January 10, 2003

Gretta Duisenberg, wife of European Central Bank chief Wim Duisenberg stated on Friday in a Dutch newspaper that "With the exception of the Holocaust, the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian areas is worse than the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands." This statement is absurd on two levels. Firstly is that even if accepts her removing the Holocaust for the discussion, the statement is exceedingly untrue.  Secondly by removing the issue of mass murder of Dutch Jews from the Nazi occupation she is in effect distinguishing between the fates of Dutch Jews and non-Jews, that is Jews don’t count. If her husband agreements with this ranting, he should resign. 4:56:54 PM

The Great Escape Apparently the lobster traps lobster fishermen use aren’t that effective in catching lobsters. When video taped using an underwater camera about 75 percent of the lobster that enter the trap escape. 1:56:49 PM

TiVo will introduce HDTV digital video recorders by the end of 2003. It will support all high-definition formats, including 480i, 480p, 720p and 1080I in addition to regular resolutions. (via Slashdot) Looks like they will have competition. One comment in the Slashdot discussion mentions that the DISH Network’s DishPVR 921 satellite TV system was voted Best of Show in the Innovations Design and Engineering showcase in the Satellite Systems product category at the 2003 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. It’s described as: Using a massive 250 gigabyte hard disk drive, DishPVR 921 is capable of recording up to 40 hours of high-definition programming, up to 250 hours standard definition programming, or any combination of the two. Other advanced capabilities include the ability to record two programs at the same time while watching a third pre-recorded program, and picture-in-picture capabilities on any TV. Details of the price and availability will be announced later this year. 1:56:02 PM

I thought this twist ending to Joe Millionaire, mentioned by the Washington Post’s Tom Shales would be funny also: On Howard Stern’s radio program yesterday, where "Joe Millionaire" was naturally a topic of gleeful derision, one contributor held out a note of hope, theorizing that on the final show it’ll be revealed that the viewers, and not the contestants, have been misled — that Joe really is a millionaire after all. It’s a nice thought, but it probably gives Fox too much credit. 10:29:07 AM