27. november 2003

Sanctity of marriage? "Do you want to know what's destroying the sanctity of marriage? Phone messages like the ones we'd get at my old divorce firm in Reno, Nev., left on Saturday mornings and picked up on Monday: "Beeep. Hi? My name is Misty and I think I maybe got married last night. Could someone call me back and tell me if I could get an annulment? I'm at Circus Circus? Room—honey what room is this—oh yeah. Room 407. Thank you. Beeep." It just doesn't get much more sacred than that." (Dahlia Lithwick in Slate)  But of course, in the never-never-land of religious fundamentalists, the real threat is the few people who actually want to marry, but aren't allowed to. 9:38:28 PM    comment []  trackback []

What creationist sites do to your brain Cretinist sites can provide for some entertainment, though, once you have some antidote at hand. I thought this was a great animated gif! 7:51:04 PM    comment []  trackback []

Iran: we have nothing to hide Iranian authorities say they welcome a new, tough nuclear inspection regime from the IAEA, insisting it has nothing to hide and thus nothing to fear. This comes after a stern censure from the UN body, and a warning that future violations will not be tolerated. Well, if Iran had nothing to hide, why exactly was that precisely what it was doing for 18 years of covering up its nuclear activities? I'd also be interested to know what IAEA really means when it says future Iranian violations will 'not be tolerated.' Another slap on the wrist? The IAEA reminds me about the old joke about what unarmed British policemen do to stop criminals. They say, "stop or I will say stop again." 7:02:30 PM    comment []  trackback []

That crushing feeling The International Space Station (ISS) is probably the last place you want to hear a crushing, metallic sound, but that is precisely what happened at breakfast time in high orbit. The crew, Michael Foale and Alexander Kaleri, investigated but could find no damage to any of the space station's systems. Most likely, some small object impacted with the craft. 4:41:39 PM    comment []  trackback []

Why the UN is a bad joke Israel has for decades been routinely hammered by United Nations General Assembly resolutions condemning it for any and all acts. The number of Muslim nations, earlier allied with the communist bloc and still allied to many non-Muslim non-aligned nations make sure any anti-Semitic statement gets a free run through the general assembly. Just for the heck of it, presumably, Israel has now tried to get a resolution passed that called for protection of Israeli children from terrorism, quite exactly mirroring one protecting Palestinian children that were passed earlier this month. A general assembly resolution carries no legal weight. To nobody's surprise, Egypt and other so-called non-aligned nations watered down the resolution text, including removing all references to Israeli children altogether, rendering the whole exercise moot. "Perhaps someone can explain to me why the hundreds of Israeli children killed or maimed in brutal terrorist attacks deserve less sympathy and attention," the Israeli ambassador said. Partly because the United Nations isn't. It is an organization of governments, not nations.And as long as a large number of its nations are not democracies, and many of those that are called democracies is it only in the name, it will at best be a forum for debate not a driving force for progress. And also, of course, because Muslim nations are unashamedly, openly anti-Semitic. European leftists are strongly opposed to racism (as they should be), except racism from Muslims towards Jews, which they alternately embrace or excuse. Even when Muslim immigrants in Europe commit grave crimes inspired by anti-Semtism, it is typically excused by leftists as a problem with intergration, and the native population (and Ariel Sharon) is blamed for the problem. Perhaps this is the ultimate form of racism: Condescendingly refusing to allow individuals to take responsibility for their own actions. 3:26:57 PM    comment []  trackback []

Lord of the special effects The real star of the Lord of the Rings epic is "a 1,600 box server farm", says Wired. Churning out scenes like the destruction of Barad-dûr and the Battle of Pelennor Fields (with thousands of bloodthirsty CG Orcs) took 3,200 processors running at teraflop speeds through 10-gig pipes - that's one epic renderwall. The special effects people are playing around with a 10 Gbit network, 3,200 processors, 60 terabytes disk space. I could use some of that here. Countdown to December 17th! 12:01:37 PM    comment []  trackback []

Our demise may not come as quickly as you think Is Europe doomed? asks Bjørn Stærk, and discusses the flipside of European anti-Americanism: Americans who love to poke fun of Europe. I also detect a mirror of European anti-Americanism here. After everything Europeans have said about the US, of how it is a disgrace to civilization, how its people are mindless sheep and its leaders potential fascists, how refreshing it is to point at Europe's problems and say the same things back. And who can blame them? Europe's intellectual elites are a snotty bunch, petty and out of touch with the world they live in. They're "making mock of uniforms that guard you while you sleep". Which warblogger's pulse rate doesn't go up when some Frenchman derides the simplicity of good and evil, throw about internationalist buzzwords like they were axioms, and shoots dead cows at you from over the castle walls? Europe's self-image is a balloon waiting to be popped, and Americans awakened to European anti-Americanism are natural volunteers for the job. There is a serious amount of challenges ahead for Europe, and its ruling elites are certainly either blind to the challenges or prescribing the wrong medicine. But there is an in-built self-correcting nature in democracies. The first waves of voter rebellions have already come in the form of more or less dubious right-wing populist parties. But it is not going to be the last wave for reform. 11:53:18 AM    comment []  trackback []

Sea urchins long-lived Red sea urchins, previously thought to live for a few decades at best, have been found to be 'practically immortal' by scientists. Even when they reach the age of 200, they show no signs of old age. When they die, it is usually due to predators or human harvesting. 1:44:14 AM    comment []  trackback []

EU online privacy laws tightened An EU ruling for a Swedish case will have dramatic impact on online privacy in the whole EU/EEC area. Essentially, anyone putting private information, video or pictures online is violating EU regulations. That will mean bloggers or homepage owners will need to obtain permission to put anything private, like the full name of a friend or a picture from a party, online. Of course, in real life overseeing such a law will be a logistical nightmare, so only the most extreme cases will be subject to removal notices from the national data registrars. 1:12:50 AM    comment []  trackback []

© Copyright 2003 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.12.2003; 12:14:31.