-- Amid a discussion of trade in 1973, Chinese leader Mao Zedong made what U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger called a novel proposition: sending tens of thousands, even 10 million, Chinese women to the United States.
Chinese leader Mao Zedong, here depicted in an Andy Warhol painting, offered women to the U.S.
"You know, China is a very poor country," Mao said, according to a document released by the State Department's historian office.
"We don't have much. What we have in excess is women. So if you want them we can give a few of those to you, some tens of thousands."
A few minutes later, Mao circled back to the offer. "Do you want our Chinese women?" he asked. "We can give you 10 million."
After Kissinger noted Mao was "improving his offer," the chairman said, "We have too many women. ... They give birth to children and our children are too many."
"It is such a novel proposition," Kissinger replied in his discussion with Mao in Beijing. "We will have to study it.
A Visit to the Creation Museum, 11/10/07 - a photoset on Flickr
Topic: Society
10:47 am EST, Nov 16, 2007
A photo collection from some kid's visit to a creationism museum. The title's and commentary make it rather interesting.
Apparently God is an Average Student
Hey, it's not me. Look at this report card! It's all "Cs"! Sure, he could probably do better if he applied himself, but then why should he? When you're already omnipotent and all-knowing, you don't exactly have to make the extra effort, now, do you? That said, I'm personally holding out for an Eternal Plan that's all As. It's not too much to ask for some quality work from one's creator.
A Thorny Problem
Follow the "logic" here.
International Brotherhood of Ark Builders, Local 122 Takes its Contractually Provided 15-Minute Break
Yes, they know Noah's in a rush. But it's in the contract. Don't worry. God dealt with them. Yes, He was the world's first union-buster.
The Names of the Two Biggest Rock Bands in the Immediate Post-Flood Era
In this youtube, Larry Lessig appears on Danish TV to explain his new cause, devoting the next ten years to ending government corruption. Lessig is downright inspirational on the subject, calling on us to set aside our cynical instinct that tells us that money will always control government and use technology to expose corruption and rally citizens to end it.
Cellular freedom: bill would cut early termination fees, hidden charges
Topic: Society
12:42 pm EDT, Sep 11, 2007
Sen. Klobuchar believes that the bill would bring much-needed change to the cellular industry. "The rules governing our wireless industry are a relic of the 1980s, when cell phones were a luxury item that fit in a briefcase instead of a pocket," Sen. Klobuchar said in a statement. "Early termination fees are a family budget-buster; families should be able to terminate service without outrageous fees; know if their cell phone will work on their drives and in their home and office; and understand what to expect in their monthly bills once you pile on charges and fees. It's a simple matter of fairness."
I was just discussing with a friend last week how locking cell phones should be illegal. Hopefully some changes are put in place soon.
The Department of Homeland Security is hoping to overcome that limitation by automating the identification of individuals whose behavior suggests they pose a threat via a program dubbed "Hostile Intent."
The software is pretty cool. So is the mood driven PONG. [ Video Link ]
But the spectrum of human emotion can not be lumped into a few categories.
Donnie: Life isn't that simple. I mean who cares if Ling Ling returns the wallet and keeps the money? It has nothing to do with either fear or love. Kitty Farmer: Fear and love are the deepest of human emotions. Donnie: Okay. But you're not listening to me. There are other things that need to be taken into account here. Like the whole spectrum of human emotion. You can't just lump everything into these two categories and then just deny everything else!
Schneier on Security: Conversation with Kip Hawley, TSA Administrator (Part 3)
Topic: Society
11:37 am EDT, Aug 1, 2007
KH:
We do not publicize how often the no-fly system stops people you would not want on your flight. Several times a week would low-ball it.
Almost 20,000 False Positives:
The Justice Department's proposed budget for 2008 reveals for the first time how often names match against the database, reporting that there were 19,967 "positive matches" in 2006.
19,967 / 52 = 383.9 What that really translates to approximately 350 people per week inconvenienced. If they were arrested, deported, or their plot foiled we would of heard about it in the news.
But remeber what KH said about why they use the no-fly list:
Halvar Flake tossed by U.S. Customs on way to BlackHat
Topic: Society
11:30 am EDT, Jul 30, 2007
U.S. Customs needs a 24/7 process where their agents can escallate a disagreement to someone who is not a complete fucking moron.
Policies like this are only hurting the digilantis' out there and other security professionals like Halvar.
Digilanti n. Combining digerati expertise with vigilante initiative, the digilanti anonymously police the Internet, exposing scams and fighting spam in the interest of making the Web safe without government intervention.
Hopefully some better policies come out of the EU discussion on cyber-crime.
Because what Germany is doing would be comparable to a U.S. State banning guns. "Guns don't kill people; people kill people"
I say "Hacker tools don't hack systems; hackers hack systems."
Is the key to eliminating corruption being transparent?
Topic: Society
10:27 am EDT, Jun 21, 2007
We've all been whining about the "corruption" of government forever. We all should be whining about the corruption of professions too. But rather than whining, I want to work on this problem that I've come to believe is the most important problem in making government work.
It is interesting that the name of the Berlin agency that ranks perceived corruption of countries is called "Transparency International".
I also think it is interesting that the trend of transparency in professional organizations seems to be leading to a decrease in perceived corruption.
From Wired 15.04 cover story:
Smart companies are sharing secrets with rivals, blogging about products in their pipeline, even admitting to their failures. The name of this new game is RADICAL TRANSPARENCY, and it's sweeping boardrooms across the nation.
