Yesterday, I caught this article about Angela Merkel’s childless status in the online edition of The Independant. The elections are drawing to a close, since it’s for this week-end, and it looks like once everything is said, people will once again resort to sex slur to strike at their opponents. Even though I don’t agree with many of Merkel’s points, I don’t think she deserves such a low blow—and coming from another woman, nonetheless. (As a sidenote, I’m aware that it’s just another of the usual pre-elections blows, specially coming from the opposition; I just find it extremely low, and of very bad taste.)

Then it hit me—seriously, can women in politics ever stand a chance? Will there be a day when such attacks stop? Why is it that women get this kind of arguments shoved at them, while they wield so much less importance in the case of male politicians? Why does this matter of sex always come back, as if it was more important than criticizing their programs instead (which are the things that should be discussed first and foremost, in my opinion)? Sure, every celebrity gets her deal of flak; once your name is known, even the most insignificant of yours action can become matter to discussion and mud-throwing. But this?

True or not? She sure looks like it. Seen on the BBC News online page, this article mentions how Japanese develop ‘female’ android:

Japanese scientists have unveiled the most human-looking robot yet devised – a “female” android called Repliee Q1.

She has flexible silicone for skin rather than hard plastic, and a number of sensors and motors to allow her to turn and react in a human-like manner.

She can flutter her eyelids and move her hands like a human. She even appears to breathe.

Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro of Osaka University says one day robots could fool us into believing they are human.

Putting aside all the considerations that can be had regarding how technology in that domain has progressed, going from barely able to stand pieces of metal to an almost human-looking one, I can’t prevent myself from thinking furiously to Philip K. Dick and to his Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. There are implications and ramifications here, that could ge way beyond what one would expect. Real androids, that could one day pass for humans and fool even the most observant minds… perhaps even starting by their own. Fascinating and yet frightening thought, too, for us who are so bent on our identity.

For the moment, though, perhaps it’s best to simply take it as what it’s meant to be — technical progress in action?

While travelling through our dear Lorraine in which I’m currently expatriated, why not hop by Malbrouck’s castle in Manderen? From April to October 2005 is held there a dragon-themed exhibition, organized in partnership with Paris Natural History Museum.

Artworks, goldsmith’s works, paintings, statues and manuscripts from many eras… The exhibition totals about 200 pieces from public and private collections from throughout the whole world, presented according to the following themes:

• Origins of the European dragon


• Dragon’s treasures


• Shapes and symbols of the Asian dragon


• Zoology of the dragon

The exhibition is open everyday (Monday 14H – 18H, Tuesday to Friday: 10H – 18H, week-end and holidays: 10H – 19H).

It always feels so weird, when a figure that has lived for so long in memories and in imagination sees the real, human counterpart behind it die…

Scotty of “Star Trek” fame dies at his Redmond home

LOS ANGELES – James Doohan, the burly chief engineer of the Starship Enterprise in the original “Star Trek” TV series and motion pictures who responded to the command “Beam me up, Scotty,” died early today. He was 85.

Doohan died at 5:30 a.m. at his Redmond, Wash., home with his wife of 28 years, Wende, at his side, Los Angeles agent and longtime friend Steve Stevens said. The cause of death was pneumonia and Alzheimer’s disease, he said.

The Canadian-born Doohan was enjoying a busy career as a character actor when he auditioned for a role as an engineer in a new space adventure on NBC in 1966. A master of dialects from his early years in radio, he tried seven different accents.

“The producers asked me which one I preferred,” Doohan recalled 30 years later. “I believed the Scot voice was the most commanding. So I told them, ‘If this character is going to be an engineer, you’d better make him a Scotsman.”’

The series, which starred William Shatner as Capt. James T. Kirk and Leonard Nimoy as the enigmatic Mr. Spock, attracted an enthusiastic following of science fiction fans, especially among teenagers and children, but not enough ratings power. NBC canceled it after three seasons.

HNN has published a number of articles, interviews and analysis about the recent London bombings and what can be seen as warnings and consequences. Whether everyone would agree with the exposed theories or not is another story, but they remain an interesting kind of insight nonetheless.

Why the London Attack Was Not Unexpected: An insight on certain opinions that could have been very clear warning sights.

The Time of Revenge Has Come: And why the post 9/11 choices and actions have probably helped to shape the current situation worldwide, instead of preventing it. Close to this is also Irfan A. Khawaja’s article.

Read more of it on their 7/7 hot topics page.