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September 29, 2001
Camping in Big Sur
September 28, 2001
I missed this yesterday, but I was interested to learn than Reuters does not use
the term "terrorist" because news organization feels it is an emotive term (i.e. "We do not characterize
the subjects of news stories but instead report their actions, identity, and background"). According to this article, Reuters has received a lot of hit for describing recent events as "suicide plane
attacks" as opposed to "terrorist attacks."
Happy Birthday Tuyet! ;-}
September 27, 2001
Damn, today was about as ugly as it gets for my stock holdings. I bailed and took
a luge loss on FNSR which at one point was down 36%. I tried to pick up some Sonus at $2.30, but missed my fill
by a penny. Sonus was down almost 65% at its low for the day. Now on to the stuff that actually interests y'all.
"Why do they hate us?" was a question asked by President Bush in his
speech to Congress last Thursday night. Well, many Arabs, Muslims, and other foreigners have their reasons. Time magazine and The Christian Science Monitor explore the grievances (economic,
cultural, political, historic) many people have with the United States and the West. Until we as a country have
a better understanding of these qualms, we probably cannot expect the end of animosity toward the Unites States.
September 26, 2001
Other countries have other interests in joining America's anti-terroism campaign
(besides avoiding becoming an enemy of an angry behemoth). The Christian Science Monitor discusses Russia's quest
to address the "Chechen problem" by joining the American cause: Russia surfs antiterrorist wave - The Kremlin is swiftly repackaging many of its own longstanding
geopolitical goals to give them an antiterrorist hue. On Monday, Putin
sent an envoy to Chechnya as part of his 72-hour ultimatum to rebels over
ending conflict in the region.
Similary, both India and Pakistan stand to benefit by the easing or lifting
of sactions if they coorperate with the US. The US is increasingly seeking
to re-establish
ties with former adversaries in the coalition-building effort.
Iran, along with other countries that may be targets by the United States, want a global coalition against terrorism to be headed
by the United Nations, not the US.
September 25, 2001
Some more on germ warfare:
ARTICLES
SITES
The FAA allowed crop-duster planes to fly again while the it reportedly considers arming pilots to protect against further terrorist incursions into the cockpit (Guns in the cockpit
means we'll probably need to screen pilots more carefully -- what's to stop an armed pilot from taking down a plane?)
The stock market appears to be continuing its rebound despite bad news from AOL and plunging consumer confidence.
September 24, 2001
Keeping with the germ warfare theme:
The United States is highly vulnerable to biological attack should a weaponized
biological agent (especially smallpox) fall into the wrong hands. All it would take is exposure of Americans returning
to the Unites States. A few days later, after returning to their normal routine they come down with flu-like symptoms.
By then, co-workers and family members could be exposed and the agent could quickly spread. A truely frightening
prospect.
As expected, the market recovered a bit today.
September 23, 2001
Time
Magazine reported that a cropduster manual was discovered in a suspected
terrorist hideout. This is significant because a cropduster could be used to disperse biological or chemical agents
across population centers, agricultural zones, or water supplies. Accordingly, here are some more biological warfare
articles and resources:
ARTICLES
WEB SITES
September 22, 2001
Emerging infectious disease and biowarfare have always been two of my more morbid interests. The recent events
in the United States again brought the prospect of bioweapons to the forefront. Below are a list of articles and
sites relevent to biological weapons. I highly recommend the book Biohazard: The Chilling True Story of the Largest Covert Biological Weapons Program in
the World-Told from Inside by the Man Who Ran It, by Ken Alibek. Also
on the list should be The Coming Plague : Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance by Laurie Garrett.
ARTICLES
SITES
September 21, 2001
I thought the speech writers for Bush did a good job, though the continual references to God near the end were
a bit much. It was almost as if we're also going to pursue this as our own Holy War.
Another depressing day for the U.S. stock market. It proved to be the
most
heinous weeks in the history of the American stock market with the Dow
falling 14.3 percent, Nasdaq losing 16.1 percent, and the S&P 500 down 11.6 percent.
Some more on the technological aspects and organization
of the al Qaeda terrorist network:
- CNN
reports the Osama bin Laden network relies on both high- and low-tech
means of communication.
- Several sources (including CourtTV and NewsFactor) report the growing importance of the
Internet in coordinating terrorist actions.
- CNN terrorism expert Peter Bergen discusses whether it is accurate
to compare the
al Qaeda terrorist network to the organization of the Mafia.
- The FBI continued to look into the financial records of the suspected skijackers.
Countries that recently have not shared the same views
as America are contributing their terrorism intelligence to the U.S. effort:
Not much surprise that Osama bin Laden's ties to the Taliban
are more than spiritual: Taliban Gain Income From bin Laden
Is Hollywood the next target?
September 20, 2001
Interesting articles on attacks apparently planned for the coming weekend
and a hacker
posting a list of hundreds of e-mail addresses of subscribers belonging
to an "Islamist" mailing list. One subscriber is a suspect in the terrorist attack.
I'm amused by Saddam offering 'humanitarian' aid to victims
in the U.S. Saddam surely recognizes he's near the top of the American list of terrorist sponsors.
CNN
also denied that footage showing Palestinians celebrating in reaction
to the WTC attack was from a previous event 10 years ago.
September 18, 2001
No comments today.
September 17, 2001
The U.S. market really tanked today - no surprise there. In the long run, the attacks could actually boost the
market through
- Interest rate cuts by the Fed,
- Rebuilding downtown Manhattan
- Preparing for and participating in a global war against
terrorism
- American investor patriotism (yeah, right - I'll believe
that when I see it)
I believe things will settle down early next week. A little
war-mongering has usually been good for the economy.
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