an article titled drug firms cure the rich covers a speech by british nobel prize winning scientist sir john sulston. speaking at the edinburgh international science festival sir john questions the priorities of market-driven science, especially for pharmaceutical research and manufacturing.
posted by Will Ross at 19:48

late to the party as usual, i finally noticed this exellent op-ed piece by nobel prize winning author gunter grass, The U.S. Betrays Its Core Values, published two weeks ago.
posted by Will Ross at 09:36

i'm disappointed by the appalling intolerance of hard right and hard left partisans in our culture. it is as destructive as any repugnant regime in history. future historians, once the irrational distractions of current events decay into rational analysis, will no doubt nail our intolerant behavior. we read about civic tragedies gone by and shake our heads wondering why the people who were involved in those events were so easily fooled. meanwhile, engaged in similar denial, we eagerly participate in ongoing collective confrontational civic idiocy.

this month, as in all past months since the terrorist attack on new york on 11 september 2001, i remain in a state of high alarm over the ongoing assault on our civil rights by conservative legal mobs rioting through our society. they mistake a control-freak agenda for patriotism. i enjoyed the speech by tim robbins to the national press club, his response to being thrust into the spotlight by the partisan idiot in charge of the baseball hall of fame. earlier in the week dale petrosky, president of the baseball hall of fame, cancelled a trivial weekend event scheduled at the hall to commemorate the amusing baseball film bull durham because it might give tim robbins, one of the co-stars in the film, an opportunity to personally endanger the lives of american military personnel, a laughable claim in a rational society, but a serious belief among partisans in our defective times.

for what it's worth i wrote mr. petrosky and asked for his resignation on the basis of his inability to provide non-partisan leadership for the hall of fame. unfortunately for all baseball fans everywhere, mr. petrosky believes that baseball belongs only to pro-war americans, and when confronted with the foolishness of his stance for a sport with international fans, he remained unapologetic. obviously, in the best interests of baseball, mr. petrosky's condition is terminal, and it is only a matter of time till everyone realises he is the wrong man for the job.
posted by Will Ross at 09:24

saw a great quote today, from rev. martin luther king, jr.

True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar, it is learning to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs to be restructured.

posted by Will Ross at 12:36

on 18 april 1946, during easter recess for his trial on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, captured nazi reichsmarshall hermann goering was interviewed by gustave gilbert, a german-speaking intelligence officer and psychologist. goering's comments on patriotism, noted below, were published in gilbert's book nuremburg diary.

We got around to the subject of war again and I said that, contrary to his attitude, I did not think that the common people are very thankful for leaders who bring them war and destruction.

"Why, of course, the people don't want war," Goering shrugged. "Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece. Naturally, the common people don't want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship."

"There is one difference," I pointed out. "In a democracy the people have some say in the matter through their elected representatives, and in the United States only Congress can declare wars."

"Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."

[p 278-279] Nuremberg Diary by G.M. Gilbert, Farrar, Straus & Co, New York, 1947.

these cold, calculating observations on patriotism from a nazi war criminal expose the arrogance, manipulation and deceit at the heart of the bush foreign policy. bullies don't have to get along, they just have to beat the crap out of their opponents.
posted by Will Ross at 06:30

some quick links:

oscom looks interesting. i might go.

LEDs vs. the Lightbulb in technology review

big music's broken record

posted by Will Ross at 20:42

it's raining today in san jose
posted by Will Ross at 14:23

maybe it's all just a joke?
as usual comedians expose the soft underbelly of the beast:

"President Bush announced tonight that he believes in democracy and that democracy can exist in Iraq. They can have a strong economy, they can have a good health care plan, and they can have a free and fair voting. Iraq? We can't even get this in Florida." -Jay Leno

"President Bush has said that he does not need approval from the UN to wage war, and I'm thinking, well, hell, he didn't need the approval of the American voters to become president, either." -David Letterman

"When the Democrats pointed out that President Bush's budget creates a 1 trillion dollar deficit, the White House quickly responded with 'Hey, look over there, it's Saddam Hussein.'" -Craig Kilborn

"The president boasted at the top of his press conference that we have the support now of Britain and Spain for our attack on Iraq. You know, when you want to make it perfectly clear to the world that you're not an imperialist, the people you want in your corner are Britain and Spain." -Bill Maher

americans will look back on the bush presidency as an exercise in futility.

[wr]
posted by Will Ross at 22:21

free at last!
the california attorney general has established a web page where you can pre-enroll for the national do-not-call list.
posted by Will Ross at 08:47