Mad Minerva

May 2005



Rewriting History in Russian Textbooks

Tuesday, 31 May 2005 5:07 P GMT-05
We've all heard about the Chinese moaning over Japan's new history textbooks.But Japan isn't the only place where history's being rewritten in the textbooks.  Check out this news article about rewriting Russian history.The really disturbing bit?  T

China Jails Hong Kong Journalist

Tuesday, 31 May 2005 4:51 P GMT-05
More great moments in Chinese freedom of the press -- oh wait, there isn't any!  Never mind.The trouble right now is the arrest of a Hong Kong journalist working for a Singaporean paper.  Here is the quick blurb:The International Federation of Jour

Memorial Day 2005

Monday, 30 May 2005 4:26 P GMT-05
The bloggers over at Winds of Change did it much better than I can.Enjoy your Memorial Day!

France Rejects EU Constitution

Monday, 30 May 2005 4:18 P GMT-05
No surprise here, gentle reader.  According to Le Monde, France says a big fat "Non" to the tune of 54.8% "non" to  45% "oui" with nearly 70% voter turnout.Europe is in turmoil.  Check out this political cartoon.  Th

Out for the Day to Lancaster, PA!

Friday, 27 May 2005 7:09 A GMT-05
The family's come up to visit me here on the East/Left/Nerd Coast, so I'm going to be out and about for a few days.Real blogging will resume once their visit's over.  The only politics I'll have time for right now are family politics. (And you know

Headline: "French in Disarray as They Admit EU Treaty Vote is Lost."

Thursday, 26 May 2005 7:15 A GMT-05
I remember watching Jacques Chirac's recent televised train wreck of an attempt to convince a roomful of French young people that they should vote Yes to the EU Constitution.  The 80+ skeptics, all about my age, didn't look convinced and kept pelt

Musical British Troops on Parade on the Way to Amarillo

Wednesday, 25 May 2005 11:08 A GMT-05
Here's a follow-up to a previous post on satire-singing troops.I finally found the video spoof by the Brits.  Here it is, the hilarious file that crashed the Ministry of Defence computer network!  PS: You'll have to tell me if you like the British

Japan to China: Learn Some Manners

Wednesday, 25 May 2005 11:07 A GMT-05
Here's the latest in Sino-Japanese "relations."The Japanese have just told the Chinese to learn some manners.Ooooooooooo, THEM'S FIGHTIN' WORDS!Here is the news story:An outraged Japan said yesterday that China needed to learn better manner

Nerd News from the BBC: Wormholes are no good for time travel

Tuesday, 24 May 2005 8:10 A GMT-05
Sorry, sci-fi fans!But the latest science seems to say that wormholes aren't any good for time travel.Well, there go a million plot devices . . .

Post-Grading Psychotic Eyestrain

Monday, 23 May 2005 5:54 A GMT-05
I'm finally finished with all the grading.My eyeballs are burning.  Next time I'm going to tell the students flatly that if I can't read what they've written, I'm marking it WRONG.  I'm tired of a million smears, squiggles, chicken scratches, and/o

Grumpy Grad Student Alert

Sunday, 22 May 2005 6:47 P GMT-05
I am up to my eyes in work.I am tired.I am grumpy.  I mean, grumpy as in the most vitriolic, intense grumpification you can imagine.  I mean, grading-endless-exams-GRUMPY.  I mean, grumpy as all-out enraged that some students have obviously been s

Note to Undergraduates Writing Term Papers: Learn Some Grammar and Punctuation, Dang It!

Saturday, 21 May 2005 11:59 P GMT-05
I've just about finished grading a million piles of undergrad term papers.Some of the papers were really good.  Some were fit only for kindling.  Overall, I'm absolutely appalled at the collapse of English skills on campus -- Ivy League or not, peo

Movie Malfunction Nearly Causes Star Wars Geek Riot in Kentucky

Saturday, 21 May 2005 8:47 A GMT-05
I. Can't. Make. This. Stuff. Up.When the police have to show up to restore order at a movie theater, you know your fans have crossed a line!

Monkey Business in Tokyo

Friday, 20 May 2005 8:12 A GMT-05
What are the Tokyo police up to these days?Monkey business, of course!Contrast that with Beijing, where I hear there's an actual crackdown on hanky-panky.

EU backs off plan to sell arms to Beijing

Friday, 20 May 2005 8:06 A GMT-05
Finally, some good news to report. (as I grade endless piles of student exams . . . Somebody save me!)I've been frothing for a long time about  the European Union's plans to resume arms sales to Beijing.  You'll recall, of course, that the arms em

What do Musically Inclined Troops Do When They're Off-Duty?

Wednesday, 18 May 2005 12:21 P GMT-05
They make music videos spoofing pop songs.   Turn up your speakers, gentle reader, and check out the British and the Norwegians:Absolutely hilarious.And be sure to check out the spoofy, spiffy new lyrics to "Kokomo," as done by the Norwe

Kuwaiti Women Win Right to Vote

Tuesday, 17 May 2005 8:49 P GMT-05
The women of Kuwait have just won the right to vote. Chalk up another one for democracy.  And make that democracy in the Middle East, please.Here's a blurb:KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwaiti women hailed as historic a decision to allow them to vote and run

Weird Headline of the Day

Tuesday, 17 May 2005 8:38 P GMT-05
Gentle reader, I can't make this stuff up.Here's the headline from Italy: "Viagra-fueled Italian stallions seized by police."And they do mean Italian stallions of the four-legged kind.

Taiwan's Latest Election -- PFP's Latest Election Whining

Monday, 16 May 2005 8:07 A GMT-05
Saturday was, for those of you who missed it, National Assembly elections in Taiwan.  Voter turnout was at an all-time low, but . . .Results?  Chen's DPP party won handily enough (42.5% of the vote), with the KMT coming in second with 38.9%. James

Taiwan's President on China: "We Will Not Go There to Surrender"

Saturday, 14 May 2005 8:50 A GMT-05
In the wake of Lien Chan and James Soong's infuriating (to me, anyway) visits to Beijing, here is some news from the real, actual, democratically elected leader of Taiwan -- President Chen Shui-Bian.In stark contrast to the other oily politicians' v

"Enterprise" Finally Put Out of Its Misery; Trek Fans Rejoice

Friday, 13 May 2005 9:52 P GMT-05
And oh, yeah, while I was grading term papers (undergrads apparently have ZERO grasp of grammar and punctuation, Ivy League or not), I was watching the last episode of "Enterprise."The Sibling had put me up to it.  He still seems to think

Paris Falls to Latest Overlord with Imperial Ambitions

Friday, 13 May 2005 9:23 P GMT-05
History repeats itself!Paris falls to the latest well-dressed overlord with imperial ambitions, masses of storm troopers, and a contempt for republican ideals!Only this time around, the overlord is . . . Darth Vader.

Princeton Filibuster Moves to DC

Friday, 13 May 2005 2:07 P GMT-05
Some enterprising students at Princeton have been busy protesting politics with a filibuster.The stunt has gotten a lot of attention here in the Ivies, and the filibustering Tigers have gone to DC with their demonstration:WASHINGTON, D.C. — After

World War II revisionist history

Friday, 13 May 2005 1:57 P GMT-05
As a history nerd, few things get me more annoyed faster than revisionist history.I've lately gone on a soapbox about the Crusades.  Today's soapbox is about World War II, spotlighted since we just celebrated the 60th anniversary of VE (Victory in

It's Israel's Independence Day

Thursday, 12 May 2005 7:07 A GMT-05
Amid all my end-of-semester nerd moaning, here's a historical note about the real world off-campus: today is Yom Ha'atzma'ut, Israeli Independence Day, celebrating independence declared in 1948, 57 years ago.Check out the headlines from 1948!  Pret