[un] we'd prefer if you didn't explode it please

The UN Security Council has urged North Korea not to carry out a planned test of a nuclear weapon warning that any test would endanger regional stability and provoke worldwide denunciation. Three days late, the council said such action would "jeopardise peace, stability and security in the region and beyond". What’s the point? I mean ... seriously ... whatever is the point of the UN and its resolutions?

[formula one] alonso takes japan

Defending drivers world champion Fernando Alonso celebrated like a man possessed today after he moved within a point of retaining his title by winning the Japanese Grand Prix. It was his first victory in eight races since the Canadian Grand Prix in June, his seventh win this year and the 15th of his career. Michael Schumacher's Ferrari suffered an engine failure. "Then it was completely a surprise when I saw what happened to Michael. Ferrari don't have many mechanical problems, so that was a big surprise for me. Alonso now leads Schumacher by 10 points in the drivers' standings and they are level on seven wins apiece this season. Schumacher can only claim an unprecedented eighth crown if he wins and Alonso fails to score a point in Sao Paulo.

[pedant general] the select society

My goodness I'm slow on the uptake: Our manifesto in recreating the Select in the form of a Blog is to allow those of us who enjoy the pursuit of philosophical enquiry to gather and record our take on today’s world. This Blog will reflect on current events, developments in the arts and sciences, and even sport. It is, as was the Select, a group effort and we hope it will be all the stronger and more readable for that. Click photo.

[crash] computer went down today

Computer crashed early this morning, now back but one of three hard disks is gone, also all e-mails and all urls. The e-mail I’m working to get back as soon as possible. Blogger's working.

[fiorina] they were down on me as a woman

Hewlett-Packard CEO for six years, her style inflamed critics and after her financial results fell short, she was dumped. In her memoirs ''Tough Choices'', Fiorina says she was unfairly scrutinized as a woman in business and unproductively opposed by people who feared the big changes she had to make at HP. Besides her $21 million severance pay, she began 2006 with 850,000 HP shares - a stake that size is worth $31 million now. Her name emerged last year as a candidate for World Bank president. Fiorina has advised President Bush and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on tech policy; she won praise for defining a new vision but generally she is considered to have fallen short on day-to-day operational matters, unlike Mark Hurd. Under her, HP's stock sank 56 percent. Her view? ''I feel incredibly blessed,'' she said. ''I am an unexpected success story to myself.''

[sunday blogfocus] two issues today for the price of one

Evocative, atmospheric & historic

Today there are two separate issues – those veils and expanding one’s blog-base. Issue One: Those Veils This is one which has surely run its natural course, having been commented on by just about everybody and yet it still won’t go away. Now CNN has weighed in: British newspapers on Saturday backed cabinet minister Jack Straw after the political storm sparked by his remarks that veils worn by Muslim women harmed community relations. What bloggers said here.