ÐØRÇHÁ =^..^=

...

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 14:01:36 GMT

'True friendship is seen through the heart, not through the eyes.'

92 nations sign cluster-bomb ban; US, Russia don't

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 13:54:16 GMT

By DOUG MELLGREN, Associated Press Writer
San Francisco Chronicle
Wednesday, December 3, 2008

(12-03) 13:27 PST OSLO, Norway (AP) --An Afghan teenager who lost both legs in a cluster bomb explosion helped persuade his country to change its stance and join nearly 100 nations in signing a treaty Wednesday banning the disputed weapons.

Afghanistan was initially reluctant to join the pact — which the United States and Russia have refused to support — but agreed to after lobbying by victims maimed by cluster munitions, including 17-year-old Soraj Ghulan Habib. The teen, who uses a wheelchair, met with his country's ambassador to Norway, Jawed Ludin, at a two-day signing conference in Oslo.

Because cluster bombs can lie undetected long after they have been discharged, they are known to continue killing even when a war is over. In Iraq, a minimum of 50 million sub-munitions have been used in U.S.-led operations between 1991 and 2006. About 3,000 casualties have been identified because of these weapons. www.thewe.cc - [articles and photos]

"I explained to the ambassador my situation, and that the people of Afghanistan wanted a ban," Habib, who said he was crippled by a cluster bomb seven years ago, told The Associated Press.

Speaking through an interpreter, Habib said the ambassador called Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who agreed to change his stance on the treaty.

"Today is a historic day," Habib declared.

Afghanistan's reversal even surprised the activists who are urging countries to join the pact against cluster munitions, which have been widely criticized for maiming and killing civilians.

"It is just so huge, to get this turnaround. Afghanistan was under a lot of pressure from the United States," said Thomas Nash, coordinator of The Cluster Bomb Coalition. "If Afghanistan can withstand the pressure, so can others."

Australian activist Daniel Barty said the Afghan ambassador appeared to start changing his mind after meeting Habib at a reception Tuesday.

The U.S., Russia and other countries refusing to sign the treaty say cluster bombs have legitimate military uses, such as repelling advancing troop columns.

Cluster bomblets are packed by the hundreds into artillery shells, bombs or missiles, which scatter them over vast areas. Some fail to explode immediately. The unexploded bomblets can then lie dormant for years until they are disturbed, often by children attracted by their small size and bright colors.

The group Handicap International says 98 percent of cluster-bomb victims are civilians, and 27 percent are children.

Organizers hoped that more than 100 of the 125 countries represented will have signed by the end of the conference on Thursday. Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said 92 countries did so on Wednesday.

The treaty must be ratified by 30 countries before it takes effect.

His country, which began the drive to ban cluster bombs 18 months ago, was the first to sign, followed by Laos and Lebanon, both hard-hit by the weapons.

Britain, formerly a major stockpiler of cluster munitions, also signed the treaty, which Foreign Secretary David Miliband said showed that a NATO country can defend itself without cluster weapons.

Miliband said he would urge President-elect Barack Obama's administration to reconsider the U.S. stance.

The Bush administration says a comprehensive ban would hurt world security.

"Although we share the humanitarian concerns of states signing the (accord), we will not be joining them," the U.S. State Department said in a statement. "Such a general ban on cluster munitions will put the lives of our military men and women, and those of our coalition partners, at risk."

In Jerusalem, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said his government had decided not to join the treaty, and instead believes the issue of cluster bomb use should be addressed through the U.N. Convention on Conventional Weapons.

The anti-cluster bomb campaign gathered momentum after Israel's monthlong war against Hezbollah in 2006, when it scattered up to 4 million bomblets across Lebanon, according to U.N. figures.

"In southern Lebanon, for more than two years, children and the elderly have been victimized (by cluster munitions)," Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Saloukh said.

Activists hoped the treaty would pressure non-signers into shelving the weapons, as many did with land mines after a 1997 treaty banning them.

"The cluster bomb treaty will save countless lives by stigmatizing a weapon that kills civilians even after the fighting ends," said Steve Goose, arms director of Human Rights Watch.

Associated Press writer Shawna Ohm in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Disappointment

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 14:18:39 GMT

'We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.'

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Yuna: Somehow...somewhere

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 03:55:19 GMT

Watch the AMV

bigcatpants.com

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 15:05:10 GMT

My friend Hashi has his own website, www.bigcatpants.com, and last night he made a wonderful post about his introduction to the INTARWEB called 'Filler, flashback, and mental meanderings!'

It is accompanied by one of his cool political/social drawings which you may not have seen.

It would make me very happy if you would go take a look, take a minute to register [it's so easy] and leave a comment.

This is how great things are born! ♥

Humble mouse turns 40 and loses its touch

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 03:13:16 GMT

David Smith, technology correspondent
Guardian
30 Nov 2008

The name was never meant to stick. When Doug Engelbart and his team at the Stanford Research Institute in California designed a computer controller encased in a carved-out wooden block, with wheels mounted on the underbelly, one researcher nicknamed it a 'mouse'. 'We thought that when it had escaped out to the world it would have a more dignified name,' Engelbart recalled later. 'But it didn't.'

Apple bought the mouse patent for its Macintosh in 1984, securing the success of the invention. (Photograph: Bernard Gotfryd/Getty Images)

Engelbart's invention became the mouse that soared, an essential piece of computer hardware. Its 40th birthday will be celebrated next week when Engelbart returns to Stanford (now known as SRI International). The mouse was first shown to the world when he gave a presentation of a working network computer system in San Francisco on 9 December, 1968, which is still revered as 'the dawn of interactive computing'.

Yet in one sense Engelbart, now 83, was far ahead of his time. He never received royalties, partly because his patent ran out just before the tech revolution that saw the computer and mouse supplant pen and paper. Now the mouse faces growing competition from a new generation of touchscreens.

Engelbart first started making notes for the mouse in 1961, after deciding that he could do better than the standard gadget, a light pen which had been used on radar systems during the Second World War. 'We had a big heavy tracking ball - it was like a cannonball,' he said. 'We had several gadgets that ended up with pivots you could move around. We had a light panel you had to hold up right next to the screen so the computer could see it. And a joystick that you wiggle around to try to steer things.'

One of Engelbart's collaborators, Bill English, built an 'x-y positioning device' made from a wooden shell with wheels and a connecting cord, or 'tail', at the back. The cord got in the way when it was used, however, and so it was moved to the front. 'We set up our experiments and the mouse won in every category, even though it had never been used before,' Engelbart recalls on his website. 'It was faster, and with it people made fewer mistakes. Five or six of us were involved in these tests, but no one can remember who started calling it a mouse. I'm surprised the name stuck.'

Xerox developed the mouse during the Seventies and launched the first commercial product with the Xerox Star computer system in 1981. It failed to take off, but when Apple bought the mouse patent for its Macintosh in 1984 success was assured, and it was eventually taken up by the mass PC market for use with Microsoft Windows.

By then Engelbart's patent had expired, meaning that he missed out on a potential fortune, although later mice used different mechanisms which could have been claimed not to infringe the original patent if the matter had ever gone to court. The Stanford Research Institute licensed the mouse to Apple for just $40,000, according to the book Inventors and Inventions, published by Marshall Cavendish, which tells how in 1989 Engelbart lost both his laboratory and his house - the latter burnt down while he and his family stood outside helpless. But together with his daughter, he set up the Bootstrap Institute to promote his ideas, and in 1998 he was awarded the National Medal of Technology by President Bill Clinton for 'creating the foundations of modern computing'.

The mouse now faces unprecedented competition. Laptops which make no use of a mouse are an increasingly popular alternative to desktop computers for workers on the move. Apple's popular iPhone and Nintendo's Wii have shown the potential for touchscreens and movement sensors. HP is pushing a mouse-less TouchSmart PC. Microsoft has invested millions of dollars in a coffee table-shaped 'Surface' computer which responds to natural hand gestures, touch and physical objects.

Splendid, a digital innovations agency in London, is one of the first companies to adopt Surface. Paul Bishop, its managing director, said: 'It's much more collaborative and natural and people find it very intuitive.' Steve Prentice, an analyst at Gartner Research, also predicts the mouse's demise.

'I very much doubt that we'll be using the mouse in 40 years' time,' he said. 'They will be still be around in four or five years, but will they be the standard we see today? We're starting to see more complex and intuitive controls develop and the mouse will be left behind.'

Portrait

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 06:48:31 GMT

The eyes are odd on this, and the face is very strong for a woman, but I couldn't forget it. I like it.

Portrait drawing by Geoffrey Craig

This is sad...

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 23:31:07 GMT

To wait over 20 years for the body of your loved one to come home to you... :(

Iran and Iraq swap troop remains

'The ICRC, which supervised the exchange, said in August that thousands of Iraqi and Iranians are still missing, 20 years after the end of the war, in which one million people were killed on both sides...

On the Iranian side of the border, women in long black robes knelt and wept over the coffins of their loved ones.'

This much madness is too much sorrow

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 08:32:11 GMT

'Be on my side, Ill be on your side, baby
There is no reason for you to hide
Its so hard for me staying here all alone
When you could be taking me for a ride...

You take my hand, Ill take your hand
Together we may get away
This much madness is too much sorrow
Its impossible to make it today.'

Listen to the music by Neil Young and Crazy Horse
Christine - Photo

I can see through you...

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 10:29:07 GMT

From: alphacoders.com

So-called 'Taiwan spy' executed by Beijing

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 00:46:34 GMT

BBC
28 Nov 2008

China has executed a scientist accused of spying for Taiwan.

Wo Weihan's family had appealed for clemency, saying that the scientist was tortured into admitting that he was a spy. He was sentenced last year.

Ran Chen says her father was tortured into making a false confession.

The 59-year-old man, who ran his own medical research company in Beijing, was arrested in early 2005.

Among other things, he was convicted of passing Chinese military secrets to Taiwan, which China considers a renegade province.

Court documents said he spied for an organisation called The Grand Alliance for the Reunification of China under the Three Principles of the People between 1989 and 2003.

This group is under the auspices of Taiwan's new ruling party, the Kuomintang, according to China.

His daughter, Ran Chen, who holds an Austrian passport, said her father's death had been confirmed by the Austrian embassy in Beijing.

Mr Wo's family alleged that he had been denied access to a lawyer for a year.

A spokeswoman for the United States' embassy in Beijing condemned the execution.

Susan Stevenson told the AFP news agency that the US was "deeply disturbed and dismayed".

The European Union also voiced its indignation, saying the execution seriously undermined the spirit of trust and mutual respect between the EU and China.

The execution will heighten tensions between China and the EU, says the BBC's Oana Lungescu in Brussels, coming on the same day EU officials raised his case at a meeting on human rights with their Chinese counterparts.

Earlier in the week, Beijing postponed its annual summit with the bloc in protest against plans by EU leaders to meet the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

WHITE ZOMBIE: 'More Human Than Human' - Dance that dinner off!

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 19:49:13 GMT

Watch video

Yeah, I am the astro-creep,
A demolition style hell american freak - yeah
I am the crawling dead,
A phantom in a box, shadow in your head - say
Acid suicide - freedom of the blast,
Read the fucker lies - yeah
Scratch off the broken skin,
Tear into my heart,
Make me do it again

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah-
More human than human
More human than human
More human than human
More human than human
More human than human
More human than human

Yeah, I am the jigsaw man
I turn the world around with a skeleton hand - say
I am electric head,
A cannibal core,
A television said - yeah
Do not victimize,
Read the motherfucker-psychoholic lies - yeah
Into a psychic war,
I tear my soul apart and I eat it some more

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah-
More human than human
More human than human
More human than human
More human than human
More human than human
More human than human

Yeah, I am the ripper man,
A locomotion mind,
Love american style -yeah
I am the nexus one,
I want more life,
Fucker I aint done - yeah

More human than human
More human than human
More human than human
More human than human
More human than human
More human than human
More human than human
More human than human

Be thankful always

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 10:55:22 GMT

By Leonid Afremov

'New Geisha'

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 04:37:32 GMT

Art by Fabian Perez

Brad Pitt as 'Achilles'

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:29:32 GMT

I'm not particularly fond of Brad Pitt, but I like this painting. :)

'Mysterious Knight,' original oil painting by Ellie - Click to view.
Brad Pitt as 'Achilles' in an Oscar-nominated epic action adventure Troy.

Calm repose

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 08:18:47 GMT

I got this from googling. Have no idea who made it, but I thought it was pretty. It was from spike.com and wouldna load from me from that site. Probably just as well, given the nature of the site. :-p

No. 6 today! W00t!

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 16:55:52 GMT

This is what happens when you get weirdos on your melo trying to do baaaad things. haha!

Oona's late night drinking

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 16:35:47 GMT

Edward Hopper's 'Automat'
Found at Gatochy on Flickr

This is your apartment BEFORE you move in...

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 16:20:17 GMT

Unfortunately, it never looks this neat AGAIN!

Edward Hopper's 'Sun in Empty Room'
Found at neatorama.com

A special little boy needs your help

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 04:57:50 GMT

My friend octoberskies has asked me to post a prayer and general assistance request for a little boy named Jacob who has recently been diagnosed with the disease known as Hypophosphatasia.

Toby has given me a link here that gives some more details about the disease as well as ways you can help Jacob to receive treatment. 'Depending on the severity of the skeletal disease, there may be deformity of the limbs and chest. Pneumonia can result if chest distortion is severe. Recurrent fractures can occur.Teeth may be lost prematurely, have wide pulp (inside) chambers, and thereby be predisposed to cavities. As yet, there is no cure for hypophosphatasia and no proven medical therapy. Some medications are being evaluated. Treatment is generally directed towards preventing or correcting the symptoms or complications.'

Toby is involved with this because she is a friend of the band, State of Man, whose drummer little Jacob is related to.

Please visit this link or octoberskies' site to find out more about how you can help. The goal is to raise enough money to cover medical expenses and to send Jacob to the Shriners Hospital in St. Louis, MO where they have a special department set up to study and treat people with this baffling disease.

Even if you canny donate, you can still remember Jacob in your prayers and thoughts. No child should have to be going through this, and when you think that there is no cure at this time, it's very scary. Jacob needs our help.

Thank you. :)

45th anniversary of the assassination Of John F. Kennedy

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 03:58:26 GMT

Don't let it be forgot, That once there was a spot For one brief shining moment that was known As Camelot.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, assassinated in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963

Collaborate remotely on writing with ETHERPAD

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 07:29:15 GMT

From my Alterslash feed:

'Good news for anyone who needs to collaborate remotely on a writing or editing project — coding too. It’s especially good news for those using Windows and Linux. Mac users have had SubEthaEdit for a few years now. With EtherPad, two or more people can edit a document and see all the edits simultaneously. EtherPad’s main differences from SubEthaEdit: it’s a Web application that de facto supports many platforms without the need for a central Mac OS X host; and it’s free.'

Here is the Etherpad link. :)

Love me tender, Love me sweet, Never let me go.

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 07:08:59 GMT

Photo by Natalie D.J. at Flickr

Metal-zillas!

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 02:17:57 GMT

Powerlines with Clouds
This photo by iBro†óns

Friends to the end

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 05:09:41 GMT

Hand drawn pencil sketch of Buckeye by Miranda Design