Politics

Looks like Saudi Arabia has a lot more oil than previously believed. They're talking about an increase of almost two-fold, and enough of it is from new sources that they're looking at a 33-50% capacity increase (from 10 to 15 million barrels per day). Of course this is just a drop in the bucket compared with the 20+ mbpd increase we're looking at over the next 5-10 years from China+India alone, but I think it does underscore the point that you can never really say that we fully understand what's going on down there. Arab News: http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=61713&d=7&m=4&y=2005 Bloomberg: http://www.chron.com/cs…

On the morning of September 11th 2001, there were multiple war games taking place by the U.S. Airforce and NORAD. The point of this thread is to try and figure out how those war games may have affected the response by NORAD and the FAA and also to find out who was in charge of those war games. Vigilant Guardian Vigilant Warrior Northern Vigilance Northern Guardian Tripod II On May 8, 2001, President Bush made Dick Cheney to coordinate development of US government initiatives to combat terrorist attacks on the United States. (Source: Crossing the Rubicon, Michael C. Ruppert - Cited from White House Press release, may 8, 2001) Would that have put Dic…

I have decided to coin a new word: Fundamentalistas! Definition: Anybody who adopts a theologically-derived political ideology that flies in the face of logic and reason. Not limited to American fundamentalist christian conservatives. Usage: "There were fundamentalistas all over my lawn, drinking Jesus juice from Diet Coke cans and singing hymns." "I wanted to have an abortion, but the fundamentalistas were in front of the clinic on the only day I could get off from work."

Are any of you worried about how much pornography there is out there? It's fine to believe in free speech. But consider that 80% of school students have accidentally stumbled upon porn while on the Internet. Consider that many young people are mimicking what they see in pornography on their young friends. Even though Internet censorship is very difficult, don't you think some effort needs to be made? Or will this effort be fruitless?

Got this idea from Flareon's post in the USA thread. I thought about making this a poll, but really I'm more interested in hearing what people think about their sources and why they chose them, rather than getting some numbers on which sources are most popular. Thoughts? Just to kick things off, I'm subscribed (paid sub, for a course I'm taking) to the Wall Street Journal, and I have free online subs to the New York Times and the Washington Post. I also drop by CNN and MSNBC from time to time, but I usually start news runs at Google News (useful because it often slaps international links right alongside domestic ones for domestic events, so I can quickly see h…

I think only the people hiding under the largest of rocks, on the most distant planets, without cable, havent heard about the plan to reform the US Social Security system to privatize security. The problems are to social security are obvious (increasing burden on taxpayers, especially as more people are retiring earlier and living longer), but I dont think privatizing social security is a solution (the 39 - 55 year old group will lose immediate benefits before investments have time to compensate, and price index formulas predict privatizing will result in net loss for investors). So, I have a better plan: Allow Americans to opt out of social security. The idea isn…

I do know that Japan, China, and the Koreas have very strict immigration laws. Even with Mexico, it is about 1000 times more difficult for an American to move there than vice versa: October 27, 2004 Immigration And The Unmentionable Question Of Ethnic Interests By Kevin MacDonald Arguments over immigration are usually limited to cultural or economic factors. Political scientists like Samuel Huntington point out that the culture of the country will change dramatically if there is a continued influx of Spanish-speaking immigrants. And economists like George Borjas have demonstrated that large masses of newcomers depress wages and create enormous demands on…

Interesting article: http://www.thebirdman.org/Index/Temp/Temp-TheUSIsNotNumber1ButItDoesDoNumber2.html I guess most humans have not learned as yet how to maintain an empire for the long term. One needs to consider history, human psychology, and resource maintenance and then plan accordingly if they want their empire to last.

I'm not sure this is the right forum, so if I placed it in the wrong one, let me know. Just curious on everyones thoughts about this. Things were starting to look up for the peace process, but now I fear that things will erupt once more. Edit: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4367787.stm

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/050401_first_extrasolarplanet_pic.html after observing the prospective planet at GQ Lupi since 1999, they've made it definite. it is for sure a planet and not just some background object that looks like a planet. it's just a fluke they announced on 1 April. the same story is posted at cnn.com http://edition.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/04/01/extrasolar.planet.photo/index.html

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05087/478649.stm Interesting article about the upcoming evacuation test of the A380. I had no idea that could be so dangerous, but I guess it makes sense. But the test is important, and needs to be done. Unfortunately it happens all too often that a passenger plane will be involved in some sort of incident requiring the rapid evacuation of the passengers. There've been a number of hard landings and fires aboard planes readying for take-off. The airplane business is one of those morose industries in which most of those safety regulations have a large body count behind them. But what's really interesting about the above article are…

Setting limits on weapons for China International Herald Tribune Saturday, February 26, 2005 Quotes: "Of all the things the Europeans said to President George W. Bush about lifting their arms embargo on China, only one really mattered: They're going to do it whether he likes it or not. Bush's response was equally clear: If you do, you'll be provoking me and the Congress at your peril." "To the Europeans, China merely represents an alluring trade bonanza. For the United States - as well as Taiwan, South Korea and Japan - it remains a potential military threat. Selling China weapons that might be used to shoot down United States aircraft assigned to …

Reuters is reporting that paleontologists have observed what they believe to be soft-tissue, including blood vessels, inside of a T-Rex thigh bone. The scientists were forced to break the bone in half because of transportation limitations. It is unknown whether it will be possible to isolate DNA fragments from the tissue.

Is anyone else slightly disturbed by the fact that Discovery HD Theater and Milnet have a special 2-hour show about the Iraq War filmed in HDTV? I dunno, maybe it's just me. It does look amazing, but... it just seems like it's kinda inappropriate somehow. I mean it's *entertainment*, or at least EDUtainment....

(This thread will probably be of most interest to USians.) I am like most Americans: I find voting to be very frustrating - the Dems hardly stand for anything at all in recent times (its almost as if they exist for the sole purpose of opposing the Republicans), and the Republicans are deeply unethical. Both parties are so inconsistent that I cannot persuade myself to vote for them at all. But, like all the others, I cant help but vote for them because in the grand scheme of things, I could either chose to vote for the "lesser of two evils" or for nothing at all. If I may be permitted to paint with a wide brush, I find most people do not vote for third parties, but…

The Wall Street Journal, in today's official editorial, has finally thrown in the towel on Tom DeLay. As you may know, the Journal is one of the few strongly conservative editorial voices in the mainstream print media (the Washington Times and the New York Post are the other two "big" names that leap to mind, but the Journal really has the most clout). They do a very good job of offering counterpoint on their op/ed pages, but their official opinions are always strongly conservative. Because of those alternate voices (it's quite a popular thing for well-known liberals and moderates to write op/eds for the Journal), the "Opinion Journal" is one of my regular stops on the…

Just curious if anyone has looked at this yet. I've caught a little about it on the news but not much as yet. The biggest changes appear to be the enlargement of the Security Council (weaken the US?) and the creation of a Human Rights Council (replacing the much-lamented Commission). There's also a bit in there about all nations contributing 0.7% of GDP for poor countries (welfare?). Here in the US the timing of the changes is the main news. The Volcker investigation into the oil-for-food scandal found some pretty nasty involvement by Annan and his son. Some background info can be found here: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7238697/ List of proposed c…

I know that this may very well be seen as in the wrong place, so make whatever change you feel needed. I have to do an I-Search paper (for any of those who are familiar with them, you know my pain) on Affirmative Action. I know that there are very harsh views on either side of the spectrum, and I'd like to see both before making my personal decision (which has been forming from what I've heard from my parents and the news) In any case, does anyone have any good arguements in terms of supporting or opposing an Affirmative Action topic. Keep in mind that Affirmative Action is not exclusive for African Americans. In any case, thanks for everything, keep an open mind a…

Thomas Friedman's column in today's New York Times is worth a read, and is refreshingly not about Terri Schiavo. (chuckle) http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/27/opinion/27friedman.html Requires subscription, but I believe you can get login info from this URL without having to register: http://www.bugmenot.com/ The most interesting bit: Well put. Lawmakers in this country are completely focused on divisiveness and distraction, because that's what the lobbyists want them to be focused on, and the voters simply don't care enough to knock them out of office when they vote that way.

The US Congress has been debating this issue in subcommittee and on the floor of the House and Senate for weeks, taking up a huge amount of time. Basically the issue is whether or not to allow broadcasters to shut down their old over-the-air antennas -- the ones that are NOT broadcasting digital TV. You know, the stuff you used to jerk around the rabbit ears, or have to hold onto at arms' length to improve the picture. Allowing broadcasters to do this will accomplish two things: 1) Let your local network affiliates save some money. 2) Free up a LOT of bandwith in the spectrum. The second feature above is really what has the lawmakers salivating at the mome…

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/US/03/08/mount.saint.helens/index.html Tuesday evening a coloumn of smoke 6 miles high appeared over Moun Saint Helens, and lava is visible in the inside of the volcano. Will the volcano erupt again? What do you think?

each year, the president of the United States of America has to renew the classified status of Area 51. If he were to not renew it and were to tell the whole world what secret crap they were working on (or make easily available through freedom of info), would that make him more or less likely to get reelected? note: this thread is not to debate what goes on in area 51

Well? why are or were conservatives called what they are? The only thing they effectively conserve is brain power. Not as in valuing it, as in using very little of it.

I can't claim to be an expert in Middle East religions, but seems to me Saudi Arabi and wahhabism is the heart of the current terrorist threat. Most of the 9/11 terrorists were from Saudi Arabia after all. They continue to teach hate. Seems like this would be easier to tackle then invading all the countries over there. Don't you think?

I kinda waited a bit because I didn't want to start a shooting match over this. Not that anyone here is really inclined toward such, but it couldn't hurt to let the dust settle a bit and see if any more info came out, and give people a chance to think about it a bit. It even has a bit of a "science" link, in terms of the real-world issue of guard post procedures in occupied lands. So I'm curious what you guys thought of that mess. I guess my own feeling is that we need to see if any investigation produces any evidence of wrongdoing by the troops (coming from someone other than the journalist). Barring any major revelations, however, it seems to me that the onus is…