Thursday, February 7th, 2008

Time	Event
3:39p	Two Women Stoned: Feminists Mum Two sisters – identified only as Zohreh and Azar – have been convicted of adultery in Iran. They have now been sentenced to be stoned to death. Adultery is a crime punishable by death in the Islamic Republic of Iran, in accordance with the canons of Islamic Sharia law. The Iranian Supreme Court has upheld the stoning sentence. Zohreh and Azar have already received 99 lashes for "illegal relations." Yet they were tried again for the same crime, and convicted of adultery on the evidence of videotape that showed them in the presence of other men while their husbands were absent. The video does not show either of them engaging in any sexual activity at all. Their crime is non-existent, their trials a miscarriage of justice, and their sentencing a barbarity. (2 Comments | Comment on this)
8:59p	Brown slaps down Archbishop's call for Islamic sharia law to operate in Britain The Archbishop of Canterbury caused consternation yesterday by calling for Islamic law to be recognised in Britain. He declared that sharia and Parliamentary law should be given equal legal status so the people could choose which governs their lives. This raised the prospect of Islamic courts in Britain with full legal powers to approve polygamous marriages, grant easy divorce for men and prevent finance firms from charging interest. His comments in a BBC interview and a lecture to lawyers were condemned at a time when government ministers are striving to encourage integration and stop the nation from "sleepwalking to segregation". The Prime Minister rapidly distanced himself from Dr Williams's view. Gordon Brown's spokesman said: "Our general position is that sharia law cannot be used as a justification for committing breaches of English law, nor should the principles of sharia law be included in a civil court for resolving contractual disputes. (6 Comments | Comment on this)
10:20p	Turning physics on its ear Thane Heins is nervous and hopeful. It's Jan. 24, a Thursday afternoon, and in four days the Ottawa-area native will travel to Boston where he'll demonstrate an invention that appears – though he doesn't dare say it – to operate as a perpetual motion machine. It's now Jan. 28 – D Day. Heins has modified his test so the effects observed are difficult to deny. He holds a permanent magnet a few centimetres away from the driveshaft of an electric motor, and the magnetic field it creates causes the motor to accelerate. It went well. Contacted by phone a few hours after the test, Zahn is genuinely stumped – and surprised. He said the magnet shouldn't cause acceleration. "It's an unusual phenomena I wouldn't have predicted in advance. But I saw it. It's real. Now I'm just trying to figure it out." There's no talk of perpetual motion. No whisper of broken scientific laws or free energy. Zahn would never go there – at least not yet. But he does see the potential for making electric motors more efficient, and this itself is no small feat. (1 Comment | Comment on this)
10:58p	sounds about right Your Score: Immanuel Kant You scored 50 realism, 66 rationalism, 50 materialism, and 55 atomism! Your philosopher is Immanuel Kant (April 22, 1724 � February 12, 1804), a German philosopher from Prussia, generally regarded as one of Europe's most influential thinkers and the last major philosopher of the Enlightenment. Kant is best known for his view � called transcendental idealism � that we bring innate forms and concepts to the raw experience of the world, which would otherwise be unknowable. You believe there is a spiritual world, perhaps unknowable (but which can be understood through reason and reflection). This world is the frame for our action. Hence, you believe that each human being is an end in themselves, and that that we have universal duties, which hold despite one's own inclinations or the desire to pursue one's own happiness. Link: The Philosophy Test written by Datamouse on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test View My Profile(Datamouse) (4 Comments | Comment on this)
11:27p	I don't care what they say, Janeway sucked, Voyager sucked, and Tuvok and Neelix sucked. Seven Habits of Highly Effective Spaceship Captains If you want to learn good organization skills, look no further than some of the best leaders in the universe: the captains of spaceships. They may be fictional, but they have skills that translate into the real world. After all, you'd follow Admiral Adama into battle, and trust Malcolm Reynolds to have your back. Now you can learn the seven greatest leadership lessons we gleaned from watching shows like Futurama and Firefly. ( full text ) (8 Comments | Comment on this)
11:51p	sad picture If you look at this picture, you will cry. ( seriously, last warning ) (12 Comments | Comment on this)

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