the taliban on TV

U bent aanhanger van de Taliban?
Ja.
Osama Bin Laden.
...

You are a supporter of the Taliban?
- Yes
Osama Bin Laden...

(talk continues)

Quality Content

This is from a Siebel Web Seminar: Driving Sales and Call Center Effectiveness with Just-In-Time Learning.

uh oh!

Possible association between heavy computer users and glaucomatous visual field abnormalities: a cross sectional study in Japanese workers -- Tatemichi et al. 58 (12): 1021 -- Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health

shadow dog

A parked car's mirror cast a bright spot on the dog in our window, just bright enought to show the shadow.

How much is that doggie in the window,
The one with the waggley tail?
How much is that doggie in the window?
I do hope that doggie's for sale.

I must take a trip to California
And leave my poor sweetheart alone;
If he has a dog, he won't be lonesome,
And the doggie will have a good home.

I read in the paper there are robbers
With flashlights that shine in the dark;
My love needs a doggie to protect him
And scare them away with one bark.

I don't want a bunny or a kitty,
I don't want a parrot that talks;
I don't want a bowl of little fishies
He can't take a goldfish for walks.

Gerhardt Baum

Is the former minister of the interior in Germany in the 70's when the Germans were dealing with the Rote Armee Faktion. In an interview with the Dutch TV, he has a few things to say that just this morning at breakfast I was trying to explain to my kids. We have a chance to learn from the history of the RAF.

[..] Es wurden Symbolhandlungen gemacht, die gar nicht geeignet waren das Phänomen Terrorismus wirksam zu bekämpfen, aber die den Wählern, der Bevölkerung vor augen führen sollten "Wir machen etwas". Es ist in solchen Situationen immer die Gefahr des Aktionismus gegeben. Und hier ging der Aktionismus eben auf kosten individueller Freiheiten. Das heisst, bei der Bekämpfung des Terorismus haben wir den feiheitlichen rechtsstaat, den wir ja verteidigen wollten beschädigt, und zwar über das notwendige Mass hinaus. [..]

Wir haben nach den Ursachen geforscht. Wir haben die Motivation ausgetrocknet, trockengelegt. Nich sosehr bei den Tätern, der kleine Kern der Täter, das waren vielleicht fünfzich, wenn's hochkam, fünfzich aktive Täter, Mörder. Die waren nicht erreichbar, aber das grosse Umfeld, von vielen tausend Menschen, die Sympathie hatten, die auch Hilfe geleistet haben, die haben wir erreicht, und dann ist der Terrorismus in der Leere gelaufen, und die RAF hat ja schliesslich zum schluss ein Brief geschrieben dass sie sich selber auflöst. Sie war am Ende.

Long hours

There -are- better jobs available. I seem to have one of them. No one has ever asked me to put in overtime, yet I seem to be incapable of leaving work at 17:00. Is it, as some people have suggested, the constant feeling of inadequacy, of incompetence, that is part of working in an immature industry that makes us do this to ourselves? And isn't it about time we grew up?

ea_spouse

Ultimately, what 's bad for employees is bad for companies and their customers too.

communist propaganda

Animation that makes a good effort to look like early twentieth century socialist propaganda.

what barry says

Good stuff

Good stuff from the BBC, the history of ideas. In the science series they have guests like Richard Dawkins, Robert Kaplan, Roger Penrose.

BBC - Radio 4 - In Our Time Science Archive

Home depot

Home Depot founder Bernie Marcus chipped in $1 million specifically for the "Ashley's Story" ad.

Salon.com News | The TV ad that put Bush over the top

In case you forgot, the "Ashley's Story" ad was the Bush ad where you saw him comforting a girl who had lost her mother in the 9/11 attacks. It was the most exploitative piece of propaganda I've seen during the campaign, and considering outcome of the election, it was very succesful.

I'll be shopping somewhere else from now on.

At the root

At the root of all evil is stupidity and ignorance.