Archive for November, 2003
RSS
Announcing RSS feeds for Amazon.com searches!!! That’s right - you can find out when a new book comes out on your favorite topic, or when that PDA you want falls below a certain price. You can even find out when something is available used… the possibilities are endless. But because it is a little tricky […]
Strangelove
You know that scene in Dr. Strangelove when the Russian Ambassador is allowed into the war room? And General Turgidson says “But he’ll see everything! He’ll see the big board!” As he tries to hide all the books… We’ll that’s what happened when the Israeli military forgot to encrypt their satellite feed!
For two days this […]
Hate
Talk Left opposes hate crimes legislation because he sees it as an ineffective and unnecessary extension of federal power. Debasish Mishra, a board member of South Asian American Leaders of Tomorrow (SAALT), responded with a very thoughtful commentary:
Your premise is that a hate crime is no different from a regular crime against an individual. […]
Politicization
Marstonalia has some interesting ideas about what can be done to “stop” the downward spiral in the politicization of the judicial confirmation process. (Hint: do nothing.)
And don’t miss an equally interesting discussion about takings. “Takings” is a legal theory which claims that government regulations should be seen as “taking” away rights from property holders - […]
Fungus
Let me start with a personal revelation: I have toenail fungus. It is a very common problem, one that can easily be cured with a pill. The problem? People have died of liver complications after taking the pill. Great - the FDA issued a warning - but why is the drug still on the market […]
Fence
“Let me show you the limits of my prison: a metre from my bedroom window is the fence protecting the Elqana settlement, opposite my living room an eight-metre-high concrete wall and an army gate on either side.”
Masha lies five kilometres east of the Green Line that separated the West Bank from Israel after the 1967 […]
Compensation
Watch him squirm:
Q: Why won’t you spell out what your position is?
MR. McCLELLAN: I’m coming to your question. Believe me, I am. Let me finish. Let me start over again, though. No amount of money can truly compensate these brave men and women for the suffering that they went through at the hands of a […]
ERIC
In an e-mail discussion about Congress’ efforts to make funding for area studies conditional on “loyalty”, someone alerted me to a story from back in April that seems to have gotten far too little attention:
Since its beginning in 1966, the venerable ERIC education megabase…has derived its million-plus records through the networked contributions of 16 clearinghouses […]
Subcontracting
America shouldn’t be subcontracting torture.
From a Washington Post editorial, which TalkLeft takes to task for not going far enough. Much more about the story here. And here is an earlier Washington Post story.
Here are the basic facts of the case (from the WP editorial):
MAHER ARAR, a Canadian-Syrian dual citizen, was on his way to Montreal […]
Resistance
Body and Soul really outdoes herself with one of the most articulate and coherent discussions of both Iraqi “resistance” and US efforts at “reconstruction.” It would do injustice to the post for me to summarize it or provide excerpts - so just go read it!
An anthropologist and documentary filmmaker, 
