Politics

And what to we have to show for it? An increase in stop-and-search and armed officers on the beat. Not that I have any magical solutions up my sleeves but I am very cynical that gun culture can be seriously tackled by introducing policemen with guns. As much of a cliché as it is, root causes need to be dealt with. I think that the media as a whole bears responsibility for growing gun culture, it's not just grime music but also news reports that trivialise deaths caused by warfare and childrens TV that simply wont approach the issue seriously (AFAIK Blue Peter has not yet acknowledged the existence of firearms in London, I might be wrong). What do you guys thin…

Ok, how much did this hurt

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/local/bal-te.bz.savings02feb02,0,7479458.story?coll=sfla-business-headlines To summarize, the US Department of Commerce released a report the other day that showed that Americans now have a negative 1% savings rate! Interestingly, as this article explains, economists are actually split over the bottom line impact of this. The general consensus seems to be that it's bad, but how bad it is is up for debate. One of the interesting things they mention is that the poor aren't the only ones doing badly when it comes to putting money aside. Apparently wealthy people are also saving poorly. Of course if you have a lot of money…

Normally I'm consevative ,but in this case one is to many I think its time to ..count our losses and get out of Iraq Ithink it was stupid to go in inthe first place if you don't have a plan to get out. sure don't see any of these congressmans and Senaters families volunteering to go and get shoot at or carbombed. How many is to many:

Interesting blog post by George Musser at Scientific American: "Please stop talking about the global warming consensus" In a nutshell, he suggests that talking about a consensus makes sense from a scientific perspective, but may be rubbing laypeople the wrong way. Given the current political climate of the country, as well as the deep-seatedness of christian conservatism, I think perhaps he has a point. We should always do our best to educate positively rather than negatively, and encourage people towards the truth.

I finally figured out, at least partly, why I get so frustrated and confused with the left concerning terrorism. The POV's taken by republicans and the administration, the Iraq war, prisoners of war, racial profiling, wire tapping - all are met with fierce opposition. But, it's not the opposition that bothers me. It's this shrugged shoulders approach to terrorism that bothers me about them. It seems obvious to me that if republicans and the administration weren't going after terrorism, that no one would. As if, declaring war on our country almost 30 years ago and following through with various bombings over the years just isn't really an issue to the left. …

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0307/3227.html Hmm, seems awfully similar to 18 minutes of erased tape... Tony Snow was confronted on the matter today

(Note to non-US people: this thread refers to the US housing market) As a followup to this thread... So, I'm examining the present situation the US housing market is in, and I can't help but feel a tinge of the Savings and Loan Scandal which occurred under Reagan. In that case deregulation of the banking industry gave savings and loan companies many of the same powers as banks. This lead to the subsequent bankruptcy of over 500 savings and loans. The same thing is happening now thanks to deregulation of mortgage brokers. It's largely owed to the combination of mortgage brokers offering subprime loans, people willing to accept them, and the cluster**** which…

That's the Iraq withdrawl date set by the US Senate in a recently passed bill: http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2044498,00.html The bill passed by a narrow 50-48 margin. It's pretty clear Bush will veto. After all, he doesn't want Congress to have any input, err, to "micromanage" the war

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&ie=UTF-8&q=secret+self-help&btnG=Search Come on. Tell me again how it just makes SO much sense for scientists to be liberals. Do it. This nonsense -- all about how you can cure your own cancer and lose weight just by THINKING it -- was apparently featured on Oprah TWICE over the last week. Yeah. Liberals would NEVER do anything like Jesus Camp! Riiiiiiiiiiiight.

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