BBC news: “Astronomers have discovered a planetary system orbiting a distant star which looks much like our own.”
Archiv der Kategorie: quicklink
Wann ist der Mann ein Mann?
Interessante Artikelsammlung der ZEIT über die zunehmend öffentlich geführte Debatte über die “neue Männlichkeit”. Via genderblog.
The digital divides.
The internet is certainly bringing people closer together. But it’s really more – some people than all people. Digital Inspiration has a couple of interesting visualisations of the current (well, recent) global digital divide. It’s also quite interesting to see which parts of the world are using which social networking service (add. diagram by LeMonde)
Estrogene Overload.
The NYT’s Maureen Dowd comes up with a rather counter-intuitive explanation for Obama’s recent success in the Democratic primaries: voters aren’t tired of feminity or scared of estrogene in their commander in chief, they seem to want more. But they just don’t believe they can’t get enough of it from Hillary…
Ageismus? Anti-Ageismus?
Spiegel Online: Betagte Schönheiten: Schweiz kürt Miss Altersheim
Von wegen Jugendwahn – in der Schweiz wurde zum ersten Mal der Titel “Miss Altersheim” verliehen. Die Kriterien waren nicht annähernd so streng wie bei den jungen Kolleginnen: Die Schönheiten mussten über 70 sein und alleine gehen können.
Shining Beauty, II
Karl Lagerfeld allegedly is a great designer. Who knows. But he does have an eye for beauty, as this myspace video of a private photoshoot with Nicole Kidman clearly shows. I wonder if my ability to express myself in her presence would be as limited as Mr Lagerfeld’s, who is clearly at a loss for words to describe what he sees…
By the way – the video seems to be a teaser for Lagerfeld’s autobiographic documentary “Lagerfeld confidential”, which is being shown at this year’s Berlinale Festival (the film’s myspace page).
google-esque
I’m not sure if you noticed, but google ad-words seems to be particularly attentive to certain keywords. A single “quicklink” mentioning the generous HIV-related policies of a German company in AIDS-ridden South Africa led to a constant display of HIV related ads for several weeks now.
Hmm, it may also have something to do with the fact that I haven’t really updated a lot in the last months…
Is Clark human?
Salon.com can’t help but wonder. Read all about the politics of blinking in the US Presidential Campaign. And yes, this is seriously weird – either way.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Talk about Corporate Social Responsibility. Not that I don’t think big business often deserves a slap for it’s behavior in struggling economies, but when the opposite is true, it also deserves to be mentioned: Reuters reports that
“German auto makers with assembly plants in South Africa are spending “big money” on antiretroviral drugs, treatment and education to combat HIV/AIDS among their workforces. Car maker DaimlerChrysler South Africa spends approximately $420,000 each year to offer antiretroviral treatment to its HIV-positive employees, who make up an estimated 9% of the company’s total workforce. Mike Folan, human resources manager for DCSA, said, “We decided on giving antiretroviral drugs to our employees because of the government’s policy at the time. It (the government) wasn’t providing antiretroviral therapy.” An estimated 6% of Volkswagen South Africa’s employees are HIV-positive, and the company operates a program similar to DCSA’s with an annual budget of about $420,000. Gustav Meyer of the Department of Trade and Industry said, “Several of the motor vehicle assemblers in South Africa have indicated a willingness to increase the outreach of these programs. We are aiming to rollout the HIV/AIDS programs by the vehicle assemblers to the supplier base as well as the community. This will maximize the impact of efforts against HIV/AIDS” (Mutikani, Reuters, 1/22). “
Too Sad.
OK, for once here’s a quicklink without a link. I briefly considered publishing and linking Michael Jackson’s police booking photos but then I figured that it would be inappropriate, even though it would look good on any plastic surgeon’s brochure – as a before pic.
The man looks barely human on the picture. Anyway – I don’t mind everybody having a ball, I understand that network executives ordered boxes of Dom Pérignon yesterday, but whatever the outcome of the investigation and possible trial, all this is simply too sad. The OJ case was disgusting, imagine what this will be like. What I really don’t understand is radio stations (including some German stations) not playing his music because of this. What has happened to the good ol’ days when people were actually innocent until proven guilty?