mrmiago

omfg can that spin records and slide the fader anyone else with other opinions?

U.S. changes reason for invading Iraq The U.S. administration has abruptly revised its explanation for invading Iraq, as Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld asserted that a changed perspective after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks — not fresh evidence of banned weapons — provoked the war. "The coalition did not act in Iraq because we had discovered dramatic new evidence of Iraq's pursuit of weapons of mass murder," Mr. Rumsfeld testified yesterday before the Senate armed services committee. "We acted because we saw the evidence in a dramatic new light, through the prism of our experience on 9/11." It was an about-face from a man who confidently proclaimed in January: "There's no doubt in my mind but that they [the Iraqi government] currently have chemical and biological weapons." (He was seconded in March by Vice-President Dick Cheney, who said of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein: "We believe he has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons.") And in London Thursday, the BBC reported senior British government sources saying that Whitehall had virtually ruled out finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, which they now believe were destroyed or hidden permanently before the war began. Mr. Rumsfeld's reversal came as the administration scrambled to defend itself from accusations that it deliberately used false or misleading information to bolster one of its primary justifications for the war. On Monday, the White House acknowledged that U.S. President George W. Bush was wrong when he said in his State of the Union address in January that Iraq had recently tried to purchase large quantities of uranium from Africa to build nuclear weapons. He cited British intelligence reports of documents that purported to show an Iraqi attempt to buy a form of raw uranium known as yellowcake. The documents were later discredited as forgeries. While the White House justified the invasion to topple Mr. Hussein on the ground that his biological, chemical and nuclear weapons posed a threat, no such arms have been uncovered in the 10 weeks since the war ended. Mr. Bush unapologetically defended the war while in the middle of his five-day, visit to Africa. "Saddam Hussein was a threat to world peace. And there's no doubt in my mind that the United States, along with allies and friends, did the right thing in removing him from power," he said yesterday at a joint news conference with South African President Thabo Mbeki. Questioned for the first time about the uranium, he said: "There's going to be a lot of attempts to rewrite history. But I am absolutely confident in the decision I made." White House officials said information that the documents may have been forged had not reached top-level policymakers before the public statements. Mr. Rumsfeld said he found out "within recent days" that the information had been discredited, but he defended the U.S. intelligence throughout the Iraq conflict as "quite good" and said Iraq "had 12 years to conceal" weapons programs. "Uncovering those programs will take time," he said. Several Democrats heightened calls for a full-scale investigation on whether intelligence was manipulated. "It's bad enough that such a glaring blunder became part of the President's case for war," Senator Edward Kennedy said. "It's far worse if the case for war was made by deliberate deception. ... We cannot risk American lives based on shoddy intelligence or outright lies." With U.S. and British forces facing almost daily assaults, he and other senators grilled Mr. Rumsfeld on whether more troops were needed in Iraq. Mr. Rumsfeld told the committee that talks were under way to increase NATO involvement in Iraq peacekeeping efforts. He maintained that most of Iraq is safe after the war, with most of the recent attacks against U.S. and British forces concentrated in Baghdad and surrounding areas. Mr. Kennedy expressed skepticism, saying he was "concerned that we have the world's best-trained soldiers serving as policemen in what seems to be a shooting gallery." With reports from the Guardian, Reuters http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20030710.urums0710/BNStory/International/

U.S. Officials Worry Canadian Plan to Decriminalize Marijuana May Disrupt Border Traffic WASHINGTON June 20 — U.S. officials, already concerned about illegal drugs coming across the Canadian border, are warning that a Canadian plan to decriminalize marijuana use could lead to more inspections and long border delays. "We don't want the northern border to be a trafficking route for drugs," said Asa Hutchinson, undersecretary for border and transportation security for the Department of Homeland Security. Hutchinson and other U.S. officials say the Canadian proposal is especially troublesome, considering how drug seizures along the vast northern border soared following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in part because of heightened security. The amount of marijuana seized from Canada quadrupled in the year after the attacks. Seizures have subsided slightly since, but remain well above historic levels. If Canada approves a plan to decriminalize marijuana for personal use, U.S. officials fear drug smuggling could spike, further burdening the justice system and hindering trade. More vehicles may be stopped and searched at checkpoints along the 4,000-mile border, slowing movement of the $1 billion worth of goods traded between the two countries each day. "If the perception is that it's easier to get marijuana in, then some border officials' antennas will be up," said Paul Cellucci, U.S. ambassador to Canada. Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien's administration introduced legislation in late May that would essentially make the penalty for possession of small amounts of marijuana equivalent to a traffic ticket. The bill would boost penalties for growing and trafficking marijuana. The Canadian proposal "is amazing to us," said Dave McEachran, prosecuting attorney in Whatcom County, along the Washington state border. McEachran's office prosecutes hundreds of federal drug cases a year resulting from arrests at the Blaine, Wash., border the busiest crossing west of Detroit. Canada has long had tolerant drug policing. British Columbia alone is home to a $4 billion industry in marijuana that is more potent than Mexican marijuana. Problems with smuggling over the U.S. border have existed for years. Canadian officials call U.S. concerns understandable, but say the two nations have a long history of cooperation. That cooperation is especially close on law enforcement, said Paul Kennedy, senior assistant deputy solicitor general for Canada. There's smuggling going both ways, Kennedy noted. While marijuana enters the U.S., cocaine and guns tend to travel north. While the decriminalization plan has set off alarms, the flow of marijuana from Canada pales in comparison to the amount grown in the United States or imported from other countries such as Mexico and Colombia. In the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2002, some 20,213 pounds of marijuana was seized along the northern border, compared with more than 1.2 million pounds along the southwest border, Customs figures show. "There's a lot of talk about B.C. bud, but we are just a small part" of the U.S. drug trade, Kennedy said. On the Net: Bureau of Customs and Border Protection: further more on the topic. If the debate comes into effect, expect to see packs of marijuana sold next to cigarette packs at your local 7-11.

Glad this didn't happen last week... could you imagine at Ultra...

Aunt Em, there goes Toto

thanks

Anyone goto Long Night Out/Tronic Treatment last Wednesday at Level?

WMC 2004 - Area 51, Nevada a place where every candyraver feels welcome.

So where are they? So far I've gotten the Global DJ mp3 livesets so far, kinda crap but will do, are there any from ClubSpace? or Ultra or any of the other parties out there?

Alright standing in line and there's a mixture of white people / african american and asian. The bouncer filters out the white people infront and behind me and let them in and leave the 'non-whites' behind. WTF!!! Do I need to flash a $100 to get respect?

AT WHAT PRICE THOUGH? the price to stand in line for 5 hours only to be told off by the bouncer, sorry guestlist only. BE FUCKING SPECIFIC, or don't expect people to come out next time..

How was it, was it worth it? Did you have any problems?

Was it worth the $$$, the time and effort? Any hassles at the door and if so at which time on which dates did you have problems with?

Interested to know how everything went down.

Which events took place where? Tuesday thru to Sunday?