May 10, 2002

The states have failed to show that a modular version of Windows could work.  Does anyone think that a modular version of  ANY operating system would be a commercial success?  Can I get a version of Linux without the network connectivity stuff?  I don't mean can I rewrite Linux completely, so that it is no longer capable of network protocols.  I want an already compiled version that does not contain  a HTML rendering engine, or TCP/IP stack to be commercially available, so that I can create an expensive application that adds these features.  If my application doesn't work as I hoped it would, I will blame Linux. No of course not, it would be silly to force a company NOT to evolve the software, and add to it's feature set.  This is about money.  Microsoft has it, and the competing companies couldn't seem to get. Money can't buy love but it does seem to buy a lot of hate. 10:34:46 AM

If you ask yourself why Sharon does not hold out much hope for a peaceful two state solution, read this article by John Derbyshire of the National Review. "Everywhere you look around the Arab world you see squalor, despotism, cruelty, and hopelessness. The best they have been able to manage, politically speaking, has been the Latin-American style one-party kleptocracies of Egypt and Jordan. Those are the peaks of Arab political achievement under independence, under government by their own people. The norm is just gangsterism, with thugs like Assad, Qaddafi, or Saddam in charge. It doesn't seem to be anything to do with religion: the secular states (Iraq, Syria) are just as horrible as the religious ones like Saudi Arabia. These people are hopeless. We are all supposed to support the notion of a Palestinian state." 9:35:22 AM

Environmentalists want labels on heavy metal chocolate An environmental group has sued to get warning labels slapped on chocolate products that caution sweet tooths about potentially hazardous levels of lead and cadmium. The nonprofit American Environmental Safety Institute alleges products made by Hershey Foods Corp., Nestle USA Inc., Kraft Foods North America Inc. and other manufacturers expose consumers -- especially children -- to potentially dangerous levels of the metals. [ CNN ] I wonder if the labels on chocolate would have the same effect as the labels on cigarettes?  (Make us want it even more!) 8:39:36 AM