random quotes ... to amuse, inspire, enrage:
  The Roman Empire did not fall because the Romans were decadent and had orgies. When they were the most decadent and threw the wildest orgies, they conquered the Mediterranean world. When they reformed and adopted Christianity, the barbarians conquered them.

tagged: Rome, Christianity, decadence
  —L. Sprague de Camp, Science Fictionisms.

Archive for May, 2004

Verifying Evidentiary Science

Monday, May 31st, 2004

The “problems with fingerprinting” have been highlighted in one recent essay on Slate (Printing Problems – The inexact science of fingerprint analysis by David Feige, 2004/05/27) and one article in the NYT (Can Prints Lie? Yes, Man Finds to His Dismay by Benjamin Weiser, 2004/05/31). The problem with the problems with fingerprinting, though, is that [...]

Compassionate Bush

Thursday, May 20th, 2004

Salon.com’s WarRoom blog had this posting on the 14th, based on an LA Times op-ed piece by Lawrence Weschler (registration required, grr). The author goes through the G.W. Bush reelection website. He looks at the various tabs — economy, health care, compassion — and then looks at the compassion tab and the attached photo album. [...]

The War President

Wednesday, May 19th, 2004

The intense photomosaic of G.W. Bush – comprised of the faces of the dead American servicemembers. Originally published on American Leftist.

Governator vs. Bobble-Head

Tuesday, May 18th, 2004

The governator has gone ahead & filed the suit against Ohio Discount Merchandise for making bobble-head dolls, claiming his right of publicity was violated. See the NYT article.

God Inexplicably Fails to Smite US; Pat Robertson Shocked & Disappointed

Tuesday, May 18th, 2004

Same-sex couples got married yesterday in Massachusetts & somehow the institution of marriage has survived. So far. See NYT, 5/18/2004.

More blowback …

Tuesday, May 18th, 2004

More reporting from Seymour Hersh in The New Yorker (2004-05-24 issue, posted 2004-05-15). This one begins by noting: The roots of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal lie not in the criminal inclinations of a few Army reservists but in a decision, approved last year by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, to expand a highly secret [...]