] Thought might not be dependent on language, according to
] new research published in the Proceedings of National
] Academy of Sciences.
]
]
] A UK team has shown that patients who have lost the
] ability to understand grammar can still complete hard
] sums.
]
]
] This suggests mathematical reasoning can exist without
] language.
]
]
] The study undermines the assumption that language is the
] key quality that makes our thought processes more
] advanced than those of other animals.

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Key to intelligence questioned

] The nun who inspired the acclaimed Hollywood movie Dead
] Man Walking believes death row Scot Kenny Richey should
] be set free.
]
]
] Sister Helen Prejean also told BBC Radio Scotland's
] Sunday Live programme that the 40-year-old should be
] recompensed for his 18 years in prison.
]
]
] Richey's conviction for killing a child in a fire was
] quashed last month.
]
]
] Sister Prejean said: "The people who withheld evidence or
] who distorted evidence should be held accountable."

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Death row movie nun backs Richey

] Iran's hard-line Revolutionary Guards have declared the
] death sentence on British author Salman Rushdie is still
] valid - 16 years after it was issued.
]
]
] The military organisation, loyal to Iran's supreme leader
] - said the order was "irrevocable" on the eve of the
] anniversary of the 1989 fatwa.

later in the article

]The guards' statement comes a month after Ayatollah Khomeini's ]successor Ayatollah Khamenei said he still believed the British ]novelist deserved to die.

]"They talk of respect for all religions but they support an ]apostate worthy of death like Rushdie," he said.

Tolerence clearly should mean kill, kill, kill. Burn the heretics.
Ahhhh the hardliners on both sides. I LOVE 'EM.

BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Iran adamant over Rushdie fatwa

] Arthur Miller, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright
] whose most famous fictional creation, Willy Loman in
] "Death of a Salesman," came to symbolize the American
] Dream gone awry, has died. He was 89.

It's a sad day for the theater.

Playwright Arthur Miller Dies at 89

Google Maps is extremely cool. Great interface. The maps are very good, however they are missing a few things, such as the direction of one way streets. It also does not support Safari yet.

Google Maps

adam wrote:
] Ahh yes, Democracy, so long as it doesn't violate Islamic law.
] You think Bush's "mandate from the people" has caused some
] aggressive policy proposals? This 3 page NYTs article
] discusses what the leading (and very conservative) Shiite
] Ayatollahs plan to do with their "mandate," and it has very
] little to do with freedom or equality. It haseverything to do
] with as Islamic of a state is possible.

I'm not sure we should project western ideals and morals upon other groups of people. It seems to me that little of this was a surprise; certainly there's never been any chance whatsoever of a real seperation between religion and the state a la the west. In the sense that the people as a whole are (indirectly) electing their leaders, it has everything to do with freedom. As for equality, I don't think it was ever about that.

The real question is: do we think a nation should have the right to elect a government which may have ideals in terms of equality (particularly gender equality) that are vastly different than ours? If the answer is no, then how can we truly say we believe in democracy?

RE: Leading Shiite Clerics Pushing Islamic Constitution in Iraq

] The clerics generally agree that the constitution must
] ensure that no laws passed by the state contradict a
] basic understanding of Shariah as laid out in the Koran.
] Women should not be treated as the equals of men in
] matters of marriage, divorce and family inheritance, they
] say. Nor should men be prevented from having multiple
] wives, they add.
]
] One tenet of Shariah mandates that in dividing family
] property, male children get twice as much as female
] children.
]
] "We don't want to see equality between men and women
] because according to Islamic law, men should have double
] of women," said Muhammad Kuraidy, a spokesman for
] Ayatollah Yacoubi. "This is written in the Koran and
] according to God."

Ahh yes, Democracy, so long as it doesn't violate Islamic law. You think Bush's "mandate from the people" has caused some aggressive policy proposals? This 3 page NYTs article discusses what the leading (and very conservative) Shiite Ayatollahs plan to do with their "mandate," and it has very little to do with freedom or equality. It haseverything to do with as Islamic of a state is possible. Try this on for size:

The leading Shiite clerics say they have no intention of taking executive office and following the Iranian model of wilayat al-faqih, or direct governance by religious scholars. But the clerics also say the Shiite politicians ultimately answer to them, and that the top religious leaders, collectively known as the marjaiya, will shape the constitution through the politicians.

Dance my puppets Dance!

Leading Shiite Clerics Pushing Islamic Constitution in Iraq

] Do you think that the British government does nothing about
] the IRA because they feel like they can't stop it?

Numerous British Governments have tried very hard and used various more or less draconian measures to "win" the war. We saw the Anti-terrorism law, Diplock courts and internment. Nobody could say that Margaret Thatcher didn't vigorously pursue the war especially after the IRA murdered her close friend and confidant Airey Neave, a man who escaped from Colditz.
However as to when a British Government last thought it could win militarily is a difficult question. We call it the Long War and it isn't over yet note the very latest troubles in the peace process after the IRA was alledged by senior Northern Irish policemen of being deeply involved in one the biggest bank robberies in British history.
But and it is a major but the British Government wasn't in a position to cut off the "support network". The IRA was largely funded through an organisation called Noraid, funded by US citizens and though racketeering in Northern Ireland. Also the British Government couldn't invade Eire where the IRA had training camps.
It would be usuful to know more about the support networks for Eta the Spanish Basque separatists.
Having said that I remain unconvinced that the war on terrorism can be won militarily

RE: Iraqis crowd the polls | csmonitor.com

]http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/200303/msg00323.html

fasinating

do you think that the US should invade Iran?

do you think that it is any more within the power of the Saudi authorities to stop Al'Q than it was within the power of the British government to stop the IRA in Northern Ireland or to stop its mainland Britain bombing campaign?

RE: Iraqis crowd the polls | csmonitor.com

This is an important, and infuriating issue.

] "The Supreme Court's decision to place this extraordinary
] power to sentence a person solely in the hands of a
] single federal judge - who is accountable to no one -
] flies in the face of the clear will of Congress," Mr.
] Feeney said in a statement.

1. In general, we have a problem, and we won't talk about it because its extremely unpopular to do so. The problem is that our democratically elected government is selected based on the whims of a fully and readily manipulated populace. More then half the people in this country think Sadam Hussien was connected with Al'Q. Do we think their opinions about crime are any more informed?

The "I'm gunna get tough on crime" story gets votes, and it is played entirely for marketing reasons. It has absolutely no relationship to a reasonable, considered view about how to actually lower crime rates. I'm not interested in having important matters of policy be constantly dominated by "what sells."

Congressmen refer to their democratic legitimacy because they can't refer to the credibility of their policies. Congress is a constant slew of bad ideas. I'd prefer to have certain questions be more isolated from the political process, particularly when lives are at stake.

2. Federal judges are certainly accountable for their decisions, which are vetted by several levels of hierarchy. People don't get to be federal justices because they fell out of bed this morning and figured they'd get into law.

3. No one knows more about the specifics of an individual case then the people who are handling it. Different cases have different specific circumstances and should result in different sentences.

] "We are disappointed that the decision made the guidelines
] advisory in nature," Assistant Attorney General Christopher
] A. Wray said in a statement. "District courts are still
] required to consult the federal sentencing guidelines, and
] any sentence may be appealed by either defense counsel or
] prosecutors on the grounds that it is unreasonable. To the
] extent that the guidelines are now advisory, however, the
] risk increases that sentences across the country will become
] wildly inconsistent."

I'd accuse Christopher Wray of intentionally lying, but thats what politicians do, isn't it?

What you want is consistency of standards. Two people who commit the same crime in the same circumstances should get the same sentence. You want to avoid favoritism or situations where different judges have wildly different approaches.

Wray isn't offering consistency of standards. He is offering consistency of results. Thats not the same thing. He offers one while complaining about the lack of the other. Consistency of result is unfair, because two people who commit the same crime in wildly different circumstances get the same sentence. Congressmen cannot fairly apply a blanket rule that impacts every case in the country.

Congressmen, as previously pointed out, don't even have experience with the subject matter. They are making their rules base on political fads and not based on a knowledge of how to address real problems.

If their is a problem with inconsistency of standards among judges it ought to be addressed by looking at the decision making process involved in sentencing and the selection process for judges rather then by creating a system that could as easily be operated by a computer as by a human.

As usual, you're not going to see that, because that would be reasonable. This isn't about reason. Its about power.

The New York Times - Reactions: New Fight Over Controlling Punishments Is Widely Seen