Hez's 30-Mile Missile

Defense Tech: Hez's 30-Mile Missile:

"American and Israeli officials believe that the rocket Hezbollah referred to as a 'Khaibar-1' appears to be an upgraded version of the Fajr-3, a rocket that Iran has supplied to the terrorist network and that Hezbollah has used often during the conflict. The rocket fired today has an estimated range of 90 kilometers, which makes it the longest range rocket fired thus far. Officials said that it is still unclear whether the rocket is actually a Fajr-5 — which Iran has also given to Hezbollah — or a new model altogether. [The Jerusalem Post and Ynetnews both argue differently -- ed.] Hezbollah%u2019s leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, said earlier in the week that his Shiite group would strike beyond Haifa, about 20 miles inside Israel, which has been the southernmost city to come under regular attack.

One thing the weapon was not, according to Israeli authorities, was 'an Iranian-made 'Zilzal' rocket, which has a range of about 210 km (130 miles) and would have put the Israeli commercial capital Tel Aviv within reach.'"

(Via a DefenseTech.)

Travelling across a Vast Machine

Lunch over IP: Travelling across a Vast Machine: "In recent years, a typical response to the observation that electronic monitoring systems are becoming too powerful and are been misused (in particular by governments - for example the monitoring by the US government of the international banking transactions going through the SWIFT clearinghouse, or the widespread phone wiretapping in Italy) is that "honest people have nothing to fear". On the surface, that's commonsensical. In reality, that notion is a fallacy. Even honest people have much to be concerned with: mistakes, homonymy, inaccuracies, stolen identities, abuses, discrimination, the growing authoritarian temptation that's seeping into many governments to use monitoring technology just because it exists (ready-made rationale in this times of generalized fear: "to protect the honest citizen"), the risk that private or criminal organization get access to data and misuse them (to deny health insurance coverage, for example).

John Twelve Hawks - the pseudonym of a mysterious writer - has written a pretty good novel on this very notion that "honest people have nothing to fear", demonstrating how untrue it is. It's called "The Traveller", was published last year (I'm catching up on my reading backlog) and is the story of a powerful organization that wants to control society through the "Vast Machine" (an all-encompassing, next-gen Internet that reaches into every database, every surveillance camera, every bank transaction, every reservation system) and of the few that refuse this uniformity and try to resist by living "off the grid" (not using computers, credit cards, etc) and using the ultimate weapon: their humanity."

(Via Lunch over IP.)

Israelis accused of 'human shields' tactic

Israelis accused of 'human shields' tactic: "The Israeli army has been accused of using Palestinian civilians as human shields in an operation in northern Gaza.

According to the Israeli human rights group, B'tselem, six civilians including two minors were subjected to the illegal tactic during an incursion into the town of Beit Hanoun last week."

(Via BBC News.)

Saudi king offers Lebanon $1.5bn

Saudi king offers Lebanon $1.5bn: "'Saudi Arabia warns everybody that if the peace option fails because of Israeli arrogance, there will be no other option but war,' he was quoted as saying by state media.

Saudi Arabia and Egypt have called for an immediate halt to the Israeli offensive but have also blamed Hezbollah for starting the fighting.

That criticism sparked a wave of anger in the Arab world."

(Via BBC News.)

Israeli bomb kills UN observers

Israeli bomb kills UN observers: "Four United Nations peacekeepers have been killed in an Israeli air strike on an observation post in southern Lebanon, the UN has said.

A bomb struck the post occupied by the peacekeepers of the Unifil force in the Khiam area, it said.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said he was 'shocked' at the 'apparently deliberate targeting' of the post."

(Via BBC News.)

Cell Phones Presage Future of Non-Neutral Internet

Cell Phones Presage Future of Non-Neutral Internet: "The US cell phone network has no network neutrality. This story on NewsForge takes a look at the obstacles to getting a third-party application running on cell phone networks, and explains why the same obstacles could ruin a non-neutral Internet."

(Via /.)

The War on Women — and on Doctors

The War on Women — and on Doctors: "South Dakota’s assault on women is now extending to doctors."

(Via Crooks and Liars.)

Iraq prisoner abuse 'was routine'

Iraq prisoner abuse 'was routine': "The torture of prisoners in US custody in Iraq was authorised and routine even after the Abu Ghraib scandal came to light, a US-based rights group says.

...

"The standard of treatment is and always has been humane treatment of detainees in [Department of Defence] custody," Lt Col Mark Ballesteros told Reuters news agency.

John Sifton, author of the Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, said the accounts given to the group by former US soldiers revealed the opposite.

"These accounts rebut US government claims that torture and abuse in Iraq was unauthorised and exceptional - on the contrary, it was condoned and commonly used," he said."

(Via BBC News.)

UN appalled by Beirut devastation

UN appalled by Beirut devastation: "The UN's Jan Egeland has condemned the devastation caused by Israeli air strikes in Beirut, saying it is a violation of humanitarian law.

Mr Egeland, the UN's emergency relief chief, described the destruction as 'horrific' as he toured the city.

He arrived hours after another Israeli strike on Beirut. Israel also hit Sidon, a port city in the south crammed with refugees, for the first time."

(Via BBC News.)

Come Nineveh, Come Tyre

“She had come to identify and bury 24 members of her family, including her sister and her sister’s nine children. They died trying to escape their village; Israeli planes had attacked the road as they drove...It was a crude burial carried out under a baking sun, but even that was much better than most people felled in south Lebanon’s furious fighting could expect…Nearby, the mass burial was about to begin….The man held aloft a baby so tiny it was unclear if it was a late-term fetus or a newborn. Its skin was mottled and purple...'This is what Bush wants! This is what this dog wants!' he cried. 'It’s full of children!'... 'Twenty-seven years old, my darling, 27 years old.'”

(Via Martini Republic.)