Tad William: Otherland: The Mountain of Black Glass
Just started this, it's the third installment in the Otherland series, one more to go. (****)
Snow Patrol: Eyes Open
Keeping eyes open. (***)
The All-American Rejects: Move Along
I hope it doesn't end tonight. (***)
Augustana: All The Stars and Boulevards
I'm haunted by Boston. (***)
Five for Fighting: The Battle for Everything
So much more than 100 years. (***)
World Party: Good-bye Jumbo
Welcome back to the party. (****)
There have been several news stories of late about clean air at the Olympics in China (here, here, and here). Check out this Wired News report for a look back at the history of clean air legislation in Great Britain. I was amazed to learn that London had killer fog in 1952 that killed over 12,000 people. It's worth remembering that industrialization pollutes the air and if you don't realize that, it's only by virtue of living in a post-industrial society.
The man who ushered in the information age is getting set to retire (CNET - Bill Gates Big Send Off). This is not only a milestone for him, but in a very real way, it's also a milestone for us, for everyone who sits down at a PC and still relates to information in desktop terms (files and folders) has had part of their world shaped by Bill Gates. Sure, applications may be moving from the hard-drive to the internet and data from drives to clouds, but still, this is the end of an era and one well worth dwelling over.
Today was a great day for the U.S. Constitution (Time - The Impact of the Gitmo Ruling):
The Supreme Court's 5-4 decision Thursday asserting that foreign terror suspects held at Guantanamo have an inherent constitutional right to challenge their detention in American courts marks an historic rebalancing of powers between the executive, Congress and the judiciary — one that many critics believe is a long overdue correction after years of executive overreach by the Bush administration. But the ruling's precise practical impact remains unclear, and may be relatively slight on the military trials already underway at Guantanamo.
To me the real question the Court answered was this: Can agents of the U.S. Government evade the requirements of the Constitution and judicial process by acting outside of U.S. territory? In other words, do we get away from the rules that we hold ourselves accountable to if we leave American soil? The Court answered NO! We are Americans and we take our rules with us, and when we spirit people away to a jail set up outside of our country we take our judicial process with us and our prisoners can avail themselves of the rights and protections they would enjoy if they had been held within the the territorial borders of the U.S. I see this as a victory for the rule of law, one of those things that we say defines us as Americans, and indeed it does, thanks to the Supreme Court.
It looks like the U.S. may have avoided a dystopian future in which a persons social and economic status is determined by their genetic profile (AP - House approves anti-genetic discrimination bill):
Companies would no longer be able to use genetic information like a person's predisposition for breast cancer, sickle cell or diabetes to make insurance or job decisions under a bill passed by Congress on Thursday.
If President Bush signs it into law it will mean that the film Gattaca will stay safely in the realm of science fiction.
President Bush said in a news conference yesterday that there wasn't much he could do about high gas prices. Is this true? This Washington Post article (Bush's Gas Pain) suggests that there are some very specific steps Bush could actually take to reduce gas prices...if he wanted to.
Arianna Huffington is flummoxed by the meainstream media still reporting on the political positions of the Right, and suggests that it would be ok if the media no longer tried to balanced reporting (noting views from the left and the right), as long as her views were the only side they reported. No, I'm not kidding, she really thinks the answer to the problem is MORE media bias (Probing a Political Paradox: Why the Discredited Right Still Sets the Agenda and Dominates the Debate):
Let's take them one by one, starting with the media which remains hopelessly addicted to the false belief that in order to be fair and balanced every story needs to be given the "on the one hand... and on the other" treatment. But not every story has two sides -- and the truth is often to be found not in the middle but solidly on one side or the other.
As one who dislikes political extremism of the left and the right, I find her cure to be worse than he disease. We need to encourage the media to give voice to opposing sides and not stifle debate in the name of triumphalism from the left or the right.
On Friday, the House passed an amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act by a vote of 213-197 (The Gavel - House Passes FISA Amendments Act). The legislation "does not provide retroactive immunity for telecom companies but allows the courts to determine whether lawsuits should proceed." I'm happy with this outcome, but I always thought that the immunity issue was not the central issue. Far more important, in my opinion, is the issues of warrantless wiretaps on American citizens. What would the Founder's think about an America in which the Executive Branch can apply the the police power of the state against a citizen without due process or judicial checks? Isn't this the kind of abuse of (royal) authority they sought to protect us against? Given that, I'm very happy to note that the House amendment "grants new authorities for conducting electronic surveillance against foreign targets while preserving the requirement that the government obtain an individualized FISA court order, based on probable cause, when targeting Americans at home or abroad." Let's hope this stays in there after the bill is reconciled with the Senate version. I'm not opposed to the surveillance of terroirst suspects, I just think that if they are citizens, then the government should follow established procedure and precedent and obtain a warrant before conductiing surveillance. The danger to the republic in ignoring the rights of citizens and the American tradition of checks and balances is far more severe than any loss of life that may result in the slight delay in surveillance needed to obtain a warrant.
I don't have an accent. Ok, I don't think I have an accent, but I live in a certain place and a certain time, and so it stands to reason that I do have an accent, even if everyone I know sounds pretty much like I do. If you are fascinated by accents, take a look at this video, this woman runs through 21 different accents in a couple of minutes, it's amazing.
You may already have heard, Britain's Prince Harry has been serving in Afghanistan (AP - Britain's Prince Harry in Afghanistan) since December. The British press kept mum about it, but unfortunately an American media outlet broke the story. According to the AP report:
Harry trained at Sandhurst military academy and joined the Blues and Royals as a cornet, the cavalry regiment's equivalent of a second lieutenant. After being held back from his Iraq assignment, the prince threatened to quit the army if he wasn't given the chance to see combat.
Good for him. This tells me a lot about his character and I can't help thinking that Diana would have been proud of him.
I've always felt that how someone treats animals is an accurate measure of a persons character. Those who mistreat animals are far more likely to mistreat their fellow human beings. Those who show compassion for animals are more likely to show compassion for their fellow humans. Should animals be treated as inferiors beings, as objects or tools to be used? Or should they be treated a intelligent beings, not with an intelligence on a human level, but intelligent nonetheless. As pet owners discover, animals can think, they can play, they can deceive, they can experience emotions such as joy, love, sadness, loss, fear, and they can demonstrate virtues such as loyalty and courage. People who are far removed from interacting with animals suggest that such talk is merely anthropomorphizing, attributing human traits to animals. However, those who work and live with animals and the scientists who study them, know that our understanding of animal intelligence has often been simplistic and misguided, more reflective of a religious or cultural sensibility than a true understanding of the capabilities of different species.
Take a look at this video. The women in the video found a lion hurt and near death. She took him home and took care of him and then when he was better she contacted the zoo and they took over caring for him. The video records the first time the lion sees the woman after moving to the zoo. Ask yourself what the lion is thinking, what emotions he is experiencing, and what he is communicating to the woman.
