The Christian Science Monitor serves up a piece on the late artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. If you're in L.A., a retrospective of his work is on show at the Museum of Contemporary Art (Hi June-bug!!!)
From the NYT, a short but interesting piece on the murky concept of race. (Although I would think that by now most people, except possibly recalcitrant Klan members) now accept that the vast majority of, particularly those in the Americas, have at least some mixed background -- few White people are 100 percent "white" and even fewer Blacks are truly African. That's just reality, as Shabba Ranks used to say...) Still, there's this very interesting countervailing view from a 2002 research study (which also links to a study of Mexico's vanishing Black population.) The bottom line there: while there is definite genetic variation at work, it's often less than we'd think.
Two fascinating stories on the London bombers: The Independent replays what Italian papers are reporting on the confessions of one of the 7/21 bombers, who apparently has told investigators he did in fact have a bomb on him, but it wasn't meant to kill anyone (a likely story). More interesting, he claims he was not motivated by religion, or Osama bin Laden (though he read bin Laden's edicts online), but rather by the Iraq war. And NYT delves into the possible motives of the apparent leader of the 7/7 bomb cell -- in an account that reads like the diary of Mohammad Atta. The portraits that emerge from these two admittedly micro looks at the bomings is of two very different origins of terrorist activity: one motivated by what we've come to know as extremist Islamism, and another, the portrait of young, angry and politically charged radicals.
Staying with the Times, columnist Paul Krugman (in my opinion one of the best in the business) breaks down French family values when it comes to the economy and healthcare.
Why is this the top e-mailed story on nytimes.com? I have a cat, but I sure wouldn't write about it, let alone blog about it. What's the deal with all this online cat business? Sorry, but I just don't get it...
What is to blame for Africa's famine and woes? One economist says: it's the aid.
And speaking of woes, why isn't the Mombai tsunami getting more media attention, even as the death toll approached 1,000?
<%
dim done
done = request.form("done")
if done = "" then
done = "No"
%>
Tell a friend
<%
Else
if request.form("done") = "Yes" then
'sets variables
dim email, sendmail
email = request.form("email")
Set sendmail = Server.CreateObject("CDONTS.NewMail")
'put the webmaster address here
sendmail.From = "webmaster@aspbasics.com"
'The mail is sent to the address entered in the previous page.
sendmail.To = email
'Enter the subject of your mail here
sendmail.Subject = "Check out this website"
'send a specific page or send a site url
dim url
'url = Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_REFERER")
url = "http://www.aspbasics.net"
'This is the content of the message.
sendmail.Body = "Site recommendation from a friend!" & _
vbCrlf & vbCrlf & "A friend has sent you this email and thought you would should check out this site." & _
vbCrlf & url & vbCrlf
'this sets mail priority.... 0=low 1=normal 2=high
sendmail.Importance = 1
sendmail.Send 'Send the email!
response.redirect Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_REFERER")
'Response.write ("Sent to ") & email
End if
End if
%>
"[T]he practice of arbitrary imprisonments, have been, in all ages, the favorite and most formidable instruments of tyranny.' Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 84, August, 1788
