Politics

Pi day...YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Was going home from a buddy's house last night after a long overdue jam session and as I was leaving he directed me the safest way out of his neighborhood - the "hood" as he calls it. And it is, without a doubt. Now, crime has always been a huge issue with me, so this really insults the hell out of me. Why do we accept this? Why do we accept a crime rate? I should be able to walk down the street of the "hood" at 2 am without a drop of fear. Period. The fact we have such a thing as a "rate", implies we accept crime. Obviously we have to realize the realities of human nature, but what kind of goal are we setting when we accept a certain rate of crime - and our…

Good News ! Now it should be possible to regenerate human limbs. http://www.2000taletsvetenskap.nu/pdf/regeneration_of_mamalian_body_parts.pdf

This is kind of an ill-formed question. It occured to me recently that most people seem to think it would be best if the entire world spread adopted their own political idealogies. This includes ideas as broad or narrow as democracy, communism, Christian theocracy, secular libertarianism, etc. I, personally, don't really understand this, and it would be very strange to me if one political solution could be applied to any people, time, or situation. I want to live in a secular, liberal, capitalistic democracy, but I don't think that everybody should have to. There can be good monarchies, and if a country can make socialism work for them, I say more power to them. I mention…

Check this out: link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20070322/sc_livescience/acidsinpopularsodaserodetoothenamel And this is the article itself "Root beer could be the safest soft drink for your teeth, new research suggests, but many other popular diet and sugared sodas are nearly as corrosive to dental enamel as battery acid. ADVERTISEMENT Prolonged exposure to soft drinks can lead to significant enamel loss, even though many people consider soft drinks to be harmless or just worry about their sugar content and the potential for putting on pounds, the study says. The erosive potential of colas is 10 times that of fruit juices in just the …

I've always wondered why scientists tend to be more liberal / socialist, rather than conservative / capitalist. If that's inaccurate, correct me, but I don't think it is at all. The reason why this seems odd to me is because while I realize there are dozens and dozens of science categories, it seems all understand the basics of survival of the fittest. Most scientists seem to understand this concept on a deeper level than the rest of us, irregardless of their specialty. So, the people who understand nature's capitalism better than most of us, reject that concept in governing humans. Why is that? Many have their theories on why capitalism has worked so well…

I was in another Sciene forum and I am across the following: recently i have read that a massive asteriod coming towards our earth and it will hit nearly around April13th 2036. US scientist are working, but they are also just spotting which one closer and Europena space agency is doing the same Has anyone heard about it? I have a thread posted under the science fiction forum. I see my view as an un-explored avenue in the reaches of outer space. While pondering the question of the universe, man's existence, technology, global warming, and development I took the Faith vs. Science road. Along my journey I understood that: They are one in the same. As we…

Genetics researchers are developing a genetically modified tomato plant that produces fragments of HIV and Hepatitis B proteins during its growth, which can then be easily extracted and used as an oral vaccine for those diseases. The researchers hope the vaccine could be "grown" in the countries that need it most, where it could be then distributed in tablet form cheaply and efficiently. It is easier to make and use than an injected vaccine, and trials on mice have already found that feeding them the proteins will cause antibodies to build up in their immune systems. If it works out - as none of the 90 or so other potential HIV viruses have - it could possibly save mi…

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=2629683 Yep, a dolphin with hind limbs. Very cool, but not totally surprising; we've found hind limbs on whales a few times during the days of whaling, and have the bones preserved at several museums. Mokele

I have just watched some TV and saw some shocking brutal child abuse in the form of religious fanaticism. It is all caught on video and you can see it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCODIhAXbQM I am afraid for the children and I am thinking of going to police to get permission to get these children away from this crazy woman. What I would like to know is whether legally this woman's behavior is classified as child abuse.

I was surfing some computing forums earlier on and spotted this. Personally, i think its sick, forcing a living being into doing something, they do not wish to do. Whats to say they won't use this on human beings, or use animals in war. I think this is against animal rights, isn't it? Remote Control Pigeons

http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2006/12/21/japanese_light_trap/ Quantum computers move one step closer

Hi there all kinda new to this forum, im a bit of a science junkie n could'nt find any threads about this so decided to post one myself. just wanted to know your views and opinions. i read a few weeks ago that the world first fusion reactor will be built in france by the year 2012. for those of you that don't know what this is, it a new revolutionary way of getting energy. it works by separating hydrogen atoms and oxygen from water. as we all know water is 2 parts hydrogen and one part oxygen, thus the hydrogen a burnable gas, that can be converted to electrisity. The idea of fusion has always been an idea, and theoritecial possable but untill now scientist say they have…

After recent events, if I were to pick a Republican candidate, it'd be Guiliani. While I applaud McCain for both eschewing CPAC (which Guiliani did attend), and for lambasting Ann Coulter for using the word "faggot" at the event, it's pretty obvious what he's trying to do, and it seems to be failing on both sides. Liberals who saw him as a respectable conservative maverick willing to buck some of the retardedness which began to permeating the Republican party saw him playing more and more to his conservative base, supporting both Bush and the war, and then eventually to a degree capitulating to the administration on the use of torture. Conservatives at the same time sa…

The world's first inflatable spacecraft has successfully made it into space and inflated, says Bigelow Aerospace. The craft is a 9-foot wide model of what they hope will become the first commercial space hotel. The company plans on launching six to ten similar test craft into orbit, and then finally the inflatable hotel in 2012. Unfortunately, no suitable delivery vehicle for passengers has been developed, so the company is sponsoring a $50 million prize for the first company to demonstrate a reusable capsule capable of carrying 5 passengers. http://www.newscientistspace.com/article.ns?id=dn9546

This sounds a bit ominous: http://www.sea-launch.com/ "A Sea-Launch Zenit-33l vehicle carrying the NSS-8 satellite, experienced an anomaly today during launch operations. All personnel at the launch site are safe and accounted for." So what exactly was the nature of this "anomaly"? The video is on youtube:

We're now one step closer to achieving quantum computing, as scientists have actually altered the state of a single electron. quite amazing. http://www.tudelft.nl/live/pagina.jsp?id=4b3e55d0-1a34-4388-b3ca-acbe48c87696〈=en [Edited for sanity for front-page use - Cap'n]

Looks like Barack Obama is tossing his hat in the ring, running for US President in 2008. http://news.google.com/?ncl=1112770653&hl=en

A recent study in rats shows that teenagers who use marijuana may be more vulnerable to heroin addiction later in life, substantiating claims that marijuana really is a "gateway" drug. The test gave six rats doses of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, every three days, equivalent to smoking about one joint every three days. After the trial period was over, catheters were inserted in those rats and the control group, and the rats were allowed to press a lever to deliver heroin into their system. Those who had previously used THC were found to use more heroin daily, as the researchers believe the THC use affected their brain chemistry and actually lowered their se…

Certainly as of the late 1990's I read several of Europe's populations shrinking, at least potentially, with a birth rate plummeting quite below two+. I can see temporary economic problems when there are not many young workers to support the relatively large aging group. Beyond this, I am concerned about the economic mania, in general, for GROWTH. This seems to be the measure of progress in the United States, and seems ignorant to me. There is related discussion over the need for low-rung labor; neither the US nor Europe has dealt well with this. We need a more sane ideology to move into a livable future on this planet.

Am I the only one who thinks this commercial makes fun of homophobia rather than homosexuals? We can't even make fun of people who make fun of homosexuals? This kind of thing makes me want to start telling more gay jokes... http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,250575,00.html I don't know if this will work, but here's the link to the You Tube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9HK6SwCMBw

PBS Frontline has produced what looks to be another classic documentary. This one, entitled "News War", is a four-part series by former 60 Minutes legend Lowell ("Al Pacino Played Me in 'The Insider'") Bergman, which looks at the current crisis in the news industry and focuses on where it may be going. Understand -- I find it unlikely that I will entirely agree with his conclusions. It's pretty obvious that he'll blame political extremism and partisanship and probably land most of the blame on the right wing, but even more to the point, he won't show us the side of the news industry that has been contributing to its own demise, focused as it is on politically correc…

All of the demonizing and resistance to the Iraq war seems to come from this supposed "failure" mentallity, which is being exploited by Iran and the Iraq insurgency. So, if this evidence exists and there's truth to this, then when we talk about troop withdrawels and so forth, aren't we allowing the enemy's plan to work? Aren't we falling for it? I mean, if you know their intent is to make you believe you're losing and destroy your morale, then why would you believe you're losing and destroy your morale? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17064803/

The Wikipedia has a huge write-up on this that appears to cover the basic points, so let me link that here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Boston_Security_Scare The short version is that the Cartoon Network runs a program and some guerilla marketing was employed to promote it in 10 US cities. The marketing basically consisted of small flashing objects in the shape of the characters in the cartoon show, which were then placed on various buildings and other structures (bridges, for example) around town. Apparently nothing happened for several weeks, but then suddenly someone in Boston hit the panic button and all heck broke loose, with millions being spent on b…

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=2842529 Apparently the addition of a second amendment did the trick. It has the one Democrats hated, which gave a tax incentive for small businesses, but now it also has an additional amendment that raises taxes on people who make more than $1 million per year. Guess they figured that was a wash (idiots). The House will have to vote again, and it'll have to get past the president. I expect both of those things to happen, since the president already promised to sign if it included the first amendment, and as for the second amendment he just gave a speech on Wall Street railing about high pay for CEOs. As for the H…