cornucopia or avon calling

With the support of two major constituencies within the Duma and farming cooperatives, a politician in Russia is championing the near total ban of importation and production of genetically modified foodstuff. Perhaps there is more to the story than is revealed in the top-level motivations, but I do nonetheless wish that other governments had the backbone to question the pratises and sloppy assurances given by the biotech industry, who as the bill's author says, are conducting a grand experiment on humanity and none of us are certain about neither immediate safety nor the long-term consequences.
Already, there are examples of unnatural organisms escaping into the food chain, flashy, patented designations like Aqua-Bounty® —a breed of salmon that has the genes of a fast growing eel spliced into its DNA, or the pollen of GM crops that mixes and mingles in neighbouring fields or the persistent mystery concerning the honey bee population all over the world. Aside from these uncharted risks, there is moreover the manner in which the companies sow their seeds: farmers who subscribe are not just getting a plant without an historic context but are also committing to a licensing agreement, a franchise sort of deal (like DRM or software-bundling for corn or hosts that demand one signs away ones content) as the crops only thrive if one douses them with pesticides (made by the same companies) and farmers agree to grow the same crops year after year and cannot get out of the contract, leading to distress and hopelessness for small farming operations.

spear-phishing

Via Boing Boing (and Wesley Crusher), there's a new low in despicable tactics in American politics. 

At least sixteen Picture Pages have been set up, presumably in contested jurisdictions, by campaigners in the Republican Party, which appear to be standard websites of Democrat incumbents up for re-election, at first glance, with a not unflattering big photograph of the representative and an over-sized button to click to make a donation. Closer examination, sometimes buried in the fine-print or not obvious at all, however reveals that the page is actually soliciting donations for the Democrat's rival. I don't think that anyone would be surprised to learn that politics are dirty and there's no dignities that won't be trounced on—but I do find it incredible that any subject-citizen would give to either cause, by hook or by crook, since there are not enough contributions in private hands in all of America to combat the influence-peddling of lobby-groups.

plying ones trade

I still don't know what to make of the situation and protest in (the country asked that the article the be dropped, as in the Netherlands, the Philippines and the Gambia in English as they are not in thrall to the Soviet Union) Ukraine, which seems equally divided between the status quo and the revolutionaries led by a professional boxer (who's also a twin and a PhD-holder) from Germany, but the stakes are certainly high.
US foreign relations, domestically at least, usually fails to grab much attention lately, unless in the form of secret-sharing and a frank discussion leaked has the US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, in a conservation with the US ambassador to Ukraine, disdaining the champion for the opposition and westward leaning candidate in the running, favouring someone more experienced to safeguard American interests, neatly summarised by “Fuck the E.U.” This statement has had some coverage, but the difference is notable, whereas the release has enraged Europe, in the States, reporting focuses rather on the fact that the sound-bite, undisputed, originated from a Russian posting before circulating world wide, and in a classic example of the pot calling the kettle black, America is accusing Russia of spying, despite all the recursive news of US snooping, within and without. Perhaps America will say that the fugitive, Edward Snowden, holed up in Russia, was behind this leak, or she, the diplomat, earnestly meant that the European Union should not interfere with Ukraine's best interests... The other noteworthy nuance in the reporting is how American journalism must censor the expletive, while the rest of the world is mature enough to do without the bleeps and peep-tones.

game-face or fortress olympiad

As the opening ceremonies for the Winter Games are about to commence the competition and camaraderie is certainly being over-shadowed by a side-show, which is graver by degrees, of official snubs, boycotts, poor labour conditions, negative civic and environmental impact, hastily built accommodations, the lockdown of the nation of Abkhazia for the duration of the event whose borders are just a few kilometres from the venue, and the rest of the security theatre.

The US has deployed two war ships to the Black Sea to serve as command-and-control stations, in case of an anticipated, anxiously awaited terrorist attack. This is a very odd display, especially when one wonders what battle ships could do to protect the athletes and spectators above and beyond what's already in place against America's random weaponised article generator, which has come up with explosives in tubes of toothpaste aboard a plane as a credible threat. It sort of sounds like the attempt (successful) to smuggle dinosaur eggs out of Jurassic Park in hollowed out cans of shaving-cream. Considering the curious case of the underpants bomber, I wonder how clever that these sort of schemes are. Despite how aggrevating such assessments and over-kill can be, I hope it's all for naught—the fortress, at least, and everyone can safely enjoy the show.

sede vacante

I have noted that some of the more progressive minds can transform into be the most oppressive and narrow-minded when presented with dissent in any sort. I think that this may be the case in the United Nations' damning assessment of the Vatican (not the appendages of the Holy See, which is an important limitation) over its disposition towards women's rights and sexual orientation. Meanwhile, the Church is trying to reform its ways when it comes to child-protection, another but very valid complaint in need of changing. I wonder, however, if this wholesale pointing out of the obvious is not just a grab at low-hanging fruit, since the UN nor by European (the Vatican does not claim EU membership) channels would dare challenge other convictions (religions, traditions) and articles of faith over lifestyle and preaching.

caveat lector or recently improved content

In response to a formal study that confirmed that Wikipedia is not only the resource of first-instance for hypochondriacs and the morbidly curious but also for physicians and aspiring students, a professor at a Californian medical school is offering as an elective a course in proofing and editing articles on health, medicine, and disease in order to ensure an accurate and reliable resource for the public—and the professionals. Wikipedia protocols will still be enforced, gladly, to stave off authoritarian language that's questionable or unsupported, doctors' jingoism, and the use of jargon.

monumenta germaniae historica

Coinciding with the star-studded premiere of the feature film on this courageous profiles in conservatorship, the Smithsonian is exhibiting many photographs and artefacts from its archives to enhance the portrayal of the so-called “Monuments Men.”

Those under siege, historians, connoiseuirs, academics as well as the generals storming Europe realised what defining treasures were at risk, not only through plunder but as collateral damage. Just before the D-Day (Operation Overlord) invasion, Eisenhower, among others, personally charged each commander with the responsibility of protecting and respecting the monuments that they would encounter—irreplaceable and important representatives of the what they are struggling to save. War leaves its physical scars and there are many restoration projects to this day, but just imagine what sort gaps in the skyline or in the galleries there would be without the work of this corps.

personae, pandora

Conceived as sort of an electronic annual, a year book ten years ago for an elite university in a dorm room, the reigning social network has matured and seems to have come of age, established and hard-wired.

Of course, it's only a platform that could be easily unseated, as were its predecessors and it is the behavior of its users—like the adage a leader is not leader without the support of his or her first follower, that craft how we communicate. It is not, I think, the other way around—beneath the surface lexical and semantic shifts, such changes in the way we communicate are expressions, important ones—nonetheless, of statements that would have been voiced already in one fashion or another.

I cannot say whether the lure of the instantaneous and easy and convenient is taking away from native creativity (rather than enhancing it) or more artistic, meaningful or fulfilling pursuit—but if that is the case, I think people are still quick (mostly, at least as quick as they would be otherwise) to realise that that chance is not easily retaken, but there is more than just a change in our vocabularies or ways of coddling our own sense of indolence or procrastination in the simple fact that the Internet does not forget and reminders are lightly stirred. I believe, if used correctly, that could be a supplement rather than a liability too, but considering the current climate, telecommunication providers being prosecuted for complicity and governments being held liable for their abidance, it seems that we are not very good at self-censorship and temperance.