30. januar 2003

Honest ad we'd like to see Norway recently opened for sale of alcopops in the stores, after losing a case in the EU court. The argument against was, indeed, precisely protecting those poor innocent girls. 11:04:53 PM    comment []

Fly the friendly skies Don't miss this great commentary to airline security! Req. flash and sound. Thanks to xtian at Radio Free Blogistan for the link. 8:58:26 AM    comment []

There may be hope for the Middle East too, then "Mac, Windows War Ends in Truce" (Wired headline) 8:48:11 AM    comment []

And the winner is... Bocuse d`Or 2003, the World Cup for chefs in Lyon, France, was won by Charles Tjessem from Norway (picture). A Norwegian chef, Terje Ness, won also in 1999, making Norway the best nation apart from France in this prestigious competition. Trout, crawfish and fillet of beef won the day for the Norwegian chef, ahead of the competitors from France and Germany. 6:33:08 AM    comment []

Headline of the day "Your last chance to have sex in the garden" (The Guardian, commenting on a new British law banning sex in public) 5:58:36 AM    comment []

Apocalypse THEN, apocalypse Real Soon Now! The facsmile on the right is a paragraph from Awake! magazine, Oct 8, 1968, page 15. This is the companion magazine of the Watchtower, distributed worldwide by the Jehovah's Witnesses. The magazine was published quite exactly when I was born, a son of two Jehovah's Witnesses, and it told about the impending doom, the total collapse of this world into chaos, and the actual end of the world, by the year 1975. I started primary school in 1975. I completed high school in 1987, and left the Jehovah's Witnesses in 1994/95, after having learned about its past apocalyptic and prophetic failures. You will notice in the quotation on the right that this apocalyptic sect had no real problem finding secular support for their doom and gloom predictions. In this case, the Paddock brothers, who in 1967 published a book called Famine - 1975! Their prediction failed spectacularly on every count, as is well known. They probably sold better thanks to their alarmist book title, but the well-deserved ridicule hit correspondingly hard when the food shortage never materialised (in fact, increases in food production outperformed population increase then, as it does now). Perhaps it is no surprise that I have remained thoroughly unconvinced by all forms of apocalyptics since, and this includes the secular form, also from those with impeccable scientific creditentials. For example, I find myself a total skeptic on the alleged disastrous effect of global warming, and I doubt that human activity plays any significant role in climate change. I am one of those who do remember when climate experts warned about a global drop in the temperature and the coming ice age, after all. Environmentalists have been a never-tiring source of alarmist predictions. If you look at environmentalist warnings a few decades back, you simply cannot help being astonished at their terrible track record. Remember acid rain? The forest death in central Europe? I do. Most people, I suspect, no longer do. Even the consequences of real disasters, like oil spills and volcanoes, are practically always exaggarated. Remember Exxon Valdez? I do not say there are no problems. On the contrary, I agree that there are many challenges - environment, population control, and in particular disease - but I do not believe it is correct to exaggarate dangers to alert the public. People may have short memories, but the doomsayers will lose credibility, and a "doom fatigue" will make people ignore even the credible warnings about real dangers. 5:21:46 AM    comment []

Nepalese peace talks "Maoist rebels in Nepal and the government have both announced a ceasefire." (BBC News) After almost seven years of war, and 7,000 dead, there is some scant hope of an end to the hostilities which has left much of the institutions in the roof of the world in ruins. 4:22:52 AM    comment []

Europe divided on Iraq There is stronger support in Europe for George Bush's strong-arm policy towards Iraq than many media reports indicate. As is well known, France and Germany are opposed to any attack on Iraq now, and advocate indefinite arms inspections. Russia holds a similar position, even though Putin has sharpened his language towards Iraq in the last days. However, in a letter published in the London Times today, the leaders of eight European nations - Britain, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Hungary, Poland, Denmark and the Czech Republic - make a plea for Europe to stand united behind the tough language of resolution 1441, in effect supporting President Bush. They also sent a strong message to Germany and France that they do not speak for all of continental Europe. 3:36:16 AM    comment []

Blast hits US factory At least eight people dead, many injured. Of course, one question is on everybody's mind: is this a terror attack? "The cause of the blast is being investigated." Some years ago, "terror" would not be the first thought at the news of an explosive fire in a chemical factory. Update: Early reports seems to have been wrong. Two people dead, three missing, some injured. Nothing specific yet on cause, but "reports say the North Carolina factory was fined for a number of safety violations last year."   2:51:34 AM    comment []

We the people? The point has been made before, but it bears repeating. 1:07:40 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2003 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.02.03; 00:38:31.