Norwegian rock band Taliban Airways marked the anniversary of 9/11 with a concert entitled Hit Another Tower. . . . In her September 11, 2002 sermon, Presbyterian minister Gretchen Graf, of Grand Forks, North Dakota said that the 9/11 hijackers committed "an act of faith and courage, a carefully planned statement against what they saw as the evils of a corrupt and oppressive nation. They were willing to give their lives so that the world would see their outrage." • At a morning prayer service, Harvard president Larry Summers told the audience that while "anti-Semitism and views that are profoundly anti-Israeli have traditionally been the primary preserve of poorly educated right-wing populists, profoundly anti-Israel views are increasingly finding support in progressive intellectual communities. Serious and thoughtful people are advocating and taking actions that are anti-Semitic in their effect if not their intent." • Jesse Jackson told Baltimore radio audiences that to get Saddam Hussein, America is "going to have to kill a lot of innocent people.... It's reminiscent of biblical times--killing all those children to get to Jesus." . . . Iraqi-born teenager Hussein Mohammed told London's Daily Telegraph that he was "against Saddam because he doesn't have a heart for any people. I think he should be attacked. I'd rather have America than Saddam." He was quoted while marching in a European anti-war rally. - According to a report in Time, American Taliban John Walker Lindh took homosexual sex romps with his Muslim comrades. . . . An English Islamic group issued a death fatwa against playwright Terrence McNally because the London stage production of his play Corpus Christi depicts Jesus Christ as a homosexual. • At a press conference in Rome, Steven Spielberg told reporters that "If Bush...has reliable information on the fact that Saddam Hussein is making weapons of mass destruction, I cannot not support the policies of his government." . . . Actress Jessica Lange told Spanish audiences she hates President Bush. "I despise him and his entire administration--not only because of its international policy, but also the national." • A recent report found that African Americans are 50 percent more likely to try to start their own business than are whites. • Mayor Vera Katz of Portland, Oregon declared the week of August 3 "Leather Pride Week." Mayor Katz stated the "motto of 'Safe, Sane, and Consensual' adopted by the leather and fetish communities is vital to all relationships between consenting adults." . . . Animal-rights activist Eric Ward runs a Web-based business specializing in leather-free S & M goods such as harnesses and restraints. The enterprise carries the endorsement of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

According to reports from Eurostat, the European Statistics Agency, inflation for nations using the euro is rising. August brought the annual rate to 2.1 percent, up from 1.9 percent in July. . . . Swiss scientists have concluded that euro coins are more likely to cause allergic reactions than the currencies they replaced. • A French publisher was forced to withdraw the novel Rose Bonbon after a flood of protests. The book was told from the point of view of a homicidal pedophile. • According to the Observer, Britain's National Health Service is prescribing vibrators to women who lack sexual desire. One doctor claims 50 percent of women have some sort of sexual dysfunction. . . A Swedish legislator called for pornography to be televised all day on Saturdays in an effort to reverse the nation's declining birth rate. • A 12-year-old student in Charlottesville, Virginia was suspended for wearing an "NRA Sports Shooting Camp" T-shirt, because it featured images of three target shooters. • Students at California's San Mateo High School recently formed the Satanic Thought Society. • The U.N. Human Rights Committee upheld a French ban on dwarf-tossing. The law had been challenged by Manuel Wackenheim, who argued the law prevents him from making a living by being tossed in discos and nightclubs.

—BB