Afghan Women Speak from Behind the Media Veil ‘ “Now that the U.S. and the Taliban are on two opposite sides in a war, you’ve probably heard a lot about how the Taliban treat women,” said Tamina. Tamina is a member of RAWA, the Revolutionary Association of Women of Afghanistan, and her mother was a founding member of the group back in 1977. “You probably know a lot about the restrictions on women in Afghanistan, but maybe you’ve heard less about what Afghan women want instead.” ‘ AlterNet

Reminds me of the joke I was just emailed.

Because killing bin Laden would only create a martyr for the cause and imprisoning him would only inspire further hostage-taking and other terrorist actions to get him released, the message goes, wouldn’t it be a fitting punishment for his crimes to have him scooped up by US special forces, whisked into a U.S. hospital for a complete sex change operation, and then restored to Afghanistan to live as a woman under the Taliban?

NOAA’s remote sensing capabilities “have mapped the wreckage of the World Trade Center in support of recovery and cleanup efforts following the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. The data are being used to provide a very accurate geographic network. Building and utility engineers will be able to determine the location of original foundation support structures, elevator shafts, basement storage areas and building utility connections enabling them to concentrate their digging and recovery efforts in the proper location.

These images will also provide very accurate height measurements as the recovery efforts descend into the basement, to mitigate possible flooding from the surrounding rivers as well as to determine the volume of debris and the reach needed by cranes to remove it.”

This quick ten-point Quiz on Middle East Geography and History will let you know if you have even a starting point for grasping new geopolitical realities. [via MetaFilter] Don’t forget; Sept. 11th was the first day of the rest of your life…

Dr. John C. Lilly Dies at 86. ” An inventor, author and researcher, Lilly was a member of a generation of counterculture scientists and thinkers that included Ram Dass, Werner Erhard and Timothy Leary, all frequent visitors to the Lilly home. He never failed to stir controversy, especially among mainstream scientists,” said the Washington Post obituary. [Let’s leave Werner Erhard out of this, shall we?] Lilly’s work included the exploration of consciousness through the use of isolation tanks, psychedelics, and interspecies communication, especially with dolphins. His 1972 memoir Center of the Cyclone is a good read. Lilly’s site is here. Funny, after not thinking about Lilly for a long time, his name came up in conversation just last week.

Via rc3, this report from a Pakistani newspaper that bin Laden is dug in at a ‘state-of-the-art’ military base in the Pamir, and that an advance party of US commandos are closing in on the heavily-defended site with ‘very hi-tech and not-yet-used-in-combat weapons’ like this

next-generation infantry weapon not supposed to be deployed for nearly another decade, and other sci-fi-sounding kit. It sounds like the reporter is just confusing the fantasy of some future-battlefield projections with current reality, but what do I know about armaments and munitions?

Help build the Sep11 Attack Archive — “webArchivist.org is working with The Internet Archive in collaboration with the Library of Congress to identify and archive pages and sites related to the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington on September 11, 2001. We want to be sure that there is a solid historical record of this time.

We are asking for volunteers to help us identify any web sites or pages that have information or content about the Sep11 Attack. We are especially interested in finding sites by individuals — that record their feelings, experiences or opinions. We are also especially interested in finding non-American sites.” [via wood s lot]

“US called off first attacks. “The United States and Britain yesterday called off military strikes against terrorist targets in Afghanistan at the last minute.

Washington officials say today that a severe attack of last-minute cold feet by some key Arab members of the coalition caused President Bush to postpone the operation.

The waverers are Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Oman, and US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is embarking on an urgent mission today to strengthen nerves in these countries.” This is London

Details of the evidence of bin Laden and al Qaeda’s involvement in the 9-11 attacks (given to potential allies seeking proof) is leaking out.Attackers tied to earlier bombings: “Two senior officials, who spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said the commonality in personnel between the September attacks, the (Oct. 2000) bombing of the USS Cole and the (1998) U.S. embassy bombings was a key point made Tuesday in a presentation to NATO allies in Brussels. Afterward, NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson said that ‘clear and conclusive’ proof of bin Laden?s involvement was presented.” MSNBC

Jonah Goldberg on Ann Coulter: the National Review Online editor’s comments on why Coulter (about whose invade-and-Christianize comments in her syndicated column I wrote below) has been dropped from NRO. She made further comments about how “swarthy” men ought to be subjected to added scrutiny in post-attack America, and remained unrepentant about the hubhub, saying she was enjoying the publicity. Goldberg says it is her unprofessionalism, lack of judgment, and sloppy writing, not the substance of her opinions, that is causing her column to be dropped.

Scan Faces, Not E-Mail: “More extensive background checks when applying for a job or renting a home aren’t so troubling, but more surveillance by law-enforcement agencies of e-mail and phone calls isn’t such a good idea. Those are just some of the results of BusinessWeek Online’s recent interactive poll, “Personal Freedom vs. National Security.” Over the course of three weeks, 1,344 of our readers responded to this poll — which, having used a self-selected sample, isn’t a scientific survey by any means.” Business Week

Greyhound Driver’s Throat Slit; Service Halted. Overnight in Tennessee, a passenger repeatedly approached the front of the bus and eventually, according to witnesses, slashed the driver’s throat. The bus overturned and there are conflicting reports of how many fatalities have ensued. Reportedly, the driver survived. There are also conflicting reports about whether the alleged perpetrator is still alive. Greyhound has halted service nationwide. The Justice Dept. reports that the man carried Croatian identification; they doubt that this action is “terrorist-related” but it is too early to tell. The Boston Channel

Before Attacks, U.S. Was Ready to Say It Backed Palestinian State — “Before the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, the Bush administration was on the verge of announcing a Middle East diplomatic initiative that would include United States support for the creation of a Palestinian state, administration officials said, and it is now weighing how to revive the plan.” New York Times [name: “FMHreader”, password: “FMHreader”]

LinkLust, “a brand-new European community log.” Destined to be a continental metafilter?

What’s Love Got to Do With It? …Everything. Review of Thomas Lewis MD’s A General Theory of Love (2001):

“Social change activists and psychodynamic psychotherapists often believe that

knowledge is power. Freud proclaimed “Where Id was, there shall Ego be,” confident

that rational insight would tame the irrational powers of our unconscious minds.

Activists work to “get their message out,” believing that if people correctly understood

the social inequities in the world, they would change them. Both the therapist and the

activist tend to think that those who see love as the key to change are “flaky,” full of

“New Age mush.” Imagine their surprise when they learn that neurobiological science

is now discovering that the primary problem in both mental illness and social

alienation lies precisely in our damaged ability to love, and that the cure to both lies in

enhancing that ability. Will those believers in scientific rationality, whether they be

liberal politicians and union activists or psychotherapists, embrace these

cutting-edge scientific findings?” –Michael Bader, Tikkun