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Pew Research Center: Nations Call US Biggest Threat to Environment
In 34 of the 37 countries where data from the Pew 2007 Global Attitudes survey are available, the United States is named by a majority or a clear plurality as the country that is “hurting the world’s environment the most”–even a third of Americans rate their own country as the world’s biggest polluter, more than point to any other single country. (Respondents were asked to name a country from a list that included India, Germany, China, Brazil, Japan, United States and Russia.)
This is a striking poll result. My instinct is to say that it is a profoundly wrong-headed result … if you subtract the U.S. contribution to the world environmental situation in the last forty-five years (since, say, the publication of Silent Spring, you have a significantly dirtier world. But the perception can’t be dismissed so easily.
Technorati Tags: Pew Research
Perspective on the Jewels From the C.I.A.s Chief Historian – Washington – News – New York Times Blog
For more than 30 years, the Family Jewels have clouded the C.I.A.’s reputation, even though most of their contents have long been known from official reports and ad hoc disclosures. William Colby — who oversaw the compilation of the Jewels while serving as the agency’s operations chief and director-designate — is the source of some durable misconceptions about them.
Calling a list of possible violations of the CIA Charter “the Family Jewels” was a huge mistake which should not be perpetuated. They are “family jewels” only in the sense in which a vulnerable man is held by “the family jewels.” Why not just release them as what they are?
“A List of Possible Charter Violations Committed Thirty or More Years Ago.”
Technorati Tags: CIA, Family Jewels, Colby, Central Intelligence Agency
Boing Boing: Photos of cozy woodland home construction
the brilliant thing about this is that it’s fire-proof. The New York Times just had a great article about how stupid it is to build homes in fire-prone woods. (On Fringe of Forests, Homes and Fires Meet)
Technorati Tags: forest fires, hobbits
O’Reilly Radar > TripIt Looking for Beta Testers
With TripIt, you simply email us your travel confirmation emails and we do the rest.
Bzzt. The technology is in the wrong place. I want TripIt to be on the browser so it keeps track as I make the reservations. Adding an extra step to every reservation is the wrong way to go.
Technorati Tags: TripIt
Journeys of a shared life – The Boston Globe
As the oldest son, Tagg Romney commandeered the way-back of the wagon, keeping his eyes fixed out the rear window, where he glimpsed the first sign of trouble. ”Dad!” he yelled. ”Gross!” A brown liquid was dripping down the back window, payback from an Irish setter who’d been riding on the roof in the wind for hours.
As the rest of the boys joined in the howls of disgust, [Mitt] Romney coolly pulled off the highway and into a service station. There, he borrowed a hose, washed down Seamus and the car, then hopped back onto the highway. It was a tiny preview of a trait he would grow famous for in business: emotion-free crisis management.
And veritably Bush 43-like powers of self-criticism and error correction.
Technorati Tags: Mitt Romney
Google Code – Updates: Google Gadget Ventures
Good news for Google Gadget developers. We’ve just launched Google Gadget Ventures, a new pilot program for distributing grants and seed investments to gadget developers and gadget-related businesses. We’re excited about the opportunity this will give developers to build even richer, more useful gadgets and get recognized for doing it.
For the life of me I cannot fathom why Google is so excited about these Gadgets. I hate the customized Google home page. I much prefer the clean, original default. If I want a customized gadget page, I go to Yahoo! 
The Gadgets must make Google money somehow, but I don’t get it.
Technorati Tags: Google, Yahoo!, Google Gadgets
Google’s Marissa Mayer on The Future of Search
I saw this article where Marissa Meyer of Google gave a speech on the future of search. I was struck that not much of it was truly new from my days at LexisNexis working on the web search engine.
1. Automated Translation –ok, if they can do this, that would be pretty new!
2. Google Book Search — My former employer, LexisNexis, has had all the important books in its domain (treatises) online for ages
3. Images and Video — friends at LN were working with image search partners five years ago
4. 1-800-GOOG-411 — I had a phone query of LN working five years ago
5. Universal Search — LexisNexis was designing Universal Search for its 33,000 password-controlled premium sources five years ago.
6. Maps and Local Search — I still go to the Yellow Pages at least half the time
7. Client Software (Google Gears, Google Gadgets) — LexisNexis Mobile for the Pocket PC did offline search and retrieve (using AvantGo — remember them? syncing is not new …)
8. iGoogle — I cannot fathom why they are so excited about this. I hate the customized Google home page, I just want the clean default.
Technorati Tags: search, Google, LexisNexis
Author Contends Harry Potter Fuels Wiccan Growth Among Teens and that Witchcraft ‘Spells Trouble’ for Society – Christian Newswire
“There’s plenty of real occultism embedded in Rowling’s fantasy works,” Wohlberg contends, “and in spite of naïve popular opinion, Pottermania is aiding Wicca’s growth.”
I would agree with this, and would agree that encouraging Wiccanism is not a good thing. But it’s a question of degree.
How many Wiccans is Harry Potter creating v. how many enthusiastic readers is Harry Potter creating?
How many children are being affected by Rowling’s paper-thin, entirely unserious endorsement of witchcraft (does J.K. Rowling really believe that kids should practice the Craft?) v. how many children are being affected by Rowling’s intense, entirely serious message of love, courage and responsibility? (does J.K. Rowling really believe that kids should be loving, courageous, and good?)
Technorati Tags: Harry Potter, Wiccans
wfzimmerman’s review: “Just received the eagerly awaited review copy of this one — a seminal work in the current debate about the future of warfare and the nation-state system.”
Wiley (2007), Hardcover, 224 pages
tags: first edition
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