Back in business

The Shiite newspaper al-Hawza, run by the organization of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, has been allowed to publish again by the Iraqi administration. The closure of the newspaper by Paul Bremer in an attempt to reduce the popular power of the cleric was seen as the flashpoint for the months of unrest that followed. al-Sadr has since given his first public sermon in two months, denouncing the interim Prime Minister calling him an extension of the occupation. There is a growing concern in Washington that Iran is influencing events in Iraq's Shiite population, leading to an increasing anti-Iranian sentiment among American legislators. Getting back to one of the reasons listed for invading Iraq, the Washington Post has published an article on all the evidence showing no operational relationship between Iraq and al-Qaeda before the US invasion. Speaking of al-Qaeda, the 9/11 report came out this week, calling efforts to stop terrorism before the attacks on the World Trade Center a failure of policy, management, capability and imagination, citing 10 opportunities that the intelligence community had to stop the attacks.

Things seem to be moving in the Darfur situation, with a US congressional resolution calling the event genocide, much to the chagrin of the government of Sudan, being passed this week. In Darfur itself, 10 Arab militia were sentenced to 6 years in prison for atrocities and to have their hands and feet amputated. Amnesty International has issued a press release on how rape is now being used as a weapon of war by the Arab militia, the Janjawid. The CSM writes on whether the United States has a duty to intervene in these circumstances while the NYT discusses whether Darfur is an atrocity or genocide. The Guardian outlines the complexity of a situation the United Nations may have to deal with in a short time. Tony Blair has stated that nothing is ruled out when it comes to intervention by the British.

As the Democratic Convention approaches this week, the latest FEC report shows that the Democrats have raised more money this year than the Republicans, thought the Republicans still have a lead overall. Kos has published what should be the baseline poll against which the success of the convention should be measured. The Village Voice interviews several groups of conservatives to find out exactly what it is that they like about George Bush, which comes at a time when the President is beginning his drive to articulate his views on his next four years should he be re-elected. Rebecca notes how the CSM takes a five-part look into the increasingly divided red/blue America. Meanwhile, after the whole terrorist attacks changing the results of the election/John Kerry is the terrorist's best friend thing, another blog has noted that it actually might be Bush that al-Qaeda likes.

Also:
- Astronomers have come to the conclusion that tsunamis of hot gas help heat up galaxy clusters.
- What is speculated to be an ancient chunk of Mars has been found in Antarctica.
- The Cassini spacecraft has detected lightning in Saturn's atmosphere.
- NASA is reconsidering a once-rejected plan to send a probe to the sun.
- A report from National Geographic about how satellites are helping in the prediction of earthquakes.
- NASA has reportedly refused to fund a satellite studying climate change and hurricanes, which will eventually cause it to fall into the Earth's atmosphere.
- In another story about the usefulness of satellites, an article on how giant rogue waves in the ocean were confirmed to exist through pictures taken from orbit.
- Solar radiation is now thought to have a greater impact on humans than previously thought.
- Scientists have discovered evidence pointing to the existence of a new form of matter that allows for particles that are usually repelled from each other to pair up and flow together.
- SETI has issued a release stating that if intelligent life exists elsewhere in our galaxy, it will be discovered in the next 20 years.
- Scientists have discovered the smallest fish on record - the stout infantfish of Australia's Great Barrier Reef is less than a centimetre long.
- An article on how circumcised men are attempting to get their foreskin back.
- Homosexual behaviour in animals is adding another layer to the overall gay debate.
- Apple has signed a new group of indies to their iTunes program.
- Microsoft is selling Slate.
- As China performs increasingly aggressive war games in the Taiwan Straight, an article reviewing the pros and cons for China when it comes to invading Taiwan.
- Israel is concerned that right-wing Jewish extremists are planning an attack on the Temple Mount by crashing a plane into it in response to the government's plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip.
- Some states' Attorneys General are turning out to be the new environmental crusaders as 8 states and New York city file a lawsuit against power companies for their role in the global warming problem.
- With same-sex marriage legalized in many Canadian provinces, the first reported case of a same-sex divorce has occurred by two women married after five days, though they had been in a relationship for five years previous.
- The Iranian dissident and history professor at Tehran college, Hashem Aghajari, who was previously sentenced to death over his calls for religious renewal has had his sentence commuted to a five-year jail term after student protests over the sentence put pressure on the Supreme Court to overturn the ruling.
- The New Statesman examines what six writers believe the major ideas of the 21st century will be.
- Initial results are in showing that welfare reform might be working.
- CNN reports that the army offers its members plastic surgery for them and their family.
- The first of the Gen Xers are now turning 40.
- An article on why Europe feels the way it does about the United States and the Bush administration.
- Former Mexican President Luis Echeverria is to be charged over his involvement in the deaths of at least 30 young protesters in 1971 by Mexican security forces.
- Have garden gnomes? Hope you realize that it will take about $20k off the value of your home.
- Will Intel be sueing God over trademark infringement?
- Mmmmmmmmm... Donut flavoured drinks....
- Double Mmmmmmmm... Guiness Stout Ice Cream...
- Hate having to give over information and login to your favourite news sites? Bugmenot is then the service for you.
- All you ever wanted to know about transhumanism.
- A handy guide to public domain and copyright in the United States.
- The Daily Show has made a big move at the Television Critics Awards, given that it's not a 'real' news show, winning Outstanding Achievement in News & Information.
- Lance Armstrong has won his sixth Tour de France.
- Doonesbury has been banned from 38 papers over being to controversial.
- A site that shows how state-by-state polling translates into electoral votes.
- A great trailer featuring, your friend and mine, Bill O'Rilley for the new movie Outfoxed.

And lastly, a project called Wordcount that orders the usage of 86800 words in the English language. After choosing common words, I've been trying to find the least used word that I can think of, like oblong (26643), avarice (42064), endoplasmic (52636), ventricle (54737), or Chinook (66811). You have the ability to zoom to a particular rank, but try and see who can naturally find the least common word in this database. Since there are only a certain number of words, you can't choose anything completely obscure (it won't be there).

Some election year fun!

Takes a little while to load, but is worth the wait...

Ontological Arguments

I have a training over lunch, but thought I'd leave everyone with this article on the history of ontological arguments, one of the ways used be philosophers to deduce the existence of God. I did Anselm's argument in FYP, but this page expands some criticisms and later thought on the matter.

The whole Canadian thing

You would think that after living here for almost 4 years I would be aware of all the Canadian-specific things that I take for granted that American's don't know, such as Chinooks, keeners and Inukshuks. But I just had an epic conversation with someone who will go unnamed that must of set some sort of record. It went something like this:

Me: I just was digging up all this music I have, do you think you can name this tune? (playing piano)
Person: No, I don't know it.
Me: Really? It's All the Lovers in the World. (singing along to it)
Person: No, I've never heard of it, who's it by?
Me: Um, you know, the environmentalist piano player from the 80's -- blond crazy hair.
Person: Elton John?
Me: No, he's not gay.
Person: Well that doesn't really narrow it down all that much.
Me: Oh, it's on the tip of my tongue. Bruce... Bruce Cockburn! That's it.
Person: I've never heard of him.
Me: Really -- you can't be serious.
Person: No, I haven't heard of him. Is he Canadian?
Me: I don't think so. (going to the internet) Oh - look, he is Canadian!
Person: That would probably be why I don't know who he is.
Me: Wow, that's like some major 80's music for me. It's right up there with songs like Criminal Mind.
Person: I don't think I know that one either.
Me: (trying to sing the chorus) You know -- it's by Gowan. Lawrence Gowan.
Person: I don't think I've ever hear of him.
Me: Wouldn't it be funny if he were Canadian too? (looking on the internet) Hey - he is Canadian!
Person: *sigh*

Yes, it was a painful conversation, but just goes to show what happens when you take knowledge for granted. For the Americans out there, I have to explain that not knowing Bruce Cockburn or Gowan is like if you asked someone who Pat Benatar was and they had never heard of her. For the Canadians, well, you know where I'm coming from. Just thought I'd share the story...

Jewish Terror in Israel

The Israeli Public Security Minister has given notice that there is already a member of an extreme-right Jewish group preparing to assassinate a government official, possibly including Prime Minister Sharon, in order to stall or prevent the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip. This is unfortunately not unforeseeable, since former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a right-wing Jewish extremist after making large steps in the peace process with the Palestinians. Can't we just take all of the extremists from the Jewish, Muslim and Christian factions and lock them all on an island somewhere so the rest of us can live in peace?

The pullout of US forces around the city of Falluja in April, allowing local Iraqis to police the city, has reportedly created conditions that are allowing insurgents to organize attacks against coalition troops and other targets. The result are events like those that occurred today in Samarra, where four US soldiers were killed in a mortar attack on the American headquarters. All this comes as the Iraqi government enacted emergency powers legislation giving them the right to impose limited martial law. On the subject of why those soldiers are supposedly there in the first place, there is now pressure by the opposition Labour Party on Australian Prime Minister John Howard to admit that there are no WMDs in Iraq after Tony Blair's recent announcement and George Bush's less-than-solid response to the question. In Guantanamo Bay, the measures currently being taken by the Pentagon to comply with the recent Supreme Court ruling concerning the prisoners' right to a hearing are seen as minimal if not in non-compliance with the ruling by many observers.

China is reportedly not very pleased with the spreading democracy in just about every country surrounding it, maybe because in a democracy it's much more difficult to greatly reduce the rights of ethnic groups like the Uighurs, subjecting them to arbitrary arrest and torture, with anti-terrorism legislation. Although then again, if they took John Ashcroft on as their Attorney General, maybe they could work something out.

The John^2 ticket is off and running today with a new 'optimistic' outlook and reportedly better hair than their opponents. The New Republic reports from Pakistani sources that American government officials are repeatedly stressing the need to capture Osama bin Laden before November, giving the Pakistani government arms deals and aid as an incentive. The Economist takes a look at the potential impact and relationship that Latinos have with both the Democrats and Republicans. The brand new rumor circulating around the media, however, is that Dick Cheney is going to resign his vice-presidency for McCain or Powell. I'll believe it when I see it.

Also:
- Slate tackles the social and political issues surrounding the death penalty.
- Echoing a small study I did while in university, welfare rates in Canada have now dropped well below the poverty line in all provinces.
- The Economist takes on the issues in the Indonesian election.
- UN officials have reported that due to the failed land-redistribution plan of President Mugabe, Zimbabwe will not produce enough food to feed its population this year. Meanwhile politicians in the US are putting more effort into moving forward with a response to the situation.
- The French government is opposing a UN Security Council resolution that would impose sanctions on Sudan, stating that they will not help the current situation in Darfur.
- The Congress Party, not wanting to go the way of the BJP in the last election, has issued a budget pledging billions of dollars to support poor regions.
- An article about the imported Japanese game show, Most Extreme Elimination Challenge.
- Why should you implicitly support the Democrats with your ketchup purchases if you're a Republican? Now you have an alternative choice -- W brand Ketchup.
- The CDC has a strange notion of what children are into. From their children's website, tradable disease cards!
- Bloggers who suffer burnout, or why I was on blogging vacation for the past month.
- A website devoted to the mistakes found in Spiderman 2. Once you get done with that you can check out Spiderman 2 online, as done by Lego characters. (QuickTime movie)

John Squared

The John Kerry/John Edwards coverage continues on today, with the usual John Edwards background stories plus several interesting opinions -- what he could bring to the presidential ticket from two sources, the fact that John Edwards is the first presidential ticket candidate not old enough to have fought in Vietnam, which might signal the beginning of the end over the controversy of that war, and how fast John Edwards has rose to fame from relative obscurity.

On the subject of Iraq, Bush has decided to dodge a question on Tony Blair's assessment yesterday that the coalition might not find WMDs in Iraq by simply stating that Hussein sought to acquire the weapons. Blair, on the other hand, has been defending his alliance with Bush despite their fundamental disagreements on both this issue and use of the Guantanamo Bay as a prison facility. The 9/11 commission has issued a release stating that it is standing by its finding that there were no legitimate links between Iraq and Al Qaeda. Meanwhile in Iraq, the violence continues today with four Iraqi police officers killed in fighting insurgents in Baghdad as the new government attempts to impose emergency powers.

Also:
- We are currently at a local high point in sunspots, with recent studies indicating that the sun is more active now than it has been in the last 1000 years.
- The Hubble telescope has now found over 100 planets orbiting neighboring stars .
- Turns out that pot is the new carrot. According to a new study cannabis improves your night vision.
- A new study has linked drinking milk with a lower incidence of bowel cancer.
- The United Nations is beginning to tackle the issue of spam.
- The running of the bulls has started in Pamplona.
- Another scary article about the control and influence of Christian Zionists in America.
- Sierra Leone is testing a new model of justice in its war crimes tribunal, trying only a handful of rebel leaders to avoid the complexity that has plagued other African tribunals.
- The famine in the Darfur region of Sudan has the potential to turn into a catastrophe, according to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
- The British government is looking into the growing number of 'honour killings' that occur in their Muslim communities.
- A piece on how poor farmers in Laos are putting their economic hopes in a brand-new hydropower development.
- The American pilot responsible for dropping a bomb on Canadian forces positions, killing four soldiers, has been reprimanded by the military for having "flagrantly disregarded a direct order."
- The Archdiocese of Portland has declared bankruptcy over lawsuits alleging sexual misconduct by its priests.
- Another article discussing the Catholic Church and John Kerry, even though he has now expressly affirmed his believe that life begins at conception.
- Independence Day turns out to be not really the day of independence.
- An article on my new favorite browser: Mozilla Firefox.

And the winner is...

John Kerry has finally picked his vice-presidential running mate, and that person is none other than South Carolina senator John Edwards. Of course, as soon as this was announced there was a flood of comment and critique on the decision, all of which was infinitely better (if not only more accurate) than the story that the New York Post ran about Kerry's pick. How do you screw something like that up?

A report has come out detailing how the CIA had evidence pointing to the abandonment of Iraq's nuclear and chemical weapons program that they failed to relay to the President before war was declared. In another PR setback, Tony Blair has publicly stated that weapons of mass destruction may never be found in Iraq. Now that the handover of power has been completed, countries such as Norway are beginning to demobilize their troops in the country. Iraq's Prime Minister is calling on Syria to help better oversee their mutual border to prevent insurgents and arms from freely flowing between the two countries. The New York Times has run an article about the amount of effort being put into defending Iraq's offshore oil pipelines.

In China there have recently been a couple of bumps lately in both economic and political development. First there are fears that the recent economic growth may be putting too much demand on the current power supply, leading to possible brownouts in major cities. Officials have also detained a 72-year-old physician, Jiang Yanyong, who was heralded as a national hero for uncovering last year's SARS cover-up, and are subjecting him to brainwashing exercises over a letter he wrote in February denouncing the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Also:
- The first pictures of Saturn's moon Titan are coming back from the Cassini-Huygens probe. The probe has also found evidence that Saturn's rings might be eroding.
- Astronomers have detected a plethora of comets orbiting the nearby star of Tau Ceti, leading to the speculation that the likelihood of finding life in that system is relatively low.
- Scientists are beginning to wonder whether the speed of light is a constant.
- A program created by scientists at the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany claims to be the first successful model able to predict gridlock in traffic up to an hour before it happens.
- The Church of England has backed a radical plan to prevent climate change.
- An ex-general has won the first round of voting for president in the world's most populous Muslim nation, Indonesia, and will face current President Megawati Sukarnoputri in a runoff.
- An article about physicist Brian Greene.
- The cornerstone of the new Freedom Tower, being built on the site of the former World Trade Center, has been laid over the weekend.
- India and Pakistan are getting ready to meet in August where they hope to resolve the fate of the disputed region of Kashmir.
- The Bush administration's current policy on Cuba may be worsening the lives of the citizens it wishes to free from Castro's rule, causing the Economist to wonder if it will end up as a PR victory for the Cuban leader.
- Things are looking good for non-smokers, as Massachsetts votes to go non-smoking and doctors lobby the British government for a country-wide ban.
- Former Canadian Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbour has begun her new role as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
- Slobodan Milosevic's trial has been delayed over health concerns brought on by high blood pressure.
- The UN nuclear watchdog is about to focus his gaze on Israel's nuclear weapons cache.
- The Economist reports that recent electoral defeats may signal the beginning of the end (hopefully) for Silvio Berlusconi.
- Unfortunately, Gerhard Schröder is facing a similar popularity crisis because of the economic reforms his government has passed in an attempt to revive the German economy.
- Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf is warning of a 'new iron curtain' that could go up between the West and Islamic countries.
- The elections in Afghanistan may be delayed again as members of the Taliban are actively trying to prevent the vote from going forward by launching attacks on election officials.
- A list of the current 100 Wonders of the World. (at least according to this person, I guess)
- MIT is now offering some of its coursework online.
- John Stewart on the Wal-Mart class action suit. (QuickTime movie)
- Believe it or not, but a map of all public toilets in Australia is now available through a government website.
- Now you can get Dick Cheney's famous retort to Senator Leahy as a t-shirt or mousepad.