From an article in the Guardian:
“Canada is subversively sending idiots into the global marketplace with American accents”
Forth, my faithful minions! Wahahahahaha!
(No, I’m not Canadian. I just like having hordes of minions.)
Interesting tidbit…
[politics filter]
Report on construction of new intelligence facilities in Iraq. Interesting both for its own utility and for what it implies about America’s long-term plans in the region. Compare and contrast with the continuation (with no end in sight) of low-intensity conflict there – what are we getting ourselves into? Can we maintain a long-term committment in the area?
No doubt we have the physical capability to do so, but there are some questions about the costs, how those might rise over time (Vietnamization, even?) and how dependent we may become on being able to hold that position. If costs rise, political will may wane, and then the gods alone know what may come next.
Choices of headlines…
From the NY Times front page, at the moment, the two top headlines:
“Strom Thurmond, foe of integration, dies at 100”
“Gays celebrate, and plan campaign for broader rights”
Contrary to what you may guess, these two stories are not related. The latter is about the Supreme Court ruling in Lawrence v. Texas earlier today. But methinks the front-page net editor is having a bit of fun…
Addendum: Reading over the ruling in Lawrence: this is one worth looking over carefully. The court gave a very strongly worded ruling, especially the majority opinion written by Justice Kennedy. It’s clearly meant to serve as a precedent in the future in a very wide variety of cases. In addition to formally stating that homosexuals have legal rights equal to heterosexuals, it makes some broader arguments about the boundaries of privacy and what the government does and does not have a right to regulate. In the long run, this decision may be one of the most significant of the past few decades from the court with regards to a wide variety of social issues.
Wow, some good news in the paper for once. 🙂
Tired…
First day at Google today. Wow. It’s really as cool as it’s rumored to be.
And I am now really tired. So details later.
Bug of the day…
While searching for Aramaic dictionaries on Amazon, this came up. Note what it suggests readers may also be interested in.
Also, for your amusement, a bit of news from Germany…
Conversations on the mathematics of belief
(or, The Gods Must Be Crazy)
Last night, aided by a great deal of coffee and a strange mood, hansandersen, jrpseudonym and I had a discussion about Pascal’s Wager and the mathematics of belief. The results were… well, somewhat strange, but some of you may find them amusing or interesting, so here’s a brief summary. It’s incomplete – guys, you want to add in some comments with your own notes and thoughts from last night? I know there’s plenty.
So, without further ado: Magic 8 ball, what should I believe?
whew…
I have now been officially indoctrinated. And now, I’m going to… bed.
Update: And now I’m much more awake, feeling strangely at peace. And realizing that it is a far, far better thing to be indoctrinated than inculcated. (I believe that’s what they do to proctologists)
A plague of Mormons
No, really. Story here. The crops have been decimated and the roads turned blood red.
This has been your random fact for the evening.
News item
[politics filter]
Riots in Iran: this is potentially important, whichever way it ends up playing out. Iran has been moving slowly towards a crisis for a while now. If the “good guys” win, that could turn out to be very good for pretty much everyone in the world apart from the Ayatollahs; if they don’t, there’s going to be a bloodbath.
Whew…
Things achieved today so far: Parents and sister got in town, showed them around some, got the apartment I was trying to get, and handed in my signed & sealed offer letter to Google.
Pretty good start for a day… (knock on wood) more amusements to follow, most likely.
Yonatan Zunger’s Blog 