General

I’m thinking of maybe switching WorldBeatPlanet from a static site to a Nuke-based site like MacMegasite.

14653 ª February 10 11:25 AM. Bigots are alive and well in America. Here we are still fighting for equal rights for all Americans. Some will find this link uplifting because of the outpouring of community support, but to me it’s just another sign of how quickly intolerance turns to attempted murder. [MetaFilter]

Ender’s Shadow. Ender’s Shadow (the author wanted it to be called Urchin) was a wonderful book to read. I’d read Ender’s Game… [Aaron Swartz: The Weblog]

I’m a big fan of Orson Scott Card, and I really enjoy that series as well as his other books. He’s a great storyteller. I think my favorite book in the series is Xenocide, although I hated Children of the Mind. Ender’s Shadow is a great book, and Shadow of the Hegemon is even more interesting.

14638 ª February 9 3:55 PM. If you’ve ever worked in retail, you MUST download this song. Apparently, back in the mid 1960’s, Woolworth decided that the best way to motivate their managers was to hire one Michael Brown to compose and sing a snappy pop tune just for them, with predictably bizarre results. Here at the store, it’s become our new anthem. For more info the tune and it’s creator go here and scroll down. [MetaFilter]

Oy vey! It’s really painful!

I just picked up a new Youssou N’dour CD today that I haven’t seen before: Youssou N’dour and his friends. It includes “Kirikou” (which I had previously downloaded with Napster) and some other songs that I haven’t heard before.

Using spam to attract voters. Tony Sanchez, a democrat running for Governer of Texas, recently used a purchased email list to spam potential voters. Of course, his campaign states that the message is “definitely not spam,” but so does a large amount of the spam sent out on a daily basis. This action by a major political candidate raises several serious issues, including whether this method of attracting voters will become more common. [kuro5hin.org]

Spamming is the surest way to lose my vote. I’d never vote for any candidate who spams his voters

Senate’s Turn in Clone Zone. The U.S. Senate is now mulling over whether to follow the House’s lead and ban cloning. Also: Patent thickets and the Patriot Act, as Washington Bureau Chief Declan McCullagh’s D.C. notebook returns to Wired News. [Wired News]

Signs of Intelligence: Gay-Bashing Victim Sues Attackers and their Parents. Since local law enforcement was unwilling to enforce the law, a victim of near-fatal gay bashing is suing his attackers and their parents… [Morons Dot Org]

Is a U.S. bioweapons scientist behind last fall’s anthrax attacks?. A growing number of scientific experts have come to this conclusion. But the FBI seems strangely reluctant to zero in on the most likely suspects. [Salon.com]

14629 ª February 9 4:42 AM. Enough Already With The Journalists – What Do The Finest Political Philosophers Think About Terrorism? There aren’t many of them. On the liberal side of things, apart from John Rawls, Michael Walzer [here’s a fascinating interview with him]is probably the most original and intelligent pluralist alive. In the above-linked article in Dissent he sets out the questions that we should be asking ourselves right now about terrorism. Something tells me we should be paying attention. But what would our answers be? Or are we too caught up with the banality of columnists and pundits to actually face up to the thoughts of a real political thinker? [MetaFilter]