Politics

Why is it that everybody is so freaking happy about Kosovo but nobody gives two shits about Iraq. Does nobody realize that in camp bondsteel alone there are more than 13,000 troops mobilized. One of the largest freaking military camps in the world. ---------- Moderator Note: This thread was broken off from the Kosovo independence thread, and this post should be viewed in that light.

... according to a Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey: http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/the_war_in_iraq/iraq_troop_withdrawal This despite deja vu-inducing assurances that our strategy is finally working and that in pulling out we'd sacrificed everything we've worked for over there. I believe the economic toll at home may be the thing that will finally end the war... well, and a new President.

I see more and more journalists who just seem to make stuff up nowadays, particularly so with numbers. A specific instance: A recent AP wire release on the Hillary Clinton campaign includes the innocuous statement About 100,000 people in the Houston area work for NASA's Johnson Space Center or related industries. A google search for this exact phrase: http://www.google.com/search?q=%22About+100,000+people+in+the+Houston+area+work+for+NASA%27s+Johnson+Space+Center+or+related+industries%22&filter=0 Big deal! So someone changed the 16,000 to 100,000. My issue: that number is preposterous. That it slipped through unchecked and was printed as-is in many newspaper…

Time Magazine this week announced it's choice: Russian President Vladimir Putin. That article and the runners-up are listed on this page: http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/personoftheyear/0,28757,1690753,00.html If you were chosing, who would you pick?

On NBC's Meet the Press this morning, Ralph Nader announced that he is running for President on the Independent ticket. It happened about 5 seconds ago, so I don't have a source link for you. Does this hurt the Dems like it did Al Gore when Bush got elected?

http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN16626583 At least temporarily... Bush and Congress are at an impasse: Congress refuses to grant ex post facto immunity to the telcos who participated in unconstitutional surveillance of American communcations. Bush, for his part, has refused to sign any bill which does not grant immunity to the telcos for misdeeds past. Bush insists: "House leaders chose politics over protecting the country -- and our country is at greater risk as a result." Yet he is the major impedance to the bill: Congress is refusing to grant immunity to the telcos, and won't pass a bill out of a fear of a veto. Maybe Bush should ca…

OK, I had ranted elsewhere about the phrasing "only a theory" and then blogged about it. The topic comes up a lot in certain clashes, but the specifics are not relevant here. ecoli raises a point: "Maybe we should just change the terminology we tell the public… will they shut up then?" and the comments section isn't the best place for a discussion. So here goes: No, I don't think they will, and I'm not convinced it's a good idea. In this case there might have been an opportunity to just say "Don't worry, evolution will be presented as a theory" and pre-empt some of the controversy, all the while the scientific-literate folks could stifle a smirk because we kno…

The American military is blocking windpower schemes on a "presumption of hazard" basis. The big 'mills interfere with radar. Apparently any windfarm within a 60 mile radius of a radar installation is a defence hazard This appears to be a slow-burner of a story that has recently had a light shone on it (for me) in an article in this mornings U.K. news. I offer no links. Just search "radar windpower", and choose your own prejudice. So, want to save the polar bears and penguins? Don't join the armed forces, their priorities differ from yours....

The US is planning to shoot down it's failing spy satellite. Is that really as stupid as it sounds? Because it looks to me like the U.S. military is set to turn a single, compact object that probably wouldn't do any harm into a cloud of debris that could potentially do a lot of harm, particularly to other satellites and to US stances on the demilitarization of space and criticisms of China's satellite killer. Physics isn't my forte, though, so maybe I'm misinterpreting.

If it were possible to train monkeys or other primates to do boring labor like factory work, would you find this acceptable? What if they had to be genetically engineered, or specially bred to be smarter so they could do the work? Why aren't trained monkeys being used for labor today? There's some parallels to other animal issues, like food animals, and other animals already used for stuff like plowing, guiding blind people, companionship, etc.

Pakistan has been by far the most politically interesting country to observe during the War on Terror, and this week's events were certainly no exception. It's very promising to see Pakistani moderates returned to power, as voters denied both the continuation of Musharraf's policies and the rise of Muslim extremism. I thought Senator Biden had the most interesting comments today, saying (paraphrased) that our safety (as it relates to Pakistan's impact on the WoT) is based not on the continuance of a hated government, but on the willingness and determination of the moderate Pakistani citizen. He went on to say that America should be willing to continue to aid Pakis…

they`re going TOO FAR now! there has been proposed, a License to Smoke now! you`ll have to pay 10 GBP and fill in a Deliberately over-complicated form once a year just to buy Cigs! not only that but: "The paper also proposes incentives for large companies to provide a daily "exercise hour" for employees and a ban on salt in processed food." taken from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/feb/15/smoking.health http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/uk_politics/7247470.stm http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article809014.ece what next, a Beer drinking Licence, a gay sex permit, a Salt license? this is just Sooo wrong on so many different levels, I don`t kno…

Fidel Castro announced his retirement from the presidency of Cuba. The embargo worked!

I recently found this bit of prose which provides a lot of perspective, IMO, on the old Pledge controversy. What if instead of adding "Under God" to the Pledge, Congress altered the Pledge to read as follows:

I know I've been kinda ranting about the Florida primary situation, so I apologize in advance for bringing it up once again, but I just thought you guys might appreciate a humorous side note about it. These are the stickers they gave out today to all Florida primary voters:

While the ban passed the Senate (despite an anticipated veto), it received a rather odd nay, from John McCain: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/13/washington/13cnd-cong.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin McCain was tortured as a POW has been an outspoken critic of torture in the past. He also has a pretty resolute opinion on the matter of whether waterboarding is torture: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/26/us/politics/26giuliani.html?ref=politics What does this make him? A hypocrite? A coward bending to the will of the White House? Or maybe just a flip-flopper...

do you think its right that activists use the first amendment of the constitution to hide behind when presenting their case? Im all for freedom of speech but i think they are abusing the power a little bit! and taking into consideration that im liberal and call me out if it seems that liberals are the ones who mostly use the first amendment to their advantage! So let me know what you think?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23073316/ According to an AP poll, 68% of Americans feel that getting out of Iraq, a war which, for America, has been second only to World War II in total cost, would benefit the US economy, with 48% saying it would fix the country's economic problems "a great deal." This belies a recent decision by the US Congress to pump cash into the hands of low and middle income citizens as a potential band-aid for an ailing economy, however the same poll reveals the majority of Americans think this is an unwise decision. Do you feel that pulling out of Iraq would benefit the US economy? Would there be a human cost to such a pullout, and if so, w…

David Suzuki, one of the most prominent scientists in the western hemisphere evangelizing that humans are responsible for global warming, the recipient of 22 honorary degrees from Canadian, American and Australian universities for his hard work in promoting this cause, the recipient of Canda's most prestigious award, the Order of Canada, recipient of the UN's Kalinga Prize, hailed by the Canadian Broadcast Company as one of the "Top Ten Canadians", author of 43 books including a best-selling series of children's books about science, has proposed that politicians who don't push the ecological agenda forward should be arrested and incarcerated. So much for scient…

This link brought to you by the liberal media conspiracy, a.k.a. FOX News: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,330637,00.html The US House of Representatives is poised to vote as to whether two of Bush's advisers are in contempt of court for failing to testify in accordance with Congressional subpoenas. Joshua B. Bolten, White House chief of staff, and Harriet E. Miers, former White House counsel, were summoned to testify as to whether several United States attorneys were dismissed for political reasons. You may recall this issue as the one which effectively forced former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales from his post, unless you have a memory like Albert…

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=3978231&page=1 The above link goes to an ABC News exclusive interview with former CIA analyst John Kiriakou, who led the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah. The intelligence gathered by waterboarding led directly to the disrupting of numerous attacks against civilians. Kiriakou states clearly that Zubaydah was not made cooperative by any traditional imprisonment means, such as seclusion and normal interrogation. He simply was not going to give any information. Under waterboarding he lasted 35 seconds, after which time he had a vision from Allah telling him to cooperate with authorities (no, really), after which time he pr…

"I didn't major in math, I majored in miracles" So said Mike Huckabee over the weekend. http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1711811,00.html I know it's a bit out of context, but none of their statements are ever truly out of context during an election campaign, and this one was certainly aimed in the direction of a specific political group. (sigh)

I thought it best in the interest of common ground and emotion that I start this thread myself, being a well-known right-of-center member here -- this way at least it doesn't look like the thread was started by a leftie as a "in your face" kind of thing. But of course this has become a major news story now, and it has interesting political implications, so I think it's a valid subject for discussion. The far right is really beside itself over the front-runnership (for lack of a better term) of John McCain. Rush Limbaugh recently said that for the first time in his life he was considering not voting Republican! Ann Coulter reportedly said the other day that she…

Looks like he may have topped Clinton in total delegates after Super Tuesday: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0208/8358.html?reddit Anyone else happy about this? I sure am...

I wasn't sure where to post this, since it is the politics of physics, but I thought the politics forum was more appropriate. The UK's Science and Technology Facilities Council today published their delivery plan for the period 2008 - 2012. The STFC is responsible for particle physics, astronomy, nuclear physics and the funding of large science facilities generally. It was formed recently by a merger of PPARC (the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council) and the CCLRC (Council for the Central Laboratory of the the Research Councils). Strangely, just after its formation, they announced that they were short by about £80M, so that new logo and all the new hea…