Just stumbled on this, and couldn't believe my eyes (or my ears).

A short cartoon on the history of Christmas. Wicked cool.

Strategic Forecasting sent out their latest, free intelligence report today. This one provides a pretty thorough analysis of the background and results of Those Cartoons.

I've attached the whole article (with permission), but here's my favorite quote:

European states cannot control what private publications publish. That means that, like it or not, they are hostage to Islamic perceptions. The threat, therefore, is not under their control. And thus, even if the actions or policies of the United States did precipitate 9/11, the Europeans are no more immune to the threat than the Americans are.

If you're at all interested in the apparent "collision of civilizations," read this article.

I'm not particularly surprised that the European press ran those cartoons that have the Muslim world in an uproar.

I am surprised that Dave Winer hasn't even mentioned them, as far as I can tell, nevermind actually run one or two of them himself. (I wonder if he's even considered showing one of them?)

It also surprises me that so few American papers have run it. Not that I'm claiming they should: not running them seems to have shown some wise self-restraint. Or maybe they're just scared.

Are the cartoons being avoided out of respect for Muslim beliefs, or is it just fear of reprisals?

OH SURE!!!

After eight straight days of rain, preceded by a couple days of having a cold, the sun has finally decided to show itself here in Southern Connecticut.

I've only ridden three times this month thanks to this ridiculous weather, so you'd think I'd be very happy to see the sun.

You'd be wrong. Today I'm stuck in my office, finishing my exhortation for tomorrow morning. Can't ride today, no matter how much I'd like to. :-(

On top of that, Will Rudd just called me. They're back in Old Lyme for the weekend before sailing south to the Carribean for the winter, and would like Corinne and I to come over for a visit. On the yacht. (I didn't say no, but I did say it'll have to wait until Sunday afternoon.)

My site is weird, isn't it?

You guys, my readers, are a bizarre mix of family and personal friends that I've known most of my life, and looser friends and complete strangers. The first group is interested mostly in posts about my life, spirituality, philosophy, scripture, whatever, but is bored to death whenever I talk about technology. The other group probably doesn't care about the personal stuff, "just gimme the tech."

Then there's this subset from both groups that are actually interested in my cycling!

I guess, around here, you just get what you get. To those who are a little freaked out about the recent conversation with Gervase, not realizing you'd subscribed to a site that discussed that sort of thing: well, I won't apologize, but I will ask you not to worry about it too much and just be patient. The site isn't changing, and this isn't the first time we've talked about this sort of thing. (For example, one of my favorite discussions was about morality and atheism, almost exactly four years ago.)

To all of you, though, I'd like to express my thanks and appreciation, especially to those who participate in any discussions here on [tw], on any topic. I love being self employed and working on my own schedule, but it's a little lonely sometimes: your messages and conversations help me feel connected.

The news is just full of drama, isn't it? NPR rode the Terry Schiavo wave just like all the rest of the news hounds, which is a bit sickening. Minutes after she died, everybody started focusing on the Pope's "eminent" demise.

Whether you read, listen to, or watch the news, you'll alway receive the same message: Catholics everywhere are praying for the pope.

What are they praying for, exactly? That the old man would live longer? Eww. That he would die soon? That doesn't seem likely, though it would surely be a blessing at this point.

Today as I perused recent entries on Planet Mozilla, I found this post from Gervase Markham. At first skim, he seemed to be expressing my thoughts precisely.

On second read, I almost choked. The whole "unconditional" thing gives me the willies. The idea of once-forgiven-always-saved is too easy. There are no guarantees.

(Now that I'm done writing this, I've realized that I don't like posting this kind of thing as much as I used to. It feels like I'm violating my own privacy!)