Monthly Archives: April 2004
Down the Memory Hole
Casualties in Iraq continue to rise in a daily slow bleed sparking twisted flashbacks of Vietnam three decades ago. Five American solders were killed around dawn when two rockets fired from a truck hit the U.S. base at Taji, 12 … Continue reading
Found in Translation
Our esteemed cyber-vecino, Ion, has posted an extremely interesting note on translation in general, and specifically a translation into Spanish of a work by one of his favorite poets, Derek Wolcott. This got us thinking, again, about the difficulties and … Continue reading
Why Librarians Rule
An extremely interesting article in the New York Times examines the changing role of public libraries, specifically their development into public Internet portals and access points for digital information. For the library, supplying patrons with access to the Internet and … Continue reading
Southern Brain Trust
Alert readers and followers of the Berkman Blogging Clique may have noticed that currently both the Dowbrigade and MIT Uber-Blogger Philip Greenspun are both in Ecuador, land of flowers and fun. Contrary to rumors flying around the Internet, we are … Continue reading
Another Earth Day Hoax
An alarming email reached us yesterday from a friend an ex-colleague in Brazil, alleging and alerting that the Brazilian congress was in the process of debating a project that would have the eventual effect of reducing the planets last great … Continue reading
Unheard Celebrity Endorsement
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A Disgrace to Drug Addicts Everywhere
Diego Armando Maradona, one of the greatest soccer players of all time, lies unconscious in an exclusive Buenos Aires clinic, debating between life and death. Outside, on the street, thousands of his faithful fans have mounted a 24-hour vigil to … Continue reading
We Know We Left Those Scissors Somewhere…..
An X-ray showing a 17centimeter (6.7 inches) pair of surgical scissors in the abdomen of 69-year-old Pat Skinner in Sydney, Australia, Tuesday, April 20, 2004. Mrs Skinner had an operation at St.George hospital in Sydney’s south in May 2001, but … Continue reading
Running Naked in the Internet Jungle
WASHINGTON (AP) – Researchers uncovered a serious flaw in the underlying technology for nearly all Internet traffic, a discovery that led to an urgent and secretive international effort to prevent global disruptions of Web surfing, e-mails and instant messages. The … Continue reading
Burning Man, For Real
As reported in this space, Ecuador, like many third world countries experiencing vast and visible chasms between the lifestyles of their richest and poorest citizens, is experiencing a dramatic increase in street crime, robberies and assaults. With often inadequate and … Continue reading
Les Miserables
While we are not sure our paltry academic salary even qualifies us as "Middle Class", and we are certainly not miserable these days of tennis and beach combing on the pristine Pacific coast of Ecuador, we strongly sympathize with the … Continue reading
We’re Confused (So What’s New?)
Wait a second – Democrats from the left are attacking Bush for his blind, one-sided support of Israel, and his lack of sympathy for the Arab side of the Middle East conflict. So what is behind today’s Kerry’s announcement of … Continue reading