I’ve just heard about a fascinating new language that is a modern LISP built on top of JVM: Clojure. In fact, I’m downright excited, because LISP is probably my favorite language concept, and based on the following presentation, I am really impressed by the grokability of LISP-on-JVM. Here’s why: if you learned functional programming and object oriented programming in college, then you know absolutely everything you need, and you will immediately get it. 30 minutes flat.

Java is a terrible language for sketching out a quick script, but I am shocked by the parsimony and readability of Clojure. When I want to sketch out a concept, I always turn to Perl, but it is well known by now that Perl doesn’t scale well to a team, whereas Java excels. My dream is that with Clojure, both sketches and monolithic project-driven development can be accommodated.

RTFA: http://www.infoq.com/presentations/hickey-clojure

In this presentation from the JVM Languages Summit 2008, Rich Hickey discusses Clojure, which is an implementation of Lisp. Topics covered include Clojure features and syntax, example code, interoperation with Java, Clojure and functional programming, persistent data structures, concurrency semantics, references, transactions, software transactional memory, agents, implementation and pain points.

RTFA: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/01/17/saud…

The debate over the controversial practice of child marriage in Saudi Arabia was pushed back into the spotlight this week, with the kingdom’s top cleric saying that it’s OK for girls as young as 10 to wed.

“It is incorrect to say that it’s not permitted to marry off girls who are 15 and younger,” Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh, the kingdom’s grand mufti, said in remarks quoted Wednesday in the regional Al-Hayat newspaper. “A girl aged 10 or 12 can be married. Those who think she’s too young are wrong and they are being unfair to her.”

“… The judge required the girl’s husband to sign a pledge that he would not have sex with her until she reaches puberty.”

Wow. I grew up a liberal believing everyone should be treated equal, but should this apply to government and religion? Honestly, this is one of America’s ALLIES, how fucked up is the rest of the middle east?

RTFA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regina_Peruggi#_note-…

She married Rudy Giuliani, who is her second cousin once removed and whom she had known since childhood, on October 26, 1968 in a large Roman Catholic ceremony in Bedford Park, The Bronx.[3] She started her career as a drug abuse counselor in a state jail.[5][6] She worked as a teacher at the elementary school, college, and graduate school levels.[5] In 1974 she joined York College of The City University of New York,[5] then moved to Washington, D.C. with Giuliani and worked as a coordinator at the Psychiatric Institute of Washington.[7] The couple returned to New York in 1977, but had become separated to some degree.[8][9] Then around 1980 she went back to school,[10] and then earned an Master of Business Administration from New York University.[5] Giuliani filed for legal separation from Peruggi on August 12, 1982;[8] a civil divorce was issued by the end of the year.[4] A Roman Catholic Church annulment of the Giuliani-Peruggi marriage was granted at the end of 1983[8] on the grounds that they had not obtained a church dispensation for second cousins once removed to marry;[11] Giuliani later said he had believed they were third cousins.[12] The two had no children.