29. mars 2004

Diebold and all that If you're skeptical about paperless electronic voting, you are not going to be less so after reading this Wired article. Very scary, long article. There is just no excuse for having e-voting without a verifiable paper trail. None at all. 11:06:34 PM    comment []  trackback []

Goodbyes we like to see I agree with Tim that Ron Rosenbaum's Goodbye, All That: How Left Idiocies Drove Me to Flee is a must-read. He's had enough with the left's rationalisation of Marxist genocide, love of every third world mass murderer who calls himself a freedom fighter, and the tireless hatred of America. 9:11:10 PM    comment []  trackback []

Kickbacks to Saddam and kicks to the UN William Saffire is doing a follow-up on the UN oil-for-palaces scandal. This is definately the most unerreported story of the year. The press would rather beat up on Bush, and there are lots of very powerful people who'd rather see this go away. You think the French and the Russians, or the UN bureocrats, would want to see this subjected to a real independent investigation? Nothing doing, said France's U.N. ambassador, Jean-Marc de la Sablière. The money for the huge heist known as the Iraq-U.N. account passed exclusively through BNP Paribas. French companies led all the rest (what's French for "kickback"?), though Vladimir Putin's favorite Russian oligarchs insisted on sharing the wealth. That explains why Paris and Moscow were Saddam's main prewar defenders, and why their politicians and executives now want no inquiry they cannot control. Nor are the White House and State Department so eager for a real investigation, because as the truth emerges, the U.N. may use the furor as cover for refusal to confer its blessing on the new Iraq. Our present and former U.S. ambassadors to the U.N. would have to take issue with Annan if he tried to hide under their wing. Peter Burleigh and Andrew Hillman, our frequent representatives on the "661 committee" — so named for a sanctions resolution — are not about to be the U.N.'s scapegoats. The new Iraqi government and the Iraqi free press are probably our best bets to get to the bottom of this. 6:55:00 PM    comment []  trackback []

Attention to detail Jon Ronson looks inside the late filmmaker Stanley Kubrick's house and massive archive, pondering whether his immense attention to detail is the secret of his film magic. Great article! 6:29:23 PM    comment []  trackback []

Methane on Mars: possible indication of life The planet Mars keeps teasing us with new indications that it have (not only had) life: It is now discovered that there is Methane in the Martian atmosphere. This gas is continuously broken down so this means it has to be replinished. It can either come from active volcanoes, none of which have been found, or microbes. Nothing definite yet. 4:33:54 PM    comment []  trackback []

Voters send blunt message to Chirac The regional elections became a devastating defeat for French president Jacques Chirac's and his centre-right UMP party. The opposing socialists, communists and greens picked up 50% of the vote, leaving only 36.9% for UMP. The right wing extremists in Le Pen's National Front picked up 12.5%, approximately the support they have had for a long time. While no national representatives were on the line, everybody interpret this as voters having sent a stinging message to Chirac and prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin. Chirac is no doubt pondering the wisdom of sacking Raffain now.  Voters are protesting France's massive unemployment (a long term problem), bad economy and Chirac's feeble attempts at reforming the public sector. The French will not give up their welfare programmes, and the fact that the country is in no position to pay for them is of little concern for the voters. The socialists, if they win the next election, may well roll back the few reforms already initiated. 3:39:03 PM    comment []  trackback []

Scholar threatened for insulting Indian hero Civil rights, like freedom of speech, are being eroded in India, where Hindu nationalists are rolling back the secular state, and extremism finds expression virtually unchecked. Just ask James W. Laine, an American professor of religious studies. In his book about a 17th-century Indian warrior king, Chhatrapati Shivaji, Mr. Laine included a few "naughty jokes" told to him by Indians about Shivaji's parentage. The jokes fell flat among Indians who idolize Shivaji as the only Hindu general capable of halting the advance of the invading Muslim Mughal empire. The book has been banned. Thugs ransacked the Indian institute where Laine did his research, and others attacked one of his former colleagues. Now, a state government in India has asked Interpol to help arrest Laine. A scary development, and it's been going on for quite some time. I have long been aware that religious studies (comparative, not divinities) is a potential minefield. Since I like my head next to my wardrobe, I have concentrated on Christianity and new religious movements. They can be bad enough. Hat tip to MacRaven. 5:07:34 AM    comment []  trackback []

Microsoft to release search services for news, blogs Microsoft is fighting for a larger share of the search market, and introduces two new services: MSN Newsbot, which sounds like a competitor for Google News, and MSN BlogBot, a blog search. Microsoft is claiming a first with MSN Blogbot, a service that will let users search Web logs, or "blogs," personal-journal type Web pages that have become increasingly popular. Many consumers even use blogs as a news source, according to Microsoft. Eh, Microsoft is right, Mr Journalist. Many of us are. Microsoft's MSN NewsBot is actually available already in beta. Yup, it reminds me about its competitor. Hmm, for some reasong I was automatically sent to the British version. Blogbot is not available yet, but I wonder what was here. Some weird cache data. 3:40:25 AM    comment []  trackback []

Yeech! I first assumed this had to be hoax: A doctor is telling people to pick their noses and eat it. Dr. Friedrich Bischinger actually exists, so if the story is fake, I'd expect some loud denials by now.  3:24:26 AM    comment []  trackback []

© Copyright 2004 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.04.2004; 02:27:31.