Hi, I read in your "Encyclopedia of the Orient" that Israel practices "apartheid". Since I know Israeli law a bit and am aware of the fact that Israeli Arabs have the same rights and duties and Jewish and Druze citizens, I assume by "apartheid" you are referring to the fact that Arab Israeli do not have to join the army while Jews and Druze have to. You might have to make this more clear in the entry (or give examples of other legal differences between Arabs, Jews, and Druze). You shoul...

Hi, I am writing to inform you that I do not intend to read your news paper any more. I don't know if you are interested in such news or not. Today, Friday 23rd of December, I again read an article which referred to a terrorist who targets Jews as a "militant". Then I noticed that your news paper is one of many that has special words reserved for terrorists who kill Jews. I don't want special treatment for Jews in the press, neither in the positive way nor the negative. A criminal wh...

Iraq is now entering its third period since Saddam Hussein took power. Which of the three versions of Iraq is the best? 1. Saddam Hussein's pre-sanctions Iraq In the 1980s Saddam Hussein started two wars, one against Iran and one against Kuwait. Due to his regime and the wars more than 2 million people died, including 1-1.5 million Iranians, 100,000 Kurds, and thousands others. Period: 1980s, pre-sanctions Iraq Resident Nutter: Saddam Hussein Frags: >2 million 2. Iraq dur...

For several months now have I been a regular listener of a number of podcasts and I have tried out dozens more. A podcast is the audio version of a weblog, the term "amateur radio" in the non-technical sense might be appropriate to describe the idea; except that podcasts are pre-recorded and downloaded as (usually) MP3 files. I use iTunes to subscribe to podcasts. The iTunes music store has a "department" for podcasts, all of which are free. Alas, it doesn't always work very well, but I...

Ok, here's the deal: I plan to move to America. That's my mid-term plan. It's finally out. Some people who have read me might have expected something like that. After all, my opinion about Europe is known. But to take actual steps is something else; and I haven't taken any yet. What I did do was, as many know, moving to Ireland. Many a migrant migrates to America via Ireland. It's traditional. I have never even been in America. In fact I have never been outside what is now the EU....

Ok, here's the deal: I plan to move to America. That's my mid-term plan. It's finally out. Some people who have read me might have expected something like that. After all, my opinion about Europe is known. But to take actual steps is something else; and I haven't taken any yet. What I did do was, as many know, moving to Ireland. Many a migrant migrates to America via Ireland. It's traditional. I have never even been in America. In fact I have never been outside what is now the EU....

Friday morning, on my way to work, I read something in the newspaper which struck me as odd. Some Al-Qaeda operative in Britain announced that Ireland was now a target of Al-Qaeda. Now, I never thought that anybody was excused from being a target of Al-Qaeda (in fact recent events make me believe that being a Muslim makes one more rather than less of a target); but the odd part of the announcement was their explanation. They said that Irish support for US forces made Ireland an enemy...

with regard to the last show I had the misfortune of watching when I thought I could take in a movie one evening, I feel obligated to tell you how I feel about your current programme. No, I was not disappointed. That is part of the problem. I am writing to you about this particular show not because it was the worst show I have ever seen but because it was not. And I do not hope that you change anything about the show because I have seen what happens when you do. The current programme is no...

with regard to the last show I had the misfortune of watching when I thought I could take in a movie one evening, I feel obligated to tell you how I feel about your current programme. No, I was not disappointed. That is part of the problem. I am writing to you about this particular show not because it was the worst show I have ever seen but because it was not. And I do not hope that you change anything about the show because I have seen what happens when you do. The current programme is no...

What will next year's television programme be like? A few examples: 1. Big Brother the Cartoon Instead of professionals randomly selected people of the streets create the art. This can only become a huge success with idiotic viewers. Production costs are nearly nil. As is the cultural value. 2. News for the insane Instead of telling viewers about current events, future events will be talked about; like a mass meeting of television viewers in Bonn or a complete breakdown of the pho...

What will next year's television programme be like? A few examples: 1. Big Brother the Cartoon Instead of professionals randomly selected people of the streets create the art. This can only become a huge success with idiotic viewers. Production costs are nearly nil. As is the cultural value. 2. News for the insane Instead of telling viewers about current events, future events will be talked about; like a mass meeting of television viewers in Bonn or a complete breakdown of the pho...

And again I have no idea what to write about. As do the authors of junk mail, apparently. The last few weeks I have received more and more SPAM that isn't quite clear about what the sender actually wants me to do. Usually SPAM either contains a worm or virus (which my Mac ignores) or a great commercial opportunity: Check out the great deal and great savings offer on all the hottest shows and events! But a new kind of SPAM has appeared, which looks like this: cialis ball sho...

And again I have no idea what to write about. As do the authors of junk mail, apparently. The last few weeks I have received more and more SPAM that isn't quite clear about what the sender actually wants me to do. Usually SPAM either contains a worm or virus (which my Mac ignores) or a great commercial opportunity: Check out the great deal and great savings offer on all the hottest shows and events! But a new kind of SPAM has appeared, which looks like this: cialis ball sho...

A man walks into a bar. Probably. And why not! In fact there are several pubs around where I live. The man might still be there. Now, I have seen a man on the tram this morning. In fact there were several men; and women; colloquially known as "people". I didn't get a seat. Serves me right for being punctual for about the first time in four months. At least my job involves sitting. The Luas, (south) Dublin's new light rail road, leads from Stephen's Green in city centre to Sandyford i...

A man walks into a bar. Probably. And why not! In fact there are several pubs around where I live. The man might still be there. Now, I have seen a man on the tram this morning. In fact there were several men; and women; colloquially known as "people". I didn't get a seat. Serves me right for being punctual for about the first time in four months. At least my job involves sitting. The Luas, (south) Dublin's new light rail road, leads from Stephen's Green in city centre to Sandyford i...