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10. desember 2002
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Some comments on the Iraq Weapons report
 The massive report Iraq has handed in (on picture, carried by an arms inspector) to the UN is now making the rounds in the intelligence agencies of the "big five," the US in particular. In accordance with the security council declaration, the report should be handed in to the security council itself. Then, it was agreed it should be given to the arms inspectors. This for some reasons proved impractical (perhaps since it was over 11,800 pages and 12 CD-ROMs!) and in the end it was handed to the United States, who will provide copies to the other four permanent members, and relevant parts are going to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Geneva.
Syria is already whining that they as members of the security council, should get a copy, too, but considering that the report is a massive "how to get weapons of mass destruction" manual, that is unlikely to happen.
I suspect quite a few people around the world are nervous these days. From the table of contents, made public, it seems likely that the report will name a number of corporations as well as countries that has helped Iraq in its weapons programmes. Since this goes back to a time when Iraq was a US ally against Iran, it would not surprise anyone if American businesses were involved.
And considering the Bush administration's close ties to certain businesses, it wouldn't surprise me if there may be some skeletons in the closet that they would rather remind hidden, too. Of course, the other four members will have their copy, too. What if something really embarressing is hidden in that document heap, could the US administration be subject to blackmail from, say, China? There is always, of course, the possibility that Iraq, who has every interest to harm the Bush administration, have been well aware of this possibility. It is interesting that Iraq itself, in a sudden moment of concern for international peace, warned that the report should not be made public in its entirity.
9:34:06 PM 
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White-collar unit runs "hacker" operating system
In the court case against Norwegian teenager Jon Lech Johansen, charged with breaking the access protection code on DVDs, the prosecutor from the police white-collar crima group (Økokrim) told the jury that the OS on one of Johnasen's PCs, Linux, was "popular in the hacker community."
The Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet could with great glee reveal today that the white-collar crime group's own web server runs Linux.
Prosecutor Inger Marie Sunde has consistently shown herself entirely clueless about technical issues in this court case. She has admitted as much, if that is to her credit. Considering that this case is entirely about technical questions, how can she find herself competent to know that the law has been violated in the first place?
7:22:34 PM
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New Mad Max film in the works
Apparently, Mad Max himself, Mel Gibson, and original director George Miller will make a fourth Mad Max movie.
Let's just hope it's not as totally crap as #3.
4:33:09 PM
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Today's Picture 
Dildo, Newfoundland. And I just had it confirmed it is real.
3:01:15 PM
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The Founder of Modern Meterology
 In 1917, the Norwegian physicist Vilhelm Bjerknes accepted a position at the Museum of Bergen (now University), Norway, to complete his work on applying mathematical models to the atmosphere. He founded the Bergen Geophysical Institute, and using data obtained from weather stations across the coast, he was able to put his theories into the first system of mathematical weather forecasting.
Inspired by the raging war in Europe, Bjerknes chose the term "front" to describe the narrow zones forming the boundaries between warm and cold air masses. This terminology remains current to the day. Bjerknes' theories makes it possible to make reliable forecasts of storms and other weather phenomena given a known initial conditions. In 1921 Bjerknes published in Bergen "On the Dynamics of the Circular Vortex with Applications to the Atmosphere and to Atmospheric Vortex and Wave Motion," a classic in scientific work and still remarkably current. Bjerknes at the time lacked the computional power needed to make full use of his theories, but when electronic computers were later invented, his theories proved even more useful.
It has been my opinion for a long time that it is most fitting that modern metereology as invented here in Bergen, considering that if you can possibly forecast the weather here, you can do it anywhere. We simply have the most confusing, varied weather anywhere.
1:54:27 PM
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Aussie court wants to rule the Net
Australia's high court has decided a court in Melbourne has jurisdiction over an article published by Dow Jones in the United States. This is the first such ruling, apparently, and it may have serious implications for internet publishers everywhere.
Absurd ruling. If you publish anything on the Net, you better make sure it's legally harmless all across the world.
1:07:10 PM
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Lott puts foot in mouth
 Republican leader Trent Lott (picture) has received harsh criticism for a remark he recently made that the USA would have avoided "all these problems" by electing Strom Thurmond president in 1948, when he ran on a segregationist platform. Lott said:
"I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either."
Lott has issued no real apology or retraction, neither has he explained what "problems" exactly the US would have avoided by practicing racial segregation to this day.
It is not the first time Senator Lott is linked to racist views and groups.
12:48:07 AM
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© Copyright 2003 Jan Haugland.
Last update: 01.01.03; 04:00:02.
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