Zwol.org

True!

Fascinating! The link I pointed to below for Osama's statement (at MSNBC.com) does not include the entire statement! Neither does the New York Times translation! The Washington Post has a slightly longer version. Everybody's got a point of view, right? SmarterTimes.com devotes its energy to correcting the NY Times in matters such as these.

Googling: Checking my referral logs shows quite a few people coming in search of "WTC ground zero" or "ground zero photos." If that's what you're looking for, check for links in a previous news posting. Also referred by Google via a search for my name- "Greg Stephens"- of which Google lists me first. However, simply searching by "Greg" puts me at 152- 5 places ahead of Greg Dean (of Real Life). Now if I can only top that pesky Super Greg...

New online comic: Desiderata by the comic metaphysic, Max Leibman.

Dr. Lobster & Steve's Guide to Making Online Comics: Seems to be reasonably accurate. You'll notice that even though they reiterate that "there are no rules" and I tried to break all the established rules when I started out, Zwol adheres to an astounding number of these guidelines. (Yes, this "guide" is meant to be funny, but like most things in like, we laugh because it's funny, and we laugh because it's true.)

UPN is producing Iron Chef USA with William Shatner as the host.

Doc Points to a Tony Blair speech from last week about which Doc says, "I'm not knocking anything Tony says. It's flat-out brilliant. It's hard, even for a peace-monger like me, to disagree with any of it. I'm simply urging us to think deeply about the stuff that does our thinking for us."

However, I saw Blair's latest address yesterday and I found his justifications to the British people for involving them in this conflict to be tremendously weak. Granted, we're talking about two different things- the first a speech that was probably written far in advance of delivery; the second a statement that would have to have been written with much more haste- but when Mr. Blair's reasons include this, "The airlines, tourism and other industries have been affected, and economic confidence has suffered with all that means for British jobs and business," and this, "Ninety per cent of all heroin sold in Britain originates from Afghanistan. Stopping that trade is, again, directly in our interests," well, it sounds like a little to little, a little too late.

More on Blair: What's-his-name from BlackHoleBrain dissects Blair's 10/2 speech. His conclusion? "It all sounds good. But there will never (ever) be any globally-implemented, man-made political, legislative, technological, or militaristic remedy that actually puts an end to terrorism."

More politics: For comparison, check out G. W. Bush's address where he says, "I'm speaking to you today from the Treaty Room of the White House, a place where American presidents have worked for peace. We're a peaceful nation. Yet as we have learned so suddenly and so tragically, there can be no peace in a world of sudden terror" and a statement from the man of the hour, Osama bin Laden, where he says, "Grace and gratitude to God. America has been filled with horror from north to south and east to west, and thanks be to God that what America is tasting now is only a copy of we have tasted."

Ug. I'm going to go see if I can find anything fun to link to.

That would be this: I am by no means a Pearl Jam fan, but it's exceptionally cool that they're releasing CD recordings of every concert date they've played on their Binaural tour of last year.

Yes! Two days in a row!

In today's comic, Allen's shirt reads "Allah Bless America." Oddly enough, I haven't seen any people wearing these around town.

Doc Searls asks some questions:

Have your entertainment tastes changed since 9/11?
What kind of toys and games are you buying for kids this Christmas?
What kind of movies and shows are you looking for when you go to blockbuster or channel surf on TV?

And (aside from the fact that I can't answer question number two, as I have no children) I'm gonna have to say that my entertainment tastes haven't changed at all. However- as is evident by Zwol's recent topics- my artistic tastes have been hijacked for the moment.

As Slow As Possible: Now when people are making such obviously incorrect statements about September 11th as "On that day, everything changed" or "Nothing's the same anymore," they're obviously speaking without a proper sense of perspective. Hmph. Well, the above linked article talks about a piece of music that commenced on September 11th and is planned to be performed over the next 639 years. It's clearly doubtful that this song will ever be completed, but let's say it makes it through the long haul- What part will the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11th, 2001 play in the lives of the audience members who hear the final chords of this song in the year 2640? Will they think their lives were affected by those events? That that was the day everything changed? Or will it merely be another paragraph in their history books (or history whatevers); Not so much a point of no return as a notable spike in the historical record? The world changes day by day, folks. Not in an instant; Not all at once- but constantly.

But- yes, I do believe it's so!- There should be another new comic tomorrow.

Curious: Doc Searls says that "One of my favorite movies, The Matrix has lost a lot of its appeal since 9-11." I'm wondering why? Yes, it contains scenes of violence and gunplay, but isn't it far more disturbing in the wake of the Columbine massacre? Think- Matrix: Released in March of 1999, two individuals in long black coats- the heroes of the film- enter a building armed to the teeth and blow away as many people as possible without remorse. Columbine: April of 1999, pretty much the same events. I'm not sure what the events of September 11, 2001 have to do with the Matrix. Now if we're talking about Fight Club...

I like reading Doc's weblog, but I think this is a typical example of how many Americans seem to be reacting from the gut in ways that appear oddly disproportionate to me.

is planned for tomorrow- I'm on a roll! And there IS a Saturday No Contest comic this week, too.

Enduring Freedom? Freedom of the press? Yeah, right. Not with stuff like this happening:

The five major television news organizations reached a joint agreement yesterday to follow the suggestion of the White House and abridge any future videotaped statements from Osama bin Laden or his followers to remove language the government considers inflammatory.

Two days ago, an article in the Independent editorialized on all of the Western media's sudden capitulation to government policies and contained this quote:

The most wanted man in the whole world has been suggesting that he's angry about the deaths of Iraqi children under sanctions, about the corruption of pro-western Arab regimes, about Israel's attacks on the Palestinian territory, about the need for US forces to leave the Middle East. And after insisting that bin Laden is a "mindless terrorist'' – that there is no connection between US policy in the Middle East and the crimes against humanity in New York and Washington – the Americans need to close down Al-Jazeera's coverage.

This is an entirely different matter than quote-unquote National Security. It's important to remember that propaganda works both ways.

My referrer logs tell me that many of you are looking for WTC ground zero photos. I've only got links. Find gound zero links here and other WTC photo links here.

Osama humor: (Perhaps an oxymoron? Not sure...) Alan Thicke decodes Osama's videotaped hidden messages.

A new Zwol comic Monday.

Googling: Did you know that when you search Google by the phrase "Why do you think the advance of the White Man would have changed the lives of the Sioux Indians?" that Zwol.org is the #1 response? Nor did I, until today. It's important to note that Google limits its search to the first 10 significant words (common words such as "why" and "of" are ignored already), so the most important words in that query ("Sioux Indians") were ignored, giving quite a false reading.

Mental short-circuit: I know it's not exactly germane (perhaps even inappropriate), but the lyrics to the song "Anthrax" have been buzzing through my head all day.