Secular Blasphemy'Oh Lord, protect us from the Fury of the Norsemen.'<br /> - Medieval prayerWeb vs river- June 23, 2008 Web 2.D'oh links two great articles about the implications of the web on our online reading habits, and how these changes may influence how we think. First, read Nicholas Carr&146;s &147;Is Google Making Us Stupid&148; Scott Carp, who Carr quoted, has a very interesting response: What Magazines Still Don&146;t Understand About The Web On the first subject, it is certainly true that I read far less books now than I did some years ago. I also read more articles, and flow through hyperlinks.http://blogs.salon.com/0001561/2008/06/23.html#a10996 George Carlin has died- June 23, 2008 Comedian George Carlin died Sunday, age 71, from heart failure. There is no comedian I have enjoyed more than George Carlin. Rest in peace. Religion is bullshit is one of my absolute favourites.http://blogs.salon.com/0001561/2008/06/23.html#a10995 ICC war crimes trial collapses- June 16, 2008 The International Criminal Court (ICC) is a worthy successor to the mess that was the war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, as anyone could have predicted: The trial had been scheduled to start on 23 June, but judges postponed it following complaints from the defence that prosecutors had not handed over about 200 documents. The papers included "a significant body of exculpatory evidence", the judges said in their ruling, which was released on Monday. "The trial process has been...http://blogs.salon.com/0001561/2008/06/16.html#a10994 The Goracle speaks- June 16, 2008 For a moment there, I was about to buy into the hype that Barack Obama will become the next US president. But, sorry, Barack, you just received the kiss of death.http://blogs.salon.com/0001561/2008/06/16.html#a10993 The media is dying. Long live the media- June 16, 2008 The prediction may well be true, even if the timing isn't: In 1993, novelist Michael Crichton riled the news business with a Wired magazine essay titled "Mediasaurus," in which he prophesied the death of the mass media&151;specifically the New York Times and the commercial networks. "Vanished, without a trace," he wrote. The mediasaurs had about a decade to live, he wrote, before technological advances&151;"artificial intelligence agents roaming the databases, downloading stuff I am interested.http://blogs.salon.com/0001561/2008/06/16.html#a10992 - ISI aids the Taleban- June 16, 2008 Now, what a surprise: A leading US think-tank has accused members of Pakistan's intelligence service, the ISI, of aiding Taleban fighters in neighbouring Afghanistan. In a new report, funded by the Pentagon, the Rand Corporation said individual Pakistani agents had provided intelligence to insurgents. Pakistan has always denied such allegations in the past. And it has always been true.http://blogs.salon.com/0001561/2008/06/16.html#a10991 Would the US notice if they won the Iraq war- June 16, 2008 The Associated Press Baghdad bureau chief Robert H. Reid: Signs are emerging that Iraq has reached a turning point. Violence is down, armed extremists are in disarray, government confidence is rising and sectarian communities are gearing up for a battle at the polls rather than slaughter in the streets. Those positive signs are attracting little attention in the United States, where the war-weary public is focused on the American presidential contest and skeptical of talk of success after so..http://blogs.salon.com/0001561/2008/06/16.html#a10990 WoW sequel- June 10, 2008 The Onion announces Blizzard's latest WoW sequel: World of World of Warcraft: 'Warcraft' Sequel Lets Gamers Play A Character Playing 'Warcraft' Priceless!http://blogs.salon.com/0001561/2008/06/10.html#a10988 First genital mutilation case in Norway- June 6, 2008 First female mutilation charge in Norway: Police said Friday they have filed preliminary charges against a husband and wife for the genital mutilation of five of their daughters, the first such case opened under Norwegian laws against female circumcision. The couple were both originally from Gambia, but are now Norwegian citizens, said a statement from Human Rights Services, an activist group that alerted police to the case. The daughters, ranging in age from 5 to 14 years, were all born.http://blogs.salon.com/0001561/2008/06/06.html#a10987 Al Qaeda's women's liberation- June 1, 2008 Extremist women fight for equal rights to murder innocents: Muslim extremist women are challenging al Qaeda's refusal to include -- or at least acknowledge -- women in its ranks, in an emotional debate that gives rare insight into the gender conflicts lurking beneath one of the strictest strains of Islam. In response to a female questioner, al Qaeda No. 2 leader Ayman al-Zawahiri said in April that the terrorist group does not have women. A woman's role, he said on the Internet audio...http://blogs.salon.com/0001561/2008/06/01.html#a10986 |