[LINK] Some Friday links

• Amused Cynicism reports on Sarah Palin's belief that God told the United States to invade Iraq. Is it wrong for me to not be especially surprised at this sort of thing anymore?


• At 'Aqoul, The Lounsbury blogs about the potentially profitable abundance of nitrogen in the Middle East and questions about the relationship of language to corporate opacity among some companies in that region.


• Greg Davis at blogto reacts to the new Metrolinx transit plan ("an answer to the question 'if money was no issue what would you do to improve transit in the GTA?'") and 34 comments follow.


• Centauri Dreams reports on a book containing some of the latest work on solar sails, spacecraft propelled by the impact of light on highly-reflective low-mass "sails."


• Daniel Drezner (now a senior editor at The National Interest) reflects how the fact that the US/EU-sponsored state of Kosovo has been recognized by 46 countries while the Russia-sponsored states of Abkhazia and South Ossetia have been recognized only by Russia and Nicaragua says something about the distribution of power in the world.


• Gideon Rachman reports on Thailand's People’s Alliance for Democracy, a political movement that wants 70% of the seats in the Thai parliament to be appointed because it distrusts the ability of the rural majority of the country to choose wisely. Parallels with Ataturkism and Turkey, anyone?


• Spacing Toronto says that Torontonians should be happy that we don't live in Detroit.

[LINK] "Missile kills five at Pakistan border"

From Australia's The Age comes the article "Missile kills five at Pakistan border".

Three children and two women have been killed when missiles fired by a suspected unmanned US aircraft hit a village on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in the third such attack in as many days, officials said.

The strike hit two houses belonging to tribesmen in North Waziristan's Goorweck Baipali village, 30 km west of the main town of Miranshah and right on the border with Afghanistan, they said.

"Three children and two women have been killed in the missile strike, which destroyed two village homes," an official said, adding that one woman was injured.

"We suspect the missiles were fired by forces across the border," the official added. Residents said two pilotless aircraft fired three missiles.

Pakistan's army, however, denied any strike was carried out on its sovereign territory.

"There is no strike on our side of the border. The news is incorrect," chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told AFP.

A tribesman in Miranshah said the village criss-crossed the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"Half of the village is in Pakistan and the other half is in Afghanistan," Aqleem Khan said.

An interior ministry official earlier said locals reported the strike was on the Pakistani side of the border but later it was clarified that the houses damaged in the strike were on the Afghan side.

The White House declined to comment directly on the claim of US involvement from across the border in Afghanistan in recent days.

"We respect their sovereignty and we support their new civilian government," spokeswoman Dana Perino said of Pakistan, adding that US president George W Bush "grieves any time there is a loss of innocent life".

The latest strike follows Pakistani accusations that US-led forces based in Afghanistan killed 15 people in a border village on Wednesday in neighbouring South Waziristan district.

About 3,000 Pakistani tribesmen chanted "Allahu akbar" and "death to America" in South Waziristan's Wana district after Friday prayers to protest at Wednesday's claimed US-led raid, which involved helicopter gunships and ground troops.

Both the US-led coalition and the separate NATO-led security force operating in Afghanistan have said they have no knowledge of that incident.

South Waziristan is a known haven for Taliban and al-Qaeda militants.

Several officials said the missile strike killed children and women, not militants.

The incident followed a separate attack late Thursday, when at least five militants were killed when a missile fired from an unmanned plane hit a house in the North Waziristan village of Mohammad Khel, officials said.

Missile strikes targeting militants in Pakistan in recent weeks have been blamed on US-led coalition forces or CIA drones based in Afghanistan. Pakistan does not have missile-equipped drones.

US and Afghan officials say Pakistan's tribal areas are a safe haven for al-Qaeda and Taliban militants who sneaked into the rugged region after the fall of the hardline Taliban regime in late 2001.

Part of me thinks that the idea of NATO strikes against Taliban bases that Pakistan allows to operate on its soil is the least bad scenario. Part of me thinks it's the worst. All of me know that Kandahar province, where Canadian forces are stationed, is just across the border from Pakistan.

[PHOTO] Linux Caffe, 326 Harbord Street

On Harbord Street considerably to the west of the former site of Henry Morgentaler's abortion clinic lies the Linux Caffe (326 Harbord Street).



The Linux Caffe, 326 Harbord Street
Originally uploaded by rfmcdpei

I was curious by its claims to offer "geek chic and coffee cachet," and so I stopped there yesterday morning while I was biking home with my new betta fish, Paul. The Linux Caffe has the sort of bohemian chic that I'd expect from a student-oriented restaurant, quite like the Sleepless Goat Cafe that I'd frequented in Kingston during my studies at Queen's University, slightly dirty and filled with psoters advertising bands and political movements with chatty staff who served strong espressos and doughy apple-walnut muffins. I liked it.

[DM] "Eurostat on European populations in 2060"

I've got a post up at Demography Matters giving a broad outline of a recent Eurostat report that projected population changes in Europe between now and 2060.