I think I finally have put two and two together... I woke up with a migraine headache today, and pretty much just lay there with my head under a blanket for about 3 hours until it faded, leaving me with just a moderate headache (which I still have). I don't get these very often, although I used to get them a lot more often... and I think the two common factors are Soy Sauce and dehydration. Yesterday, I was doing dinner while working on my paper, and because I didn't want to leave and disrupt my chain of thought, I made some Saag Paneer on rice.. Nothing unusual there -- I have it about once a week, depending on my shopping habits. However, I made a lot more rice than I had Saag Paneer to mix in, so I decided to add some soy sauce into the mix. I like soy sauce (although I haven't cooked with it for quite some time), and typically use a lot of it. Together, the Saag and the Soy made a very tasty meal.. But I think I have good reason to believe that the Soy is to blame for my headache. Some websites suggest that soy sauce is high in MSG, which can cause migraines. I guess I should probably banish soy sauce from my cooking supplies..

The situation in Georgia has been largely resolved. As unplanned governmental shifts go, this was relatively painless... I'm guessing the fact that he was ousted for highly-visible corruption, instead of doing something where a good percentage of people would rally behind him, is the reason.. Although Russia does have problems with violent factions that are very anti-foreigner, this might just be, as suggested, poor maintenance. Interesting that, at the end, they compare fire death statistics to Britain and the U.S., and that the standards have gone downhill since the end of the Soviet era..

I'm amused by the really funny, silly questions this FAQ has. It's for a company that does sound analysis of music to correlate the work with sales. It's a perfect example of the 'spiritualist notion of life' that I am hoping to stomp out, the kind of thinking that led people to invent the soul, and nowadays makes them do their best to hold back science from "crossing barriers that should not be crossed". Even if computers nowadays do not create music, or demonstrate human or posthuman intelligence, eventually they will, and for those of you who are doing your best to drag your heels, you're gonna lose. We're going to have artificial and semi-artificial people, electronic or not, and they're going to be growing up with your kids, and they'll be accepted as people, and in the end, when you see them, your antiquated notions will be cut off at this generation or the next. And racists, you're going to look even more foolish, looking like anti-Irish people look today, hanging on to your master/favoured/chosen races while the rest of the world's motions move you from being one step behind to two steps.. Transhumanism.. it's the future.

I had a dream, light and carefree But now there's doubt and gravity But I won't run in place (Are we blind?) in the human rat race (There's no way) I can set the pace (What we have) and accept my fate (Is shattered faith) -- Bad Religion, "Shattered Faith"

I earlier commented how I don't need my office anymore, thanks to my laptop and wireless. I also commented on how some companies are going entirely that way, with smart cards letting employees work anywhere. Interesting how this article indicates that this is cannibalizing the real estate market. new efficiencies always are worrying for some players in capitalism.. Imagine, as a thought experiment, that a group of people gained magical (or sci-fi, doesn't matter) abilities, and had something like a TARDIS (From Dr. Who, a spaceship that's bigger on the inside than the outside, containing a full home, food creation facilities, and moves from place to place in the universe by just appearing or disappearing as needed). Suddenly, those people don't need anyone to sell them a home, nor do they need to go to the supermarket, or a car, or fuel, or electricity, or any number of other things. Suddenly, that market shift results in the weakening or collapse of businesses that used to supply such things. In a really big economy, such shifts could be enormously destructive. It's roughly analogous to the threat that advances in fuel technology could end up turning Arabia's economy into .. a desert :) The countries in the area can see the handwriting on the wall though, and most are starting to work on diversifying their assets so when the day comes, they won't be without a paddle.. Speaking of dangers of new efficiencies, Advertisers, beware -- they're starting to recycle advertising ideas..

Here's an analysis of why Muslims have little dedicated representation in the United States. In the end, I'm against more religious people in our government, but, and here's the thing I'm not sure about, Muslims might force the Christians here to deal with the fact that they're not the only game in town, and any fighting they do might be useful for tempering or weakening both to the extent that secularism can advance. I would suggest that it might lead to less of a "blank check" policy towards Israel, but given what scum like Billy Graham think, perhaps that's not too solid a thing anyhow, and I worry that, instead of principle guiding foreign policy on Israel to finding a long-term peaceful solution, sentiment could cause policy to swing way off the other way. If only people wern't so bloody emotional and jingoistic on these things, and would stop playing games of identity... But yeah, in the end I'd be thrilled to see neither Xians nor Muslims having much representation, but it's possible, depending on how things work out, that having both will be to the advantage of my point of view.

I find this amusing :) This too, in a different way.

Let's make sure we understand the issues involved with the Canadian drug reimportation controversy. Some states want to formalize agreements to import medicines from Canada, where they're cheaper. Most of these medicines were made originally in the United States, and are cheaper because Canada has price controls on drugs. This means that drug companies, while still doing business in Canada (as there's some profit possible), are using the United States as their market to get their core profits. Reimports threaten those companies, as they effectively extend Canada's price controls into the United States.. What can they do about it? They lose big if they withdraw from Canada, as their competitors can still make profit there, even more with their absence.. Their best shot is to work to overturn the price controls there, greasing the appropriate political palms.. There is an interesting interaction between 'economic soverignty' and trade here, and one might even ask why the states, or indeed the people of the United States don't simply demand similar price caps domestically. Perhaps the drug companies found it easier or more prudent to get involved with American politicians, and are paying for it now, or perhaps it would be politically difficult to accept a local 'interference with capitalism', while Americans can get the same thing without the embarassment by using this loophole, which requires *just* enough analysis that your common American isn't going to get it unless he/she thinks about it. Of course, if you're reading my blog, there's a good chance this will have occured to you.

This is pretty obvious.. Clearly, Turkey's church/state relations arn't that of things seperated, but rather, the churches are subordinate to the state.

That's all. My headache is mostly gone over the hours of work with many little breaks I've taken to write this entry. For future reference, the entry time is when I start the BLOG, not when I end it.