Yes, one has to wonder why the members of the Security Council, and the US and the UK specifically, designed a program that handed money over to Saddam. The UN bureacracy that is wrongly blamed actually flagged many contracts under the program for potential overpricing, but the US and the UK approved most of them.
This might be the reason why Saddam scammed most of his money from smuggling, which the UN itself had no jurisdiction over or means to stop. That again falls on its member states, and in this case the US and the UK.
Also, the $21 billion figure reoported by media and quoted by politicians is wrong. Over $13 billion of that money has been shown to come from oil smuggling, and can't be said to be a failiure of the program.
The Oil For Food Program succeeded in its humanitarian mission.
"International aid efforts and the U.N. oil-for-food program helped reduce the ruinous impact of sanctions, and the rate of acute malnutrition among the youngest Iraqis gradually dropped from a peak of 11 percent in 1996 to 4 percent in 2002."
It's true, there are European countries that do have these problems. There's also countries that don't have these problems at all, despite comparably extensive social programs. Last time I checked, the very conservative-run Itality wasn't doing all that well either. Thus you can't blame the differences or our problems only on our political systems.
If you count everything in dollars, sure, the US is better than most of Europe. We do get something for our taxes, though. Europeans work to live, americans live to work - there's also some truth to that, which would affect our ranking on the dollar scale. It remains to be seen how much we can cling to that philosophy with the current situation...
GTA is recommended from 18 years and up here in Europe, IIRC. I suspect it's about the same in the US. You should worry about your friend's parenting skills if he allows his children to play games for adults.
A lot of people, nations and organizations bow to the almighty dolla, whether the want it or not. While US media companies might not export their influence per se, they do export the idea of how to protect their interests through aggressive legal action.
I'm not so enamored with what constitutes storytelling in today's games, since it all too often means a passive, cinematic experience more or less disconnected from the interactive part of the game. All that monster-bashing, sneaking, points-collecting, etc, etc, usually only has one effect on the storytelling elements - it unlocks them once you progress far enough.
Games need to grow up and find their own language instead of just copying their parent medium, film. I'm carefully positive about the prospects for this, despite the current stagnation and problems of the game industry.
One prominent sceptic, meteorologist Richard Lindzen of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has made an interesting case that warming may dry out the upper levels of the innermost atmospheric layer, the troposphere, and less water means a weaker greenhouse effect. Lindzen, who is one of the few sceptics with a research track record that most climate scientists respect, says this drying effect could negate all the positive feedbacks and bring the warming effect of a doubling of CO2 levels back to 1 C. While there is little data to back up his idea, some studies suggest that these outer reaches are not as warm as IPCC models predict (see "Areas of contention). This could be a mere wrinkle in the models or something more important. But if catastrophists have an Achilles' heel, this could be it.
Where does this leave us? Actually, with a surprising degree of consensus about the basic science of global warming - at least among scientists. As science historian Naomi Oreskes of the University of California, San Diego, wrote in Science late last year (vol 306, p 1686): "Politicians, economists, journalists and others may have the impression of confusion, disagreement or discord among climate scientists, but that impression is incorrect."
If scientists are willing to start a global conspiract to hold on to their financing, I wonder what the oil industry is willing to do to hang on to its vastly greater profits?
I know one nation that already spends billions of dollars on trying to shoot stuff out of the sky, although for no good right now. Seems like a good start to me.
Although, you never know if the leaders of that nation consider an asteroid impact to be the next biblical calamity. Last time it was water, this time it's rock. A big, quick rock.
Of course I'm excitited. The way I see it, it's just as likely as hit Bush (or whatever zombie/clone/mutant they have of him by then) as it is to hit me.
Only there's ample evidence of asteroid impacts throughout earth's history. It's not a question of if but when and asteroid next strikes. Also, the potential damage far surpasses anything North Korea or China can lob at you.
Speaking of asteroids... I've heard somewhere that the burning of objects that enter the atmosphere being caused by friction is a misconception. Instead, it's actually heating caused by the immense air pressure that's created when an object moves fast enough through air. Is this true?
Here's something we know will come and that has a destructive potential far greater than anything in our arsenals. It would foster global cooperation since all nations are potential targets, and it wouldn't create an arms race. An asteroid shield seems like a better way to spend all those money that goes into missile shield defense.
I first read that as "a japanese homophobe" - which wouldn't have been completely misplaced since homophobes do percieve evil where sensible people periceve none. Oh well.
Before you find it, make sure you're free of all tentacle phobia.
Seriously though, try Princess Mononoke for a more adult Miyazaki film. There's plenty of more mature anime by other studios out there, but it easily drowns in the anime aimed at the early teen segment.
My recommendation is the Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex TV series.
Almost a year. It premiered on July 20th, 2001 and in the US September 20th, 2002. There's no official US date for Howl, but Nausicaa.net's FAQ has these dates for other countries:
* Japan - November 20, 2004
* Korea - December 24, 2004
* France - January 12, 2005
* Switzerland (French) - January 12, 2005
* Sweden - September 2005
* Belgium - 2005
* Hong Kong - 2005
* Israel - 2005
* Germany - 2005
* Taiwan - 2005
January 12th in France? Those bastards! It should be renamed Howl's Freedom Castle in protest!
Eh, he's just one genius. His films are allowed to have similar themes, but even with that in mind I wouldn't say the girls are all that similar.
If you were refering to a visual similarity, it's partly because Miyazaki's personal style, but also because it's easier to identify with a stylized character. There's a certain measure of generic japanese girl in his characters because they are meant to reflect millions of japanese girls (and boys, presumably).
It's interesting to look at Disney in comparison - a big studio that still has a very limited repertoire of female characters. Hunchback's Esmeralda is the only one that sticks out in my mind because of her tough of sexuality. (yes, I'm male).
I doubt Studio Ghibli do any dubbing, since the film is already scheduled for release in the West and Disney surely have something big planned already.
However, I bought the Spirited Away DVD directly from Japan, and it had english subtitles. It might be the same for the Howl DVD.
Slashdot Mirror
Yes, one has to wonder why the members of the Security Council, and the US and the UK specifically, designed a program that handed money over to Saddam. The UN bureacracy that is wrongly blamed actually flagged many contracts under the program for potential overpricing, but the US and the UK approved most of them.
This might be the reason why Saddam scammed most of his money from smuggling, which the UN itself had no jurisdiction over or means to stop. That again falls on its member states, and in this case the US and the UK.
Also, the $21 billion figure reoported by media and quoted by politicians is wrong. Over $13 billion of that money has been shown to come from oil smuggling, and can't be said to be a failiure of the program.
The Oil For Food Program succeeded in its humanitarian mission.
"International aid efforts and the U.N. oil-for-food program helped reduce the ruinous impact of sanctions, and the rate of acute malnutrition among the youngest Iraqis gradually dropped from a peak of 11 percent in 1996 to 4 percent in 2002."- The Washington Post, November 21
That's not the only aspect of the OFFP "scandal" that has been twisted.
With the risk of ruining the UN-bashing with a little US-bashing - the US can't even feed the dogs down there.
It's true, there are European countries that do have these problems. There's also countries that don't have these problems at all, despite comparably extensive social programs. Last time I checked, the very conservative-run Itality wasn't doing all that well either. Thus you can't blame the differences or our problems only on our political systems.
If you count everything in dollars, sure, the US is better than most of Europe. We do get something for our taxes, though. Europeans work to live, americans live to work - there's also some truth to that, which would affect our ranking on the dollar scale. It remains to be seen how much we can cling to that philosophy with the current situation...
GTA is recommended from 18 years and up here in Europe, IIRC. I suspect it's about the same in the US. You should worry about your friend's parenting skills if he allows his children to play games for adults.
No, you've learned to repackage your genocides and export them.
A lot of people, nations and organizations bow to the almighty dolla, whether the want it or not. While US media companies might not export their influence per se, they do export the idea of how to protect their interests through aggressive legal action.
I think you can trace the hardline anti-pirate policy of the media industry back to the US, so there's room for a little US-bashing even here.
I'm not so enamored with what constitutes storytelling in today's games, since it all too often means a passive, cinematic experience more or less disconnected from the interactive part of the game. All that monster-bashing, sneaking, points-collecting, etc, etc, usually only has one effect on the storytelling elements - it unlocks them once you progress far enough.
Games need to grow up and find their own language instead of just copying their parent medium, film. I'm carefully positive about the prospects for this, despite the current stagnation and problems of the game industry.
Provide some examples of these failed democracies, please.
The silicon chip doesn't care if you call it a name....
Maybe the next Emotion Engine will?
Article on the science behind climate change, what's certain and what's not, who's convinced and who's sceptical, .
Climate change: Menace or myth?
One prominent sceptic, meteorologist Richard Lindzen of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has made an interesting case that warming may dry out the upper levels of the innermost atmospheric layer, the troposphere, and less water means a weaker greenhouse effect. Lindzen, who is one of the few sceptics with a research track record that most climate scientists respect, says this drying effect could negate all the positive feedbacks and bring the warming effect of a doubling of CO2 levels back to 1 C. While there is little data to back up his idea, some studies suggest that these outer reaches are not as warm as IPCC models predict (see "Areas of contention). This could be a mere wrinkle in the models or something more important. But if catastrophists have an Achilles' heel, this could be it. Where does this leave us? Actually, with a surprising degree of consensus about the basic science of global warming - at least among scientists. As science historian Naomi Oreskes of the University of California, San Diego, wrote in Science late last year (vol 306, p 1686): "Politicians, economists, journalists and others may have the impression of confusion, disagreement or discord among climate scientists, but that impression is incorrect."
If scientists are willing to start a global conspiract to hold on to their financing, I wonder what the oil industry is willing to do to hang on to its vastly greater profits?
I know one nation that already spends billions of dollars on trying to shoot stuff out of the sky, although for no good right now. Seems like a good start to me.
Although, you never know if the leaders of that nation consider an asteroid impact to be the next biblical calamity. Last time it was water, this time it's rock. A big, quick rock.
Of course I'm excitited. The way I see it, it's just as likely as hit Bush (or whatever zombie/clone/mutant they have of him by then) as it is to hit me.
Only there's ample evidence of asteroid impacts throughout earth's history. It's not a question of if but when and asteroid next strikes. Also, the potential damage far surpasses anything North Korea or China can lob at you.
Yes! I would create an inconspicous hole in the asteroid shield just above the White House, but that's just me.
Speaking of asteroids... I've heard somewhere that the burning of objects that enter the atmosphere being caused by friction is a misconception. Instead, it's actually heating caused by the immense air pressure that's created when an object moves fast enough through air. Is this true?
And what are you saying? "Give me all your money or PEOPLE WILL SCARE YOU!"
Here's something we know will come and that has a destructive potential far greater than anything in our arsenals. It would foster global cooperation since all nations are potential targets, and it wouldn't create an arms race. An asteroid shield seems like a better way to spend all those money that goes into missile shield defense.
And may we then have the technology to keep his head alive in a jar, for another hundred years of Miyazaki films.
I first read that as "a japanese homophobe" - which wouldn't have been completely misplaced since homophobes do percieve evil where sensible people periceve none. Oh well.
Before you find it, make sure you're free of all tentacle phobia.
Seriously though, try Princess Mononoke for a more adult Miyazaki film. There's plenty of more mature anime by other studios out there, but it easily drowns in the anime aimed at the early teen segment.
My recommendation is the Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex TV series.
Almost a year. It premiered on July 20th, 2001 and in the US September 20th, 2002. There's no official US date for Howl, but Nausicaa.net's FAQ has these dates for other countries:
* Japan - November 20, 2004
* Korea - December 24, 2004
* France - January 12, 2005
* Switzerland (French) - January 12, 2005
* Sweden - September 2005
* Belgium - 2005
* Hong Kong - 2005
* Israel - 2005
* Germany - 2005
* Taiwan - 2005
January 12th in France? Those bastards! It should be renamed Howl's Freedom Castle in protest!
Eh, he's just one genius. His films are allowed to have similar themes, but even with that in mind I wouldn't say the girls are all that similar.
If you were refering to a visual similarity, it's partly because Miyazaki's personal style, but also because it's easier to identify with a stylized character. There's a certain measure of generic japanese girl in his characters because they are meant to reflect millions of japanese girls (and boys, presumably).
It's interesting to look at Disney in comparison - a big studio that still has a very limited repertoire of female characters. Hunchback's Esmeralda is the only one that sticks out in my mind because of her tough of sexuality. (yes, I'm male).
I doubt Studio Ghibli do any dubbing, since the film is already scheduled for release in the West and Disney surely have something big planned already.
However, I bought the Spirited Away DVD directly from Japan, and it had english subtitles. It might be the same for the Howl DVD.