Wednesday, September 22, 2010

POW: Geoffrey Robertson

LSE sponsored Geoffrey Robertson speaking on the Vatican’s possible criminal liability under international law for it’s conduct in covering up and perpetuating the sexual abuse of children.  Robertson made a compelling case, far stronger then I expected.  The money line was the anecdote about how the pope had made the act of ordaining  a woman as serious an offense against the church as molesting a child.  This should be considered progress, as previously the Church thought ordaining women was worse…

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Things that make me laugh, Mel Gibson edition

The Guardian published a reasonable discussion of historical fiction and it’s place in literature.  But the second comment had me laughing out loud:

In 1997 a statue of Gibson as "William Wallace" was placed outside the Wallace Monument near Stirling, Scotland. The statue, which includes the word "Braveheart" on Wallace’s shield, was the cause of much controversy and one local resident stated that it was wrong to "desecrate the main memorial to Wallace with a lump of crap". In 1998 the statue was vandalized by someone who smashed the face in with a hammer. After repairs were made, the statue was encased in a cage at night to prevent further vandalism. This has only incited more calls for the statue to be removed as it now appears that the Gibson/Wallace figure is imprisoned; an irony, considering that the statue bears the word "Freedom" on the plinth.

Picture here.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Information Technology at it’s best…

Information Technology at it’s can best makes things which more specific and relevant, instead of general and irrelevant.  Think about what you watch on Hulu or On-Demand Cable, vs. the old days of network TV.  Here we see IT applied to non-profit organizations.  By making donors more informed their donations can more effectively serve their interests, and that is a good thing.

New Toy

I got my first ever personal laptop.  I can remember back in 94 sitting in a friend’s room in college while she showed me her powerbook.  I thought at the time it was tacky.  Who knew?

Photo_00002

Sunday, September 5, 2010

POW: Bacevich on Extension 720

Milt Rosenberg recently had Andrew Bacevich on his show, Extension 720. This was a very brave discussion as Milt in the last few years has evolved into a conservative wing-nut. I'm shocked and immensely pleased that Milt hosted the show as well as he did.

Bacevich is one of the most perceptive critics of American foreign policy writing today, and his views deserve far more attention then they get. Kudos to Milt for giving him a platform, and constructively engaging his ideas.