To those seeking an update on the Saemangeum project, I recommend Gusts Of Popular Feeling’s summary.
Category: ASIDES
When the Government Tries to Get Its Hands On Your…
This article in Glamour was linked by someone on Culturelist, and it’s rather sobering. Rightwing religious fanatics trying to control the reproduction even of people who aren’t members of their religion… it’s sick, like so much of the Right in America.
Where NOT To Go in New York
The New York Times presents an interactive map tracking Homicides and Crime in New York City. (via Culturelist)
Quizzically
You Are 50% Evil You are evil, but you haven’t yet mastered the dark side. Fear not though – you are on your way to world domination. How Evil Are You? Okay, I’m only half-wicked. You Should Be a Science Fiction Writer Your ideas are very strange, and people often wonder what planet you’re from. And while you may have some problems being “normal,” you’ll have no problems writing sci-fi. Whether it’s epic films, important novels, or vivid comics… Your own little universe could leave an important mark on the world! What Type of Writer Should You Be? But I …
Goreans (NOT Koreans)
Salon Chain gang is a look at the disturbing lifestyle being led by some extreme fans of John Norman’s icky, weird, disturbing Gor books. Female slavery and such. It shocks me how such cruddy books could inspire such a weird movement. No, wait, it really doesn’t. I find it very amusing that the dimwits who actually believe the Japanese changed the spelling from Corea to Korea to put the Koreans down (as if they cared about Romanizations!), and who sometimes spell it Gorea for, well, complicated and somewhat silly reasons, now have to contend with a bunch of messed up …
DARE Generation Diary: Something’s rotten in the State of South Carolina
Dare Generation Diary reports a nutter pol in South Carolina who is apparently pushing to outsource imprisonment of sex-offenders and drug addicts. (Via BoingBoing)
Canadian Music Stars Against DRM
Avril Lavigne, Sarah McLachlin, Sum 41, and Barenaked Ladies have come out to voice their opinions against DRM.
The American Dream Illusion
America may still think of itself as the land of opportunity, but the chances of living a rags-to-riches life are a lot lower than elsewhere in the world… More at Reuters.com .
Spanish Socialists Want To Give Apes Human Rights
The Spanish Herald: The Spanish Socialist Party will introduce a bill in the Congress of Deputies calling for “the immediate inclusion of (simians) in the category of persons, and that they be given the moral and legal protection that currently are only enjoyed by human beings.” The PSOE’s justification is that humans share 98.4% of our genes with chimpanzees, 97.7% with gorillas, and 96.4% with orangutans.I’m not going to mock, since I don’t know what was actually stated in Spanish, but it seems to me that giving them “human rights” seems less sensible than extending rights beyond the scope of …
China’s Priorities
Worthwhile article China loves capitalism, hates elections reproduced at The Peking Duck. (With a long and involved comments section following.)