... No, really ( Read more... )

Meg's Christmas MixThese are the songs which I'll be putting into a special mix on the Zen. As background for the unaware: I'm pagan pantheist, I'm Australian, and I spent ten years working retail. I am therefore likely to go postal when faced with the standard winter-themed Christmas carols, as well as with the winter festival songs which tend ( Read more... )

A small warning to Aussies and New Zealanders. The scammers and spammers have got tricky again.

This is the text of something I received via email today:

X-Apparently-To: [elided] via 66.196.97.58; Fri, 08 Dec 2006 00:01:53 -0800 ( Read more... )

I read the news today... oh boy.

Senate Passes Detainee Bill Sought by Bush

Some key paragraphs:

By mostly party-line votes, the Senate rejected Democratic efforts to limit the bill to five years, to require frequent reports from the administration on the CIA's interrogations and to add a list of forbidden interrogation techniques ( Read more... )

So Mr Bush wants to redefine things so that the US Armed Forces can work outside the bounds of the Geneva Convention. Great ( Read more... )

Something I've been noticing lately: there isn't a lot of middle ground left in political arguments these days. It's a particularly prominent problem in the US, it appears, but it's also spreading ( Read more... )

I'm somewhat tempted to ask friends in the UK for some clarification on this story since it really seems a little too extreme to be believable. Maybe I'm something of a cynic, but the notion of the police claiming the "foiling" of a terrorist plot which hasn't materialised due to their vigilance is right up there with the whole "breadcrumbs on the ( Read more... )

The whole issue of the cartoons of Muhammad posted in a Danish newspaper has now been blown so far out of proportion as to be totally ridiculous. I have therefore decided that posting my own opinion of the whole business isn't likely to make anything worse ( Read more... )

Okay, the new anti-terror laws appear to be creating something of a racket. How nice. I'm strongly tempted to hand myself in to the cops here and now and have done with it. After all, if thinking naughty thoughts about the government and writing them down or speaking them out loud or similar becomes a crime (sedition) I'm definitely guilty. ( Read more... )

I did a bit of googling. Here's some comparisons ( Read more... )