Snippets #39, Sunday, 12.Oct.2003     (ISSN 1530-9622)

_______________S N I P P E T S

_________________________from James S. Huggins' Refrigerator Door

___________________________________#39, Sunday, 12.Oct.2003

_____________________________________________ISSN 1530-9622

__________CONTENTS

_____0. Restarting Snippets . . . Again

_____1. Patterns, Formats and Structures

_____2. Current Interests

_____3. Is a Publication an Organization?

_____4. Clean Underwear

__________0. RESTARTING SNIPPETS . . . AGAIN

The last "real" Snippets I wrote was almost a year ago. I wrote:

Although you receive this on Saturday, I'm writing it on Friday. As I write, I'm on a brief holiday, down south of Houston, near NASA, visiting my mother. Spot, my all black cat, accompanies me on these trips. Once scared of cars, she has become quite the traveler, frequently standing up in the seat and looking out at neighboring cars, frequently to the delight of the passengers of those cars.

Today, Sunday, I'm again in Houston, near NASA, visiting my mother. Again, my cat, Spot is with me. And again, she had fun looking out the window as the passengers of other cars all pointed at her.

Over the past 11 months I've done many things. During that time I've started to write a Snippets issue on several occasions. With each one, I struggled over whether I really wanted to resume. So, I put it aside until I was ready.

Now, for whatever reason, I'm ready again.

__________1. PATTERNS, FORMAT and STRUCTURES

My prior issues of Snippets all followed a regular "pattern". This time, I'll be deviating some. The "format" will pretty much remain, and the "structure" will remain, but unlike prior issues, the contents won't be as much of a "pattern".

While the prior issues contained Comments, Quotations, Ephemerae, New and Changed Items on my Site and Awards My Site Has Won, I'll not be using that pattern now.

Instead, I'll be a bit more "flexible". Those items will still appear when appropriate, but I won't feel obligated to include them if there is really nothing to say.

__________2. CURRENT INTERESTS

Over the past year, my interests have evolved to include these primary (and sometimes overlapping) areas:

a) Privacy Issues

b) Technology Law

c) Copyrights and Patents

d) Self Improvement

e) Humor and Inspiration (including Quotations)

f) The Unusual

If you remain a subscriber, these are some of the areas I'll discuss from time to time. In addition, I'll also engage in some BSP --- Blatent Self Promotion.

__________3. IS A PUBLICATION AN ORGANIZATION?

http://washingtontimes.com/national/20031010-112733-8086r.htm 

This article in the Washington Times reports that "Four Internet Web sites operated by two extremist Jewish groups have been included by the State Department on its list of 'foreign terrorist organizations' — the first time the list has been extended to include Internet sites."

I have NOT seen the actual State Department list. But if the article is accurate, I'm bothered. Websites are not "organizations". Websites are publications of organizations. Declaring publications of any kind to be somehow "banned" or "listed" or "forbidden" bothers me.

If the State Department wishes to note that the terrorist organizations Kach and Kahane Chai operate these four websites, that seems reasonable to me. To note that contributing "through" the site is forbidden because it contributes to the terrorist organization seems reasonable. But to somehow attempt to designate the websites themselves as "foreign terrorist organizations" seems to me to stretch the concept to the breaking point.

It also raises questions for me. For example, while it is illegal to "donate money" or "provide material support" to terrorist organizations, should it be illegal to purchase a newspaper published by a terrorist organization? Should it be illegal to go into Barnes and Nobel and purchase a book authored by a terrorist organization?

I don't have the answers. But, as usual, I have a lot of questions.

__________4. CLEAN UNDERWEAR

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994255 

Did your mother ever tell you to be sure to wear clean underwear because you might get sick and have to go to the doctor?

Turns out we may soon have underwear that will bring the doctor to you.

This article tells about bras and underpants with sensors woven into them to monitor the heartbeat of people with existing heart conditions. If it detects trouble it automatically calls for medical assistance, either via a Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone or by connecting directly to the telephone network.