"The principal goal of terrorism -- to seize power in Muslim countries through mobilization of populations galvanized by jihad's sheer audacity -- has not been realized," Kepel writes. In fact, bin Laden's followers are losing ground: The Taliban regime in Afghanistan has been toppled; the fence-sitting semi-Islamist regime in Saudi Arabia has taken sides more strongly with the West; Islamists in Sudan and Libya are in retreat; and the plight of the Palestinians has never been more dire. And Baghdad, the traditional seat of the Muslim caliphs, is under foreign occupation. Not what you would call a successful jihad.

Are the Terrorists Failing? (washingtonpost.com)

] The estimate came in two classified reports prepared for
] President Bush in January 2003 by the National
] Intelligence Council, an independent group that advises
] the director of central intelligence. The assessments
] predicted that an American-led invasion of Iraq would
] increase support for political Islam and would result in
] a deeply divided Iraqi society prone to violent internal
] conflict.

Prewar Assessment on Iraq Saw Chance of Strong Divisions

] BAGHDAD, Iraq - Operations by U.S. and multinational
] forces and Iraqi police are killing twice as many Iraqis
] - most of them civilians - as attacks by insurgents,
] according to statistics compiled by the Iraqi Health
] Ministry and obtained exclusively by Knight Ridder.

KR Washington Bureau | 09/25/2004 | Iraqi civilian casualties mounting

] WASHINGTON -- Fewer than two-thirds of the former
] soldiers being reactivated for duty in Iraq and elsewhere
] have reported on time, prompting the Army to threaten
] some with punishment for desertion.

USATODAY.com - Former soldiers slow to report

"While the foreign fighters in Iraq are definitely a problem that have to be dealt with, I still think that the primary problem that we're dealing with is former regime elements of the ex-Baath Party that are fighting against the government and trying to do anything possible to upend the election process," he said. Iraqi elections are scheduled for January.

Yahoo! News - Insurgents Are Mostly Iraqis, U.S. Military Says

] NEW YORK -- The folks at Comedy Central were annoyed when
] Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly kept referring to "The
] Daily Show" audience as "stoned slackers."
]
] So they did a little research. And guess whose audience
] is more educated?
]
] Viewers of Jon Stewart's show are more likely to have
] completed four years of college than people who watch
] "The O'Reilly Factor," according to Nielsen Media
] Research.

Boston.com / A&E / TV / So who are the

] The work of M.C. Escher needs no introduction. We have
] all learned to appreciate the impossibilities that this
] master of illusion's artwork presents to the layman's
] eye. Nevertheless, it may come as a surprise for some,
] but many of the so-called 'impossible' drawings of M. C.
] Escher can be realized as actual physical objects. These
] objects will resemble the Escher's drawing, of the same
] name, from a certain viewing direction. This work below
] presents some of these three-dimensional models that were
] designed and built using geometric modeling and computer
] graphics tools.
]
] Convention:
]
] In the following sequences, figures are frequently
] presented in pairs. The left figure in each pair is the
] front view-Escher's drawing's direction, whereas the
] right figure gives a general view. Whenever a real,
] tangible model has been created, it will be presented as
] a second pair to the right of the pair of computer
] rendered images. The objects were physically realized
] with the aid of layered manufacturing systems: a Z402 3D
] Printer from Zcorporation and a Stratasys FDM3000
] printing machine. Click on any image below to get the
] full size version of these images. In addition, some
] models are also accompanied by AVI movies that present
] them from a multitude of directions. Many of these movies
] are using the DivX CODEC which you can get free of charge
] for private use from http://www.divx.com/divx/download.

Escher for Real

] Updated and expanded: Orbital Launch Vehicle launch logs
] - ISS Flights updated with historical daily status
] reports - Chronology - Additional Russian and American
] space engineer and manager biographies - Astronaut
] Records and Statistics and Women of space...

Encyclopedia Astronautica

Are you a parking ticket? (What?) You got fine written all over you.
You make me melt like hot fudge on a sundae.
Can I borrow a quarter? ["What for?"]
... I want to call my mom and tell her I just met the girl of my dreams.
Pick up a pack of sugar that actually says, "sugar" on it and say, "You dropped your nametag!".
What does it feel like to be the most beautiful girl in this room?
Do you believe in the hereafter? Well, then I guess you know what I'm here after.
Are your legs tired, because you've been running through my mind all day long.
Do you have a Bandaid? Because I just scraped my knee falling for you.
There must be something wrong with my eyes, I can't take them off you.
Girl, you better have a license, cuz you are driving me crazy!
Hey baby, you've got something on your butt: my eyes.
Hi, I make more money than you can spend.
I hope you know CPR, because you take my breath away.
Damn, if being sexy was a crime, you'd be guilty as charged!
I must be in heaven because I'm standing next to you!
If I could rearrange the alphabet, I'd put U and I together.
You must be from out of space cause I can see the stars in your eyes.
If you were a booger I'd pick you first.
Can I have directions? ["To where?"] To your heart.
Baby did you fart, 'cause you blow me away!
Hi, I'm Mr. Right. Someone said you were looking for me.
Turn to the girl sitting next to you at the bar and say...
"I'm not really this tall....I'm sitting on my wallet."
Do you believe in love at first sight, or should I walk by again?
When I saw you from across the room, I passed out cold and hit my head on
the floor...so I'm going to need your name and number for insurance reasons.
You know what? Your eyes are the same color as my Porsche.
Do you have a map? Because I just keep getting lost in your eyes!
Is there an airport nearby or is that my heart taking off?
Do you have any raisins? No? How about a date?

PickupHelp.com - Most Popular Pickup Lines

] Supposedly he was a great warrior and a mighty leader.
] Yet his sole contribution to the almost disastrous
] attack on the second death star was to spin round in his
] chair,waving his flabby hands about, shrieking "It's a
] twap! It's a twap!".
]
] Yet, contrary to popular belief, this idiocy was
] NOT a failing on the part of Ackbar. Nay.
] In one single day of sustained jestering, the
] Admiral managed to kill the emperor, destroy the evil
] empire and save Anakin Skywalker from the clutches of the
] dark side.

] We once thought that the power of the force
] lay with the jedi knights, but we can now see
] that it does not. The true power of the force
] lies with risible Vaudevillian comics like Admiral Ackbar.
]
] VOTE ACKBAR

Admiral Ackbar For President