Slashdot Mirror

Then again, it's not much different than setting up a fake ATM somewhere and stealing the codes from people who swipe their cards.

One of the most resented and hated aspects of Grand Apartheid was the dompas, the pass book. It was an internal passport that had to be carried by all non-white people in South Africa. An early version affecting South Africans of Indian origin was the centre of early civil disobedience campaigns conducted by Mohandas Gandhi in Durban and Johannesburg. Later, the African National Congress and its allies organised the Defiance Campaign opposing the Apartheid government over the dompas and other laws. The Pan-Africanist Congress's organising motive for their fatal march on Sharpeville in 1960 was also a protest against the pass.

Today carrying the National ID book is not compulsory; and the same ID book is issued to all South Africans regardless of race. But even until quite recently the ID book indicated its owner's race.

If I decided not to carry my ID book, most useful services would be denied me. I could barely interact with state services. I could not vote. Most trade service providers, including banks, car hire, air carriers, so on, require my ID document. The government maintains a database of all ID books, of all the registrants, of all those people's physical addresses, and publishes this regularly in the national voters' roll, where anyone can find it.

It consistently amazes me that we South Africans don't learn any lesson from our history. Citizens of no country, besides perhaps those in Europe who have been oppressed by the Nazis, have a better idea than South Africans of the harm caused by state control of identity. Yet there is no protest or opposition to the National ID card. And now there is a plan to upgrade these to smart cards...

One of the most resented and hated aspects of Grand Apartheid was the dompas, the pass book. It was an internal passport that had to be carried by all non-white people in South Africa. An early version affecting South Africans of Indian origin was the centre of early civil disobedience campaigns conducted by Mohandas Gandhi in Durban and Johannesburg. Later, the African National Congress and its allies organised the Defiance Campaign opposing the Apartheid government over the dompas and other laws. The Pan-Africanist Congress's organising motive for their fatal march on Sharpeville in 1960 was also a protest against the pass.

Today carrying the National ID book is not compulsory; and the same ID book is issued to all South Africans regardless of race. But even until quite recently the ID book indicated its owner's race.

If I decided not to carry my ID book, most useful services would be denied me. I could barely interact with state services. I could not vote. Most trade service providers, including banks, car hire, air carriers, so on, require my ID document. The government maintains a database of all ID books, of all the registrants, of all those people's physical addresses, and publishes this regularly in the national voters' roll, where anyone can find it.

It consistently amazes me that we South Africans don't learn any lesson from our history. Citizens of no country, besides perhaps those in Europe who have been oppressed by the Nazis, have a better idea than South Africans of the harm caused by state control of identity. Yet there is no protest or opposition to the National ID card. And now there is a plan to upgrade these to smart cards...

I would truely love for you to explain how, there's no interaction, no context, nothing for the little brain to attempt to comprehend.

Interaction is not necessary to learn. Information is. But it doesn't need to be interactive.

They're basically floating around in a warm, moving, sensory deprivation tank with life support.

Muffled sounds, sure. But not a complete absence of sound. Not a complete absence of feeling. A baby can feel it's own hands, arms, body etc. while it's in the womb. It can be learning about itself in that time. Or you think that babies are deaf and have no sense of touch while in the womb?

Nothing particular, but as much as possible.

As long as there is sufficient stimulation

That's not a very scientific answer.

and most importantly, lots of new stimulations

What, do you regress to a state of non-being if you don't keep getting new stimulations? That is what we're talking about, right? A state of being.

"Probably", "therefore" wow, wonderful logic you've got going there.

Yeah. That's a great argument, too.

I'm not the one justifying infanticide.

Yes, you are. A child 5 minutes outside the womb is not significantly different than it was 10 minutes before.

And next....denying women the right to contraception as well

Heroin might be a contraceptive, but it's not opposed to or banned for it's contraceptive effects. Likewise, some contraceptive drugs are abortifacts. That doesn't mean they're opposed to for the fact of being contraceptives. I count myself as one against abortifacts.

People like you won't be happy until women are just subservient, obedient, baby factories.

The natural purpose for sex is reproduction. If you're not having sex for reproduction, you'd better take precautions before jumping into the sack. Don't drink and drive if you don't want an accident and don't fuck around carelessly if you don't want an "accident". You should be responsible with your pecker (or substitute with your proper genitals). What the fuck do they teach you in sexual education classes? Don't you know that BABIES come from there?

I'm simply against you making it the CHILD's pain because YOU fucked up. Take responsibility for your mistakes instead of murdering an innocent child over it. Because it's not justifiable to cause the child pain for your fucking mistake.

Oh, and by the way, when a child is aborted, often it's not killed prior to being removed from the womb. It remains alive for a period of time, capable of interacting with the world around it. (One even survived and was picked up from a dumpster.) According to your definition here, if a fetus is still alive after being removed from the womb (during the process of abortion) it should therefore be illegal to kill it. Furthermore, those who are capable of assisting a child in distress can be held accountable legally if the child is neglected. That would mean, for abortions to be performed legally, the child must be killed before being taken from the womb, right?

Would the pain of a pair of forceps crushing the child's skull be considered "interaction", "comprehension" or "a learning experience" that would then make the child a "being" by your definition? Or the pain of a needle injecting a poison that burns in your veins? Can you kill an unborn child without pain, which is instructional and interactive?

I'm sure pain is no factor with you. No concern for the pain a baby goes through when it's murdered by hands that have pulled it from it's mother's womb.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=15&art_id= vn20030310060809106C507807&set_id=1
"were arrested and charged with attempted murder."
"If the baby dies, they will face murder charges."

Do you agree that it was attempted murder? Would it be murder if the child died?

I always thought this was a free-wheeling, "come and say g'day" kinda place.

You mean "I always thought this was a free-wheeling, 'come and say "where the bloody hell are we?" ' kinda place.

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_ id=143&art_id=vn20060211110132138C184427

SA solar research eclipses rest of the world

n a scientific breakthrough that has stunned the world, a team of South African scientists has developed a revolutionary new, highly efficient solar power technology that will enable homes to obtain all their electricity from the sun.

This means high electricity bills and frequent power failures could soon be a thing of the past.

The unique South African-developed solar panels will make it possible for houses to become completely self-sufficient for energy supplies.

The panels are able to generate enough energy to run stoves, geysers, lights, TVs, fridges, computers - in short all the mod-cons of the modern house.

The new technology should be available in South Africa within a year and through a special converter, energy can be fed directly into the wiring of existing houses. New powerful storage units will allow energy storage to meet demands even in winter. The panels are so efficient they can operate through a Cape Town winter. while direct sunlight is ideal for high-energy generation, other daytime light also generates energy via the panels.

A team of scientists led by University of Johannesburg (formerly Rand Afrikaans University) scientist Professor Vivian Alberts achieved the breakthrough after 10 years of research. The South African technology has now been patented across the world.

One of the world leaders in solar energy, German company IFE Solar Systems, has invested more than R500-million in the South African invention and is set to manufacture 500 000 of the panels before the end of the year at a new plant in Germany.

Production will start next month and the factory will run 24 hours a day, producing more than 1 000 panels a day to meet expected demand.

Another large German solar company is negotiating with the South African inventors for rights to the technology, while a South African consortium of businesses are keen to build local factories.

The new, highly efficient and cheap alloy solar panel is much more efficient than the costly old silicone solar panels.

International experts have admitted that nothing else comes close to the effectiveness of the South African invention.

The South African solar panels consist of a thin layer of a unique metal alloy that converts light into energy. The photo-responsive alloy can operate on virtually all flexible surfaces, which means it could in future find a host of other applications.

Alberts said the new panels are approximately five microns thick (a human hair is 20 microns thick) while the older silicon panels are 350 microns thick. the cost of the South African technology is a fraction of the less effective silicone solar panels.

Alberts said in Switzerland it was already compulsory for all new houses to include solar technology to lessen energy demands on national grids.

"And that was the older, less effective technology. With our hours of sunlight, we will on average generate twice as much energy than, for instance, European countries."

While South African scientists developed and patented the new, super-effective alloy solar panels, other companies have developed new, super-efficient storage batteries and special converters to change the energy into the power source of a particular country (220 volts in South Africa).

# Eskom spokesperson Carin de Villiers said any new power supply that lessened the load on Eskom was to be welcomed.

She said Eskom was also doing its own research on solar energy.

"In fact, we are currently investigating building what will probably be the largest solar power plant, in the Northern Cape - a 100-megawatt facility."

She added that Eskom was also researching wind and fuel-cell technology as alternative energy sources.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&art_id=vn2 0060108130233485C155993

Koeberg's bolt blunder to be investigated
Helen Bamford
January 08 2006 at 01:14PM

"A loose bolt has apparently been bouncing around inside a generator at Koeberg nuclear power station and may have caused the "major equipment failure" that now threatens the Western Cape's electricity supplies.

It may have punched holes found in the rotor of the generator and may also have been the cause of a short circuit.

Now an investigation into the faulty generator is under way. It will check whether poor maintenance may have contributed to the problem, according to a source at the plant.

The loose bolt was found lying inside the generator when it was stripped down by experts looking for the problem this week.

The generator fault, which was discovered during the unit's return to service after a scheduled shut-down for refuelling, maintenance and modifications last month, has raised fears of more power cuts in the Western Cape.

Koeberg has referred to the fault as a "major equipment failure" of the Unit 1 generator. Late last year a series of major power failures caused widespread chaos and financial woes for the regional economy.

Specialists from France are currently in Cape Town to try to establish the cause of the fault at Koeberg's Unit 1.

Last week when problems with the generator were discovered, staff at Koeberg were recalled from leave and the French experts were called in.

A staff member, who asked not to be named, told Sunday Argus that there was also great concern about whether the fuel in Unit 2, which is the one currently being used, would last until the other unit was back in use - the nuclear fuel is only expected to last until April 30.

"Nuclear fuel does not run out like petrol in a motor car but it can only last so long," said the staff member.

He added that once fixed, Unit 1 would still have to run for a month before Unit 2 could be taken offline for its scheduled maintenance.

"Koeberg may have to import power from upcountry again which could result in sporadic blackouts."

Unit 2 has already been described as a "problem unit" which increased the likelihood of something going wrong.

Concern has been expressed that any major surges could cause the unit to trip.

The staff member said that investigators were looking at whether the loose bolt had knocked holes in the rotor arm of the generator, which would have to be sent to Rotek in Gauteng for repairs.

Rotek is a subsidiary of Eskom and provides maintenance services to Koeberg.

"With the bolt bouncing around it could have also caused a short," he said.

The source said there was concern that a lot of experienced staff had left the company and that current maintenance staff lacked experience.

"People are thrown in at the deep end," he said.

Eskom spokeswoman Carin de Villiers said it was impossible to comment at this stage because "scenarios were changing on a daily basis".

"I can't confirm or deny anything. We want to finalise the investigation and then make a complete statement," she told Sunday Argus at the weekend.

De Villiers said they were planning to hold a press conference at which their specialists would be available to answer any questions.

This would only take place once the investigation was complete."

e.g. http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=1 3&art_id=vn20051215065506468C620082/

or

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=1 3&art_id=qw1133699580568B265/

Surely someone who rapes or murders a baby should be terminated with extreme prejudice?

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=1 3&art_id=vn20051202115945207C367037/

Terrorism? Pah! We don't need no steenking terroristas! More people are murdered here, in crime related incidents, than died on 9/11. Usually terrorists are fighting for some cause or other. Our animals don't need a cause. If they like your car/watch/bag/shoes they'll just take it, and put a bullet or 5 in you, whether you put up any resistance or not. It's so bad that incidents like that don't even usually make it into the newspaper. Half the time, the cops don't even bother to take a statement. It's not their fault, they're just so backlogged that an armed robbery is low priority.

Oh, and communications of any sort is so ruinously expensive here that you probably won't be able to afford to surf long enough for any patterns to emerge. Broadband? What's that? Only about 100 000 people out of about 45 million can afford it. Oh, and our bandwidth is usually capped as well. Anything more than 3GB a month is seen as abuse of the system, and you're cut off.

Used to be we could blame all this type of crap on apartheid, sanctions and post-apartheid confusion. Not any more. Our health minister eschews anti-retrovirals and is promoting garlic and olive oil as a cure for AIDS. Our communications minister has no idea how much it costs to make a phone call, and our president spends more time outside South Africa than in it. Oh, not to mention our (now ex-) deputy president Jacob Zuma has recently been charged with fraud AND rape.

Yes, you'd definitely want to move here. There's so many other problems that worrying about monitoring your surfing habits takes a back seat to your basic survival. It's not "1984" here, it's the frikkin Dark Ages all over again...

e.g. http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=1 3&art_id=vn20051215065506468C620082/

or

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=1 3&art_id=qw1133699580568B265/

Surely someone who rapes or murders a baby should be terminated with extreme prejudice?

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=1 3&art_id=vn20051202115945207C367037/

Terrorism? Pah! We don't need no steenking terroristas! More people are murdered here, in crime related incidents, than died on 9/11. Usually terrorists are fighting for some cause or other. Our animals don't need a cause. If they like your car/watch/bag/shoes they'll just take it, and put a bullet or 5 in you, whether you put up any resistance or not. It's so bad that incidents like that don't even usually make it into the newspaper. Half the time, the cops don't even bother to take a statement. It's not their fault, they're just so backlogged that an armed robbery is low priority.

Oh, and communications of any sort is so ruinously expensive here that you probably won't be able to afford to surf long enough for any patterns to emerge. Broadband? What's that? Only about 100 000 people out of about 45 million can afford it. Oh, and our bandwidth is usually capped as well. Anything more than 3GB a month is seen as abuse of the system, and you're cut off.

Used to be we could blame all this type of crap on apartheid, sanctions and post-apartheid confusion. Not any more. Our health minister eschews anti-retrovirals and is promoting garlic and olive oil as a cure for AIDS. Our communications minister has no idea how much it costs to make a phone call, and our president spends more time outside South Africa than in it. Oh, not to mention our (now ex-) deputy president Jacob Zuma has recently been charged with fraud AND rape.

Yes, you'd definitely want to move here. There's so many other problems that worrying about monitoring your surfing habits takes a back seat to your basic survival. It's not "1984" here, it's the frikkin Dark Ages all over again...

e.g. http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=1 3&art_id=vn20051215065506468C620082/

or

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=1 3&art_id=qw1133699580568B265/

Surely someone who rapes or murders a baby should be terminated with extreme prejudice?

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=1 3&art_id=vn20051202115945207C367037/

Terrorism? Pah! We don't need no steenking terroristas! More people are murdered here, in crime related incidents, than died on 9/11. Usually terrorists are fighting for some cause or other. Our animals don't need a cause. If they like your car/watch/bag/shoes they'll just take it, and put a bullet or 5 in you, whether you put up any resistance or not. It's so bad that incidents like that don't even usually make it into the newspaper. Half the time, the cops don't even bother to take a statement. It's not their fault, they're just so backlogged that an armed robbery is low priority.

Oh, and communications of any sort is so ruinously expensive here that you probably won't be able to afford to surf long enough for any patterns to emerge. Broadband? What's that? Only about 100 000 people out of about 45 million can afford it. Oh, and our bandwidth is usually capped as well. Anything more than 3GB a month is seen as abuse of the system, and you're cut off.

Used to be we could blame all this type of crap on apartheid, sanctions and post-apartheid confusion. Not any more. Our health minister eschews anti-retrovirals and is promoting garlic and olive oil as a cure for AIDS. Our communications minister has no idea how much it costs to make a phone call, and our president spends more time outside South Africa than in it. Oh, not to mention our (now ex-) deputy president Jacob Zuma has recently been charged with fraud AND rape.

Yes, you'd definitely want to move here. There's so many other problems that worrying about monitoring your surfing habits takes a back seat to your basic survival. It's not "1984" here, it's the frikkin Dark Ages all over again...

The price was obviously wrong ($0.14 rather than $1.40 or somesuch) and some people had obviously come back several times in the space of a few hours to take advantage of the mistake, which is illegal. I just located the story on www.nzherald.co.nz - unfortunately, to view the story requires a paid subscription :(

Ah, here's the story on a very unlikely site. There was a follow up a few days later outlining Police action but I can't find that archived anywhere.

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_ id=29&art_id=qw1131010201202B252

November 03 2005 at 04:22AM

Wellington - A New Zealand oil company appealed on Thursday to 50 motorists who bought petrol at a give-away price after a worker put a decimal point in the wrong place on a self-service pump to come forward and pay the full amount.

The Challenge service station at Riwaka, near the South Island city of Nelson, sold petrol at 14,9 New Zealand cents (about 70 cents) a litre for two days in October when an employee set the wrong price on an automatic dispenser which took electronic payment cards.

Challenge placed an advertisement in the Nelson Evening Mail on Thursday asking drivers who benefited to come forward and pay the additional NZ$1,34 a litre they should have paid.

"We're upset, really," the station's owner Jeff Roger told the paper.

'We're upset, really'
"Some people have got the fuel and just come back several times knowing the machine is wrong."

He said drivers had until Saturday to pay up before their electronic account details were given to the police, who said they could face theft charges because they knew they could not legally fill their tanks for about NZ$7. - Sapa-dpa

I'll see your article saying no link, with one on the same date saying there is a link. Increased Cancer risk And then to top it off I'll put in Most scientific papers are probably wrong also from the same day. So no it isn't becoming any less likely, but they do prove the New Scientist's article's point.

You joke, but there was actually a fairly big court case here in South Africa earlier this year, where an employer did feed a recently-laid-off employee to the lions (with the help of a few other staff members they threw him over a fence into a lion enclosure, where the lions ate him). Don't remember the details but I think they were all charged with murder in the end.

Ah, here we go, found a link.

why is there no mention on http://joongangdaily.joins.com/ or any other newspaper ? some other site is reporting the death of a 24year old after 86 hours of gaming http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=3&art_id=q w103415130387B262&set_id=1 but this true either ? what are they trying to sell us ? "gaming is bad for your health" ???

Bakri said he would like Britain to become an Islamic state but feared he would be deported before his dream was realized. "I would like to see the Islamic flag fly, not only over number 10 Downing Street, but over the whole world," he said.

Looks like they're friendly and reasonable after all! I apologize.

Are you even following the war? It was the initial attack that destroyed the infrastructure of Iraq, NOT insurgents.

I've been following it, but not on Al Jazeera. It's a rather "duhhh" kind of point that US military "blew stuff up." They blew up areas of Iraq's already-awesome infrastructure (neglected for decades, according to Iraqis) to weaken Iraq's military. That's war. Unlike with the "insurgents," the point was not to do harm to the people, but to do harm to their government so that they could be more quickly and easily beaten, thus inflicting fewer war-related casualties, so that Iraqis could resume life with a democratic government. Immediately after the war, the US government began _rebuilding_ the infrastructure, repairing not only war-damaged areas, but also old stuff that just wasn't working well three decades on. The inhumanity of it all!

Meanwhile, my sources seem to think the "insurgents" (otherwise known as "terrorists," speaking of labels) ARE destroying infrastructure. *Specifically* to damage reconstruction efforts and harm the everyday Iraqis in the process. (There would be plenty more of these attacks if it weren't for Iraqi police and coalition soldiers preventing them.) But where, oh where, are THEIR reconstructive efforts?? If you can use moral relativism to equate these two kinds of damage, you've got severe issues well beyond your lack of logical prowess. (This is not to mention the fact that the terrorists don't need to rely on infrastructure attacks to harm Iraqis, when they can carbomb neighborhood children, gas stations, police stations, and stores, which they do quite frequently. You're right -- these "insurgents" are the ones to get behind!)

Let's recap: "NOT insurgents." Now, I wonder: what does a person like you do when faced with a multitude of facts, by a variety of more knowledgeable people than yourself, that contradict the very wrong (and very odd) claims that you've made?

BECAUSE THEY AREN'T ONES GOING ROUND CLAIMING TO BE MORALLY RIGHT!!

Yet again: do you actually believe these statements, or do you just hope that no one will argue against you? You DO realize that these people shout "Allah akbar" as the planes slam into the buildings, right? And the same when they behead people? And claim

Like some one already replied to you, the death penalty is handed out only on murder convictions. It sounds like you are anti-American which is pretty common in the world today, but please don't play games of moral equivalency between the United States and the truly barbaric nations of the world.

United States: Murderer gets the death penalty
Nigeria: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=8 6&art_id=qw1121262304361B252

--Joey

Yeah, imagine a beowulf cluster... Enough radiation to grow a second penis. No thanks.

Some more interesting Swedish facts, bestiality is not in fact illegal there, and is actually on the rise...

rofl

I guess that the blood-burning fuel cell would be a really bad idea for this application? (Then again, sacrificing other people for my gaming fix has a certain chaotic-evil spice to it.)

That's right - it's only in the U.S.

The people in Hong Kong will thal you very much.

Censored quote from the link:

Hanoi - A Vietnamese man who took a fake tablet of the *****ence drug ***gra was admitted to hospital after his *****ion lasted two days, doctors said Thursday. ... The man bought the pill from an acquaintance for less than two dollars (R12) last Friday and took it that evening.

That's all the proof I need that not only do placebos work, they keep going and going and going ... "long time, only two dolla"!

p.s. I know that joke was Wong, but I couldn't help myself. :(

What? You say the White House will block any such truth-telling? Whatever makes you say that?

I am so tired of reading news based on sources that "decline to be named", speak "on condition of anonymity", or any of those phrases. It really means that either the reporter or the source, or both, are cowards, liars, or lawbreakers. If you have something to say, SAY IT! Use your free speech! Otherwise, be quiet!

Lets start with: http://tvnz.co.nz/view/news_national_story_skin/46 9987%3Fformat=html
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3 1&art_id=qw1106022963550R131
http://boards.historychannel.com/thread.jspa?threa dID=300034074&messageID=300411450

Showing the southpole has been holding steady temp: http://www.giss.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/update/csci/show_ station.py?id=700890090000&data_set=2

Americans aren't the only ignorant mass in the world -- we're just the loudest and most hated. Forty-five percent of Britons have never heard of Auschwitz, for example.

But hey, you believe that the BBC is unbiased and not influenced by capitalism. Good for you.

(See, if you can blindly accuse CNN of being biased and petty, I can do the same to the BBC or anyone else.)

Copenhagen - Some observers from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), a Europe-wide security and rights forum, were barred from entering some polling stations in the United States on Tuesday, one of them said.

"We were not allowed to enter polling stations," said Soeren Soendergaard, a Danish parliamentary deputy.

"Although we were officially invited to follow the (US presidential) election, the message was not passed on to the polling stations," he told the Danish news agency Ritzau.

He said he had been personally refused admission at three out of four polling stations in Columbus, Ohio.

---Full Story here

The USA seems to be very comitted to making this simualtion a realty though with not signing the Kyoto agrreement.

<sarcasm>
Now that even Russia signed on the USA will have to work so much harder to make it happen. But being the main global source of CO2 I am sure America will prevail.
</sarcasm>

the plagues i dunno, but for the locust you should have asked where, not when, and the answer would have been africa.
*cough*

... you won't even come right out and admit you're a bigoted racist. ... I gather you're the kind of person who believes whatever he sees on the 6 o'clock news ... you are incapable of diferentiating between the attacks on 9/11, and the war in Iraq.

I must have really touched a nerve with you for you to resort to being personal. Perhaps this is personal to you. I have not resorted to personal attacks, and I would appreciate the same courtesy in return.

First sort out who "they" are, and if in fact America is "their" arch-enemy at all.

I was refering to the original article. Here is a link for convenience: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=1 15&art_id=qw109567728080B265

Curtman, as I have stated previously, I think that we would agree more than we disagree when it comes to Linux . I know that considering your hardening judgement against me due to your misinterpretation of what I have been trying to say, you are probably not open to that all. But that's OK. Allow me a few assesments if you will...

>>Do we agree that Microsoft Windows is a very flawed product? Yes.
>>Do we agree that Linux is an operating system that lacks the security vulnerabilities of Windows? Yes.
>>Do we agree that racism and prejudice is wrong? Yes.
>>Do we agree that the Bush administration lied about the circumstances leading up to the invasion? Yes.
>>Do we agree that Saddam should have been removed from power? No.
>>Do we agree that Linux is (and should be) made available for everyone? Yes.

Curtman, I find that racism among any group of people is wrong. Business leaders - not IT specialists - will make the ultimate decision as to whether or not a business migrates to Linux. Many IT specialists already know that Linux is a preferable system. But, they are not the ones to be convinced; the ones who make the business decision - the business leaders - are the ones who need to be convinced. Unfortunately, many of them do not consider that Iran's adoption of Linux would be significant in terms of whether or not they (the business leaders) should also seriously consider migrating to Linux.

A lot of this comes from years of animosity toward Iran as a country. Recall that I previously referenced the Iran Hostage Crisis during President Carter's administration. The animosity has been there long before 9/11. Their judgement of Iran has been hardened, and no matter what I say or do, I cannot change their minds. So, it is not advantageous for me (or anyone else for that matter) to try to convince them otherwise because simply this: they won't listen. I am aware of this. Is this perception of Iran right? No, Curtman, it isn't. But, I am not the one who needs to be convinced of it for I already know.

Consider Mississippi during the 1960's. Would have telling a group of white working-class men that a group of black people have started using Soapsy Suds brand detergent made any differnce to them as whether or not they consider that brand of detergent? No, the opposite in fact.

You see, considering who the audience is (American business leaders), I do not consider Iran to be much of an ally to Linux. Many business leaders don't care. Is this right... you don't have to preach to me that is not right.

I personally do not care that Iranians want to migrate - not in a negative way, anyway. In fact, adopting Linux makes perfect IT sense. But, I don't need to convince you of that. I do find the use of Microsoft Windows without paying for it to be wrong. I do not agree with Microsft's license, therefore I do not use the product.

As for where I get my news... I choose to go through a variety of sources for a variety of points of view. I find your multiple Fox News references

Slow news day or infatuated with Mozilla? Heck, I like Mozilla and use it at home and work, but I don't drop everything to see what's happened with their website in the last day. Gee willikers.

Here's some other fine articles which could probably have been posted:

Philadelphia Considering Free or Low Cost Wireless For All

Microsoft to Exploit Japan's Post Offices to deliver SP2 (their word, not mine!)

The Road Ahead, According to Steve Ballmer

X-Rays Reveal Mummy Faces (Low Cancer Risk to Mummy)

Owls Use Poop to Lure Beetles

Udemakura Arm Pillow
Article
Picture
Article

It is a silly rule.. it reminds me of American Football's new rules prohibiting celebrating of touchdowns. Why are they demonizing the very moments that make sports worth watching? Is it not PC to like to score?

Actually, I did hear some weak rationale regarding the no-shirt-removal rule was due to many players wearing controversial messages on their t-shirts underneath and worries that something really bad might be displayed on worldwide broadcast. Whatever. This is from the same FIFA president that's made tons of weird suggestions including one--quite the opposite the no-shirt removal rule--that women should wear sexier outfits.

I'm not kidding!

The family of Mr. Kim would like to have a word with you.

And India is poised to have an Italian born premier: Gandhi's 'Made in Italy' label not an issue

"Aids is affecting the entire planet, but currently 70 percent of its victims die and are born in Africa," said the ministers from the Central African Republic, Congo, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania and Togo.

"The epidemic cuts down as many human lifes as a world war."

In sub-Saharan Africa around 26.6 million people were infected with HIV at the end of 2003, out of an estimated global tally of 40 million, according to United Nations estimates.

With all due respect, when a president asks America to go to war for some reason, that reason better turn out to be true. I certainly would have supported an invasion of Iraq on the honest grounds of disposing of Saddam (if nothing else, to end the cruel embargo). People are mad because Bush lied to America to get what he wanted. People are dying for it. That's reality, and him and his defenders need to accept that.

Plenty of people knew/suspected that Iraq had no WMD, like our good allies, Israel. This is ignoring that our own CIA had serious doubts about WMD claims. And it ignores that we had inspectors on the ground looking for these weapons - war wasn't needed for a more effective inspection.

Iraq did support terrorism (paying the families of Suicide Bombers $250,000.00 as a reward, openly and overtly) and the ties to Bin Laden, while not fully 100% provable are highly likely - few debate this.

That payment was not towards anti-American terrorism, which is the important thing in this topic. And you are completely opposite on reality with the Bin Laden - Saddam linking. The vast majority of experts suspected otherwise, and still do. Not even a strong suggestion of evidence has turned up since the war.

Those of us that served before 9/11 in Operation Southern/Northern Watch, are sick and tired of people who fail to look at the whole picture because it wasn't spoonfed to you by CNN - STFU or admit that it was fine and dandy with you for us to allow the Iraqis to attempt to kill me, my friends, and my coworkers, but it's not ok for my friends and my coworkers to defend themselves now.

Let's be honest here - did the Iraqis come over to you on non-Iraqi soil and attack? Of course we aren't happy about Iraq trying to kill our soldiers, but you speak as if it was some act of unprovoked military aggression that should naturally lead to a US invasion.

are probably best at playing too much and dying.

Software giant threatens mikerowesoftZDNet.co.uk,UK-8 minutes agoMicrosoft has set its lawyers onto a 17-year-old software writer from Vancouver, called Mike Rowe, because he has registered MikeRoweSoft.com, which the

Microsoft not pleased about mikerowesoft websiteAnanova,UK-3 hours agoA Canadian teenager called Mike Rowe who added the word soft to his name for his website title, has been ordered by Microsoft to hand over the domain.

Microsoft won't go soft on Mike RoweLondon Free Press,Canada-4 hours agoVANCOUVER -- Like any good fledgling businessperson, Mike Rowe knew

Microsoft lawyers threaten Mike Rowe (17)The Register,UK-5 hours agoIn what could easily be mistaken for an Onion story, Microsoft has unleashed the full fury of its lawyers on 17-year-old Canadian high-school student, Mike Rowe

Mike may be Rowe, but 'soft' is troubleSeattle Times,WA-7 hours agoBy The Associated Press. VANCOUVER, BC - Mike Rowe knew he needed a catchy name for his Web-site design company. But the folks

Big bully Gates targets teenTimes of India,India-8 hours agoVANCOUVER: No matter what Shakespeare said on the theme of nomenclature, Microsoft has thought it fit to sue a teenager whose domain name is a lot like the

Microsoft vs MikeRoweSoftIndependent Online,South Africa-10 hours agoVancouver, British Columbia - Mike Rowe thinks it's funny that his catchy name for a website design company sounds a lot like Microsoft.

Microsoft takes on teenNEWS.com.au,Australia-10 hours agoMIKE Rowe thinks it is funny that his catchy name for a Web site design company sounds a lot like Microsoft. "Since my name is Mike

Langford student battles tech giant over use of his domain name: Canada.com,Canada-Jan 17, 2004Mike Rowe, a Langford high school student who does Web site design part-time, is locked in a legal battle with one of the world's biggest companies.

Microsoft vs. Mike Rowe SoftWIS,SC-47 minutes ago(Vancouver, British Columbia-AP) Jan. 19, 2004 - It's Microsoft versus Mike Rowe-soft. Mike Rowe, 17, wanted a catchy name for his Web site design company.

Support CD Babyp2pnet.net,Canada-1 hour agoBecause Mike, who lives in Victoria on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada (and a short drive from p2pnet.net's thriving central base : ) makes a

Microsoft Talk Legal to 17 Year-Old Owner of MikeRoweSoft DomainShortNews.com-2 hours agoMike Rowe, 17, from British Columbia, Canada decided to start up a small web business and called his domain MikeRoweSoft. Smart

Microsoft Corporation vs MikeRoweSoftOfficialSpin-3 hours agoVictoria, British Columbia -- (OfficialSpin) -- 19/01/04 -- A 17 year-old high school student, Mike Rowe, who just so happens to earn a few extra bucks...

Microsoft demands teen to give up domain nameSalem Statesman Journal,OR-7 hours agoVANCOUVER, British Columbia - Mike Rowe knew that he needed

Hi,

try this (If the link doesn't work the article is - "Bizarre fantasy of the 'Karoo Klux Klan'" 8 Nov 2002) From the article:
While the danger is not yet over the plot appears to have been foiled. On Monday the police caught one of the alleged ringleaders, a former army officer called Tom Vorster, who had been on the run for six months and is believed by police to have been in contact in recent years with white supremacist groups in the United States. (my emphasis)

Another article in the print media I can seem to find online, explored the links in greater detail. As I recall they traced links to the KKK and ohter whiter supremacists groups. They also indicated that mambers had met with Newt Gingrich and other GOB figures. Its unlikely however that they suported the Boeremag (lit. famer's force) - though they would have some issues (like oposition to afermitive action in common). Then again people are being held under the patriot act on far more tenuace links...

A man who wrote a prosecutor a letter boasting about killing a 16-year-old girl - thinking a court ruling prevented him from getting the death penalty - has been convicted of capital murder.

A jury on Wednesday found Paul Powell, 24, guilty of attempted rape and murder in the 1999 stabbing death of Stacie Reed.

Powell had been convicted in 2000, but the Virginia Supreme Court overturned the verdict, ruling he could not be executed because prosecutors lacked evidence that Powell tried to rape or rob the girl.

I wouldn't have a problem with it here in the U.S. if it was, as someone said, 1/10th of a cent!

Of course, looking back to reality, it would go to causes
I differ on.

Sigh, when I was younger, you could do a search on "Bush" and come up with, um, things, other than politics.

However, the right way to do it would be to simulate it with aero/hydrodynamic fluid simulation software first

Hmm, perhaps that is the right way but, there's a lot more to it. Fluid dynamics and boat design is really an art, bordering on alchemy. Sure heavy duty hardware doing fluid dynamic simulations factors into it but, theres a lot more as well. Also, you need to be such an artist to make it work. Simply having the hardware and software to do such simulations is woefully inadequate.

If you want the best boat design you need to take a cue from the professionals. In this case you probably want to do what Team OneWorld did with their America's Cup boat. Just pilfer the plans from other peoples designs. The work's already been done for you so, it saves you from having to do all that expensive testing and prototyping.

You laugh, but it's a good thing that the Scientologists haven't found your link to Operation Clambake yet. ;)

OT, you may find this article interesting about a new book backed by the Vatican called _the Eleven Commandments_ that "is dedicated to exposing the "equivocations and lies" contained in the Bible and traditional Christian teaching."

I guess it's true.

I regularly read South African news online. SA has, almost alone amongst African countries a fully developed infrastructure but the connections suffer because there is only one backbone for the whole continent. It is also difficult for them to get any return traffic due mainly to the simple lack of knowledge that there is anything worthwhile there and the slow connections. So following is my little contribution to increasing traffic to South Africa.

South African news sites:
Independant online
news24 online
Sunday times newspaper

More in the /. vein:
linux.org.za
linuxuser.co.za

And for those who actually venture further south than Key West:
Southafrica.net
sa-venues.com
Southafricatravel.net

And for the banal:
IT Tabloid

Enjoy, the worst you can do is learn something.

That 2.5m scorpion is under there harvesting cod sperm for beauty products.
No really, it is!

Several South African newspapers, such as Independant Online ( http://www.iol.co.za ) and the Mail and Guardian ( http://www.mg.co.za ) often cover the divisions between Government and the health sector. Also, please consult the webpages of the South African Medical Research Council ( http://www.mrc.ac.za ). The MRC recently published a report on HIV and AIDS who's release the Government tried to prevent.

one more.. Independent Online (South Africa)

So what if you rent a car with an onboard GPS. With massive research like this underway, it's just a matter of time before you can get a local jamming unit that would wipe out a cheap GPS receiver's ability to pick up the satellite data. (Actually this has already been done...and discussed on Slashdot!) Then, of course, the rental car companies would get into anti-jamming technology so the thing to do is just wait until NOT having a GPS onboard becomes a market differentiator (and way to charge more)... What would really be cool is locally spoofing a GPS signal set so the record showed you went to places (at speeds) that you really didn't....