Ali-G, the irreverent gangsta, once had a spoof interview with James Baker, the former Secretary of State.

He questioned Baker, if there was any danger that a fighter pilot might confuse Iran and Iraq, because of the similar sounding names.

"No Danger" replied Baker.

I found it very amusing listening to NPR this morning, when first John Danforth, the new US Ambassador to the UN said "Iran" when he met "Iraq", and then a few minutes later on KQED's forum, David Kay, former IAEA/UNSCOM Chief Nuclear Weapons Inspector, said "Iraqi" instead of Iranian.

Interesting experiment
to compare how a person rates themselves with how good they actually are.

I always remember an incident at University. I was at a pub, and I overheard a conversation where some guys who were doing the same Engineering course as me were talking to some local girls.


One of the girls was trying to show how smart she was compared to the University Student. "You think you know it all", she told the Student. "I work at Dixons (an electrical retailer), and I had to learn how to use a Video Recorder in a morning"

Charles Darwin says it well "ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge"

Very Interesting discussion about Terms of Service on web sites LawMeme - Worst Terms of Service Ever

Insider Trading

I've been following the Martha Stewart case, and I am coming to the conclusion that it's a complete travesty of Justice. Here's an interesting article about the case.

The Insider Trading Laws are completely unenforceable. The law seems to be used vindictively and arbitrarily.

And think of this scenario - why isn't this case considered Insider Trading?

Imagine I own shares in my company. I'm about to buy a house, and I need some money. I consider selling my shares, but I have some non-public information that I know is going to increase the value of my shares. So - instead of selling my shares, I take a Margin Loan against them (or just hold onto them), and then sell the shares at a later point at a higher price. I have certainly benefitted from my Insider Information, but this would not be considered as Insider Trading - why not??

But two wrongs do not make a right. I have to take issue with Martha's counsel for some of their tactics. Claiming that the alleged drug use of the star witness had any impact on this case is farcical.