Meet your Daemon

For those who have read the Philip Pullman trilogy, His Dark Materials, here is something of interest.

Nora, the Piano-Playing Cat

Now my cat looks totally unaccomplished to my eyes, like Elizabeth Bennett must have looked to Lady Catherine de Burgh.

The Evils of YouTube

And just when I was thinking I was beyond getting shocked by anything that happens in good old Turkey; she takes its proud place next to other such countries as People's Republic of China, North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Iran -just to name a few- in internet censorship.
 
Turkish court bans YouTube access

YouTube attracts a monthly audience of 70 million people

Access to the popular video-sharing website YouTube has been suspended in Turkey following a court order.

The ban was imposed after prosecutors told the court that clips insulting former Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk had appeared on the site.

According to Turkish media, there has been a "virtual war" between Greek and Turkish users of the site, with both sides posting insulting videos.

The clip prompting the ban reportedly dubbed Ataturk and Turks homosexuals.

Insulting Ataturk, the founding father of modern Turkey, or "Turkishness" is an offence which can result in a prison sentence.

The offending videos sparked a storm of complaints to YouTube and the clips were removed, but the court order goes further, blocking all access to the site.

Freedom of speech

Turkish visitors to the site are now greeted with a message in English and Turkish reading "Access to www.youtube.com site has been suspended in accordance with decision no: 2007/384 dated 06.03.2007 of Istanbul First Criminal Peace Court".

Paul Doany, the head of Turk Telecom, the country's largest telecoms company, said that they had blocked access to the site as soon as the court order came through.

"We are not in the position of saying that what YouTube did was an insult, that it was right or wrong," Mr Doany told Anatolia news agency. "A court decision was proposed to us, and we are doing what that court decision says."

Mr Doany said that for its part Turk Telecom will continue to enforce the ban as long as the order stands.

The European Union, which Turkey is hoping to join, has long called for an easing of Article 301 - the law which prevents insults to Turkish culture - arguing that the law places severe restrictions on free speech in Turkey.

About 50 writers in the country have been put on trial for allegedly contravening the rule, including Nobel prizewinner Orhan Pamuk, though most cases have eventually been dismissed by the judge.

Visitor Map

Not that I think I have many visitors to have such a map; and it's probably not supposed to be on a post, but directly in the code -and yet, here it goes.




Create your own visitor map!

Adopt a Dolphin

Or at least check out the website which has many interesting facts about dolphins. This UK based marine life conservation center (WDCS) has both dolphin and whale adoption programs, and many interesting links. If you ever get to be in Scotland (Moray Firth, right at the Northern tip), you can take a boat ride to meet your dolphin too.

Me? I am the proud mother of "Moonlight."

Stop Bloody Whaling

There's nothing that justifies whaling and hunting dolphins; high mammals that are closer to us than most species. People get shocked by the idea of cats and dogs being eaten as delicacies in Asian countries (and I am one of them) but why not by the idea of eating dolphins and whales? Because we can't keep them as pets? Both whales and dolphins are extremely smart animals, with complex social lives and the most important thing is, their numbers are dropping down each year. The whales and dolphins hunted in Japan end up being thrown away or used as fertilizer and dog food. Due to the high mercury levels in the seas, their meat is not so much sought after by the wider population anymore. Still, even though commercial whaling is no longer permitted, Japan gets away by putting these animals into their "scientific research" quota.

I'm sure anyone could do WITHOUT eating whale or dolphin meat, and manage to survive.