| |
|
3. august 2007
|
|
Spammer gets 30 years:
Notorious spammer Christopher "Rizler" Smith was sentenced to 30 years in prison by a federal judge on Wednesday.
US District Judge Michael Davis called Smith a "drug kingpin" before throwing the book at him. Smith was convicted on charges of conspiracy, illegal distribution of drugs, money laundering and operating a continuing criminal enterprise.
Smith will have a lot of time to think up new ways to spell... well, you know. I don't want to encourage adsense...
The long sentence was not for the crime of spamming, of course, but because he sold drugs illegally. Whatever it takes...
9:07:55 PM 
|
|
 Congratulations to my old rock hero Brian May, legendary guitarist of Queen, who just handed in his PhD thesis in Astronomy.
May handed in the thesis, called Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud, to Imperial's head of astrophysics Professor Paul Nandra.
The guitarist is scheduled to discuss his thesis with the examining board on 23 August, his spokesman said. The results should be known some time shortly after that date.
Brian May had completed his Master in astrophysics and was working on a doctoral thesis when his amazing music career took off in the early 1970s. Now, May is 60 years old. Astrophysicist Dr Garik Israelian is not too sad for the long break, however, as he also is a big fan of Queen.
PS: The English junk press doesn't know the difference between astronomy and astrology. Good grief.
6:55:23 PM
|
|
Islamic creationism threatens science in Turkey and beyond:
On a recent afternoon inside Istanbul's busiest subway station, a young man beckoned commuters into a subterranean "fossil exhibit" full of skulls and insects dating back millions of years.
But this was no mainstream scientific display. One colorful poster advertised the "myth" of the evolution of the horse. Another, displaying a flying pterodactyl, denounced the evolution of birds as "fake."
The display is one of many traveling shows put on by the Foundation for Scientific Research, an Islamic creationist group that has become a household name in Turkey. Now, the groups says it is distributing its books – published in 59 languages including Arabic, Chinese, Swahili, and Polish – to 80 countries.
"Turkey is now the headquarters of creationism in the Islamic World. This is no longer only Turkey's problem, it is now the problem of the whole civilized world," says Haluk Ertan, a professor of molecular biology at Istanbul University. He's one of a handful of Turkish scientists who have been working to counter creationism's spread in the country.
American cultural imperialism is unfortunately more than McDonald's, Mickey Mouse and Paris Hilton.
6:40:45 PM
|
|
Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is obviously not afraid of being quoted out of context. He wants the US to learn from Hezbollah in Lebanon, more specifically when it comes to running social and health programmes to boost support for American values abroad.
In remarks caught on camera by C-SPAN, Romney stated, "Did you notice in Lebanon what Hezbollah did? Lebanon became a democracy some time ago, and while their government was getting under way, Hezbollah went into southern Lebanon and provided health clinics to some of the people there, and schools.
"And they (Hezbollah) built their support there by having done so. That kind of diplomacy is something that would help America become stronger around the world and help people understand that our interest is an interest towards modernity and goodness and freedom for all people in the world. And so, I want to see America carry out that kind of health diplomacy."
It is probably not a bad idea, neither is it very novel. The west is currently carrying out a massive international bribing scheme to get rogue governments to behave. North Korea was bribed into closing down its reactor. Libya was bribed into returning the medical workers falsely accused of injecting children with AIDS. The Arab governments are receiving a massive US arms deal, a bribe, to join a coalition to isolate Iran and Hamas. I could go on and on.
The difference? The west is bribing corrupt, despotic and extremist governments. Iran, through Hezbollah, is bribing, if this word can be used, the ordinary people into supporting its extremist ideas. It may not offer as immediate benefits, but the Iranian leadership, not hampered by four year terms, is thinking more long-term than the democratic governments of the west.
6:31:06 PM
|
|
The would-be terrorist who rammed a burning car into Glasgow airport and was hospitalised with severe burns has died.
Kafeel Ahmed, 27, had been in the hospital for a month with burns from the alleged attack on June 30, which followed a day after two failed car bombings in London. The other man in the car, Iraqi doctor Bilal Abdullah, has been charged with conspiring to set off explosions.
He was in coma the entire time. I almost said, unfortunately.
6:54:39 AM
|
|
|
© Copyright 2007 Jan Haugland.
Last update: 01.09.2007; 12:35:04.
|
|
|
