Politics

Maybe there is a competency issue.... I'd like to see how she slipped through. Good grief.

NASA has used supercomputers to model the effect of two black holes colliding. In each simulation (the only variable was the starting positions) the black holes produced identical waveforms during the collisions. If other variables such as mass and spin could be varied then theoretically "templates" for all different waveforms could be calculated. These developments will help LIGO in its effort to detect these ripples (or waves) in spacetime as predicted by Einstein in his Theory of General Relativity. The 3D simulations used more than 2,000 of the machine's 10,000 64-bit processors, running over a period of 80 hours. BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4…

The Hubble Space Telescope has once again proven to be invaluable in discovering things about our solar system, this time its a discovery relating to the recently found tenth planet. The planet (unoficially called Xena) has a diameter about 30% greater then that of Pluto putting it at about 1,490 miles in diameter. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/04/060417131556.htm - Ryan Jones

http://www.centralohio.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/B8/20060320/NEWS01/603200302/1002&template=B8 Doesn't this, I dunno, violate the Constitution in some way? Can one state really criminalize an activity you participated in in another state?

Yahoo story However you feel about Guantanamo Bay (and I think that this is indicative of how many people in Gitmo are being wrongly held), I think that this is an interesting story. Are they terrorists - after all, they were plotting probable terrorist action against a sovereign government, authoritarian as it may be? And two, given that they were admittedly "wrongly imprisoned" for nearly four years, and really have no place to go, should we be foisting them off on other countries (like Germany), or should we trade four years in jail for nothing for citizenship in our country?

It strikes me as per se racist to prejudge this case unless a person was there or knew the players or alleged vicitim. Although inevitable, it sickens me to see this tragedy used for political agendas and ratings. Why would anyone take a position as to guilt, unless they were members of the jury?

What do you guys think of all the criticism and calls for resignation Donald Rumsfeld has been getting recently from retired generals and the like? Should he resign?

Wasn't sure exactly where this belonged, so i figured that news reporters integrity probably belongs in politics. I read this blog entry on 'video news releases' (vnrs)... it's on a computer security blog, so it focuses on computer companies such as trend micro and intel, but if you follow the link to the centre for media and democracy you can see lots of companies using this technique. Basically, a company will make a news-reportesqu advert, and then send it to a news company such as fox, who will skin it up with their logo and stuff and then introduce it on their news program as 'a report on x by our reporter bobby mcbobson'. The advert then insidiously snea…

What do you think of the Seymour Hersch report? My guess is that the administration "leaked" the nuclear contingency plans to pressure the international community and Iran. I do not see us stepping up to the plate by ourselves to become an international pariah. Suppose the administration had ironclad intelligence - to the extent ironclad intelligence ever exists these days - that Iran will acquire the bomb and a delivery mechanism within the next six months? What is the appropriate response if any conventional attack would be ineffective?

From the The Weekly Standard

Physicists have not found the first ever gas that does not reach equilibrium! The trick is the gas is 1D. The team describe the gas as acting line a quantum Newton's cradle. http://physicsweb.org/articles/news/10/4/7/1 - Ryan Jones

PBS Frontline has produced another gem. "The Tank Man" is a 90-minute episode about the man who stood before the line of tanks near Tiananmen Square in June of 1989. His identity is still unknown, but the episode does not only a stellar recap of those events, but also delves into the modern perspective on the story, talking about how dramatically China has changed since those events and what those events mean to China today (including the current dialog and accusations about companies like Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Cisco aiding the Chinese government in not only censoring the media, but in capturing and detaining dissidents). In one of the more interesting moment…

According to this article, unborn babys can feel pain. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4875196.stm Does this change anyone's attitude about abortion?

A recent study suggests that the UK's testing system for bird flu may actually be missing most cases, leading officials to believe the flu isn't as widespread as it really is. New Scientist has talked with several bird flu experts, and they say that the numbers produced by the UK's tests are vastly different than expected. "There's something wrong with those numbers" says one Swedish expert, and others suggest that the techniques for obtaining fecal samples from birds are flawed. If they're right, it means that the UK may have a much larger problem than it thinks. http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg19025473.600

The US Senate this week is debating an immigration reform bill. There's some background in this article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/03/AR2006040301554.html One of the interesting things about the bill is that it enjoys bipartisan support. There are a number of senators who are opposed, but they come from both sides of the isle. Some of them are due to constituency opposition (an interesting confluence of the black leadership and the "bubba" vote), and some are opposed due to pressure from special interest groups (such as organized labor). This is, I believe, the first time that Freshman Senators Barrack Obama and Mel Mart…

Basic guidelines for this list: 1) The entry must be a broad-based comparison (i.e. a sweeping generalization). 2) It needs to be ideologically-based, founded on preconceptions or base understandings about a specific social/cultural/political group. 3) Racial stereotypes are excluded from this list. (Per forum rules.) 4) The poster must include his or her opinion on the characterization. Do you agree or disagree with it? 5) The characterization may be viewed by the poster as right OR wrong. (You can post something you agree with, or something you don't agree with.) ----------------- Here's a couple to start us off. I'll post one from each…

Yea im a communist at heart. Not because It's the cool thing to do, but because it's the right thing to do. But I want to take it a step further. Note that the idea presented below is merely a utopic vision of what I would like to see, and I realize the massive hurdles that would have to be overcome even if the plan was feasable. I present to you my plan: My government would be run by scientists and doctors. You have a set number of political slots open in a given community based on population. Each slot will be filled in order by success obtained in the education process and based on specialty. For instance, a slot may be open for a Biologist, and the person w…

Scientists have found a possible solution for making genome sequencing cheaper and more effective than was currently thought possible. This new method involves passing the DNA molecules through mathematical calibrated pours allowing the molecule to be sequenced accurately and effectively. This could be a big step forward in genome sequencing. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/04/060409153612.htm - Ryan Jones

The dangers with just one were servere but it has been found that there is another supervolcano. This new volcano is located in the Vilama Caldera in Argentina and seems to have to have matched Yellowstone's last continent-blanketing blast. http://www.physorg.com/news62779531.html - Ryan Jones

During research of lunar soil collected by Neil Armstrong in 1969, scientists have found startling new evidence that indicates that the Sun's composition is far different than we think. Originally, there were two theories about the Sun's composition, one suggesting it has a similar oxygen composition to the planets, while the other indicating that it has enriched levels of oxygen-16. But in fact, it appears that the Sun has lower levels of oxygen-16, exactly the opposite of what scientists expected. It just shows how much more we have to learn about our most important source of energy. http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200604/s1610398.htm

An interesting article from the Washington Post. At least it states the obvious fact that a president has the "unquestionable authority to approve the disclosure of secret CIA information to reporters." On the other hand, the headline seems to accept the fact of the "leak" as true, notwithstanding its hearsay nature and Libby's obvious incentive to color as much of his actions as possible with presidential authority. These same unnamed experts conclude that the "leak was highly ununusual and amounted to using sensitive intelligence data for political gain." Again, (i) we do not know that a leak was authorized at all, (ii) we do not yet know the nature of this…

I just noticed that my article os 'Government as a Business' has been locked. Ha Ha. There was some truth in it, though. I guess I should have posted that on the 'Humor' thread? Mike T

A new devlopment in the war against bacteria could be comming very soon thanks to researchers at the University of California. All cells use proteins, our body does, bacteria and viruses are the same. The process of protein replication is quite complex and it involves the unfolding of DNA or in bacteria RNA. So we can conclude that finding a drug to target the unfolded RNA while it is in this stage would block protein replication and so stop the cell functioning correctly, eventually killing the cell. Currently bacteria are becoming resistant to all our antibiotics, MRSA is an example and this new discovery could give a much needed edge back to researchers. ht…

A rare blue ring has been found arround Uranus, it is now only the second known planet with a blur ring! The apparently blueness of the ring is believed to occur because the material in the ring is much larger than the rings that are red. Further research is expected. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/04/060406231332.htm - Ryan Jones

GOVERNMENT AS A BUSINESS If the US was run as a business Being as the US is the most powerful corporation in the world, the president would have a salary of $500,000,000 a year. The US would be selling its security worldwide. Since there would be no competition, its prices would be sky high but the workers (soldiers) would be paid a minimum wage. Its technology would be available worldwide where there would be some competition, so its prices would be somewhat subdued. Say $1000 for a digital CD? There would be no corruption since there is no one to corrupt and no one could afford it. Congress would give themselves pensions of $1,000,000 a month. …