30. oktober 2003

Blogging can get you sued Blogger Atrios on Eschaton called NRO columnist Donald Luskin a 'stalker' (and a few other disparaging remarks), and a few of the readers made comments that weren't too nice to Mr Luskin. The blogger has now received legal threats to take down the offending post and the comments. 10:53:57 PM    comment []  trackback []

Blogging can get you fired The eclectisism blogger posted a photograph of a Mac at Microsoft's campus, where he worked as a temp, and was immediately fired. 9:18:38 PM    comment []  trackback []

Lie detector test for girlfriend I just read an utterly disturbing letter to "dear prudence" from a woman whose boyfriend has not only asked her to take a lie detector test to 'prove' she is not unfaithful, but has actually arranged for one to be taken. Run, don't walk! 4:59:03 PM    comment []  trackback []

Protection From Pornography Week, 2003 George Bush has proclaimed this week to be the Protection from Pornography Week. Any word about spam there? Hmm, I don't think so. Interesting, because porn spam is one of the few ways you can be subject to pornography that you didn't solicit yourself. If you read the President's declaration, you will see it talks a lot about child pornography. Everybody sane agrees that this is a scourge that should be wiped out, especially as children are being abused when it is created. However, when you read this proclamation, it muddles the issue by seemingly confusing children being exposed to (adult) pornography and child pornography. The "danger" of children being "exposed to" normal pornography is one issue, pornographic descriptions of sexual exploitation of children is something entirely different, and these are not at all related. The whole crusade against porn online, since way before the days of the infamous "Computer Decency Act", has relied on muddling this crucial difference, and Bush's recent declaration is no exception. Isn't that exactly the opposite of what we should do if we wanted to fight child pornography? 3:22:41 PM    comment []  trackback []

UK Tories sack leader Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith gave an impassioned speech before the no-confidence vote, but he was still defeated by 90 to 75 votes. The Tory party will now have to select a new leader to take them into election against Tony Blair's Labour party. Michael Howard (picture) is appearing as the strongest contender for the position, even though he has not yet stated that he's willing to stand. Whoever gets the job will have a lot of work to do, and a lot of mess to clean up. 4:40:00 AM    comment []  trackback []

A Baghdad family Interesting picture & words series on BBC News, presenting a typical (we are told) Baghdad resident, Hashim Kadhim, and his extended family. Quite interesting and enlightening. From his words, we hear about the electricity and water supply being much improved, something very underreported in the western press (unless you count the press stopping to complain about it)  Is it just me, or has the beeb become a bit conscious about giving a more balanced view lately? 3:46:20 AM    comment []  trackback []

Study: Mothers smarter, calmer American Neuroscientist Craig Kinsley has found that rats who had given birth are calmer under pressure and less affected by adversity than their virgin sisters. He called the phenomenon "maternal induced neural plasticity." Examination of their brains showed there was less activity in the fear centers. Earlier, in 1999, he demonstrated that rats mothers were also more intelligent. Kinsley argues that as the brains of different mammals are so similar this is highly likely to be the same for human females, as well. Well, mothers have to handle stress better, so it makes sense. 1:04:11 AM    comment []  trackback []

© Copyright 2003 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.11.2003; 03:24:05.