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US Judges: Guantanamo detainees are not human beings, January 12th, 2008
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has ruled that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act does not apply to detainees at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, “effectively ruling that the detainees are not persons at all for purposes of U.S. law.” The Court also ruled that torture is a …(no comments, posted in Notes & Asides)
“Dali Atomicus” by Philippe Halsman, January 6th, 2008
Before modern, computerized techniques in image manipulation, Philippe Halsman shot this photograph of Salvador Dali suspended in mid-air. While today this image could easily be replicated in Photoshop, it wasn’t possible in 1948. Taking 28 attempts, it was over four hours before Halsman was satisfied with the photo. According to Brandon Luhring:
Halsman set …(1 comment, posted in Notes & Asides)
Why Study Marx?, December 29th, 2007
From the ruins of the Berlin Wall and the decline of the Soviet empire emerged declarations about the end of Marxism and the triumph of Western capitalist democracy. And yet, these misguided assertions failed to address two key points - that Soviet-style top-down communism was not what Karl Marx envisioned in his writings, and that …(no comments, posted in Essays & Articles)
Firefighters, Surveillance & Atheism, November 30th, 2007
If you live in the US and are worried about surveillance, now you have to be wary of firefighters, who are being trained by Homeland Security to report people who express discontent with the government. This is particularly frightening because firefighters can enter your property without a warrant (not that warrants are stopping surveillance …(no comments, posted in Notes & Asides)
Million Book Project, November 29th, 2007
Looks like the Million Book Project has just launched. Through an international effort between universities in the US, China, India and Egypt, some 1.5 million books have been digitized and made available online for free. A recent article quotes one of the project directors: “Digital libraries constitute an essential part of the future …(no comments, posted in Notes & Asides)
