Bullet Train Blues are 'landscape' photos shot from the window of a high speed 'bullet train' one grey day last winter as it sped between Osaka and Tokyo. I looked at the effects of Japanese industrial cultural on the landscape, and felt a stong desire to mitigate what I saw, the interference of industrialization with the natural environment.

Posted by GeeTee at November 30, 2002 07:12 PM | TrackBack 0

Using similar themes as stories as diverse as Brave New World, Gattaca, Fahrenheit 451, and 1984, the upcoming Dimension Films release Equilibrium knows what's interesting in science fiction and action and takes it for a wonderful drive around the block.

Posted by GeeTee at November 30, 2002 06:42 PM | TrackBack 0

The CSE's happy problem -- picking through a wealth of applicants -- reflects the new appeal of spying in the world after Sept. 11, 2001.

Posted by GeeTee at November 30, 2002 06:57 AM | TrackBack 0

The offence, which carries a maximum fine of $100, became a sticky constitutional issue when Aboriginal legal service lawyer Eugene O'Sullivan argued "mooning" a police car was a legitimate and legal means of expression. He said it was a "mild" political act and a protest against government authority protected under the implied freedoms of the constitution.

Posted by GeeTee at November 29, 2002 06:08 PM | TrackBack 0

The creator of the Three Musketeers, The count of Monte Cristo, or The Man inthe Iron Mask, and the writer some credit with being the inventor of the comic superhero will tomorrow be paid the greatest tribute France extends to its glorious dead. The 19th. century writer, Alexandre Dumas, or at least his remains, are to be moved to the Pantheon in Paris where they will be laid to rest alongside such French greats as fellow writer, Victor Hugo, physicists Marie and Pierre Curie and Resistance leader, Jean Moulin.

Posted by GeeTee at November 29, 2002 04:45 PM | TrackBack 0

And what are the ex-restaurateurs going to do now? Annie Schwab has a new dream that I cannot think of any downside to at all. And that is to be a restaurant critic. Which is even better than being a columnist, as you do not have to microwave your own potato.

Posted by GeeTee at November 29, 2002 01:05 PM | TrackBack 0

Hippolytus de Marsiliis, (a) sixteenth century lawyer, is credited with the invention of a particularly subtle form of water torture. Having observed how drops of water falling one by one on a stone gradually wore away a hollow, he applied the method to the human body.

Posted by GeeTee at November 29, 2002 07:12 AM | TrackBack 0

My one wish: a rapid, uninterrupted levitation into a pocket of our atmosphere with little or no oxygen so I can suffocate peacefully.

Posted by GeeTee at November 28, 2002 01:02 PM | TrackBack 0

McGeorge does not possess a degree in one of the specialized fields -- such as biochemistry, bacteriology or chemical engineering -- that the United Nations says it seeks in its inspectors. U.S. and U.N. officials said a background check apparently was not conducted on McGeorge or any of the inspector applicants.

Posted by GeeTee at November 28, 2002 10:56 AM | TrackBack 0

On the day before Christmas, at noon, local time, all over the world, Deibert wants citizens to "shoot back" at surveillance cameras -- not with guns, but with cameras of their own. Participants are to head out, in disguise, to their favorite malls and public spaces, and photograph all the security cameras they find.

Posted by GeeTee at November 28, 2002 09:36 AM | TrackBack 0

"They've been using the Backstreet Boys' trademark to shuttle traffic to other Web sites," Carla Christofferson, the band's lawyer said, adding that Zomba's right to use the trademark was limited to promoting records by the band.

Posted by GeeTee at November 28, 2002 09:34 AM | TrackBack 0

O'Connor talks a great deal about Alec's double life, but since he knows nothing about the hidden side of it, it becomes both repetitive and unenlightening to keep harping on it. It would indeed be fascinating to know what Alec did and with whom, but we don't, and there's an end to it. Except there is no end to it in the book. (I am inclined to think Christopher Good is quite right when he says to O'Connor that Alec enjoyed being speculated about sexually; perhaps it gave him a sort of vicarious sex life.)

Posted by GeeTee at November 28, 2002 07:22 AM | TrackBack 0

Thair said the web showed great tensile strength -- enough to put a handful of coins on it without them falling through.

Posted by GeeTee at November 28, 2002 07:16 AM | TrackBack 0

Mr. Iwanyk, 32 years old, first suspected that his TiVo thought he was gay, since it inexplicably kept recording programs with gay themes. A film studio executive in Los Angeles and the self-described "straightest guy on earth," he tried to tame TiVo's gay fixation by recording war movies and other "guy stuff."
"The problem was, I overcompensated," he says. "It started giving me documentaries on Joseph Goebbels and Adolf Eichmann. It stopped thinking I was gay and decided I was a crazy guy reminiscing about the Third Reich."

Posted by GeeTee at November 26, 2002 11:17 AM | TrackBack 0

"The failure of the economic boom to expand employer-based coverage for working families significantly is ominous," the center said in a recent study. It found that the current slowdown and the rising cost of providing health care to employees produced a double whammy: fewer companies are now willing to offer their workers health care coverage, and those that do will demand that employees shoulder a far higher share of the cost.

Posted by GeeTee at November 26, 2002 10:48 AM | TrackBack 0

For a fee of $10 per word (5 word minimum), a customer can have a telegram delivered to someone who has passed away. This is done with the help of terminally Ill volunteers who memorize the telegrams before passing away, and then deliver the telegrams after they have passed away. We call this an "afterlife telegram".

Posted by GeeTee at November 26, 2002 06:39 AM | TrackBack 0

When I read that call to action, I resolved to take up Lessig's Challenge. I would donate more money to people and organizations fighting against the media monopoly than I spent buying the monopoly's products. I would support organizations like the EFF, Digital Consumer, the Free Software Foundation, and the ACLU that fight for cyber-liberties and free speech. I would buy items from independent artists online and in person. I would donate money to open source programmers who are fighting the good fight.

Posted by GeeTee at November 26, 2002 06:36 AM | TrackBack 0

The Russian Ministry of Education has included Barbie along with a list of other toys and games, such as Pokémon, that face a ban because of the supposedly harmful effects they have on the minds of young children. Barbie, in particular, is under fire because the doll is thought to awaken sexual impulses in the minds of the very young, and encourage consumerism among Russian infants.

Posted by GeeTee at November 26, 2002 06:32 AM | TrackBack 0

We are inclined to think that genuine innovators are loners, that they do not need the social reinforcement the rest of us crave. But that's not how it works, whether it's television comedy or, for that matter, the more exalted realms of art and politics and ideas. In his book "The Sociology of Philosophies," Randall Collins finds in all of known history only three major thinkers who appeared on the scene by themselves: the first-century Taoist metaphysician Wang Ch'ung, the fourteenth-century Zen mystic Bassui Tokusho, and the fourteenth-century Arabic philosopher Ibn Khaldun. Everyone else who mattered was part of a movement, a school, a band of followers and disciples and mentors and rivals and friends who saw each other all the time and had long arguments over coffee and slept with one another's spouses. Freud may have been the founder of psychoanalysis, but it really began to take shape in 1902, when Alfred Adler, Wilhelm Stekel, Max Kahane, and Rudolf Reitler would gather in Freud's waiting room on Wednesdays, to eat strudel and talk about the unconscious. The neo-Confucian movement of the Sung dynasty in China revolved around the brothers Ch'eng Hao and Ch'eng I, their teacher Chou Tun-i, their father's cousin Chang Tsai, and, of course, their neighbor Shao Yung. Pissarro and Degas enrolled in the École des Beaux-Arts at the same time, then Pissarro met Monet and, later, Cézanne at the Académie Suisse, Manet met Degas at the Louvre, Monet befriended Renoir at Charles Gleyre's studio, and Renoir, in turn, met Pissarro and Cézanne and soon enough everyone was hanging out at the Café Guerbois on the Rue des Batignolles. Collins's point is not that innovation attracts groups but that innovation is found in groups: that it tends to arise out of social interaction—conversation, validation, the intimacy of proximity, and the look in your listener's eye that tells you you're onto something. German Idealism, he notes, centered on Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel. Why? Because they all lived together in the same house.

Posted by GeeTee at November 26, 2002 06:27 AM | TrackBack 0

During irradiation, a piece of meat would be zapped with 10 kilorays of radio- isotope-generated radiation beams -- equal in power to 150 million chest X-rays. The process is not supposed to change the taste or appearance of the food.

Posted by GeeTee at November 26, 2002 06:13 AM | TrackBack 0

Sorority girls who sit next to you at lunch and talk, loudly, about how many blowjobs they gave last weekend, like it's some kind of fucking contest (corrollary: highschool girls who talk about how drunk they got last weekend in homeroom; thank God I don't have to deal with that anymore)

Posted by GeeTee at November 25, 2002 07:32 PM | TrackBack 0

We can only pursue what runs away from us. A man who is devoted to something else besides the woman is autmatically more attractive. Any intellectual whore who has ever listened to a girl complain about how her boyfriend-ran-off-with-a-slut or how her boyfriend-is-really-not-dumb-he's-just-streetsmart-and-he- has-to-sell-weed-to-support-his-baby's-mama or he's-really-nice-even-though-he-ignores-me-and-hits-me-sometimes-but-you-don't- know-what-he's-like-when-we're-alone or he's-not-emotionally-available-that's-why-I-like-talk-to-you-until-it's-time-to-go-fuck-him while he himself is sitting right there and would like nothing better than to be with her but of course is sitting solidly on the friends ladder knows this intuitively. Ultimately, almost all guys learn this truth for themselves: The best way to never score with a woman is to show too much interest in her.

Posted by GeeTee at November 25, 2002 07:17 PM | TrackBack 0

Here and there it remembers a largely forgotten breakthrough, like the 1991 episode of "A Different World" that dared to talk about AIDS and safe sex. As producer Debbie Allen tells it, NBC had fainting spells at the mere thought of showing a condom - in its wrapper, mind you - on the air.

Posted by GeeTee at November 25, 2002 02:11 PM | TrackBack 0

The paper's researchers emphasise that it represents their opinions rather than those of Microsoft, but their conclusions are likely to make uncomfortable reading for music industry executives.
In essence, say the researchers, file-swapping systems have already won. The only way for music companies to compete is on the same terms by making music easy to get hold of and cheap to buy.

Posted by GeeTee at November 25, 2002 12:25 PM | TrackBack 0

Dogs express themselves with a variety of barks while wolves use more visual cues to convey information to each other, said the researchers for the Kiel Institute of Animal Behaviour Studies.

Posted by GeeTee at November 25, 2002 05:15 AM | TrackBack 0

Exhibit A: The Harry Potter Nimbus 2000 Broom, an "innocent" toy you can find quietly lurking on Amazon.com, accompanied by a photo of a young boy astride the broom in a manner which he will regret the rest of his life. The toy, supposedly meant to suggest little Harry's magical mode of transportation, features sound effects and a "grooved stick and handle for easy riding."And it vibrates when you squeeze it between your legs.

Posted by GeeTee at November 24, 2002 08:55 AM | TrackBack 0

Ostenson noted that the computer manual did warn against operating it directly on exposed skin but said the patient had lap burns even though he had been wearing trousers and underpants.

Posted by GeeTee at November 22, 2002 11:00 AM | TrackBack 0

The project, funded with a $3 million, three-year grant from the Energy Department, will start as a pure scientific endeavor, but it could eventually have practical applications. If Venter and his collaborators manage to create a minimalist organism of the sort they envision, they will attempt to add new functions to it one at a time -- conferring on it the ability, for instance, to break down the carbon dioxide from power plant emissions or to produce hydrogen for fuel.

Posted by GeeTee at November 22, 2002 10:46 AM | TrackBack 0

Scientists accustomed to explaining the universe's workings through mathematical equations haven't always received Wolfram's ideas warmly. But the computer industry, whose inventions allowed Wolfram to develop his philosophy, could be an easier sell. Wolfram elevates the seemingly mechanistic computing tasks to the central role in the origin and functioning of the cosmos.

Posted by GeeTee at November 22, 2002 06:04 AM | TrackBack 0

The company is hoping to differentiate its spam database from others by making it both large and public. Many antispam companies ask for spam donations, but most keep such submissions secret. Publicly available databases are often run by independent individuals.

Posted by GeeTee at November 22, 2002 06:00 AM | TrackBack 0

Welcome to PrivacyInfo.ca, a site maintained by Professor Michael Geist of the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law and Technology Counsel, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP. The site features summaries of all of the Canadian Privacy Commissioner's decisions under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) . While those decisions are available in full-text on the Commissioner's site, this site provides additional search functionality, including full-text searches as well as searching by individual provisions, sector, and outcome.

Posted by GeeTee at November 22, 2002 05:56 AM | TrackBack 0

Chretien tried to douse the controversy, saying the remark was inappropriate. Bush is "a friend of mine," Chretien said.

"He's not a moron at all, he's a friend. My personal relations with the president are extremely good."

Posted by GeeTee at November 21, 2002 06:17 PM | TrackBack 0

"I think that is a Canadian matter, I think that a number of Canadians were a little bit ticked off ... So while Mr. Bush may be asking for what I'm asking for, I'm not asking for his help."

Posted by GeeTee at November 21, 2002 08:52 AM | TrackBack 0

Mr Page also told his audience that Londoners had the right to run their own events, such as the Brixton carnival and gay pride marches, which celebrated black and gay culture. Why therefore, he asked, should country people not have the right to do what they liked in the countryside.

Posted by GeeTee at November 21, 2002 07:48 AM | TrackBack 0

You will like stupid names! Old names are counter-revolutionary!

Posted by GeeTee at November 20, 2002 03:59 AM | TrackBack 0

Ontario's attorney general has asked police to investigate whether schoolgirl killer Karla Homolka's participation in a new book violates the terms of her plea bargain.

Posted by GeeTee at November 20, 2002 03:41 AM | TrackBack 0

...with multiplying --and error-filled -- versions being passed around like bootleg music. Somecompanies fed a version of the list into their own databases and now useit to screen job applicants and customers. A water-utilities tradeassociation used the list "in lieu of" standard background checks, saysthe New Jersey group's executive director.

Posted by GeeTee at November 19, 2002 12:23 PM | TrackBack 0

"A figure of a billion dollars for this sort of activity is more than reasonable," said Giles.

Posted by GeeTee at November 19, 2002 12:21 PM | TrackBack 0

Alcor seems like a responsible organization, I think they would not reanimate people before it was going to work, but who knows who's going to be in charge or in control 40 or 50 years from now? But there's not really an argument against it, because the cryonics philosophy is that it's not guaranteed to work. They acknowledge that there's a good chance that it won't work, but there's a chance it'll work, and it definitely won't work if you don't do it. My primary strategy for living through the 21st century and beyond is not to die. I think that's more likely to work than cryonics, but they're not mutually exclusive.

Posted by GeeTee at November 19, 2002 09:48 AM | TrackBack 0

Researchers said that the brain also assimilates information best through sound and vision, which is why TV works so well.

Posted by GeeTee at November 19, 2002 09:45 AM | TrackBack 0

Technology currently used can tell only whether an offender is where he is supposed to be, which is usually a curfew address. New 'reverse tags' can also monitor whether an offender is approaching a former victim's house or a high-risk area such as a school, but it can not track every movement.

Posted by GeeTee at November 19, 2002 09:44 AM | TrackBack 0

Want to submit your boobie pic? Read rules and submit in comments.Guess how much we have raised? $1610.00 -- $1251.00 for cancer!

Posted by GeeTee at November 19, 2002 09:40 AM | TrackBack 0

Until now, Bush administration officials had downplayed bin Laden's recent claims of "We have the scooter and we will use it," saying that gyroscopic and tilt sensor technology were likely beyond their abilities. But with today's discovery, experts say it is at least possible bin Laden could produce a "Dirty Scooter" capable of traveling up to six miles on a five-hour charge.

Posted by GeeTee at November 19, 2002 06:20 AM | TrackBack 0

"The Gore book tour is like the trailer for a movie," says former press secretary Chris Lehane.

Posted by GeeTee at November 19, 2002 05:24 AM | TrackBack 0

Exclusively at Amazon.com! You won't find Segway anywhere else. Be the first on your block! Available now for delivery starting March 2003. First come, first served.

Posted by GeeTee at November 19, 2002 02:39 AM | TrackBack 0

"Bryan, my cyberboyfriend, was in a lot of ways, my PowerMac G3, webcam and telephone," Mark wrote on his website. "He literally lived inside of this machine ... that I myself could control like a light switch. The perfect boyfriend."

Posted by GeeTee at November 18, 2002 06:14 PM | TrackBack 0

Back before the Sopranos and the Godfather series redefined what it meant to be a family, there was a little civilization called the Roman Empire.

Posted by GeeTee at November 18, 2002 05:55 AM | TrackBack 0

"I had close friends who were really angry about that speech," Gore says. "That's the peril of taking an unvarnished approach to issues. And whether I run again or not, that's what I intend to do. Those who like it, great. Those who don't -- I'm sorry, but I don't care."

Posted by GeeTee at November 18, 2002 05:07 AM | TrackBack 0

Such is the Darwinian admissions derby for Manhattan's finest private nursery schools. The tykes face the fiercest odds - 15 applicants for every slot is about average. Their parents are people unaccustomed to losing anything, and the search for an edge is ceaseless. The 4-year-old hones his violin method, the 3-year-old struggles with Japanese, and the world-famous CEO stands ready to make a call or two.

Posted by GeeTee at November 17, 2002 02:30 PM | TrackBack 0

AFTER a year of unremitting scandal, on November 13th America's bishops approved new procedures that, they say, will remove sexually abusive priests from public ministry. Catholics in America have been appalled by the emergence, during the 1990s, of evidence of widespread sexual abuse by priests of children under their care. But what was almost worse was the revelation that certain bishops appear to have known about such abuse, and merely to have moved the culprits from one parish to another. This also occurred in Ireland, a country where the influence of the Catholic Church runs deep, but where it is now being widely challenged. In Ireland, former victims have been outraged at the church's apparent obstruction of investigations into wrongdoing, and a legalistic, rather than moral, approach to the admission of guilt.

Posted by GeeTee at November 17, 2002 01:21 PM | TrackBack 0

The DARPA Information Awareness Office (IAO) will imagine, develop, apply, integrate, demonstrate and transition information technologies, components and prototype, closed-loop, information systems that will counter asymmetric threats by achieving total information awareness useful for preemption; national security warning; and national security decision making.

Most alarming logo ever.

Posted by GeeTee at November 17, 2002 06:47 AM | TrackBack 0

"I keep books, food samples and invitations to parties," said Penn. "The rest get tossed in the garbage," she told a group of 150, who had just finished eating a sliced turkey lunch.

Posted by GeeTee at November 17, 2002 06:42 AM | TrackBack 0

"A lot is written about bullying managers, but more frequently the problem is just poor managers," said the report.

Posted by GeeTee at November 17, 2002 06:27 AM | TrackBack 0

Over the past several years, other speeches by the iconic author have been billed as grand finales, but Vonnegut continues to make occasional appearances. And at his age, the 80-year-old says any of them could be the last.
"It's certainly a practical announcement to make," Vonnegut said with a well-worn laugh. "But public speaking has been a large part of my living."

Posted by GeeTee at November 16, 2002 03:19 PM | TrackBack 0

Please go to the "Where's Willy? Home" page and enter the denomination, series (year), and serial number and then hit the "SUBMIT" button. Remember that you need to register before entering any bills in order to put them on your account so you can come back and track where they go next!

Posted by GeeTee at November 16, 2002 02:37 PM | TrackBack 0

BIG budget film-making faces a total collapse in three years if studios don't quickly address the threat posed by movie downloading on the internet, Star Wars producer Rick McCallum told a Melbourne audience.

Posted by GeeTee at November 15, 2002 07:31 AM | TrackBack 0

Siggi Neuschitzer, manager of the Malta Tourism Association, said: "The similarity of the painting to Mickey Mouse is so astounding that the Disney concern could even lose its world-wide copyright licence."

Posted by GeeTee at November 15, 2002 06:47 AM | TrackBack 0

"This is without precedent and I have never in 23 years as a member of Parliament seen a situation where a publicly funded institution is shutting down free speech," Mr. Robinson said in an interview from Vancouver. "It's appalling that a publicly funded university would seek a court injunction to prevent a public official from speaking out."

Posted by GeeTee at November 15, 2002 06:44 AM | TrackBack 0

Falwell told WND just before the interview was aired that his intent was not to attack Muhammad. "I have avoided that. But [Simon] was pressing me on the issue of Muhammad's behavior, his involvement in war, and I simply said what I do believe, that Muhammad is not a good example for most Muslim people."

Posted by GeeTee at November 15, 2002 06:42 AM | TrackBack 0

Jones was charged with one count each of using a minor for sex acts and possession of child pornography, said District Attorney's spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons. She said the alleged victim was a 17-year-old boy.

Posted by GeeTee at November 15, 2002 06:37 AM | TrackBack 0

NeuStar would be expected to police the subdomain to ensure it remains free of inappropriate content. Web sites in the domain would be prohibited from linking to sites outside it, and they could not set up chat rooms, instant messaging or other interactive services unless they could certify that they did not expose children to pedophiles or pose other risks.

Posted by GeeTee at November 15, 2002 06:23 AM | TrackBack 0

Leo rises at approximately 11:00 p.m. local time on Monday, Nov. 18th. You can see Leonids anytime between then and dawn on Tuesday, but the strongest outbursts should occur on Tuesday morning at specific times listed in the Science@NASA story "Meteor Storm Forecast." Check the forecast for a city near you.

Posted by GeeTee at November 15, 2002 04:13 AM | TrackBack 0

"Key3Media's board believes this process represents the best alternative in these difficult times for preserving the value of its brands and businesses for its stakeholders," the company said.

Posted by GeeTee at November 15, 2002 04:03 AM | TrackBack 0

STUNG by the fact that sales of pirated music are rising faster than the legal market for songs, record labels are coming to realise that the Internet is an outlet they cannot ignore. On November 13th, EMI Recorded Music, the world%uFFD5s largest independent record company, announced that it was setting up a new online service that will allow music fans to download the songs of their choice. There is nothing new in this. Through legitimate websites like pressplay, a joint venture between Sony and Vivendi Universal, fans have been able to download music since earlier this year. But the songs on such sites are usually available only for a limited period (as long as users pay a subscription) and often with restrictions on how the music is used (for example, not on portable players).

Posted by GeeTee at November 14, 2002 11:22 AM | TrackBack 0

A provincial court judge dismissed the case this week against Ivan Smith, who's alleged to have published results from two byelections before polls closed. Judge Alan Tufts threw out the case on a procedural issue, saying the Crown filed charges under the wrong statute and couldn't ask to change its charge in the middle of a prosecution.

Posted by GeeTee at November 14, 2002 11:02 AM | TrackBack 0

Joy, who asked that only their first names be used, and Bill now have two children aged six and four. She works on the small farm she and her husband own, looking after turkeys, chickens and pigs and tending a vegetable garden. She sells the produce to her friends. About once a month, Joy, Bascel and several of the other mail-order brides who now live in Quesnel -- since Bascel's arrival, their numbers have grown dramatically -- get together to play bingo and eat traditional Philippine food, which includes pigs' intestines.

Posted by GeeTee at November 14, 2002 10:36 AM | TrackBack 0

IT is battery powered and is easily recharged by plugging into any standard 110-volt wall outlet. Fully charged, IT can travel at full speed for up to 30 miles/50 kilometers. IT drives like any other vehicle, without the noise, smell and pollution of a standard internal combustion engine. Plugging in overnight ensures that you will have hours of trouble-free driving.

Posted by GeeTee at November 14, 2002 10:28 AM | TrackBack 0

Posted by GeeTee at November 14, 2002 10:02 AM | TrackBack 0

The more scientists testily insisted that the big bang was unfathomable, the more they sounded like medieval priests saying, "Don't ask me what made God." Researchers, prominently Alan Guth of MIT, began to assert that the big bang could be believed only if its mechanics could be explained. Indeed, Guth went on to propose such an explanation. Suffice it to say that, while Guth asserts science will eventually figure out the cause, he still invokes unknown physical laws in the prior condition. And no matter how you slice it, calling on unknown physical laws sounds awfully like appealing to the supernatural.

Posted by GeeTee at November 14, 2002 09:41 AM | TrackBack 0

The world's richest man smiled when he saw the giant air-filled condom in India's rising technology hub of Hyderabad, where his company has opened its first software development center outside the United States.

Posted by GeeTee at November 14, 2002 09:21 AM | TrackBack 0

Osama bin Laden shares Hitler's anti-Semitism. Moreover, if we believe John Miller's 1999 Esquire interview, neither bin Laden nor his followers have anything resembling a Western sense of humor. (Miller's description of bin Laden's incomprehension at an attempted ice-breaker - to the effect that, as an engineer, Osama should know how to build a decent driveway up to his cave - is itself high comedy.) As Germans know from historical experience, fanaticism, unease with modernity, a poor sense of humor, and ethnic hatred are intimately related.

Posted by GeeTee at November 14, 2002 07:41 AM | TrackBack 0

Party chief Jiang Zemin and five other senior leaders were not elected to an important Party Committee as its congress closed on Thursday, the official Xinhua agency said.

This means they are not eligible for the more powerful Politburo Standing Committee, which is expected to be unveiled on Friday.

Posted by GeeTee at November 14, 2002 07:17 AM | TrackBack 0

Every purchase you make with a credit card, every magazine subscription you buy and medical prescription you fill, every Web site you visit and e-mail you send or receive, every academic grade you receive, every bank deposit you make, every trip you book and every event you attend -- all these transactions and communications will go into what the Defense Department describes as "a virtual, centralized grand database."

Posted by GeeTee at November 14, 2002 05:43 AM | TrackBack 0

The database represents many more than the 325-plus priests who have resigned or have been removed from their posts since January, pending investigations, because of abuse allegations dating back years.

Posted by GeeTee at November 14, 2002 05:38 AM | TrackBack 0

An Iranian computer seller has been detained by police after he posted on the Internet portraits of a girl who refused to marry him pasted onto naked bodies, a report said yesterday.

Posted by GeeTee at November 14, 2002 05:31 AM | TrackBack 0

Mary McGrath and I are producing this multi-part series with (for starters) Yo-Yo-Ma, the economist Jeff Sachs, the historian Jared Diamond ("Guns, Germs and Steel"), the Internet guru Larry Lessig, the cognitive psychologist Steve Pinker (new book, "The Blank Slate"), and such like. Big stars, burning questions. All amidst "rumours of war" that sharpen and darken every other question in the air.

[...]The thread, in an eclectic and digressive series, will be the basic global paradox: that 6-billion earthlings can see more clearly every day that we are connected in dimensions of climate, economics, genomics, disease, medicine, high and popular culture; and at the same time the politics of terror, lop-sided wealth and poverty, and imbalances of power and "voice" seem to be pulling the world apart. The experimental question underlying the radio series is how to turn the free, democratic and global Internet into a tool of a fresh conversation across the barriers of country, color, creed, commerce and cliche.

Posted by GeeTee at November 14, 2002 02:58 AM | TrackBack 0

"No one in their right mind would have bet on that horse. And had the horse that was supposed to win the sixth race won, I'd bet a month's salary this guy's con game would never have been exposed," Delvecchio said.

Posted by GeeTee at November 13, 2002 09:55 AM | TrackBack 0

Only one force could forestall the completion of Mozart's Requiem or Fitzgerald's "The Last Tycoon": death. And only one force could forestall the completion of Ben Stiller's television series "Heat-Vision and Jack": Fox. Back in 1999, executives at the Fox network examined Stiller's pilot episode about an ex-astronaut with a superheated brain and his buddy the talking motorcycle, and then, confoundingly, left the show off their fall schedule. The world could only imagine what might have been.

Posted by GeeTee at November 13, 2002 08:48 AM | TrackBack 0

Marvel has reported millions of dollars in earnings from the film but has told Lee the company has seen no "profits" as defined by their contract.

Posted by GeeTee at November 13, 2002 05:07 AM | TrackBack 0

The bottom line is this: The dominant studios and broadcasters can remain a vital part of the culture if they accept reasonable copyright law; if antitrust regulators leave them free to develop structures that protect intellectual property; if they pay the full cost of protecting copyrights; and if they design entertainment systems user-friendly enough and copyright rules reasonable enough that most consumers will stay on board rather than turn wholly to independent artists and open-source piracy.

Posted by GeeTee at November 12, 2002 06:57 AM | TrackBack 0

"The fact that so many kids are heading off to school on empty stomachs is not the reality one expects to see in a G-7 country like Canada that is consistently ranked among the best places in the world in which to live."

Posted by GeeTee at November 12, 2002 06:55 AM | TrackBack 0

SECHELT, B.C. - A controversial program in a small town in B.C. has volunteers giving out crack pipes to addicts to try to slow the spread of disease.

Posted by GeeTee at November 12, 2002 06:54 AM | TrackBack 0

Members of the SAG held a rally at New York City Hall Wednesday. They are repeating a call for federal tax relief for American filmmakers, so that producers will stay in the U.S. rather than choosing to film in other countries, like Canada, which offers filmmakers incentives that cover up to 35 per cent of labour expenses.

Posted by GeeTee at November 12, 2002 06:52 AM | TrackBack 0

The university received the collection in 1996, after the sudden death of Winnipeg native Robert Stimpson, who spent his life acquiring science fiction books and magazines. Stimpson's collection included first editions of Frank Herbert's Dune, Edgar Rice Burroughs novels, and first issues of Astounding and other popular pulp magazines from the 1930s and 1940s. The entire collection dates back to the 1920s.

Posted by GeeTee at November 12, 2002 06:50 AM | TrackBack 0

Until now, scientists have been looking at how infants use cues in speech -- such as the stress patterns of words -- to help determine where words begin. In contrast, the new study points to infants using knowledge -- of their name and their mother's name -- to determine where certain words begin and end, said James Morgan, associate professor of cognitive and linguistic sciences, and director of the research team.

Posted by GeeTee at November 12, 2002 05:59 AM | TrackBack 0

"In a whole raft of poems celebrating equestrian victories at the great Panhellenic Games such as the Olympics," said Bing, "the Milan papyrus makes clear that the Ptolemies pursued the international prestige of such triumphs with a determination as single-minded as that displayed in modern times by countries such as [former] East Germany."

Posted by GeeTee at November 12, 2002 05:57 AM | TrackBack 0

Some of the tests were aimed at simulating farming conditions after a nuclear war. In rugged eastern Georgia, researchers bombarded wheat seed with radiation to see if the plants would grow better. All the experiments used a common source of radiation, a lead-shielded canister containing enough radioactive cesium 137, U.S. officials now say, to contaminate a small city.
The experiments stopped long ago, but last year's terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon have kindled an intense interest in Gamma Kolos that revolves around a single question: Where's the cesium now?

Posted by GeeTee at November 12, 2002 03:43 AM | TrackBack 0

CDNow's parent company, BeMusic Inc., a unit of the German media giant Bertelsmann AG, has notified the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry that it will lay off the last 33 workers at the cavernous CDNow facility in Fort Washington on Dec. 27.

Posted by GeeTee at November 12, 2002 03:34 AM | TrackBack 0

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said several Europeans had complained they used www.sydneyopera.org to book opera tickets -- only to find out later the real Sydney Opera House had no record of their bookings.

Posted by GeeTee at November 12, 2002 03:21 AM | TrackBack 0

"IIt is against U.S. law to provide services to residents of Iraq, even if it is a free account. And the provider should cut off the account," said Nichols, who noted that a 1990 executive order prohibits U.S. firms from exporting "goods, technology or services" to Iraq, with the exception of controlled food and medical supplies.

Posted by GeeTee at November 11, 2002 08:33 AM | TrackBack 0

Canada is, quite simply, not a serious country anymore. It has internalized the assumptions of U.N.-ology: not just anti-Americanism but also the belief that Western nations don't need military might. As a consequence, they are simply unarmed. If al-Qaeda launched a September 11-style attack from Canadian soil, we would have only two choices: ask Canada to take charge, or take charge ourselves. The predictable — and necessary — U.S. action would spark outrage. We certainly don't need the burden of turning "the world's longest undefended border" into one of the world's longest defended ones. And that's why a little invasion is precisely what Canada needs. In the past, Canada has responded to real threats with courage and conviction (some say more Canadians went south to enlist for war in Vietnam than Americans went north to dodge it). If the U.S. were to launch a quick raid, blow up some symbolic but unoccupied structure — Toronto's CN Tower, or an empty hockey stadium — Canada would rearm overnight.

Posted by GeeTee at November 11, 2002 05:30 AM | TrackBack 0

Support this blog and get something pretty: buy a set of 1/2 OK Holiday cards! Get them now to make sure you've got them for whatever winter holiday you like -- from Ramadan to President Reagan's birthday, 1/2 OK cards have got you covered.

Posted by GeeTee at November 11, 2002 04:19 AM | TrackBack 0

The federal government is not about to fund an erotic Internet zone for teenagers and I'm not suggesting that it should. But I also believe it's counter productive to deny young people the opportunity to explore their sexuality on the Internet and I'm not sure that sites that are tasteful, yet provocative should necessarily be off limits to teens who are bound and determined to look at whatever material they can get their hands on.

Posted by GeeTee at November 10, 2002 03:58 PM | TrackBack 0

Indeed, Burrell's metamorphosis was so instant, so complete, it rather reminded one of a Stars In Their Eyes transformation. He went into the smoke, still doing his creepy, hand-wringing, over-devoted Mrs Danvers routine ('We will never see her like again'). He re-emerged, strutting, hungry, very much ready to pimp out the 'Real Diana', mind, body and soul, to the highest bidder.

Posted by GeeTee at November 10, 2002 02:53 PM | TrackBack 0

"The dilemma is that phenomenal experience is a first person matter, and this seems, at first glance, to prevent the formulation of a completely objective or causal account." Science, of course, is a third-person discourse. The first-person pronoun is not used in scientific papers. If there were any hint of qualia in a scientific paper, Edelman says, it would be edited out. But a scientific study of consciousness cannot ignore qualia. His proposed solution is to accept that other people as well as oneself do experience qualia, to collect their first-person accounts, and correlate them to establish what they have in common, bearing in mind that these reports are inevitably "partial, imprecise and relative to... personal context."

Posted by GeeTee at November 10, 2002 11:45 AM | TrackBack 0

As the polls, which show declining support for war, should suggest, many people oppose military action in Iraq who are not leftists. They are the troops at those big demonstrations--ordinary people from unions and high schools and churches, piling into buses with their handmade signs. Why? They're afraid of big casualties, American and Iraqi; they fear it will turn the whole region into a bloodbath; they fear Saddam Hussein will attack Israel, and Israel will strike back; they believe it will mean long-term occupation of Iraq, with terrible consequences for our own society; they fear it will backfire, increasing terrorism against the United States and fueling Islamic fundamentalism. They think it's a substitute for, and diversion from, the more difficult task of going after Al Qaeda. They oppose the whole concept of pre-emptive war, and see it as a violation of international law that will license other countries to do the same. They don't like the bellicose tone of the Bush Administration, distrust its constantly shifting rationales and apparent willingness to go it alone. They do not believe, as you apparently do, that the Administration cares about Iraqi democracy or the Kurds--who, by the way, are hardly united in welcoming the prospect of war.

Posted by GeeTee at November 10, 2002 06:25 AM | TrackBack 0

'These solar particles can have profound effects,' said Dr Paul Murdin, of the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge. 'On Mars, when its magnetic field failed permanently billions of years ago, it led to its atmosphere being boiled off. On Earth, it will heat up the upper atmosphere and send ripples round the world with enormous, unpredictable effects on the climate.'

Posted by GeeTee at November 10, 2002 06:22 AM | TrackBack 0

Several sources close to cabinet immediately dismissed the comment, saying Chretien was simply trying to make a point and was not actually serious about calling a snap vote.

Posted by GeeTee at November 08, 2002 10:23 AM | TrackBack 0

Mr. Martel has said that he was inspired by Brazilian writer Moacyr Scliar's book Max and the Cats, published in 1981. He acknowledges Dr. Scliar in the author's note of his award-wining novel Life of Pi, thanking him for "the spark of life." Despite this admission, the literary press in Brazil has accused the Canadian writer of improperly "copying" or "borrowing" from the book in the writing of Life of Pi, The New York Times reported this week. Dr. Scliar, a physician in Brazil, is one of Latin America's most distinguished novelists.

Posted by GeeTee at November 08, 2002 10:11 AM | TrackBack 0

That Tetris scenarios are comparable to existing NP-complete conundrums means that the only way to find the perfect fit of a given sequence of pieces - even without any time pressure - is to work through every possible permutation. This eats up computer power.

Posted by GeeTee at November 08, 2002 10:03 AM | TrackBack 0

If the NIHCM report doesn't convince you, just turn on your television and note which drugs are being marketed most aggressively. Ads for Celebrex may imply that it will enable arthritics to jump rope, but the drug actually relieves pain no better than basic ibuprofen; its principal supposed benefit is causing fewer ulcers, but the FDA recently rejected even that claim. Clarinex is a differently packaged version of Claritin, which is of questionable efficacy in the first place and is sold over the counter abroad for vastly less. Promoted as though it must be some sort of elixir, the ubiquitous "purple pill," Nexium, is essentially AstraZeneca's old heartburn drug Prilosec with a minor chemical twist that allowed the company to extend its patent. (Perhaps not coincidentally researchers have found that purple is a particularly good pill color for inducing placebo effects.)

Posted by GeeTee at November 08, 2002 09:56 AM | TrackBack 0

Rolling Stone magazine called it "a shipwreck" and the Washington Post said the film was "as awful as you've heard and as bad as you've imagined".

Posted by GeeTee at November 08, 2002 09:11 AM | TrackBack 0

Once again we can be sure The Turner Prize will prompt the question: "But is it Art?"

Posted by GeeTee at November 08, 2002 08:58 AM | TrackBack 0

"Defendant's 'touch-ups' of the dolls plus the setting she creates for them transform, to put it mildly, the original doll to an extent beyond merely supplanting it," [Southern District Judge Laura Taylor] Swain wrote. "A different analysis would apply if Defendant had, for example, dressed Barbie dolls in a different style of cheerleader outfit than those marketed by Mattel. To the Court's knowledge, there is no Mattel line of 'S&M' Barbie."

Posted by GeeTee at November 08, 2002 06:30 AM | TrackBack 0

The Canadian government made its views known as part of an ICANN consultation process it launched late last summer. While Ottawa acknowledged the need for ICANN reform, it was the only government to openly voice its support for the continuation of board positions for the general public through on-line elections. It also hinted at its concern over U.S. control, applauding Washington's activity to date but advocating the development of a process that facilitates broader governmental participation.

Posted by GeeTee at November 08, 2002 06:15 AM | TrackBack 0

Among other things, the bill makes it a criminal offence to make available content unsuitable for children online, even if the content is only made available to adults.

Posted by GeeTee at November 08, 2002 06:10 AM | TrackBack 0

Federal officials announced earlier yesterday that legislation for a national sex offender registry will be introduced in Parliament by mid-December. It would force convicted sex offenders to provide police with up-to-date addresses within 15 days of conviction or release from jail.

But it won't apply to anyone whose conviction predates the legislation, such as Toft, who was convicted of molesting dozens of young boys at the New Brunswick reform school where he worked. Homolka is serving a 12-year sentence for the sex killings of two Ontario schoolgirls.

Posted by GeeTee at November 07, 2002 04:01 AM | TrackBack 0

A guy posted a message saying he couldn't understand why the person who tried to destroy the camera, didn't simply remove the film and expose it to light - an astute and sensible observation. Since posting this site I have restored some of the more severely damaged negatives, and I can now tell you that the camera was NOT thrown onto a fire and it was NOT scorched in a forest inferno. Once you see the images you will understand; things are not always as they seem. Be patient and all will be revealed.

Posted by GeeTee at November 06, 2002 10:08 AM | TrackBack 0

The campaign, per Marc USA, Chicago, features a series of red-emblazoned print and out-of-home ads with such text as "Surprising. In a ya-know-a-leopard-thong-doesn't-look-half-bad-on-me kind of way," and "Bold. In a sorry-about-the-awkward-breakup-but-I-need-my-handcuffs-back kind of way." One ad that appears in public restrooms above urinals and in stalls proclaims, "Hypnotizing. In a gaze-into-the-giant-eyeball-while-you-pee kind of way."

Posted by GeeTee at November 06, 2002 09:44 AM | TrackBack 0

That the drug works so well is no surprise, as previous studies have shown it to be a potent stimulant. How it produces prolonged alertness is not well understood, but it is thought to act specifically in the brain's pre-frontal cortex. This is one of the most active areas of the brain in people who are awake, governing planning, memory and what we pay attention to.

Posted by GeeTee at November 06, 2002 07:02 AM | TrackBack 0

Ruled by a leftist alliance of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democrats (SPD) and the former East German communists (PDS), the city is staggering with 46 billion euros (46 billion dollars) public debt, Finance Senator Thilo Sarrazin said.

Posted by GeeTee at November 05, 2002 07:18 PM | TrackBack 0

"I protect the single girl living in the big city," says Terrifica, sporting blond Brunhild wig with a golden mask and a matching Valkyrie bra. "I do this because women are weak. They are easily manipulated, and they need to be protected from themselves and most certainly from men and their ill intentions toward them."

Posted by GeeTee at November 05, 2002 05:46 PM | TrackBack 0

The poll by Environics and the Quebec firm CROP found that 63 per cent of Quebeckers aged 18 to 44 would not pick either side, a result that may reflect weariness with decades of polarizing debate.

Posted by GeeTee at November 05, 2002 11:53 AM | TrackBack 0

Gay sheep that mate only with other rams have different brain structures from "straight" sheep, a finding that may shed light on human sexuality, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

Posted by GeeTee at November 05, 2002 10:36 AM | TrackBack 0

To create and establish an electronic system that captures, preserves and communicates the intellectual output of MIT's faculty and researchers.

Posted by GeeTee at November 05, 2002 10:33 AM | TrackBack 0

"I voted for McBride, but the machine counted it as Bush. It did this three times. The polling worker finally said, 'We have to reprogram this machine. Another person was having the same trouble while I was there.'"

Posted by GeeTee at November 05, 2002 10:16 AM | TrackBack 0

...the three Canadian finalists for the Booker this year came from somewhere else: Rohinton Mistry was born in India, Carol Shields in the United States and Mr. Martel in Spain, although to Canadian diplomatic parents who set him on a nomadic childhood through Costa Rica, France and Mexico. Those three and Michael Ondaatje, the Ceylon-born author of "The English Patient," are among the most popular Canadian authors in the United States and Europe.

Posted by GeeTee at November 05, 2002 09:35 AM | TrackBack 0

"No one sits down and actually reads all the spam that we receive daily," Huseman said. "That would be incredibly boring and totally futile. We read selected spams when we're investigating a specific issue."

Posted by GeeTee at November 05, 2002 09:33 AM | TrackBack 0

That encryption system takes two big, and secret, prime numbers and multiplies them. For a bad guy to decrypt your message, he'd need to take the product of that multiplication and figure out the two prime numbers used to generate it. It's called the "factoring problem," and fortunately it's something no one on Earth knows how to do quickly. A speedy method of factoring would make existing Internet security useless, not a pleasant thought in this Internet age.

Posted by GeeTee at November 05, 2002 08:56 AM | TrackBack 0

The agreement involves about 30 newspapers across Southern Ontario, including The St. Catharines Standard and a long list of community papers, among them the Stoney Creek News, The New Hamburg Independent and The Review of Niagara Falls.

Posted by GeeTee at November 05, 2002 08:53 AM | TrackBack 0

In duck-hunting, Bible-thumping Arkansas, Senate challenger Mark Pryor avows his commitment to Jesus and guns.

Posted by GeeTee at November 05, 2002 06:50 AM | TrackBack 0

No matter how Chrétien minimizes the events of the past few days, it is clear he could not impose his will and now no longer enjoys guaranteed caucus support. Ultimately, he will be forced to reconsider his ability to lead a party reluctant to be led.

Posted by GeeTee at November 05, 2002 03:58 AM | TrackBack 0

Mr Sharon described the move as the "least bad option," but said he had been forced to act because he could not agree to numerous conditions set by potential political allies.

Posted by GeeTee at November 05, 2002 03:56 AM | TrackBack 0

During the 21 days in which snipers terrorized the area, investigators used everything from specialized ballistics testing to geographic and criminal profiling to radio and television announcements to track them down. Then, in what turned out to be the 11th hour of the pursuit, they finally reached out to Coplink. As it turned out, John Muhammad and Lee Malvo were arrested before it was fully installed, but now the post-arrest task force is using the system to help connect the dots.

Posted by GeeTee at November 04, 2002 12:48 PM | TrackBack 0

There are other curious results of the poll. Registered Republicans were three times more likely to color-code their T-shirt drawers and organize their closets than registered Democrats. However, Democrats were five times as likely to color-code their files at work than Republicans. What conclusions should we draw from this data? That Republicans are less likely to have sex at home and Democrats are less likely to have sex at work?

Posted by GeeTee at November 04, 2002 12:08 PM | TrackBack 0

The federal privacy commissioner is again warning about a Canadian police state in which citizens are randomly asked for identification.

Posted by GeeTee at November 04, 2002 10:23 AM | TrackBack 0

"It is up to the committee how they proceed," the source said yesterday. "I suspect they will probably look at co-ordinating hearings across the country so there can be presentations from all sides."

Posted by GeeTee at November 04, 2002 09:26 AM | TrackBack 0

It was bound to happen. Someone would introduce an Internet portal where people could check their e-mail, read news, look up stock quotes and such without the bustle of big moving, flashing advertisements that make using a site such as Yahoo like walking through Times Square. Such a site was indeed introduced last month: MyWay.com, a Zen rock garden of a portal with lots of features quietly presented and no discernible advertising. And no fee.

Posted by GeeTee at November 04, 2002 09:25 AM | TrackBack 0

"Secure beneath the watchful eyes," the poster says. "CCTV and Metropolitan Police on buses are just two ways we're making your journey more secure."

Posted by GeeTee at November 04, 2002 07:42 AM | TrackBack 0

The Justice and Development Party, known as the AKP, is only a year old and its leader is banned from standing for parliament or holding political office. Yet in an election which saw the Turkish political establishment routed, the AKP ended up with a massive parliamentary majority -- gaining more than a third of all votes cast and 363 out of 550 seats. Because parties must get 10% of the vote to gain any seats, only one other party, the Republican People's Party (CHP), will be represented in the new parliament. The party led by the outgoing prime minister, Bulent Ecevit, managed just over 1% of the vote.

Posted by GeeTee at November 04, 2002 06:38 AM | TrackBack 0

The new amendments bar the spread of information seen as hampering anti-terrorist operations and endangering lives, as well as any remarks judged as impeding such operations or supporting resistance to them. The bill also bans media from releasing information about techniques for preparing arms, ammunition and explosives, and reiterates existing provisions banning information on special technical devices and tactics used in anti-terrorist operations.

Posted by GeeTee at November 04, 2002 05:56 AM | TrackBack 0

Mr. Martin has previously called for secret votes, as a key step toward making MPs' jobs more relevant. Jean Chrétien opposes the idea, saying it would harm efforts to balance regional and minority representation in key posts.

Posted by GeeTee at November 04, 2002 05:51 AM | TrackBack 0

"U.S. immigration officials reserve the right to register any aliens, including Canadians, whom they believe pose a threat to the United States."

Posted by GeeTee at November 04, 2002 05:49 AM | TrackBack 0

"You know how many calls I get for young girls?" Carol-Lynn Strachan, 42, said yesterday. "I guess they want to come here and kill our animals and abuse our women."

Posted by GeeTee at November 04, 2002 04:13 AM | TrackBack 0

Posted by GeeTee at November 04, 2002 04:11 AM | TrackBack 0

Answering a question in the House of Commons from NDP Leader Alexa McDonough, Graham said he had been assured by U.S. Ambassador Paul Cellucci that no Canadians would be fingerprinted or photographed at the U.S. border because of where they were born.

Posted by GeeTee at November 01, 2002 10:29 AM | TrackBack 0

Researchers studying drugs, alcohol and gambling in schools also found that nine out of 10 high schoolers will have tried booze by the time they graduate. Half will be social drinkers, and 20 per cent will have gone binge-drinking at least five times. About 6 per cent will graduate with a substance-abuse problem serious enough to need treatment.

Posted by GeeTee at November 01, 2002 09:22 AM | TrackBack 0

``What I want,'' says the milk board's Berkeley-based director and ad man Jeff Manning, ``is to be so happy to pick up a newly printed California map and run my finger down a road and see Got Milk? California.''

Posted by GeeTee at November 01, 2002 07:43 AM | TrackBack 0

In December, the Trio network will air a 90-minute documentary titled "Brilliant but Canceled" about shows that should have lasted but didn't. It will also air episodes of "Action," "Now & Again" and other series that managed to attract fans despite being on the air for a very limited time.

Posted by GeeTee at November 01, 2002 07:36 AM | TrackBack 0

If it passes on Tuesday, the motion is binding and will change the House's standing orders. Its adoption would also mean that the selection of committee chairs expected next Thursday would be conducted by secret ballot and not in the traditional way by the Prime Minister, his cabinet and the chief government whip.

Posted by GeeTee at November 01, 2002 07:29 AM | TrackBack 0

Enclosed with this letter, we have sent you some small gifts: one PlayStation 2 game console, one copy each of SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs and Conflict: Desert Storm, a memory card and an extra controller for Mr. Cheney's use. We ask that you accept these gifts and use them, rather than the lives of Iraqi civilians and our U.S. servicemen, to fulfill any militaristic fantasies.

Posted by GeeTee at November 01, 2002 07:19 AM | TrackBack 0

In the case of migrants from the poor world, countries should give preference to those who seem to integrate most readily. That would often mean favouring not just the skilled (who already get preference everywhere) but those from culturally similar backgrounds. It might mean insisting that migrants learn the local language quickly; that they abide by local standards of tolerance and good behaviour; that they are wary of demanding special treatment in matters of dress or religious observance. Race and religion must be a part of the public discussion of migration. To pretend that they do not affect attitudes makes policy more restrictive than it should be.

Posted by GeeTee at November 01, 2002 07:10 AM | TrackBack 0

"You could get a code of conduct where a certain product should not have a sugar level over X," says WHO Director General Gro Brundtland.

Posted by GeeTee at November 01, 2002 05:24 AM | TrackBack 0

A new U.S. photo and fingerprint law is "unconstitutional" and could affect Canadians travelling south of the border, warned Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham.

Posted by GeeTee at November 01, 2002 05:06 AM | TrackBack 0

The farmers say it was a protest against the monopoly held by the [Canadian Wheat] Board. They call it unfair and insist they can make more money by exporting grain directly.

Posted by GeeTee at November 01, 2002 05:01 AM | TrackBack 0

"I kept hoping he wouldn't ask me any questions, since I've only been to Canada twice," Davis said. "I thought I would tell him the Expos are a great team or something," referring to the baseball team.

Posted by GeeTee at November 01, 2002 04:04 AM | TrackBack 0