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GNXP notes a little common sense from the Dutch. "If you want to live in the Netherlands, you have to adhere to our rules ... and learn our language." I would say the same to immigrants to the U.S. All of them, or course, but especially those from Mexico. I think it is just weird when you get a government document with Spanish-language text. 
Geert Wilders, a popular Dutch politician, suggests shutting down radical mosques. "'We are a Dutch democratic society. We have our own norms and values,' right-wing lawmaker Geert Wilders told The Associated Press in an interview. 'If you chose radical Islam you can leave, and if you don’t leave voluntarily then we will send you away. This is the only message possible.'" Can you tolerate intolerance in a tolerant society? No. [ via LGF ]
Ann Althouse: The political structure of academia. "The NYT reports on a study that shows (unsurprisingly) that Democrats greatly outnumber Republicans in academia. The ratio is 7 to 1, generally, 9 to 1 at Berkeley and Stanford." It doesn't surprise me, either, but it is kind of amazing. Is this self-selection? I don't buy the "correlation to IQ" theory. I might buy the "correlation to non-real-work" theory, though :)
This is kind of interesting: Triassic reptiles had live young. "The largest and most diverse group of Triassic aquatic reptiles gave birth to live young, researchers report in this week's Nature. The finding in sauropterygians is the first evidence of viviparity in this group of animals, which lived throughout the Mesozoic era, from 250 to 65 million years ago." Even more amazing than the fact itself is the fact that we can know this!
Randall Parker notes: Scientific advances are the solution to high medical costs.
 Hey, want to build your own cyclotron? I know you do...
 These landscape photographs from Brazil, by Alex Uchôa, are amazing. Just beautiful. I can't decide which I find more impressive, the subject or the photographs. I guess maybe it is the subject; I knew Brazil was beautiful, but not this beautiful. Please go and check 'em out! [ via Glenn Reynolds ]
Heard about the brawl / riot at the Piston's game last night? Ugly. I have to say, somehow so far this season I just don't care about pro basketball. Maybe because Shaq left the Lakers, or maybe just because... I can see getting excited about college basketball, but not before Spring.
Did you tell Tivo you don't want commercials during fast forward? You did? Good. Matt Haughey reports on an interesting study that shows people pay more attention while fast-forwarding. Yeah, but do they pay more attention while 30-second-skipping? I doubt it. Look, this is simple; most people don't want to watch commercials.
Want a PVR, but can't figure out which one to buy? Check out PVR Comparisons. [ via Matt Haughey ]
Oh, and here's a review in Wired of the ConvertX PVR, software for your PC or Mac. I wonder if this is the future of PVRs? Somehow I can't see it. Maybe it is the "wrong room" problem, or maybe the "not dedicated" problem.
Glenn Reynolds: Video killed the TV star. Features the Ventura County Star, our "local" paper...
Meanwhile, AOL cues up the video.
The whole Internet video space is exploding. It is already big, but it is going to be huge.
 This is just really spooky; photos of Gunkanjima, a coal-mining island off the coast of Japan, in 1974, and today, now that the island has been abandoned. [ via Ottmar Liebert ]
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