Tomasulo.net

The Washington Times "This is a global war on terrorism and weapons of mass destruction," Gen. Richard B. Myers, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, told ABC this week. "So Afghanistan is only one small piece. So of course we're thinking very broadly. I would say since World War II we haven't thought this broadly about a campaign."

CNN.com - U.S. demands Israeli withdrawal
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Bush administration Monday criticized the recent killing of Palestinian civilians by Israeli gunfire and demanded Israel immediately withdraw its forces from all Palestinian-controlled territory.

State Department spokesman Philip Reeker is quoted as saying, "Retaliatory actions by Israel cannot produce lasting security, which is the goal we so long advocated." Ironic, that.

I was taking the Red Line into work today, and as we stopped at the Charles/MGH station (an above ground station on the Boston side of the Charles River) I could hear an unusual sound, like a chainsaw. I couldn't see anything strange from where I was sitting, in one of the rear-most cars, but we were taking a bit longer than usual to get going. Once the train did get going, I got a good view of the rest of the station as we passed it by, and saw a group of eight or ten firefighters standing around a hole in the wall of the station, one or two of them hacking away at it with an axe. I didn't see a fire, but one of the commuters on the platform was covering his mouth as he walked away. Maybe he was just scared of Anthrax, though. I couldn't tell.

I wonder what was going on.

NEW OR OLD AFRICA INITIATIVE

A more cynical, and perhaps somewhat biased take on the NAI from something called the Africa Finance Review. This magazine appears to be the brainchild of three white South African investors, as a mouthpiece for the "real deal" in African investments. If they have their facts straight, they do raise some good points. And these concerns don't even take into account the fact that the western world's focus has shifted dramatically in the last month and a half.

Quote:
But, one may ask, do the chief architects of NAI actually have experience of implementing its objectives? If Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore, after due deliberation, were to assert that a Ghana, for example, is capable of rapid economic growth, his record in presiding over rapid economic growth in Singapore would make his assertion credible. President Mbeki and Obasanjo are yet to deliver 4 % GDP growth in South Africa and Nigeria, let alone the 7% trumpeted for Africa. President Boutifleka of Algeria has suffered from several bouts of civil unrest in Algeria this year: he who cannot find domestic peace in Algeria purports to speak for peace throughout Africa. On corrup-tion, the less said the better. As for personal integrity and intelligence as the mark of new African leaders, one only has to recall the likes of the late President Senghor of Senegal and Nyerere of Tanzania to appreciate that Africa has already had some highly intelligent honest leaders inca-pable of delivering rapid economic growth to their citizens. Finally, it is of sad significance that the architects of NAI sought first the endorsement of the G-8 leaders instead of their citi-zens, especially the African capitalist. More money has been transferred out of Africa by Africans unimpressed with the calibre of African leaders than has been received in aid by Africa. Obtaining the approval of the African capitalist class would be more likely to lead to the transfer into Africa of large sums of capital than pleas made to G-8 politicians. It is typically neo-colonial to first obtain the approval at the G-8 Summit and not from Africans

Africa to launch 'Marshall Plan'
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Reuters) -- African leaders gather in Nigeria on Tuesday for the formal launch of an ambitious economic plan, modelled on the U.S. Marshall Plan for Europe, to revive ailing economies on the world's poorest continent.

If this takes hold, it could change the political and economic face of the planet, hopefully in a good way.

CIA Told to Do 'Whatever Necessary' to Kill Bin Laden
Agency and Military Collaborating at 'Unprecedented' Level; Cheney Says War Against Terror 'May Never End'
by Bob Woodward for the Washington Post
President Bush last month signed an intelligence order directing the CIA to undertake its most sweeping and lethal covert action since the founding of the agency in 1947, explicitly calling for the destruction of Osama bin Laden and his worldwide al Qaeda network, according to senior government officials.
...
Though the new intelligence war presents the CIA with an opportunity to excel, several officials noted that the campaign is also fraught with risk.

The agency is being assigned a monumental task for which it is not fully equipped or trained, said one CIA veteran who knows the agency from many perspectives. Human, on-the-ground sources are scarce in the region and in the Muslim world in general. Since the end of the Cold War more than a decade ago, the Directorate of Operations (DO), which runs covert activity, has been out of the business of funding and managing major lethal covert action.

The CIA has a history of bungling such operations going back to the 1950s and 1960s, most notably when the agency unsuccessfully plotted to assassinate Fidel Castro.
[More in link.]

There's a comic book and scf-fi convention in Boston today. We hatched a plan at the bar last night to get James 'Scotty' Doohan and Traci 'underage porn' Lords to come to our after-party and see if we could get them to hook up. I wonder how that's going.

Comics To Look At This Week

Couscous Express GN, 12.95 from AIT/PLANETLAR. This will be Brian Wood's first non-corporate book since his amazing debut, Channel Zero. Kebab couriers clash on the streets of NYC. What more do you want? Scooters? You got it!
Joss Whedons Fray #4 (Of 8), 2.99 from DARK HORSE COMICS. It's Buffy the Vampire Slayer set in the future. While written by Buffy's creator, it isn't quite as much fun as the show. It does benefit from having a lot less baggage at this early stage than the sometimes cumbersome Buffy.
Alec: Three Piece Suit TPB, 14.95 from EDDIE CAMPBELL COMICS. I don't know much about this other than it is another book of Eddie Campbell's autobiographical Alec stories. The two previous volumes were brilliant.

Everything else out this week.

Handspring: Treo 180 -- I'm very much going to want one of these. I have room on my person for only one gadget, and since my cell phone replaced my PalmPilot, I've been at a bit of a loss. Some have noted that this product gives up one of the strengths of the Visor line by not being expandable, but the phone is the only expansion I would seriously want to add. I'd have to try it first, but I think I'll like that thumb keyboard as well.

The 8 Elements of Autonomic Computing -- IBM defines an interesting challenge for the computer science community. The basic idea is that units of software should be able to function independently of direct human control, adapt to new situations and bargain with each other for resources.

Barbelith Underground : Anthrax in Florida -- This is a great discussion on the Anthrax scare involving one of the co-workers of the Florida gentleman who died. Lots of first-hand account, and many informative links throughout.

Interesting Comics This Week

AARDVARK VANAHEIM
Cerebus #271, 2.25

BONGO COMICS
Bart Simpsons Treehouse Of Horror #7, 4.50

DC COMICS
Four Women #1 (Of 5), 2.95
Transmetropolitan #50, 2.50

Ocean's 11 - The trailer for Steven Soderbergh's remake looks very, very pretty. This may be the best match yet for Soderbergh's stylish direction.

SpyHunter for Playstation 2 - I'm excited about this beyond all reason, and I don't even have a PS2. They really should have an 80s music soundtrack, though.

Just one comic worth checking out this week.

CYBEROSIA PUBLISHING LLC
Aporiatica GN, 12.95

They said to get back to work, Pt. III - An extensive list of links to information about creating comic books in Steven Grant's Permanent Damage column.

They said to get back to work, Pt. II - Spaced Penguin - Use a giant slingshot to navigate a Space Penguin back to his ship. [Shockwave]

They said to get back to work, Pt. I - How to write a thriller by Ian Fleming