29. oktober 2003

New blog watch: evil wives part II I admit I have been slacking in keeping up with the local blog community. There are some great blogs starting up, and I haven't even noticed. I'll try to improve myself. Today, however, I could not miss a newcomer of the last week or so, with the title I am eating my husband's soul. The subtitle is "...and it isn't my first " You may get the impression from the title that it's just your average housewife, but it reveals some evidence of exquisite evil and cunning, and not a small bit of literary talent. Check it out! 11:13:16 PM    comment []  trackback []

Norway has the lowest tax level in Scandinavia Norway has lower tax rates than both Sweden and Denmark, and only slightly higher tax than the average in Europe, if that is a comfort to anyone. “The tax level has been lower in Norway than in both Sweden and Denmark for quite some time, but many people still believes that we are on the top,” said Ola H. Grytten, professor at the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration to Dagsavisen. “When compared with Western Europe, Norway is not far above the average.” We're still top of the class in complaining, though! 9:08:47 PM    comment []  trackback []

A gas cloud with our name on it A massive eruption on the Sun's surface has hurled a massive cloud of superheated gas and charged particiles against the Earth. It's not exactly Armageddon, as there have been two even more powerful incidents of this sort recorded earlier, but when the cloud reaches us, it can possibly create serious problems for communications satellites. PS: And for superman, since it looks like kryptonite on that picture. 5:12:20 PM    comment []  trackback []

Think tank: About 3,900 civilians killed in Iraq war The  Project on Defense Alternatives (PDA), a Massachusetts-based think tank, has gone through data from the major-combat phase on the Iraq war, and given a range of 11,000 to 15,000 total Iraqi casualties between March 19 and the end of April. Out of these, about 30% were civilian non-combattants. This approximately the same civilian death toll as the 1991 Gulf war, but it's worth noting that "the power and promise of the new warfare is evident in having achieved so much more in the 2003 war than in the 1991 war, while incurring a comparable or lower cost in lives". The Beeb tries to spin as well as it does, choosing the middle bound of 13,000 casualties for the total number of Iraqi victims, including soldiers, while using the highest bound of civilian casualties. From the mass graves still being found, there has been estimates of around 800,000 victims of Saddam Hussein's terror against his own people between the two Gulf wars. I heard this figure from Norwegian labour politician Torbjørn Jagland, who opposed the war. Even if this was an exaggaration, it is very reasonable to conclude that the Iraq war has already begun to save Iraqi civilian lives, despite the human cost of the invasion. 5:08:48 PM    comment []  trackback []

Bush slaps Boykin President Bush went far in criticising Lt. Gen. William G. 'Jerry' Boykin for his anti-Islamic remarks, but the administration seems to stop short of actually firing him. "There was concern about Gen. Boykin," the president said. "It seemed like to me that we've got a challenge to make sure that people in countries like Indonesia understand the nature of the American people, that how we think is going to be an important part of good diplomacy in the long run. That we've got to fight off the imagery of a society which condemns entire swaths of people because of the acts of a few — which is not the way we are." There are some growing hints that Boykin may be encouraged to find a more military and less political assignment, though. PS: Weird things happen when I put 'jerry' in double quotes. Damn radio! 3:09:33 PM    comment []  trackback []

Artist screwing his audience? "A pair of blow-up dolls engaged in a sex act and a sculpture of flesh devoured by thousands of maggots are among the shocking images on this year's Turner Prize shortlist." (Ananova) 3:36:45 AM    comment []  trackback []

Google for traitor When I see a lot of similar google hits, I know there is something special going on, but I have no way of finding out where it originated. At any rate, I have received lots of hits on "Traitor of Jesus" today, since my musings on Judas the Traitor gets a very prominent rank. 1:03:13 AM    comment []  trackback []

© Copyright 2003 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.11.2003; 03:23:57.