August 8: Winds of Change Daily Round-Up

Quite a few emails came in, which is a good thing. Here's the roundup

• Captive Nations Week is over, but Glenn Frazier and I are continuing our efforts surrounding Iran until... well, until the revolution, basically. The Winds of Change Open Letter to the Iranian People is just the beginning of ongoing coverage here at Winds of Change, therefore, and Glenn Frazier continues to be a clearing house for news and views with the "Iranian Liberty Index" page.
  

• Glenn is trying to get more information on the demonstrations etc. in Iran over the last couple of days. What he does have can be found in this post.
  

• Or perhaps you'd rather read about an Iranian rock n' roll band. Why is that important? Here's why...
  

• Winds of Change reader Randall Parker chimes in with a great page for aerial photographs of the Al-Udeid air base in Qatar, and how its constuction has evolved. This is the air base that is likely to replace the Saudi Bases (esp. Prince Bandar) as the air command center for a U.S. invasion of Iraq.
  

• Kenneth Hunt notes that Saddam uses look-alikes to make planning coups, air strikes, etc. more difficult. Not an uncommon tactic, but it isn't really all that effective against an overwhelming opponent. Who can just keep trying until they find the one that's real.
  

• Lots of snide comments regarding the Anglican Church's declaration that war against Iraq is immoral. "The Archdruid of Canterbury" comes in for some shots, and so does a document that quotes the U.N. many times and the Bible not at all. An anonymous Rantburg poster sums it up nicely when he notes this passage: "(declaration) An attack on Iraq would be both immoral and illegal. Eradicating the dangers posed by malevolent dictators and terrorists can be achieved only by tackling the root causes of the disputes themselves." To which (s)he responds: "I've got news for these folk: the root cause of malevolent dictators is that they are *malevolent dictators*!" Appointing this loon to head the Church of England may prove to be Tony Blair's sharpest political move yet.
  

• MuslimPundit is back, and talking about Pakistan. Especially Pakistani treatment of women.
  

• Fred at Rantburg is following the trail of dead Saudi princes, including recent reports (unconfirmed) of an assassination attempt on King Fahd. It is at least possible that we are looking at a serious conflict within the House of Saud. If so, we need to stir it up as much as possible. One of today's feature posts explains...
  

• Jacob Proffitt reacts to "Stop the Spamsanity" and points out an interesting anti-spam site that and contains details (under the "Our long-term plan") on how to sue and win against spammers in Washington State. The real trouble comes when it is time to collect. He's going to see what he can find in Utah - initial thoughts are that it is much easier to win in Utah because the law is very specific. So proving violation is simpler, but it is also a lot lower automatic judgement amount ($10 vs. $500) so it might be easier to win, but less worthwhile to collect (because of the small amounts).