goatee

°01.11.29.th | depressing

You're either with them, or against them:

The Rev. Jesse Jackson made the list for remarking to an audience at Harvard Law School that America should "build bridges and relationships, not simply bombs and walls." Joel Beinin, a professor of Middle Eastern history at Stanford University, earned a place on it for his opinion that "If Osama bin Laden is confirmed to be behind the attacks, the United States should bring him before an international tribunal on charges of crimes against humanity." And Wasima Alikhan of the Islamic Academy of Las Vegas was there simply for saying "Ignorance breeds hate." All three were included on a list of 117 anti-American statements heard on college campuses that was compiled by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, a conservative nonprofit group devoted to curbing liberal tendencies in academia. The list, part of a report that was posted on the group's Web site last week, accuses several dozen scholars, students and even a university president of what they call unpatriotic behavior after Sept. 11. Calling professors "the weak link in America's response to the attack," the report excoriates faculty members for invoking "tolerance and diversity as antidotes to evil" and pointing "accusatory fingers, not at the terrorists, but at America itself." Reports from advocacy groups are issued all the time. What has gotten this one, titled "Defending Civilization: How Our Universities Are Failing America and What Can Be Done About It," more attention than usual is that one of the council's founding members is Lynne V. Cheney, the wife of Vice President Dick Cheney. -- New York Times (archive)

And pity upon you if you aren't a US citizen.

A U.S. plan to try foreign terrorist suspects in military tribunals could make it harder to extradite defendants from Europe, where officials are voicing human rights concerns. The military courts would be able to bring suspects to trial faster and in more secrecy than normal U.S. criminal courts. Defendants would also have limited rights to appeal. The hearings could be seen as violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights, said Guy De Vel, director general of legal affairs at the Council of Europe, which enforces the treaty on its 43 signatories... The Spanish government announced last week that it would not extradite al-Qaida suspects it has in custody unless it receives guarantees that they will not be subject to capital punishment or military tribunals. -- Associated Press.

°01.11.25.su | work words

"The group will likely be political and encounter all manner of religious rat holes."

At work we use expressions like this all the time. However, I wonder what folks who never heard these terms might think? I've never found a definition of these things and thought it would be fun to provide my own:

rat hole (flaming)

A topic which frequently arises and absorbs a large amount of time without successful resolution — this may be due to the political or religious nature of the issue. Characterization of a topic as a rat hole is equivalent to a request to drop it (i.e., "table" the issue) and move on. An alternative approach is to require a specific proposal which can be easily considered and decided upon.

political

The stated motives for an argument are not true motives. Consequently discussions take on a frustrating and surreal aura. There's few constructive approaches other than to be a better politician by keeping participants' stated and presumed motives in mind since challenging anothers' motives can end productive discussion.

religious

Arguments are based on assumptions that are unexamined and/or unlikely to change. Consequently the discussion "lacks traction" as opposing arguments never really address the other. A constructive approach to religious issues is to make all assumptions explicit and to ask participants to speak of their interests instead of their positions.

°01.11.15.th | gender generalizations

Thank goodness Linus Torvalds isn't like most guys I know. If he was, the Linux mascot would be a football or a pit bull or a bikini-clad cheerleader. Or all three, juxtaposed in some interesting fashion. But Linus is different, and he likes penguins, so we get Tux -- that cute little bird whose likeness is synonymous with Linux. Here's a Web site that gives us the complete history of Tux... I'm betting they were probably pretty close to picking the Hooters girl as a mascot, when Linus chimed in and mentioned "a fondness for penguins." -- Tina Gasperson. Web review: Aw, isn't Tux so darned cute?? Newsforge.

What was the point of this besides to say "here's an interesting page on the history of Tux" and most guys you know suck ass because they are obsessed with football and hooters? If your going to try to make a comment on the nature of gender relations in the geek community spare the sitcom generalizations and ask why there are so few women of prominence in the open/free communities? It's a question that puzzles me particularly because most geeks I know are not of the Manshow persuasion. Instead, they are fairly progressive and have histories as counter-jock. Yet, the prominence of women in the geek culture is even less than that of women in the tech profession.

°01.11.14.we | nice

Ok, here's the inevitable pun: Nice (France) was nice. Pleasant weather for a quick swim under the sun, or walk under the moon. Unlike the last time, I didn't have a terrible experience with a taxi driver, nor was I trapped in a compound with a bunch of lawyers. This time, my meetings were in Nice proper and I got to spend my time with colleagues and team mates: including a great boule tournament!

__