Tuesday, November 30, 2004

Paying back ...

NewsFactor Network - - Lycos Screensaver Spams the Spammers: "The European Internet portal Lycos has developed something that just about every e-mail user has fantasized about at one time or another: a way to spam spammers.
Lycos is offering a screensaver that repeatedly requests data from Web sites that use spam-email to market their goods and services. The software essentially allows recipients of spam to band together in order to clog the bandwidth of the servers that run these Web sites. "

The Australian: WMDs camouflage real reasons behind Iraq invasion [ 26nov04 ]

The Australian: WMDs camouflage real reasons behind Iraq invasion [ 26nov04 ]: "The Americans had established and then strengthened a military presence in countries surrounding Saudi Arabia - Yemen, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait. Invasion of Iraq would complete the encirclement. "

Good point.

Monday, November 29, 2004

This could be delicate ...

Kriegsverbrechen: US-Menschenrechtler verklagen Rumsfeld in Deutschland - Politik - SPIEGEL ONLINE: "Der Fall ist diplomatisch aeusserst delikat: Die amerikanische Menschenrechtsorganisation CCR will beim deutschen Generalbundesanwalt Strafanzeige gegen US-Verteidigungsminister Rumsfeld stellen. Einem Zeitungsbericht zufolge lautet der Vorwurf auf Kriegsverbrechen, Verstoesse gegen das Voelkerrecht und die Uno-Folterkonvention."

Smoking: Will the Haze Ever Clear in Germany? - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE

Smoking: Will the Haze Ever Clear in Germany? - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE: "Germans fear genetically modified food is unhealthy and refuse to eat it, yet they remain among Europe's heaviest smokers. What is going on?"

Why Germany should be proud

Expatica � Living in, moving to, or working in Germany, plus German news in English: "The result has been a change in how Germany sees its role in world affairs. Germans might be prone to bouts of negativism and self-criticism, but if there is a sense of gloom about how Germany's economy is fairing and the need to roll back its once generous welfare state, this does not seem to extend to the nation's current stance on international issues. Germans think they have as much to offer in dealing with global questions as other nations. "

Political decisions driven by religion?

Articles: "If American public policy turns its back on science to embrace religion, we will lose access to the tools that allowed us to create our dominant place in the world. We will forsake those successful tools in favor of the ideals of theocracy so repugnant to us in societies like Iran and Taliban Afghanistan. While the debate between science and religion in politics will continue, history shows that cooperation between science and politics has repeatedly played critical roles in protecting human freedom. The history of religion in politics can claim no such historical success. "

"Humans are just simple animals that can be easily trained by fear."

"Bush and Religion and Other Stuff.":

Advent, Advent ein Lichtlein brennt! Posted by Hello

"'Political decisions should be motivated by religion as little as possible.'

On this one: I fully agree with Gerhard Schroeder: "Political decisions should be motivated by religion as little as possible. "

Religion And Politics In The United States And Germany

Religion And Politics In The United States And Germany: "Long-held assumptions that Germany, Europe, and the United States constitute a 'community of values' have been called into question by recent polling data suggesting significant differences in German and American social values. The divergence appears particularly striking when one examines attitudes toward religion and its relationship to political life. This is true both with regard to religion defined more narrowly as an organized community of faith or, in its broader sense, as a overarching world view, perspective, or framework oriented toward religious values that transcends confessional divisions."

IN DEFENSE OF BIBLICAL MARRIAGE

The Presidential Prayer Team is currently urging us to "Pray for the President as he seeks wisdom on how to legally codify the definition of marriage. Pray that it will be according to Biblical principles. With many forces insisting on variant definitions of marriage, pray that God's Word and His standards will be honored by our government."

So here-in support of the Prayer Team's admirable goals-is a proposed Constitutional Amendment codifying marriage ENTIRELY ON BIBLICAL PRINCIPLES:

A. Marriage in the United States shall consist of a union between one man and one or more women. (Gen 29:17-28 and II Sam 3:2-5)
B. Marriage shall not impede a man's right to take concubines in addition to his wife or wives. (II Sam 5:13 and I Kings 11:3 and II Chron 11:21)
C. A marriage shall be considered valid only if the wife is a virgin. If the wife is not a virgin, she shall be executed. (Deut 22: 13-21)
D. Marriage of a believer and a non-believer shall be forbidden. (Gen. 24:3 and Num 25:1-9 and Ezra 9:12 and Neh 10:30)
E. Since marriage is for life, neither this Constitution nor the constitution of any State shall be construed to permit divorce. (Deut 22:19 and Mark 10:9)
F. If a married man dies without children, his brother shall marry the widow. If he refuses to marry his sister-in-law, or deliberately does not give her children, he shall pay a fine of one shoe and be otherwise punished in a manner to be determined by law. (Gen 38:6-10 and Deut 25:5-10)


Thanks, Lon, for sharing this!

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

European traffic signs

Recently, I was searching for a collection of the European traffic signs to share with a friend in the U.S. I wanted to demonstrate, how the European traffic signs used less words and more graphical pictures to convey an idea.

What kind of traffic was this site talking about?!

Die Zeit - Four more years... of what?

Die Zeit - Four more years... of what?: "Then again, there is this week's pointed snub to Jose Luis Zapatero: the Spanish prime minister, who had pulled out all Spanish troops from Iraq after his election, was unable to place a congratulatory phone call to the President - while his predecessor Aznar was invited to the White House for a 40-minute private chat. Gerhard Schroeder, too, knows that George the Younger neither forgets nor forgives. It looks as though the next four years will be a test of responsibility and maturity on all sides. One thing only is certain: there will be no lack of opportunities. "

Die Zeit - The Disaggregation Temptation

Die Zeit - The Disaggregation Temptation: "Hello? Hello?? Europe calling! We know you're very busy inside the Beltway these days, what with the need for purging, er, re-locating all the Euro-huggers at the State Department and the CIA. But you're going to have to focus on this issue sooner rather than later, so you might as well pay attention now: Just what kind of relationship does the U.S. wish to have with the EU? "

Die Zeit - US Elections: What Do Europeans Want?

Die Zeit - US Elections: What Do Europeans Want?: "Blah blah blah, international cooperation ... (pause) Give me a break, huh."

The New York Times > Empty Maternity Wards Imperil a Dwindling Germany

The New York Times > International > Europe > Empty Maternity Wards Imperil a Dwindling Germany: "'They want their houses, they want their cars, they want their peace,' "

Saturday, November 20, 2004

F... the South

F... the South: "Let's talk about those values for a f...ing minute. You and your Southern values can bite my ass because the blue states got the values over you f...ing Real Americans every day of the goddamn week. Which state do you think has the lowest divorce rate you marriage-hyping dickwads? Well? Can you guess?"

Friday, November 19, 2004

Wired News: Researchers: Florida Vote Fishy

Wired News: Researchers: Florida Vote Fishy: "They discovered that in the 15 counties using touch-screen voting systems, the number of votes granted to Bush exceeded the number of votes Bush should have received -- given all of the other variables -- while the number of votes that Bush received in counties using other types of voting equipment lined up perfectly with what the variables would have predicted for those counties.
The total number of excessive votes ranged between 130,000 and 260,000, depending on what kind of problem caused the excess votes. The counties most affected by the anomaly were heavily Democratic.
Sociology professor Michael Hout, who chairs the university's graduate Sociology and Demography group, said the chance for such a discrepancy to occur was less than 1 in 1,000.
'No matter how many factors and variables we took into consideration, the significant correlation in the votes for President Bush and electronic voting cannot be explained,' he said in a statement. 'There is just a trivial probability of evidence like this appearing in a population where the true difference is zero -- less than once in a thousand chances.' "

Florida: it not over yet ...

Florida: Bushs automatischer Wahlsieg - Politik - SPIEGEL ONLINE: "Jetzt also auch Florida. Nach den Berichten �ber Unregelm��igkeiten bei der US-Pr�sidentschaftswahl im wichtigen Swing-State Ohio gibt es nun auch Zweifel am Ergebnis in Florida. Laut einer Untersuchung der renommierten Universit�t Berkeley brachten die elektronischen Wahlmaschinen dort Pr�sident Bush einen deutlichen Vorteil."

Wednesday, November 17, 2004

"Gartner believes that IBM has confused customers by offering overlapping product families, Lotus Notes/Domino and Workplace."

IBM's Workplace Will Be the Future of Lotus Notes/Domino: "Gartner expects IBM's Workplace will supersede Lotus Notes/Domino. New Workplace packages aimed at solving business problems (rather than enabling generic collaboration and communication) are a welcome, new focus."

"Workplace will be the future of Lotus Notes/Domino. Gartner believes that IBM has confused customers by offering overlapping product families, Lotus Notes/Domino and Workplace. IBM will not abandon Lotus Notes/Domino customers, but by 2009 the vendor plans to use a future version of Workplace as v.8 (or v.9) of Lotus Notes/Domino (0.6 probability). (This is not IBM’s official position.) We expect the heretofore separate-but-equal development paths will disappear. IBM will likely hasten to add that companies wanting some of the features of Workplace can have them today, without waiting the three to five years needed before Workplace becomes the next architectural generation of Lotus Notes/Domino."

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

Only in America: Leave-your-guns-at-home day at work - Nov. 16, 2004

Leave-your-guns-at-home day at work - Nov. 16, 2004: "Employees at a Little Rock office building have been asked to leave their deer hunting rifles at home because the president and three former presidents are coming to town to open Bill Clinton's presidential library. "
I could hardly imagine a similar news headline somewhere in Central Europe.

Effect of the U.S. media coverage on the recent presedential election

Barry Talks! : Common Sense for Uncommon Times: "What Rebecca doesn't discuss is the effect of these sorts of choices made by the networks. It's my view that the intensity of coverage given such lurid -- but, to the State of the Union, largely irrelevant -- topics as gay marriage and the murder trial du jour has successfully distracted the public from serious issues of war and peace and the impending financial bankruptcy of the US. By raising firestorms of hatred against gays --a key factor in Kerry's defeat -- haven't the networks broken their trust with America to provide objective journalism? Doesn't CNN and the rest own some of the results of the past election?"

You have nailed it, Barry! What's also interesting is the comment that Rebecca has posted on your weblog!

Monday, November 15, 2004

"If you break it, you own it."

The New York Times > Washington > Bush Accepted 4 Cabinet Resignations on Friday: "Although he was a professional soldier for 35 years, rising to chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, and oversaw the first war against Saddam Hussein, in 1991, he urged the administration to use caution this time around. Some colleagues said Mr. Powell had used a slogan typically found in antique stores in describing what the United States' predicament might be if it went to war: 'If you break it, you own it.'"

CNN.com - Canadians open arms to Americans - Nov 15, 2004

CNN.com - Canadians open arms to Americans - Nov 15, 2004: "WHY MOVE TO CANADA?
Reasons to move to Canada, as cited by www.canadianalternative.com:
1. Canada has universal public health care.
2. Canada has no troops in Iraq.
3. Canada signed the Kyoto Protocol environmental treaty.
4. More than half of Canada's provinces allow same-sex marriage.
5. The Canadian Senate recommends legalizing marijuana.
6. Canada has no law restricting abortion.
7. Canada has strict gun laws and relatively little violence.
8. The United Nations has ranked Canada the best country to live in for eight consecutive years.
9. Canada abolished the death penalty in 1976.
10. Canada has not run a federal deficit since 1996-97. "

Friday, November 12, 2004

Druckversion - Korruption: Milliardensch�den im Gesundheitssystem - Wirtschaft - SPIEGEL ONLINE

Druckversion - Korruption: Milliardensch�den im Gesundheitssystem - Wirtschaft - SPIEGEL ONLINE: "Berlin - 'Wir k�nnen davon ausgehen, dass drei bis zehn Prozent des Gesundheitsbudgets verloren gehen', sagte Transparency-International-Vorstand Anke Martiny am Freitag bei der Vorstellung eines Berichts �ber Korruption im Gesundheitswesen. Den Gesamtmarkt beziffert die Organisation auf 200 Milliarden Euro."

Notes / Domino decline 6%

We are continuing our product transition from Notes Domino, which declined 6 percent year-to-year, to our new workplace offering which exhibited strong growth both sequentially and year-to-year off a small base.

Thursday, November 11, 2004

ENT News | News: IBM Buffs Workplace and WebSphere Portal

ENT News | News: IBM Buffs Workplace and WebSphere Portal: "IBM Workplace includes Lotus Workplace, WebSphere Portal, Lotus Notes and Domino, and WebSphere Everyplace, according to the company�s Web site."
As long as IBM keeps track of which of its places includes which other places customers don't need to get too confused ...

Zweifel am US-Wahlergebnis: Der Bezirk mit 139 Prozent Wahlbeteiligung - Politik - SPIEGEL ONLINE

Zweifel am US-Wahlergebnis: Der Bezirk mit 139 Prozent Wahlbeteiligung - Politik - SPIEGEL ONLINE: "Glaubt man Greg Palast, dann hat John Kerry die US-Pr�sidentschaftswahl gewonnen. 'Ich wei�, keiner will's mehr h�ren', seufzt der investigative Reporter, Dokumentarfilmer und Bestseller-Autor, der sich mit seinen Recherchen zum Florida-Wahlfiasko von 2000 einen Namen machte. Jetzt will er einem neuen Wahlbetrug auf die Spur gekommen sein: 'Kerry hat in den ausschlaggebenden Staaten Ohio und New Mexico die meisten Stimmen bekommen. Sie sind aber zu Tausenden nicht gez�hlt worden.'"

MSNBC - $14.6 billion Boston Big Dig project is leaking

MSNBC - $14.6 billion Boston Big Dig project is leaking: "BOSTON - The Big Dig highway project in downtown Boston is riddled with leaks dumping millions of gallons of water into the $14.6 billion tunnel system, according to an engineer hired to investigate the cause of a massive leak in September."
This somehow makes me feel better not living in the Boston area any more ...

Wednesday, November 10, 2004

Not-so-free-press

Paging China! Help us! Urge the U.S. government to respect freedom of the press!

It does sound topsy-turvy, doesn't it? Generally, it's China and Zimbabwe that are throwing journalists in prison, while the U.S. denounces the repression over there.

But now similar abuses are about to unfold within the United States, part of an alarming new pattern of assault on American freedom of the press. In the last few months, three different U.S. federal judges, each appointed by President Ronald Reagan, have found a total of eight journalists in contempt of court for refusing to reveal confidential sources, and the first of them may go to prison before the year is out. Some of the rest may be in prison by spring.

The first reporter likely to go to jail is Jim Taricani, a television reporter for the NBC station in Providence, R.I. Mr. Taricani obtained and broadcast, completely legally, a videotape of a city official as he accepted an envelope full of cash.

U.S. District Judge Ernest Torres found Mr. Taricani in contempt for refusing to identify the person he got the videotape from, and the judge fined him $1,000 a day. That hasn't broken Mr. Taricani, so Judge Torres has set a hearing for Nov. 18 to decide whether to squeeze him further by throwing him in jail.


Even thoush Ashcroft is leaving - the damage seems to have been done already.

Tuesday, November 09, 2004

Physical wall replaced by mental divide

MSNBC - Physical wall replaced by mental divide: "It all happened on Nov. 9. 1989, the culmination of years of protests and the exodus of hundreds of thousands of East Germans longing for more freedom, democracy and free elections.
On the 15th anniversary of that historic moment, the enthusiasm and euphoria has disappeared and the mood has sobered for most Germans. "

It's gone - 15 years ago today ...

Zeitsprung - 9. November 1989: Sofort bedeutet sofort - Panorama - SPIEGEL ONLINE

Halloween 2004


133_3390, originally uploaded by whilpert.

Be scared!

Monday, November 08, 2004

Boston.com / Your Life / Health & Fitness / Fitness & Nutrition / Feds say obesity epidemic weighing down planes, pushing up fuel costs

Boston.com / Your Life / Health & Fitness / Fitness & Nutrition / Feds say obesity epidemic weighing down planes, pushing up fuel costs: "America's growing waistlines are hurting the bottom lines of airline companies as the extra pounds on passengers are causing a drag on planes. Heavier fliers have created heftier fuel costs, according to the government study.
Through the 1990s, the average weight of Americans increased by 10 pounds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The extra weight caused airlines to spend $275 million to burn 350 million more gallons of fuel in 2000 just to carry the additional weight of Americans, the federal agency estimated in a recent issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine."

Sunday, November 07, 2004

Debatte: Warum ich nicht nach Hause gehen kann - Politik - SPIEGEL ONLINE

Debatte: Warum ich nicht nach Hause gehen kann - Politik - SPIEGEL ONLINE: "Berlin - Ich f�hle mich elend. Ich m�chte, dass die Kavallerie einf�llt und diese Heuchler verjagt. Oder besser: Ich will, dass die Komparsen in diesem schlechten Film einfach nur von der B�hne verschwinden.

Leider befinde ich mich in keinem B-Movie. George W. Bush ist wiedergew�hlt und f�r mich bedeutet das, dass ich in den kommenden vier Jahren nicht nach Hause gehen kann. Ob es nun gut oder schlecht ist - ich bleibe als Ausl�nder in Deutschland. Meine Begr�ndung ist einfach: Wenn es genug Unterst�tzung f�r einen wie Bush gibt, geh�re ich einfach nicht mehr in die Staaten. Ich passe auch nicht mehr in meinen wankelm�tigen Heimatstaat Kalifornien, an dem an Stammzellen geforscht werden darf aber der Terminator regiert. Nach vier Jahren in Deutschland ist Amerika f�r mich fremd geworden."

Saturday, November 06, 2004

United States of Canada and "Jesusland"

Gro�bildansicht - Netzwelt - SPIEGEL ONLINE: "United States und 'Jesusland'"

Correlation between average IQ and electioin results

Gro�bildansicht - Netzwelt - SPIEGEL ONLINE

Sorry Everybody

Sorry Everybody: "Some of us � hopefully most of us � are trying to understand and appreciate the effect our recent election will have on you, the citizens of the rest of the world. As our so-called leaders redouble their efforts to screw you over, please remember that some of us � hopefully most of us � are truly, truly sorry. And we'll say we're sorry, even on the behalf of the ones who aren't."

Web-Bekenntnisse: Amerika sagt "Sorry!" - Netzwelt - SPIEGEL ONLINE

Web-Bekenntnisse: Amerika sagt "Sorry!" - Netzwelt - SPIEGEL ONLINE: "Der im Amt best�tigte Pr�sident George W. Bush mag auf Vers�hnung setzen, doch vielen jungen US-W�hlern ist seine Wiederwahl peinlich. Im Web bitten einige die Welt humorig um Verzeihung - oder gleich darum, geheiratet zu werden, um aus 'Bush-Country' fort zu kommen."

Irak: Tausende Raketenwerfer aus Saddams Best�nden verschwunden - Politik - SPIEGEL ONLINE

The U.S. presidential election is over - the fundamental problems in Iraq are not! Irak: Tausende Raketenwerfer aus Saddams Best�nden verschwunden - Politik - SPIEGEL ONLINE: "Erneute Panne bei den Besatzungsm�chten im Irak: Aus den Arsenalen des fr�heren Diktators Saddam Hussein sind rund 4000 schultergest�tzte Raketenwerfer verschwunden. Die US-Armee geht davon aus, dass zumindest ein Teil davon im Besitz aufst�ndischer K�mpfer ist."

Debatte: Faschismus light? Bl�dsinn! - Kultur - SPIEGEL ONLINE

Debatte: Faschismus light? Bl�dsinn! - Kultur - SPIEGEL ONLINE: "wenn einem das Leben dazwischen kommt"

Welcome to MichaelMoore.com

Welcome to MichaelMoore.com: "always look on the bright side of life"

Friday, November 05, 2004

Philadelphia Daily News | 11/04/2004 | Why you keep losing to this idiot

Maybe that explains the unexplainable?
Philadelphia Daily News | 11/04/2004 | Why you keep losing to this idiot: "SIGH. I REALLY didn't want to have to write this.
George W. Bush has been re-elected. Yeah, the lawyers will haggle about Ohio. But this time, Democrats don't have the popular vote on their side. Bush does.
If you're a Bush supporter, this is no surprise. You love him, so why shouldn't everybody else?
But if you're dissatisfied with him - or, like me, you think he's been the worst president in memory - you have a lot of explaining to do. Why don't a majority of voters agree with us? How has Bush pulled it off?
I think this is the answer: Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity."

Monday, November 01, 2004

US-Wahlkampf: Die Apfelsinen-Republik - Politik - SPIEGEL ONLINE - how Gore lost Florida

US-Wahlkampf: Die Apfelsinen-Republik - Politik - SPIEGEL ONLINE: "Es war 2.16 Uhr am 8. November 2000, als ein junger Reporter von 'Fox News' verkuendete, dass George W. Bush den Staat Florida und damit die Praesidentschaft gewonnen habe. Al Gore rief George W. Bush an und gratulierte. Dann kamen die ersten Meldungen von der Katastrophe: vergessene Stimmen, Wahlzettel mit Fehlern, ein minimaler Abstand zwischen den Kandidaten. Gore rief noch einmal an.

Gore: 'Die Umstaende haben sich dramatisch veraendert. Das Ergebnis von Florida ist zu knapp, als dass man sich schon festlegen koennte.'

Bush: 'Moment, sagen Sie gerade, was ich zu hoeren glaube? Lassen Sie mich sichergehen, dass ich Sie richtig verstehe: Sie rufen an, um Ihre Glueckwuensche zurueckzuziehen?'

Gore: 'Sie muessen deshalb nicht gleich pampig werden.'

Bush: 'Aber alle Sender haben das Ergebnis gemeldet. Mein Bruder Jeb hat mir gesagt, dass die Zahlen korrekt sind.'

Gore: 'Ihr kleiner Bruder ist in diesem Fall wohl nicht die ultimative Autoritaet.'"


Das war wohl richtig - nutzte aber trotzdem nichts ...