Yearly Archives: 2003

Just idealism from now on

Posted on July 16, 2003 by acb

This morning the nerdy feeds were full of the good news that AOL has set up a Mozilla Foundation to “safeguard the independence of Mozilla”. At lunchtime I glanced at the Register, and discovered that AOL just shut Netscape, and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Napster won’t do this

Posted on July 16, 2003 by acb

There are a couple of insurance horror stories doing the rounds at the moment from America. One concerns a programmer friend of Brad Choate’s, whose child has an expensive cancer which will go untreated if his father cannot find a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blather | Comments Off on Napster won’t do this

would you find this advice helpful?

Posted on July 14, 2003 by acb

Cary Tennis, Salon’s agony uncle, was responding to a reader (with a four-month-old baby) who wondered whether he should stray with an attractive and flirtatious workmate: “Keep away from her like she’s a vat of dangerous chemicals”. wrote Tennis, which … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism | 2 Comments

What we were told #2

Posted on July 12, 2003 by acb

On this day, a year ago, the Daily Telegraph had a leader discussing the popular uprising that President Bush had determined must overthrow Saddam. The paper explains the role of the Iraqi people in the war: Continue reading →

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nunc in quadriviis et angiportes

Posted on July 12, 2003 by acb

An extraordinary piece, mixing gossip and despair, by an Oxford contemporary of Christopher Hitchens, which I found through Electrolite. Continue reading →

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Evil spirits up your arsehole

Posted on July 12, 2003 by acb

Christian Life Books of Shreveport, Louisiana, has come through with Graham Dow’s little pamphlet on deliverance, which is the polite term for exorcism. Here is a partial list of the practices that the Bishop of Carlisle believes are caused by, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in God, Journalism | 4 Comments

credo quia impossibile

Posted on July 9, 2003 by acb

I have been having really strange intermittent problems with the net these last few days. At first I thought it was a problem with my blog, then with my server. I just could not post anything longer than about 256 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Software | 2 Comments

domestic violence at full length

Posted on July 9, 2003 by acb

Phone rings at half past eight this morning. A well-spoken, rather angry woman says “May I speak to Caroline?” “No. I’m afraid she’s out getting flowers. Can I take a message?” “No. I’ll call later.” “OK. Who shall I say … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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the horror

Posted on July 7, 2003 by acb

Last night I watched the Philip Larkin film, something on TV which could for once properly be described as horrifying. So much of the excellence of the poetry survived: it was wonderfully read, in such a natural tone that the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in God, Literature | Comments Off on the horror

Some unwilled perversity of my own

Posted on July 6, 2003 by acb

This is a placeholder for a piece I have to write about the folly of wishing that the occupation of Iraq will fail — we’re stuck with it, and must hope and work for it to succeed — but I … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in War | 3 Comments