15. juni 2003

US and Iran Just one thought: If the current conflict in Iran really, against all odds, ends with a victory for the reformists and the hardline clerics are ousted from power, the Bush administration will no doubt take a lot of the credit, arguing that the outcome is an effect of the Iraq war. Which is fair, I guess, considering that the US will be blamed for the failure if it goes badly, too. 11:55:34 PM    comment []

Detour on roadmap Bush now seems to argue that before the roadmap is moving ahead, the world will have to "deal harshly" with the terrorist group Hamas, and other militants that oppose any deal with Israel. 11:49:22 PM    comment []

Iraqi women forced to wear veil UN officials in Baghdad are saying there is increasing intimidation and threats against women, even to the Christian minority, trying to force them to wear a veil. One Iraqi UN staff member recently received a handwritten letter at home saying she would be killed unless she started covering her hair. Iraq has traditionally been a secular society, but now a number of religious fanatics are trying to position themselves to get in power. 11:03:41 PM    comment []

Iranian dissidents speak out After five nights of violent protests in Tehran, 248 Iranian reformists have issued a strongly worded statement affirming that the people have the right to supervise the rulers. The statement said, in part: "Sitting or making individuals sit in the position of divine and absolute power is a clear heresy towards God and a clear affront to human dignity," This is a strong challenge to the supreme rule of the religious leader Ayatollah Khamenei. At the same time, reformsist and hardliners alike condemn the US for meddling in its affairs by supporting the demonstrations. The reformists fear that being closely associated with the US will result in a backlash against them. The police have reportedly arrested hardline vigilantes who attacked students in a dormitory, and stepped up security to protect the demonstrators against the violent vigilantes. State radio actually condemned them as "thugs." The current crisis can, as I see it, end one of two ways. Either serious reforms, or a violent crackdown from the authorites. Observers say that the reformists have increasing support in the population, especially in the cities. 8:26:25 PM    comment []

Men need more sleep Here's the research all men have been waiting for: Men need more sleep than women, and they don't deal with sleep deprivation as well as women. Lead investigator Dr. Alexandros Vgontzas, a Penn State psychiatrist, said the study showed that women slept more deeply than men and were more resistant to disturbances after sleep time was cut. "When women lost sleep, they were able to consolidate the sleep they did get," Vgontzas said. "Men were unable to do this and often felt the effects of the sleep loss more than the women." He suggests that women historically having had the main responsibility for care of infants has given women better resistance to sleep problems. 8:01:32 PM    comment []

The end of the world, again! Religious apocalyptics is today a fringe belief, but the end of the world seems to be a fetish humanity doesn't abandon easily. Especially since Hiroshima, fears of the end of civilisation and humanity has been fed also from scientific sources. To its credit, we can say that secular apocalyptics, unlike its religious ancestor, built on some scary and unfortunate facts. Yet, the fact that humanity and civilisation is thriving like never before is at least evidence that some past predictions were overstated, be they fears of a nuclear holocaust or dire warnings about a total environmental breakdown. Martin Rees has written a book continuing the tradition of secular apocalyptics called Our Final Century: Will the Human Race Survive the Twenty-First Century? and The Guardian's Oliver Morton has written an interesting review with some comments of his own. Rees says that the odds of civilisation coming to an end in this 21st centuury is roughly 50:50. He also worries about other threats: terrorism, biotechnology and nanotechnology. This worry is so real to Rees that he has offered a $1,000 wager on a death toll of a million or more due to a single act of terror (or error) using these technologies within the next 20 years One of the more bizarre end-of-world scenarios is the so-called "grey goo" apocalypse, where we develop nanobots, self-replicating machines, that come out of control and rapidly consume the entire biosphere. The problem with that scenario, as I see it, is that such self-replicating nanobots already exist: bacteria. They replicate so rapidly that if they were not kept in check, they would cover the entire world in appropriately-coloured goo in a matter of days. So why don't they? Because they have limited resources from which to create replicates of themselves. They are also rapidly destroyed by predators, natural hazards and lack of resources. Morton argues quite convincingly, I think, even though I have not read Rees' book, that the threat is grossly overstated. And in that, it falls into a long line of predecessors. 5:17:12 PM    comment []

The cultural left has betrayed secularism Daniel G. Jennings makes an interesting, if slightly overstated, argument that the Cultural Left has abandoned the scene by adopting a form of moral relativism that plays into the hand of religious fundamentalism. The Cultural Left's belief system is a threat to secularism on many levels, but three reasons stand out above all others: 1.) extreme relativism, 2.) hostility to traditional Western culture, and, 3.) the view that academia, scholarship, education, science, culture and the arts are nothing but weapons for use in political and ideological warfare. I agree that by adopting the intellectually bankrupt postmodern discourse leftists are playing into the hand of religious fundamentalists, which seems to dominate the right, especially in the US. I agree with his criticism of the extreme relativism, but what Jennings does not mention is the inherent contradiction between points 1) and 2) above. Extreme relativism is the belief that all values, beliefs, cultures, ideas and ideologies are of equal value. Worse it is the idea that it is wrong to judge or evaluate any belief or idea by moral or empirical criteria. In this world view it is wrong to judge a belief system such as Communism or racism as evil because of its destructive effects. Extreme relativists also believe that it is wrong to evaluate ideas or belief systems based upon empirical criteria such as science. It is simply not true that academics on the cultural left really are extreme relavists. They apply moral criticism and relatvism ad-hoc. Western values and institutions are fair game for moral criticism, including racism when it occurs in the west. They criticise capitalism and civil society and denounce it as evil, based on perceived or real bad consequences, why they refuse to accept that e.g. Islamism can be subject to any serious moral criticism. "Capitalists" are, in their view, evil, cunning and plotting for world domination. Islamists are, on the other hand, not free moral agents, they are just pawns that must be understood as consequences of western imperialism. In their weird argumentation, Bin Laden is a Frankenstein monster created by the CIA and a proportionate response to the evils of western imperialism and cultural domination. Also, the cultural left shies away from criticising the extreme oppression of women in Islamic society, yet harshly criticises the much less severe discrimination of women in liberal western societies. Cultural relativism is an excuse to justify the appaling record on human rights of the majority of non-western cultures in the world, while still somehow being able to denounce what on objective basis is the best society ever devised for humans to live and thrive in: western society. 12:59:59 PM    comment []

No candle in the dark! In the exciting series "parody or real fundue site": Here is an ill-designed webpage telling us that candles attract demons. I have to bring this wisdom to you in its entirety: Elsewhere we talk about objects in your home that can be "hosts" for demons. Candles can also be a "host". A former African witchdoctor who practiced witchcraft for over twenty years said that demons are attracted to the substance candles are made out of. Candles were a part of his witchcraft. It does not matter what color, shape, or smell they have. When lit, the smell of the candle also calls on another big time demon. Is it a wonder why the candle business is in the Billions of dollars a year! No wonder too that so many churches have candles all over the place. Get rid of all your candles. You may just be getting rid of some of your problems. This also pertains to incense. For those Bible researchers who read that "candles" were mentioned in the Bible, look in your Strong's concordance. The Original term is "lamp" "oil" or "oil lamp", NOT "candle". The menorah tradition goes back to 165 B.C. They did not use candles, but used oil. After you get rid of the candles, command all the demons to leave you and your property, in the name of Jesus, JUST IN CASE. What if the lights go out, you say? Use a flashlight! So there you have it. Oil si good, candles are bad. Dick Cheney could not have said it better. I wonder if this guy scores if he invites his girlfriend to a romantic flashlight dinner for two? 11:35:59 AM    comment []

Tough talk from Karzai Afghan President Hamid Karzai is a good candidate for having the most difficult (and dangerous) job in the world. In fact, he is sometimes criticised by his friends for being too nice, too patient.  Well, according to this article, his patience is about to run out, and he is demanding that the different fractions and warlords toe the line. Or else. 9:57:03 AM    comment []

Hold the press! The French forces in Congo came under fire for the first time today, and they fired back! 12:00:24 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2003 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.07.2003; 00:25:23.