Politics

Well John Edwards threw his hat into the ring today. Unfortunately it fell into levee mud and got pretty dirty. What do you all think? Serious run or just a play for the loony left? He's staking out a pretty specific campaign focus, and I have to say it's not a traditionally popular one. What poor people is he going to help, exactly? The ones with two cars, a house, a DVD player, a game boy for each child, and 13 maxed-out credit cards, that the Census Bureau says are "living beneath the poverty line"? (I can help those folks right now -- just hand me their credit cards.) But seriously, I cannot remember a presidential run being based on a less popular i…

The ESA terrestrial planet finding telescope was launched yesterday. Pretty interesting step towards finding earth like extrasolar planets . http://www.esa.int/esaSC/120372_index_0_m.html http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0612/27corot/

A conundrum, you say? It couldn't possibly be true that liberal organizations would promote the censorship of video games? What could possibly cause liberals to throw away one of their their most fundamental principles -- free speech? You got it -- the religious right! These groups are asking WalMart to pull "Left Behind" from shelves because it promotes "violent religious intolerance". It's okay for them to sell video games that promote the violent destruction of policemen and prostitutes, but apparently it's not okay to promote the violent destruction of non-believers. (chuckle) Thank you, God, for hypocrisy, without which my life would be far less fulf…

http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/121306/faithguru.html Reading between the lines a bit, it's important to note that this isn't a defensive move. Strider's role won't be to help her avoid false moves or mis-steps (or even making sure the one-ring gets to Mordor). His job is to help promote her candidacy in religious circles. It's called "faith-based outreach", and it's going to be very important in 2008. With Hillary it's extra-important, because not only does she need it to appeal to moderate conservatives, but she also needs it to help her with African-American "base" voters in the primaries if Obama commits.

I came across this in Harper's Magazine. It's "a script for one of twenty-four radio advertisements targeting black voters aired during last fall's election campaigns, produced by America's PAC." DENNIS: The night's still young! Come on, let's head to the river and try out the slots! MICHAEL: Naw, I gotta get home. I promised Kathleen I'd help the kids with their homework. DENNIS: You know, the army really changed you. MICHAEL: War does that. It makes you value what you're fighting for... DENNIS: So I suppose you want me to vote Republican, like you and your soldier buddies. MICHAEL: Not at all. You've got no reason to. DENNIS: How's that? MICHAEL: Well, you do…

Note: this is not an excerpt (except for quoted text). See below for full original article. A private commission called for massive reform among schools - high school (years 9-12) in particular. The reforms suggested by the panel would make the US high school system more like those in Europe. The focal point of the high school reforms would be a "rigorous" state-developed exam in year 10 - similar to the Abitur, which is taken in year 12 at most German schools. If a student passed, he/she would have two options: stay in high school for two more years, either to "prepare for [an] elite 4-year university" or to enter a state university with credit for classes t…

I just ran across this story... Geez, how disgusting. Anyone have the scoop on sex segregated buses in Israel? Any other exclusionary prejudice policies going on in Israel? I can't believe this kind of thing still goes on in a civilized, developed country like Israel.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,237800,00.html Thank goodness. I'm glad they're finding ways around the anti-drug force.

My family is very excited because my sister is getting married soon. The man she is marrying is rather high income, so she has decided to stay home and be a housewife. She told me she will cook, clean, take care of the baby, and all that. I would have thought those tasks would take out the enthusiam from anyone but apparently some (maybe most) women like being traditional. The man she is marrying is rather rich, as I said, and as such he seems to have expensive tastes. He has in his driveway two Lexuses and he weaks Patek Phillipe watches. I have spoken to this man. His name is Stephen. I asked him why in the world he bought a Lexus LS when a Camry could easily get h…

When people ask me what area of work I would like to go in to, I usually mention my interests in Chemistry and Pharamacology and talk about how I would like to go into something related. Fairly often when I say this the person will suddenly look deadly serious and say 'what ever you do don't work for a pharmaceutical company, they're evil you know'. I always ask why but so far everyone has just bantered on vaugley never really giving me a satisfactory answer to my question. So do you agree? Is the pharmaceutical industry corrupt?

http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/mg19125681.400;jsessionid=NMGHKBGMCGMM this guys figured out how to create thrust from microwaves in a closed off copper waveguide. I was skeptical at first (equal and opposite reaction and all that) but it looks ok and its in newscientist so i would gues that it has passed more than a few hurdles already. i want the cool jet/hover car that it shows in the picture!

This is a short clip of a former university professor, Dr. Kamau Kambon of North Carolina State University, explaining the "solution" to the problems faced by black folks is to exterminate white people. This took place at a Pro-Black Media Forum http://www.dvorak.org/blog/?p=8063 And here's an article for further reading: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=46992 This is why we tend to see "pro-black" as anti-white. Just like most would cite pro-white as anti-black. Just semantics? I don't know. But I do know that supposed "pro-<insert race here>" events or institutions foster racism. This race based exclusivi…

I'm an American, but I'm curious about European perspectives on this. Should Turkey be admitted to the European Union? Personally, I think it's probably a bad idea. Half of turkey wants to be a modern, secular state, but the other half are basically Islamicists. Not a good ratio, and quite unstable. In America, "Evangelicals" (our closest equivalent to Islamicists) account for only about 20% of Americans, and they cause all kinds of trouble, as they are uncompromising and highly motivated. I don't think I need to make the argument that similar adjectives apply to a large percentage of Islamicists... Second, as I understand it, the major current standoff is about C…

Hi everyone.! This is my first time on this site I would like to tell what I really like this project "Politics" I've been reading it for a while, and I have learned so much here So, I decided to try my luck asking a few questions... How can you IM, PM or whatever you call it to certain members? I'd like to ask more questions about this project. By the way, nice domain name http://www.scienceforums.net

Please see the Guardian article below.... http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,1936635,00.html Forgive the rather ardent thread title, but I was completely stunned when I heard this. I'm also clueless as to how this can improve grammar, spelling, punctuation and vocabulary. The sheer range of the English language, makes it a wonderful tool for expression, and articulation, and this really (in my mind) seems a very bad path to take. It just seems like an incredibly lazy way of expressing one's self, hence it's used for writing quick text messages. For this to be extended to exams, of all things, just seems baffling to me. So anyone have any thought…

To continue the Iraq debate without hijacking Pangloss's thread any further... Ndi / Mokele - You two seem to have interpreted my post as a pro-bush, pro-war opinion piece. I'm just sharing what I believe the plan is, what I believe the intent of the administration is, in this "war on terror". It's not my plan. I've already posted what my idea was and still is. It's interesting how both of you are so adamant about condemning the US as a failure, even though not a single country has solved Islamic Terrorism to date. Nothing anyone has tried yet, has worked. So, we're all failures. No country yet has been able to stop Islamic terrorism and whether or…

Hello What would happen if Sudam was put back into power. True he was convicted and sentenced to death. But sentences can be overturned on appeal. Could he restore stability to Iraq? Would he be more able and willing to halt Iran's Ambitions? He was the U.S. man once, could they use him again. And would he be worse than what Iraq is likely about to fall into? Mr D

Simple enough question, but actually pretty difficult to answer clearly, or in such a way that all agree. See what you can do with it. Answers should try to address the following categories: - Politics (international and US-domestic) - Economics - Military/Defense (training, fitness and equipment, i.e. readiness/preparedness) - Social/Misc (trust-of-government issues, popular partisanship, "mood of the country", etc) - Impact on other major issues/events (war on terror, national security, and impact on unrelated events like abortion, gun control, immigration, etc) (Note for international readers: Just to clarify, this question is intended to be US-focused…

Harvard scientists found people who ate bacon at least five times a week were 59% more likely to develop the disease than those who never did. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6194502.stm

A few months ago a new from appeared on Jupiter and scientists all around the world have been watching it progress and develop in hopes it would lead to insights of how the Great Red Spot originally formed. The Little Red Spot is gaining strength and its wind speed is increasing although scientists have no idea why at this time. http://www.physorg.com/news79713185.html -- Ryan Jones

This is not a rhetorical question. As I understand it, it first arose as intentionally merely a matter of terminology. From the wikipedia article (which I recommend), the goal is outlined as follows: 1. Certain people have their rights, opportunities, or freedoms restricted due to their categorization as members of a group with a derogatory stereotype. 2. This categorization is largely implicit and unconscious, and is facilitated by the easy availability of labeling terminology. 3. By making the labeling terminology problematic, people are made to think consciously about how they describe someone. 4. Once labeling is a conscious activity, individual mer…

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,235279,00.html I don't know if anyone is really interested in stirring this subject up, but watching the video that goes along with this article reminded me of that nagging question I've never received a satisfactory answer for...Why did the UN choose that particular stretch of land we know as Israel? Why did the UN decide that palestinians shall pay the price and force them to move? Why don't we understand how that would be unacceptable and would likely be militarily rejected by most of the powers involved in that process if it was imposed on them? Ok...I guess that's three questions. But the first one is the most…

well, here comes one more reason to start digging. drinks on me "Deposits formed in Martian gullies during the past seven years suggest that liquid water exists on Mars today. Researchers have observed two downhill tracks of light-colored material that were not present in images taken by the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft before 1999." from: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=596EADAB-E7F2-99DF-3F373E177D108C1D

Here's a search providing 233 links to the mainstream media's plethora of stories that came out yesterday about the new Danish study released yesterday indicating that the incidence of postpartum depression may be much higher than previously believed (13% in this study): http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&ie=UTF-8&ncl=1111752875 Now. That's all very interesting, but what does it really say in the end? That new moms are short on sleep and under a lot of stress, right? Um.... DUH! Women, according to the study, are 7 times more likely to suffer psychiatric illness than other women, due to physiological changes and mental stress. Shocking…

Here's the PDF file: http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/iraq_study_group_report.pdf I have to admit that the number of attacks and persistant violence there is much worse than I thought. What do you all think of this report?