January 2009
Judging
mandalay:
I know it’s so overdone around these parts to judge people on what books they read/like, but I can’t help it. The Alchemist? Really? You sure you want to list that? Sure I skimmed it to see what all the fuss was about, but who says it’s one of their top five? And The Kite Runner? Way to expand your horizons there to a book that everyone has read. I know I should be glad that people are...
Top 10 most inspiring moments in IT →
Linux
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Google
The rise of Apple
Mozilla Firefox
One Laptop per Child
The Electronic Frountier Foundation
Anti-Virus researchers
Xerox Palo Alto Research Center
The moon landing
WTF? No Tumblr?
Come to that no internet or WWW either.
“We have a bunch of idiots on Wall Street that are kicking sand in the face of...”
– Sen. Claire McCaskill who introduced a bill to cap compensation for employees of any company that accepts federal bailout money to the salary of the president of the United States. This $400,000 limit would include salaries, bonuses and stock options. (via pilnick)
School can expel lesbian students, court rules →
A California appeals court found that discrimination laws do not apply to private religious schools. This means that private religious schools across California can discriminate against anyone as long as they use religious beliefs as a justification.
We have a similar situation in New South Wales (NSW) where the NSW anti-discrimination legislation does not apply to religious institutions.
“Oh look, honey. Another pro-lifer for war!”
– Best bumper sticker ever, stuck to the bumper of the car I parked next to today (via afghanibanani) (via allthatglittersispink) (via laceisfeisty) (via brigno)
“If you somehow take that bonus out of the economy, it really will create...”
– Rudy Giuliani, who seems to have just defended exorbitant Wall Street bonuses as a welfare for the super rich. Afterall, if the super rich run out of money, they’ll have a hard time being super rich—which means that businesses that cater exclusively to the expensive whims super rich will be in...
“The rule of law, is the alternative model to the rule of terror, the rule of...”
– Michael Kirby retiring Justice from Australia’s High Court.
“Occasionally progress is only attained by candid disclosure of differences, by...”
– MIchael Kirby retiring Justice from Australia’s High Court
“Neo-liberalism and the free-market fundamentalism it has produced has been...”
– Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd
Dating A Banker Anonymous →
A support group for those dating or in love with a “banker”.
Apparently it’s a safe place where women can come together “free from the scrutiny of feminists”, to share their tearful tales of how the mortgage meltdown has affected their relationships.
When do the guys dating a banker go?
“The credit system, which has its focus in the so-called national banks and the...”
– Karl Marx got it right
Adolescents With Unpopular Names More Prone To... →
So the parents ARE to blame.
Dump hay into the ocean to stop global warming. →
Researchers at the University of Washington claim that by dumping 30% of crop residues into deep ocean we could reduce the build up of global carbon dioxide by up to 15% per year.
Waste-free nuclear system designed. →
Physicists at The University of Texas, have designed a new system, that would use fusion to eliminate almost all transuranic waste (the really nasty stuff) produced by nuclear power plants.
One such system could handle the waste produced by 10 to 15 light water reactors. The process would reduce the transuranic waste by up to 99%, and it would produce energy while doing it.
They are looking at a...
Stem cells 'reset' immune system in MS patients:... →
“Stem cells transplanted into early-phase multiple sclerosis patients stabilised, and in some cases reversed, the debilitating neurological disorder, according to a study published Friday.”
How lawyers helped create Guantanamo →
“One of the lessons, if we need lessons, from all of this is that lawyers can always be recruited to sanctify just about any illegality the state deems appropriate.”
231 million per cent inflation →
Zimbabwe’s inflation rate hits 231,000,000%. Unemployment is around 94%. The country’s currency has gone, all trade is now in foreign currency (mainly the US Greenback).
Puts our little recession into context, doesn’t it.
Iran more dangerous than financial crisis →
I got it wrong in an earlier post. It was the man most likely to become Israel’s next PM, Binyamin Netanyahu, that compared Iran and the financial crisis.
In another conference at Davos the Turkish PM stormed out after having a dust up with Israel’s President Shimon Peres.
Police find dope farm using Google Earth →
Swiss police stumbled upon a large marijuana plantation while playing around with Google Earth.
Toronto church leader denounces atheist 'attack... →
A Toronto evangelical leader claims that atheist ads to place on Toronto’s transit system are attack ads and should not go up. But he’s all for free speech.
Kate Kish, the Freethought Association’s vice-president, has denied the ads are an attack on religion and intended to inspire dialogue.
Ms. Kish also noted that the organisation has received two death threats and a number...
“There is little doubt that our greatest military challenge right now is...”
– US Defence Secretary Robert Gates
Which makes you wonder what the side trip to Iraq was all about.
I see the Israeli PM (or was it their President) said that Iran is a bigger threat than the financial meltdown … and they invaded Gaza.
Sometimes I get the feeling that world leaders and their...
Darwin's twin track: 'Evolution and emancipation' →
via cwashnock:
“And new evidence suggests that Darwin’s unique approach to evolution - relating all races and species by ‘common descent’ - could have been fostered by his anti-slavery beliefs.”
This is a fascinating article - a bit longer than most BBC entries but entirely worthwhile. It ties in nicely with a class that I am currently taking, History of Africa after 1800, which endorses the...
A tumblr who unfollows you over one unfortunate...
via lickystickypicky:
Just sayin’
Chain of fools: cuffed escapees' run in with pole →
Two chained New Zealand prisoners are on the run and decide to go either side of a lamp post, with predictable results. There’s a video as well….
Is Technology Producing A Decline In Critical... →
Well let me see that’s quite the provocative question, lots of things to take into consideration. Hmm … I wonder what’s happening on tumblr.
Furious leaders lash US over economic crisis. →
Russian and Chinese leaders at the Davos forum have a go at the US for causing the current financial meltdown.
At the conference last year Condoleezza Rice gave a speech saying the US economy was safe.
“Today investment banks, the pride of Wall Street, have virtually ceased to exist. In just 12 months they have posted losses exceeding the profits they made in the last 25 years. This...
“Ask not what gaps should be filled in evolutionary theory, but what gaps...”
– Helena Cronin is co-director of the Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science at the London School of Economics
Evolution: The next 200 years →
Various scientists describe evolutionary questsions they would like answered in the next 200 years.
How many babies can fit inside one woman? →
via slateinbrief:
In theory, there’s no limit—but the more babies, the earlier the birth date, and the smaller the survival rate.
But what is the octopus limit?
California Court Says Christian School Can Expel... →
via cwashnock:
This is disgusting.
'Tony Soprano' of bloggers faces death threats →
A number of bloggers are quitting due to death threats and harassment.
But this happens in the offline world too.
I write the occasionally letter to various Sydney papers. In response to a one line letter I wrote (about tax), I received letters of several pages, phone calls saying I could be Prime Minister, and a guy turning up on my door step wanting to talk tax reform.
To a rather narky...
Climate Change Largely Irreversible For Next 1,000... →
“Our study convinced us that current choices regarding carbon dioxide emissions will have legacies that will irreversibly change the planet,” said Solomon, who is based at NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory
Natural Selection Not The Only Process That Drives... →
Research by researchers at Uppsala University suggests that a separate nonadaptive process has made a significant contribution to human evolution.
The researchers identified fast evolving human genes, which were a result of a process know as biased gene conversion (BSG). This process increases the rate at which certain mutations spread through a population, regardless of whether they are...
“That endeavor [Science], which has transformed the world in the last few...”
– Elevating Science, Elevating Democracy, Dennis Overbye
Men who made £1bn as banks were bailed out →
That’s $1.4 billion US dollars.
Row over scheme to 'fertilise' oceans →
Researchers from Germany, India and Britain want to dump 20 tons of iron sulphate into a 186-square-mile patch of the Southern Ocean.
They hope to demonstrate a way both of combating global warming and saving the whale; pushing all the right buttons with that one.
The idea is that since the ocean is short of iron, their fertiliser will cause an explosive growth of plankton which will take up...
“APN’s general manager of marketing, Paul McBeth, said public buses were...”
– Paul McBeth on why his company refused to put atheist ads on Australian buses.
Iceland to appoint first openly gay Prime Minister →
The times they are a changing …
Coach sacked after Texas massacre →
The basketball coach of Covenant Girl school was sacked for “un-Christlike” behaviour after his team beat a team from Dallas Academy 100-0.
Dallas Academy has only 20 students, and hasn’t won a game in 4 seasons.
“I don’t respect the idea that the West Bank was handed to Jews by God and...”
– Johann Hari: Why should I respect these oppressive religions?
This article is well worth a quick read. It covers the corruption of the role of the UN Rapporteur for Human rights by Islamic states. Classic case of not understanding that the right to “free speech” means that I respect...
No good reason to feel depression →
This is an article by Ross Gittins, one of the saner economic voices around. For those under 30 think of this article as a recession primer.