Jinn of Quality and Risk

A writer is on trial. His crime was to refer to Islam as the most stupid of all religions. No, this isn't happening in Iran or Saudi Arabia, but in France, where they call such statements inciting racial hatred. Excellent article in the Guardian: The crime for which [Michel] Houellebecq is being tried—and in which the French justice system, by allowing it to proceed, is playing the part of supplicant whore—has nothing to do with racism; it is really a case of blasphemy, no matter what it says on the charge sheet. [via Best of the Web]

Do you remember when certain muslims wanted to kill Salman Rushdie for being a fiction writer? The West should have reacted with unmitigated force there and then, instead of merely hiding Rushdie. Today, the French government is helping muslim organisations to go after the writer... 

I've been growing a personal taxonomy over the years, and I'm revising it regularly, in tune with my current objectives and projects. I find it invaluable to manage all sorts of things: todo lists, notes, bookmarks, email messages, documents, goals, ideas... Maybe I'll write an essay about my taxonomy, some day. Today, based on something I saw in another blog (sorry, don't remember which one) I added two sections: tyromancy amd bimboware. What you say? Tyromancy is divination by watching cheese coagulate; it was popular once as well. Bimboware is software that looks good; however, you can't have a long term relationship with it. Better than having a "misc" or "old" folder for stuff that's not so useful or attractive anymore but should still stay around. Cool! My taxonomy keeps getting better. 

Le français est une langue romane. Sa grammaire et la plus grande partie de son vocabulaire sont issues des formes orales et populaires du latin, telles que l'usage les a transformées depuis l'époque de la Gaule romaine. [Académie Française]