Wednesday, June 19, 2002

Did you ever wonder where the Romans got the lions for the Lions versus Christians shows in the Colosseum? Exotic beasts from Africa and Asia were captured ready for slaughter in the Colosseum in Rome by army units and civilian hunters virtually unknown to history, even though they matched gladiators for daring, according to new research. Groups of men in jungles and deserts on the fringes of the Roman empire snared lions, tigers, elephants and rhinos with hair-raising techniques largely ignored by scholars. The men were at the sharp end of a network of entrepreneurs, shippers and keepers which transported animals to amphitheatres in Italy and northern Europe, said Roger Wilson, professor of archaeology at the University of Nottingham. "This required a huge support infrastructure and organisational know-how on an empire-wide scale about which surprisingly little is known," Prof Wilson added, in findings presented last week to the British School at Rome. 10:48:03 PM     This has some interesting possibilities. British engineers say they have invented a revolutionary tooth implant that works like a mobile phone and would not be out of place in a James Bond spy movie. The "tooth phone" consists of a tiny vibrator and a radio wave receiver implanted into a tooth during routine dental surgery. The phone was designed by James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau. The implant does not yet have its own microchip installed, but Auger says the technology is tried and tested, and a fully functional phone could be put together in no time at all. My sister in law notes that she started using email ten years ago when she sent her younger son off to college a thousand miles away. It was perfect for "electronic nagging," she says. Email is nothing compared to the toothphone. 10:42:12 PM     Tom Friedman has a piece in the NYT on how Iran might manage merging democracy and theocracy. One day I went to see Amir Mohebian, the political editor of Ressalat, a religious conservative newspaper, who told me: "At the time of the revolution we offered certain [religious] values to the society in a maximalist way. . . . Now we are witnessing a backlash. So I am proposing a new definition for an Islamic society. In this definition we won't try converting people into religious people. We just don't want to have a deviant society. If we go on pressing for maximalist religious values we will increase the gap between the generations. If we articulate a minimalist definition, we can have a lot in common with the new generation." ... Such a synthesis will take a long time to play out here. For now, the Islamic regime is still deeply entrenched, thanks to oil money that can buy friends, and an iron fist that can crush all domestic foes. The hard-line clerics will not give way easily, and they are not afraid to make enemies abroad, because tensions help them militarize Iranian society and shut down criticism. Yet even the hard-line clerics seem to realize that they cannot survive indefinitely on coercion alone, which is why they let the debate go on. We Americans have a need for instant gratification, but in some circumstances we'd be better served by patience. Deeply held beliefs about religion and methods of governance do not change overnight. It will take generations to get it right after the effects of the secular Shah and the religious mullahs. And "right" is from the Iranian perspective, not necessarily ours. 10:34:46 PM     Now NPR is making it difficult to link to their pages. Based on their rapid response to permission requests, this site will not be linking to NPR until they wise up. Quaking in their boots, they are. 10:32:51 PM

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