Good academics keep their opinions to themselves

Well a hero of mine , Norman Finkelstein just got fired (well denied tenure but soon to be fired). An academic at De Paul University in the U.S. He had the brave stupidity to criticise Israel and the scholarship of a Zionist lawyer (Alan Dershowitz also noted for representing OJ Simpson).

Predictably he got labeled an Anti-Semite and recently denied tenure despite the recommendation of his faculty. Apparently, you can still be an Anti-Semite even if both your parents are holocaust survivors. (I know that was a bit cheap ah).

The story is still unfolding however, and as far as political drama goes this ones got plenty of it, so we'll see what happens next.

Gordon Brown - Golden Brown

It's b-grade and not that funny but if you watch it every time you hear Gordon Brown's name mentioned on the news you'll hear the soothing harpsichord sounds of the "Golden Brown" tune.

Flat converations

Flatmate 1: "blah, blah, blah no hot water"

Flatmate 2: "Yea, it's the power company"

Flatmate 1: Blank stare --- who are you trying BS ----

Flatmate 3: "The reason there's no hot water is because the power company sends a message down the power lines to our hot water cylinder and turns it off sometimes"

Flatmate 1: Blank stare --- where am I , what kinda country is this? ----

Hmmm all of a sudden it does sound kinda unreasonable.

ok, new footage, I was wrong

Well he did take it off. I guess the camera doesn't lie. Still it's a pity, it would've been a whole lot better if someone did steal it.

They loved him Soooo... much they stole his watch!!

Watch the Albanians steal (sorry, accidentally slip off) Georgie boy's watch!

According to the White house it slipped off. Why even bother lying, is it just a habit?

The easy way to understand Palestine

People are always trying to say Palestine is a complicated issue .... it's not really but the arguments tend to go round in circles, so I won't bore you. Instead here's a map the UN has recently produced of the West Bank, which reflect the "facts on the ground".


Now imagine trying to get anything done in that place, run a business, run a government, a hospital, see your family in a neighbouring town. Every time you or something you need (like water, electricity or anything you want to buy or sell) crosses a piece of orange space a bureaucrat can just say "no" end of story. You can't even vote them out, your only allowed to vote for people who don't have any power over the orange space (i.e. the Palestinian Authority).

Part time pet

I don't really want a cat but I've decided to make friends with (occasionally feed) the neighbour's, seeing as it keeps wandering through all the time. So I brought some cat food. I figure it's like a part time pet.


In other news, a missile defense system in Europe to protect everyone from Iran and Korea??? Get real Bushie boy , Korea would have trouble hitting Japan! These are aimed at Russia and China.

BS

If anyones got the time (and your NZ) my new favorite show which is Penn and Teller's "BS" , yes I'm being polite but they're not , don't worry. Basically they go around debunking stuff we take for fact.

So far they've covered mass marketed exercise machines, funeral parlors and AA. The AA segment was especially interesting pointing out that it's success rate in treating alcoholism when last reported (1989) was the same anyone just quitting by themselves ...i.e. 5% !!! but I won't bore you it's on youtube.

Lastly, be warned, they're bound to offend you sooner or later.

Morning dew

People we make good coffee ..... but why , why, why are our houses so cold!!

Every other country that gets moderately cold has big thick walls and two sheets of glass on the windows (especially the bedrooms). This keeps bedrooms warm even without heaters. While in NZ I get to admire the dew on my bedspread while lamenting the fact my arms aren't long enough to turn the heater on.

....ok the dew thing I'm exaggerating but it has happened in the past (Hyde Street).