First, this is funny.I'm mainly going to talk about jwz's response to the legal battleover bones found in the Americas that some Indian tribes have claimed. Theirargument is that it's one of their ancestors, and as such they have thelegal right to claim it under an act called Nagpra. For the record, I entirelyagree with jwz's take on it, and I don't even think his quote is out of line:Hey, I've got an idea! Let's take this scientific treasure, and insteadof using it to learn more about the origin of our whole species, let's giveit to some dumbass and let him dump it in a hole in the ground. Dear Umatilla,Yakama, Colville and Nez Perce tribes: I'm really very sorry that someone I'mnot even related to gave your great-great-great-grandfather smallpox, butfuck you: get over it already.
Someone in the discussion board does make a point, so let's clarify andexpand it -- can not treating the corpse be likened to disrespecting moreimmediate ancestors? In fact, can dead bodies be owned, or have some kindof policy for their use set for them? I understand that a lot of people havean emotional attachment to the concept of their body after their death, andin fact would be uncomfortable with the idea of it being somewhere otherthan the ground until it's indistinguishable from dirt. Personally, I don'tthink highly of said privilege, and think, at least intellectually, thatonce the brain stops function for the last time, that it might as well bea tree stump, with little more concern than that. However, I've learned, overmy years, that when I disagree so strongly with common public views, thateither I'm missing something, this is an area where materialist atheismyields a very different worldview, and/or at the very least, I shouldn'tuse the topic for conversations at a party (not that I go to many).
Apparently the Persians were jealous of BushJr (pbuh)'sfaith-based prisons.
This comic entry reminds me of someone.I'd bet everyone knows someone who's well-described by it though...
Apparently, the next version of Java is now in beta.This is cool -- Java's a neat language, and the new features look useful.I'd like to upgrade our Tomcat4 install at work to 1.5...
