British journalist Peter Taylor comes to the conclusion that no matter what Tony Blair says, terrorism in Britain is all about the invasion of Iraq.

He also notes that dialog worked with the IRA and ETA, and asks why not Al-Qaeda.

He quotes Michael Scheuer, a CIA veteran, former head of the Bin Laden unity, and author of Imperial Hubris: Why the West is losing the war on terror, who identifies Iraq's invasion as a major recruiting propaganda for Al-Qaeda. 

Steve Irwin, better known from the TV program Crocodile Hunter, is dead.

Steve Irwin

I personally did not like the fact that his TV programs focused mainly on sensationalist handling of dangerous animals in various stunts.

However, there is another side of Irwin that is mainly conservation and environmentalism. He quietly lobbied the government and prevented the establishment of a game hunting tourism industry for salt water crocodiles in the North West of Australia, and bought vast tracts of land for conservation.

Stingrays and food

Irwin's death was not brought on by a crocodile, but rather a stingray, while diving in Australia's barrier reef.

Rev. Gabriele Amorth has called Harry Potter the "king of darkness, the devil".While it is well known that the Catholic Church opposes magic, historically as well as currently, it is hard to see this extends to pure fiction and fantasy.Amorth is reported to have himself performed 30,000 exorcism, which means one a day for 83 years, or 27 years if he does 3 per day (including weekends)! From CBC news.

Two new Drupal sites in Arabic.The first is Maktoob News. Maktoob was the first free Arabic email service, and is now a portal for Arabic speakers.Also, there is Akhbaruna, which means "our news" in Arabic. This is a volunteer effort not backed by any corporation.

Dries committed a change to CVS with the comment:

This feels good.

What was the change?Before:

define('VERSION', '4.8.0 dev');

After:

define('VERSION', '5.0.0 dev');

Finally, the first non-4.something Drupal in 4 years and 4 months (April 14, 2002).

Richard Orris and Gregg Knaddison have joined pingVision. Both are very capable and active developers in the community. pingVision is expanding fast and is becoming another Lullabot.It deserves to be listed on the dynamics within the Drupal community: where developers are going? page. Congratulations all ...

The CBC is reporting that a Mississauga, Ontario resident has been defrauded of $49,000 in what is known as the black money scam.

The black money scam claims that there are piles of cash that has been dyed black, and needs a special chemical to remove the dye. Of course, money is needed to buy the chemical. A demonstration is made with real money and is convincing enough to dupe the victim into giving money for buying the chemical.

Then after delays, and more money, the victim is left with a pile of black paper stacks and some liquid, and defrauded of his own money.

Although $49,000 is a considerable sum, it pales in comparison with what another man lost: $742,000, as the BBC reported in 2004.

Here is another classifed ads (craiglist) scam that I got in response to listing a computer for sale for a few hundred dollars.

From: richard adelson <richardsonandco@yahoo.ca> hi seller,   i am interested in the item you placed online for my son schooling in Nigeria- West Africa.  pls let me know how much the goods will cost and the term of payment. thanks.

My reply was as follows:

$237,579, including shipping by FedEx to Nigeria.Payment by cash.

Radio Shack has fired 400 employees by sending them emails. Read the Canadian Press version, and the discussion on Slashdot. This e-firing reminds me of e-divorce for some Muslims.In 2000, and Egyptian court refused to uphold a divorce notice by email. Another scholar from Saudi Arabia agrees that it is hard to prove in court.

It all started with famed Iraqi blogger, Raed Jarrar being forced to take off a T-shirt before boarding a flight. The T-shirt had "We will not be silent" in English and Arabic.One of the officials said that:

... wearing a t-shirt with Arabic script in an airport now is like going to a bank with a t-shirt that reads, “I am a robber.”

Say what? This is absurd and highlights how low the US has descended in its phantom war on terror. The hysteria by the media has succeeded in swaying public opinion against Arabs big time.