Argh when will this end?

I realise that being on so many LUG and similar lists means I’m setting myself up for this but seeing the same conversation play out 10 times already is really doing my head in!


$ cd ~/Maildir
$ find . -type f | xargs grep -il 'http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/softwarepatents'
./lug-hampshire/cur/1167746700.27551_0.bitfolk.com:2,S
./lug-hampshire/cur/1167748676.30387_0.bitfolk.com:2,S
./debian-uk/cur/1167842646.25530_0.bitfolk.com:2,S
./lug-aberdeen/cur/1167904508.25092_0.bitfolk.com:2,S
./lug-aberdeen/cur/1167878764.2444_0.bitfolk.com:2,S
./lug-aberdeen/cur/1167873078.30123_0.bitfolk.com:2,S
./lug-gl/cur/1167917038.6388_0.bitfolk.com:2,S
./lug-gl/cur/1167919940.10510_0.bitfolk.com:2,S
./lug-gl/cur/1167918956.9559_0.bitfolk.com:2,S
./lug-surrey/cur/1167838262.19494_0.bitfolk.com:2,S
./lug-surrey/cur/1167837614.17607_0.bitfolk.com:2,S
./lug-sb/cur/1167906342.26657_0.bitfolk.com:2,S
./lug-sussex/cur/1167845280.28760_0.bitfolk.com:2,S
./lug-sussex/cur/1167827746.4426_0.bitfolk.com:2,S
./lug-sussex/cur/1167914202.4414_0.bitfolk.com:2,RS
./lug-sussex/cur/1167827668.4349_0.bitfolk.com:2,S
./lug-sussex/cur/1167828364.4997_0.bitfolk.com:2,S
./lug-master/cur/1167906018.26248_0.bitfolk.com:2,S
./cur/1167748049.28558_0.bitfolk.com:2,S
./cur/1167815237.20322_0.bitfolk.com:2,S

Pity the petition reads like it was written by a frothing loon!

PS Yes I have signed it.

America by the numbers

No. 1?

I haven’t really had any time to write about anything for the last few weeks so I’ve only been doing link lists, but this one passed to me today by a co-worker really deserves comment.

If it comes across as excessively anti-American then sorry, that wasn’t the intention, and I don’t believe that anywhere else has really got it totally right either, but some of these are just mind-boggling.

Twenty percent of Americans think the sun orbits the earth. Seventeen percent believe the earth revolves around the sun once a day (The Week, Jan. 7, 2005).

Bush: 62,027,582 votes. Kerry: 59,026,003 votes. Number of eligible voters who didn’t show up: 79,279,000 (NYT, Dec. 26, 2004). That’s more than a third. Way more. If more than a third of Iraqis don’t show for their election, no country in the world will think that election legitimate.

Prisoners at Guantanamo are being force-fed

According to this BBC news article, prisoners at Guantanamo Bay are being force-fed using tubes inserted into their noses to pump food directly into their systems against their will.

They are being force-fed because they tried to go on hunger strike to protest against the situation they are in. One former prisoner says he went on hunger strike because he believed his food was being drugged.

The article also claims that any doctor wishing to visit the facility is screened to ensure they agree with the policy of force-feeding.

I hope I don’t need to explain my ethical and logical problems with force-feeding prisoners and interrogating them while they’re drugged.

Force-feeding was administered in a humane and compassionate manner and only when necessary to keep the prisoners alive.” — Lt. Col. Martin

Iran and nuclear weapons

port7, I appreciate what you’re saying regarding countries like UK and USA making commitments to reduce their own nuclear arsenal before requiring countries like Iran to do so, but surely you must see that as a liberal daydream and not something that could likely happen in the real world?

The fact is that having nuclear weapons gives a country a huge bargaining chip when it comes to diplomacy with other countries. North Korea has them, Israel has them, China has them, Pakistan and India have them. Iraq did not have them. If Iran did not have them (or were not close to having them), would they today share the same fate as Iraq?

Continue reading “Iran and nuclear weapons”

“Create an e-annoyance, go to jail” — CNET

As of last Thursday it is now illegal (in the US) to anonymously annoy people online. Stop and think about that for a moment. If you do something that someone else regards as an annoyance, and you don’t disclose your true identity, you can be liable for a fine or a maximum two years imprisonment.

This can only be seen as a real erosion of First Amendment rights in the US: there are often good reasons for anonymity or pseudonymity, and by demanding that people identify themselves it will dramatically reduce willingness to publish opinion.

Continue reading ““Create an e-annoyance, go to jail” — CNET”

“Galloway joins Big Brother house” — BBC

Galloway joins Big Brother house, thus quashing any promise that he was ever a serious politician. Seriously what is a member of parliament of Great Britain doing in a reality TV show? Does he not have more important things to get on with? Should he not be busy working for his constituents like he is paid to do? I sincerely hope that anyone who made the mistake of voting for this self-serving egotistical joker will not be making the mistake twice.