] From 60s hippies to 90s film-makers and 21st-century art
] galleries, each generation has rediscovered the
] misanthropic, sex-obsessed cartoonist Robert Crumb. Now
] it is to happen again: in coming days he will be the
] subject of two retrospectives, a film season and a new
] biography. To celebrate, the Guardian this week will
] publish a selection of new and little-known Crumbs, along
] with some more familiar works. Today, Simon Hattenstone
] introduces the series by interviewing him at his home in
] the south of France.

Guardian Unlimited | Arts special reports | 'When I was four, I knew I was weird'

] Apple's attorney Riley countered by saying that free
] speech protection applied only to legitimate members of
] the press and not to website publishers. Freedom of the
] press was for the press, meaning the traditional media,
] he said.

The judge ruled in favor of Apple without explanation.

Bloggers not protected by Constitution, says Apple

] The director of the U.S. Agency for International
] Development, Andrew Natsios, has warned that the Chinese
] government faces "serious internal strains" as a result
] of a combination of growing income disparities, ethnic
] tension and authoritarian rule.
]
] .
]
] In an interview ahead of meeting other senior development
] officials in Paris this week, Natsios stopped short of
] referring to China as a "fragile state," a term used for
] countries close to or in crisis, and most recently
] associated with such nations as Afghanistan, Iraq and the
] Sudan.

'Internal strains' forecast for China

] For once the European Union and George W. Bush have found
] an issue on which they can be on the same side. The wrong
] side. The unifying theme is their attitude toward Russia.
]
] .
]
] Bush lost no opportunity during his recent European tour,
] including his Bratislava meeting with President Vladimir
] Putin, to lecture the Russians about the virtues of
] democracy, human rights and the rule of law, clearly
] implying that in his view the Russian Federation is
] drifting back toward authoritarian rule.
]
] .
]
] From the higher reaches of the EU comes the same story.
] Putin's latest moves to centralize power in Moscow and
] apparently weaken the regions have been roundly condemned
] by the EU.
]
] .
]
] Unsurprisingly this is having a highly negative effect in
] Moscow. Russian policy makers increasingly feel that they
] are under attack from uncomprehending ideologues in
] Washington and arrogant zealots in Brussels. The
] Americans, they say, do not begin to understand Russia's
] problems, whether in Chechnya or elsewhere in the vast
] "post-Soviet space."
]
] .

In defense of Vladimir Putin

] In one of the most intriguing stories of the day, the
] Financial Times reports that Paul Wolfowitz, the US
] deputy secretary of defence and one of the chief hawks in
] the Bush administration, is on the short list to succeed
] James Wolfensohn as president of the World Bank.

Guardian Unlimited | Newsblog | Wolfowitz's world

] China could open the door to biotech rice within two
] years, paving the way for the GMO crop to enter the food
] stream across Asia, the head of a trade group said
] Monday.
]
]
] "Rice is likely to be approved in China in the near term,
] maybe in two years," said Clive James, chairman and
] founder of ISAAA, a group with industry and public
] foundation support that promotes biotech as a way to halt
] global hunger.
]
]
] "And once China approves rice, this will move through the
] rice countries of Asia -- like India, Pakistan and the
] Philippines -- where rice is king," he said in an
] interview.
]
]
] Knocking down the barriers to using GMO (genetically
] modified organism) rice would be a major coup for
] industry and other backers of GMO crops.
]
]
] Rice is the staple of half the world's more than six
] billion people. China has long been seen as the pioneer
] in GMO rice, and is the world's top producer and consumer
] of the commodity.

Science News Article | Reuters.co.uk

] Halle Berry thanked the makers of Catwoman for "putting
] me in a God-awful movie" when she turned up to collect
] her worst actress Razzie award.
]
]
] The actress, whose surprise appearance got her a standing
] ovation from a packed house, made a lengthy speech,
] parodying her 2002 Oscar win.

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Film | Berry gets worst actress Razzie

Its so true.

Strongbad: Japanese Cartoons!

Decius wrote:
] The interesting thing about the statement "There is no such
] thing as absolute truth" is that if you could prove it, it
] wouldn't be true. In that sense it defines itself and explains
] itself. You can't even agree with it, because if you do,
] you'll have to admit that you must be wrong.

Not true... Just because there are no absolute truths, does not mean one cannot have beliefs. The concept of "no absolute truth" is a belief, not a truth and therefore not-contradictory. You can believe strongly in the properties of gravity, and for good reason. It does not mean you will not evolve this belief for a better reason if you find one. Truth is entirely dependent on perspective. We are incapable of perceiving all-things for all-times from everywhere in a consistent fashion therefore we are incapable of comprehending something which is "true" in a reality not fabricated in our own minds. When you speak of any truth, it is always a matter of a truth to who, and for what reason, which might not be something you believe. So, if you believe that it is true that there are no absolute truths, you can do so without conflict and wait for a perfect perspective to explain things differently.

RE: Agnost

] Civil liberties group the Electronic Frontier Foundation
] (EFF) has joined a legal fight between three US online
] journalists and Apple.
]
]
] Apple wants the reporters to reveal 20 sources used for
] stories which leaked information about forthcoming
] products, including the Mac Mini.
]
]
] The EFF, representing the reporters, has asked
] California's Superior court to stop Apple pursuing the
] sources.
]
]
] It argues that the journalists are protected by the
] American constitution.
]
]
] The EFF says the case threatens the basic freedoms of the
] press.
]
]
] Code-named Asteroid
]Apple is particularly keen to find the source for information about
] an unreleased product code-named Asteroid and has asked the
]journalists' e-mail providers to hand over communications relevant
]to that.
]"Rather than confronting the issue of reporter's privilege head-on,
] Apple is going to the journalist's ISPs for his e-mails," said EFF
] lawyer Kurt Opsahl.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Apple attacked over sources row