] Under threat of severe penalties, the vast majority of
] North Korea's 22 million people are not allowed any
] contact with the outside world -- letters, telephone
] calls, travel, radio or television programs.
]
] All citizens are required to register their radios with
] the local police. On registration, foreign-made radios
] are tuned to the state radio frequency, soldered into
] place, and sealed.

Some Korean-American activist groups are advocating the smuggling in of thousands of tiny radios, capable of receiving foreign broadcasts.

I *like* this idea.

(Note: This link is for a NY Times article, so registration may be required)

Infiltrators of North Korea: Tiny Radios

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, was arrested Saturday in Pakistan.

Pakistan Arrests Alleged 9/11 Mastermind

Lattes aren't the only steamy things at Starbucks these days. Much to the chagrin of Seattle-based Starbucks Corp., Playboy Magazine has issued an alert: "Calling all coffee-making cuties!" to pose nude for an upcoming issue featuring the "Women of Starbucks."
With the application process already percolating, the chain of more than 6,200 coffee shops worldwide, is anything but thrilled with the cattle call by the adult magazine to its coffee-making employees, known as baristas.

Playboy Looking for 'Women of Starbucks'

FEBRUARY 27--Joe Millionaire has been marked down to $15,000. But if that's too rich for your blood, his purported lady love is available for a mere ten grand. In a move to milk what's left of their 15 minutes, Evan Marriott and Zora Andrich have signed with an agent who will deliver the reality TV stars for personal appearances nationwide. Booker Mike Esterman told TSG that interest in Marriott is high and that the below sales pitch has already yielded 10 "tentative" dates for the half- millionaire. What will you get for 15k? There will, of course, be no speech, just a few hours of autograph signing and posing for pictures with the 28-year-old ex- underwear model. Esterman explained that the salary gap between Marriott and Andrich is purely market driven: nightclubs, for example, would rather be packed with women looking at Marriott than men ogling Andrich (because if a club is jammed with gals, the guys will invariably follow). How much for both of the TV lovebirds? Esterman said he is willing to negotiate the fee for a joint appearance. No word yet on whether "Joe" runner-up Sarah Kozer--star of those wonderful bondage and fetish videos--is also for rent. (3 pages)

The Smoking Gun: Joe Millionaire for Rent

Darwin wrote:
] Heist 'geniuses' got $100m gems
]
] The haul from Belgium's most spectacular diamond robbery in
] Antwerp earlier this month was worth more than 100 million
] euros ($107m), Belgian police have said.
]
] In what police authorities have called the heist of the
] century, 123 of the 160 vaults at the Antwerp Diamond Centre
] were emptied.
]
] Antwerp's judicial director, Erik Sack, called the crime on 16
] February "a piece of genius in its simplicity".
]
] He said the gang had learned to circumvent the alarm system
] and had copied master keys after renting an office in the
] Diamond Centre in the name of a phantom company.
]
] During the theft, they taped over security cameras and may
] have put old videotapes in the surveillance system, police
] said.

$5 says we'll see this come out as a movie within two years. Any takers?

RE: BBC NEWS | Europe | Heist 'geniuses' got $100m gems

] Islamist Website: An Imminent Terrorist Attack (Possibly
] by Al-Qa'ida) Within "About Ten Days" (Apparently in the
] U.S.)

This site contains the English-translated text of a message that was posted on the Arabic-language www.alfjr.com site a couple days ago. It may just be general ranting, or then again, it may not. It's unusual for MEMRI to post something like this, so I found it worth noting.

MEMRI: Terrorist Attack Within 10 Days?

quoted:
===
The 1988 birth of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda organization is carefully chronicled in a cache of remarkable documents seized last year during a raid on the Bosnian offices of an Illinois-based charity that covertly raised funds for the terrorist group. A description of the seized material is contained in a 106-page proffer unsealed this month by federal prosecutors in Chicago. The government filing was prepared in connection with the criminal case brought against Enaam Arnaout, the 41-year-old Syrian who headed Benevolence International Foundation, the alleged charitable front group (Arnaout pleaded guilty to a racketeering charge on February 10). Included in the seized material, the proffer discloses, were minutes from a three-day meeting in August 1988--held at bin Laden's home--during which al-Qaeda was hatched. The minutes note that future group members were required to be "listening and obedient" and had to possess "good manners." An excerpt from the government proffer follows. (4 pages)

The Smoking Gun: Al Qeada

THE FOLLOWING DESCRIBES THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF FRANCE AT WAR.

Gallic Wars - Lost. In a war whose ending foreshadows the next 2000 years of French history, France is conquered by of all things, an Italian.

Hundred Years War - Mostly lost, saved at last by female schizophrenic who inadvertently creates The First Rule of French Warfare;
"France's armies are victorious only when not led by a Frenchman."

Italian Wars - Lost. France becomes the first and only country to ever lose two wars when fighting Italians.

Wars of Religion - France goes 0-5-4 against the Huguenots

Thirty Years War - France is technically not a participant, but manages to get invaded anyway. Claims a tie on the basis that eventually the other participants started ignoring her.

War of Devolution - Tied. Frenchmen take to wearing red flowerpots as chapeaux.

The Dutch War - Tied

War of the Augsburg League/King William's War/French and Indian War Lost, but claimed as a tie. Three ties in a row induces deluded Frenchophiles the world over to label the period as the height of French military power.

War of the Spanish Succession - Lost. The War also gave the French their first taste of a Marlborough, which they have loved ever since.

American Revolution - In a move that will become quite familiar to future Americans, France claims a win even though the English colonists saw far more action. This is later known as "de Gaulle Syndrome", and leads to the Second Rule of French Warfare;

"France only wins when America does most of the fighting."

French Revolution - Won, primarily due the fact that the opponent was also French.

The Napoleonic Wars - Lost. Temporary victories (remember the First Rule!)
due to leadership of a Corsican, who ended up being no match for a British footwear designer.

The Franco-Prussian War - Lost. Germany first plays the role of drunk Frat boy to France's ugly girl home alone on a Saturday night.

World War I - Tied and on the way to losing, France is saved by the United States. Thousands of French women find out what it's like to not only sleep with a winner, but one who doesn't call her "Fraulein." Sadly, widespread use of condoms by American forces forestalls any improvement in the French bloodline.

World War II - Lost. Conquered French liberated by the United States and Britain just as they finish learning the Horst Wessel Song.

War in Indochina - Lost. French forces plead sickness, take to bed with the Dien Bien Flu

Algerian Rebellion - Lost. Loss marks the first defeat of a western army by a Non-Turkic Muslim force since the Crusades, and produces the First Rule of Muslim Warfare;

"We can always beat the French."

This rule is identical to the First Rules of the Italians, Russians, Germans, English, Dutch, Spanish, Vietnamese and Esquimaux.

War on Terrorism - France, keeping in mind its recent history, surrenders to Germans and Muslims just to be safe. Attempts to surrender to Vietnamese ambassador fail after he takes refuge in a McDonald's.

FRANCE'S POSITION ON IRAQ.

Interviews with anti-war protesters in NYC.

bt: Protesting the Protesters - Devil's Advocate

Or, how to take a great opportunity and blow it.

Segway's Breakdown