A British TV show on the Iraq situation. It is funny, yet the funniest parts are factual. Which is not so funny when you think about it.

[via Aaron Swartz]

URGENT ASSISTANCE NEEDED BY USA – IMMEDIATE ATTENTION NEEDED.

[via Bill Fitler’s HeisenBlog]

WSIS delegates fail to agree on a resolution about « supporting » open source software. The draft was changed to use « encourage » after objections by U.S.

What was the US doing at this conference? The little story has it that the summit, originally an Asian Regional Conference mutated into an Asia Pacific meeting because ESCAP insisted on participating. Here is the list of member states to the UNESCAP.

Update (03/02/03): The Register has an article on this story, which raises the same concerns.

The most widely quoted story of daypop right now (by a fair margin): The United States of America has gone mad. For those who prefer images to words, check this Word War 2.5 flash game

Without commenting of why a professional association feels they have a mandate to get involved, here’s an opportunity for you Montrealers.

Thanks to Pssst and Pseudo.

Bill Clinton: America should lead, not dominate

Well, giving the Marshall plan as an example maybe isn’t the most positive reference, but I feel the article is rather sincere. Was that an implied reference to the inadequacy of the UN there at the end? Interesting.

I just realized that somehow the URL for the pictures I took in China got quite popular with my travel partners. In fact, both for bandwidth used and visitors served, it dwarfs this site.

I did mention the pictures here before[update: it moved, so did this site, so they are not on the same machines anymore], but since then I regenerated the pages with a smarter script and moved the site to my machine at work. I doubt I’ll ever host it anywhere else since it’s over 850Mb of stuff… It would be nice to make some sort of photoblog out of it though where people could comment on the pictures and add their own. I don’t think I have the time (or skills) to put that together though.

I had a certain period in my life where high cost of living, co-location of a small kitchen and limited personal time made me a rather satisfied advocate of Ramen and tuna as the basis of one’s alimentation (with Lindt chocolate and gruyère). (forget Atkins, I lost 20 pounds on that stuff)

If I’m ever nostalgic, there is a database of Ramen noodles recipes. Quite imaginative. And I do have to try the Ramen Trail Mix next time I need Gorp. Other imaginative recipe titles? What about Ramen & Chicken in Vodka Sauce or Death Valley Ramen Treat?

[Via Metafiler]

and I agree with this piece on Plastic.

While there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with eating animals, people should be encouraged to look or even participate in the process in which living animals are transformed into meat. While this may seem morbid, it’s a powerful way of enabling one to gain respect for these animals’ sacrifice for the sake of one’s gastronomic pleasure.

Me and Max got a lot of flak from people during a little impromptu mechoui last summer were went thought the whole process, from choosing and buying a goat from a farmer to eating it.

I’m glad to know someone did explain our argument in a rational way. We did try to express them at the time, through the irrational delusions (the dalai lama eats meat but he’s still a good person because he gets muslims to kill the animals for him or at the supermarket, the animal is already dead) of a fellow occidental traveler, but it was a trying task.

Salon has a lengthy book review of The Eagle’s Shadow by Mark Hertsgaard.

I experienced first-hand what he is talking about in his book, albeit on a limited scale. The article seems balanced and quite in line with what I experienced myself. I must confess that my limited mandarin vocabulary includes « I’m not American, I’m Canadian », that would always buy me a smile… Anyways, gotta read it.

EuroNews a quelques capsules quotidiennes qui portent ce titre. Ce sont des séquences sans commentaires, généralement peu ou pas éditées venant d’un peu partout. J’ai toujours eu la flemme de les chercher sur le Net, mais quand on nous les offre sur un plateau d’argent, je vais en profiter.

Non seulement j’appréciais les voir à la TV, mais en plus maintenant ca me rends un brin nostalgique de la Suisse, parce que j’ai reçu aujourd’hui une lettre de recommandation fort gentille que j’avais demandé à l’UIT, alors je vous dis pas le motton….

[via Errance]