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Misc Opinions 3

Entry 435, on 2006-12-01 at 15:06:14 (Rating 3, News)

There were several interesting news stories today that I wanted to comment on, so I am doing a miscellaneous opinions entry here to briefly cover them all.

First, Hewlett Packard is producing an iMac competitor. But is it really? iMac: compact, elegant, easy to use, bundled with the world's finest operating system and most functional software, includes all the basics most people want, and fairly cheap. The HP Crossfire iQ770: hideously ugly, bundled with a new OS which has been hacked together, Frankenstein like by Microsoft, and which no one seems to really want, full of features and gadgets, moderately expensive. The PC manufacturers just don't get it. Maybe they never will.

A conservative backbencher, Sir Peter Tapsel, has mockingly requested that Tony Blair should apologise for King Henry VIII's treatment of his wives. This is in response to the genuine apology Blair made for Britain's part in the slave trade which was abolished 200 years ago. This is all just mindless political correctness really. Look at the history of any group or nation and you will find a seemingly never ending list of things they might apologise for. Its popular here in New Zealand too. The prime minister has apologised for how the Maoris were treated by the British settlers, but I have never heard an apology from the Maoris for eating the settlers. Its all politically correct nonsense.

George Bush has said the US will stay in Iraq until the job is done, while also saying he wants to accelerate the hand-over of power to the new Iraqi administration. I bet he does! George goes into Iraq, stirs up all sorts of problems that didn't exist before, then says "well it looks like our job is done, see you later". His job as president will be done soon anyway. Hopefully his successor will exercise more restraint in future US international policies and actions.

Pope Benedict XVI has visited a famous mosque in Turkey, presumably in an effort to repair relations between the world's two leading religions. But I find it hard to see how he reconciles his obvious fundamentalist Christian beliefs with the opposing view of Islam, even if there are many common points between the two beliefs. A while back I heard the Pope was going to reverse the Catholic church's official acceptance of evolution. I haven't heard any more recently, but it shows how out of touch they are to even consider it. How can an organisation with such bizarre and strict beliefs forge bonds with another one with similarly strange and distinct ideas? Obviously, they can't.

Comment 1 (279) by chris on 2006-12-01 at 18:31:10:

My google-fu is failing me on the Crossfire. Got a link?

Comment 2 (280) by OJB on 2006-12-02 at 21:58:07:

Here's a link: http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/30/hp-iq770-crossfire-19-inch-touchscreen-media-pc-revealed/

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