25.04.2002

Potato Chips and Snacking: Taquitos.net
I lnked this site linked in defiance of this Swedish study:
Bread, potatoes may be cancer risk
"Acrylamide is formed during the preparation of food and occurs in many foodstuffs ... Many of the analyzed foodstuffs are consumed in large quantities, e.g. potato crisps, French fries, fried potatoes, biscuits and bread."

24.04.2002

South Africa's spaceman set for blast-off
"The internet tycoon will become the world's second space tourist to take off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan."
"Mr Shuttleworth has reportedly paid £20m (£14m) for a ticket into space."

Comment from Gil-Scott Heron:
Whitey on the Moon - Gil-Scott Heron (1972)

A rat done bit my sister Nell with Whitey on the moon.
Her face and arms began to swell and Whitey's on the moon.
I can't pay no doctor bills but Whitey's on the moon.
Ten years from now I'll be payin' still while Whitey's on the moon.

The man just upped my rent last night cuz Whitey's on the moon.
No hot water, no toilets, no lights but Whitey's on the moon.
I wonder why he's uppin me. Cuz Whitey's on the moon?
I was already givin' him fifty a week but now Whitey's on the moon.

Taxes takin' my whole damn check,
The junkies makin' me a nervous wreck,
The price of food is goin' up,
And as if all that shit wasn't enough:

A rat done bit my sister Nell with Whitey on the moon.
Her face and arms began to swell but Whitey's on the moon.
Was all that money I made last year for Whitey on the moon?
How come there ain't no money here? Hmm! Whitey's on the moon.

Ya know, I just about had my fill of Whitey on the moon.
I think I'll send these doctor bills
airmail special....
to Whitey on the moon.
Venezuelan coup plotter 'in Miami'

"In the aftermath of Venezuela’s failed coup, the United States faces further potential embarrassment after the discovery that several alleged coup leaders fled to Miami."

23.04.2002

Lingual minorities in Norway
This site opened recently. It's run by Læringssenteret, which is a state institution for developing textbooks and software for schools. They've made a site for lingual minorities in Norway, but should have done some more fact- and spellchecking, I think:
"The website is currently available in four languages: Norwegian, English, Spanish and Albanian. The plan is to gradually translate the site into more languages when it becomes possible to be able to read other fonts than alphabetic language on the Internet. This is difficult at the present time, but we are working on the problem so that we can translate the website into more languages"

"At the moment some parts of translations are not available in English, Spanish and Albanian."

"Choose who you want to be: pupil, parent/guardian, school employee
In the left panel under the title ”Skolenettet” you can choose to receive information especially designed for those who want to use the pages."

"On these pages you will find information on colleges and universities, and their course, in Norway."

This site reminds me of engrish.com...
Petition: A salute to the people of Jenin
"We thank the people of Jenin for having reminded us what freedom is, and what it is worth. We know that you have paid a terrible price and therefore send you our small contribution to the rebuilding of what today lies in ruins: A free Palestine."

22.04.2002

Anarchist blogs
Not many yet, but I liked this one: Anarchist Librarians
Vincent's Glossblog
A very cool blog on language. Found through Metafilter.
Good point on France
Emmanuel Goldstein writes: "[This] has a big lesson for the liberal minded pro-Europeans (most pro-Europeans tend to fall into that category). If Britain is to embed every important governmental function within Brussels, what’s to stop the machinery falling into the wrong hands? Precious little.

Austria (junior coalition partner), Italy (two junior coalition partners) and now France – that’s a pretty bad track record for Far Right breakthroughs. I know that none of these guys could be judged to be down the line fascists, especially in Austria, but these are not marginal countries but in at least two cases are more in the heart of Europe than we are.

This may very well be a high watermark for the European right – for in the EU where are extreme nationalists going to make more gains. Belgium, the Netherlands and Ireland are the only three countries where extreme nationalists have the electoral machinery necessary for a breakthrough – and none of these countries is particularly large.

However, this may be the high water mark for this particular tide, ten or fifteen years hence there may be another tide like this. What can we do then? Nothing if we’re in Europe."

The argument usually goes that the EU stems the rise of "far right nationalism", or fascism. I agree with self-confessed reactionary E. Goldstein: the EU fosters this sort of nationalist baclash, and with the left being either antinational or weak (or both...) the swing goes towards parties like FN or Fremskrittspartiet here in Norway.
Mid-East conflict plays out in Oslo
"Supporters of both Israelis and Palestinians demonstrated in Oslo over the weekend, with Norwegian politicians speaking on behalf of both sides. Meanwhile, UN envoy Terje Rød-Larsen, who's long been involved in Middle East peace efforts, won full support from the UN for his criticism of Israel's "inhumane" actions in a Palestinian refugee camp."

Boycott news: Defense Minister calls Israeli ammo deal a 'mistake'
"Norway's defense minister was on the defensive herself on Monday, blaming a recent controversial purchase of ammunition from Israel on a breakdown in internal routines. She said no one wants to buy military equipment from Israel right now."

21.04.2002

If you want a free vote, ask nicely
"Since its ground-breaking experiments in vote-counting in Florida two years ago, the United States has been universally recognised as the chief innovator in the field of democratic principles. Therefore, one of the factors that must surely confer legitimacy on any democracy would be approval by the United States."

Snigger your way throught this piece by Terry Jones in The Observer.
Shock 'success' for French far right
Scary... It seems the second round of the French presidential election will be between Chirac and Le Pen. The turn-out is a record low, with about 28% abstention.