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Europe speeds up plan to clamp down on suspects
By Stephen Castle
Independent Published: 14 July 2005

Europe's interior ministers agreed to speed through a raft of measures to
clamp down on terrorist suspects as France announced a temporary
re-imposition of border controls following the London bombing. A day of
talks in Brussels brought pledges to meet an accelerated timetable for a
host of data storage and information-sharing initiatives, giving police and
security services new means to monitor individuals.

The reaction to the first home-grown suicide bombing on European soil was
pragmatic, with the Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, saying there is "no
one, single, measure I can propose that will stop terrorism".

Instead of proposing new ideas, the UK, which holds the presidency of the
EU, sought to speed up measures already in the pipeline. Most
controversially, yesterday's deal included a promise to agree by October on
rules to retain for at least 12 months all e-mail and phone data.

This would include details of the date, time and duration all phone and
internet messages, the calling and called numbers, the location of mobile
calls at the start and end of a connection and whether the conversation was
"terminated explicably or inexplicably". By December all 25 EU ministers
promised to finalise rules on a European evidence warrant and on the
exchange of information between law enforcement authorities [...]

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article299083.ece

The real threat of ‘terrorism’
CBC News Viewpoint | July 11, 2005 | More from Anthony Westell

The problem for al-Qaeda and its spinoffs is that terror, so called, doesn’t terrorize, or not for long. The number of tourists visiting Madrid has risen since the bombing there last year – according to the New York Times – and property prices in New York are much higher than they were on 9/11.

blah blah blah nothing interesting here

The Muslim fanatics who attacked London, or at least those who planned the attacks, must know this, so what were they really trying to achieve? The classic terrorist tactic has been to provoke a vastly superior enemy to overreact by taking repressive measures that eventually undermine its own credibility and reputation.

Whoa, what? What's the first phrase all about? The second part is basically elementary, but how does that first phrase fit into this? What at all does "muslim fanatic" have to do with the situation? Not only that, but that SPECULATION is given prominence over "those who planned the attacks." This man is presuming these people are muslims. And that they are enemies. This is clearly "us vs. them" language.

The tactic of provoking excessive reaction seemed to be working again in London last week.

This is a perfectly good observation. However, what YOU are saying is that these people are Muslims, and that what they have done is directly connected to their religion. Does the term "bigotry" apply here? I don't want to be too harsh.

Yet what really happened? Some 50 people were killed and more wounded. Each case is a tragedy to family and friends, but many plane crashes kill more, as do some railway accidents – of which Britain has more than its share. The daily toll of traffic deaths goes mostly unremarked.

The measure of death and destruction terrorism can inflict does not amount to war, and should not be equated with war. I’m not theorizing, but writing from experience. The small English city in which I grew up lost 150 dead and most of the main street in one night of bombing by the Luftwaffe.
...
No matter what they tell themselves, they are not warriors but criminals, and they pose no threat to our way of life – unless we allow ourselves to be provoked into changing it ourselves.

This man does not ONCE mention the thousands of dead Iraqis that HIS home country is responsible for! He does not even think that there is any reason behind these attacks, aside from religious zealotry. To him these "turrrrists" have no home, no families, no personal reason to do anything. In essence they are not PEOPLE they are THINGS. This is EXACTLY the kind of wrongheaded thinking that will never solve the problem.
One of the letter writers however, seems to know what is "going on:"

With all due respect to his generation, nothing about their world view ever changes, except that they are always the “good guy” and someone else, either a different race, religion or political viewpoint, is the “bad guy”. We live in a time where issues like globalization and terrorism are mainstream topics (and often considered to be inter-related).
It is no longer acceptable to pretend that there are good guys and bad guys who can be identified by religion, ethnicity, political views or the colour of their skin. Once you have lost all perspective, and your views become based on WHO you are, as opposed to WHAT is going on, there is a serious problem.
...
Until we start asking the questions that matter, this will continue to happen. Until we start caring about the “other” innocent lives lost that were undoubtedly one of the motivating factors for the fanatics behind the bombing, this will continue to happen. Until we start reacting to the horrible atrocities committed by the “good guys”, this will continue to happen. We should be just as outraged by the loss of innocent life whenever it happens, wherever it happens and whoever perpetrates it.
I notice that Mr. Westell is sure to mention religion. The vast majority of Al Qaeda’s targets have been other Muslims, generally Shia, but not always. To allow this to turn into an anti-Muslim crusade is both childish and dangerous.

Sunday July 10, 2005
The Observer

Millions of personal email and mobile phone records could be stored and
shared with police and intelligence officials across Europe to help
thwart terrorist attacks.

The Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, will propose new measures at an
emergency meeting of European Union interior ministers which will
discuss the implications of Thursday's London bombings.

He raised the stakes dramatically by claiming they could 'quite
possibly' have helped prevent such attacks, by identifying in advance
suspicious patterns of behaviour by potential terrorists. [...]

Clarke admitted he cannot claim that ID cards would have prevented the
bombing, although he argues that in Spain, where they are compulsory,
they helped trace the alleged perpetrators, via their mobile phones,
which Spaniards can buy only after producing an ID card. [...]

Scientists finally get their hands on Kennewick man

Rex Dalton, San Diego

Bone studies and DNA tests will help determine the origins of the 9,000-year-old skeleton.

America's most highly contested anthropology specimen, Kennewick man, is finally being studied by scientists.

After nine years of federal-court battles and several months of preparation, researchers last month began examining the ancient skull and bones. The US government and Native American tribes had fought to block the bones' examination under a federal law designed to protect ancient human remains. But last year, the eight scientists involved won the legal battle.

[...]

But not all of the scientists who fought the case can take part in the work. The battle in federal court in Portland, Oregon, was so long that two of the eight scientists have retired, and a third, Robson Bonnichsen of Texas A&M University in College Station, died in his sleep last December, aged 64 — just two weeks after getting a look at the specimen. "He was euphoric when he got to see it," says Cleone Hawkinson, a retired anthropologist from Portland who helps the group. Ironically, Bonnichsen had filed a court declaration in 2002 arguing for a quick decision because senior scientists in the group might not live to study the bones.
[...]

Am I representative of my species?
In 9000 years will my bones convince scientists that neo-Yorkshire man was "a bit stumpy, with a fairly large head, and hands showing extensive use of simple tools such as hammers and computers."?

Of course, the main argument here is whether ancient remains should be respected or used as scientific fodder. When is a remnant old enough, or significant enough, to fulfill the latter description? It could be argued (as above) that one skeleton will tell us nothing significant, so leave it in the dust. Or that this is the greatest find in American history!

Beverage and brewing paraphenalia/poet based triplets

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Scientists finally get their hands on Kennewick man