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1. januar 2003
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Degree or not
I do confess in visiting slashdot occasionally. It brought me to an interesting opinion piece in The Washington Post about the "speilberg effect," dropouts from prestigeous collegese who still manage to do great. Degrees are certainly no guarantee of success, and the lack of one need not mean anything. I am personally a big fan of and believer in the value of education, but I do see the point. And perhaps many are better of studying away from the big name universities and colleges.
8:48:20 PM 
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Jehovah's Witnesses accused of coverup in sexual abuse
 The Boston Globe reports a court case brought against a Jehovah's Witness congregation and the Church's headquarters, alleging that the group actively covered up a girl being sexually abused by a Bible study leader.
The religious sect that claims 6 million members worldwide has been subject to numerous court cases and accusations of covering up sex abuse in its midst. Not very unlike the Roman Catholic Church, it has sought to protect its corporate image by discouraging victims and their parents from reporting cases to the police.
The sect is, like many others, concerned with uncovering and punishing sexual sins among its members. When it comes to child abuse, however, the case appears to be strangely different. The groups peculiar applications of some Bible verses leads it to require either a confession or at least two eye witnesses to abuse to take action in the congregation's own judicial system. Lacking witnesses, a victim risks being punished for "slander" if he or she presses charges. This is not mere theory. Sexual abuse victims have been disfellowshipped from the sect and subsequently shunned by family and former friends for taking abusers to court.
Read Mike Pence's articles "An Unlikely David" and "How Many More?" for a good overview of the situation.
The sect took legal action against myself and a friend some years back, alleging we had put its secret "elder manual" on the Net (psst: here it is), partly because the manual documents how the sect's dealings were in such questions.
7:27:47 PM
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Salomon islands devastated by cyclone
 The islands Tikopia and Anuta in the Solomons were in the middle of the very powerful cyclone Zoe (picture), and currently the world knows little about the fate of the around 2,000 inhabitants.
Earlier, Australian reconnaissance planes flew over and reported seeing survivors, but also unebelievable destruction. There are no landing strips on the islands, and relief by sea was delayed by the Salomon Island authorities being unable to pay for fuel (!) for its patrol boats. Australia promptly donated around $30,000.
A large cargo boat should arrive Friday night. Until then, we will not know the extent of the devastation.
There has been a four year old ethnic conflict on the Salomon islands, leaving the government virtually bankrupt, and Canberra recently criticised it over misuse of public funds.
6:35:46 PM
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Should the US give in to North Korea?
Fred Kaplan at Slate makes a very good case for appeasement towards North Korea. Ths US really has no choice in the matter, as a military confrontation with the medieval nuclear power is all but ruled out. The North Korean decision to restart its nuclear programme can be interpreted as a response to Bush's decision to not continue Clinton's policy. Bush tried to come across as the tough guy as a foreign policy neophyte, but the hard realities of the messy Korean problem may well force him to go back to the same position.
6:14:52 PM
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She's baaack!
One great piece of news for Salon blogs at the start of the new year: Amanda at Everything That Sucks is back!
I guess we should thank Jeff the stalker for pissing Amanda off sufficiently to get started again.
3:44:10 PM
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By popular demand... 
The Secular Blasphemer himself in formal attire, after coming home from a new years eve party at 4 AM, somewhat influenced by consumed beverages. As you can notice, the bowtie is not perfectly adjusted. A lady at the party took it upon herself to keep it orderly all the time. Alas, at the time when I came home and took this picture with a very lousy webcam, she was no longer present to do her job. She is, after all, a lesbian.
3:59:10 AM
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© Copyright 2003 Jan Haugland.
Last update: 01.02.03; 00:36:17.
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