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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
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| Topic: Current Events |
2:36 am EST, Jan 25, 2004 |
] Can you believe President Bush is still pushing the
] cockamamie claim that we went to war in Iraq with a real
] coalition rather than a gaggle of poodles and lackeys?
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] His State of the Union address took his swaggering
] sheriff routine to new heights. This is a fun rant about the State of the Union Address. Sharply critical of everyone. Riding the Crazy Train |
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| Topic: War on Terrorism |
2:31 am EST, Jan 25, 2004 |
Ideas don't just spread on their own. Ideas spread in a context. "... an aging developed world ... trying to protect its jobs, and ... a young, job-seeking, job-needing emerging world ..." The region stretching from Morocco to the border of India had almost no lights. War of Ideas, Part 6 |
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Why Libya Gave Up on the Bomb |
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| Topic: Society |
9:02 am EST, Jan 23, 2004 |
By linking shifts in Libya's behavior to the Iraq war, the president misrepresents the real lesson of the Libyan case. This confusion undermines our chances of getting countries like Iran and Syria to follow Libya's lead. ... Until the president is willing to employ carrots as well as sticks, he will make little headway in changing Iranian or Syrian behavior. The president's lack of initiative on this point is especially disappointing. ... and now you know the rest of the story. Why Libya Gave Up on the Bomb |
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| Topic: Society |
9:28 am EST, Jan 13, 2004 |
India and Pakistan have moved farther in the past 10 days than in the preceding 10 years. This is big news, and understanding why it happened yields big lessons. Musharraf has done more to battle extremism and promote reform than any Pakistani leader in the past quarter-century. The recent attempts on his life demonstrate that at the very least the extremists think he's fighting hard against them. But something equally important has happened in South Asia over the past 15 years. India has been transformed by a market revolution. Fareed Zakaria sees opportunity in recent regional economic and political developments. So, when the IBM engineers lose their jobs to the Indians, they might be saddened, but at least they should sleep well -- they're fighting terrorism! Wealth, or safety? Choose wisely. Opening in South Asia |
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| Topic: Society |
12:42 am EST, Jan 12, 2004 |
There is some bit of wisdom, some rule of nature, some law-like pattern, either grand or small, that you've noticed in the universe that might as well be named after you. Gordon Moore has one; Johannes Kepler and Michael Faraday, too. So does Murphy. Since you are so bright, you probably have at least two you can articulate. Send me two laws based on your empirical work and observations you would not mind having tagged with your name. Stick to science and to those scientific areas where you have expertise. Avoid flippancy. Remember, your name will be attached to your law. I don't have a law, but the typically edge.org collection of the smartest people on the planet is here and they've all got one. Many are fairly enlightening. I feel sooo uncool... OK, here is a shot: Given a set of similar products, the one which is least technologically sophisticated will be the most successful in the marketplace. What's Your Law? |
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| Topic: War on Terrorism |
11:02 pm EST, Jan 9, 2004 |
You are witnessing ... the third great totalitarian challenge to open societies in the last 100 years. Militant Islamists pose a serious threat because they attack the most essential element of an open society: trust. Trust is built into every aspect, every building and every interaction in our increasingly hyperconnected world. Without trust, there's no open society because there aren't enough police to guard every opening in an open society. So what to do? This is a good article. I think this view is correct. War of Ideas, Part 1 |
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US Withdraws Weapons Hunters From Iraq |
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| Topic: Current Events |
9:21 am EST, Jan 8, 2004 |
The Bush administration has quietly withdrawn from Iraq a 400-member military team whose job was to scour the country for military equipment. The step was described by some military officials as a sign that the administration might have lowered its sights and no longer expected to uncover the caches of chemical and biological weapons that the White House cited as a principal reason for going to war last March. US Withdraws Weapons Hunters From Iraq |
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| Topic: Politics and Law |
12:23 pm EST, Jan 5, 2004 |
Ever since it passed the USA Patriot Act, Congress has stood by in an alarming silence while a fabric of new law governing the balance between liberty and security has been woven by the other two branches of government. Many Democrats are happy to snipe from the sidelines but offer little in the way of constructive alternatives. They are content not to do their job ... Alleged enemy combatants, after all, don't tend to be an organized constituency of campaign donors who can garner congressional attention. This is quite an essay. The Washington Post is saying that we have a Congress that is completely ignoring it's responsibilities to the most critical Consititutional matters of our time, both because they are afraid of the Administration, and because they don't care: Constitutional issues are not important to the various special interests and lobby groups that make up their electoral support structure. Congress doesn't care... |
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The Bad Words Won't Go Away |
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| Topic: Society |
10:24 am EST, Dec 28, 2003 |
For generations, people were openly uptight about "those things" across the board. But we no longer are. And thus, banning the f-adjective in 2003 becomes a random, isolated gesture, displaying a studied daintiness that can only be defended with stammering vaguenesses. We are witnessing less a linguistic free-for-all than a narrowing of the gap between the formal and the informal in public discourse. Just like clothing, our language reflects who we are. Envision a heated debate on the floor of the Senate in the year 2020. The "gap" has completely disappeared, but Robert's Rules remain firmly in place. The Bad Words Won't Go Away |
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