“‘The most important product of knowledge is ignorance,’ he declared. And without much more ado than that, Dr. Gross proceeded to enumerate what he considered to be the most enticing items that physics had learned enough to be ignorant about in 25 different areas.” (New York Times)

“There is nothing better than a Slashdot interview with someone who not only reads and understands Slashdot but can out-troll the trolls. Admittedly, the questions you asked Neal Stephenson were great in their own right, but his answers… Wow! let’s just say that this guy shows how it’s done.” I am glad they asked the obligatory question about what he has read recently, but would it somehow have been uncool to ask him the other de rigeur question about what he is working on next?

Guerrilla Remote (Wired)

“Though sign shenanigans are common in election years, some Republican leaders are calling this year’s activity unprecedented. Democratic leaders say attacks are so rampant that supporters should take their yard signs inside at night to protect them.” (Reuters)

“Even non-Americans can cast a vote in the upcoming U.S. presidential election thanks to a Web site tracking world opinion on the race for the White House.” (Reuters) Hey, here’s a good idea — Kerry should promise to give foreign voters veto power over future US military deployments if they vote for him.

Related: Bush Receives Endorsement From Iran: “The head of Iran’s security council said Tuesday that the re-election of President Bush was in Tehran’s best interests, despite the administration’s axis of evil label, accusations that Iran harbors al-Qaida terrorists and threats of sanctions over the country’s nuclear ambitions.” (Associated Press) The stated reason for the Iranian preference is that Democratic administrations have generally pressed harder on human rights issues, inconveniencing the Iranian regime.

However, I would like to suggest that the Iranian preference for Bush is not despite but because of his threats and accusations. A bellicose and ignorant Bush in office solidifies Islamist fundamentalist cohesion; he is such an easily demonized threat against which to rally. While Bush may have done Iran a great favor by eliminating the Baathist regime and the Taliban in neighboring Iraq and Afghanistan, the misadministration’s bluster, its unilateralism, its disdain for diplomatic engagement and the “axis of evil” appellation suggest a possible threat of armed conflict or at least noncommunication between the US and Iran. Behind the cover of hostile posturing, Iran can pursue its nuclear weapons program unimpeded. A Kerry administration diplomatically engaged with Tehran and working with worldwide anti-proliferation mechanisms would probably be a more effective impediment to Iranian nuclear ambitions.

To judge from his position in the foreign policy debate, Kerry assumes the US electorate’s concern over the threat of nuclear proliferation to Iran and elsewhere. To this extent, the hardening of the Iranian position in a second Bush administration should be a serious concern even to jingoist America-firsters likely to be in the Bush camp. By emphasizing both this threat and the ineffectuality of the Bush administration in applying leverage around human rights issues, Kerry could potentially get alot of mileage out of the Iranian endorsement. But would it be outweighed by the backlash we are beginning to see against the fear-based campaign tactics both parties have turned to since the debates? (Certainly, it pales in the face of Cheney’s terror-mongering..)

The broadcaster plans a special with portions of ‘Stolen Honor’ after an outcry and stock losses. “Facing advertiser defections, a viewer boycott and a plummeting stock price, as well as strong opposition from Democrats, Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. scrapped its plan to air a film that attacks the 1970s-era antiwar activities of Sen. John F. Kerry, and will instead run a special produced by its news division incorporating parts of the movie.” (LA Times ) Sinclair shares are down more than 10% over the last two days after shareholder concerns. Feel the power (although this is, of course, only a partial retreat)…

I am trying a slightly trimmed template eliminating alot of the sidebar content that readers seem to find extraneous. Does the page load significantly faster for you? Look more appealing? More taste? Less filling? Should I trim down to less than seven days’ worth of content on the main page? Would that make much of a difference in the load time?

Craig’s BookNotes has a new address. He writes here about losing much of his audience recently when automatic forwarding from the old URL stopped. Please correct the addresses you have for BookNotes in your blogrolls and bookmarks.

A new weblog from Philadelphia editor and familiar FmH reader ACM; if you have been a fan of ACM’s thoughtful comments on FmH, you will welcome his her own postings.