Delicious LiveJournal Links for 10-1-2009

[andrewducker]

• No, I Will Not Molest Your Kids
  A reaction to the extreme care some people now take.
  (tags: children Child_abuse society)
• Marmaduke meets Cthulhu!
  (tags: comics funny cthulhu)
• An Artificial Heart That Doesn't Beat
  "You put this in cattle and they stand up and moo and eat and wonder why everyone is looking at them so weird," says William Cohn, a collaborator on the research and director of minimally invasive surgical technology at the Texas Heart Institute. "You see a cow wagging his tail and you say, wow, this is the future of the artificial heart."
  (tags: future technology science biology heart)
• French drop Polanski release call
  A drop of common sense.
  (tags: rape politics France)
• Comics Review: Alan Moore & Bill Sienkiewicz, Big Numbers 3
  Oh, what I'd pay for a completed Big Numbers.
  (tags: comics alan_moore BillSienkiewicz review)
• RAF leaflet box kills Afghan girl
  Now _that_'s not going to be winning any hearts or minds
  (tags: Irony EpicFail afghanistan)
• A list of people who think that raping 13-year-olds is fine, if you make movies.
  (tags: polanski rape EpicFail)
• PC tune-up software: less effective than spending the cash on RAM
  (tags: software windows memory)
• Online advertising overtakes TV advertising in the UK
  Now that was unexpected.
  (tags: internet advertising tv)

Comments

[broin.livejournal.com]

For some people, rape and responsibility is more complex than either/or.

Furthermore, if I felt there was injustice in the arrest of someone, then pointing out that injustice does not mean I condone the alleged or actual crime.

I opposed the extradition of that hacker last month for similar reasons.

[andrewducker]

For some people, rape and responsibility is more complex than either/or.

Absolutely. And this is why juries and judges exist, to weigh things up.

I can't understand how his arrest was at all injust, to be honest.

[broin.livejournal.com]

So he lives in Switzerland. Owns property there. But they arrest him at a film festival? Someone is trying to score political points with this.

[andrewducker]

He mostly lives in France, so far as I can tell, although he was intermittently in Switzerland. Possibly this was the first occasion when they knew when exactly he'd be in Switzerland. Or possibly this is the first time that the US authorities knew exactly when he'd be in Switzerland and so could demand that the Swiss could carry out their side of the extradition treaty. Doesn't really matter to me, to be honest.

[broin.livejournal.com]

Fair enough, but it matters to me for the reason above. And Tilda Swinton, looks like.

[andrewducker]

Which reason? That it looks like they're doing it for publicity reasons? I can't see who actually wants the publicity out of this, and who benefits from it.

[broin.livejournal.com]

I believe there's an interesting relationship between the Swiss and IRS at the moment and some commenters feel the Swiss has been taking one in the ass from the US government on a number of issues. Even if it's not something so murky, having the filmmaker arrested at a glitzy show is interesting.

[andrewducker]

I believe there's an interesting relationship between the Swiss and IRS at the moment

Ooooh - that's interesting. Got link?

[broin.livejournal.com]

Here we go:

"It ends a three-year investigation that brought Europe's most powerful bank to its knees, opening up a deep diplomatic rift between the United States and Switzerland."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/aug/19/tax-avoidance-ubs-us-economy

[andrewducker]

Wow. That's fantastic. Glad the blanket secrecy is finally being broken.

[broin.livejournal.com]

...

Yes, thank goodness for those heroic IRS agents.

[andrewducker]

You're coming out in favour of the multimillionaires avoiding paying tax?

I'm in favour of tax - and in favour of people who make sure that it gets paid.

[broin.livejournal.com]

Why are you also reducing this to a binary either/or? It makes conversation difficult.

[andrewducker]

You started off by indicating you were against IRS agents, in a sarcastic tone. Is that not taking a binary position?

And I don't see my (generally) being against secrecy and tax evasion as an immovable position. Having an opinion doesn't mean I can't discuss things or have my mind changed.

[broin.livejournal.com]

I'm not in favor of tax avoidance. But reducing that article to 'fantastic' seems naive. It's a political tool. It's for political reasons. Google up 'swiss' and 'irs' for more commentary if you're interested.

[andrewducker]

I think that the banks having to be open is fantastic. I'm generally against secrecy. Is there politics at work? Of course! Will there undoubtedly be negative effects? Of course! Is it still fantastic that one of the major bastions of secrecy is now forced to open up its books? Yes!

(All IMHO, of course).

[marrog.livejournal.com]

This reminds me a little of the Fred Goodwin 16m pension affair. Everybody (including the PM) was all "Give it back, that's not fair!" and he was all "Life's not fair. This was legal," and everyone was all "Give it back anyway!" and he was all "Can't make me, nyah nyah nyah!"

I can certainly picture the US CJS going "Nyah nyah nyah," can't you?

[andrewducker]

As opposed to France refusing to hand him over for the last 30 years, and going "Nyah, nyah, nyah" while America said "That's not fair, hand him over!" ?

[marrog.livejournal.com]

Well, quite. Although I think the French go something more like "Ne ne ne."

[andrewducker]

LOL!