A True History of the Internet
I started this thing ages ago but only bloggized it recently - see:
the original equatorial gadget page for more info - the goal is
to be goalfree.
Monday, February 20, 2006
apologize or else
apologize or else
According to the UK government, one has to make allowances for British Troops behaviour in Iraq, as they are under tremendous pressure.
Ha! They're soldiers - did they join the army to go collecting butterflies and make cucumber sandwiches on a spring day in the Loire Valley? I think not.
What kind of excuse can you make? they have permission to shoot people dead who shoot at them (something british police aren't allowed to do except to Brazillions). They routinely beat each other up in training - why do they need to beat up some random civilians as well? to chill out? Ha! I think not. Nope, its just plain sadism and racism,. same as always.
According to the UK government, one has to make allowances for British Troops behaviour in Iraq, as they are under tremendous pressure.
Ha! They're soldiers - did they join the army to go collecting butterflies and make cucumber sandwiches on a spring day in the Loire Valley? I think not.
What kind of excuse can you make? they have permission to shoot people dead who shoot at them (something british police aren't allowed to do except to Brazillions). They routinely beat each other up in training - why do they need to beat up some random civilians as well? to chill out? Ha! I think not. Nope, its just plain sadism and racism,. same as always.
Friday, February 17, 2006
A True History of the Internet
A True History of the Internet
In the future, the Internet will be mainly hard to find. This is because instead of using expensive heavy electrons, the Internet will mostly be made of photons. These are hard to see as they are very fast, and also don't weigh anything (as far as anyone can tell) so they zip along in straight lines without falling to earth, and then they're gone - whereas electrons fall down any potential well they pass.
In the future, the Internet will be mainly hard to find. This is because instead of using expensive heavy electrons, the Internet will mostly be made of photons. These are hard to see as they are very fast, and also don't weigh anything (as far as anyone can tell) so they zip along in straight lines without falling to earth, and then they're gone - whereas electrons fall down any potential well they pass.
apologize or else
apologize or else
Guantanamo Bay of Pigs...
So right wing (libertarians) often lsah out at liberals and say "How come you are always criticizing America - what about all those other bad people".
Well, what I say is they should take a look today (or ANY day) at
http://news.amnesty.org/
Where you find Sudan, Iran, Congo, Brazil, Nepal,
as well as the US and UK in the news for violation of human rights. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance - criticizing the US exclusively is dodgy, but those of us that care, care about injustice ANYWHERE, whether its Bush or Mugabe or whoever.
Guantanamo Bay of Pigs...
So right wing (libertarians) often lsah out at liberals and say "How come you are always criticizing America - what about all those other bad people".
Well, what I say is they should take a look today (or ANY day) at
http://news.amnesty.org/
Where you find Sudan, Iran, Congo, Brazil, Nepal,
as well as the US and UK in the news for violation of human rights. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance - criticizing the US exclusively is dodgy, but those of us that care, care about injustice ANYWHERE, whether its Bush or Mugabe or whoever.
Friday, February 10, 2006
A True History of the Internet
A True History of the Internet
y'know, this is not the greatest medium since paper, let alone sliced bread.
y'know, this is not the greatest medium since paper, let alone sliced bread.
A True History of the Internet
A True History of the Internet
The March of Time, or the Time of March? Hare and Tortoise. Whichever came first (how do you race a chicken across the road? Egg it on?)....
Mad stuff
The March of Time, or the Time of March? Hare and Tortoise. Whichever came first (how do you race a chicken across the road? Egg it on?)....
Mad stuff
A True History of the Internet
The Physics of Super Heroes
I am maissively disappointed in DC and Marvel Comic spinout movies - its quite clear that they are using SFX and CGI instead of real people and stunt doubles nowadays, because the physics is all wrong - after all didn't Isaac Newton say that for every action there is an equal, and opposite, reaction? well he didn't of course, he wrote it in latin, but anyway, a true card carrying geek like me cares about this stuff - at least Gene Roddenbury had the nerve to pretend that the physics of star trek made sense. Even Dr Who has a _sonic_ screwdriver (I hope he never has to use it to fix the hedgehog). But what about Spiderman or Superman or the Fab Four eh? where's the opposite reaction, eh?
I am maissively disappointed in DC and Marvel Comic spinout movies - its quite clear that they are using SFX and CGI instead of real people and stunt doubles nowadays, because the physics is all wrong - after all didn't Isaac Newton say that for every action there is an equal, and opposite, reaction? well he didn't of course, he wrote it in latin, but anyway, a true card carrying geek like me cares about this stuff - at least Gene Roddenbury had the nerve to pretend that the physics of star trek made sense. Even Dr Who has a _sonic_ screwdriver (I hope he never has to use it to fix the hedgehog). But what about Spiderman or Superman or the Fab Four eh? where's the opposite reaction, eh?
apologize or else
bogus moral equivalences
so according to some folks retaliating for cartoons of the prophet by publishing cartoons of the holocaust is just the same. No it isn't. The former is insulting to Islam if you believe in Islam. The latter is insulting to anyone killed ina a genocide, including Rwanda, Eritrea, Armenia, etc etc - many people were kiled by the Nazis were not jewish - there were a lot of russians killed, many Romany, a lot of gays etc etc. Plus this was a deliberate national policy.
No, sorry, making fun of a religion is not the same as making fun of the victims of genocide. However, in this country (the UK) it is not currently illegal to deny the holocaust (although some letter writers in the papers seem to think it is) - because we believe in freedom of speech, including the freedom to talk rubbish (e.g. sput on about some religion or other).
Frankly, the amount of rubbish talked about this on all sides just goes to prove that the main risk of freedom of speech is spam.
so according to some folks retaliating for cartoons of the prophet by publishing cartoons of the holocaust is just the same. No it isn't. The former is insulting to Islam if you believe in Islam. The latter is insulting to anyone killed ina a genocide, including Rwanda, Eritrea, Armenia, etc etc - many people were kiled by the Nazis were not jewish - there were a lot of russians killed, many Romany, a lot of gays etc etc. Plus this was a deliberate national policy.
No, sorry, making fun of a religion is not the same as making fun of the victims of genocide. However, in this country (the UK) it is not currently illegal to deny the holocaust (although some letter writers in the papers seem to think it is) - because we believe in freedom of speech, including the freedom to talk rubbish (e.g. sput on about some religion or other).
Frankly, the amount of rubbish talked about this on all sides just goes to prove that the main risk of freedom of speech is spam.
Monday, February 06, 2006
apologize or else
apologize or else
consider this. whiel the UK still has an )obsolete) law of blasphemy, most europe doesnt. We don't, bevause reliegions are a matter of faith, not state, and insults to a religion by non believies are irrelevant to believers. Of course, insults on racial or other prejidicial grounds are not tolerable, but religions are, by definition, matters of choice in our community. As a non-muslim, I cannot blaspheme Allah - nor can I offend Yaweh or the god of christians, if I do not believe in them. I can deny them. If I use this as a basis for not employing people, I would be breaking the law. But if I simply am rude about the religion, it is like being rude about a football club. I'd be stupid to do it at the wrong time and place, but its not anyones business otherwise.
is an interesting document that has a bunch of examples of increibly offensive cartoons about jews.Someone on the BBC newsforum website made the point about the descruction by taleban of the Bhuddist statues in Afgahnistan.
So its interesting that we havn't had the guts to boycott arab OPEN oil, given the absolutely rabid anti-christian and anti-jewish press in Saudi and other countries that unfortunately for the oil-hungry west, control our lifestyle choices - viz we should be boycotting the products from these countries that burn our friends' embassies, and carry illegal placards glorifying terrorism in London. They aren't just offensive - they are criminals.
Oh, by the way, when they showed those cartoons on Al Jazeera, I hope they'd paid for the copyright :-)
consider this. whiel the UK still has an )obsolete) law of blasphemy, most europe doesnt. We don't, bevause reliegions are a matter of faith, not state, and insults to a religion by non believies are irrelevant to believers. Of course, insults on racial or other prejidicial grounds are not tolerable, but religions are, by definition, matters of choice in our community. As a non-muslim, I cannot blaspheme Allah - nor can I offend Yaweh or the god of christians, if I do not believe in them. I can deny them. If I use this as a basis for not employing people, I would be breaking the law. But if I simply am rude about the religion, it is like being rude about a football club. I'd be stupid to do it at the wrong time and place, but its not anyones business otherwise.
is an interesting document that has a bunch of examples of increibly offensive cartoons about jews.Someone on the BBC newsforum website made the point about the descruction by taleban of the Bhuddist statues in Afgahnistan.
So its interesting that we havn't had the guts to boycott arab OPEN oil, given the absolutely rabid anti-christian and anti-jewish press in Saudi and other countries that unfortunately for the oil-hungry west, control our lifestyle choices - viz we should be boycotting the products from these countries that burn our friends' embassies, and carry illegal placards glorifying terrorism in London. They aren't just offensive - they are criminals.
Oh, by the way, when they showed those cartoons on Al Jazeera, I hope they'd paid for the copyright :-)
Friday, February 03, 2006
fundamentalist satisists
apologize or else
PUT DOWN THE PEN AND STEP AWAY FROM THE DRAWING BOARD
The cartoonish sheepishly puts down is tool, and puts his hands in the air, and "assumes the position".
"What can I say? It's a fair cop - you caught me - satirising Islam. Yes I have WMD (Weapons of Muslim Defamation). You can try and me and cut off both my hands, and then my head in a public execution in the Champs Elysee, to be broadcast on Canal +"
What a load of bull. Islamists beware - there is a fundamentalist right to take the piss out of anything in countries with free speech, and WE WILL KILL anyone who tries to interfere with it. We wont mess with your oppressive regimes in your countries even though they oppress the women and poor, but if you mess with us, believe me, you will reap the whirlwind and we already have the nukes. How stupid can you get - if you push us too far, sure, we'll stop being liberal - but last time Europe did that, what did they become? Did the Nazis like Muslims? I think not. God, how completely moronic can you get playing with such fire. We don't care if you don't buy Danish bacon - hey, don't by danish newspapers either. Hey, dont go live here if you don't like it - you have that choice - but you don't have the choice to remove OUR choices.
PUT DOWN THE PEN AND STEP AWAY FROM THE DRAWING BOARD
The cartoonish sheepishly puts down is tool, and puts his hands in the air, and "assumes the position".
"What can I say? It's a fair cop - you caught me - satirising Islam. Yes I have WMD (Weapons of Muslim Defamation). You can try and me and cut off both my hands, and then my head in a public execution in the Champs Elysee, to be broadcast on Canal +"
What a load of bull. Islamists beware - there is a fundamentalist right to take the piss out of anything in countries with free speech, and WE WILL KILL anyone who tries to interfere with it. We wont mess with your oppressive regimes in your countries even though they oppress the women and poor, but if you mess with us, believe me, you will reap the whirlwind and we already have the nukes. How stupid can you get - if you push us too far, sure, we'll stop being liberal - but last time Europe did that, what did they become? Did the Nazis like Muslims? I think not. God, how completely moronic can you get playing with such fire. We don't care if you don't buy Danish bacon - hey, don't by danish newspapers either. Hey, dont go live here if you don't like it - you have that choice - but you don't have the choice to remove OUR choices.
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