Politics

Professor John Maynard Smith, the internationally renowned evolutionary biologist, 84, died peacefully at home on April 19. He was known for his great understanding and contributions to evolutionary biology, particularly the introduction of Game Theory to show that altruism can be a beneficial strategy. He recieved a great number of prizes for his work, which he continued even after retirement, right up to his death. He will be sadly missed. http://www.sussex.ac.uk/press_office/media/media399.shtml

a delta type rocket was succesfully launched today from California at 6pm GMT, carrying with it a probe to test Einstains General Theory of Relativity. more news a little later as it`s not hit the internet at the time of this post yet!

I saw this on fark today, it cracked me up.

NASA test proves scramjet technology works, and breaks aeronautical speed record for air breathing engines. http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/x43_proves_scramjet.html?742004

Our president has officially announced his desire to have a consitutional amendment that prevents homosexual couples from being married, but allows for a "civil union" where full rights are "guaranteed". Apparently Bush missed the part of intro to political science where "separate but equal" was found to be inherently discriminatory. And the part about separation of church and state. And the 14th amendment. He also keeps insisting the people should decide this matter, since he also seems to have missed the basic concept of why we have a republic and not a democracy.. because the majority can too easily trample the rights of the minority.

The following is from http://www.vdare.com/ September 18, 2003 Thinking About Neoconservatism By Kevin MacDonald Over the last year, there’s been a torrent of articles on neoconservatism raising (usually implicitly) some vexing issues: Are neoconservatives different from other conservatives? Is neoconservatism a Jewish movement? Is it “anti-Semitic” to say so? The dispute between the neocons and more traditional conservatives — “paleoconservatives” — is especially important because the latter now find themselves on the outside, looking in on the conservative power structure. Complete text at http://www.vdare.com/misc/macdonald_neoconservatism.htm

From BBC News: The Israeli military is equipping its forces with a new range of spy drones small enough to fit in a soldier's backpack, the army said on Thursday. Birdy can be carried and launched by a single soldier, who guides the drone by clicking on coordinates on a laptop computer. It has a five-kilometre range (three miles), IAI said. The Mosquito 1 and Mosquito 1.5 micro-drones have a wingspan of 33 centimetres (13 inches). Their small size allows them to fly through windows and to provide images to military units behind it, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported. It'll be interesting to see how those work out. More at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/mi…

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/31077.html Scientists have announced that they've securely transmitted data over 100km in fibre cabling using quantum cryptography; a major breakthrough meaning that we could have commercial equipment available within 3 years apparently. Quite an interesting read.

After 2 years of searching, a South Carolina psychiatrist found an Institutional Review Board to approve a limited clinical trial that will use MDMA (Ecstacy, X, ADAM) in psychotherapy on a group of women suffering from PTSD resulting from rape or other violence. The study will be placebo controlled and limited to a group of 20 in the first round. Despite its use as an adjunct to psychotherapy in the 1970s, MDMA was made a Schedule I drug and this is the first study approved since it was scheduled. Hopefully this is a very small step towards a better understanding of the potential benefits of DEA-vilified substances. http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/02/25/ecstasy.st…

2002 LM60 was identified orbiting within the Kuiper belt. It's about half the size of Pluto and has been dubbed Quaoar for the moment. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2306945.stm

Is anyone here against gay marriage? If so, why must we "defend the sanctity of marriage" from this onslaught?

I have partly watched a debate on BBC World today. They are debating War on Terrorism, WMD, democracy, the future of NATO, the middle east and/or something like that... (everything is mentioned at least) Right now one of the Saud Princes just had a question. He mentioned that participation in elections in democratic nations like USA and other western countries, have declined in recent years. The question was wether that was an issue with the citisens or the democratic system. As I see it democracy (or republic, for those who would like to mention that we don't have direct democracy) is one of the best government systems that has ever existed. But it requires acti…

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040227/D80VF6R80.html

The Founders of the US wrote in the Constitution their goals as being: "To form a more perfect Union" "To establish justice" "To insure domestic tranquility" "To provide for the common defense" "To promote the general welfare" "To secure the blessings of liberty" Are these things being done? Establish justice? How well is that done, when innocent men are convicted and guilty men let free? Common defense? Invading other countries and making foreigners hate us and promise to make America into a "sea of fire" sure seems like a good way to do that, don't you think? Promote the general welfare? There are millions of Americans without homes, jobs, mon…

A new vaccine has been developed to fight the return of kidney cancer in patients who have previously had cancerous parts of their kidneys removed. The vaccine is some years from a publically available treatment -- as it must be 'custom made' for each patient, because it uses cells from the tumour to act as an immune system primer -- but it could soon be routinely given to kidney cancer patients after operations. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3502297.stm The UK's Ministry of Defence biological research facility at Porton Down has developed a vaccine against the Black Death (bubonic plague), one of the deadliest agents that could conceivably be used by …

this was a poll also on Sky News today, the results were quite remarkable. Please give your reason with your vote (eitherway).

I'm not sure if this topic belongs here or in the News Forum, but I'll put it here and let the moderator decide. I read an article in the New York Times that claims the Bush administration routinely distorts scientific facts to further its policies. Here's the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/19/politics/19RESE.html?th (You may need to register to read the article, but registration is free.)

Assuming Kerry wins the Democratic nomination, who do you think he would have as a vice presidential running mate? Now that Clark has endorsed him, that seems more likely, as Clark has always looked more like a VP candidate than the Presidential one. Dean is definitely not a likely candidate. Edwards may be another good choice, and there may be other possibilities as well. What do you think?

A research team in South Korea have reported they have cloned several human embryos, and extracted a line of stem cells from one of them. In a paper to be put out in this Friday's issue of Science, they give instructions on the conditions used to culture the embryos, which have proved impossible to clone in the past. The work has already sparked calls for bans on all forms of human cloning, and would have been illegal in the US, due to the restrictions on the recency of embryos allowed for cloning. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/11/science/11CND-CELL.html?ex=1077166800&en=5db6cd19834eabbc&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-02-11…

The article

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=79&art_id=qw1076573887833M323&set_id=1 Jerusalem - Israeli police have come up with plans to place bags of pig lard on buses in a bid to deter Palestinian militants from carrying out suicide attacks, the Maariv daily reported on Thursday. Rabbinical authorities have given the idea its approval on the grounds that it could be a life-saving measure even though pigs are also considered impure by Jews. Authorities believe that the move could discourage Palestinians from carrying out attacks as pieces of their exploded body could come into contact with the pig fat, prejudicing their chances of entering into paradise. …

What do people think about this news regarding the 'No child left behind' bill? Personally, the schools that want to be taken out of the loop are imbiciles and need to be taken out if the start complaining. That is because when I went through school I didn't even try and I got A's and B's throughout school.

What does everyone think of Libya's recent attempts to re-enter the international community? Should we meet these efforts with a certain degree of scepticism, or is it time to welcome the country back into the fold with open arms? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3474001.stm

Field trials for a wearable, 'intelligent' computer are being undertaken in Spain. The system is designed to help astrobiologists select areas of special geological interest on future Mars missions. It includes a 667 MHz belt computer running Microsoft Windows, an eye display, finger mouse, camera and wearable keyboard. It can easily be adapted for use by robots. The software is designed to spot areas of "uncommonality" in image maps, and can be easily configured to pick out areas of interest or look for specific features. Full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3473139.stm

Who does everyone think will win the Democratic nomination for president? Why?