The Null Device
2000/10/2
Uncensored fairy tales, the way they were before Disney and/or the Victorians got to them; i.e., laden with cannibalism, rape, mutilation and other wholesome family fun. (via Pearls)
Under the supervision of the United Nations, and funded by the US and UK, scientists in Uzbekistan are working on a fungus that destroys opium plants, with the hope of eliminating opium plantations and hopefully making this evil plant extinct. Hope you're not too fond of poppy-seed rolls. Mind you, Afghanistan, the terrorist state responsible for most of the world's opium production, is unlikely to allow the UN to spray their country with the fungus. The obvious solution would be to pound Afghani cities with cruise missiles until they relent and allow the spraying to go ahead; and if they hurry, they just might get it in before the upcoming US Presidential election.
In Britain, the Human Rights Act is now law, which means that citizens can take the government to the European Court of Human Rights if they believe their rights to have been violated. Mind you, the court has no power to repeal British laws, and Parliament could just ignore its rulings, so it all comes down to public opinion.
Oh, this is rich. The International Olympic Committee, which clamped down on unofficial Internet coverage of the Olympics, to the point of prohibiting athletes from posting personal web pages, is disappointed by the Internet:
They said the figures showed that the internet still had a long way to go before it could rival television as a mainstream broadcasting medium.
I don't know about you, but I'm hoping that it never gets there.
Julie Burchill goes into Tanya Headon mode and righteously trashes Madonna: (via Robot Wisdom)
I certainly wouldn't want to be working at the New Musical Express at the age of 41, and I don't understand why an intelligent and cultured woman such as Madonna still wants to sing lyrics such as the aforementioned: "Hey Mr DJ, put a record on - I wanna dance with my baby" at the age of 42. It's just embarrassing for everyone, like seeing your parents "get down" when they turn up drunk to pick you up from the school disco.
Without [Madonna], there could be no Britney Spears or Victoria Beckham, who sound like girls who won a holiday talent contest pretending to be Britney Spears and Victoria Beckham. What stupid old punk began - "Can't play an instrument? Can't sing? Right, go out and form a band!" - Madonna carried through to its logical conclusion.