"Don't let it end like this. Tell them I said something." - Pancho Villa, last words

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Rushdie 1, Fish 0
"Random House recently cancelled publication of Sherry Jones' novel The Jewel of Medina... Stanley Fish takes Rushdie to task for describing this as "censorship" on the grounds that it is only censorship when governments forbid absolutely the publication of a work... The National Coalition Against Censorship, for example, gives the following definition: "Censorship happens whenever some people succeed in imposing their political or moral values on others by suppressing words, images, or ideas that they find offensive" I have not found any definition of censorship that restricts it to government action.... The Enlightenment value of freedom of expression does not lead only to restrictions on the powers of government: it requires that all of us tolerate expression that we may find offensive. A free society cannot permit anyone, government, corporation, church, or individual, to decide what may and what may not be published."
Ah, ironic how modern liberals have betrayed the Enlightenment!

(From Exploring Windows newsletter): People everywhere are saying "I'm a PC." - "Why do Deepak Chopra and more than a billion others around the world use PCs? Because with Windows on your mobile phone, PC, or the web, walls disappear - at home, the office, and anywhere in between. And with a multitude of software, services, and devices to choose from, your technology can be as unique as you are. If you're part of the global PC community, we want to celebrate you. Visit our site and share a photo or video and say a few words about what you love to do. We'll add your photo to a gallery of people who've proclaimed "I'm a PC." And you could appear in ads all across the web - maybe even on the big screen in Times Square!"
Wah lao. This is damn sad.

The black sheep of the family? The rise and fall of Hitler's scouse nephew - "He was born in Liverpool in 1911, a product of the romance between the Fuhrer's brother and his Irish sweetheart. Now the extraordinary story of William Patrick Hitler is coming to the stage."

Caption Contest: Vader Love

Vista has speech recognition hole - "Microsoft has admitted that speech recognition features in Vista could be hijacked so that a PC tells itself to delete files or folders."
This security hole is called PEBKAC: like complaining that your door has a problem when you leave it open and people walk into your house and steal things

Pure Genius: How Apple is killing Windows Vista with iTunes 8 - "Vista was meant to be the end of the notorious Blue Screen of Death. Then Apple launched iTunes 8 this week and now the BSOD is back, and we know who to blame... Apple does not bother disclosing what it is doing to your system or give you the opportunity to decline driver updates and the like. Instead it just says 'want iTunes 8 matey?' and gets on with it. Still, it will be able to say that Windows Vista is unstable and still crashes with that Blue Screen of Death in its next advertising campaign. Genius!"

Liberating the Asian American Libido - "Some parents worry that their kids smoke pot and have sex in college. Parents of UC Davis students worry that their kids are being pushed into becoming pornographers by their Asian Studies prof... The good professor became a pornographer not for the usual reasons — though he isn't above endorsing them — but for a noble one: to liberate the Asian American sexual imagination from its state of colonial enslavement. The abundance of Asian female porn stars and dearth of Asian male porn stars, argues Hamamoto, is both a symptom and a cause of this sexual colonization. Hamamoto writes in his essay entitled “Joy Fuck Club, Prolegomenon to an Asian American Porno Practice (1998)”)... 'I believe the University has been quite supportive of his endeavors. It has certainly given the Asian American Studies department a higher profile.'... 'Does Dr. Hamamoto believe Asian porn is the solution to the colonization of the Asian American sexual imagination?'"
Damn Japs.

the other half Faudziah Utchenik. Botak and his boss - "Bernie Utchenik, a.k.a. Botak Jones, the man behind the burgers and steak chain, cannot resist the opportunity to make mischief, even with a stranger. When I cold-call him to get his wife Faudziah's contact number, he asks in a slightly offended tone: 'Is this such a male-dominated culture that you have to ask me for permission to speak to my wife?'... The friendship evolved into something deeper, and he became a Muslim and married her in November 1998."
Am I the only one who is puzzled at a Muslim owning a chain which serves non-halal food and alcohol? Either he doesn't personally sample his own menu, or he does. I don't know which is worse.

WHO | What are we looking for? - "Policy on Non-Recruitment of Smokers: Smokers and other tobacco users will not be recruited by WHO as and from 1 December 2005. This policy should be seen in the context of the Organization's credibility in promoting the principle of a tobacco-free environment."
Are the progressives up in arms about this discrimination? Maybe in 10 years time overweight people cannot join either.

V-Day: I [Heart] My Vagina, High School Students In Trouble For Wearing Button - "Two Winona High School students have found themselves in hot water with school officials. Why? Because after Carrie Rethlefsen attended a performance of the play "The Vagina Monologues" last month, she and Emily Nixon wore buttons to school that read: "I [heart] My Vagina." School leaders said that the pin is inappropriate and that the discomfort it causes trumps the girls' right to free speech... More than 100 students have ordered T-shirts bearing "I [heart] My Vagina" for girls and "I Support Your Vagina" for boys... "Free speech is a messy thing," Samuelson said. "People need to understand that opinions that they are not comfortable with, or even opinions they disagree with, need to be allowed."... "The principal said that by wearing the pin, I was giving people wrong ideas," Rethlefsen said. "That I was giving an open invitation [to guys]."... Principal Nancy Wondrasch said others find the buttons offensive."
I'm curious how the site would respond to guys wearing "I ♥ My Penis" buttons and girls wearing "I Support Your Penis" buttons. I know what the ACLU would say - happily, they're consistent!