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"I don't think the report is true, but these crises work for those who want to make fights between people." Kulam Dastagir, 28, a bird seller in Afghanistan

Pan's Labyrinth - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Topic: Movies 1:48 pm EST, Jan 26, 2007

If you haven't seen Pan's Labyrinth you should catch it while its in theaters. A positively creepy film in which a little girl intertwines her fantasies with the tragic reality around her. Very well done. (Do not bring children.)

The film is set in post-Civil War northern Spain, in 1944. A young girl, Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), moves with her pregnant mother Carmen (Ariadna Gil), and her stepfather Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez), into a new home in the countryside. Vidal and his small army have been sent to the remote area to rid it of a small Republican militia.

Ofelia, who often immerses herself in ancient stories and fairy tales, finds an immense and ancient labyrinth near her new home. There, she meets a faun (Doug Jones) who reveals that she is the long-lost daughter of the King of the Underworld, and that to regain entry to her kingdom she must carry out three tasks. The faun gives her a storybook, which will tell her the details of the tasks.

Pan's Labyrinth - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Identity and Migration
Topic: Society 2:07 pm EST, Jan 25, 2007

Francis Fukuyama has the cover story in the current issue of Prospect.

National identity continues to be understood and experienced in ways that sometimes make it a barrier for newcomers who do not share the ethnicity and religious background of the native-born. National identity has always been socially constructed; it revolves around history, symbols, heroes and the stories that a community tells about itself. This sense of attachment to a place and a history should not be rubbed out, but it should be made as open as possible to new citizens.

There are some good observations in here. I want to make an observation about his observations about North America though.

He looks to America as the best example of the culture that is rooted in civics rather than heritage. I agree. However, I think thats one of the primary fault lines in American politics today... Whether America is about principals or people, Constitutional rights, or Judeo Christian heritage. Fukuyama argues that liberal positions in American politics represent a kind of multi-culturalism. In some cases I think he is right, but I don't agree with all of his examples. The right of gay people to get married seems an individual right to me, and not a social or collective right. I do, however, see the anti-immigration and cultural conservativism movements as a kind of pseudo-ethnic nationalism that would create a more closed culture here (which would be, by Fukuyama's argument, more vulnerable to domestic terrorism).

Canada may be the source of modern multiculturalism, but I think its simultaneously a model for the sort of national transformations required in Europe. Canada's english majority transformed their country's identity from one that was primarily tied to the British Empire to one which all of it's citizens can connect with. I think there is something to learn from that.

Identity and Migration


Vitalsecurity.org - Hillarious Malware 'EULA'
Topic: Computer Security 6:52 pm EST, Jan 24, 2007

In its favour, this program does come with a EULA - sadly, it's a piece of comedy gold written with the express intention of making people interface their tea with their monitors. We'll look at the EULA a little more later, but for now check out the waft of "dodgy" from the screenshot:

Read the text in the image linked here. There is more in the article. Its great.

Vitalsecurity.org - Hillarious Malware 'EULA'


WiiBot
Topic: Technology 5:37 pm EST, Jan 24, 2007


How to build a sword-wielding, tennis-playing, WiiMote-controlled, friendly robot

Damn!

WiiBot


27B Stroke 6's guide to the CDT's guide to this year in Internet Politics
Topic: Humor 5:32 pm EST, Jan 24, 2007

Lobbyists are drooling at how much cheaper it will be to buy votes with the Wii crowd -- who are happy to play golf on their television screen -- than with legislators who actually want to be flown to Scotland.

27B Stroke 6's guide to the CDT's guide to this year in Internet Politics


xkcd - A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language - By Randall Munroe
Topic: Humor 3:41 pm EST, Jan 24, 2007

Regular Expressions

Perl users will like this one.

xkcd - A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language - By Randall Munroe


'There is no war on terror' | Special Reports | Guardian Unlimited Politics
Topic: War on Terrorism 2:03 pm EST, Jan 24, 2007

The director of public prosecutions, Sir Ken Macdonald, put himself at odds with the home secretary and Downing Street last night by denying that Britain is caught up in a "war on terror" and calling for a "culture of legislative restraint" in passing laws to deal with terrorism.

"It is critical that we understand that this new form of terrorism carries another more subtle, perhaps equally pernicious, risk. Because it might encourage a fear-driven and inappropriate response. By that I mean it can tempt us to abandon our values. I think it important to understand that this is one of its primary purposes."

"London is not a battlefield. Those innocents who were murdered on July 7 2005 were not victims of war. And the men who killed them were not, as in their vanity they claimed on their ludicrous videos, 'soldiers'. They were deluded, narcissistic inadequates. They were criminals. They were fantasists. We need to be very clear about this. On the streets of London, there is no such thing as a 'war on terror', just as there can be no such thing as a 'war on drugs'.

'There is no war on terror' | Special Reports | Guardian Unlimited Politics


A Piercing Look At Goth Culture And Fashion - washingtonpost.com
Topic: Society 1:35 am EST, Jan 24, 2007

"When most people hear the term 'Goth,' they think of vampires, crushed black velvet, lacy Victorian gowns and pale skin," Jonathan Williams writes in the latest issue of Gothic Beauty. "But recently, Goth fashion has been infiltrated by forward-thinking styles more reminiscent of futuristic science fiction than fantastical images of past eras."

My first roommate at Tech was quoted in WaPo!

A Piercing Look At Goth Culture And Fashion - washingtonpost.com


RE: State of the Union 2007 (via drudge) 0-day W4R3Z Y0
Topic: Miscellaneous 11:37 pm EST, Jan 23, 2007

Hijexx wrote:
Finally, to keep this economy strong we must take on the challenge of entitlements.

If he couldn't do that with the Republicans in power I'll be shocked, shocked if can do it while the Democrats are in power. We missed a major opportunity here and by the time it comes around again the situation will be dire.

I propose a standard tax deduction for health insurance that will be like the standard tax deduction for dependents.

Thats neat! A national healthcare plan that Republicans will support!

I chose this course of action because it provides the best chance of success.

I chose this course of action in spite of the fact that it has almost no chance of success because the alternative is withdrawl.

If American forces step back before Baghdad is secure, the Iraqi government would be overrun by extremists on all sides. We could expect an epic battle between Shia extremists backed by Iran, and Sunni extremists aided by al Qaeda and supporters of the old regime. A contagion of violence could spill out across the country – and in time the entire region could be drawn into the conflict.

For America, this is a nightmare scenario.

We've started WWIII. We didn't REALLY start it, Bin Lauden started it, but it could have been avoided if we had handled this better. Its worth sending 20,000 more people on the off chance that we prevent if from occuring even though its almost inevitable now.

We went into this largely united – in our assumptions, and in our convictions.

Cept for the thousands of people protesting in the street in major U.S. cities. I was hoping I wasn't going to have to regret not joining them.

This is why I propose to establish a special advisory council on the war on terror, made up of leaders in Congress from both political parties. We will share ideas for how to position America to meet every challenge that confronts us. And we will show our enemies abroad that we are united in the goal of victory.

We will share blame for how we positioned America. And we will show our citizens that both parties are to blame for the mess. Now THATS what I call being a uniter and not a divider!

A second task we can take on together is to design and establish a volunteer Civilian Reserve Corps. Such a corps would function much like our military reserve.

Because it is stretched too thin!

It would give people across America who do not wear the uniform a chance to serve in the defining struggle of our time.

Because the pentagon isn't hiring or anything. I wonder if they've decided that they were wrong about outsourcing everything.

Americans can have confidence in the outcome of this struggle – because we are not in this struggle alone

Macedonia has totally got our back, dude.

A democratic Palestinian state living side-by-side with Israel in peace and security.

Now we're REALLY dreaming!

RE: State of the Union 2007 (via drudge) 0-day W4R3Z Y0


Colbert Defends Alberto Gonzalez
Topic: Miscellaneous 10:58 pm EST, Jan 23, 2007

This is strict constructionalism on drugs.

Colbert Defends Alberto Gonzalez


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