02:48 p.m., Friday, September 28, 2001
Did you know that France suffered its worst civilian accident in 20 years last week?

I heard about it in passing on the news, but it just got lost in all the other stuff that was going on. But it looks like it was an accident that could have been avoided. Such a terrible thing to happen.
[by Beth]

11:10 a.m., Friday, September 28, 2001
More posts at my livejournal. I'm posting there much more now.
[by Beth]

10:25 a.m., Friday, September 28, 2001
A cannabis cafe, along the lines of those found in Amsterdam, has been proposed for Brixton in London. It follows an experiement running presently where the police in this area do not arrest people found with small amounts of the drug.

I hope it happens. And I hope it's not victimised by the police. Because if I had a choice of bumping into a group of people who'd been smoking pot all day, or bumping into a group who'd been drinking all day, I'd take the pot smokers any day.
[by Beth]

03:33 p.m., Thursday, September 27, 2001
Oh my God.. Does this not scare the shit out of you?

'Congress will shortly debate a new Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001, which will further loosen controls on electronic surveillance. The NSA already operates a global communications surveillance system in conjunction with Britain's GCHQ. One of the proposed provisions would allow GCHQ to conduct random surveillance of American citizens' communications and send them on. This would breach the US bill of rights. (Non US citizens have no protection.) '

Yes, we're in a crisis situation. But do you really think that Congress will change the law back once it's resolved, one way or the other. Please don't this happen.
[by Beth]

03:27 p.m., Thursday, September 27, 2001
I'm not holding my breath, and already it looks fragile, but I'm hoping that this can be the start of a lasting peace.
[by Beth]

03:25 p.m., Thursday, September 27, 2001
Medical breakthrough on fertility and cancer treatment. I hope the news is as good as it sounds.
[by Beth]

03:07 p.m., Thursday, September 27, 2001
Thank God for this article. Tony Blair has made Britain as much of a target as the US, and I'm glad someone's pointing it out.

I could quote the whole thing, but I think that this sums it up for me: 'Blair's being "shoulder to shoulder" with Bush means allying this country to a willingness to kill large numbers of non-Americans in pursuit of uncertain immediate goals that has long been a feature of US policy. This list is long. Remember, if you can, the "free fire zones", including the use of chemical weapons, that killed as many as 50,000 civilians every year in Vietnam; the bombing of Cambodia that killed 600,000 people; the unnecessary slaughter of tens of thousands of Iraqis during the 1991 Gulf war, the beginning of a silent holocaust that has since claimed half a million children, according to the UN. For Blair and Bush to say that war has been declared upon America is rich.'
[by Beth]

02:48 p.m., Thursday, September 27, 2001
Read this. I found it here, which has all kinds of articles and reports. It's worth a read.
[by Beth]

02:30 p.m., Thursday, September 27, 2001
This is so sad. That poor kid.
[by Beth]

12:07 p.m., Thursday, September 27, 2001
READ THIS. And spread it.
[by Beth]

11:24 a.m., Thursday, September 27, 2001
Interesting. The White House changing sides on the Russia vs Chechen freedom fight to gain Russia's support? No no no, that would never be done.
[by Beth]

11:16 a.m., Thursday, September 27, 2001
An article about why Greeks seem to have so little sympathy for America, post terrorist attacks.
[by Beth]

11:12 a.m., Thursday, September 27, 2001
Next time someone makes a joke about violence against women, or implies that it's somehow not that bad, remember this story and call them on it. One day in jail for assaulting your girlfriend? That's disgusting.
[from the Feminist Blog]
[by Beth]

11:09 a.m., Thursday, September 27, 2001
I thought that this article about the misappropriation of Islam to oppress women was interesting.
[by Beth]

01:39 p.m., Wednesday, September 26, 2001
Did you hear about Saudi Arabia cutting diplomatic ties with the Taleban? Probably.

Did you hear that 'the FBI estimates that as many as 12 of the suspected 19 airliner hijackers on Sept. 11 might have been Saudi natives'? Doesn't that make you think twice about bombing Afghanistan? Doesn't that make you think we should know more before we attack?

And this is one of the scariest things I've read. These people think that they're glorifying God by fighting like this. Misguided, certainly. Insane? Quite possibly. But is that really a good reason to kill someone?
[by Beth]

10:55 a.m., Wednesday, September 26, 2001
So the final warning has been issued by Tony Blair.

'"Military conflict there will be unless the Taliban change and respond to the ultimatum that has been delivered to them," Mr Blair declared in Downing Street's rose garden. "We certainly have the power to do very considerable damage to the Taliban regime. Any action that we take will be directed towards the regime, not at the ordinary people of Afghanistan."

'His remarks, which echoed George Bush's tough language, fuelled speculation that Britain and the US will launch a military offensive against the Taliban within the next week unless the coalition's demands are met.'

I'm scared. And how the hell can he say that the attacks will be against the Taleban, not the civilian population? Any attack, whoever it's aimed at, will harm the population. Especially when the US don't aim to replace the Taleban. Great. So they'll still be running the country. Why are they going to change if we just leave them there?

'In Washington, Representative Dick Gephardt, after his meeting with Mr. Bush, said that removing the Taliban from power was not necessarily a U.S. goal. He said that Mr. Bush was right to target "terrorist cells" and not civilians.

'"I think the war aims are clear," he said. "In a way, it's meeting guerrilla warfare with guerrilla warfare, but it's also meeting it with financial efforts, and political efforts and diplomatic efforts. I don't think it's anybody's goal to topple governments in this."' Sure, I understand the reasoning. But I suppose it just goes to prove that we're going about this all wrong.
[by Beth]

05:00 p.m., Tuesday, September 25, 2001
It's only an excite.com poll. And it's not going to be a truly accurate representation of anything. But look. Out of nearly 60,000 votes, 62% think the US should use military force now. 30% think we should wait for more evidence. Only 4% think we should not use military force.

This is why I have to do this.
[by Beth]

04:43 p.m., Tuesday, September 25, 2001
My livejournal has had a makeover, and there have been four new entries over the last two days. I am now keeping this more for political things, the livejournal for general bits and bobs, how my life is going and all that. Still not sure where I'll mark updates for piecesofme.... probably both til I've decided.
[by Beth]

02:42 p.m., Tuesday, September 25, 2001
An interesting article from the Guardian about the situation Middle Eastern countries now find themselves in.
[by Beth]

02:36 p.m., Tuesday, September 25, 2001
Some people will exploit anything. Don't let down your guard against viruses, folks.
[by Beth]

01:23 p.m., Tuesday, September 25, 2001
Saudi Arabia has cut diplomatic ties with the Taleban. Now only Pakistan recognise them, and even they have indicated that they may review their views.

I'm hoping. I have my fingers crossed. Maybe this will be the last straw and they'll force Bin Laden out of the country. But I don't really believe.
[by Beth]

01:14 p.m., Tuesday, September 25, 2001
Who are the Taleban? Did you know that many of them, including Osama Bin Laden, fought the Soviets when they invaded Afghanistan in 1979 - with America's backing?
[by Beth]

01:11 p.m., Tuesday, September 25, 2001
Here is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Read it, take it in. It's never in recent years been more important to remember the rights of every human being as right now.
[by Beth]

12:55 p.m., Tuesday, September 25, 2001
What do you really know about Osama Bin Laden? Do you know that he was born in Saudi Arabia? Do you know that people who have met him describe him as describe Bin Laden as mild-mannered, polite, hospitable to strangers?

It's important to know your enemy. It's important to understand his or her motivation. It's important to remember that they are human, too.

Remember, the death penalty contravenes the International Declaration of Human Rights. That doesn't change just because someone did something inhumane. He has the same basic rights as you do, as I do. And bombing a country still devastated by previous wars is only going to kill innocent people. You think he's just going to sit there and wait for the planes to fly overhead? We'll never find him that easily.

I don't have the answers. But I know what's not the answer.
[by Beth]

12:46 p.m., Tuesday, September 25, 2001
And the news just keeps on getting cheerier. Now the World Health Organisation is warning us that we're at risk from biological and chemical weapons. Does it never end?
[by Beth]

12:31 p.m., Tuesday, September 25, 2001
I stole this from Loria, who you should all get over and visit. I'm holding out for you coming to live with me sweetie....

Are you not worried about your civil liberties? You should be.

'Northwest Airlines kicked three Arab-American men off a flight from Minneapolis to Philadelphia Friday, simply because other passengers refused to fly on the same plane with them. The airline defended removing the men from the plane, saying that security rules gave it permission to "reaccommodate" passengers. The Council on American-Islamic Relations reacted immediately: "This is racial and religious profiling of the worst kind. Both the passengers and the airplane personnel should be ashamed of their actions."'

It gets worse:'The Department of Justice's bill introduces a host of surveillance and detention measures that have been immediately denounced by civil libertarians. The proposal includes intrusions on e-mail privacy, extensions of the government's ability to use information gathered by dubious means (such as torture) and the relaxation of safeguards against intrusive government surveillance.' And 'The proposals causing the greatest outcry focus on immigration. One section would allow immigrants to be detained indefinitely without being charged with a crime or appearing before a judge. Under present law, an immigration judge determines whether the government case against a suspect is good enough to justify holding him or her, but if the DOJ bill becomes law, the prosecutor would be judge, jury and jailer.'

Our governments are abusing the fight against terrorism to further their own ends. Yes, security may need to be tightened. But we have to remember that these powers could be turned against us in the coming years. And it means nothing to say that if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear. Views and opinions can be twisted and used against you. And I don't welcome the idea of that being easier to do.
[by Beth]

04:46 p.m., Monday, September 24, 2001
After six weeks without an entry at my livejournal, I've updated twice. Get over there and read.
[by Beth]

03:38 p.m., Monday, September 24, 2001
The international development spokeswoman, Jenny Tonge, urged people to remember the suffering of the people of Afghanistan who had been neglected by the west.

"We must bomb this area but we must bomb it with food and aid. It's cheaper than military action and may win over a lot more hearts and minds. Poverty and starvation breeds terrorism and conflict."

The Lib Dem conference has started today, and that quote is from their international development spokesperson. I'm a Lib Dem supporter, so I'm a little perturbed to find them backing military action. But that quote gave me heart.
[by Beth]

03:29 p.m., Monday, September 24, 2001
My brain still isn't working properly. I had ten days free from computers, ten days away to process what had happened. Ten days to cry over the arguments I had. Ten days to do nothing but vaguely wonder how much email I had. So I'm linking these two articles and letting you provide your own commentry on why I'm scared. Human rights are as important today as they were two weeks ago. Civil liberties are just as important. And yes, we have to fight, but not with bombs, not against the innocent people who are already victims of these terror-mongers.

And that's about as coherent as I can be today.
[by Beth]

03:12 p.m., Monday, September 24, 2001
Yes, it's been linked before. And I was on leave last week so I'm behind the times. But this is important. Read it. And no, I don't have any better ideas. But not having any better ideas doesn't mean that bombing Afghanistan becomes the right thing to do.
[by Beth]

10:43 a.m., Monday, September 24, 2001
I bought Tori Amos's new album, Strange Little Girl, and an old Ani DiFranco album, Puddle Dive, last Monday. They've been getting me through.
[by Beth]

09:36 a.m., Monday, September 24, 2001
So I'm back. It's a grey Monday morning and I have work to catch up with. I'll be updating and catching up with email when I have time.

I managed to have two big arguments on my week's leave that I've been looking forward to for ages. (The week's leave that is, the arguments were bad.) One with one of my and Paul's best friends, one with my mum. Uneasy truces have been called, but it hurts to know that two of the people I love most are upset with me.

Thanks for the emails and guestbook signings. They help.
[by Beth]