Politics

Enjoy this rather pathetic Guardian op/ed in which the writer puts forth the completely unsubstantiated allegation that Bush/Rove/FBI stole the Mexican election for the conservative candidate. http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/greg_palast/2006/07/stealing_mexico_an_election_di.html Because, you know, the conservative party has been SO friendly to the US. And an evil Republican like Bush could NEVER even POSSIBLY enjoy the support of a liberal/left party. It's just inconceivable that he WOULDN'T tamper with their election! I'm amazed he doesn't suggest that Bush arranged for Britain to lose to Portugal in the World Cup.

All you "global warming skeptics" who are irrationally attacking the conclusions of the climate science community should read this article. The conclusions of this article make a substantially better argument against global warming alarmism than attacking the credibility of the climate science community. http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110008626

Looking at this: http://www.savetheinternet.com/=senatetally An interesting pattern emerges. One Republican is for net neutrality. Every other Republican that has declared a position is against net neutrality. All Democrats who have declared a position are for net neutrality. I never realized this was an issue that would divide itself so evenly across party lines...

The results from a recent clinical trial looks promising for a new compound called Sugammadex (in the Organon pipeline). Sugammadex is a novel selective neuromuscular binding agent (NMBA) that rapidly induces maximal neuromuscular recovery during end-of-anaesthia care, under 3 minutes depending on dose (2-4mg/kg). The anaesthesiology field is every excited about his drug since complete muscle recovery with conventional agents (acetylcholine esterase inhibitors) is often not achieved until 20 or 30 minutes post-anaesthesia. This slow recovery is associated with muscle weakness that can compromise a patients ability to ventilate, keep their eyes open, and consume a…

Like many, I've been opposed to the Department of Homeland Security from the start. I don't think another bureaucracy is the solution to our domestic security problems; I think existing agencies could've been augmented to correct those deficiencies. I think a substantial amount of money which has been pumped through the department has been squandered. I also think that DHS has had a negative impact on our civil rights. Given that, I was somewhat incensed by this story: http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/06/no_icons_no_mon.html Is Homeland Security really doing any good, or is it just another tool that our elected officials can use to get money in…

http://savetheinternet.com/ I've been reading some stuff on the web about congress shutting down the Internet. I don't think it's very possible. People can create their own Internet these days. To take down the Internet would mean taking down telecommunications, phone wires, satellites, etc.. I don't think it's possible for the government to ban the Internet. It's possible to destroy the Internet, yes. But for someone to ban it, no.

If you kiss a child, would that be pedophilia? E.g. look at the pic at the link below: http://fogarty7.lockergnome.net/blog/_archives/2005/1/9/235168.html

hello i believe it was the elderly american statesman franklin who once said ' a man who gives up a little bit of freedom for a little bit of security, deserves neither the freedom or the security'. so i was wondering how do you feel about goverments pressing more and more to take back civil freedoms, under the guise of providing greater security. terrorist make phone calls so we must monitors your calls, inspect your email. only information pertaining to the war on terrorism will be kept of course. to site mates over in england-london, how do you feel about all the surveilence monitoring equipment now watching you. facial recognition software being run on yo…

A new study shows that the radiation emitted by cell phones may make regions of the brain more "excitable" - leading to researchers suggesting cell phones may play a role in disorders such as epilepsy. The study measured the "excitability" of brain regions by strapping a cell phone to the heads of test subjects and then using pulses of trans-cranial magnetic stimulation on certain regions of the brain. Each pulse stimulates the brain, and the response can be measured through electrical activity in muscles. The researchers found that the brain was more responsive when the cell phone was switched on, suggesting its emitted radiation may affect the way the brain works. …

A new French study indicates that heavy metal exposure may cause autism in children, prompting researchers to wonder if autism could be treated by flushing heavy metals out of the body. The study examined urine samples from hundreds of French children and discovered that the levels of some byproducts of heavy metal exposure were up to 2.6 times more concentrated in children with autism. It is unknown whether this is a symptom or a cause of autism, as researchers are continuing to investigate. http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg19025535.400&feedId=online-news_rss20

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/07/04/korea.missile/index.html?section=cnn_topstories North Korea attempted to test fire a new version of their Taep'o Dong-2 ICBM earlier today. It failed less than a minute into the flight. Is this just sabre rattling, or should it be construed as an act of aggression? Is the US foreign policy towards North Korea effective, or is it putting us all in harm's way?

"WHEN, in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the Powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights; that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That, to secure these Rights, Governments are institute…

Here's a link to the surgeon general's report, released today amidst great hoopla, with all the major news networks headlining tonight's broadcasts with the story: http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/secondhandsmoke/report/ I haven't read it yet (so I will try to keep an open mind), but as I understand it, the report offers no new science whatsoever. No causal evidence has ever been offered that secondhand smoke causes anything at all! It's all simple statistical correlations, many of which are within the margin of error of the study! I guess I can understand the aspect of this that relates to smoking parents raising children in smoking environments. Ir…

NASA's Space Shuttle Discovery took off at 2:38 Eastern Time on July 4th, 2006 after being delayed since July 1st. It was the first launch since last year, and the second since about 3 1/2 years when a large piece of fuel tank insolation foam brought down Space Shuttle Colombia. A slice of foam that was no bigger than a crust of bread fell off of Discovery's external fuel tank following the delay on July 2nd. Engineers said that the foam was not big enough to cause any problems. Source: Yahoo news

I was wondering what y'all would think about using metaphors to talk about political issues, the writing of stories to write about political issues, so that it doesn't infuriate certain people, and so certain things that require intelligence to discern can be said, with less danger of worrying whether you'll be imprisoned. What do you think?

I was wondering if the world in general, is moving, and has moved to the point where we should be extremely discrete about exactly what we say, politically wise. Now I'm not talking things that are Dae Sure illegal, but things are not exactly wise to talk about against certain figures, which might get one penalized in indirect measures. Anyway, what's your opinion?

Producers of the new Superman movie removed the phrase "... and the American way" from Superman's motto. http://blogs.abcnews.com/theworldnewser/2006/06/superman_the_am.html Guess that's Hollywood for ya. But there's also an economic aspect, in the sense that this movie will be sold in overseas markets. Bah, some things just aren't right.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/06/29/scotus.tribunals/ Wait... I thought this was supposed to be an ultra-conservative court, packed with Bushie's friends?! What the heck is going on here?!

Fascinating example of politics in action. The US Senate defeated a no-flag-burning amendment tonight by a single vote. A similar amendment has already passed the House, enjoys the support of the President, and every single state's legislature (which, if I remember correctly, is where the final votes on amendments takes place) has written to Congress asking for the amendment, so this has to be viewed as a close decision. There's a fairly comprehensive story here: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2126480 One of the more interesting aspects of this story is that it was supported by a number of Democrats, including liberal icon Dianne Feinstein. …

While it may conjure up images of Spiderman for some, researchers have actually entered clinical trials in a drug to treat brain cancer with a particularly odd chemical: radioactive scorpion venom. The drug is an artificial version of the venomous protein attached to radioactive iodine. The compound attaches to the cancer cells and the iodine promptly irradiates them, killing the cells with minimal damage to the surrounding area. The treatment has already increased patient survival rates and helped treat tumors, and many hope it will pass clinical trials and become one of the many cancer-fighting drugs in the medical arsenal. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases…

hello it say first up, this question will be taken by many to be in bad taste, or heartless and politically incorrect. the question however is what has been the direct benefit to you by zarqawi's death. currently living the united states, and have found the price of petrol has dropped from approx. $3.35 a gallon to $3.02 a gallon. as since the man's death gas prices have fallen as world producers feel there will be a more stabile supply, hence more competition so the need to lower prices. so everyone says this war in the gulf is a war over oil\gas, so we the western nations are eliminating people who could disrupt our fuel supplies. if you accept this is a …

Good for them. I don't think the portrayal of withdrawl-advocates as "cut and runners" is fair, but I still think it's a bad tactical move to set a timetable, and setting a timetable has always been more about politics than realities anyway, so it's just a bad idea. If you want to see how your congresscritter voted, this article has a list of each vote, broken down by state. My critter voted for the resolution. I guess the down side of this story is that the House spent 13 hours debating a non-binding resolution instead of getting on with the business of government. There's something to be said for that, but I think this was the right thing to do.

A new silicon-germanium semiconductor chip produced by IBM reached 500 GHz in tests recently, setting a new speed record for a computer chip. The test was conducted at 4.5 Kelvin (-451 degrees Fahrenheit), but the chip still reached 350 GHz at room temperature. It promises to start the next generation of powerful computing chips before quantum computing becomes feasible. http://www.eetimes.com/news/semi/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=189500692

Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys has suddenly and inexplicably stopped working, says a NASA spokesman. The problem appears to be increased voltages from a faulty power supply, although it could also be caused by corrupted memory or some other unknown problem. Scientists are confident they can resolve the problem, but it goes to show how desperately Hubble needs maintenance to continue operating. It is estimated that Hubble will cease working in 2008, when its batteries and gyroscopes will fail. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060624/ap_on_sc/hubble_camera_problem

I was wondering what everybody's opinion is/was of Peak Oil. What they thought would happen, if they think it's real, what they think the implications will be, when they think it will be ect...