Francis Fukuyama ändert seine Meinung

Francis Fukuyamas Abschied vom Neokonservatismus in Auszügen im Magazin der New York Times

As we approach the third anniversary of the onset of the Iraq war, it seems very unlikely that history will judge either the intervention itself or the ideas animating it kindly. By invading Iraq, the Bush administration created a self-fulfilling prophecy: Iraq has now replaced Afghanistan as a magnet, a training ground and an operational base for jihadist terrorists, with plenty of American targets to shoot at. The United States still has a chance of creating a Shiite-dominated democratic Iraq, but the new government will be very weak for years to come; the resulting power vacuum will invite outside influence from all of Iraq's neighbors, including Iran. There are clear benefits to the Iraqi people from the removal of Saddam Hussein's dictatorship, and perhaps some positive spillover effects in Lebanon and Syria. But it is very hard to see how these developments in themselves justify the blood and treasure that the United States has spent on the project to this point. (NYT)

Zur Einschätzung dieses Sinneswandels z.B. auf Scotsman.com.

Linux ist Böse

Da sind soviele Fehler drin, daß muß eine Satire sein. Hier mal nur die ersten paar Zeilen:

Like most things that are worth owning, Computers are an American invention. Look at any modern computer and you will see that the whole thing is the product of American brilliance.

For example, this rugged IBM laptop I am using was designed and built by an American company. It runs software built by Microsoft, one of America's most productive organizations. My computer does everything I could possibly want: I can do my work, submit my taxes and even search the Bible.

Like all the greatest American engineering, it's an example of innovation that makes a growing group of European and Chinese hackers jealous. They hate our lead in computing technology and will stop at nothing until they have control of all of our computers. (Shelley The Republican)

Quelle ist die infowar.de Mailingliste (Archiv).

Männlichkeit

Hihi. Die Tournee der beiden Deutschen Superstars wird unter dem Namen 'Absolute Straight' vermarktet. Ich muß schon den ganzen Vormittag darüber grinsen.

Flyer gibt es, hier zumindest, gerade im Überfluss, ansonsten muß ich für den Bildbeweis auf eine gräßliche Flash-Seite verlinken, deren Soundeffekte tierisch nerven und sich irgendwie auch nicht abstellen lassen. (World-Concerts)

Und sind Flash-Webseiten nicht schon ewig aus der Mode, weil unverlinkbar, unpraktisch und unnötig?

Kommunikation in der Beziehung

Interessantes Argument: Nicht Langeweile sondern die vermehrte Kommunikation, bzw Diskussion über die eigene Beziehung führt zu neuen Formen des Zusammenseins.

Never let it be said that these new monogamists don’t know how to articulate their desires. In fact, their loquaciousness goes a long way toward explaining how and why they do it like they do: We’re living in an age of unprecedented emphasis on “communication” in relationships. (Yep, one more thing to blame on your shrink.) Thousands of books detail how couples should communicate their wants/needs/desires/pet peeves to one another. Not happy? Communicate your concerns. Bored with your sex life? Communicate your fantasies. Had an affair? Communicate your fuckup. The result of this communication-bingeing is that negotiation is starting to trump discretion. A man is copping a feel because his partner says he can, not because her back is turned. But he’s still copping a feel. (New York)

Ziemlich interessant ist auch das dazugehörige Vokabular.

Google Romance

Pünktlich zum 1. April startet Google einen neuen Beta-Dienst: Google Romance.

Ein Partnerservice von Google - im typischen Google-Flair:
"Google Romance users who find one another via Soulmate Search™ may then select the Contextual Dating option, which offers an all-expenses-paid romantic evening in exchange for viewing contextually relevant advertising throughout the course of the users' date [...]."

Quelle: Google-Pressemitteilung