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pirate bay april fools01.04.2009 Man these guys do it with style.Whilst being in the potentially the biggest legal court case regarding the alleged copyright infringement, the Pirate Bay have put up a lovely little press release claiming to of been brought out by Warner Brothers. I guess they are captains, going down with the ship. http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/4816087/Warner_Bros_Loves_The_Pirate_Bay.pdf |
 alcholic condom31.03.2009 |
       news grid21.03.2009 Some nice looking spreads.http://www.snd.org/snd28/worldsbest/World%27s%20Best%3A%20The%2028th%20Edition.html |
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   La Chinafrique13.03.2009 In the last decade, trade between China and Africa has mushroomed to over $106 billion. In his new book, La Chinafrique photographer Paolo Woods explores how the Chinese are changing life on the vast continent.http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1884396_1854944,00.html |
qvc06.03.2009On occasion you will find me up at two in the morning staring blanky at QVC. Every once in a while you catch a gem, this little 10min nugget, below, is one such example. Unfortunately it wasn't me that filmed it, but its nice to know there are other people like me enjoying qvc for its shittness, oh and filming their tv, just in case something goes wrong.... |
 Designer Babies & "Negative Enhancement"03.03.2009 "A Los Angeles clinic, Fertility Institutes, says it will soon help couples select both gender and physical traits in a baby when they undergo a form of fertility treatment."By using a process called "pre-implantation genetic diagnosis" . Three day old embryos are tested for certain genetic traits and embryos free of that disease or trait are then implanted in the mother's womb. This technique has previously been used for preventing passing genetic disorders onto offspring, and in 2007 was used by a London based clinic to stop a child inheriting his fathers squint. This technique continues to develop "unfettered by any state or federal regulations in the U.S" and is now progressing to cosmetics as, "negative enhancement." Hopefully anyone that is reading this has the foresight to stop and think about the implications of this. For one you have to pay for this service. This creates people who don't have access / can't afford it. Which in turn creates a set of people who can. Those people are now genetically purer. Its not long until you end up with a class system based on genetics not dissimilar to the ideas in the film gattica. Sure at the moment the technology is for simple traits like eye colour, but if other 'positive' genetic traits are identified it really becomes scary. Adding your own personal value system onto the decision of life is just simply wrong. Who is to say whether something, a trait, a quirk, a flaw, the very things that make us individuals, is positive or negative, and then to eradicate it. Will this service become subject to the whim and fancy of the latest trends . Will intelligence be popular for babies conceived in 2016 or will everyone want the comedian traits. Will 2016 be full of damned comedians called dave, every kid in the class is the joker. Ok, so traits like intelligence might be going a bit far, and are no doubt affected by environmental factors, but still you get the idea; Essentially this process is just a very expensive and more glamorous version of incest, with each eradication of a "negative" gene trait reducing the gene pool. Side stepping the whole issue of when life is actually conceived, I just can't believe there is money and time being invested in such a morally disgusting activity when there are still people dying around the world from simple medical aliments. I know its happens all the time, people die, and there are loads of bad people, governments and companies fucking everyone over for the endless search of the illustrious never ending PROFIT, but to endorse something that has such serious biological and social ramifications for every single generation onwards from this point is just a little sick. At the end of the linked article two Scientists are quoted; Dr Kearns who recently made a breakthrough to enable complex diseases and certain traits to be identified more effectively. And Dr. Steinberg, of the before mentioned Fertility Institutes. Dr Kearns: "I'm not going to do designer babies, I won't sell my soul for a dollar." Dr. Steinberg: [Trait selection in babies] "is a service...We intend to offer it soon." A spokeswoman for Dr. Steinberg : "The relationship between them is very amicable, and this center looks forward to working with Dr. Kearns." Hmm. I bet the dollar wins, if not buying Dr Kearns soul, then someone elses. Oh yeah and did you think this was illegal already? hmmm strange that. http://www.fertility-docs.comhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB123439771603075099.html |
  Neuschwanstein Castle.03.03.2009 Well dave, I see your modern cathedral and raise you the Disneyland Castle.Neuschwanstein in Germany. Originally built for Louis II of Bavaria, sometimes referred to as Mad King Ludwig; construction began in 1896, and was left unfinished at Louis's death in 1886. Sleeping beauty's castle in Disneyland is based on it, and its featured in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Kinda nice that this castle started life as a modern romantic folly, building a lavish medieval castle, but with flushing toilets and central heating underneath its inherently fictional facade. Only for it to end up being referenced and used by one of the most successful peddlers of fantasy and fiction, Disney. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuschwanstein_Castle |
  straight fields28.02.2009 Rostov-na Donu, Russia.http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=47.111261,38.383484&spn=1.329025,3.570557&t=k&z=9 |