Someone at Metafilter posted a collection of various peculilar laws around the world. For example, “An 18th century French prostitute could be spared punishment if she were willing to join the opera.” This is what i love about the web: someone is always motivated to put strange things up just to humor the rest of us. And digital word of mouth is so much fun!
Monthly Archives: October 2002
today’s pointless quiz
children’s beliefs
i used to believe is a collection of ideas that adults thought were true when they were children.
this is so great! i had the craziest notions as a child… many of them fit on this site, like thinking that you could protect yourself from having sex by wearing underwear… or that i could become black by spending lots of time in the sun.
of course, my favorite were always those that were about notions of power and people. the premise of them was always that people were inherently brilliant and good, with good intentions and equality in mind… those with power were there to help people and were rewarded for their services. all politicians, doctors and lawyers were brilliant and helping the public. my craziest notions were always about the construction of a utopia in my head.
Illegal Art: Freedom of Expression in the Corporate Age
Hmm.. i don’t know if i’m going to make it to New York between November 13 & December 6, but if i do, i’ll have to go check out Illegal Art: Freedom of Expression in the Corporate Age (brought to you by a gang of folks including Natalie Jeremijenko).
synthetic pleasure
There’s a Voodoo Magick Box out there that is meant to give you a digital equivalent to drugs… weird.
passport code to be shared
women against war
As women embracing life and peace, we declare ourselves opposed to any military action, particularly a preemptive strike, against Iraq. As women, we have been the victims of many kinds of violence. We call on you, our Congress members, to oppose any military action. We make this demand for ourselves, our children, our parents, our brothers, husbands and friends. We make this demand because we understand that warfare creates endless cycles of violence, destruction and death, impoverishing us spiritually and economically. We make this demand because warfare destroys family life, throwing whole communities into exile and turning children into orphans. We make this demand because we cannot build happy lives on a ground polluted by violence.
We believe this is a defining moment in the life of our country. We will either take our place in the family of nations as seekers of peace and justice or we will start down a terrible road to war, unleashing the fury of generations to come on our land. We call upon you to act with integrity, to show courage and remember that you are guardians of the public trust and of the world we leave to our children.
We oppose a war against Iraq. We oppose all elected officials who support this war. There is no other issue greater than the cause of peace. No past stand or history can be called upon to overshadow the imperative to stand today for peace. We, as women acting to shape public life, dedicate our energy, resources, and hopes to those who establish peace.
There will be no war in our names. If you want our support and votes, stop this war! SIGN ON TO THIS PETITION
how privacy conscious is Amazon?
What Amazon Knows, Amazon Keeps. Amazon changed its privacy policy again to appease the state… Yet, there is still no overriding regulations on how companies can use the data that they collect. And Amazon certainly has quite a bit of potentially problematic privacy information.
make your own dildo
Here’s a funny review of Good Vibrations’ Make Your Own Dildo item.
Blank Slate
Ooh… a new book is out by Steven Pinker. Say what you will about evolutionary psychology or Pinker himself, but i have to give the man props for making a set of scientific concepts accessible to the public in a readable form. In fact, i utterly enjoy reading his books, even when i disagree with approaches, because they are written in a way that allows me to mentally argue with them, even while sitting on a train; i don’t have to find a focused environment to deconstruct the simplest of ideas from obscure language. Hell, even in interviews he’s comprehensible.