re-examine copyright laws. A disturbing new gaming genre: hate games.

Regressions: Indonesian separatists may trigger another military jihad. Vermont's fake teen killing spree. The Supreme Court on school vouchers. Enron's Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastrow has claimed that the company faced a 'grey area' in its dealings. The Senate investigation is probing Bill Clinton's deals for links with Enron. A $260 million settlement claim by Andersen has been rejected. Former Enron CEO Ken Lay offered a board seat to Robert Rubin, then treasury secretary. A new business underclass: the betrayed investor. How to make the Enron gang pay.

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "Court Green Lights Corporate Media Mega-Mergers." The ownership ruling may reshape the US television industry. A new study has found that removing ownership restrictions on magazines and TV will weaken the media. The Pentagon has backed away from claims that its new Office of Stratefic Influence will lie to the American public. The Pentagon’s plans are likely illegal and undemocratic. HDTV may not be the latest new new thing. Why the French fear a free newspaper. David Duchovny will be in the final X-Files episode. Gary Condit worked with the New York Times to clear his name over the disappearance of Chandra Levy. Publishing recession be damned: two veterans are launching Dig It!, which has been described as “the Rolling Stone of tech magazines.” MGM is now offering movie downloads. 'N Sync's Lance Bass is negotiating to become a space tourist.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: Hong Kong is planning a digital ID. Millennial kids face snooping parents. How hi-tech firms spy on their workers.

Tuesday, 19 February 2002

ท BBC World News summary (audio and video).
ท Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
ท United Nations Press Briefing (video).
ท CNNTV.
ท MSNBC Video.
ท C-Span Recent Video (video).
ท IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
ท Freespeech Internet TV.
ท Washington Posst Alan Sipress on the Bush administration and Iraq (video).
ท The Guardian Human Trafficking on the Rise, Says Police Chief (audio).

Grid-Lock: Families and victims of the 9/11 attacks are suing terrorists. How Secretary of State Colin Powell schmoozes foreign policy. Asian leaders are worried about Bush's rhetoric. The latest Lockerbie appeal raises some disturbing questions. Al Gore has publicly backed Bush's War on Terrorism plans. Vice President Dick Cheney has called for increased pressure on "Axis of Evil" nations. Plumbing the disinformation about US social security and Bush's drug plans.

Hot-Spots: President Bush has called on North Korea to disarm its nuclear weapons and join South Korea. Venezuela's embattled economy won't be saved by President Hugo Chavez's plans. How Asia’s retirement community changes geopolitics. US troops in the Philippines may prompt a Muslim backlash. Will US militarists target South American oil?

Diasporas: Nine Palestinians and six Israelis were killed during fighting in the West Bank. Israel retaliated by bombing Yasser Arafat's offices.

Flash-Points: China is preparing for President Bush's visit. US pilots had poor descriptions of Afghan bombing targets. Afghanis lived and died by these descriptions. Mediators are seeking a truce between warring Afghan factions. Slobodan Milosevic has cross-examined his first witness. Is Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant in jail? Why Nepal remains a strategic ally for the West. Pakistan's spies are cutting their ties to militants. European officials will penalize Zimbabwe's government for its media censorship and human rights abuses. The US Supreme Court will hear a copyright case.

Cutting-Edges: Find out about pervasive-computing systems. Next-gen DVDs are released. An airlift has brought thousands to Mecca.

Regressions: China increases its Internet censorship. Attorney General John Ashcroft has cast the War on Terrorism in religious terms. Two Enron aides have claimed that former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling knew of the firm's accounting problems. Former CEO Ken Lay confirmed this allegation, while selling-off his properties worth $22 million. Congressional investigators have expanded their Enron probe to Wall St. Technology firms are battling Congress initiatives to change rules, because of the Enron debacle, on stock options. Andrew Fastow, Enron's Chief Financial Officer, is now under scrutiny. Fastow counter-argued that senior Enron management knew and had approved of the deals.

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "Tobacco Industry Will Sue to Stop 'Vilification'." Disinformation gets "Slashdotted." Federal Communications Commission regulations on media mergers have been voided by the US Court of Appeals (District of Columbia), paving t he way for a new wave of mega-mergers between broadcast and cable companies. The Pentagon is publicly considering a plan to spread propaganda in the War on Terrorism. How Dogme stealthily took over Hollywood. Surrealism becomes a target art movement for investors. Google unveils a new ad-driven search system. For the new film Resident Evil, its makers let a fan design the film poster. The hip-hop generation has its own dark secrets. News anchors don't matter much anymore. David Bunnell and Fred Davis will launch Dig It Now! Magazine: described as "the Rolling Stone of tech."

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: Anti-telemarketers are giving firms static. Colin Powell speaks out on condoms. Terrorism defined. Bid on Dean Kamen's IT. Is Stardust the first great techno-opera? A new War on Drugs strategy: evict your grandparents. Sting and Elton John play for the rainforests that remain.

Monday, 18 February 2002

ท BBC World News summary (audio and video).
ท Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
ท CNNTV.
ท MSNBC Video.
ท C-Span Recent Video (video).
ท IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
ท Freespeech Internet TV.
ท Los Angeles Times Bush Defends "Axis of Evil" Comment (video).
ท Los Angeles Times Andrea Yates Faces the Jury (video).

Grid-Lock: President Bush has defended his "Axis of Evil" comment during his tour of Japan. He focused on economic and trade issues. He will visit the demilitarized zone (DMZ) on the Korean peninsula. Bush continues to get the better of Democrats. Bush's foreign policy is causing havoc for American allies. Why the Republicans may kill-off campaign finance reform initiatives. Losing the battle may also empower the GOP.

Hot-Spots: Noam Chomsky speaks out on the Drug-Terror link. Is America losing the patent war? How will Bush's downsizing affect the security at US nuclear research labs? US academics support the War on Terrorism. US Special Forces continue to patrol the Philippines.

Diasporas: The latest Palestinian attacks have killed seven people. Will Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declare war on Palestinians later this week? Marwan Barghouti may be the next Palestinian leader.

Flash-Points: Peru's high court has upheld a judgment against MIT graduate student Lori Berenson that she collaborated with terrorists. Mahmut Bakali has claimed in The Hague that Slobodan Milosevic and Serbia planned the genocide of ethic Albanians and Croatians. Milosevic wrapped up his defense. Afghan officials have moved to prevent internecine violence during the Hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. Interim Afghan Prime Minister Hamid Karzai has promised increased security during Afghanistan's nation-rebuilding process. Karzai's government claims to remain united. He faces a challenge from US-backed warlord Hazrat Ali. Have US forces committed war crimes in Afghanistan. Lawmakers fight to re-establish order in Nepal. Will Iraq be the next country targeted by the US military for a surgical strike? Some analysts believe that Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction could be targeted. Several Middle Eastern countries have cautioned the Bush administration not to attack Iraq. Bush's record on global warming has been critiqued. The embattled Pacifica network has dismissed its national news staff and ended nightly broadcasts. John Walker Lindh's trial will begin on 26 August 2002.

Cutting-Edges: What did the World Social Forum achieve? Coming soon: foot-powered laptops and self-shredding e-mails. Study the ecology of intellectual property. Jamaican jails are going on-line. South Korea seeks a new dialogue with North Korea. New dissidents are surfacing in Russia. Progressives are appearing in Wal-Mart.

Regressions: Iranian courts have targeted liberal reformers. Andrea Yates, who has been accused of drowning her child, has faced her jury. A man with a 'seal bomb' has been arrested at Los Angeles Airport. What were business reporters doing before the Enron scandal? Republican Billy Tauzin generates phony Enron rage. Executives face a slew of lawsuits. Army Secretary Thomas White was probed about his Enron ties. Enron's ties with Texas are being exposed. How the Senate made Ken Lay look like a victim.

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "Latest PR Watch Looks at Internet Spin." Broadcast pioneer Howard K. Smith has died. Weblogs are becoming mainstream. NBC compromises its Olympics coverage for ad dollars. The key suspect suggested that the kidnapping of US journalist Daniel Pearl was a warning to Pakistan's president. ABC News staffers are re-evaluating a diversity list. Goldman Sachs is seeking a major player to head a $1 billion magazine unit. Wayne Pedersen, head of the National Religious Broadcasters, has resigned after claiming he wanted to make the group less political. Washington Post staff have attacked the major Webzines.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: The War on Cancer continues. Visit an exhibit of CIA and KGB gadgets. Canada is using Reagan's Star Wars technology to track deer and moose. The weird allure of Mormon temples. The OKC Bombing fallout continues. Britain invades Spain by mistake. Hollywood's war propaganda effort continues.

Tuesday, 12 February 2002

ท BBC World News summary (audio and video).
ท Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
ท CNNTV.
ท MSNBC Video.
ท C-Span Recent Video (video).
ท IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
ท Freespeech Internet TV.

ท FBI Issues New Threat (video).
ท NECN Lay Keeps Quiet (video).
ท NECN Lord of the Rings Leads Oscars (video).

Grid-Lock: The Australian government is spying on its own citizens. US Attorney General John Ashcroft issues a new terror alert (read suspects list and view images). The FBI has warned of threats in Yemen and the US. Could US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld be a matinee idol for Republicans? Why the War on Terrorism won't hide Bush's policy cover-up on tax cuts. Congress will probe US intelligence about 9/11. Abraham Lincoln’s legacy comes under scrutiny. A proposed Congress bill may extend anti-hacking laws. The BT v The World hyperlink patent case looks weak, the presiding judge has said. The debate on campaign finance reform begins (again). The vote is expected to be close.

Hot-Spots: Political campaigns may fuel Indian tribal conflict. Iraq is losing allies because of US threats. Did President George W. Bush's "Axis of Evil" speech help Iraq's hard-liners? Vice President Dick Cheney ducks questions about national security. Former CIA field agent Robert Baer on The Company's problems.

Diasporas: Anti-Semitism is growing in America. Why Egyptians hate Israel. Why Yasser Arafat is not the problem for Palestinian authority. A peace plan by Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres has been received with skepticism.

Flash-Points: Rebel camps were bombed in the Philippines. Latin Americans oppose trade agreements that extend America's hold on globalization. Slobodan Milosevic is accused of 'savagery'. Cries of 'Death to America' have resurfaced in Iran.

Cutting-Edges: Scientists are developing an Internet-scale operating system. How Information Arts is redefining our culture. High-tech visa systems are under development.

Regressions: Could New York City's Ground Zero become a long-term health hazard? Another guide to the Enron investigations. Meet the Grand Inquisitors of the Enron hearings. Former Enron CEO Ken Lay pleads the Fifth (read statement) before a Senate inquiry. Congress politicians then verbally attacked Lay. Vice President Dick Cheney stonewalls Enron investigations. The dumb tactics of Mitch Daniels on Enron. The AFL-CIO wants Enron's disgraced management to be banished from other corporate boards (forever).

Media Memetics: Academy Award nominees have been announced: the first Lord of the Rings film leads the way. Why the Rollerball remake is stupid. Anarchists on your radio. What makes John Grisham write? Get a college degree in game design. Michael Kinsley will finish editing Slate. David Talbot, Salon Magazine's editor, claims that Kinsley is "a worthy adversary." The prime suspect will be interrogated about kidnapped US journalist Daniel Pearl. The man claimed that Pearl is still alive. Manhattan Style folds after only five issues. Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura scores some easy points about media bias. Is John Ashcroft exploiting the post 9/11 environment? Rebroadcasting the Balkans.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: Bot sex in the bedroom. The lingering existential grief of high-school Valentine’s. Porn hunters may be unwelcome in Canada. Tracking the homeless by computers. Bacchanalian celebrations in Brazil.

Friday, 8 February 2002

ท BBC World News summary (audio and video).
ท Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
ท United Nations Press Briefing (video).
ท CNNTV.
ท MSNBC Video.
ท C-Span Recent Video (video).
ท IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
ท Freespeech Internet TV.
ท Business Week Crisis of Confidence (video).
ท United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs PrepCom II (video).
ท World Summit on Sustainable Development PrepCom II (video).

Grid-Lock: The Department of Justice has scheduled an antitrust hearing with Microsoft for the second week of March. The software giant has sparred with nine states over the filings.

Hot-Spots: Robert Wright contends that a US attack on Iraq must be part of a “just war.” Jacob Weisberg wonders what the rush is. Two French authors have alleged that the Bush administration placed its oil interests before pre-9/11 national security. Will Bush fund Colombia’s War on Drugs? The long-term effects of El Salvador's civil war. Venezualan President Hugo Chavez faces a possible coup d’etat attempt. The CIA believes that China is still a strategic threat to the US and Taiwan. Israel might respond to an Iraq attack. Saddam Hussein is not worried by US threats on weapons inspection teams. The US is building bases in former Soviet Republics to monitor Afghanistan. If you believe the newspapers, Kabul's bombing victims don't blame the US.

Diasporas: A group of Arab youths stabbed a woman to death in the Forest of Peace. Afghanistan and Pakistan’s leaders have re-opened diplomatic talks. Protests by Israeli reservists are continuing.

Flash-Points: The Winter Olympics begin. Britain's Princess Margaret dies. The Taliban's foreign minister has surrendered to US Special Forces. Pakistan's election laws target fundamentalist Muslims. The FBI determines that shoe-bomber Richard Reid probably had al-Qaeda help. North Korea has cancelled a trip by four US experts. Rural Colombians are rising up against their administration. A botched Philippines raid is under scrutiny. New York City police have cracked down on anti-globalization protesters. Drug busts and arrests have soared along the US-Mexican border.

Cutting-Edges: Scientists have discovered a spiral galaxy that spins the wrong way. Bush chases a new election demographic: the unborn.

Regressions: Who's facing-off Enron on Capitol Hill. Enron's former CEO Ken Lay will appear before a Senate subcommittee on Tuesday (12 February 2002), a move confirmed by several Senators. Speculations abound as to what Lay will say. The dark side of former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling, who blamed the collapse due to "a run on the bank." Suicides by Enron executives have been blamed on the investigative probes. Days before its bankruptcy, Enron piled on bonuses for senior executives. Board members have been forced to resign from other firms. Enron's "retention bonuses" were more than $55 million. Its campaign contributions made Enron the biggest player in 1990s state legislatures and Texan politics. Putting limits on 401(k) holdings have drawn fire from corporate executives. Attempts at campaign finance reform will be limited by the continuing fallout. The Pentagon has been ordered to keep its Enron-related documents. Peggy Mahoney: Enron’s public relations disaster. Let the Enron Games begin. It ain't all Enron stories out there.

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "Sredding is Good." MTV's bid for world domination. Rock Star CEOs. Papers have been seized in an Italian corruption probe. Pakistan believes that Indian intelligence are linked to the kidnapping of US reporter Daniel Pearl. Pakistani police have fourteen suspects in custody. Karachi police hope that Pearl will be released next Wednesday (13 February 2002). Nick Mamatas on why science fiction futures aren't what they used to be.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: Kevin Mitnick has to fight for his right to an amateur radio license. Is Muhammad Ali the teddy-bear of Islam? 2001 was a record year for games sales. The Fast Food Nation tour. A documentary crew captured the production upheavals of Terry Gilliam's new film. Nominations for the third annual Stony Awards have been announced.

Thursday, 7 February 2002

ท BBC World News summary (audio and video).
ท Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
ท United Nations Press Briefing (video).
ท CNNTV.
ท MSNBC Video.
ท C-Span Recent Video (video).
ท IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
ท Freespeech Internet TV.

Grid-Lock: Is US arrogance a threat to its global dominance? Know your trans-national institutions: OPEC versus the UN. Does Bush's budget embody class warfare? The administration claims to be winning the war on the digital divide. But is it selling Orwellian Newspeak?

Hot-Spots: Argentina's populace is embittered by the country's domestic economic crisis. China's anti-narcotics campaign is also targeting official corruption. US-Iran relations are worsening after President Bush's "Axis of Evil" comment. Hizbullah continue to amass arms near Israel's border. China's three major ISPs may have to change their business models to survive. Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo fears that tribal warfare may end his three-year democracy. Saudi Arabia's royal family is in conflict with the nation's oil industry. Privatization policies created by Britain's Labour Party have been attacked by progressive thinkers. Should the Queer community adopt children? BT Group PLC has launched a lawsuit that claims it patented hyperlinking.

Diasporas: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told President Bush that he expects to see the creation of a Palestinian state by the end of the Middle-East peace process. Bush refuses to isolate Yasser Arafat. Get the inside story on why Bush's position changed. Federal agents are targeting illegal Mid-East immigrants.

Flash-Points: Allied Irish Banks took over its Baltimore operations after the disclosure that trader John M. Rusnak may have stolen $750 million. 101 definitions of "terrorism." Would a US-Iraq conflict be a "just war"? President Bush shifted his position and declared that Taliban members would be treated by the Geneva Convention's terms. John Walker Lindh's e-mails had an anti-American emphasis.

Cutting-Edges: Cybersecurity becomes a US government priority: $850 million has been slated for future research. Celebrate Black History Month.

Regressions: Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skillings had few answers for the House subcommittee (read full text of the hearings). The press got another story. Enron's Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow wasn't so lucky: witnesses outlined his actions. The face-off between Enron executives and government investigators has shades of The Usual Suspects. Enron tried to tap Florida's Everglades. Andersen's dark history of auditing disasters. Citigroup hedged its bets against Enron. The debacle has spread to other firms (especially on earnings cycles). Credit agencies waited months to voice their concerns. The debate about post-Enron pension reform has highlighted America's fear and greed. Ex-Enron employees are creating an online community. Ralph Nader has condemned Enron's vote-buying spree. Why did Enron pay-off major journalists?

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "Ethical Puffery." Hacktivists refuse to take credit for the World Economic Forum incident. Pakistani officials claim that kidnapped US reporter Daniel Pearl is alive. The major US networks failed to cover last week's explosion in Nigeria that killed 2000 people. 9/11 and the "War on Terrorism" created a distribution/reader boom for the major US newsweeklies.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: Ten years as a Microserf. Why we kill the promise of romantic love. Arnold Schwarzenegger's new film is finally released: the best thing was probably the press junket. Robert Altman profiled. Bots learn how to breed. Why the US Army is researching weather control.

Wednesday, 6 Febuary 2002

ท BBC World News summary (audio and video).
ท Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
ท United Nations Press Briefing (video).
ท CNNTV.
ท MSNBC Video.
ท C-Span Recent Video (video).
ท IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
ท New York Times CIA Director George Tenet’s testimony (video).

Grid-Lock: How the Electoral College intercepted $20 billion funding destined for post 9/11 New York City. Bush affirmed the original $20 billion pledge. Socialist analysts claim that signs of a US domestic recovery are premature. The Electronic Freedom Foundation has called off a major suit. Alan Greenspan has a mythic effect on US financial markets--should we sacrifice him as a false idol?

Hot-Spots: The annual International Security Conference has exposed tensions within NATO. India is pursuing control of sea-lanes and building her nuclear arsenal. Argentina brushes with anarchy. US troops are ready to fight in the Philippines. Dr. Ken Shortridge, a microbiologist at the University of Hong Kong, has warned that an avian flu virus could mutate into something deadly. Europe's geopolitical reawakening will trigger a global realignment.

Diasporas: A Palestinian gunman infiltrated an Israel West Bank settlement and killed three people. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is pressuring the US to lock-out Yasser Arafat of future negotiations. The US is rethinking its role as Middle East negotiator. US Vice President Dick Cheney will tour nine Middle East countries.

Flash-Points: Allied Irish Banks has revealed a US rogue trader has defrauded the financial group of $750 million. US military officials freed 27 people who had been captured in southern Afghanistan during commando raids. Investigations are continuing into the accidental deaths of 19 people during the raids. Evidence has emerged of how al Qaeda networked with Malaysian groups. CIA director George Tenet believes that al Qaeda is still dangerous (read text). Secreatary of State Colin Powell has opened talks with the "Axis of Evil" nations and called on Iraq's Saddam Hussein to resign. John Walker Lindh was indicted (read judgment) and the judge denied bail. Taliban and al Qaeda captives in Cuba's Guantanamo Bay have resisted questioning. The CIA is convinced that Iraq's Saddam Hussein has not provided biological weapons for al Qaeda (but Saudi Arabian arms dealers might have).

Cutting-Edges: Tony Blair has called on the West to end Africa’s poverty. Members of the World Social Forum have pleaded for a global social conscience. Will we have space hotels by 2018? US defense analysts are calling for more pre-emptive strikes in the post 9/11 world. US immigration is on the rise.

Regressions: Senior lawyer Jordan Mintz warned high-level Enron executives a year before its collapse that there were problems with the company's nebulous partnerships. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao told Congress that the Bush administration would proceed with plans to reform pensions in the light of Enron. Former CEO Jeffrey Skilling has been revealed as a control freak. The debacle is pushing down financial markets and has changed bankruptcy insurance. The Securities and Exchange Commission will undergo a major revamp. By undermining neo-liberal capitalism, Ken Lay could be considered un-American. How new appointee Paul Volcker could reposition Arthur Andersen. How to cure "Enronitis."

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "Shhhh . . ." 50 years for Queen Elizabeth II (view photos). The kidnapping of US reporter Daniel Pearl has been used by some media outlets to cover-up American society. The militant group Jaish-e-Muhammad may be behind the kidnapping. The three men arrested by Pakistani police have admitted to sending the Pearl kidnap e-mails. The US Department of Commerce reports that half the population is now on-line. Former editor David Hall claims that newspapers run John Walker Lindh stories because "weird sells." For former Talk Media publisher Ron Galotti, "looking back isn't very productive."

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: Are the Rules of War illogical? The lessons of terrorism certainly are. New disinformation on the Nazi Bomb. Robert Baer has written a damning CIA memoir. Seal cams are exploring the Antarctic. Finland becomes Nokialand. Is there a link between the European imagination and genocide? Take a trip to Berlin’s robotic pub.

Tuesday, 5 Febuary 2002

ท BBC World News summary (audio and video).
ท Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
ท United Nations Press Briefing (video).
ท CNNTV.
ท MSNBC Video.
ท C-Span Recent Video (video).
ท IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
ท Freespeech Internet TV.
ท United Nations Mexico's Ambassador Adolfo Aguilar Zinser (video).
ท CNNTV (video). John Ashcroft's news conference on John Walker Lindh (video).

Grid-Lock: Bush aides are down-playing the negative effects of the budget deficit. Socialist analysts critique the budget as representing a war-driven economy. Campaign finance reform is still being debated. Senate leaders will shelve a budget stimulus proposal. The budget moves have fuelled debate about alternate energy resources and tech investment. Democrats are in a stronger financial position, in some districts, than their Republican counterparts. Al Gore understood how "the people effect" changed campaigning. Two members of the Attlebro sect were jailed today after refusing to cooperate with investigations into an infant death blamed on miscarriage.

Hot-Spots: The looming Winter Olympics is coming under attack for its record on environmental issues. Yemen's president is pursuing two men wanted by US officials. New York rallies against the World Economic Forum have put the anti-globalization movement (and Sophocles) back on the agenda after 9/11. This continues a face-off between corporate leaders and activists (allegations include labor violations and police violence). US-Russian bilateral relations are being tested during negotiations about nuclear stockpiles. This threat must be contrasted with increasingly complex terrorism.The Bush administration is honing its global warming proposal. Nevada's Yucca Mountain has become a radioactive Wild-Card for future generations. Secretary of State Colin Powell criticized leftist Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. Zoltan Grossman critiques the growth of military bases. Why the "War on Terrorism" is a media/political construct that could create a "War Without End."

Diasporas: Plans to expatriate Arabs from Israeli land are gathering momentum. Palestinians have stormed a courtroom and killed three. A Palestinian professor has been attacked in Florida.

Flash-Points: A computer crash strikes the international space station. North Korean officials have accused the US of plotting an invasion. The US military has admitted killing innocent civilians during raids in southern Afghanistan recently. Does the media ask the questions it should about this? An al Qaeda chef has claimed that bin Laden has fled to Iran. John Walker Lindh has been indicted on ten counts (read the indictment). Lindh's lawyers have counter-claimed that US Special Forces used 'coercive' treatment (read filings). The Yemeni school where Lindh trained has been examined. Irradiated food has become a health/manufacturing industry crisis.

Cutting-Edges: Iraq has increased diplomatic overtures to the US to avoid its "Axis of Evil" label. US aides are debating Iraq's request. The UN has reported that Iraq is ready to resume talks. The US needs some structural changes in the post 9/11 environment to create smarter intelligence.

Regressions: 12 people have been held in China's largest heroin bust. Uzbekistan continues to face domestic crises of governance and human rights abuses. Sweden's Ericsson has posted historic losses. Former Enron CEO Ken Lay claims he felt 'betrayed' to investigators, who want to extend the exploratory phase of their inquiry. Lou Pai, who sold $270 million worth of Enron stock before the collapse, has emerged from the shadows to answer questions. The US Congress has subpoenaed Ken Lay a second time to testify in hearings. Will Lay's example create a trend in silent CEOs? Enron’s mementos are selling on eBay. The crisis has divided employees along financial lines and hurt a sponsorship deal with the Houston Astros. Enron executives considered freezing company pensions before turning to Enron's phantom stock. The Enron debacle has focused financial analysts on bad accounting practices, the crises of quarterly earnings cycles and suggestions on how to resolve these industry problems. At least two high-level officials will leave the troubled company. Could the same 'logic' help solve the Congress and Senate's fiscal problems?

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "American Advertising Goes to War." Cartoonist Tom Toles on the Pentagon and Saudi Arabia. Pakistani officials have arrested several men in connection with the kidnapping of US reporter Daniel Pearl. Tracking the kidnappers' e-mail has been difficult. Karachi editor Tyler Marshall claims that the kidnappers were amateurs. Pearl was working on organized crime stories and contacts before his kidnapping. He may be paying the price for America's geopolitical hubris. Were the Super Bowl ads on the 'slippery slope' to propaganda? Spin Magazine editor Alan Light has quit to start a new magazine. Former Talk Media president Ron Galotti will become GQ's publisher.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: Hollywood goes patriotic. 'Genuine' opium RIP. 'Plug-and-Play' has extended to sex.

Monday, 4 February 2002

ท BBC World News summary (audio and video).
ท Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
ท United Nations Press Briefing (video).
ท CNNTV.
ท MSNBC Video.
ท C-Span Recent Video (video).
ท IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
ท Freespeech Internet TV.
ท United Nations/World Summit on Sustainable Development: South Africa (video).
ท Noam Chomsky Honest Reporter from Mars (video).
ท New York Times Bush's Budget Proposal (video).
ท New York Times Pakistan's Moinuddin Haider (video).
ท Washington Post Glenn Kessler on Bush’s Budget (video).

Grid-Lock: President Bush proposed a $2.1 trillion Congressional budget (including funding for anti-bioterrorism and military operations). Read the transcript of Bush’s speech, the Agency-by-Agency breakdown, and the budget documents. Bush predicts a budget deficit through 2004. House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt reinvents himself for the third time.

Hot-Spots: Northern Ireland remembers ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’ (an historical Wild Card) and pushes for a truth commission. Beijing is continuing to develop anti-satellite technology to block US surveillance. Some US geopolitical analysts are worried about Europe’s increased presence as a power bloc (while other analysts counter-argue that the Euro could help the US). A Malaysian army captain who may have hosted two 9/11 hijackers will not be extradited to the US.

Diasporas: Five Palestinians were killed by an Israeli missile attack in the Gaza Strip. Israel believes that Iran is arming Hezbollah (Bush’s State of the Union Address has affected bilateral relations). Israel's conscientious objectors have defined international news coverage of the Gaza Strip and West Bank protests.

Flash-Points: 55 people die in Nigeria's latest ethnic clashes. An earthquake in Turkey kills 43 people. Netherlands-based manufacturer Philips is clashing with record companies over copy-protected CDs. Russia's defense minister Sergei B. Ivanov warned that Moscow did not want the "War on Terrorism" to be extended by US forces to Iraq. The US just bombed Northern Iraq in its "no-fly zone."

Cutting-Edges: London attempts to counteract the Bush administration’s unilateral stance on Afghanistan’s aid. Anti-terrorism is a booming industry. Russia’s middle class is slowly growing. Where will the next Silicon Valley be? Will embryo cloning be the key to stem-cells? Why the US military needs lessons in cultural sensitivity. President George W. Bush and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair have been nominated for a Nobel Prize.

Regressions: The vanishing spiritual traditions of Tibet. US welfare reform and tax-bracket creep are pushing some American families into poverty. The Enron debacle has already become a case study for students of business ethics. Read the text of Ken Lay's letter to withdrawal from Congressional hearings. The US Senate will subpoena Lay to testify at its hearings. Continue to play Enron's blame game (which has put "white collar crime" back on the law enforcement agenda). Former Federal Reserve chief Paul Volcker has been chosen as the new head of Arthur Andersen. If you really want to understand Enron's culture, take a trip to Atlanta City.

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "Cheney Plays 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell.'" Tom Tomorrow on Bush's niece. Pakistani police have stepped up their search for kidnapped US reporter Daniel Pearl, after searching 300 cemeteries and gathering few leads in the past weekend. Ten people have been arrested. The FBI has also joined the search. Pearl chose to travel alone. UK journalist Robert Fisk has publicly asked Osama bin Laden to intercede for Pearl’s release. ABC News retracted a weekend statement that Pearl was dead. Marianne Pearl has pleaded with the Palestinian terrorists for them to take her life if they spare her husband’s. How id Software really works. CNN's news chief had no such scruples. U2's Bono talks with the Bush Cabinet and members of the World Economic Forum. Grade the Super Bowl ads. One ad drew flak for suggesting a marijuana-terrorist link.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: Hacktivism is at the forefront of strategies to stop an al Qaeda jihad. Are the recent patriotic/war films really just post 9/11 propaganda?

Friday, 1 February 2002

ท BBC World News summary (audio and video).
ท Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
ท United Nations Press Briefing (video).
ท CNNTV.
ท MSNBC Video.
ท C-Span Recent Video (video).
ท IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
ท United Nations/World Bank Business Partners for Development (video).
ท Secretary of State Colin Powell on the "Axis of Evil" Comments (video).
ท CNNTV New bin Laden Tape Aired (video).
ท CNNTV News Crews Rough it in Afghanistan (video).
ท CNNTV Zimbabwe Official Defends Policies (video).
ท CNNTV Warlords Battle in Afghanistan (video).
ท CNNTV The Career of Daniel Pearl (video).

Grid-Lock: The US unemployment rate dropped to 5.6% in January, signalling a tepid recovery. President Bush foresees a surge in the US military budget over the next five years. Analysts suggest that Bush's State of the Union Address will split the Democrats along issues lines. Is Bush lying about his tax policies?

Hot-Spots: How to handle Iraq. US intelligence reports that al Qaeda operatives have conducted meticulous surveillance of the Olympic sites at Salt Lake City. Secretary of State Colin Powell has moved to reassure South Korea after President Bush's "Axis of Evil" comments. Northeast Asia has had mixed reactions to the "Axis of Evil" meme. Shades of the "Evil Empire" era? Robert Wright suggests that the meme is incoherent as a geopolitical policy. New arrangements could fuel interdepartmental skirmishes over US border security.

Diasporas: The US has refused to sever ties with Yasser Arafat.

Flash-Points: Luis Inแcio "Lula" da Silva lashes out at the North/South divide at the World Social Forum in Brazil. Read Marc Cooper's dispatches from Brazil and special reports by The Nation Magazine. The Freedom Party has provoked a government crisis in Austria. Secretary of State Colin Powell and Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill defended the Bush administration's "Axis of Evil" rhetoric at the World Economic Forum in New York City (view video). The Forum also has celebrity journalists as attendees. Why American vigilance isn't a new phenomenon.

Cutting-Edges: The NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts has released a feasibility study on a Space Elevator. Why fusion biopolitics has emerged as a new political movement. China has sought to improve diplomatic and trade relations with the US. The US military has been transformed by hi-tech. President Bush has promoted the "responsibility era" and a new pension plan in a speech to a GOP retreat. Why TiVo is being rejected by mainstream consumers.

Regressions: The Department of Justice has ordered President Bush to not destroy his Enron-related data. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) has his own Enron problems regarding campaign contributions. The debacle has affected Houston's business community but might not change it. Read the full text of the document that Enron’s former CEO Ken Lay gave to Vice President Dick Cheney. Public records have also revealed that the sister and son of Lay benefited from dealings with Enron. William Powers claims that the news focus on Enron makes war-coverage easier. Greg Easterbrook asks why he never received an Enron bribe. Play the Enron blame game.

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "'Trust Us' Authors on Tour in California, February 11-15." Zimbabwe has implemented new media laws that censor foreign journalists. Who should handle responsibility for oversight on media mergers? Pakistani police are searching for kidnapped journalist Daniel Pearl. E-mail claims that Pearl is dead. The incident has affected foreign journalists. Nation of Islam leader Louise Farrakhan has called for Pearl’s release. The al-Jazeera network has cut ties with CNN after the rival network aired an unreleased bin Laden interview (which has circulated within intelligence circles for several months). Has 9/11 created a new fiction genre?The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: Why marketing patriotism has become big business. A rare Kurt Cobain track is released. Recipes for geeks. The top five nuclear events of 2001. The Saudi embassy sent 5000 padded envelopes containing pro-Islam videos and books to schools: is it psywar on the US domestic populace?

Thursday, 31 January 2002

ท BBC World News summary (audio and video).
ท Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
ท United Nations Press Briefing (video).
ท C-Span Recent Video (video).
ท IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
ท United Nations/World Bank Forum on Sustainable Development.
ท CNNTV.
ท MSNBC Video.

Grid-Lock: Bush faces-off domestic opposition in Year Two. Was the State of the Union Address suitably Churchillian? When should Americans join Bush's "War on Terrorism"? Socialists contend that the Federal Reserve's ruling this week is not a vote of confidence for the US economy. Other analysts interpreted the Fed’s actions as laissez-faire insurance. A stronger US dollar suggests that the domestic economy may be recovering.

Hot-Spots: President Bush's "Axis of Evil" rhetoric may trigger future wars. Russian president Vladimir Putin warned Bush about this statement. Embassies may be targeted. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has warned of future conflict scenarios. One Flash-Point will be nuclear power plants. The US has begun training Philippine troops.

Diasporas: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has publicly stated he regretted not killing Yasser Arafat in Lebanon in 1982. Accolades from Palestinians have poured in for Wafa Idris, their first female suicide bomber.

Flash-Points: The Internet could become the most regulated medium in history. Two Afghani warlords are continuing to battle over the city of Gardez. The battle is an outcome of the recent Afghanistan bombings. Protests in New York City may seem quiet (view graphic) but the World Economic Forum site has gone down. New job applicants may face FBI checks.

Cutting-Edges: How our galaxy looks from outside and the first images of its center. Rules have been established for future space tourism. President Bush suggests that foetuses may qualify for aid. Asexual embryos are being used by scientists to create stem cells.

Regressions: Global news outlets have a diversity of views about Enron. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) has claimed that Enron executives "are not cooperating" with the Senate investigations. The Enron board allowed debt transfer to outside entities. Why has Andrew Sullivan been selective about his Enron outrage?

Media Memetics: Kidnappers have extended their deadline for reporter Daniel Pearl. The kidnapping is viewed as a power play. Ex-hostage negotiators warn that the one-day extension should be taken seriously. Muhammed Ali called for Pearl's release. Israeli officials have denied that Pearl worked for Mossad. A gig to avoid: editing Saddam Hussein's new novel. CNN airs an October bin Laden tape. Stephen King is "retiring" from writing.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: What won't be happening in The X-Files finale. Is there a Black Market for politicians? We've been telling you: some states track their parolees by satellite.

Wednesday, 30 January 2002

ท BBC World News summary (audio and video).
ท Ananaova Latest Video Headlines (video).
ท United Nations Press Briefing (video).
ท C-Span Recent Video (video).
ท IndyMedia IMC Channel (video).
ท Freespeech TV The World In Crisis (video).
ท President George W. Bush's State of the Union Address: Excerpts (video).
ท CNNTV Democrats Respond to Bush's Address (video).
ท CNNTV Republicans Respond to Bush's Address (video).
ท CNNTV Milosevic Blasts World Court (video).
ท CNNTV UN Food Aid in Afghanistan (video).
ท CNNTV Marianne Pearl Speaks Out (video).
ท MSNBC Video Latest Business News (video).

Grid-Lock: President Bush began a two-day tour. Some analysts felt that Bush's State of the Union Address failed to reach the heights of his 20 September 2001 speech. What Bush failed to say about the US domestic economy was most revealing. Bush will need to improve the US domestic situation in 2002, change his policy ideas, and handle the media. The Federal Reserve left its main interest rate unchanged today. A guide to Federal Reserve members who are not Alan Greenspan.

Hot-Spots: Japan is falling into a deflationary spiral. Southeast Asia may become a terrorist mecca.

Diasporas: The female Palestinian suicide bomber has been identified as medic Wafa' Idrees. Saudi Arabian arms merchants may be facilitating the move of al Qaeda insurgents to the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

Flash-Points: A battle between two rival warlords has broken out in Afghanistan. North Korea, Iran and Iraq have rejected President Bush’s "Axis of Evil" label. US good, terrorists bad. The US may implement another strike against Iraq. Joe Klein and David Brooks suggest this term was political spin doctoring.

Cutting-Edges: Enron's Sherrin Watkins may leave a new legacy: how to conduct a 'whistleblowing' campaign. Video forensics will change how law enforcement catches 9/11 terrorists. The World Social Forum will address key social problems. The US is focusing after 9/11 on global warming and air pollution.

Regressions: Kosovo still doesn't have a functional government. 'Accountability' for Enron was missing in Bush’s State of the Union Address. Former Enron workers are grieving in groups. Why Bush gets the Enron fallout wrong. Did Enron engage in price-gouging? Eulogies have been given for Enron executive J. Clifford Baxter, as the media seeks a copy of his suicide note. Netizens are already surfing discussion groups to find the next Enron (here are some contenders). Jesse Jackson took Enron's campaign money. Andersen's problems may become a Wild-Card for President Bush in Texas. Was NBC too easy on Kenneth Lay's wife and children?

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "Covering the War." Journalists should be trained to spot corporate malpractices. Kidnapped journalist Daniel Pearl may be killed in 24 hours: the victim of a trap. US journalists are told to leave the country within three days. The Muslim cleric that Pearl had arranged to meet has been arrested. Activists are using the Internet to fight the World Economic Forum. Online games are becoming multicultural.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: After being threatened with a $65 million lawsuit, the man who stole the Sex.com domain name has claimed poverty (and how sexual fantasies reveal our childhood needs and fears). Frederick Wiseman talks about reality cinema. Chumbawumba 'swindle' GM and give the proceeds to IndyMedia and CorpWatch. Mission of Burma returns.

Tuesday, 29 January 2002

ท BBC World News summary (audio and video).
ท President George W. Bush's State of the Union Address (video and official transcript).
ท Washington Post pundit Mike Allen previews State of Union Address (video).
ท BBC on "High American expectations" (video).
ท BBC on "Recession or salvation?" (video).
ท BBC on "Signs of recovery not easy to detect" (audio).
ท Worldwatch Institute State of the World 2002 press briefing (low or high quality video).

Grid-Lock: President Bush warns in his forceful State of the Union Address that the "War on Terrorism" is only the beginning (view video of preview; view video and hear audio on recession factors; view video on American expectations). Did the speech contain asbestos? US security will be a priority (read prepared text of speech and key highlights). Read analyses by David Klein and Joe Brooks and Jacob Weisberg. Rogue nations were also targeted and terrorist-barbarians are at the gates (read analysis and guest list). House Speaker Dennis Hastert has backed President Bush's decision not to release records of Enron's meetings (Bush claimed that privacy was the key issue). He also believed that al Qaeda prisoners in Cuba were being treated humanely. It's a pity that Certified Practising Accountants aren't amongst them. 'The People' weigh in on the US v Microsoft antitrust ruling. The press has been barred from further coverage.

Hot-Spots: The US presence in Central Asia will redefine the region’s balance of power. After 9/11 many fire and police departments urgently require funding. Yemen claims that two al Qaeda operatives will be taken by force to the US.

Diasporas: The Israeli government is seeking to tighten Jerusalen's security. Yasser Arafat has urged an end to the recent attacks. PR firms will polish the Arabic image as Iraq invites human rights inspectors.

Flash-Points: Japanese Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka has been sacked. The Nigerian Army is investigating what caused the munitions dump fire. There were no survivors in the Ecuador plane crash. Noam Chomsky replies to Human Rights Watch about "manufacturing" facts (not consent). Afghanistan is now Taliban-free.

Cutting-Edges: The interim Afghani government wants the US to remain to ensure stability. Community judges are speeding up Rwandan trials on the 1994 genocide. South Korea has made diplomatic overtures to North Korea.

Regressions: Enron has named an interim CEO and contended that paper shredding only stopped recently. Federal investigators are wondering if Enron influenced Conclusive evidence that proves Enron’s fraud may be elusive because of fuzzy accounting. California's power crisis. GOP senators are divided over revealing Enron information. Jake Tapper answers the question on everyone's lips: "How do I become an Enron millionaire?" (Hijack the campaign finance system, stupid.) Bill Kristol claims no, Enron won't equal the "Punditgate" moniker. And will Enron's collapse change America's profit-making financial system? Enron workers have launched a federal class-action suit. Political lobbying buys inaction.

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "Ross's M&R Gets Rebuffed Trying to Paint DuPont Green." Zimbabwe's ruling political party has split over leader Robert Mugabe's media law. Kidnapped journalist Daniel Pearl had been lured into a complex web of militant Islam operatives. Pearl's friends say that kidnappers' claims he is a spy are absurd. Although it had $2.1 million cash as of December 2001, Salon Magazine reported that it would consider publishing a magazine. WashTech was hit by hackers. The Motley Fool will begin charging for its chat forums.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: Florida governor Jeb Bush's daughter Noelle was charged with subscription drug fraud. The Chemical Brothers are in the house. What our future evolution may resemble. Why so many rockers flirt with the Dark Side. Zimbabwe pursues youth indoctrination. Fox may visit Elian Gonzalez during Cuba's elections. Why some terrorists will outlive you.

Monday, 28 January 2002

Grid-Lock: President George Bush is reviewing the status of prisoners held in Cuba's Guantanamo Bay prison. Vice President Dick Cheney has refused to hand over meeting records to the General Accounting Office. President Bush's approval rating remains high in some sectors. He called for domestic unity.

Hot-Spots: Has the World Trade Organization killed trade authority? The Mono Project, an open-source version of Microsoft's .Net initiative, has altered its code.

Diasporas: Israeli Army reservists have refused to serve in the West Bank or Gaza Strip. The European Union has backed Yasser Arafat (who compared himself to George Washington) and has been furious about the hijacking of foreign aid for Palestinians. Bush claims to still support a Palestinian homeland but has recently criticized Arafat. Israelis have heightened a Jerusalem security alert (view video).

Flash-Points: India's confrontations with Pakistan have been shaped by its domestic elections. Over two hundred Nigerians were killed when an army munitions dump exploded. An Ecuadorian plane with ninety-four people crashed near the Colombian border. Fourteen people have been killed in a Russian helicopter crash in Chechnya. Six Al-Qaeda agents were killed when US troops stormed a Kandahar hospital (view video). A previously unknown group called the National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty claims to have kidnapped Washington Post journalist Daniel Pearl (read e-mail). A US submarine has hit another ship (view video).

Cutting-Edges: Saudi Arabia has affirmed its US ties and Crown Prince Abdullah has talked about detainees and labeled bin Laden as "deviant." The Saudis also demolished an historic Ottoman castle. Everquest has spawned an on-line economy that has almost achieved nation-state status. Bush has pledged $50 million aid to help rebuild Afghanistan’s business community (read text). This package was attacked as not even enough to meet Afghani’s basic needs. Pundits are predicting an emphasis on increased military spending in Tuesday's State of the Union speech (a barometer of America’s political balance of power). Mormons are trying to alter their image for the 2002 Winter Olympics. Ice worms are being studied to understand how humans can survive in sub-zero temperatures. The future of the workplace is changing.

Regressions: Urban sprawl will devour the denizens of Mexico City. Two hundred and ninety-one people died in a Peru fire. Ex-Enron CEO Ken Lay’s wife has claimed that the couple are broke. Does Enron effectively ‘own’ Washington? The politicians aren’t always hurrying to hand back their campaign contributions. Its political agenda received little media analysis (and had mixed results). Enron executives failed the "tyranny of the bottom line" and other business model truths. The shredded papers and recovered e-mails will hold the key (as will class-action lawyers like Bill Lerach). The scandal will force Andersen to refocus its business and possibly sell-off its consultancy arm. The investment fallout has just begun (view video). More details on the strange case of dead Enron executive Clifford Baxter. TV news goes for the "sexy side" of the Enron story. Tom Tomorrow on Enron: "a non-starter."

Media Memetics: A new study has found that US media coverage of the "War on Terrorism" favors the Bush administration's policies (and that the media doesn't understand how the military works). Read why communications rights are central to the struggle over globalization. The rise and fall of Plastic.com. The upcoming Screen Actors Guild elections has become film-like. Talk Media publisher Ron Galotti may return to Conde Nast. When propaganda about the "War on Terrorism" goes wrong. Greil Marcus offers a "Real Life Rock Top 10."

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: The return of the "brainwashed" defense. Wen Ho Lee: the spy who wasn't.

Friday, 25 January 2002

Grid-Lock: US Comptroller General David M. Walker has threatened to sue the White House if it doesn't release Vice President Dick Cheney's task-force papers about the Bush administration’s energy policy.

Hot-Spots: The populist surge in Argentina may turn to pragmatism as economic realities set in. This may unleash a political contagion. Arab economies face workplace restructuring and pressures for innovation. Al Qaeda 'sleeper' agents have been found in Singapore. The propaganda due: 'dissident' Harry Wu outlined why China will become a terrorist threat in the future. Two delegations that toured the naval base in Cuba’s Guantanamo Bay have claimed that prisoners have not been mistreated. Afghani detainees in Guantanamo Bay may be sent home to face military tribunals. The Blair government has requested that UK suspects be tried in the UK. Afghani refugees have staged hunger strikes in Australia. The Bush administration's decision to store and not destroy its tactical nuclear warheads will have long-term geopolitical implications. Celebrate a century of US interventions in other nations. Afghani warlords may block 'nation-building' strategies.

Diasporas: A Palestinian suicide bomber has injured at least 25 people in a Tel Aviv market-place, while Israel responded with air-strikes on Gaza City. President Bush attacked Yasser Arafat for "enhancing terror" (view video). Hamas may be building long-range missiles in the West Bank.

Flash-Points: A bomb attack in the Colombian capital Bogota killed four people. India today tested a new surface-to-air missile with nuclear warhead capabilities. The launch angered Pakistan and was defended as part of India's military program. Kofi Annan arrived in Kabul as US special forces attacked al-Qaeda forces.

Cutting-Edges: AIDS is set to surpass the Black Plague as the worst pandemic. Robot phones have arrived. The FBI is raiding Pakistani air-flights to capture al-Qaeda agents who are fleeing to Saudi Arabia. President Bush announced plans about a federal tracking system for non-citizens and requested more money for border patrols. The IRS will implement online filing. The GOP is considering options about campaign finance reform. The LBGT Center in San Francisco has now opened.

Regressions: Confused? Read Enron for Dummies. Enron executive J. Clifford Baxter was found dead in his car. Andersen, worried about Enron's books since early October 2001, has been blasted again for shredding records. The Houston business community is feeling betrayed. The media failed to anticipate the fiasco. Paul Krugman claims that Conservatives have tried to smear him but that he's 'clean' on Enron. James Taranto replies that Krugman is engaging in psychological projection. The Enron debacle has made some media analysts nostalgic for the White House scandals of the past. They have forgotten how they helped create the troubled conglomerate. Nice work if you can get it: Peggy Noonan received $250/hr for her Enron consultancy work. The GOP has a new disease: Enronitis. Tony Oulai has been detained since 14 September 2001 as a suspected terrorist and wants to leave the Alexandrian Detention Center. A report has found that Amtrak lost $1.1 billion dollars.

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "Ralph Reed: Doing God's Work for Enron and Bush." CNBC anchors go patriotic in the bid for more viewers. The Tennessee press has been banned from quoting the city’s budget meetings. In an era of more cam girls, how will print newspapers survive? How AOL Time Warner lost $155 billion dollars.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: GPS systems and chip implants are being marketed for executves who are a high kidnap risk. French engineers have launched Spot 5, a powerful civilian satellite with monitoring capabilities. A mishandled 911 call in Moscow results in death. 2001: the State of the Net. Web sites that want global domination.

Thursday, 24 January 2002

Grid-Lock: President Bush wants to double the US security budget to $37 billion. Can Democrats win the tax battle? Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan expects a resurgent US economy in Q2 2002. Wall Street analysts had mixed reactions to Greenspan's speech. The US jobless rate continues to rise. The Enron debacle has sparked a House vote on campaign finance reform. The House probe into Enron opened with stonewalling tactics.

Hot-Spots: Argentina's economists are grappling with its 'teflon economy.' Libya is still on the US terror list.

Diasporas: Yasser Arafat continues to fight for relevance. Three Palestinians were killed in the latest fighting. Elie Hobeika, a Lebanese ex-militia chief, was killed in bombings.

Flash-Points: 5000 al Qaeda soldiers are in a tense stand-off with US forces. 27 al Qaeda fighters were killed when US soldiers attacked a "leadership" cell. John Walker Lindh appeared in the US District Court in Alexandria (view video of Lindh's parents; view video of father criticizing treatment; hear audio of courtroom scenes). Australian lawyers are arguing that the treatment of Lindh shows a 'double standard' for Australian al Qaeda member David Hicks. Read the strategies of Lindh's defense lawyers.

Cutting-Edges: Human rights activists are tracking civilian casualties of the US bombings on Afghanistan. China softened its stance on Taiwan, welcomed members of Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party and called for renewed economic cooperation. This is a pretext for redefining Sino-US relations. Why black holes are still scaring scientists. A third anthrax toxin has been discovered. "Audit Risk" has become the new insurance policy after the Enron debacle.

Regressions: Brazil considers banning mobile phones. Police raids have exposed a Sri Lankan assassination squad. Former Andersen auditor David Duncan has taken the Fifth Amendemnt (view video). Ken Lay controlled his empire through weekly video statements. What did Lay really know? Enron will search for a restructuring specialist as an interim CEO. How Al Sharpton hijacked the Enron circus. Andrew Sullivan is waging his own war against economist Paul Krugman over Enron. Enron workers are finding solidarity in their losses. Read a list of the US committees that are currently investigating Enron.

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: “When Corporations Want to Cuddle.” Learn about the Ari Fleischer school of 'spin journalism' (which is different to 'business spin'). How to broadcast the terror trials. Television news is moving towards a Hollywood ratings system. Connie Chung isn't expecting any problems at CNN.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: Chris Suellentrop explains what the Symbionese Liberation Army is. Why "zero tolerance of Islamic separtism is a dangerous policy." Is Audio Galaxy selling spyware? Was the US government alerted to 9/11 – consider what 'they' didn’t investigate.

Wednesday, 23 January 2002

Grid-Lock: The British government is pressing for a $1 billion arms deal with India. President George Bush seeks a defense budget boost of $50 billion as a $10 billion budget deficit looms (learn how the forecast affects government agencies). The Senate is re-examining farm subsidies and stimulus deals to trigger US domestic growth.

Hot-Spots: Al Qaeda agents planned an attack on the US embassy in Indonesia. Saddam Hussein has deployed post 9/11 propaganda. Former Argentine President Carlos Menem was bribed by Iranians to cover-up their complicity in 1994 terrorist attacks. Post 9/11 US border checkpoints are tense places. The US has also sent stern warnings to Iraq and North Korea about their nuclear weapons development programs.

Diasporas: Yasser Arafat remains confined to his compound but has mobilized 20,000 police. A vicious cycle begins: Israeli warplanes attack Southern Lebanon, Palestinians and Israelis warn of mutual retaliation, creating a climate that kills any chance of a cease-fire agreement.

Flash-Points: Several factions are challenging the new Afghani government. More evidence has emerged that Iran is aiding Afghani insurgents. Although they are returning to towns like Istalif, many Afghanis remain prisoners. John Walker Lindh has arrived in America and been transferred to North Virginia’s Alexandria Jail. His father has assembled a veteran defense team. Patty Hearst has vowed to testify against the SLA. US federal agents have doubled the reward for information about missing anthrax (possibly stolen to assassinate Democrat leaders) to $2.5 million.

Cutting-Edges: China launches a human rights site. General Pervez Musharraf may consider a Turkish path to reform Pakistan and route the militant jihadi culture.

Regressions: Socialist critics are claiming that the US treatment of Afghani prisoners has violated the Geneva Convention. Counterfeit software rings and coal-industry privatisation remain problems for China. Ken Lay has resigned as Enron’s CEO. David B. Duncan, the fired Enron auditor for Andersen, claims that he informed the energy utility about its accounting problems, and has also refused to testify. Army Secretary Thomas White lost money on Enron stock (as did many Congress staffers). Arianna Huffington describes the Enron cabal’s long list of sins. A Senate committee is seeking Enron’s tax records. Enron’s in-house security has gone private.

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "Access Denied." Little public reaction over the closure of Russian station TV6. How to survive the Sundance Film Festival. Paying for Internet content is a tough sell in Europe. Learn why Jonah Peretti is the poster boy of sweatshop guerrilla media. The next Indiana Jones film has gone into pre-production. Mariah Carey was 'dropped' by recording company EMI and paid $28 million.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: Discover Ritalin junkie chic. What is AOL really up to? West Virginians are preparing for The Mothman Prophecies.

Tuesday, 22 January 2002

Grid-Lock: The new Congress faces grid-lock over key domestic issues in the coming year.

Hot-Spots: Read in-depth analysis of the Saudi Arabian crisis. The FBI has tracked the "missing Anthrax" case to New Jersey. Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld has strongly denied allegations of mistreated al Qaeda prisoners in Cuba's Guantamano prison (view video). Emil Guillermo wonders why US soldiers are in the Philippines.

Diasporas: Israeli commandos killed four Hamas members in a Nablus raid. A Palestinian gunman, as retaliation, wounded 16 people in Jerusalem (view video). Later reports estimated that 22 people had been wounded. More Chinese are moving into Tibet.

Flash-Points: Aid has arrived in Congo, despite political interference. The Indian government has suggested that the attacks on the US embassy in Calcutta may have had an al Qaeda link. Indonesian insurgents believed to be connected with al Qaeda have been arrested. The attack threatens to undermine Indo-Pak relations. American al Qaeda volunteer John Walker Lindh is returning to America to face charges. Kmart has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection (view video). The retailer is seeking a second chance to downscale and save stores. Embattled SLA member-turned-housewife Sara Jane Olsen gave a riveting last interview before her recent arrest.

Cutting-Edges: Homeland Security Director Tom Ridges has outlined his ambitious plans and new initiatives. President Bush's fuel cell plan is under attack. Peter Edelman has some compelling ideas about welfare reform.

Regressions: President Bush has defended the White House's handling of the Enron debacle. Read a special Nation report on the Bush-Enron connection. The FBI began its probe on Enron executives shredding documents. The Congressional probe will subpoena Andersen’s CEO. The five members of the Public Oversight Board, an accounting ethics and oversight committee, has resigned. Enron's audit fee has been criticised. Its exemption in 1997 from limits on offshore accounts helped fuel Enron's overseas operations (al Qaeda used similar arrangements to channel funds). Taxpayers and specific banks may be at risk of defaulting because of Enron investments. The debacle, only the tip of the iceberg, may become the Democrat's secret weapon in 2002. The view that CEO Ken Lay took a "hands-off" role has been challenged by new evidence. Enron's staff have lost millions. Will the Enron debacle be another case to undermine laissez-faire market orthodoxy?

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "Fiscal Fantasies, Deficit Realities, and Presidential Lies." Pope John Paul II praised the Internet as a "wonderful instrument" and also warned of its dangers. Perhaps the Pope faces a challenge for "hearts and minds" from online confession sites. The Pope will also visit Ground Zero in New York City. The last independent Russian TV station, TV6, has had its broadcast license revoked and been taken off-air. Still hunting for a missing $155 billion post-merger, AOL denies the rumor that the global conglomerate is seeking to buy Red Hat, but sues Microsoft in an antitrust suit brought over browser wars (read text). Amazon has its first quarter of profitability. CNN not only developed its own war weapons (tested by Al Gore snubbing the Indian press), but convinced Connie Chung to defect to the network. Singer Peggy Lee died of a heart attack aged 81. Rush Limbaugh can hear again thanks to a cochlear implant. More Talk Magazine epitaphs from Jimmy Breslin and Greatest American Writer. The rumor of Tina Brown publishing her diaries is unfounded, friends have claimed.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: A Texas folk healer accidentally set a woman on fire. Credit Suisse First Boston was fined $100 million for IPO abuses. Japanese are testing a high-velocity net-gun to capture rioting thugs. A new national ID system is under development.

Friday, 18 January 2002

Grid-Lock: Heightened security measures at US airports have begun (view video).

Hot-Spots: Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has claimed that Osama bin Laden is dead from probable kidney failure. The search for al Qaeda members may extend to Africa and Asia, intelligence analysts have warned. US officials are presently hunting five al Qaeda terrorists who were revealed on a recently recovered videotape. The trail on bin Laden is growing colder.

Diasporas: Two Palestinians have died in reprisal attacks by Israel on the West Bank. Israeli tanks have surrounded Yasser Arafat's compound (view video).

Flash-Points: US defence analysts believe that Iran is funding arms for Afghan militias. Shoe bomber Richard Reid has pleaded "not guilty" to charges (read US v Richard Reid). The Red Cross is interviewing al Qaeda prisoners at the Guantamano Compound in Cuba (view video). SLA fugitive Sara Jane Olsen was sentenced to 20 years prison for conspiring to bomb police cars in 1975. The case has changed the politics of Los Angeles law enforcement.

Cutting-Edges: Meet the NASA scientists who track near-Earth passing asteroids as a Wild-Card event. Syria is seeking new relations with the US. The Saudis may press for the withdrawal of US forces (who want to remain) from Saudi Arabia (view graphic of US bases). US satellite images of Afghanistan will soon be on-sale. Bush’s bioethics panel wants to ban human cloning but will allow embryo research to proceed. Fingerprinting may be challenged as forensic evidence.

Regressions: Congo's volcano Mount Nyiragongo has erupted (view photos), triggering an humanitarian disaster. British officials have defended the region's conditions. China is tightening its Internet censorship. The Sri Lankan government is targeting political opponents at their workplaces. The fallout has revealed that almost 35 Bush administration officials owned stock in Enron. Vice-President Dick Cheney also spoke with Indian officials about Enron (view video). Andersen executives were aware of the crisis in February 2001, a new memo has revealed. Some sites tout the Bush administration and Enron as co-conspirators and joint criminals.

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "Enron's Untold Story." Talk Magazine has folded: Hearst will end funding by March 31, after pressure from Miramax's Harvey Weinstein. The venture lost around $50 million. Tina Brown apologized to staff in a brief meeting.The FBI advises a "content review" of Web sites. The Enron Effect: journalists search for more scandals. Business Week editor Steve Shepherd has slammed the business press coverage of Enron. The trial of suspected terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui will not be broadcast. Actor Levar Burton pays tribute to the landmark mini-series Roots (1977). Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) are set to boom.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: The White House releases that pretzel. A personal GPS service is why we should learn to love Big Brother? Was the US government alerted to 9/11: watch the hijackers.

Thursday, 17 January 2002

Grid-Lock: Money talks: (a) The Solomon Islands have accused Australia and New Zealand of starving the Pacific island's economy of investments; (b) The Ukraine has passed a privacy bill after international monetary pressure; (c) Europe has shelved plans for its own GPS network after US-led overtures. President Bush's plans to overhaul antitriust laws have been delayed: the press conference was postponed. Bush will propose a budget deficit and increased military funding. While baggage checks for airport security begin today, the Democrats contend that the new measures don't go far enough (view video). Flight crews will learn anti-hijack techniques.

Hot-Spots: Argentina's top banker has resigned and protesters are back on the streets. Iraq has readied its defenses for new attacks. US intelligence analysts have warned that nuclear weapons may not deter an Indo-Pak conflict (view graphic). India has issued its conditions for a border pullback. Secretary of State Colin Powell is manoeuvring through the Indo-Pak divide. US troops in the Philippines may be threatened by former rebels in the southern regions. Have 'peacekeeping missions' weakened the US military? The Justice Department released a video-tape of five al Qaeda suspects and a "martyrdom" message (view video). The IRS is planning a random audit. America's 'home-grown terrorists' may be a renewed threat.

Diasporas: 6 Israelis have been killed in the latest Palestinian grenade attack (view video). Israeli soldiers renewed their blockades of Palestinian towns and Benjamin Netenyahu called for Yasser Arafat to be overthrown. Firmer evidence has emerged of Palestinian ties to Iran's "terror networks." Saudi arms dealers have financed the shipment of arms from Iran to Palestinians.

Flash-Points: Secretary of State Colin Powell has pledged support for Afghanistan (view video). The release of Black Hawk Down has prompted some analysts to reconsider the US military's actions in 1993 and Somalia's links to "terror networks" today.

Cutting-Edges: Conservatives are sweeping European elections. Israel and Pakistan are forging a new strategic relationship. New data suggests that Antarctica's West Ice Sheet is getting colder, creating more debate about global warming. Computer junk is the target of new recyclers. Israel is selling satellites to China. Russia is seeking new strategic ties with the US. Japan is pursuing closer economic ties in Southeast Asia. Bush’s bioethics council is discussing cloning.

Regressions: Enron has fired auditor Arthur Andersen as several Congress and Senate committees seek further documentation. Andersen's accounting team had considered dropping the embattled energy utility in February 2001 over concerns about its accounting procedures, insider dealing and avoidance of income tax payments. 401 reasons why. More than one insider warned the senior management. The collapse has affected Houston's business culture but helped on-line auction sites. 4 members of Symbionese Liberation Army were arrested for a 1975 murder of Myrna Opsahl. The trial of suspect Sara Jane Olson has fueled some bitter reflections about the mid-1970s. Thousands more US layoffs are expected over the next week, after Ford announced a $5.07 billion loss in Q4.

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "Tobacco Lobbyist Talks Turkey, Shoots Messengers." Today is fourth-year anniversary of Matt Drudge 'outing' l’affaire Lewinsky. A Milwaukee indie site has whistle-blown a major financial scandal, beating the local papers. Uber-producer Jerry Bruckheimer is considering a 9/11 film.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: The X-Files will be ending after nine seasons. Alien life could resemble Antarctic microbes. A new Waco investigation may be opened. Take Alternet’s quiz on Bush. We're not that type either: get your facts straight from Chuck D, the Prophet of Rage (whose Terrordome column on 4 January 2002 has some valuable things to say about age and artistic development).

Wednesday, 16 January 2002

Grid-Lock: The Colombian government and rebels are moving toward a cease-fire agreement. The US and Europe have grid-locked the current World Bank negotiations about aid to poor nations (a recent study on the "Live Aid" legacy is also worth reading). US negotiators are facing obstacles (including a possible famine) from tribal Afghani leaders ("hardly progressive," says Alexander Cockburn) who baulk at searching for Taliban escapees (but are having better luck with Iran). Oxfam estimates that Afghanistan will need $15 billion for nation-building. Senator Edward Kennedy has called on President Bush to drop his planned tax cuts, citing "too many urgent national needs" and a probable budget deficit.

Hot-Spots: Two asteroids (7341 1991 VK and 2002 AO11) passed near to Earth. Yemen officials are claiming that al-Qaeda terrorists were planning to bomb the US embassy. 200 more US troops have arrived in the Philippines to combat insurgents who have been linked to the al Qaeda network. Russia is boosting its oil production and this could affect relations with OPEC. Shoe bombing suspect Richard Reid has been indicted by an American jury on nine charges and was believed to have been trained by al Qaeda in Afghanistan (view Attorney General John Ashcroft's speech). A Bush administration audit on the Enron collapse contends that it won't trigger an economic collapse. Other analysts are suggesting that this is "damage control" by the "guilty" Bush administration, whose deregulation policies benefited Enron.

Diasporas: The new Israeli administration believes that Palestinian "terror networks" are expanding.

Flash-Points: Secretary of State Colin Powell has pressured India to adopt Pakistan's anti-terrorist measures (view Powell's speech). Powell is taking advantage of the weariness created by the long crisis to push for a cease-fire. But human rights in Kashmir are also being eroded by all sides. US Special Forces are combing through new Afghani caves. Three people were shot dead at the Appalachian School of Law (Virginia) including its dean.

Cutting-Edges: An obscure company named Zeosync claims to have developed new compression technology. India gets entrepreneurial and gains Iraq as an electricity client. President Bush has named seventeen people to a new bioethics panel. Post 9/11: scientific research in anti-terrorism is booming. Firai Chideya dissects the "virtual/visual warfare" paradigm of news media.

Regressions: Robert Mugabe has strengthened his hold on Zimbabwe's elections. The Securities & Exchanges Commission is redrafting its audit rules. Questions are being raised about auditor Andersen: they are cooperating with the US Federal probe yet are also being sued by Enron. The embattled firm faces more scandals in the future. Senator Joseph Lieberman has been warned to quit Enron's board (a former aide has also been implicated). Computer programmers have been called in to recover more Enron documents about its complex deals. Already, evidence has emerged that Enron’s senior management began selling stock in 1998. The full text of a memo by employee Sherron Watkins has also damaged Enron CEO Ken Lay's credibility.

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "Driving in Circles." The Internet Advertising Board launches a new voluntary code to encourage more advertising. But executives at PeopleSoft and Sun Microsystems aren't happy with business press coverage, so ads are being pulled from publications. The surging DVD market is one reason why Kirk Kerkorian is keen to sell MGM (which has an extensive film library). The production company Aardman are set to release new Wallace and Grommit shorts on-line. An industry body of TV news directors and producers are claiming that the Enron story meets "scandal" criteria but not "political disaster" (other analysts are disagreeing). New York Observer columnist Nicholas von Hoffman claims that journalists can "learn to live with a liberal media bias." Post 9/11 lies are spreading. Rumors are circulating that Hearst will soon stop funding Talk Magazine.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: Georgia Tech develops a "cheating detector" to grade students' marks. Is the US becoming a reluctant global empire with its al-Qaeda search? Was the US government alerted, in advance, to the 9/11 attacks? Should we learn to love global media conglomerates?

Tuesday, 15 January 2002

Grid-lock: Bush strategists plan to share intelligence and increase counter-narcotics aid to outwit Colombian guerrillas. Peace talks will still resume (Colombian President Andres Pastrana has gambled on a six-day deadline), despite a worsening balance of power and concerns about the impact on civilians. Jordan has just reshuffled its cabinet. US Special Forces are finding the Afghan cave network "daunting." US economists are claiming that the broadband revolution (we're still waiting . . .) could trigger an economic recovery by Q2. President Bush outlined the economic agenda during his second year: improving the nation's confidence after the September 11 attacks and protecting the promised tax-cuts ("permanent"). The Christian Science Monitor's verdict was that Bush Jr. had a good first year. Although the prospects of recession are set to end, investment is still sagging in key sectors.

Diasporas: Israel's Ariel Sharon has admitted that Palestinians may have been killed in recent bulldozing demolitions.

Flash-Points: US intelligence analysts fear that Iraq has obtained stealth radar capabilities. Argentina's President Eduardo Duhalde has called for a "national dialogue" and attacked the International Monetary Fund. Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila has met rebel leaders in peace talks aimed at ending the long-term regional conflict.

Hot-Spots: The German parliament has rushed anti-terrorist laws through just before Christmas. Pakistani General Pervez Musharraf is under pressure from the US and India to crack down on militants, but faces the possibility of an internal revolt. Add arms sales to Pakistan by China and Al Qaeda terrorists and you have a potential time bomb.

Cutting-Edges: Printable circuits are almost here. Cryobots have passed their Arctic test. Scientists have discovered a genetic basis for lactose intolerance.

Regressions: Evidence is mounting that Enron CEO Ken Lay knew of the utility conglomerate's accounting woes, but Andersen destroyed the files. The Senate Select Committee to Investigate Market Manipulation plans to investigate and has filed subpoenas with Enron's employees. Lawmakers are already returning Enron's campaign contributions. Will President Bush? The crisis has revealed why Enron also funded a network of think-tanks. Business Week staffer Howard Gleckman deploys the Enron scandal to critique Bush economic adviser Larry Lindsey. Former SEC Chairman David Ruder claims, in a revealing interview, that there needs to be a cleanup of accountancy firms and industry watchdogs. Secret notes are already being leaked. Enronomics is dead.

Media Memetics: The PR Watch Spin of the Day: "Trust Us, We're Experts now available in paperback." Zimbabwe has delayed its debate on new media laws that would muzzle the international press. Surprise: advertisers are seeking a greater role in television programming. MGM is rumoured to be on the market for $7 billion. Nothing So Strange, a film that depicts the assassination of Bill Gates, is screening at Sundance. The "N-word" is back in fashion. The new Garbage film clip features not-so-subtle references to golden showers. Jason Newsted disses his former Metallica band-mates as "control freaks."

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: US Secretary of State Colin Powell will attend an MTV-hosted town meeting to win the "hearts and minds" of today's global youth (hope the activist contingent also receives an invite). The CIA looked to the City of Angeles to recruit potential Iranian spies.

Monday, 14 January 2002

Grid-Lock: The latest US bombings spearheaded by Special Forces have sealed off 50 caves in east Afghanistan. The new Afghani leadership have emphasized the need for nation-rebuilding. Columbian rebels will resume peace talks with the Columbian government after the recent break-down in negotiations. China has rejected a US report on nuclear weapons and plans to build its arsenal according to Chinese domestic needs. A World Trade Organization panel also ruled against the US in a hearing about multi-billion dollar tax concessions for overseas firms. The US counter-attacked by vetoing access to high-level documents. President Bush toured the US Midwest and pushed for trade reforms (view his speech).

Diasporas: The tentative Israeli-Palestianian cease-fire has been broken by the assassination of Raed Kamel, a militant Palestinian. But Jerome Segal argues that the Middle East peace process still has some unexplored options.

Flash-Points: The CIA has redefined its forecasts and strategic threat assessments due to NMD's missile politics. US analysts also believe that the weakened al Qaeda terrorist network still poses a significant threat (despite ignoring earlier warnings). Israel has prepared for new attacks from Iraq. Pakistan's military forces are constructing missile bases on the Indian border. Sectarian violence has triggered school closures in Northern Ireland. Some teachers have received death threats and inquiry secrets have been leaked.

Hotspots: Islamic militants in Pakistan have gone into hiding, triggering fears about Kashmir and the destabilizing effects on Pakistan's government. Hundreds of militants have been arrested. Some reports claim that the arrests targeted religious extremists. The US embassy in Yemen was also placed on threat alert. Oman has expressed interest in US military ties.

Cutting Edges: Despite its recent economic woes, Argentina seems to be the land of innovation: a new observatory may be able to detect the existence of other dimensions while studying cosmic rays, and home-banking networks are thriving as Argentinians avoid the latest currency restrictions. The UCSB School of Engineering has released bots to study dangerous aquatic micro-organisms.

Regressions: New Republic editors have argued that US Treasury secretary Paul O'Neill should be dumped for his disastrous economic reform agenda. The Enron collapse has become America's biggest news story, supplanting the US war on Afghanistan. Wendy Gramm has received a subpoena amidst revelations of Enron's contributions to re-elected Congress members and requests for bank bailouts. Yet the impact on employees, who have lost their health plans and retirement benefits, largely goes unreported. The specter of unemployment also haunts the Japanese working class.

Media Memetics: Today's PR Watch Spin of the Day: "Leaked Memo Reveals B-M's Plans for Lord Melchett." Meanwhile, Primedia sold Modern Bride to Conde Nast for $52 million. Media Grok, a famous media-monitor site, has morphed into Media Unspun. The new DVD Audio format is rapidly gaining acceptance by audio engineers and mixologists (who are eyeing the new satellite radio market). Liberal media bias? A simplistic model, claims journalist Caryl Rivers, who argues that bias affects the entire political spectrum. Do Green activists who defect to corporations betray the environmental movement? and has America's "war journalism" been gutless?

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: We said it first: the business press is the bulletin board for corporate America. Jack Parsons's impact on the American space program has been revealed in an on-going series. Peter Beinart explores Thabo Mbeki's alternative AIDS hypothesis.

Monday, August 27, 2001

Geopolitical Currents:

Flash-Point: Iraq claimed to have shot down a US plane over Iraq, which the US later stated was unmanned. Cutting Edges: Taiwan is seeking new trade ties with the Chinese mainland, in a move that will redefine the region's economic and strategic geography. India is jockeying to fill the US Stem Cell gap. Regressions: Drought conditions are affecting 1.6 million people in Central America. Grid-Lock: Russia is seeking to postpone its plan to stop production of weapons-grade plutonium: expect some after-effects in the global arms trade industry. US Secretary of State Colin Powell has confirmed he will not attend the UN conference on racism because of anti-Israel language in the program. The Bush Administration also may not send diplomats to a conference next month because of language supporting abortion counseling and services: do the rights of potential children outweigh the rights of their parents?

Hot-Spots: As NATO forces begin what has been described as a New Balkan Mission, a British soldier has been killed. China's smuggling activities are depleting ozone, and include Saddam Hussein as a client (don't forget the "increased missile threat"). Diasporas: After several raids, Israel has assassinated a senior PLO official (view photos) in a rocket attack that will bring the region close to Flashpoint status. The Wild Cards include Israeli leader Ariel Sharon's negotiation tactics and the PLO's weak leadership, which affects Yasser Arafat's strategies (read background on why the Palestinians are angry).

Domestic Currents

Cutting Edges: The US plans to identify labs with Stem Cells, and has released a provisional list, including 64 Stem Cell colonies. Scientific debate still rages about the viability President Bush's plan. Your tax dollars at work: scientists have found a brain trigger for sex, and are considering possible silicon chip applications. Regressions: Mad Cow scares have caused more than 500,000 lbs of beef to be recalled. A recent study has found an ethnocentric bias (color) in some psychiatric care programs.

Grid-Lock: Financial analysts believe that the US economy may improve in Q4 2001, although the Federal Reserve may have mounting problems. The Social Security surplus faces a $9 Billion cut, predicted by the Congressional Budget Office. The surplus may trigger budget battles, with BLUE/orange conservative critics already claiming that the Democrats have stolen billions from Social Security funds. President Bush is seeking labor union support, and trying to avoid fallout from the ongoing China funds probe. Lawyers and Gary Condit's ex-lover are urging that he be indicted. California Governor Grey Davis has also criticized Condit for the first time publicly. Gary's son Chad Condit has also spoken out on Larry King Live. The press assessment of Connie Chung's interview performance and techniques has been largely positive.

Media Memetics: Ben Silverman, the maestro at Dotcom Scoop, has leaked an eye-opening memo (possibly hoaxed) on the future of The Onion. Check out the latest of Tom Tomorrow's This Modern World strip. The investors of Excite@Home want $50 Million by Friday. The BBC has abandoned plans to charge for international access. Canadian media magnate Conrad Black is eyeing the New York Times and Washington Post for possible ownership. South Africa's press continues to be under censorship fears. Read some damning but thoughtful analysis of the Industry Standard's demise (here's a job for their ex-tycoons). PR Watch Spin of the Day: Condit Wins Bimbo Award.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: The FBI's Wen Ho Lee probe is in tatters. Check your food's eco-labels. One more step in the human-machine fusion. And where have the last 10 years of your life gone?

Friday, August 24, 2001

Geopolitical Currents:

Harmonics: Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is in China to gather support, and some US media are framing this visit as a Harmonic between the PLO and China's rise-to-globalism. Stratfor has detailed a possible Syrian-Iraqi alliance. Hot-Spots: NATO forces in Macedonia and Albanian rebels have negotiated a deal on weapons (framed by some media as a 'gun pact'). Some analysts predict continuing regional tension. The IMF is concerned about Japan's economic instability, and regional concerns about resurgent nationalism.

Regressions: Fiji's recent elections were marred by PURPLE/RED-blue racialist politics. China has admitted facing an AIDS crisis. Cutting-Edges: Japan is developing micro-nuclear power reactors for apartment blocks. Slobodan Milosevic gave a phone-interview to Fox TV, attacking his prison conditions. Grid-Lock: As Russia's domestic situation worsens, defense intelligence analysts are considering it a possible military threat (a predictable Wild Card for scenario-planners). US President Bush also blasted the September UN Human Rights Commission forum on racism (exposing North/South divides?).

Domestic Currents:

Grid-Lock: Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly has replaced US District Judge Thomas Jackson in the ongoing Microsoft antitrust case. After the Condit-Chung interview (social judgments ranged from professional journalism to exasperation to being walked over to 'bending truth' to video-clip ops) the public relations verdict is in: Gary Condit has been criticized for his denial tactics. Few of Condit's voters were satisfied with his interview performance, and allies have begun 'jumping ship'. Condit claimed: "I can't respond to all of the false tabloid tales." This might signal a shift from Grid-Lock to Regression, which may also occur in Stem Cell research if scientific criticism is correct. President Bush maintained his fiscally-conservative budget stance during a news conference (read the transcript), stating that the US economy "has made a correction."

Harmonics: Bush also emphasized the importance of defense spending levels, and alluded to General Richard Myers' diplomacy skills (yet other reports claimed that the Army was 'hurt' by his Joint Chief of Staff appointment). A signifier of memetic change in the political landscape: 'national abstinence' campaigns have returned with a repressed vengeance. Regressions: The West Nile Virus is reported to be spreading throughout the Midwest. NASA has ended an ozone-monitoring satellite. Cutting-Edges: The legendary Burning Man festival is on again, and has been 'discovered' by the early majority. Elizabeth Dole has registered to vote in North Carolina. Boston IVF will provide Stem Cells to Harvard research scientists. The US Department of Health and Human Services has claimed that mouse cells in embryo lines pose no problems to scientific research. The Human Genome may be more complicated than scientists have previously thought. Harvard's Human Brain Project will hopefully yield some Cutting-Edge insights regarding mind-brain interfaces and cognitive intelligences.

Media Memetics: AOHell is the least trusted site on the Net. International mix: the Sarajevo Film Festival is currently on, the Indian site scandal continues, and our South Korean friends could be Web Fiends. The media has asked a White House panel to defer an anti-leak bill hearing, and a high Adversity Quotient for domestic affairs was crucial to the literary success of the Fitzgeralds. PR Watch Spin of the Day: Journalism for Hire?.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: A US polygamist gets five years jail. The Irish claim to be the most 'heathy-feeling' population in Europe (just ask Dave 'daev' Walsh). Identity Theft Catch 22: the US won't disclose PC tracking, but will disclose your public records.

Thursday, August 23, 2001

Geopolitics Currents:

Diasporas: Israeli troops spearheaded a three-hour incursion into the Palestinian-occupied section of Hebron, creating further tensions about its controversial 'track-and-kill' campaign. International monitors face the curse of solving multiple Problems of Existence and Variations of Change. Read the Tenet cease-fire agreement and the Mitchell Commission report, aimed at preventing regional Regression. Surveying the RED-BLUE sub-currents, Stratfor is predicting a new Arab-Israeli war.

Hot-Spots: The Angolan rebels UNITA signalled a new campaign with a train bombing, coinciding with the decision by Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos not to run in election campaigns next year. NATO troops have arrived in troubled Macedonia. Yugoslavia has recalled Milan St. Protic, its Ambassador to the US, after he criticized Yugoslav policy in recent interviews and statements. Scenario-planning on RED-BLUE sub-currents (arms trade and resource flows), WorldNetDaily is predicting an Iraqi air-strike on Jordan, and future war in Iraq and/or Korea.

Regressions: Sometimes, they come back to haunt you: ex-President Clinton has been accused of being a bystander to the Rwandan genocide. Cutting-Edges: Paul Burrows surveys the alternatives to BLUE-ORANGE forms of Capitalism. The Borderhack conference in Tijuana (Mexico) will feature some Cutting-Edge geopolitical hacktivism about handling Flash-Points, Hot-Spots and preventing Regressions. India is probing a muck-raking Web site. In a defiant move, Brazil has broken international drug patents to fight the spread of AIDS. When a global virus threatens BEIGE-PURPLE systems, you may have to flout BLUE-ORANGE international laws and implement YELLOW systemic counter-measures.

Domestic Currents:

Grid-Lock: Fast Company is attempting to maneuver its readers away from the abyss, by questioning the direction of the New Economy (which was reliant on financial analysts). This microcosm mirrors wider anxieties about Alan Greenspan's long-term micro-economic reform strategy, with BLUE/Orange claims that he is irrelevant and should resign. The domestic Grid-Lock between nationalistic BLUE/Orange conservatives (Sacrifice-Self) and embittered red/GREEN liberals (Express-Self) has a focused loci with Senator Jesse Helms' resignation announcement. US domestic politics won't be the same again (new Life Conditions will emerge).

Gary Condit likely hired some ORANGE/green image consultants for the Condit-Chung interview (read a transcript). Condit conducted a last-minute BLUE-ORANGE mail drive to his constituents (read the letter and watch a video-clip), who had questions of their own. Newspapers revealed their own values in their headlines: most major media outlets ran a variant on Condit admitting a relationship with Chandra Levy, whereas NewsMax used a negative-inverted headline that focused on Levy's murder. It's too early yet to know for sure if the Condit-Chung interview will propel Condit's career out of Grid-Lock, but his supporters now want more media appearances. Columnist Marvin Kalb remains unconvinced: he says that ABC's format was wrong for the interview. Meanwhile, President Bush considered dropping a health plan, while meeting with elementary students. His Texan holiday has given journalists a taste of Grid-Lock, so they resort to golfing analogies.

Flash-Points: The federal government has stepped into prevent a looming water war in Klamath, Ohio. BLUE-PURPLE/orange conservatives are angry that Queer activists are targeting the Boy Scouts of America, whereas the red/GREEN activists counter-claim that conservatives are homophobic and sexist about Girl Scouts accepting lesbians. BEIGE biological systems, PURPLE mythology and differences over BLUE family structures underpin this debate. Cutting-Edges: This isn't strictly Cutting-Edge per se: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has defended his appointment of team-player Air Force General Richard Myers by citing defense industry views. However, taken within the wider context of US government and society, this appointment aims to strengthen BLUE systems of governance. In the wake of Senator Jesse Helms' resignation, Elizabeth Dole is already planning a Senate run. Hot-Spots: President Bush confirmed his desire for the US to end the 1972 ABM Treaty, a decision that will create a symbolic Hot-Spot within international relations negotiations. The US pledged $16 million for IMF security, during the upcoming globalization talks. A notorious anti-abortion site lost a court hearing about publishing medical records.

Media Memetics: Signifiers of the Entertainment Economy: CNN is chasing after Rush Limbaugh, Carl Bernstein's forgotten rock album reviews have resurfaced, and MTV are set to play a popular marijuana song (nominated for a High Times magazine award). Some real dissent: Variety's Peter Bart failed to play by New Hollywood's unspoken rules of the game, while Amy Goodman has written a poignant letter about her battle with the Pacifica radio network. CBS is reported to be searching for Dan Rather's replacement. The Hollywood v DVD battle is hotting up again, so hacktivists better get savvy with their geopolitics. Life Conditions genesis: the legendary Cathouse Club (Los Angeles), which gave the world so many 1980s hair-metal bands, has been reborn. TV stations cannot find the tapes of early Jesse Helms commentaries. PR Watch Spin of the Day: Dead People Support Microsoft.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: Christopher Hitchens explains why business executives idolize philosopher Ayn Rand. Rumors that the FBI can tap into wireless e-mail. Two trends to track: why high-school teaching styles create both scientific elites and scientific illiterates, and changing views on elderly relationships.

Wednesday, August 22, 2001

Geopolitical Currents:

Grid-Lock: US Diplomats face-off Russia about missile defense. Although the US has a limited role in the NATO force assigned to Macedonia, US-Europe antagonisms are expected to increase. Regressions: The recent arrest of human rights/religious activists in Afghanistan means that the Taliban regime is at risk of further free-fall. India is facing an AIDS scourge that could rival Africa. Cutting Edges: France and Germany are jointly seeking a ban on cloning humans: don't tell the Raelians.

Harmonics: US economy fluctuations parallel the tumultuous economic shifts experienced by Argentina. US policy has shifted from no aid to a bail-out, prompting the Argentinian domestic economy to strengthen, despite unstable prospects in the near future. Diasporas: The US press headlines can't get its figures right: the number of Palestinians killed by Israelis during recent protests ranged from four, six or seven people. This variability in reportage mirrors the skepticism about the latest proposal for peace talks. One emergent and intriguing Cutting Edge: some US analysts will no longer accept the Israeli/Palestinian dispute as a Just War. The Israeli/Palestinian dispute has become complex because it has co-emergent and multiple conditions: Grid-Lock (waiting for the new round of peace talks), Flash-Points (the Middle East as economic/political geography), Regressions (the Israeli assassination policy and battles within the PLO for leadership), Diasporas (the Palestinian people and the Giza Strip) and Hot-Spots (new resource issues and scarcities). Ending the dispute will take Cutting-Edges thinking to reach a viable long-term resolution.

Domestic Currents:

Harmonics: The departure of Senator Jesse Helms has been accompanied by reframing of his public image, loads of media analysis, and claims that Helms' departure is the closing of a political era (not the American mind as expected). View career photos and a video of the announcement. This has sparked a domestic Harmonic: GOP candidates are jockeying for position, while Helms' opponents are calling for greater scrutiny of his career. Depending upon which values-systems come into play for participants, and how they react to the changing domestic Life Conditions, this could create a Grid-Lock stalemate, send some GOP analysts into domestic/party Regression due to the unfolding complexity, or trigger a search for Cutting-Edge thinking.

Hot-Spots: Debate over the latest US budget forecast (read the full report or a summary) has sparked fears of a rapidly dwindling surplus. The Social Security panel is down-playing the situation as a tactical move to head-off a Grid-Lock of federal institutions. Yet with the GOP putting pressure on to release funding, this could trigger a Flash-Point between the GOP and Dems. And if you've ever wondered what the Government Accounting Office does . . .

Cutting Edges: Although appointing Air Force General Richard Myers may not appear on the surface to be a revelation, the Bush Administration's decision decision will have implications for post-Cold War military forces, especially the rush to militarize space. Myers' appointment was echoed by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's prediction of policy-changes around October. This will create a Harmonic with the anti-Dubya faction (when not distracted by Michael Bloomberg), and the looming changes may trickle down to future Senate runs. Russian hacktivist DmitrySklyarov has been working with lawyers to negotiate a deal (his next court hearing is scheduled for August 30). What makes this a Cutting Edge prosecution is the Department of Justice complaint that triggered the prosecution, which did not come from Adobe.

Grid-Lock: While some pundits wrote off Gary Condit's career as a Regression, the announcement of Thursday's interview with ABC's Connie Chung and a People magazine profile suggests he is now being more pro-active to break the hold-up and end the gossip. His decision has also created Grid-Lock between some media/political commentators: Andrew Sullivan wondered why Condit should have to do the interview, while others attacked his choice of Chung, because there are tougher journalists and interview terms. Analysts agree that there is a Harmonic between Chung and Condit's career status, and that if she creates a memorable Flash-Point, her career may emerge from its Regression over the past few years.

Media Memetics: The New York Public Library has just purchased Jack Kerouac's archive. Quentin Tarantino's QVT film festival keeps certain B-movie Memes in circulation; the discovery of a country record collection hints at a resurgence; while some ideas just refuse to die. The inter-group tournament now occurring within Iran's music scene highlights the clash of values (and money from world music moguls) when Life Conditions change. If the complexity gets too much, just Love the News. PR Watch Spin of the Day: Rigged Games at McDonalds and Another Sweetheart Deal in the White House.

The World Is Getting More Like Disinformation Dept.: Time to rescript the prologue to Lunargate!: the JFK tapes were released about the famous 'Moon Race' speech. Fred Hoyle has passed away: now he