Politics

Can anyone find a link for the detailed study? All I can find is the appalling conclusion: I'm feeling much better about the relative state of America's educational system.

A recent study suggests that caffeine can actually increase your chances of being convinced by an argument, after other studies suggested that it can also improve cognitive performance. The study shows that those who drink a significant amount of caffeine and then read articles opposed to their point of view are more likely to change their opinions than those who had no caffeine. Other factors indicate that it may be due to increased cognitive functions that allow greater analysis of the subject, rather than simply a better mood. http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn9280

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6DBn0BncMk Soo... what the hell? The MPAA is getting our government to threaten trade sanctions against Sweden because some of their citizens run a service which facilitates technology for pirating movies. The Pirate Bay hosts no illegal content, only metainformation, and the Swedish government has determined that this is legal. Why does the MPAA get priority over US companies who rely on Swedish products? What about US citizens who use Swedish products? Should they all suffer just so the MPAA gets their way? This is absolutely ridiculous. Words cannot express my contempt. I absolutely loved in the interview in the end …

I mean come on we won, it was a LONG time ago. They shouldnt be able to get out of paying taxes any more. They drive on our roads and benefit from US citizens but dont have to pay themselves. Think of the way we treated black people. Why dont we give them anything?(just an example, i know that there were different situations) I can see why reservations were implimented at first but i think its time to move past it. Anyone else have any thoughts on the subject?

hello not sure if this should be here or in religion or politics. some time ago public television in the u.s. ran program on the scope's monkey trail. the link is to the transcript of the program. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/monkeytrial/filmmore/pt.html thought it might prove of some interest to see site members. the supposed creationism verus evolution trial becoming a platform for freedom speech verus social darwinism. how scopes' voluteered to the aclu to be prosecuted not over evolution but freedom of speech. and how the town authorities encouraged him to do so to attract business to their town. it bit long to read, but i believe worth the ti…

While regular soccer World Cup '06 has taken over Germany, a lesser known Robo World Cup 2006 has also been going on over there. I found this really interesting article on Technology Review about the Robo World Cup 2006, and the fact that scientists have developed robots to not only play in the games, but actually act as commentators as well. This is the first year that robots have done this, and, while still only making basic comments, they actually come up with what they say by themselves, without someone telling them to say it at a certain time. I'm sure the the article explains it much better! Check it out here: http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?ch…

The very first clinical trials for a stem-cell based product are just around the corner, for a treatment for damaged spinal tissue. The treatment can quite possibly help patients with damaged spinal cords regain movement in their body, and scientists say the risks are minimal. This represents a major step forward in medical science, being the first clinical use for embryonic stem cells since their culturing in 1998. There may be opposition from ethics groups, but researchers say the treatment itself should be safe, and it could be the first of many revolutionary new treatments. http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn9349

A new study on rodents suggests that our own good hygiene may be at fault for the broad range of allergies we suffer from, saying that early exposure to potential allergens can allow our body to easily adapt to them. The study collected rats from the wild and from a laboratory and compared levels of an antibody in their bloodstream. The wild rodents had much higher levels of a particular antibody that is produced in response to foreign particles, and the researchers believe high levels of this antibody may prevent chronic overreaction when exposed to the particles (allergies). http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn9357

http://media.libsyn.com/media/sciencefriday/scifri-2006061623.mp3 Tom Bethell, author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science, debates Chris Mooney, author of The Republican War on Science. I can't believe how many blatant falsehoods Bethell manages to bilge throughout this piece. I may be a bit biased having worked in climate science/global warming research, but I can assure you that those who dissent from the majority opinion absolutely do not see their funding pulled simply because they dissent. I used to work for such an individual. He served on a number of influential committees including the National Research Council. His opinion was very much appr…

This film is "A translated harangue from China to the U.S.A. that laughs at our missteps" (Warning: Frothing with obscenity, in subtitles only) http://festival.sundance.org/2006/watch/film.aspx?which=402&category=DOC I thought this film was brilliant, not only in pointing out America's foibles in the international marketplace, but also pointing out how China has grown into a business juggernaut through the exploitation of its own human resources. Through some pretty dark sarcasm the film manages to make about as much fun of China as it does America. Watch it, it's awesome! What's your take?

I've been reading Steven Milloy's "Junk Science Judo", and I have to say it's pretty intriguing. I do understand the criticisms, and I think a true skeptic has to recognize that someone who is allegedly on the payroll of a company like ExxonMobil or the tobacco companies cannot objectively speak out against global warming or the dangers of second-hand smoke inhalation. But it's really the larger issue that I'm interested in anyway. Specifically, this allegation by Milloy that the practice of science in this country (the US) has become a matter of scare tactics and what he calls "junk science". I'm not sure I agree with him about the extent of the problem, but …

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/06/12/state/n153942D73.DTL&hw=judge+turns+down+atheist&sn=001&sc=1000 Do you believe "In God We Trust" on our currency represents a violation of the Establishment Clause of the US Constitution? I recall an episode of Hannity and Colmes hosted in front of a large audience where they invited Michael Newdow. Oliver North was also there (host of FNC's War Stories program) and has his go at arguing with Newdow, producing a bill from his pocket and asking Newdow to read what it said. It's one tool that Christians use to argue that the US is a "Christian nation," despite the founders intentions to t…

hello like to pose the question on how many people out there think goverment agencies are working with drug cartels to help combat the war on terroism. thought: easiest way to smuggle a weapon, or chemical into an industrialised nation would be through the assistance of people who already have highly developed networks to do so. such as drug runners. whom import millions of tons of product into nations world wide. countries such as iran and afganistan that produce large amounts of opium would be well aquainted with such organizations. to help prevent terrorists from making use of such organizations, how many out there think that goverments that normally co…

I belong to another forum focused on this topic. The name of the forum is "Free Palestine," but there are several people who are trying to argue the opposite as well. What sickens me is that people (on both sides) are so busy arguing about who owns the land and who deserves to be there more, that neither side understands that nobody is going anywhere. The Palestinian terrorists/ extreme zionists are so hung up about being the sle occupants of the territory, but, in truth, both sides deserve to be there and both sides are staying. I seem to be one of the few people who realize that on that discussion board. I do not favor a two state solution b…

Scientists have recently found a primordial solar system that appears to have an abnormally amount of Carbon, the element at the base of life on Earth, present. This is fascinating because we may be seeing something similar to what happened in our solar system many billions of years ago. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060608092215.htm -- Ryan Jones

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200606/s1658782.htm Does this event change anyone's perspective on the situation in Iraq? Does it in some way justify the record numbers of deaths which have occured in the past month?

If you've not seen the clip, it's worth watching. "I Have Never Seen People Enjoying their Husbands’ Death So Much??" Yowzers.

What single cause could bring groups as diverse as the Common Cause, Christian Coalition of America, American Civil Liberties Union, Gun Owners of America, MoveOn.Org, Feminist Majority, Consumers Union and hundreds of other wildly diverse groups together in one coalition? You know anything that could bring some of these groups into agreement would have to be a very important issue and it is. That issue is Network Neutrality. Simply put it is the concept that the Internet service providers consumers use to connect to the Internet (e.g. AT&T, Verison, Comcast, TimeWarner, etc.) should not have the ability to control what websites consumers can access or what Inte…

So why don't they pay property taxes? Not that you could ever ever ever do away with the arrangement in a hundred years, but do any of you actually think this is right?

I allow for the strong feelings which might exist on this issue on both sides yet the timing appears cynical, the remedy disproportionate to the pretext and, worst of all, Republicans are provoking a pissing match on hollowed ground. I defend the Bush administration these days more than most here, sometimes out of a contrarian stubbornness. Not this time. Two wrongs do not make a right but Reid's diatribe qualified for a far distant second place "outrage of the week:" How can any American make political hay out of Haditha? This is a week where there are no limits.

In this week's Science there is an article regarding the deployment of Neutrino detectors at the bottom of the mediterranean ocean, by astronomers, with the aim of understanding cosmic-ray emission by other galaxies. Apparently, the neutrino "telescopes" are very sensitive light detectors, that measure the light emmitted by neutrinos when they collide with atoms. According to the article, the detection of neutrinos requires not only complete darkness but also locations where background levels are extremely low, such as deep under water (a the bottom of various oceans) or in underground mines with mass of earth above. The astronomers can selectively choose which ga…

I'm repulsed by Reid's blatant use of Haditha along with another laundry list of complaints. http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Democratic_leader_enumerates_issues_gay_marriage_0605.html What an irrational mishmash of concepts. Atrocities occur in war, sometimes by military "necessity" (How could airborne troops make prisoners of every German that surrendered the night before D-Day and still accomplish their objectives?) and other times simply because a kid with enough firepower to level a small city blows a fuse. The ultimate test of character is not adversity but is to be given power over other human beings and Americans, like all nationalities, will fail t…

Japanese researchers were able to create, by measuring the face and hands of Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, a model of what her voice would sound like. The model was made by physically duplicating what her skull may have been like, and should reproduce her voice within about 90% accuracy. Creation of such "voice prints" is usually used in police investigation work. http://today.reuters.com/tv/videoSto...RelatedVideo-3

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/14746977.htm I'm really torn on this bill. At first I wasn't opposed to it because I realized it was aimed squarely at Westboro Baptist, and if I could pick anyone on this planet to be locked in a room with while I'm holding a baseball bat, it'd be Fred Phelps. I'm kind of dismayed that it really isn't going to amout to much as far as Westboro Baptist goes, besides perhaps giving the families some much needed peace. Furthermore, while I would never consider protesting at a solider's funeral (except, perhaps as the Onion suggested, I might show up to save the whales), I can't help but feel that…

Interesting story in today's New York Times about how the failure of Russian authorities to shut down a popular and long-running MP3 site may stop Russian entry into the World Trade Organization. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/01/world/europe/01cnd-mp3.html?ex=1306814400&en=4c9bcba30952e86b&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss It's surprising that we're talking about an MP3 download site in the same context as the fight between airplane manufacturing giants Boeing and Airbus. But while I'm no fan of the American recording industry and it's army of lawyers, it does make sense because this is exactly what the WTO is about -- a venue for leveling th…