Hmm… The following just showed up in my inbox this morning.
Subject: CONFIDENTIAL REQUEST TO BRING ABOUT CHANGE
Greetings to you and your Family, Hope you all are Fine and Healthy. May the Peace of God Almighty be with you all.
Please I want to use this opportunity to introduce myself well to you, I am BARACK OBAMA JUNIOR, The SON OF the former late BARACK OBAMA of KENYA. I am a BARRISTER, registered in the prefect of IL-L-NOIS. I found your e-mail through a reliable contact here in the government for which I am employed and in honorable standing.
You will no doubt be surprised to hear from me, having never been contacted in such a manner before. But I approach you with the utmost respect and honor for a business proposal for which both parties stand to benefit. Recently, I was in contact with TONY REZKO, a national of your most HONORABLE country, who has now mysteriously ceased all communication with my offices. Despite numerous attempts to re-establish a dialogue with MR. REZKO, I fear the worst may have befallen this most HONORABLE individual.
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WSJ has an interesting opinion piece on cowardly self-censorship by Random House, which halted the distribution to bookstores of the “The Jewel of Medina” by author Sherry Jones.
The book’s scheduled release date was August 12, 2008. Random House recalled the book, because it includes a FICTIONAL treatment of Mohammed and his 9 years old child bride Aisha, which might offend Muslims.
“In an interview about Ms. Jones’s novel, Thomas Perry, deputy publisher at Random House Publishing Group, said that it “disturbs us that we feel we cannot publish it right now.” He said that after sending out advance copies of the novel, the company received “from credible and unrelated sources, cautionary advice not only that the publication of this book might be offensive to some in the Muslim community, but also that it could incite acts of violence by a small, radical segment.” -WSJ
God forbid it become the next Satanic Verses. Random House might actually turn a profit. I know what I’ve got on my reading list for August. I’ll let you know as soon as I find a copy.
*Update* A helpful wiki article has popped up and you can read the prologue at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. The comments at Smart Bitches are lengthy and worth a look.
I have no idea, but it is quite amusing.
Ah yes... Good old European diplomacy. I'm sure they will still be debating what to do when Russia seizes the only non-Russian oil pipeline to Europe. They will probably still be debating this when Russia rolls back into Berlin. Hopefully, they will make up their minds before Russia reaches the English Channel.
Before the bombs fell there seems to have been a coordinated cyber attack on Georgia’s infrastructure, which has continued throughout the war. Poland has lent space on it’s president’s website for Georgia to post updates on the conflict. Estonia is hosting Georgia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Website, and two Estonian computer experts are heading to Georgia to keep the country’s networks running. Other government websites are switching to US based hosting. *Update* Is Russia behind the cyber attacks? It’s hard to say.
Even if Russia curtails it’s military ambitions there are many interesting issues raised by the Georgia invasion like, “What are we going to do about access to the International Space Station when the current space shuttle is retired in 2010?” The plan had been to use Russian Soyuz vehicles for crew access and lifeboat operations until Orion was complete in 2014. However, chilling US-Russian relations might lead to Russia denying the US access or charging exorbitant fees.
It's hard to admit that there are viable alternative energy sources when your real goal is the elimination of all energy sources and humanity in general.
