Politics

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Full article and credits : http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/spaceshipone_launch_date_set.html?262004 The Article A privately-developed rocket plane will launch into history on June 21 on a mission to become the world’s first commercial manned space vehicle. Investor and philanthropist Paul G. Allen and aviation legend Burt Rutan have teamed to create the program, which will attempt the first non-governmental flight to leave the earth’s atmosphere. SpaceShipOne will rocket to 100 kilometers (62 miles) into sub-orbital space above the Mojave Civilian Aerospace Test Center, a commercial airport in the California desert. If successful, it will demonstr…

Since past and present life on Mars is being reported by Mars rovers, what are the financial implications for the betting company Ladbrokes and its parent company Hilton? http://www.ladbrokes.com/lbr_portal?s_type=float They have been betting heavily against life on Mars. Can they go broke any day now? Read the article: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4440118/

Everyone loves to complain about the roads. If they’re not full of potholes, they’re under construction. When they’re under construction, 80% of the guys are standing around while 20% do the work. It seems like when the end of a stretch of road is finished, the potholes start to appear at the beginning again. For drivers, there is a very small window of pleasurable driving experience after a road has been resurfaced. It doesn’t have to be this way. In Germany, home of the Autobahn (which is no different in concept than the Interstate Highway system in the US), they use asphalt just like most countries, yet they spend a fraction of what we pay per mile on road …

I went to my grandparents house yesterday I we talked with my grandpa. He said the the war in the middle east could last about 30 years. 30 years? I don't know how it could last 30 years. He said that pretty soon they might pass a draft?

The few people that commited the torture didnt represent the whole army.But I think a US general would.The new case with Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez.Hes acused by another officer Capt. Donald J. Reese that he and other senoirs participated in the abuse and new of it. Here are some sites: http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/05/23/abuse.sanchez.ap/index.html and http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/CE3E5873-6B9B-4F02-82FE-63BBBD4F713D.htm What are your thoughts?

The people who are pushing this are absolute fools. I've received this email like 4 times already.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A U.S.-led coalition convoy in Iraq found sarin gas in an artillery round rigged as an improvised explosive device, Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said Monday. http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/05/17/iraq.main/index.html So, which one of you hippy liberal anti-Iraq people want to be the first to come up with a conspiracy theory? Break out the tin-foil hats!

http://politicalcompass.org What's your political alignment according to this site? It plots it on a graph, here's mine: Image did work, but I was right on the line a little to the left.

The Hubble space telescope has produced its most amazing image yet, capturing a field of nearly 10,000 galaxies with an single picture taking 800 exposures over 11.3 days to complete. The image shows galaxies never before visible dating back to the first billion years of the universe, which includes a good amount of irregularly shaped galaxies and galaxies interacting with eachother. It's a real shame one man in NASA's fear of political criticism is destroying one of the most useful devices in the history of space. For the full press release, and lots of images: http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/2004/07/

A couple weeks ago Albanian extremists burned down 31 Serbian Ortodox churches and set on fire over 300 Serbian houses in Kosovo! No one is admiting etnic clansym after NAtO bombing in 1999. Well happy Estern everyone!!!

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…