Monday, February 25, 2008
Nokia Morph
Called Morph, the technology is working on turning a fiber similar to spider silk into the basis for all manner of flexible, shape-shifting gear.
The Magerius Mosaic
How a Roman amphitheatre really worked
"Roll up! Roll up! Roll Up! There will be a magnificent spectacle at the amphitheatre today, and you mustn't miss it! Magerius is giving it. Of course, you all know Magerius who has just finished his term of office as mayor. He's a pompous old ass but he thinks the world of himself and he's going to lay on a big spectacle and he is paying through the nose for it, and he wants everyone to know how generous he has been."
Read more here.
"The industry in general has actively been pushing to rid itself of dependance upon Microsoft controlled standards"
And isn't that the real reason after all?
Lessons from the Death of HD-DVD
Over the last few months, HD-DVD appeared to rapidly fall from its apparent position as promising new disc format–touted by supporters as being technically superior, significantly cheaper, and less restrictive–down to a harsh new reality of scheduled death. However, the fate of HD-DVD wasn’t nearly as unpredictable as some seemed to think. Here’s why HD-DVD’s end should not have been a surprise, what lessons can be learned from its death, and what its demise means for Microsoft.
Read more here.
Lessons from the Death of HD-DVD
Over the last few months, HD-DVD appeared to rapidly fall from its apparent position as promising new disc format–touted by supporters as being technically superior, significantly cheaper, and less restrictive–down to a harsh new reality of scheduled death. However, the fate of HD-DVD wasn’t nearly as unpredictable as some seemed to think. Here’s why HD-DVD’s end should not have been a surprise, what lessons can be learned from its death, and what its demise means for Microsoft.
Read more here.
Who Owns History?
Over the past few months, I made what you could call a farewell tour, except I wasn't the one going away. What I did was set out to bid goodbye to a few favorite works of art that would soon be departing the U.S. for good. First I headed to California and the Getty Villa in Malibu, a museum devoted to the ancient Greeks, Etruscans and Romans. I wanted a long last look at its statue of a goddess from the 5th century B.C. Scholars are divided over just which goddess she represents, but whoever she is, at 7.5 ft. (2.3 m) tall, she's a formidable woman, one of the most powerful works in the Getty's rich collection.Or she was...
Read more here.
Uncovered Photos Offer View of Lincoln Ceremony
A news item caught my eye a few months ago that made me smile in wonder.
The Library of Congress had discovered unseen photos of President Abraham Lincoln's second inauguration. They'd been housed at the library for years, hidden by an error in labeling.
Read more here.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Pakistan 'sparks YouTube outage'
More government censorship, briefly affecting us all.
Pakistan's attempts to block access to YouTube has been blamed for an almost global blackout of the video website for more than an hour on Sunday.
BBC News has learned that the outage was almost certainly connected to Pakistan Telecom and Asian internet service provider PCCW.
A leading net professional said the global outage was "probably a mistake".
Read more here, if Pakistan will permit it.
The Amber Room found?
German treasure hunters using electromagnetic pulse measurements are "90% sure" the Russian "Eighth Wonder of the World" was buried by the Nazi's in a man-made cavern 20 meters underground near the village of Deutschneudorf (map), but it will take "..until Easter to get into the chamber because it may contain booby traps and has to be secured by explosives experts.. The chamber is likely to be part of a labyrinth of storage rooms that the Nazis built." Russia is eyeing its return, "If, hypothetically speaking, the room still exists."
Rotten Neighbor
Rottenneigbor.com. Add your opinions of your neighbours to Google Maps.
This has to be one the dumbest ideas out there on the net, made by people who obviously don't get out much.
1.
Find and post good and bad neighbors by searching your desired area.
2.
Add to our database by clicking the map, then rate and review.
3.
Help yourself and others across the world find their dream neighborhood.
4.
Track the murder rate increase as your neighbors begin to read this crap.
Ok so #4 isn't part of it, but 1-3 is.
Very bad idea. This will not end well.
This has to be one the dumbest ideas out there on the net, made by people who obviously don't get out much.
1.
Find and post good and bad neighbors by searching your desired area.
2.
Add to our database by clicking the map, then rate and review.
3.
Help yourself and others across the world find their dream neighborhood.
4.
Track the murder rate increase as your neighbors begin to read this crap.
Ok so #4 isn't part of it, but 1-3 is.
Very bad idea. This will not end well.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
Male and Female
DeMille!
Male and Female, 1919. What is it about? Humm...it's like 'Remains of the Day' meets 'Survivor' meets 'Gilligan's Island' meets 'Wtf was that'...
It is a story of class, of fortune's reversal (even though it is locked in it's time), but I don't think that's why contemporary audiences went to see it.
The kid gets it.
Yup, Sex. Gloria Swanson's thigh..in 1919!
And then there's the bathtub sequence. Even at the time this was seen for what it was, an advertisement for the latest fixtures..and Gloria's too.
Anyywayyy, the story involves a group of upper class Brits and their servants who become ship wrecked together.
The wreck sequence is actually well done, with Miss Swanson flailing around in a flooding set that is pitching back and forth.
So the tables are turned and the servant becomes the master. The costumes are another matter...
Just then you think DeMille can't get any stranger though, along comes this:
A flashback involving the King of Babylon and a Christian slave girl (but you say, Babylon and Christianity together?...it's a movie).
In it, is this shot, surely one of the most famous from silent cinema.
Live lion, live Gloria. DeMille!
The Blarney stone
Big scandal in historical circles...
The millions who have made the pilgrimage to Blarney Castle in southern Ireland to kiss its "stone of eloquence" have put their lips on the wrong stone, according to a new book on the medieval fortress.
The term "Blarney talk" is thought to stem from Queen Elizabeth I who lost patience with the insolent excuses of a chieftain who refused to hand the castle to English forces and said: "Blarney, Blarney, I will hear no more of this Blarney!"
Anyone can try to gain Chieftain Cormac MacDermot Mor MacCarthy's gift for persuasive speech by climbing up to the battlements of one of Ireland's top tourist attractions, bending backwards over a long drop and kissing the "Blarney Stone".
But archaeologist Mark Samuel, co-author of a new book on the castle, says the stone which attracts 400,000 visitors a year cannot be "The" Blarney stone.
Read more here.
The custodians of the Blarney Stone yesterday disputed claims that pilgrims have been romancing the wrong stone.
Read more here.
The millions who have made the pilgrimage to Blarney Castle in southern Ireland to kiss its "stone of eloquence" have put their lips on the wrong stone, according to a new book on the medieval fortress.
The term "Blarney talk" is thought to stem from Queen Elizabeth I who lost patience with the insolent excuses of a chieftain who refused to hand the castle to English forces and said: "Blarney, Blarney, I will hear no more of this Blarney!"
Anyone can try to gain Chieftain Cormac MacDermot Mor MacCarthy's gift for persuasive speech by climbing up to the battlements of one of Ireland's top tourist attractions, bending backwards over a long drop and kissing the "Blarney Stone".
But archaeologist Mark Samuel, co-author of a new book on the castle, says the stone which attracts 400,000 visitors a year cannot be "The" Blarney stone.
Read more here.
The custodians of the Blarney Stone yesterday disputed claims that pilgrims have been romancing the wrong stone.
Read more here.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Iron Eyes Cody
Iron Eyes Cody, most famous as the Crying Indian from the 1970's PSA, had a much longer career than I had thought.
This came up as he appears (uncredited) in DeMille's Union Pacific from 1939, but he appeared in over 200 films going back to 1927 (he died in 1999).
Anyway, turns out he wasn't native American at all, but was born Espera De Corti, son of Sicilian immigrants...
Hooray for Hollywood...
Akira
A live action cartoon..can anyone say The Flintstones?
Warner Bros. will turn anime artist Katsuhiro Otomo's six-volume graphic novel "Akira" into two live-action feature films, the first of which is being fast tracked for release in summer 2009. Legendary will co-finance with WB.
Each feature will be based on three of the books in Otomo's series. The story takes place in New Manhattan, a metropolis that was rebuilt after being destroyed 31 years earlier. Otomo will exec produce the films.
Read more here.
Warner Bros. will turn anime artist Katsuhiro Otomo's six-volume graphic novel "Akira" into two live-action feature films, the first of which is being fast tracked for release in summer 2009. Legendary will co-finance with WB.
Each feature will be based on three of the books in Otomo's series. The story takes place in New Manhattan, a metropolis that was rebuilt after being destroyed 31 years earlier. Otomo will exec produce the films.
Read more here.
Fresh bread for condo dwellers
I didn't think sheep ate bread..no matter.
Now you can have fresh bread delivered to your condo, with freshbread.ca
Freshbread.ca was created to allow condominium owners all the benefits of an old-world European-style bakery. In fact, all our breads are baked fresh by Micaelense Home Bakery Limited. - a dedicated team of hard-working bakers.
I love condo dwellers, an endless source of amusement.
Now you can have fresh bread delivered to your condo, with freshbread.ca
Freshbread.ca was created to allow condominium owners all the benefits of an old-world European-style bakery. In fact, all our breads are baked fresh by Micaelense Home Bakery Limited. - a dedicated team of hard-working bakers.
I love condo dwellers, an endless source of amusement.
Possible Druid Grave found
Druids belong to the realm of myth -- archaeologists have never been able to prove their existence. But now researchers in England have uncovered the grave of a powerful, ancient healer. Was he a druid?
Read more here.
Read more here.
Ancient burials reveal foreign links in prehistoric Scotland
Recent analysis of 4,000-year-old pots recovered during an excavation of two graves at Upper Largie, near Kilmartin in Argyll and Bute, has provided exciting evidence linking prehistoric Scotland with the Netherlands.
Analysis of the pots by Alison Sheridan, of National Museums Scotland, has revealed early international-style Beakers of the type found around the lower Rhine, which is the modern-day Netherlands and a strange hybrid of styles that suggest Irish and Yorkshire influences.
Read more here.
Analysis of the pots by Alison Sheridan, of National Museums Scotland, has revealed early international-style Beakers of the type found around the lower Rhine, which is the modern-day Netherlands and a strange hybrid of styles that suggest Irish and Yorkshire influences.
Read more here.
Students march to vote
Early voting starts today in Texas. In Waller County, a primarily rural county about 60 miles outside Houston, the county made the decision to offer only one early voting location: at the County Courthouse in Hempstead, TX, the county seat.
Prairie View A&M students organized to protest the decision, because they felt it hindered their ability to vote. For background, Prairie View A&M is one of Texas' historically Black universities. It has a very different demographic feel than the rest of the county. There has been a long history of dispute over what the students feel is disenfranchisement. There was a lot of outrage in 2006, when students felt they were unfairly denied the right to vote when their registrations somehow did not get processed.
So in 2008, they said fuck that shit, and are marching to vote.
Yeah!
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Leaked official RIAA training video
If this is for real...and yes I do realize they're referring to large scale copying...
"When you buy a CD, would you like it with or without—the with is enclosing a piece of crack or whatever the case may be."
View more here.
"When you buy a CD, would you like it with or without—the with is enclosing a piece of crack or whatever the case may be."
View more here.
Madge dies at 100
Comic Barry Humphries gave actress Emily Perry her big break when he hired her to play Dame Edna Everage's long-suffering bridesmaid, Madge Allsop.
The pair toured the world, appearing side-by-side on stage and Dame Edna's chat shows.
Humphries paid tribute to Perry, who died aged 100.
Read more here.
The pair toured the world, appearing side-by-side on stage and Dame Edna's chat shows.
Humphries paid tribute to Perry, who died aged 100.
Read more here.
The Cheat
It's rape, attempted murder, deceit, greed and the Yellow Peril! It's DeMille!
This time an early silent, 1915's The Cheat. It exist through only one copy, an 1918 rerelease that saw the main villain (Sessue Hayakawa) changed from Japanese to Burmese (Japanese Americans complained even in 1915. Seems it was ok to offend the Burmese at this period).
And is it offensive? Oh baby, is it. As offensive as Birth of a Nation, released the same year? No, but it's in the top 5.
Here he is in the dramatically lit opening scene, playing with his little branding iron. Gee I wonder if he uses it later...
Again with the drapes. The story is of one foolish and selfish woman, her not to bright but loving husband (could his mustache be more mannered?), and the aforementioned Villain.
Yes, the tabloids were a problem even then. The film has nice touches like this.
And this too, light and shadow used to great effect. Touches of Noir, 30 years early.
Kato, fetch my eyeliner, now!
So if you're looking for hair pulling over the top silent melodrama of the highest order, look no further than this film. Just don't throw things at the screen at the end.
China riveted by stolen sex photos of Hong Kong stars
An unlikely coalition of pop idols, communist censors, Hong Kong police and a Catholic bishop are fighting to stifle the biggest celebrity sex scandal in the history of the Chinese internet.They are struggling to halt the spread of thousands of lurid digital photographs apparently showing one of Hong Kong's most famous actors, Edison Chen, in bed with eight of the territory's top actresses and singers.
The images - illegally copied from the star's customised pink MacBook - have prompted a media frenzy here that has eclipsed the fixation about Britney Spears in the English-language web.
As well as crashing servers in celebrity-obsessed Hong Kong, the gossip has spread to the mainland, where one online discussion generated more than 25m page views and 140,000 comments.
Read more here, no pics tho. This site has more, eww.
Shlomo Benizri is an idiot
Yes sad but true, but I call 'em as I see 'em.
Seems idiocy is not restricted to Christians, God Damn it.
The recent earthquake that was felt across Israel was the result of the "homosexual activity practiced in the country", Knesset Member Shlomo Benizri said Wednesday.
During a special Knesset session on Israel's preparedness for the possibility of another earthquake hitting the region, the Shas member said "the Gemara refers to earthquakes as disasters, but you are searching only for the practical solutions how to prevent and repair.
"But I no of another way to prevent earthquakes; the Gemara mentions a number of causes of earthquakes, one of which is homosexuality, which the Knesset legitimizes," Benizri said.
Yes, gays cause earthquakes, and this man wins the coveted Idiot of the Day award!
Read more here.
Seems idiocy is not restricted to Christians, God Damn it.
The recent earthquake that was felt across Israel was the result of the "homosexual activity practiced in the country", Knesset Member Shlomo Benizri said Wednesday.
During a special Knesset session on Israel's preparedness for the possibility of another earthquake hitting the region, the Shas member said "the Gemara refers to earthquakes as disasters, but you are searching only for the practical solutions how to prevent and repair.
"But I no of another way to prevent earthquakes; the Gemara mentions a number of causes of earthquakes, one of which is homosexuality, which the Knesset legitimizes," Benizri said.
Yes, gays cause earthquakes, and this man wins the coveted Idiot of the Day award!
Read more here.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
"hear the internet"
Thousands of people chat online every day - but what does it actually sound like?
A new electronic art installation at the Science Museum in London endeavours to show just that.
Listening Post allows its audience to eavesdrop on the online world. Sampling text from thousands of chatrooms, message boards and forums, the artists have created a huge display that attempts to "hear the internet".
Read more here.
A new electronic art installation at the Science Museum in London endeavours to show just that.
Listening Post allows its audience to eavesdrop on the online world. Sampling text from thousands of chatrooms, message boards and forums, the artists have created a huge display that attempts to "hear the internet".
Read more here.
Car boot sale LP may fetch £5,000
A 1976 Rolling Stones album bought for £2 at a car boot sale, could fetch up to £5,000 at auction.
The album, owned by a Derbyshire man, is thought to be signed by the band and John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Paul and Linda McCartney and George Harrison.
Experts think the Black and Blue album was signed as part of a celebration to welcome Ronnie Wood, who replaced Mick Taylor in the band in 1976.
Read more here.
The album, owned by a Derbyshire man, is thought to be signed by the band and John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Paul and Linda McCartney and George Harrison.
Experts think the Black and Blue album was signed as part of a celebration to welcome Ronnie Wood, who replaced Mick Taylor in the band in 1976.
Read more here.
Lionel Richie on Helium
Who can forget the classic Drunk Teenager on Helium.
and of course David Letterman and Jane Pauley on Helium
Aussies: Kyoto should have been ratified
Conservatives get their ass kicked at the polls, and so *now* they regret not having ratified Kyoto.
Idiots. You listening Harper?
Read more here.
Idiots. You listening Harper?
Read more here.
Fidel Castro resigns as Cuban leader
and before all you Americans start dancing in the streets, saying what a horrible man he is, shut the fuck up as you torture now.
And the world knows it.
And the world knows it.
Monday, February 18, 2008
The Dumbing Of America
Any article that uses the word "Balderdash" is worth reading.
Oh sorry..Balderdash..sound it out..Bal..der..dash...good!
"The mind of this country, taught to aim at low objects, eats upon itself." Ralph Waldo Emerson offered that observation in 1837, but his words echo with painful prescience in today's very different United States. Americans are in serious intellectual trouble -- in danger of losing our hard-won cultural capital to a virulent mixture of anti-intellectualism, anti-rationalism and low expectations.
Read more here.
Oh sorry..Balderdash..sound it out..Bal..der..dash...good!
"The mind of this country, taught to aim at low objects, eats upon itself." Ralph Waldo Emerson offered that observation in 1837, but his words echo with painful prescience in today's very different United States. Americans are in serious intellectual trouble -- in danger of losing our hard-won cultural capital to a virulent mixture of anti-intellectualism, anti-rationalism and low expectations.
Read more here.
George W Bush: 7/7 bombings justify torture
The Sick Fuck Express™ continues, this time the main Fuck himself...
President George Bush has used the London July 7 bombings to justify his support for waterboarding, an interrogation technique that is widely regarded as torture.
In an interview with the BBC, he said information obtained from alleged terrorists helped save lives, something the families of the July 7 victims would understand.
Mr Bush maintains waterboarding, which simulates drowning, was not torture and is threatening to veto a congressional bill that would ban it.
The man is a criminal. He can call it anything he wants, it's still torture. Call him out on it.
Read more here.
President George Bush has used the London July 7 bombings to justify his support for waterboarding, an interrogation technique that is widely regarded as torture.
In an interview with the BBC, he said information obtained from alleged terrorists helped save lives, something the families of the July 7 victims would understand.
Mr Bush maintains waterboarding, which simulates drowning, was not torture and is threatening to veto a congressional bill that would ban it.
The man is a criminal. He can call it anything he wants, it's still torture. Call him out on it.
Read more here.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Saggers
Yes, videos devoted to wearing your pants real low...and dancing!
I present this one if only for its title: saggin thug nigga dance strip dance
I present this one if only for its title: saggin thug nigga dance strip dance
Cleopatra
DeMille!
This time it's his 1934 hit Cleopatra staring Claudette Colbert (with the lowest voice of anyone), Warren William as Caesar and Henry Wilcoxon (a DeMille regular, he making his first appearance sounding like a little girl) as Marc Antony.
This is a transition film, that shimmers on the border between silent and modern cinemas. Although techniques and lighting had progressed, much of the look of this film would have fit in well with any of DeMille's silent work.
As would some of the attitudes expressed. Woman are "playthings" and someone asks of Cleopatra "Is she black?"...
Cleopatra makes her entrance.
Though this film is not historically accurate in any way, it does contain nuggets of truth, as in the carpet incident above.
Yup, it's the drapes again, this time in the form of gifts from "all the empresses of the world". Neat.
Boy do we get the drapes, yards and yards, everyone is covered in it.
We spend half the film dealing with Caesar and Cleopatra, but we all know what happens to him. So now comes the moment we have been waiting for. No not that...
The Seduction of Marc Antony. Yes Ladies and Gentlemen, that is a woman lounging on a bull. Then it gets stranger. Actrobats, dancers and whip driven leopard women come next...and then...
No images can convey the bizarreness of this sequence, but the pay off is worth it. In one shot DeMille gives us the ultimate homage to um, rowing and silent movies he ever made.
Of course, it doesn't end well for Cleopatra either, but at least she's deified into St. Cleo at the end.
Listen to what this sick fuck Huckabee says
Call them out on it. These people are wrong, immoral. They want us to laugh along.
Secret papers reveal threats from Saudi prince
Why does anyone deal with these sleazy loosers?..oh yeah, that's why...
Saudi Arabia's rulers threatened to make it easier for terrorists to attack London unless corruption investigations into their arms deals were halted, according to court documents revealed yesterday.
Previously secret files describe how investigators were told they faced "another 7/7" and the loss of "British lives on British streets" if they pressed on with their inquiries and the Saudis carried out their threat to cut off intelligence.
Prince Bandar, the head of the Saudi national security council, and son of the crown prince, was alleged in court to be the man behind the threats to hold back information about suicide bombers and terrorists. He faces accusations that he himself took more than £1bn in secret payments from the arms company BAE.
Read more here.
Saudi Arabia's rulers threatened to make it easier for terrorists to attack London unless corruption investigations into their arms deals were halted, according to court documents revealed yesterday.
Previously secret files describe how investigators were told they faced "another 7/7" and the loss of "British lives on British streets" if they pressed on with their inquiries and the Saudis carried out their threat to cut off intelligence.
Prince Bandar, the head of the Saudi national security council, and son of the crown prince, was alleged in court to be the man behind the threats to hold back information about suicide bombers and terrorists. He faces accusations that he himself took more than £1bn in secret payments from the arms company BAE.
Read more here.
Friday, February 15, 2008
To the idiots in Bahrain
I'll let this report speak for me, morons
A NATIONWIDE crackdown on homosexuals could be launched in Bahrain, including tougher immigration checks to stop foreign gays entering the country. It would include a study to determine how widespread homosexuality is in Bahrain.
Parliament's foreign affairs, defence and national security committee has already backed the proposal, which would force the government to carry out the study.
The proposal was submitted by MPs belonging to the Al Menbar parliamentary bloc.
It is in response to what MPs see as Bahrain's growing gay problem and foreigners found to be gay face deportation, said committee secretary Jalal Fairooz.
He said the study was being carried out despite the fact that the Education Ministry claims there are no homosexuals in schools.
However, Mr Fairooz had no suggestions on how such a study could be carried out, saying it would be up to the government to decide.
"The Interior Ministry has told us that it already bans suspected homosexuals as they try entering the country from Bahrain International Airport," said committee secretary Jalal Fairooz.
However, he claimed the ministry said homosexuals pretend not to be gay by posing "manly" until they make it past immigration.
"They look manly as they come to the airport, but when they get in they return back to their unaccepted homosexual attitude," said Mr Fairooz.
"Homosexuals are found in huge numbers at hairdressing salons and beauty and massage spas, which the ministry regularly inspects."
However, he said many homosexuals were slipping through the net because the ministry was having problems determining if they were gay or not.
"Those who look homosexual or offer customers personal services are being caught by police and taken to the Public Prosecution," he said.
He described gays as "dangerous" and a "threat to our society and Islamic values".
"That's why the proposal asks the government to come up with a study on the problem and eliminate it before it increases and becomes hard to control, as more gays enter the country," he added..
There are not enough words to express how backwards this is..but the words above go a long way.
A NATIONWIDE crackdown on homosexuals could be launched in Bahrain, including tougher immigration checks to stop foreign gays entering the country. It would include a study to determine how widespread homosexuality is in Bahrain.
Parliament's foreign affairs, defence and national security committee has already backed the proposal, which would force the government to carry out the study.
The proposal was submitted by MPs belonging to the Al Menbar parliamentary bloc.
It is in response to what MPs see as Bahrain's growing gay problem and foreigners found to be gay face deportation, said committee secretary Jalal Fairooz.
He said the study was being carried out despite the fact that the Education Ministry claims there are no homosexuals in schools.
However, Mr Fairooz had no suggestions on how such a study could be carried out, saying it would be up to the government to decide.
"The Interior Ministry has told us that it already bans suspected homosexuals as they try entering the country from Bahrain International Airport," said committee secretary Jalal Fairooz.
However, he claimed the ministry said homosexuals pretend not to be gay by posing "manly" until they make it past immigration.
"They look manly as they come to the airport, but when they get in they return back to their unaccepted homosexual attitude," said Mr Fairooz.
"Homosexuals are found in huge numbers at hairdressing salons and beauty and massage spas, which the ministry regularly inspects."
However, he said many homosexuals were slipping through the net because the ministry was having problems determining if they were gay or not.
"Those who look homosexual or offer customers personal services are being caught by police and taken to the Public Prosecution," he said.
He described gays as "dangerous" and a "threat to our society and Islamic values".
"That's why the proposal asks the government to come up with a study on the problem and eliminate it before it increases and becomes hard to control, as more gays enter the country," he added..
There are not enough words to express how backwards this is..but the words above go a long way.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
US judge steps in to torture row
These people are so brazen now, so lacking in mortals, it turns the stomach. They want us all to be this way too.
The most outspoken judge on the US Supreme Court has defended the use of some physical interrogation techniques.
Justice Antonin Scalia told the BBC that "smacking someone in the face" could be justified if there was an imminent threat.
"You can't come in smugly and with great self satisfaction and say 'Oh it's torture, and therefore it's no good'," he said in a rare interview.
He also accused Europe of being self-righteous over the death penalty.
Read more here, in disgust.
The most outspoken judge on the US Supreme Court has defended the use of some physical interrogation techniques.
Justice Antonin Scalia told the BBC that "smacking someone in the face" could be justified if there was an imminent threat.
"You can't come in smugly and with great self satisfaction and say 'Oh it's torture, and therefore it's no good'," he said in a rare interview.
He also accused Europe of being self-righteous over the death penalty.
Read more here, in disgust.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
McCain votes for torture
"McCain chose to ditch his principles and instead vote to preserve waterboarding"
Do you need to know more?
Read more here.
Do you need to know more?
Read more here.
Viking women had sexy style
Women who lived in the major Viking settlement called Birka in the 9th and 10th centuries dressed in a much more provocative manner than previously believed. When the area around Lake Mälaren was Christianized about a century later, women’s dress style became more modest, according to archaeologist Annika Larsson.
Ingrid, you scamp, put that down!
Read more here.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Spielberg boycotts Olympic role
Finally, somebody does something.
US film director Steven Spielberg has withdrawn as an artistic adviser to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
In a statement, he accused China of not doing enough to pressure its ally Sudan to end the "continuing human suffering" in the troubled western Darfur region.
"I find that my conscience will not allow me to continue business as usual," said Mr Spielberg.
Read more here.
US film director Steven Spielberg has withdrawn as an artistic adviser to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
In a statement, he accused China of not doing enough to pressure its ally Sudan to end the "continuing human suffering" in the troubled western Darfur region.
"I find that my conscience will not allow me to continue business as usual," said Mr Spielberg.
Read more here.
US Compares 9/11 Trials to Nuremberg
Oh US, what an incredibly dumb thing to do...
The Bush administration has instructed U.S. diplomats abroad to defend its decision to seek the death penalty for six Guantanamo Bay detainees accused in the Sept. 11 terror attacks by recalling the executions of Nazi war criminals after World War II.
A four-page cable sent to U.S. embassies and obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press says that execution as punishment for extreme violations of the laws of war is internationally accepted and points to the 1945-46 International Military Tribunals as an example. Twelve of Adolf Hitler's senior aides were sentenced to death at the trials in Nuremberg, Germany, although not all were executed in the end.
Weren't some executed for torture...?
Read more here.
The Bush administration has instructed U.S. diplomats abroad to defend its decision to seek the death penalty for six Guantanamo Bay detainees accused in the Sept. 11 terror attacks by recalling the executions of Nazi war criminals after World War II.
A four-page cable sent to U.S. embassies and obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press says that execution as punishment for extreme violations of the laws of war is internationally accepted and points to the 1945-46 International Military Tribunals as an example. Twelve of Adolf Hitler's senior aides were sentenced to death at the trials in Nuremberg, Germany, although not all were executed in the end.
Weren't some executed for torture...?
Read more here.
Balimore cops V.S. skateboarder
"Is that camera on? Cause if I find myself on y...."
Speaks for itself. Had a similar experience once. Cops do this to kids.
Respect is earned, Dude.
"We've just sanctioned the single largest invasion of privacy in American history"
It's sad to see a country collapsing under it's own stupidity.
What should be the top story today is nowhere to be seen..in the MSM.
Senate Votes to Give Retroactive Immunity for Telecoms
A power that government has always wanted, they now have...which is perhaps the real reason Democrats voted for this too...they want this power, the people be damned.
Damned they seem to be. They really do think democracy works, that the people rule. Nonsense. This is just another example.
Cudos Gentlemen, you waited years for this. Your patience is rewarded.
Btw, Obama voted against this cowardly bill, and Hillary skipped voting..interesting..
What should be the top story today is nowhere to be seen..in the MSM.
Senate Votes to Give Retroactive Immunity for Telecoms
A power that government has always wanted, they now have...which is perhaps the real reason Democrats voted for this too...they want this power, the people be damned.
Damned they seem to be. They really do think democracy works, that the people rule. Nonsense. This is just another example.
Cudos Gentlemen, you waited years for this. Your patience is rewarded.
Btw, Obama voted against this cowardly bill, and Hillary skipped voting..interesting..
First Organic Molecules Found on Alien World
"The detection of planet HD 189733b is in some ways just another small victory for extra-solar planetary science. It is too hot for there to be anything 'alive'. Just the same, somewhere on the planet are trace amounts of the gas methane. The fact that the element was detected at all offers hope for understanding future discoveries of Earth-like worlds, says NewScientistSpace. Researchers from Caltech and University College London used the Hubble Space Telescope to peer at the planet and examined spectral signature of starlight filtered by the planet's atmosphere, to identify different chemicals. 'The authors suggest that some ill-understood chemical process might be responsible, either concentrating the methane in cooler parts of the atmosphere, or generating extra methane directly. Alternatively, the methane might simply mean that the planet happens to be very rich in carbon.'"
Druid Grave Unearthed in U.K.?
Historical records tell of a mystical, priestly and learned class of elite individuals called Druids among Celtic societies in Britain, but there has been no archaeological evidence of their existence. Until, perhaps, now.
A series of graves found in a gravel quarry at Stanway near Colchester, Essex, have been dated to 40-60 A.D. At least one of the burials, it appears, may have been that of a Druid, according to a report published in British Archaeology.
Read more here.
A series of graves found in a gravel quarry at Stanway near Colchester, Essex, have been dated to 40-60 A.D. At least one of the burials, it appears, may have been that of a Druid, according to a report published in British Archaeology.
Read more here.
llegal downloaders 'face UK ban'
People in the UK who go online and illegally download music and films may have their internet access cut under plans the government is considering.
A draft consultation suggests internet service providers would be required to take action over users who access pirated material.
But the government is stressing that plans are at an early stage and it is still working on final proposals.
Yeah whatever, I hope people in England fight this one tooth and nail. Leave the net alone motherfuckers.
as a commenter says: Isn't it strange that when corporations start loosing money the Government acts quickly to stamp it out
Read more here.
A draft consultation suggests internet service providers would be required to take action over users who access pirated material.
But the government is stressing that plans are at an early stage and it is still working on final proposals.
Yeah whatever, I hope people in England fight this one tooth and nail. Leave the net alone motherfuckers.
as a commenter says: Isn't it strange that when corporations start loosing money the Government acts quickly to stamp it out
Read more here.
Monday, February 11, 2008
South Korean Gate Destroyed in Fire
Very sad.
The destruction in a fire of the 600-year-old southern gate to what was once the walled city of Seoul, a landmark that survived foreign invasions and wars to be designated South Korea’s top national treasure, has shocked the nation.
Read more here.
The destruction in a fire of the 600-year-old southern gate to what was once the walled city of Seoul, a landmark that survived foreign invasions and wars to be designated South Korea’s top national treasure, has shocked the nation.
Read more here.
Speaking of crimes against humanity...
Troubled soul singer Amy Winehouse has dominated the 50th Grammy Awards -- the Oscars of the music industry -- taking home five of the most prestigious awards.
"Waterboarding is torture, and torture is clearly a crime against humanity."
Why It Was Called 'Water Torture'
Last week, much to my dismay, government officials testified before Congress that the United States has used the interrogation technique known as waterboarding and would like to hold out the option of using it in the future. As someone who has experienced waterboarding, albeit in a controlled setting, I know that the act is indeed torture. I was waterboarded during my training to become a Navy flight crew member. As has been noted in The Post and other media outlets, waterboarding is "real drowning that simulates death." It's an experience our country should not subject people to.
Read more here.
Last week, much to my dismay, government officials testified before Congress that the United States has used the interrogation technique known as waterboarding and would like to hold out the option of using it in the future. As someone who has experienced waterboarding, albeit in a controlled setting, I know that the act is indeed torture. I was waterboarded during my training to become a Navy flight crew member. As has been noted in The Post and other media outlets, waterboarding is "real drowning that simulates death." It's an experience our country should not subject people to.
Read more here.
Britain kow tows to China as athletes are forced to sign no criticism contracts
I'm so glad I have no corporate sponsorships, and can say what I want!
British Olympic chiefs are to force athletes to sign a contract promising not to speak out about China's appalling human rights record – or face being banned from travelling to Beijing.
The move – which raises the spectre of the order given to the England football team to give a Nazi salute in Berlin in 1938 – immediately provoked a storm of protest.
As it should. Why is the world even bothering to attend this Olympics?
Read more here.
British Olympic chiefs are to force athletes to sign a contract promising not to speak out about China's appalling human rights record – or face being banned from travelling to Beijing.
The move – which raises the spectre of the order given to the England football team to give a Nazi salute in Berlin in 1938 – immediately provoked a storm of protest.
As it should. Why is the world even bothering to attend this Olympics?
Read more here.
Bush the Smiling Monkey
No new law is going to change my mind, you sick fuck.
Of course the Fox interviewer frames the questions just so...
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Friday, February 08, 2008
Samson and Delilah
DeMille!
A while back I lamented the fact that deMille's 'Samson and Delilah' was unavailable on DVD, at least in North America. This is still the case, but a copy of it has surfaced, regrettably seemly stamped from a VHS original.
No matter.
Old Cecil was a surviver from the golden age of U.S. silent cimema, and that's one of the things I love about (most) of his movies: it shows. Everyone strikes theatrical poses, and man oh man the dialogue.
There is one laugh out loud scene in which Samson discovers his soon to be dead wife (and non Jewish wife tsk tsk) Angela Lansbury has betrayed him by giving away the answer to a riddle he'd posed her kin folk to fuck them up.
"If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle"
My first thought was, how did that get past 1949 censors? Easy silly, it's in the Bible!
DeMille's fascination with the opulent is in evidence, as here where two men discuss "gauss".
"Bring it over to the light"
Our stars, Victor Mature and Headly Lamarr.
That's Hedy Lamarr!
Sorry Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr, from the 1940's Eyebrow School of Acting. One two three, and Arch!
She is beautiful in this film, photographed in Techicolor.
Can't act her way out of a paper bag.
But who cares? DeMille!
Above all this though, this film is famous for its closing sequence, the granddaddy of all special effect shots (at least post WWII)
Ladies and Gentlemen, The Destruction of the Temple of Dagon.
Delilah!
An Informed Voter
A conservative interviewer begin with a slightly hostile manner. The young man doesn't swallow the bait, and proceeds to blow us away with something rare today, The Informed Voter.
As a commenter said "Interviewer got pwned"
Derek and Mike have a civilized discussion. Wonderful.
Feminists killed the Neanderthals
And in today's, um let's be kind, strangest theory of the day...
No one knows exactly why Neanderthals became extinct 30,000 years ago, but a new theory recently reported in the Boston Globe suggests that once able-bodied women, the "reproductive core" of their small population, began hunting with the men, it was game over.
Maybe they didn't like the cold reindeer meat...
Read more here.
No one knows exactly why Neanderthals became extinct 30,000 years ago, but a new theory recently reported in the Boston Globe suggests that once able-bodied women, the "reproductive core" of their small population, began hunting with the men, it was game over.
Maybe they didn't like the cold reindeer meat...
Read more here.
Sharia comments trigger criticism
The Archbishop of Canterbury has come under fire after appearing to back the adoption of some aspects of Sharia law in the UK...
...He said adopting parts of Islamic Sharia law could help social cohesion. For example, Muslims could choose to have marital disputes or financial matters dealt with in a Sharia court.
What, are you nuts?? Separate courts?? Are you fucking insane??
Dr Rowan Williams said the UK had to "face up to the fact" some citizens did not relate to the British legal system.
Then that is a problem "some citizens" have to put up with.
"there's one law for everybody and that's all there is to be said, and anything else that commands your loyalty or allegiance is completely irrelevant in the processes of the courts - I think that's a bit of a danger".
No, statements like this are the real danger. Do any world leaders today ever crack open a history book?
The Muslim Council of Britain said it was a complex issue in need of debate, but stressed it would only involve a "small aspect" of the law.
Ahhhh! no no no!
Read more here.
...He said adopting parts of Islamic Sharia law could help social cohesion. For example, Muslims could choose to have marital disputes or financial matters dealt with in a Sharia court.
What, are you nuts?? Separate courts?? Are you fucking insane??
Dr Rowan Williams said the UK had to "face up to the fact" some citizens did not relate to the British legal system.
Then that is a problem "some citizens" have to put up with.
"there's one law for everybody and that's all there is to be said, and anything else that commands your loyalty or allegiance is completely irrelevant in the processes of the courts - I think that's a bit of a danger".
No, statements like this are the real danger. Do any world leaders today ever crack open a history book?
The Muslim Council of Britain said it was a complex issue in need of debate, but stressed it would only involve a "small aspect" of the law.
Ahhhh! no no no!
Read more here.
Waterboarding is legal, White House says
Legal says who?
My American friends, you have a major problem on your hands. I can not believe an American President has stated this in my lifetime. Bush, you are a disgrace.
The White House said Wednesday that the widely condemned interrogation technique known as waterboarding is legal and that President Bush could authorize the CIA to resume using the simulated-drowning method under extraordinary circumstances.
The surprise assertion from the Bush administration reopened a debate that many in Washington had considered closed. Two laws passed by Congress in recent years -- as well as a Supreme Court ruling on the treatment of detainees -- were widely interpreted to have banned the CIA's use of the extreme interrogation method.
But in remarks that were greeted with disbelief by some members of Congress and human rights groups, White House spokesman Tony Fratto said that waterboarding was a legal technique that could be employed again "under certain circumstances."
Read more here.
My American friends, you have a major problem on your hands. I can not believe an American President has stated this in my lifetime. Bush, you are a disgrace.
The White House said Wednesday that the widely condemned interrogation technique known as waterboarding is legal and that President Bush could authorize the CIA to resume using the simulated-drowning method under extraordinary circumstances.
The surprise assertion from the Bush administration reopened a debate that many in Washington had considered closed. Two laws passed by Congress in recent years -- as well as a Supreme Court ruling on the treatment of detainees -- were widely interpreted to have banned the CIA's use of the extreme interrogation method.
But in remarks that were greeted with disbelief by some members of Congress and human rights groups, White House spokesman Tony Fratto said that waterboarding was a legal technique that could be employed again "under certain circumstances."
Read more here.
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Doctoral student makes discovery on Neanderthal eating habits
And what is this amazing discovery you may ask?
Wait for it
1
2
3
Early humans flocked to reindeer meat when the temperature dropped, J. Tyler Faith discovered.
No shit, cause who would eat it unless it was fucking cold outside...
Read more here.
Wait for it
12
3
Early humans flocked to reindeer meat when the temperature dropped, J. Tyler Faith discovered.
No shit, cause who would eat it unless it was fucking cold outside...
Read more here.
Boadicea
Silly title but interesting article.
She crucified her enemies and burnt London to the ground. Meet Britain's first feminist, Boadicea
Britain's history is rich in fiery queens, and the first such heroine, tall with red hair down to her waist, commanding and brave, was Boadicea, warrior leader of the ancient Britons.
She lived at the same time as the emperors Claudius and Nero, and led a surprisingly successful British revolt against Roman rule in AD60-61 (which, for reference, was when St Paul was writing epistles and St Mark composing his Gospel).
Read more here.
She crucified her enemies and burnt London to the ground. Meet Britain's first feminist, Boadicea
Britain's history is rich in fiery queens, and the first such heroine, tall with red hair down to her waist, commanding and brave, was Boadicea, warrior leader of the ancient Britons.
She lived at the same time as the emperors Claudius and Nero, and led a surprisingly successful British revolt against Roman rule in AD60-61 (which, for reference, was when St Paul was writing epistles and St Mark composing his Gospel).
Read more here.
Griffintown
The fight to keep Devimco from turning Griffintown in Montreal into a bland developers nightmare continues.
The proposed mega-development planned for Griffintown would rob the area of its unique character and turn it into another generic suburban development, a residents group has warned.
Chris Gobeil, a Griffintown resident and part of the committee for sustainable development in Griffintown, said the city should take the time to make a proper plan for the site rather than allowing one company, Devimco, to dictate what the area should look like.
"I can't say enough that I am totally in favour of redevelopment, but this plan of Devimco's just doesn't make any sense to me," Gobeil said.
The group held a brainstorming session last night to come up with alternative plans for the development to counter the Devimco project.
Of course Devimco has it's defenders...
"I think there is an advantage for one person to look over the whole project to make sure there is cohesiveness throughout, so you don't have one building with red bricks and a building next door with pink bricks"
Read more here. Read about a rather suspicious plan for a private U.S. hospital in the area here.
Hummmm...
Seems they see Griffintown as already a done deal...
Development of Griffintown is inevitable, Hakim [one of the developers] said.
"The downtown core has to expand and the only place it can expand is farther south," he said.
"This will become the new downtown core."
The proposed mega-development planned for Griffintown would rob the area of its unique character and turn it into another generic suburban development, a residents group has warned.
Chris Gobeil, a Griffintown resident and part of the committee for sustainable development in Griffintown, said the city should take the time to make a proper plan for the site rather than allowing one company, Devimco, to dictate what the area should look like.
"I can't say enough that I am totally in favour of redevelopment, but this plan of Devimco's just doesn't make any sense to me," Gobeil said.
The group held a brainstorming session last night to come up with alternative plans for the development to counter the Devimco project.
Of course Devimco has it's defenders...
"I think there is an advantage for one person to look over the whole project to make sure there is cohesiveness throughout, so you don't have one building with red bricks and a building next door with pink bricks"
Read more here. Read about a rather suspicious plan for a private U.S. hospital in the area here.
Hummmm...
Seems they see Griffintown as already a done deal...
Development of Griffintown is inevitable, Hakim [one of the developers] said.
"The downtown core has to expand and the only place it can expand is farther south," he said.
"This will become the new downtown core."
Romney drops out
Oh thank God. Which ever of you did it.
Now that his sons aren't fighting to see pop elected, they can join the army and do some real fighting...huh maybe?
Now read his speech, in which he begins by insulting France and it goes downhill from there.
"And Barack and Hillary have made their intentions clear regarding Iraq and the war on terror. They would retreat and declare defeat. And the consequence of that would be devastating. It would mean attacks on America, launched from safe havens that make Afghanistan under the Taliban look like child’s play. About this, I have no doubt."
Sigh
Read more here.
Still, Americans could still thumb their nose at the world and elect McCain...
"America must remain, as it has always been, the hope of the earth."
Except when it tortures.
Now that his sons aren't fighting to see pop elected, they can join the army and do some real fighting...huh maybe?
Now read his speech, in which he begins by insulting France and it goes downhill from there.
"And Barack and Hillary have made their intentions clear regarding Iraq and the war on terror. They would retreat and declare defeat. And the consequence of that would be devastating. It would mean attacks on America, launched from safe havens that make Afghanistan under the Taliban look like child’s play. About this, I have no doubt."
Sigh
Read more here.
Still, Americans could still thumb their nose at the world and elect McCain...
"America must remain, as it has always been, the hope of the earth."
Except when it tortures.
So why is Bush not a war criminal?
Bush approved CIA disclosure on waterboarding
U.S. President George W. Bush authorized the CIA to give its most detailed public account of its use of a widely condemned interrogation technique known as waterboarding, the White House said on Wednesday.
Read more here.
U.S. President George W. Bush authorized the CIA to give its most detailed public account of its use of a widely condemned interrogation technique known as waterboarding, the White House said on Wednesday.
Read more here.
Euphoria, uncontrolled
Ah Montreal..
The latest buzz in the city's Plateau Mont Royal district is around two psychoactive substances being served up to patrons of a small local café.
Montreal police, the Mounties and Health Canada agreed yesterday the two new offerings aren't illegal.
About a half-dozen Montrealers drop in daily - more on weekends - into the cozy, brown-themed café near Mount Royal, either to smoke salvia divinorum, a member of the sage family, or drink a type of euphoriant tea made from kratom leaves, said Matthew Lipscomb, the café's owner-operator.
Nobody's breaking any laws, added Lipscomb, who said he spent much of the past six months researching the substances.
Read more here.
My feeling, with a story like this out there, 6 months from now and it will be illegal...or taxed.
The latest buzz in the city's Plateau Mont Royal district is around two psychoactive substances being served up to patrons of a small local café.
Montreal police, the Mounties and Health Canada agreed yesterday the two new offerings aren't illegal.
About a half-dozen Montrealers drop in daily - more on weekends - into the cozy, brown-themed café near Mount Royal, either to smoke salvia divinorum, a member of the sage family, or drink a type of euphoriant tea made from kratom leaves, said Matthew Lipscomb, the café's owner-operator.
Nobody's breaking any laws, added Lipscomb, who said he spent much of the past six months researching the substances.
Read more here.
My feeling, with a story like this out there, 6 months from now and it will be illegal...or taxed.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Antiquity had more than a monochrome palette
We are so used to the white purity of ancient marble sculptures that we imagine the Greeks and Romans felt the same: certainly the artists and patrons of the Renaissance and later centuries believed that white was right. New research using strong raking light sources and beams of ultraviolet light has shown, however, that many Classical statues were gaudily painted in a plethora of colours.
Read more here.
Read more here.
CCTV
Putting the Dark in Dark Ages, it's The Christian Congress for Traditional Values!
Yet another psychotic Christian hate group, this one out of the U.K.
Seems they're running a ad stating "Gay Aim: Abolish the Family"
Whatever..We are Fammmilllyyyy....sorry
This is as nothing compared to their site..
Go ahead have a look, I'll wait...CCTV.ORG
Nasty enough for you?
Their lead story is about how upset they are that a law may prevent them from such things as "However, the Bible is not “polite” about homosexuality. It makes it very clear that homosexuality is an abomination before God (Leviticus 20:13) and those that engage in this behaviour are “unrighteous”, “wicked”, “haters of God”, etc (see Romans Chapter 1). It is essential that a freedom of speech clause is included to allow people to continue preaching the Gospel.
Thank God I have Romans Chapter 1 and the good folks at CCTV to tell me I'm a hater of God.
Jesus loves me this I know, cause the Bible tell me so...No he doesn't! Leviticus 20:13 sheesh!!!
There should be no law. We must face this kind of ugliness dead on.
Yet another psychotic Christian hate group, this one out of the U.K.
Seems they're running a ad stating "Gay Aim: Abolish the Family"
Whatever..We are Fammmilllyyyy....sorry
This is as nothing compared to their site..
Go ahead have a look, I'll wait...CCTV.ORG
Nasty enough for you?
Their lead story is about how upset they are that a law may prevent them from such things as "However, the Bible is not “polite” about homosexuality. It makes it very clear that homosexuality is an abomination before God (Leviticus 20:13) and those that engage in this behaviour are “unrighteous”, “wicked”, “haters of God”, etc (see Romans Chapter 1). It is essential that a freedom of speech clause is included to allow people to continue preaching the Gospel.
Thank God I have Romans Chapter 1 and the good folks at CCTV to tell me I'm a hater of God.
Jesus loves me this I know, cause the Bible tell me so...No he doesn't! Leviticus 20:13 sheesh!!!
There should be no law. We must face this kind of ugliness dead on.
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
U.S. acknowledges use of waterboarding
Senate Democrats demanded a criminal investigation into waterboarding by government interrogators Tuesday after the Bush administration acknowledged for the first time that the tactic was used on three terror suspects.
In congressional testimony Tuesday, CIA Director Michael Hayden became the first administration official to publicly acknowledge the agency used waterboarding on detainees following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Waterboarding involves strapping a person down and pouring water over his cloth-covered face to create the sensation of drowning.
Read more here.
That prompted Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., to call on the Justice Department to open a criminal inquiry into whether past use of waterboarding violated any law.
My jaw drops that they have to ask...
In congressional testimony Tuesday, CIA Director Michael Hayden became the first administration official to publicly acknowledge the agency used waterboarding on detainees following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Waterboarding involves strapping a person down and pouring water over his cloth-covered face to create the sensation of drowning.
Read more here.
That prompted Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., to call on the Justice Department to open a criminal inquiry into whether past use of waterboarding violated any law.
My jaw drops that they have to ask...
Admitting that you have no religion is not politically correct
A budding new freethought group at Wilfrid Laurier University made a dreadful mistake in their application: they actually admitted that their goal was "to promote science, freedom of inquiry, skepticism, and a good life without the need for superstition or religious belief." I don't know about you, but I think that final clause is rather an essential one for a freethought group, and is an important premise to lay out clearly. On the other hand, when was the last time you saw one of the ubiquitous campus religious groups state that they want to promote science, reason, skepticism, and open inquiry? They generally seem to be dedicated to the opposite.
Read more here.
Read more here.
Monday, February 04, 2008
Quarter of Brits think Churchill was myth: poll
UKTV Gold television surveyed 3,000 people.
3,000 very dumb people.
Britons are losing their grip on reality, according to a poll out Monday which showed that nearly a quarter think Winston Churchill was a myth while the majority reckon Sherlock Holmes was real.
The survey found that 47 percent thought the 12th century English king Richard the Lionheart was a myth.
And 23 percent thought World War II prime minister Churchill was made up. The same percentage thought Crimean War nurse Florence Nightingale did not actually exist.
Three percent thought Charles Dickens, one of Britain's most famous writers, is a work of fiction himself.
Indian political leader Mahatma Gandhi and Battle of Waterloo victor the Duke of Wellington also appeared in the top 10 of people thought to be myths.
Meanwhile, 58 percent thought Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective Holmes actually existed; 33 percent thought the same of W. E. Johns' fictional pilot and adventurer Biggles.
3,000 very dumb people.
Britons are losing their grip on reality, according to a poll out Monday which showed that nearly a quarter think Winston Churchill was a myth while the majority reckon Sherlock Holmes was real.
The survey found that 47 percent thought the 12th century English king Richard the Lionheart was a myth.
And 23 percent thought World War II prime minister Churchill was made up. The same percentage thought Crimean War nurse Florence Nightingale did not actually exist.
Three percent thought Charles Dickens, one of Britain's most famous writers, is a work of fiction himself.
Indian political leader Mahatma Gandhi and Battle of Waterloo victor the Duke of Wellington also appeared in the top 10 of people thought to be myths.
Meanwhile, 58 percent thought Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective Holmes actually existed; 33 percent thought the same of W. E. Johns' fictional pilot and adventurer Biggles.
Ticket fuels debate over using high beams to warn drivers of speed traps
Seems the only ones *debating* it are the fucking cops giving the tickets...
It's a universal, unspoken code of the road: a quick flash of the high beams to warn oncoming motorists about a looming police speed trap. But is it illegal?
That act of common courtesy got a Toronto man a $110 ticket and has spurred debate about whether drivers are legally allowed to communicate via their headlights, and whether the police officer in question overstepped his bounds in interpreting the law.
Similar tickets have been fought all the way to the Supreme Court in Alberta and Pennsylvania. A quick web search turns up countless discussions of whether or not flashing the high beams is a crime.
Read more here.
It's a universal, unspoken code of the road: a quick flash of the high beams to warn oncoming motorists about a looming police speed trap. But is it illegal?
That act of common courtesy got a Toronto man a $110 ticket and has spurred debate about whether drivers are legally allowed to communicate via their headlights, and whether the police officer in question overstepped his bounds in interpreting the law.
Similar tickets have been fought all the way to the Supreme Court in Alberta and Pennsylvania. A quick web search turns up countless discussions of whether or not flashing the high beams is a crime.
Read more here.
Minister Allows Porn Movie on Public Broadcasting
Media Minister Ronald Plasterk [of the Netherlands] sees no possibilities nor desire for banning public broadcasters BNN and VPRO from showing the explicit porn film Deep Throat. Christian government party ChristenUnie appears to be accepting this decision.
On 23 February, shortly after midnight, BNN and VPRO plan to show the explicit film. ChristenUnie considers this disgusting. Opposition party SGP, a more conservative Christian party than ChristenUnie, asked Plasterk to prohibit the broadcast - it has been the only Lower House party to ask for a ban.
According to Plasterk the public broadcasters have 100 percent editorial freedom. "There can be no question of a ban, and no investigation of this will be mounted either. The government also has no views on any programme, moral or otherwise," said the Labour (PvdA) minister via his spokesman.
ChristenUnie is not demanding a ban, perhaps in order not to destabilise the coalition. Party leader Andre Rouvoet, also Vice-Premier, confined himself to a "moral appeal" to BNN and VPRO to drop the broadcast. This call was immediately rejected by the broadcasters as "patronising."
The Christian democrats (CDA), PvdA and ChristenUnie's partners in the CDA-led coalition, are avoiding the discussion. In the Netherlands, there is more or less a taboo on even speculating on banning any media expression whatever.
The conservatives (VVD) want an explanation from Premier Jan Peter Balkenende (CDA) on Rouvoet's moral appeal. VVD MP Johan Remkes intends to learn whether Rouvoet spoke on behalf of the cabinet. VVD declined to say whether it supported the broadcast of the film.
Radio programme Standpunt.nl yesterday presented the statement: 'The public broadcasters must drop the showing of Deep Throat.' A minority of 42 percent agreed.
On 23 February, shortly after midnight, BNN and VPRO plan to show the explicit film. ChristenUnie considers this disgusting. Opposition party SGP, a more conservative Christian party than ChristenUnie, asked Plasterk to prohibit the broadcast - it has been the only Lower House party to ask for a ban.
According to Plasterk the public broadcasters have 100 percent editorial freedom. "There can be no question of a ban, and no investigation of this will be mounted either. The government also has no views on any programme, moral or otherwise," said the Labour (PvdA) minister via his spokesman.
ChristenUnie is not demanding a ban, perhaps in order not to destabilise the coalition. Party leader Andre Rouvoet, also Vice-Premier, confined himself to a "moral appeal" to BNN and VPRO to drop the broadcast. This call was immediately rejected by the broadcasters as "patronising."
The Christian democrats (CDA), PvdA and ChristenUnie's partners in the CDA-led coalition, are avoiding the discussion. In the Netherlands, there is more or less a taboo on even speculating on banning any media expression whatever.
The conservatives (VVD) want an explanation from Premier Jan Peter Balkenende (CDA) on Rouvoet's moral appeal. VVD MP Johan Remkes intends to learn whether Rouvoet spoke on behalf of the cabinet. VVD declined to say whether it supported the broadcast of the film.
Radio programme Standpunt.nl yesterday presented the statement: 'The public broadcasters must drop the showing of Deep Throat.' A minority of 42 percent agreed.
Google slams Microsoft-Yahoo bid
As you know, I have been no fan of Yahoo over the years, their policies in China have been reprehensible.
Now, Microsoft may buy it (their record in China is similar)
But after reading this, we know we're really fucked, as Yahoo says:
Yahoo's board said it would evaluate all of the company's "strategic alternatives and pursue the option that it believes can best maximize value for our shareholders."
Yup, the shareholders, not us or the net..
Read more here.
Now, Microsoft may buy it (their record in China is similar)
But after reading this, we know we're really fucked, as Yahoo says:
Yahoo's board said it would evaluate all of the company's "strategic alternatives and pursue the option that it believes can best maximize value for our shareholders."
Yup, the shareholders, not us or the net..
Read more here.
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Don’t screw up, Democrats, Barack Obama is your man
So says the Times in England, and they just may be right...
There comes a point in all primary campaigns when the ideological furore dies down a little, when the personality clashes recede, when the warring factions pause and the voters in each party ask themselves a simple question: who on earth can win this thing in November?
Read more here.
There comes a point in all primary campaigns when the ideological furore dies down a little, when the personality clashes recede, when the warring factions pause and the voters in each party ask themselves a simple question: who on earth can win this thing in November?
Read more here.
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Dumb Christians strike again
The battle between science and creationism has reached the prestigious Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, where a former researcher is claiming he was fired because he doesn't believe in evolution.
Nathaniel Abraham filed a lawsuit earlier this week in US District Court in Boston saying that the Cape Cod research center dismissed him in 2004 because of his Christian belief that the Bible presents a true account of human creation.
Abraham, who is seeking $500,000 in compensation for a violation of his civil rights, says in the suit that he lost his job as a postdoctoral researcher in a biology lab shortly after he told his superior that he did not accept evolution as scientific fact.
"Woods Hole believes they have the right to insist on a belief in evolution," said David C. Gibbs III, one of Abraham's two attorneys and general counsel of the Christian Law Association in Seminole, Fla.
Duh, no shit they have that right.
Read more here.
PS - even the paper the story was run in needs some scientific refresher courses...
(Correction: Because of a reporting error, a Page One story Friday about a Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution scientist incorrectly described human evolution. According to evolutionary science, humans and apes have a common ancestor.)
Nathaniel Abraham filed a lawsuit earlier this week in US District Court in Boston saying that the Cape Cod research center dismissed him in 2004 because of his Christian belief that the Bible presents a true account of human creation.
Abraham, who is seeking $500,000 in compensation for a violation of his civil rights, says in the suit that he lost his job as a postdoctoral researcher in a biology lab shortly after he told his superior that he did not accept evolution as scientific fact.
"Woods Hole believes they have the right to insist on a belief in evolution," said David C. Gibbs III, one of Abraham's two attorneys and general counsel of the Christian Law Association in Seminole, Fla.
Duh, no shit they have that right.
Read more here.
PS - even the paper the story was run in needs some scientific refresher courses...
(Correction: Because of a reporting error, a Page One story Friday about a Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution scientist incorrectly described human evolution. According to evolutionary science, humans and apes have a common ancestor.)
Friday, February 01, 2008
Americablog and the Trophy Bride
Americablog is in some trouble for calling John McCain's wife a "trophy bride". Shakespearessister says: "But let us not become what we loathe. Referring to Cindy McCain as "John McCain's Trophy Bride," as John Aravosis does at AmericaBlog is just wrong and flat out sexist. Her name is Cindy.
Many have made their complaints about Aravosis clear, and it's highly doubtful he'll be apologetic about using sexist language. But this is more than that, this is about being better people. It's about being progressive.
But..at the bottom of the offending post on Americablog is this ad:
Coincidence? Hummm...
UN vandals spray graffiti on Sahara’s prehistoric art
Spectacular prehistoric depictions of animal and human figures created up to 6,000 years ago on Western Saharan rocks have been vandalised by United Nations peacekeepers, The Times has learnt.
Read more here.
Read more here.
God is NOT on your side
Remote-controlled explosives strapped to two mentally retarded women detonated in a coordinated attack on Baghdad pet bazaars Friday, Iraqi officials said, killing at least 73 people in the deadliest day since the U.S. sent 30,000 extra troops to the capital last spring.
Read more in disgust here.
Read more in disgust here.
Teaching Patriotism
Ekk
The subject of teaching Britishness in schools has taken a fresh twist with claims that patriotism should be taught as a "controversial issue".
The government wants children to develop a sense of British identity through history lessons.
But academics at the Institute of Education say pupils should not be encouraged to love Britain because it has a "morally ambiguous" history.
They also found just 9% of teachers think schools should teach patriotism.
Read more here.
The subject of teaching Britishness in schools has taken a fresh twist with claims that patriotism should be taught as a "controversial issue".
The government wants children to develop a sense of British identity through history lessons.
But academics at the Institute of Education say pupils should not be encouraged to love Britain because it has a "morally ambiguous" history.
They also found just 9% of teachers think schools should teach patriotism.
Read more here.
Not that Beatle song
Scientists are planning to beam a Beatles song into space.
NASA plans to blast The Beatles' song "Across the Universe" into deep space in order to serenade otherworldly beings hundreds, thousands or millions of light years away with our very best pop music.
Nice idea. Too bad it's one of the crappier Beatle songs.
NASA plans to blast The Beatles' song "Across the Universe" into deep space in order to serenade otherworldly beings hundreds, thousands or millions of light years away with our very best pop music.
Nice idea. Too bad it's one of the crappier Beatle songs.
Carnival!
And for one of the sickest stories of the week (via shakespearessister)...
Next week, Brazilians will rise as one, and party their asses off. Yes, Carnival is coming, and nowhere on Earth is it celebrated with as much verve and style as in Brazil.
The best part of this year's Carnival? No floats about the Holocaust with a dancing Hitler on top. At least, not for a lack of trying.
You see, a big part of Carnival here is the Samba school competition. They have huge competitions both in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, they are televised, and they are a huge part of the lives of many Brazilians. It's a BIG deal, basically. Each Samba school will have hundreds and hundreds of dancers, drummers, and workers to make their Theme come to life.
It seems that a Samba school called Viradouro was planning on making its theme "É de arrepiar" which, loosely translated is "It's Shocking." One of their floats was to be dedicated to the Holocaust and was to be adorned with a pile of dead bodies (not real ones, mind you) with a dancing Hitler on top of it all.
Basically, what happened was, all the schools are required to tell what their theme will be beforehand. When this came out, the Jewish Federation in Brazil asked Viradouro to at least make one change - to put a sign saying "Never again" on the float. The school said no. So, they took it to court, where a judge said the school could not use the float, or any Hitlers, and that Carnival wasn't really the appropriate place for a dissection of the barbarities of the Holocaust
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