how to die when you're corrupt

in Japan:
Agriculture Minister Toshikatsu Matsuoka committed suicide suicide after a series of scandals.CNN story.

in China:
Zheng Xiaoyu, former head of SFDA (the agency responsible for drug approvals) from 1998 to 2005, has been sentenced to death for accepting over $800,000 in bribes (CNN story).

well ... just different.

Or, as we say in German: Wer will, der darf. Wer nicht will, der muss.

(did I already say that I consider capital punishment unethical? but who listens to me?)

variants of the knowledge-based society

in Dubai: (via Chris Collison)
http://www.mbrfoundation.ae/
The ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, says he is giving $10bn (£5bn) to set up an educational foundation in the Middle East.
The money is meant to improve the standard of education and research in the region, and aims to stimulate job creation, Sheikh Mohammed said.

in Europe: Lisbon 2010:
"...to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion." (strategic goal for 2010 set for Europe at the Lisbon European Council - March 2000)

well, things are just .... different.

55 53 60 37 F2 12 75 01 83 F9 27 9C 64 01 23 99

Great: I own the intellectual property to a number:
55 53 60 37 F2 12 75 01 83 F9 27 9C 64 01 23 99
got it from here http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/?p=1155

Don't you ever use it to decryp this:

We own integers,
Says AACS LA.
You can own one too

The haiku is copyright 2007 by Edward W. Felten