Danny's Pathologically Polymathic: July 2005

big brands lose face in China - ChinaDaily

"the mother of a three-year-old baby was shocked to know that the Nestle 3+ milk powder could harm babies due to excess iodine"

measuring global inequality - GlobeMail [via ProRev]

"More than 77% of the world's people are poor (with an income below the Brazilian average), while nearly 16% are rich (with incomes above the Portuguese average), which leaves less than 7% in the middle."

Khalid Jarrar's firsthand account of being arrested in Iraq - SecretsBaghdad [via RW]

he got out ok, but read to the end for the stories of his fellow inmates

planting trees can create deserts - NewScientist

it was interesting to see bits of the "Green Wall of China" in the Gobi desert

a Kuiper belt object twice the size of Pluto? - NewScientist [via /.]

the unintended consequences of the Iraq war - Nation [via Informed]

smokers becoming extinct in Australia - Guardian

I was amazed by how few people smoked in Beijing - I was expecting it to be ubiquitous

Israel spars with the Vatican - Guardian

Falluja is now a giant prison - MJ [via AntiWar]

doctors "see one or two dead civilians every day"

how much influence did SE Asians have on Africa? - Guardian [via Macam]

"to parse" now means no more than "to examine carefully" - Lang

a change for Iceland's Defence Force?

"The IDF is a subordinate unified command of U.S. European Command"

copper as a diagnostic of the world economy - Economist

The Wright Brothers and Their Predecessors - Inventing Flight [review]

Mali and Niger could do with some help - Economist

no hope for the North Atlantic right whale? - Cornell [via RW]

Jafari tells Rumsfeld US troops have to go - CSM [via AntiWar]

he has to have done a deal with the Iranians - they're going to need someone to help them hold down central Iraq

Mumbai gets nearly a metre of rain in 24 hours - Guardian

an overview of what's happening in Iraq - Billmon

Egyptian bloggers try to organise protest against terror attacks - Guardian

how Microsoft's desktop monopoly hurts Australians - Cybersource [via /.]

plan to bring Thai elephants to Australia challenged - Guardian

US engagement rules in Iraq take toll on civilians - LA [via RW]

alienating (or killing) supporters and key personnel

"orange shirt" fascism in Israel - CP [via RW]

Microsoft patents the smiley - ZDnet [via OSWALD]

drinking and alcohol in Finland - Crikey

"Nothing during the week. Nothing with meals. And then comes Friday night. ... Alko is the state alcohol monopoly administered by the Ministry for Social Affairs and Health."

the development and evolution of the neck and shoulder - Pharyngula [via Panda]

current five-day temperature forecast for Baghdad: 46, 46, 46, 48, 47 - BBC

with overnight minimums of 31 (46C is 114F and 31C is 87F.)

the Bradt and Lonely Planet Mongolia guides - my review

Indonesia starts killing pigs to stop bird flu - IHT

an update on .xxx - Wired

another victim of terror: an innocent is gunned down by UK police - Times [via AntiWar]

"His clothing and behaviour added to their suspicions."

using the law to help India's poor children - CRY [via Kit]

"India has the most activist Supreme Court in the world, a Court that’s not afraid to hold the government’s feet to the fire."

Ursula Le Guin on writing for children - CBCbooks [via Kit]

applying option-pricing to software - OnLAMP [via /.]

an out-of-control domestic dispute in Russia - Guardian

a new British citizenship test - BBC

optical illusions and visual phenomena - MichaelBach [via LL]

China repegs yuan against a currency basket - Guardian

now I can do currency speculation with the 100 yuan I brought back with me from Beijing :-)

attempted bomb attacks in London - Scotsman

how much of a dissident is Ismail Kadare? - CR

formalising the notion of an epistemic community - Cosma

if a hurricane hit New York - NYpress [via RW]

an end to conflict in Acheh? - Macam

Mongolia was fantastic and Beijing was great!

more - and photos - when I've had a chance to unpack

Jamie, Cosma, and Camilla were guest blogging

An extra second will be added to 2005 - LiveScience

This was last done in 1998

There are extremophiles, or extremophilic microbes, living in pretty strange places - LiveScience

Newton's alchemy notes found - ABC

293kg Mekong giant catfish - Pangasianodon gigas captured and eaten - SMH

The Mekong giant catfish has been re-listed by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) as Critically Endangered