4. november 2003

Japan to review constitutional pacifism A poll of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party candidates in Japan, widely expected to win the election, shows that around 90 per cent favours changes to the country's near-pacifist constitution. It is the growing threat of North Korea that has prompted the Japanese to make changes permitting Japan to respond militarily to a threat against its allies, now prohibited in the country's post-WWII constitution. 9:51:12 PM    comment []  trackback []

We are eating a galaxy A galaxy that has until now escaped notice by hiding behind a dust of cloud has just been discovered about 25,000 light years from Earth, making it the closest neighbour of our Milky Way. And it seems that our galaxy is pulling in stars from its neighbour, and may consume it in "a few billion years." 9:43:57 PM    comment []  trackback []

Worst album covers ever These are all very strong contenders for the prize. Good grief! I still think my own candidate lines up well, though. 6:59:17 PM    comment []  trackback []

Sri Lankan crisis What Sri Lanka President Chandrika Kumaratunga has done while prime minister Ranil Wickramasinghe is in the US looks almost like a coup d'etat. The president uses the "security situation" as an excuse. The president has been opposed to the peace process with the Tamil Tigres, but her party was badly bruised in the last parliamentary election. However, the president retains wide powers. 4:51:56 PM    comment []  trackback []

EU poll: Israel greatest danger to world peace A public opinion poll in the EU has revealed that fully 59% of Europeans answer "yes" when they are asked if Israel is a threat to world peace. On the place behind followed North Korea, Iran and the USA, all on 53 per cent, closely followed by Iraq (52%), Afghanistan (50%) and Pakistan (48%). Countries like Saudi Arabia, China and Russia were all further down the list. Israeli politicians were enraged at the apparent show of widespread anti-Semtism in the EU, and the Brussels embassy issued a statement: "Europeans seem blind to Israeli victims and suffering. Instead, they have put the Jewish state below the level of the worst pariah state and terror organizations," it said in a statement. "We are not only sad but outraged. Not at European citizens, but at those who are responsible for forming public opinion," the embassy added. "Israel's desperate struggle for peace and security for its people has been distorted beyond recognition in often one-sided and emotionally charged media coverage."  The poll caused red faces in the EU bureaucracy and among EU politicians alike. Italy, which holds the rotating EU presidency, downplayed the importance of the poll, which had been stupidly requested by the European Commission in the first place. While quite disturbing, a few things are worth noting: First, countries that appear in the press a lot are considered a danger. In fact, the results looked more like a poll of which countries have received negative coverage in the media over the last few years. If you had asked two years ago, no doubt Afghanistan would have scored higher. One year ago, Iraq would. Second, the poll really asks an ambiguous question. A respondent who does not dislike Israel may well answer that "Israel" is a threat to world peace simply because the whole situation in the Middle East is a threat. Since the Palestinian territories are "not a country", they were omitted from the opinion poll. Even with these caveats: It shows what happens when almost the entire European newsmedia presents a consistent anti-Israel message, year after year. It is rather amazing that European journalists scramble to "understand" and "analyze" murderous terrorists and extremists, to present a "balanced" story, yet does very little to present a pro-Israel or pro-American side of large-scale conflicts. 5:57:30 AM    comment []  trackback []

— Mixed race presenter too posh for the BBC Zenab Ahmed was until very recently a news presenter for BBC World Service. If you, like me, listen to them on the radio, you have heard her many times. From one day to the next, she was fired. In a letter published in The Telegraph, she explains the surreal rationale: The BBC has sacked me for sounding posh. At the moment, the World Service is on a mission to sound classless - hence the proliferation of Scottish, Welsh, Irish and Australasian voices. My accent - received pronunciation - is associated with a white, middle-class demographic. Which is ironic, because I am a mixed-race South Londoner: half-Pakistani, half-English and from a very ordinary background. The Beeb denies her version. 4:03:52 AM    comment []  trackback []

The Jesus formula Tonight, ABC apparently airs a film called Jesus, Mary and Da Vinci, based on a novel by Dan Brown called The Da Vinci Code. It speculates that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, that he had children and that there was a long-time conspiracy of sorts to hide this bloodline. The TV programme apparently takes this story seriously, and asks a number of well-renowed experts, who (I assume) don't. It is extremely popular to write speculative books about Jesus. You seem to be virtually guaranteed a lot of attention, and if you're really lucky, fundamentalists will publicly denounce your book and want to burn you on a fire. Jesus was married, Jesus was gay, Jesus travelled to India or Great Britain, Jesus used cannabis, and so on ad infinitum. It is a well-used formula for attention-grabbing bestsellers. The problem is: it is difficult to prove anything, or even make reliable guesses about Jesus, including that he even existed. The sources are sparse, unreliable and contradictory, so essentially anything goes. Could Jesus have been married to Mary Magdalene? Sure. He could also have been the secret lover of Pilate. Hey, wait, now that's an idea for a book... 2:31:08 AM    comment []  trackback []

Lego album covers Famous music album covers in lego figures! Recognise the one above? 12:23:08 AM    comment []  trackback []

© Copyright 2003 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.12.2003; 12:11:51.