Let it snow

It took me half an hour to drive 3 miles to work today. If that's not fun times, I don't know what is. Luckily I don't live in Woodridge like a coworker of mine -- it took him over two hours. On the other hand, I did go to the Shedd Aquarium this weekend when it wasn't all snowy (although exceptionally cold), and despite the rather steep ($21) entry fee, it was very much worth it.

Starting off in science news, it appears that the Mars landers have collected evidence that some rocks and Mars might be sedimentary, meaning they might have been formed by water. Closer to home though, we have an article about a very talkative parrot. Not only does this parrot have a vocabulary of 950 words, but also creates new words/phrases when confronted with an experience that he hasn't come across. Finally, the new Canadian Minister of Transportation, Jim Karygiannis, has been toying with the idea of giving some kind of government rebate to people to purchase hybrid cars. Given that these cars are more expensive than their gasoline only powered counterparts, I believe that the government should step in and promote their use my making up part or all of the differential. Maybe the Canadian government can use the money they saved by not joining the 'coalition of the willing.'

There are two major stories about countries trying to improve relations today. First we have India and Pakistan, who will have three days of talks in Islamabad next month to discuss Kashmir and other issues. This is somewhat perfect timing for Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, who just passed a resolution to dissolve Parliament for national elections.

The other two countries getting together are France and China, where Chinese President Hu Jintao is going to address the National Assembly marking 40 years of diplomatic relations. The purpose of the trip is both economic and political -- China and France are hoping to cooperate to counterbalance the power of the United States. France, unfortunately, is also pushing to have an EU embargo on selling arms to China lifted. This embargo was established after the human rights abuses surrounding the student protests in Tiananmen Square. Luckily there are other EU countries such as Sweden who believe (correctly, in my opinion) that the human rights situation in China has not improved to the point where it warrants ending the embargo. China isn't getting love from everyone in France, as some 15 French MPs are planning to boycott the Chinese President's address specifically because of human rights concerns. I think this whole situation turns out fairly well, since we have here both some constructive engagement with the Chinese government, but still have some reminders that China's human rights situation is far from perfect.

Finally, there were two other big human rights stories in the news today. First, the United States Supreme Court has announced that it will rule on whether people under the age of 18 can be given the death penalty. Secondly, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia has received a guilty plea from former Croatian Serb leader Milan Babic for crimes against humanity after an extensive plea-bargaining session. After all of the crimes that went untried in previous conflicts, it's good to see that there is now some accountability during times of war for leaders. This is exactly what the International Criminal Court will achieve on a larger scale in the future.