2002.12.17
Hmm, I wonder if North Korea's nuclear technology is on par with their web design? It's odd seeing old school communism piped through a newer technology like the web...actually, it's just odd seeing this kind of propaganda. (Our propaganada is much slicker and shinier! Sometimes you hardly realize it's there at all.)
Essays of the Moment
Brilliant essay by David Brin on Lord of the Rings and its retrograde view of technology and democracy, with further thoughts on how we judge who is good and who is evil. He also wrote on the democracy of Star Trek vs. the elitism of Star Wars. Reminds of some of the other Star Wars and Trek stuff I posted this summer. I think I need to hunt down some of Brin's scifi.
Irony of the Moment
When I came to office, I made a commitment to transform America's national security strategy and defense capabilities to meet the threats of the 21st century.The trouble is, that's the threat of the 20th Century, not the 21st!! It's not going to do us a heck of a lot of good against smuggled bombs and viruses, is it? But it will put a lot of money into the hands of defense contractors, and away from the people who might be doing something useful, like scanning incoming cargo shipments. Yeesh.