10. desember 2003

France and Germany whines part II: Iraq The US has decided that only companies from countries who participated in or supported the war on Iraq can bid on $18.6bn worth of contracts for Iraq's rebuilding. Paul Wolfowitz cites US' "essential security interests" as a cause of this rebuffing.  Of course, this means France and Germany are excluded. France questions the legality of the exclusion, and Germany says this is "unacceptable." Amusingly, it also means Canada is excluded. The North American relationship is really at an all-time low. Norway, on the other hand, is included, since we sent a small contingent to Iraq after the war, though we insisted the mission was "humanitarian" and not a part of the occupation force. 6:18:07 PM    comment []  trackback []

France and Germany whines part I: The EU France and Germany basically ran the European Union earlier, and with the new draft constitution changing the voting rules, the two countries intended to keep it that way even when the union is extended to 25 countries. But countries like Poland and Spain is not taking it lying down, and few now expect Valery Giscard d'Estaing's draft constitition to survive intact. 4:49:52 PM    comment []  trackback []

"Bends over backwards for special interests" It's been too long since I did some healthy Bush-bashing here, but in the meantime check out Mad Magazine's George W. Bush "G.I. Joke" Action Figure. 3:58:25 PM    comment []  trackback []

Which way for Russia? Is Vladimir Putin returning Russia to the undemocratic excesses of the past, or is he saving Russia's economy to leave a stable, powerful Russia as his legacy? WaPo columnist Steven Pearlstein argues that both is true, from a perspective. Putin is still the man western economic interests want in the seat of power. 7:28:52 AM    comment []  trackback []

Ups and downs I remember when I was a kid, that at irregaular intervals the YoYo craze came along. Suddenly everybody, at least all the boys, bought as Coca-Cola yoyo and played around with it for some months until it was over, and then the yoyos disappeared into the darkest corners of the boys' rooms. Apparently, for some it takes more time to get over it. Here is a few minutes of video footage from the Japanese National Championship in Yoyo, from an Icelandic (!) web site. 5:59:29 AM    comment []  trackback []

— Michael Jackson charges "unfounded" The Smoking Gun has released a confidential memo it calls a "bombshell" in the sexual abuse case against Michael Jackson. Earlier this year, Los Angeles police and child welfare officials investigated the same allegations about abuse of the cancer-stricken boy, and after extensive interviews concluded the claims were "unfounded." This may surely strengthen the defense, but obviously there are some law enforcement officials who disagree with the old conclusions, or some solid new evidence has surfaced in the meantime. 3:21:43 AM    comment []  trackback []

More on anti-Semitism Julie Burchell continues her attacks on anti-Semites during her final weeks as a Guardian columnist. She makes many good points, she doesn't mince words, and she is also careless with fact checking. The article starts: In 1967, Martin Luther King Jr published his Letter To An Anti-Zionist Friend: "Anti-Zionism is inherently anti-semitic, and ever will be. What is anti-Zionism? It is the denial to the Jewish people of a fundamental right that we justly claim for the people of Africa and freely accord all other nations of the globe. It is discrimination against Jews... because they are Jews. In short, it is anti-semitism." MLK - what a mensch! A saint in the street; a superman in the sack. And this being so, no reason at all to be envious of the Jews. The "letter" she quotes has actually never been confirmed to be genuine, even though the opinions expressed in it are consistent with Martin Luther King's statements on Israel and the Jews elsewhere. During a debate on Harvard he responded to a hostile student's question with these words: “When people criticize Zionists they mean Jews, you are talking anti-Semitism.” So obvious, and yet so controversial, even so many years later. 1:32:49 AM    comment []  trackback []

Attack of the killer Segways The Pentagon has given the scientists and geeks at DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) the task of investigating the development of a military version of the Segway scooter as a robot soldier. Already, researchers at US universities are playing around with segbots, with (as the linked video clips shows) varying degrees of success.  ObGeekNote: Before the Internet got its present name, it was called DARPANet. Yes, it was these people that invented a lot of what became the Internet. Maybe Gulf War III will be fought by an army of robot Segways. We already know that a Segway can tumble a mighty leader. 12:44:39 AM    comment []  trackback []

© Copyright 2004 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.01.2004; 02:46:34.