The International Institute for Strategic Studies says that the war on Iraq helped Al Qaeda (original). As predicted, invading Iraq pissed off Muslims, resulting in a recruiting bonanza for Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. The IISS is “a distinguished group of thinkers,” in case anyone was thinking they were lefty pinko symps. Or at least, that’s what Condolezza Rice says (original).
Good for China. I have two reactions to China’s membership in the manned space club. My first is pleasure. I’m glad there are other countries in the world who are going out there, because we’re sure falling behind. For whatever reason, the United States government isn’t maintaining a serious space exploration effort. That’s one egg I don’t want in a single bucket. In the grand scheme of things, I’d rather China bring the resources of space back to Earth than nobody. I believe that once we start harvesting the asteroid belt, the value will be so clear that you’ll see an explosion of effort in that direction. But someone’s gotta get there first to make the point, whether it’s China or India or a private American company. I’d be a little worried if it turns out to be China, but in the long term it won’t matter as long as someone does it. ...
The MacArthur Foundation announced its 2003 MacArthur Fellows today. It’s such a great concept: $100,000 a year for five years so that you don’t have to worry about anything but your work. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
Remember that huge Straight Dope thread a year or so ago in which countless people rewrote Lord of the Rings in another author’s voice? Now it’s been collated (original). Imperfect but amusing.
Dear Brother #13 was pretty harrowing to write, and if I’ve written well, it should be tough to read. I can only hope I’ve done justice to the emotions of the session.
Muqtada al-Sadr, a Shiite cleric, is putting together a shadow government in Iraq. The Sunni guerilla action, which continues to take its toll (original), provides excellent cover for the Shiite efforts.
Jay Allen just released a beta of MT-Blacklist. It’s really easy to install; you copy three files into various places, go to a Web page, and you’re good to go. So of course I installed it. If anyone has any trouble posting comments, let me know.
Heartworm is a funny one-panel Web comic. And I mean it’s both funny and well-drawn; we’re not talking the usual Web comic fodder. (And by “the usual Web comic fodder,” I explicitly don’t mean Joey Manley’s sites, but let’s face it — Sturgeon’s Law applies to Keenspace. In spades.) Six comics, go read ‘em, it won’t take but a moment.
There is always more White Wolf v. Sony. Here’s Danny McBride’s declaration (original), as promised (the third screenwriter). I also have White Wolf’s interrogatory of 9/18 (original) for you. The relevant bit seems to be the five questions asked, which I will reproduce for those who scorn PDFs: Identify all sources for the items listed for Underworld on the comparison chart attached hereto as Exhibit “A.” Identify all documents read, references or used at any time by anyone with any involvement in creating or contributing to the script, screenplay, treatments, character studies, script or production notes, movie, comic book or novel for Underworld. ...
Worthy of note: Kip Manley’s City of Roses kicked off today. If you don’t recall, it’s a piece of “urbane fantasy” (his coinage as far as I know, and a lovely one) provided to us with webcomic pacing but not in webcomic form. I.e., we’ll get a piece of it on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays; and it’s text, not pictures. Eloquent text. The setting is Portland. The magic is indeterminate. I expect it to be very good, because Kip can write.