I don’t smoke, not even tobacco, but I don’t understand why tobacco and alcohol should be legal, whereas marijuana can not. Heck, the hemp is a plant, it’s not human-made, and it’s not a chemical product! Here we have some More Evidence That Marijuana Prevents Cancer. I know that back in 1961, more than 100 nations have agreed at the UN to ban marijuana (I guess it was first illegal in Canada in 1923, in the UK in 1928, in the U.S. in 1937), but I very much doubt there is scientific evidence that marijuana would be more addictive and more harmful than tobacco and alcohol. Actually, from the above-mentioned study…

Strikingly, among drinkers and cigarette smokers, those who also used marijuana reduced their cancer risk compared to those who only drank and smoked cigarettes. So marijuana may actually have been countering the known bad effects of booze and cigarettes.

Related and not that related to that, there is a 5:51 video I would like you to see: it’s happening in the United States. Have you watched it to the end?
» Read more…

Din excelenta recenzie făcută de Cristina Chevereşan în Noua Literatură nr. 26, iulie 2009, la cartea Indignare, de Philip Roth:

America anilor ‘50 îi apare ca un amestec bulversant de îndoctrinare, de discursuri moralizatoare şi de realităţi opuse teoriei. Lumea micilor universităţi este scindată între conservatorismul declarat şi emanciparea practicată, surse de confuzie şi stres pentru tînărul educat să se poarte întotdeauna aşa cum trebuie. [...]

Speriat de concurenţa unui monstru postbelic, supermarketul, şi de ecourile terifiante ale războiului din Coreea, tatăl îşi pierde căldura, înţelegerea, umanitatea, convins că orice greşeală poate produce catastrofe. [...]

Ce află Markus? Că a respecta şi a nu deranja nu înseamnă că vei fi, la rîndul tău, respectat şi lăsat în pace. Că a gîndi pe cont propriu şi a avea opţiuni personale nu sînt lucruri pe care societatea instituţionalizată, încremenită în aşteptări rigide, le va aprecia. Că a prefera să-ţi vezi de treabă, fără ostentaţie, nu face decît să te transforme într-o curiozitate, într-un individ bizar, neadaptat, demn de dispreţ sau de milă — în funcţie de toanele comunităţii ce detestă rezistenţa. [...] [N]ormalitatea lui nu are nici o şansă de a se încadra în normele general acceptate.

My favorite one is an account of a frightening happening: Why 2024 Will Be Like Nineteen Eighty-Four — How Amazon’s remote deletion of e-books from the Kindle paves the way for book-banning’s digital future.

• On the related topic, have The grumpy editor’s [notes on an] e-book reader.
• Although I would rather go for Bookeen’s Cybook. It can use PDFs. But it’s sold out. And no, we’re not living in communism, we’re living in a capitalist world where 1,782,361,728,467,812,346 mobile phones are manufactured but they don’t sell, whereas a few companies can’t make enough of those products who would sell like hot bread!
• From Fighting small bugs: «However, one early problem that has already emerged is that the upstream project — GNOME — does not give the small bugs the same priority that Ubuntu and Fedora are assigning them. “Our goal is to get them fixed on a weekly basis,” Siegel says, “But an upstream bug will just sit there. They don’t have the same sense of urgency. That’s been just a little bit frustrating, because priorities are different.“»
• Obama: “Why Not Pay Half Price?”
• How Constant War Became the American Way of Life
• Bernanke: “I Don’t Know” Which Foreign Banks Were Given Half a Trillion
• Marshall Sahlins - La Nature humaine: une illusion occidentale. Citation: «Tout cela n’a été qu’une longue erreur. Je conclus modestement en disant que la civilisation occidentale est construite sur une vision pervertie et erronée de la nature humaine. Pardon, je suis désolé, mais tout cela est une erreur. Ce qui est vrai en revanche, c’est que cette fausse idée de la nature humaine met notre vie en danger.»
• The history and future of airport design
• UPDATE: How the Food Industry Has Made Bacon a Weapon of Mass Destruction. «There is: bacon ice cream; bacon-infused vodka; deep-fried bacon; chocolate-dipped bacon; bacon-wrapped hot dogs filled with cheese (which are fried, then battered and fried again); brioche bread pudding smothered in bacon sauce; hard-boiled eggs coated in mayonnaise encased in bacon — called, appropriately, the “heart attack snack”; bacon salt; bacon doughnuts, cupcakes and cookies; bacon mints; “baconnaise,” which Jon Stewart described as “for people who want to get heart disease but [are] too lazy to actually make bacon”; Wendy’s “Baconnator” — six strips of bacon mounded atop a half-pound cheeseburger — which sold 25 million in its first eight weeks; and the outlandish bacon explosion — a barbecued meat brick composed of 2 pounds of bacon wrapped around 2 pounds of sausage. [...] Concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) churn out cheap, but flavorless, meat. However, for the CAFOs to exist there must be demand for the product. That’s where the industrial food sector comes in. Chains like McDonald’s, Chili’s, Taco Bell, Applebee’s and Pizza Hut approach the tasteless, limp factory beef, pork and chicken as a blank canvas with which to create highly enticing, even addictive, foods by pumping it full of fat, salt, sugar and chemical flavorings.»
  

Only one of Google’s many data centers, the one from Dallas, is set to have a consumption footprint of 103 Megawatts.

Microsoft has a data center in Chicago that pays the bill for 198 Megawatts of electricity.

Those two centers make… let’s see… 301 Megawatts.

The whole country of Cuba ERROR! MEA CULPA! Isla de la Juventud, in Cuba, has a monthly consumption target of 310 Megawatt-hours for July 2009.

This is in part because Cuba uses Diesel generators to produce electricity, which is expensive, it depends on Chavez’s oil, and it’s far from being green. Oh, wait, Google too uses Diesel generators…

Din HISTORIA nr. 90, iunie 2009, partea a doua a convorbirilor Ceauşescu-Ford din august 1975. Suntem în 3 august (traducerea, Sergiu Celac):

Gerald Ford: Domnule Preşedinte, recunosc că problemele economice sînt la fel de serioase în statele capitaliste ca şi în cele socialiste pentru că nerezolvarea duce, pînă la urmă, la suferinţe umane, frînează sau chiar opresc progresul.

Eu ştiu mai mult despre problemele care există în ţările capitaliste decît în alte regiuni sau în ţările socialiste, dar cred că multe probleme sînt, într-un fel, similare. Pentru acest motiv, cred că trebuie să existe mai multă colaborare între ţările capitaliste şi cele socialiste.

În ultimul an, Statele Unite au trecut printr-o foarte serioasă recesiune economică, însoţită de şomaj şi precedată de inflaţie. Noi am luat măsuri hotărîte şi cred că am făcut progrese foarte substanţiale în lupta împotriva inflaţiei. Acum sîntem convinşi că problema şomajului va deveni tot mai puţin acută. În general, apreciem că în următoarele 12 luni economia va arăta semne clare de îmbunătăţire. Alte ţări capitaliste — ca Franţa, Germania Occidentală şi, mai ales, Marea Britanie — au avut aceleaşi probleme economice ca şi noi, dar nu au reuşit încă să-şi rezolve problemele la fel de bine ca şi noi.

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From An Open Letter to the Obama Administration from Central and Eastern Europe (also here):

It is absurd that Poland and Romania — arguably the two biggest and most pro-American states in the CEE region, which are making substantial contributions in Iraq and Afghanistan — have not yet been brought into the visa waiver program. It is incomprehensible that a critic like the French anti-globalization activist José Bové does not require a visa for the United States but former Solidarity activist and Nobel Peace prizewinner Lech Walesa does.

Des lèche-culs (ass kissers, that is). Lech Walesa would be granted a 10-yr visa in no time. I have such a visa myself!

From The Examiner:

Bill Nye “The Science Guy” was booed in Waco, Texas in 2006 for suggesting the Moon did not generate its own light, but reflected light from the sun.

Trouble started when the children’s entertainer brought up Genesis 1:16, which reads: “God made two great lights — the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars,” and pointed out that the lesser light was actually a reflector.

At this point, several people in the audience stormed out, including a woman with three small children who muttered, “We believe in God!” and left.

It was really just for not coming empty-handed a coupla weeks ago from my trip to Utah.

For the teas, the basic rule is that had to be green and white, not black, and they should not include “flavorings”, nor “universal add-ons” such as hibiscus.  Some Bigelow or Celestial Seasonings teas have added “natural flavors (soy lecithin)”. Why should I have lecithin in my tea?!

The biggest surprise to me was the (otherwise cheaper than Numi!) Stash Fusion Green & White Tea. It’s both mild (because of the white tea) and with a distinctive blend where the Sencha definitely plays a major role. I just love it! I’ll miss it badly when the box empties…
» Read more…

I’m sort of immune to the idiocies that happen all the time in my Vaterland — because they just get worse and worse —, so I felt like reading (and listening) about what happens in the rest of the world. Stupid things too, but at least they’re stupid in a different way.

» Read more…

…but let’s better start with a huge idiocy, here: Is The Worst Over? Most Economists Say Yes:

“The hemorrhaging has peaked,” said Bernard Baumohl, chief global economist for the Economic Outlook Group, a forecasting firm. “We’re on the other side of the recession now.“

OK, now we can move on to much more serious things, such as… The Death of Macho, in Foreign Policy. Really. (If it goes paying, you’ll find a copy here.) What’s so bloody alarming in here? Let’s see…

» Read more…

…so far, seems to be this one: Recipe for an ‘Ice Age’ mess: Thaw, rehash, refreeze:

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs seems to be suffering from freezer burn. Once fresh, the story is now buried under a hoary coating. [...] Its consistently sweet message notwithstanding, the retread plot is a bore. [...]

The species are more plentiful this time, but Ice Age resorts to bathroom humor and gross bodily fluids to fill the landscape.

A much more favorable article from the same newspaper: ‘Ice Age’ warms up to dinosaurs in third installment:

» Read more…

Here’s how they make money out of Jacko’s death:

• TIME has rushed on the market a lame “Special Commemorative Edition”, dated July 7th. I really don’t like the way they did it, but it will nevertheless sell volumes. And you can “buy a print of this cover starting at $15.95″. Jeez.
• Newsweek has also just issued a special edition, dated July 13th and priced $6.95 (instead of the regular $5.95). Less than stellar in contents, but overall OK.
• USA Today was a greedy one. They have found 3 ways of making money:
  1. They reissued the June 26 edition that announced the death. Not only that 90% of the newspaper is of no interest today, but instead of the regular price of $1.00, the reissued one costs $4.95!
  2. They made a glossy commemorative edition on sale for $6.99.
  3. They made a second special edition (“an essential collector’s item on the King of Pop’s life and legacy”), for $4.95.

Death is profitable for some.

Wow, Pirate Bay was bought! Here’s the Reuters news, and the press release. Gee. Whatever.

I’m in America for less than 24 hours already. OK, what’s left in the queue?

• Why are they labeling some forms of paracetamol (acetaminophen) as “Non-Aspirin”? I mean, how can you label something for what it is not? Could we label lemonade as “non-beer” and tofu as “non-cheese”?
• Finally, their FDA decided “that prescription drugs that combine acetaminophen with other painkilling ingredients should be pulled off the market”, because… “acetaminophen is the leading cause of liver failure in the U.S., sending 56,000 people to the emergency room annually”. Gosh. Now the maximum single dose of the drug will be 650 milligrams instead of 1 gram.
• Finally again, there are some reactions to one of the various forms of discrimination against the white people (euphemistically called “positive action”): Our view on diversity in the workplace: Firefighters ruling draws new lines on race and hiring. Go figure, promotion was denied to some white firefighters who had scored highest on a test, but eventually the Supreme Court ruled that this was wrong.
• And, figurez-vous, there is more than MJ’s unfortunate death. There is still place for celebration (no, not the 4th of July!): 1959 saw jazz take giant steps in popular culture.

P.S.: Oh, I forgot…

• Kneaders Bakery is fabulous! And Bajio is not bad for a Mexican food restaurant…
• I discovered yesterday that the state sales tax for the food sold in all kind of restaurants is bigger than the regular sales tax: it’s 7.85% in Utah, versus 6.85% the regular sales tax and 3% the grocery food sales tax!
• But hey, when they find E. Coli in something else every now and then… After an issue with some donuts by Nestlé, now it’s in some beef!
• Did you know that the correct name of some state of the nation is “Rhode Island and Providence Plantations”? (I bet you didn’t.) Well, the idea is that it might get shortened… or maybe not.
• The dogs don’t lie… or do they? Take a look at this: ‘Scent lineups’ stink to critics. You can’t even trust dogs anymore…

Took from Witch hunts and torture:

Former FBI special agent Ali Soufan testified before a Senate Judiciary Committee subcommittee in mid-May that when CIA contractors took over from him the interrogation of accused al-Qaeda operative Abu Zubaydah, Zubaydah stopped producing reliable information when the contractors began employing waterboarding.

The history of the Inquisition tells us the same thing about the practical limits of torture. And there are some interesting similarities between then and now. The Inquisition targeted a particular population of individuals who were deemed to be an immediate threat to the public safety. It was held that witches killed babies, that they caused male impotence, female infertility and miscarriages. They spoiled the crops and caused the plague. And so on.

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QOTD:

The government owes the world $11.4 trillion — $37,000 for every person in the U.S. In the next fiscal year, the government will add $1.8 trillion to the deficit. [...] Every day [...] the U.S. needs to borrow $15 billion to fund the deficit, says Axel Merk, portfolio manager of the Merk Hard Currency fund. “Someone has to buy all that,” he says. More important, the U.S. has to repay it. [...]

Will the nation cure its debts by raising taxes and cutting spending?

“Sure,” says Merk. “And then we will all fly to the moon.” Otherwise, he says, “Inflation is the answer.”

Otherwise, today’s Wizard of Id sums it up pretty well.

That’s it. I was so curious to watch this movie that I had to buy the DVD ($19.99 at Target), and then to spend about 3 hours with it — deleted scenes, making of, all the extras had to be seen.

I didn’t know anything about Revolutionary Road (I have not read the Wikipedia page, for it tells the whole plot), except that:
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Well, my last days in the “middle of nowhere a few miles south of SLC, UT” are an annoyance mostly because this face of America is a complete boredom. Real life must be in places like NYC or San Francisco, not in places like this one.

This might be the last set of random opinions and ramblings on America before I leave them in the afternoon of July 1st, so I’ll make it huge and eclectic.

A few days ago (was it Friday?), a rainbow broke the monotony, after a short rain. It was 8:30 PM!
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While the media is focusing on MJ’s sudden death, and then on Obama’s bills on health care, environment and whatnot, the NPR is reminding us that Obama is still “a new Dubya”: Proposal Offers Specifics On Preventive Detention.

There are new developments with regards to Obama’s speech at the National Archives on May 21, when he proposed a new system of “Indefinite Preventive Detention”… without charge, which is nothing less than legalizing the Bush legacy!

As one columnist noted: “Proof of guilt? In 21st-century America, there is no longer any need for such annoyances. Human rights? Ha-ha. That’s a good one.”

I suppose everyone is anxious to read the full details of Obama’s new unconstitutional gulag Konzentrationslager system (for non-Americans only though). We’ll soon have a better understanding of the twisted mind of the most colored hypocrite America ever had.

There isn’t much to say after a 10-hr sleep (8 PM to 6 AM), right? It was quite a hot day yesterday (90F/32C), and today the forecast is for 93F (34C).

The queer thing is that dream I had. Extremely epic. I guess it does qualify for “nightmare”, although it’s more a task for papa Freud. OK, it’s a secret story, I’m keeping it private, in the hope I’ll forget it altogether. Most likely, it’s a sign of unaccomplishment…
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I am not retracing Tocqueville’s steps, I am retracing my own steps. And this is not America, but only a very small spot of it, a vertical strip between Interstate 15 and State Street, somewhere south of Salt Lake City.

72 hours since I am here, and I dare to say that I’ve almost adjusted the timezone. I am nevertheless tired, because I normally hate the meetings, but now I have to go through 7 days and half of meetings and group discussions. After only two full days, I realize that meetings are nice… unless you’re part of them.

This piece of America hasn’t changed much since May 2004, the first time I’ve met it–except maybe for a relatively successful Walmart that has been replaced by two other stores with fewer visitors.
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