Politics

Theoretically, a plasma bubble could be used to block radiation from reaching astronauts on long journeys. If so, then the heavy protective shielding currently necessary could be replaced by a lightweight plasma shield. When traveling into space astronauts fight against cosmic radiation, from the sun and from outside the solar system. For current trips to the moon, the Earth's magnetic field can offer some protection. But if a journey to Mars were undertaken, the astronauts would be vulnerable to radiation, possibly causing cancer. Heavy metal plates would offer enough protection, but they're weight creates complications and makes them impractical for use with regards…

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060729/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_foreign_words The Iranian President issued a decree today banning foreign words that have crept into the language, among the 2000 words to be replaced pizza is being replaced with "elastic loaves". Apparently they are less sensitive to arabic words that have moved into the language as the koran is written in arabic. now if it isn't fascism when the government tries to control what words you can use I don't know what is.

We are ruled by politics, which, for all intents and purposes, is the art of compromise. Sadly, this includes compromise with illogical people. Therefore, politics can't be purely logical until everyone doing the politicking agrees that all arguments for a position should be free of logical fallacies. Thus politics remains a haphazard, illogical decision making process. It is my belief that a logical government would govern best, and that law should represent a consistent formal logic system with prespecified and universally agreed upon axioms (which can change over time) from which every law can be derived through logical argumentation. I'm not saying this is pra…

This has a bad smell to me. I am very supportive of Israel's position but I'm not sure that the PM's position hurts Israel considering our support. Snubbing the prime minister of Iraq at this time seems almost calculated to disrupt. It has the smell of blatent politics triumphing over national security. Instead of making his own serious foreign policy statement, here's Schakowsky making the most hay possible against the Bush admininstration: I'm sure it will help this fledgling democracy if their Prime Minister is humliated before the world. Let's never forget that national security is about blasting Bush. Nothing comes before that primary goal. …

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/07/14/mideast/index.html I was pretty blown away and didn't see this coming at all. Do you think we'll get sucked into a larger war now with Syria, Lebonon and Iran? I am more than a little nervous this could get out of control.

"A controversial alternative to black hole theory has been bolstered by observations of an object in the distant universe, researchers say. If their interpretation is correct, it might mean black holes do not exist and are in fact bizarre and compact balls of plasma called MECOs. Rudolph Schild of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, led a team that observed a quasar situated 9 billion light years from Earth. A quasar is a very bright, compact object, whose radiation is usually thought to be generated by a giant black hole devouring its surrounding matter. A rare cosmological coincidence allowed Schild and his colleagues…

the policy of every country to my knowledge when faced with a terrorist group has been to not negotiate with them for fear of inviting more terrorists. My question is this, is this policy correct? While I understand the reasons behind not negotiating with terrorists, particularly the fear tha it legitimizes their actions as an effective means of protest. However when faced with terrorists groups on the scale of hesbollah and hamas, is there any other option than to negotiate?

This has been an interesting story to follow here in South Florida. As you all probably know we have a large community of Cubans, known collectively as the "exiles", who are very sensitive to anything along these lines. Recently it was discovered that schools in Miami-Dade County have a book on their shelves called "Vamos a Cuba". No, it's not an instruction manual about how to leave Cuba on a raft! (But that title sure sounds like it, doesn't it?!) It actually translates as "A Visit to Cuba", and it's about life for people (especially children) in Cuba. It's part of a larger series of children's books about social life in various countries of the world. No…

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/07/11/budget.deficit.ap/index.html?section=cnn_topstories Bush is now saying tax cuts are responsible for a reduced deficit: This harkens back to the Reagan-era "Laffer curve" argument, that decreasing tax rates boosts the economy and in doing so generates greater tax revenue. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laffer_curve Is this sort of fiscal policy sound? Here's one argument that it's not: http://finance.yahoo.com/columnist/article/economist/4065?p=1

With the way things are today and with the middle east does anyone think that there will be a draft? (Mod Edit: This question refers to American politics.)

Survey taken from June 14-June 24, 2006 with 2,849 valid interviews of total sample of 3,120 in 18 of Iraq's 18 provinces. Margin of Error - +/- 3% Do you feel tha Iraq is generally heading in the right direction or wrong direction? Right: 41% Wrong: 35% Don't Know: 19% No answer: 5% Baghdad, Kurdish, Mid-Euphrates and South areas had less than 25% wrong direction poll numbers. Northern Arab = 86% Wrong Direction; Sunni Areas = 63% Wrong Direction. Note that the Right Direction numbers start at 51% in 5/04, peak at 67% in 4/05, dipped to 30% in 3/06 (the first poll ever where the right direction number dipped below the wrong direction) before goin…

I thought we might share some of the more interesting local political spots from our various areas. My favorite is from a dark horse governatorial candidate in Oklahoma by the name of Jim Evanhoff. I've only seen it once because the guy probably has no money. The spot starts with two folksy farmers talking about high gas prices and illegal immigration. One of the gentlemen farmers says something like, "Bud, did you know Jim Evanhoff has a plan to stop illegal immigration?" Bud, visibily excited, replies, "Well then I'm going to vote for Jim Evanhoff!" The camera flicks to Jim who promises that he does indeed have a plan to solve these problems. He concedes th…

http://www.physlink.com/News/102605NuclearPetition.cfm The DOD is requesting nuclear first-strike capibility against non-nuclear targets. Over 470 physicists have signed off in opposition.

http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/health/HealthRepublish_1689438.htm

This is about the new war between Isreal and Lebnon. Plz add comments here and give your opinions about the situation. I think world peace organization should really stop these two from fighting, it's killing innocent ppl n children, n i believe the main cause is religion. I think the Iranian government should stop supporting Hezbollah, most of us persians didn't even want Islamic republic, it was forced on us, n now we don't want to support these ppl but our government does it

Information has been extracted from a 43,000 year old wolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) bone. The gene, Mc1r, controls the creature's hair colour. The gene, which is responsible for hair colour in some modern mammals too, reveals that wolly mammoths were dark brown, pale ginger or blonde in colour. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5154892.stm

For those who ever wanted to be a fly on the wall at some major event like a G-8 summit, nows your chance. During a "photo opt", Bush Blair and others were caught talking candidly amongst themselves about the Israeli situation. CNN has been playing the recordings today and I'm sure the other news networks are doing the same. Very interesting.

http://www.cnn.com/rssclick/2006/POLITICS/07/13/cialeak.lawsuit.ap/index.html?section=cnn_topstories The other day on Keith Olbermann the basic conclusion was the White House got through the whole Plame affair unscathed. Will this shake things up a little?

A video of a reporter interviewing looters after Katrina, including a looting New Orleans cop, who accuses the reporter of looting!

One Iraqi parliament speaker blames the Jews. He's claming that 'the Jews' are financing acts of violence in order to discredit 'Islamists.' It seems people will make all sorts of ridiculous claims to shift responsibility away from themselves. I find it funny how they think that 'The Jews' can act like a single organization that functions to fund conspiracy theories. Sigh... maybe I should stop reading the news. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/738332.html

Remnants of a meat-eating kangaroo with fangs were found recently in Australia's Queensland state. The killer kangaroo, Ekaltadeta, had large forearms, so it couldn't hop like a kangaroo of today, but galloped instead. Ekaltadeta, who lived between 10 and 20 million years ago, was described as having "well muscled-in teeth, not for grazing" by vertebrate paleontologist Sue Hand. "These things had slicing crests that could have crunched through bone and sliced off flesh." This is almost nothing like how kangaroos of today are. The team was studying the fossils to better understand how they were affected by the changing climates of 5 to 24 million years ago. http…

At Hebrew University, in Jerusalem, a university founded by Albert Einstein, 1300 letters to and from the great scientist were recently opened, giving the world new insight on the private life of the man. Perhaps what was most surprizing in the letters was Einstein's openess about his extramarital affairs in letters to his cousin and his second wife. It also appears that we a more caring father than previously documented. Also documented is the account of Einstein's prize money, as a 1921 Nobel laureate. Apparently, much of the money was invested in US bank, causing it to be lost when the depression hit, which caused friction with his first wife, who was supposed t…

Bones of an elephant-like animal, the mastodon, have been found in Michigan. The remnants were confirmed to be that of a mastodon by scientists at the Cambrook Institute of Science. Nearly 250 others have been found in Michigan. Mastodons roamed the region until they became extinct between 10,000 and 12,000 years ago. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060711/ap_on_sc/mastodon_bones;_ylt=Ah3F1rJ0vWa7eh6WgXVV__cPLBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTA0cDJlYmhvBHNlYwM- Image from Wikipedia.

Quantum computers (QC) are one step closer to mass production due to the development of a 2 dimensional ion trap. Ion traps are a core part of a QC. They seem to be the best way of making qubits (quantum bits, equivalent of an electrical bit). They work by trapping super-cooled ions in an electric field, lasers can then be used to manipulate the ions, changing their quantum state. The advantage of these new traps is that it's easy to manufacture lots of them, so many traps could be connected to make a quantum chip. The device has been successful when tested with magnesium ions, the next test is to make sure the trap works with ions more suitable for QCs. http:…

If you don't think we're doing enough to protect ourselves from another terrorist attack, you may be interested to know that FBI officials uncovered and disrupted a plot to blow up the Holland Tunnel. This tunnel is vital for transportation from New Jersey into manhattan, and could've caused massive floodings in New York city, if it had not been uncovered. Monitering internet chat rooms helped uncover the plot and key suspects have already been arrested by Lebanese officials. http://www.forbes.com/technology/ebusiness/feeds/ap/2006/07/07/ap2864269.html