"Absolute faith corrupts as absolutely as absolute power." - Eric Hoffer

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Apple Doesn't Deliver Everything Promised for iTunes 8.1 - PC World - The corresponding headline on Macworld: Apple releases iTunes 8.1 update. Hurr hurr.

"Nation of cowards" on race, Holder says - "Eric Holder, the nation's first black attorney general, said Wednesday that the United States was "a nation of cowards" on matters of race, with most Americans avoiding candid discussions of racial issues... "It also means we have to be able to accept criticism where that is justified."... "Imagine, if you will, situations where people, regardless of their skin color, could confront racial issues freely and without fear. The potential of this country, that is becoming increasingly more diverse, would be greatly enhanced. My fear, however, that we are taking steps that, rather than advancing us as a nation, are actually dividing us even further.""
Sounds like Singapore

Pitts: Yes, we must still talk about race - "So we talk about race, but we don't. More often, we yell about race. Or talk around race. Or deliver self-righteous monologues on race. All of it tainted by a gaping ignorance... We play games instead. Many African Americans lie in wait to cry "Gotcha!" when some hapless white person inadvertently says some questionable thing, as though innocent ignorance were indistinguishable from actual malice. As when a white analyst on TV's Golf Channel said something dumb about Tiger Woods and the Rev. Al Sharpton demanded her head, telling a reporter, "What she said is racist. Whether she's a racist ... is immaterial."... if you are black, you stop trying to have substantive discussions about race with white people: They refuse to listen. Small wonder, if you are white, you stop speaking freely about race with black people: Every little thing is racism with them. And small wonder, in recent years, the discussion on race has come to be dominated by loud, intolerant voices"

Take That! - Weird News Story Archive - "Britain considered taking drastic action against the Soviet Union in retribution for its sending tanks into Czechoslovakia in 1968: it nearly didn’t send Leonid Brezhnev a Christmas card. Foreign Secretary Michael Stewart wanted to scratch “the Russians and their fellow sinners” from the greetings list, but Prime Minister Harold Wilson’s cooler head prevailed. “It seems petty to change the practice,” he wrote to Stewart. “It creates the maximum annoyance with no gain whatsoever.”"

The Straight Dope: Who was the first person to be hit by a car? Why was it decided that cars ought to be registered? - "Of course, horse-drawn vehicles had been no less dangerous. In Traffic, his recent book on the psychology of driving, Tom Vanderbilt writes that "[i]n 1720, traffic fatalities from 'furiously driven' carts and coaches were named the leading cause of death in London. . . . [I]n the New York of 1867, horses were killing an average of four pedestrians a week." And Maxwell Lay, in his Ways of the World, notes that cars are safer than horses were on an accidents-per-distance-traveled basis."

Foreign Languages and Trade: What are you sinking about? - "Cultural factors and especially common languages are well-known determinants of trade. By contrast, the knowledge of foreign languages was not explored in the literature so far. We combine traditional gravity models with data on fluency in the main languages used in Europe. We show that widespread knowledge of languages is an important determinant for foreign trade, with English playing an especially important role. Furthermore, we document non-linear effects of foreign languages on trade."

Drug warriors against the war - "Last week saw the 75th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition. In Washington, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) - a group of former cops and drug-war veterans who have soured on America's war on drugs - gathered to celebrate the anniversary, and to argue for an end to America's current prohibition on marijuana and more serious drugs... World Health Organization researchers found that 42.4 percent of Americans had tried marijuana - the highest ratio of any of 17 countries surveyed. New Zealand, which has tough drug policies, scored a close second place at 41.9 percent. Dutch residents can buy cannabis at coffee shops, yet less than 20 percent of Dutch respondents said they had tried cannabis. Researchers concluded, "Drug use does not appear to be related to drug policy, as countries with more stringent policies (e.g., the United States) did not have lower levels of illegal drug use than countries with more liberal policies (e.g. the Netherlands)." Meanwhile, drug prohibition does work, Van Wickler added, as "a wonderful opportunity for organized crime."

CRCC: Center For Muslim-Jewish Engagement: Resources: Religious Texts - "Anas said, "Some people of 'Ukl or 'Uraina tribe came to Medina and its climate did not suit them. So the Prophet ordered them to go to the herd of (Milch) camels and to drink their milk and urine (as a medicine). So they went as directed and after they became healthy, they killed the shepherd of the Prophet and drove away all the camels. The news reached the Prophet early in the morning and he sent (men) in their pursuit and they were captured and brought at noon. He then ordered to cut their hands and feet (and it was done), and their eyes were branded with heated pieces of iron, They were put in 'Al-Harra' and when they asked for water, no water was given to them." Abu Qilaba said, "Those people committed theft and murder, became infidels after embracing Islam and fought against Allah and His Apostle.""
This is hosted by USC and comes from Sahih al-Bukhari, the most important Sunni Hadith, so I assume it's kosher.

Sex in the Syllabus - "With classwork like this, who needs to play? Undergraduates taking Cyberporn and Society at the State University of New York at Buffalo survey Internet porn sites. At New York University, assignments for Anthropology of the Unconscious include discussing X-rated Japanese comic books. And in Cinema and the Sex Act at the University of California, Berkeley, undergrads are required to view clips from Hollywood NC-17 releases like Showgirls and underground stag reels... in her graduate-level class on obscenity, media-studies professor Laura Kipnis of Northwestern University examines how publications like Hustler can define class stratification in the U.S.--by discussing the work of the 16th century satirist François Rabelais as well as skin magazines... Kipnis screens Saló or 120 Days of Sodom, by the Italian avant-garde filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini... She says students who had previously espoused staunchly liberal views about freedom of expression often find themselves disgusted and horrified by what they see. "University students are often too cool, too hip to understand why other people get perturbed"... At the University of California at Santa Barbara, Constance Penley, a film professor and porn-studies pioneer, says she tells her students that "I don't want to squelch their financial possibilities or creativity, but as a favor to me, could they not make a porn film until after they graduate?""

The 15 Strangest College Courses In America - "10. Daytime Serials: Family and Social Roles. While I’m sure most guys would rather gouge out their own eyes than take a course on soap operas, this is probably right up many young women’s alley. This is part of UW’s Women’s Studies program, which I think is kind of unfortunate given the view some people have of that major already. Talk about giving them more ammunition."
I wasn't surprised that the first got first.

God Hates Figs (with biblical references!) - "Jesus rebuked the fig as an evil abomination... Jesus commanded us not to eat of the cursed fig... God promises terrible vengeance upon any fig-loving nation... FIGS DOOM NATIONS"