U.S. Military Launches Surveillance Project to Track Web Sites and Electronic Databases for Signs of Bioterrorism, Reports Interactive Week.
GARDEN CITY, N.Y., Jan. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- In an effort to thwart bioterrorism, the United States military plans to conduct a vast sweep of Web sites and electronic databases to search for potential threats, reports Interactive Week in a Jan. 8 feature story, "Catching the Bug Before...

An ill tailwind.
A behind-the-scenes look at how CNN, despite red glags, aired--and was forced to retract--am explosive report on the military's alleged use of poison gas. Richard Kaplan remembers vividly his reaction to the script for "Valley of Death," the story scheduled to launch Cable News Network's new magazine show "NewsStand:...

Good homilists don't always go by the book.
TO PARAPHRASE THE TITLE OF THE MUSICAL comedy song, the homilist's lot is not a happy one. Our hearts should go out to priests (and other clergy persons for that matter) who must dazzle--with substance, of course--their congregations 52-plus times every year. Along about Thursday each week...

The Transparent Society: Will Technology Force Us to Choose Between Privacy and Freedom?
By David Brin, Reading, Mass.: Perseus Books, 378 pages, $25.00 New technologies are disrupting society's evolved checks and balances. Advances in computing lead to low-cost encryption - privacy for our online communications and finances. Advances in sensing lead to low-cost surveillance-tracking of our movements, actions, speech, and physical purchases....

Aggression and impeachment.
For four nights, from December 16 to the 19th, 1998, missiles and bombs rained down on Iraq. The United States and Britain called it containment; the Vatican called it "aggression." Its letter of protest to the United Nations together with the other remonstrations on the subject had no effect....

NSC backs war on terrorism but awaits UN action on Iraq.
Byline: GENALYN D. KABILING The National Security Council led by President Arroyo yesterday reaffirmed its support for the US-led global war on terrorism but hedged on whether the Philippines will support a unilateral attack on Iraq without a United Nations resolution. President Arroyo convened the...

Sea power with Asian characteristics: China, India, and the proliferation security initiative.
Why have China and India remained aloof from the U.S.-led "Proliferation Security Initiative" (PSI), a loose international consortium aimed at interdicting shipments of weapons-related materiel, despite obvious interests in quelling proliferation? The reasons relate to domestic politics, disparate geographical and strategic worldviews, and cultural traditions--factors that fall squarely within...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Jan 12 - US Quietly Ends Hunt For banned Iraqi arms.
The White House confirms the US search in Iraq for banned weapons, which it had cited as justification for the war against Saddam, has been quietly ended after nearly two years, with no evidence of their existence. That means the conclusions of an interim report last autumn by the...

Build 'em up, bomb 'em down.
"In the heart of Tehran sits one of Iran's most important nuclear facilities, a dome-shaped building where scientists have conducted secret experiments that could help the country build atomic bombs," reported the August 23 Chicago Sun-Sentinel. "It was provided to the Iranians by the United States"--along with weapons-grade uranium...

Cradle to Cradle: incorporating nature plan.
In 2002, William McDonough and Michael Braungart published Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things (Northpoint Press). They identify two fundamental problems. The first is that we design products to be thrown "away" when, in fact, there is no "away," and cradle-to-grave designs foul our own nest....