Magician David Copperfield robbed after show at Kravis Center
He made 13 people disappear into thin air during his Kravis Center show Sunday night, but magician David Copperfield couldn't duplicate the feat with armed teens who robbed him and two women near the venue two hours later.
Month: April 2006
Finland Squirms as Its Latest Export Steps Into Spotlight – New York Times
Finland Squirms as Its Latest Export St
eps Into Spotlight – New York Times
"In Finland, we have no Eiffel Tower, few real famous artists, it is freezing cold and we suffer from low self-esteem," said Mr. Putaansuu, who, as Lordi, has horns protruding from his forehead and sports long black fingernails.
As he stuck out his tongue menacingly, his red demon eyes glaring, Lordi was surrounded by Kita, an alien-man-beast predator who plays flame-spitting drums inside a cage; Awa, a blood-splattered ghost who howls backup vocals; Ox, a zombie bull who plays bass; and Amen, a mummy in a rubber loincloth who plays guitar.
60 billion emails sent daily worldwide
60 billion emails sent daily worldwide: Deutsche Telekom | Reuters.com
Internet users around the world send an estimated 60 billion emails every day and many of these are spam or scam attempts, business leaders said on Tuesday.
Why Rice Krispies Go Snap, Crackle, Pop!
LiveScience.com – Why Rice Krispies Go Snap, Crackle, Pop!Starbucks vs. Pancake House
Chad Brisbane sent us this video link in the ongoing Coffee Shop Culture Wars, detailed in our earlier post about Starbucks vs. Dunkin Donuts allegiances. This guy has made a living out of his tirades on the net. His most famous is “Batday”
Guerilla-Terrorist?
Many people feel the use of the expression "one person's guerilla is another's terrorist," I was trying to say that no, a guerilla is someone who uses unconventional tactics to win a conventional war, and a terrorist is some one who uses random acts of violence to strike fear in a population and force a paradigm shift in beliefs. Like at the turn of the 20th century it was the anarchists we feared until the bloodbath of the first world war. That war only led to the rise of communism and the fear of nuclear war.
THE ESSENCE OF AL QAEDA
The Essence of Al Qaeda 
Dr. al-Faqih heads the Saudi opposition group, Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA), and is a widely acknowledged expert on al Qaeda. This 02/04 interview is still a devestating read.
Zawahiri impressed upon Bin Laden the importance of understanding the American mentality. The American mentality is a cowboy mentality– if you confront them with their identity theoretically and practically they will react in an extreme manner. In other words, America with all its resources and establishments will shrink into a cowboy when irritated successfully. They will then elevate you and this will satisfy the Muslim longing for a leader who can successfully challenge the West.
Old States, New Threats
Globalization is a cultural and economic phenomenon — not a system of international security.Borders may be eroding and stateless terrorist groups like al-Qaeda proliferating, but don't be fooled: The traditional state remains the most dangerous force on the international scene. Perhaps the greatest security threat we face today is from a paranoid and resentful state leader, armed with biological or nuclear weapons and willing to make strategic use of stateless terrorists.
We don't live in a democratic world so much as in a world in the throes of a very messy democratic transition, so national elections combined with weak, easily politicized institutions produce a lethal mix — dictators armed with pseudo-democratic legitimacy.
We are entering a well-armed world, with more players than ever who can unhinge the international system and who have fewer reasons to be afraid of us. That's why a resentful state leader, armed with disruptive technologies and ready to make use of stateless terrorists, poses such a threat. Hussein was a wannabe in this regard. According to a Joint Forces Command study, parts of which appeared in the May/June issue of Foreign Affairs, he was preparing thousands of paramilitary fighters from throughout the Arab world to defend his regime and to be used for terror attacks in the West. Looking ahead, Ahmadinejad would also be a prime candidate for such tactics, as would Chavez, given his oil wealth and the elusive links between South American narco-terrorists and Arab gangs working out of Venezuelan ports.
We face a world of unfriendly regimes, even as our European allies are compromised by burgeoning Muslim populations and the Russians and Chinese deal amicably with dictators, because they have no interest in a state's moral improvement. Never before have we needed a more unified military-diplomatic approach to foreign policy. For the future is a multidimensional game of containment.
Why China Fears Falun Gong
Independent Online Edition > Asia
In the 19th century the Taiping Rebellion sprang from a religious cult which provoked perhaps the bloodiest civil war in human history when the forces of the Qing Empire clashed with those of a mystic named Hong Xiuquan who said he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ and claimed to be the new Messiah. At least 20 million people and perhaps as many as 100 million perished.
Not long after that came the Boxer Rebellion in which rebels also saw the world in more metaphysical terms, claiming that movement exercises influence the fundamental forces of the universe. They even went so far as to insist that their breathing exercises would allow them to ward off bullets. Nor wonder the normally inscrutable President Hu looked taken aback when the Falun Gong woman screamed.
Sudoku Craving
What the crossword puzzle was to the newsprint century, Soduku is to the digital century. Here is an online version to try.