Burning man 3

The man who set himself on fire in front of the White House
and nearly in front of me continues to make news. The NY Times did over a page of reporting beginning on the front page describing the complex character and complex and clandestine involvements of Mohamed Alanssi also known as “C11” in an article by William Gaberson entitled “Terror Case Hinges on a Wobbly Key Player.” Too much there to retell here, but let’s just say that there is at least a novella waiting to be written about this.

Jordanian journalists

Ted Vaden’s initial column as public editor of the News and Observer tells us this about the impressions of the Jordanian journalists to whom I spoke to a little over a week ago:

The other reader group couldn’t have had a more different perspective. They were Jordanian journalists visiting North Carolina newspapers under a University of North Carolina exchange program. They found newspapers biased in favor of President Bush, ignorant about Middle East culture and, surprisingly to me, not as free as we think we are. Case in point: the recent arrest of an N&O reporter for trying to phone a person he was writing a story about. (That charge was dismissed last week.)

Dinner with IBM Academy folks

I’ve been invited to sit in with the some members of the IBM Academy of Technology tomorrow night. We will be eating manly food at the Angus Barn and talking technology research.
I’m not sure what I’m in for here, but the other folks who are going are smart hardworking people — so I’m the only ringer so far. If you are a reader of this blog and you know anything beyond the Academy web pages, please let me know.