It's been a while...

Had a little bit of a busy week so this is the first real chance I've had to update the blog.

It turns out that the last story that I wrote about is completely false, whether intentionally or not I guess is up for everyone to decide. Alexandra Polier, who according to the right-wing Drudge Report had an affair with John Kerry, has come out completely denying that anything ever took place. In addition, her parents who were 'quoted' by a British tabloid as calling Kerry a sleazeball came out to applaud Senator Kerry on how he handled the situation and voiced their support for him in the upcoming election. It's good to know that Drudge, like his compatriots at Townhall.com (who in this story riled against why the media, and you can probably read 'liberal media' there, wasn't picking up the story), is interested in raising the level of debate in this country by providing us with vetted facts.

The talks between India and Pakistan seem to be going well, with India issuing a statement that it will not be the first to use nuclear weapons in an armed conflict. Although a good step, it must be pointed out that in a conventional war between Pakistan and India, India has a clear advantage, so it's unlikely that they would need to resort to using them in a first strike capacity. Also important, and probably more beneficial to the world at large, is India's call for the total nuclear disarmament of all nations.

San Francisco remains the hot place to be if you're gay, especially since they continue to perform same-sex marriages in protest of the California law. Needless to say, there are now court challenges filed by anti-gay rights groups attempting to halt the proceedings. My question is, since when has there been people in this country who are so looking forward to getting married that they are waiting for hours in the rain and camping out after the building closes? San Francisco also gets props from the Christian Science Monitor today, who ran a story about how females now compromise many of the top positions in city government.

I'm not sure what the heck happened to President Khatami this week, but all of a sudden the 'leader of the reformers' is speaking about how Iranians should participate in the upcoming election -- much to the chagrin of some of the other reformers. Although I agree that if there is a reformer present in the riding Iranians should vote for them, I think a general boycott of ridings where the reform candidate was prohibited from running would send a stronger message than 'voting for the best possible candidate.'

There were a few additional blows against the War on Terror and the War in Iraq (remembering that they are two very different things) today, first with UN Commission on Human Rights expressing it's grave concerns over the rights abuses justified by potential security threats, and second an attack on the War in Iraq by Archbishop Desmond Tutu who called the action taken by the United States and coalition partners 'immoral.' This idea seems to resonate in other areas, since a Catholic cardinal in Britain recently told the UK Treasury that the biggest challenge confronting the world is not terrorism, but poverty.

In science/tech news:
- Hackers have already found ways to exploit the leaked Windows source code.
- In another reason why you shouldn't eat beef, a new strain of mad cow disease has been discovered.
- Astronauts have found the most distant object to date.
- Scientists at an American Association for the Advancement of Science convention predict that half of the world's 6800 languages will be extinct by the end of the century.
- German scientists are ready to test a new HIV vaccine on humans.
- London's downtown congestion charge for vehicles is being hailed as a success after one year in operation.
- The largest diamond ever has been found, with a size of approximately 10x10^49 carats.

In other news:
- The governing coalition in Serbia now depends on the support of Slobodan Milosevic's Socialist Party. Observers are, needless to say, a little worried.
- The debate between Bush's unilateralism and Powell's multilateralism continues in the Bush administration despite the prevalence of the former in recent foreign policy.
- Dutch lawmakers have voted to expel 26 000 asylum seekers from the country, though opposed by most human rights groups and 2/3 of the Dutch public.
- China has arrested another dissident for subversion after publishing articles looking to overthrow the socialist system on the internet.
- Israel, despite recent plans to move settlers out of the Gaza Strip, has now turned around and approved $22 million in funding for the expansion of settlements.

And on the lighter side:
- A great piece in the New York Times about what it takes to put together a Steinway.
- A teenager, officially missing for 14 years, finds himself on the internet.