Stop reading now if you are trying to avoid thoughts of the craziness that politics have become (Sheyl, this means you).
Ever since the McCain camp chose Sarah Palin to be the VP running-mate, I've been fundamentally disturbed, and yet, I haven't quite managed to find the words to describe why she disturbs me. The best I was able to put it was that I didn't understand half of the country's mindset, that I didn't understand why the American people weren't more outraged at the republican party that they chose this sham of a national-level political leader.
In THIS article, though, Sam Harris articulates my feelings about Sarah Palin precisely. So I thought I'd pass it along to you guys (those of you that didn't stop at the politics warning, that is).
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Friday, September 19, 2008
Yaaaarrrr!
In honor of Talk Like a Pirate Day, reinvent yourself with a pirate name HERE.
And while you're at it, you can now view the web translated into pirate speak - check it out HERE.
And if that wasn't enough translation fun, you can translate any web page into pirate speak HERE too.
This is what yesterday's post by Sheyl turned into:
Posted by Cap'n Wilma Pegleg.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
For once a politician (and a republican at that) saying something sensible!!
Top Republican says Palin unready
'And he was dismissive of the fact that Mrs Palin, the governor of Alaska, has made few trips abroad.
"You get a passport for the first time in your life last year? I mean, I don't know what you can say. You can't say anything."
Mr Hagel also criticised the McCain campaign for its suggestion that the proximity of Alaska to Russia gave Mrs Palin foreign policy experience.
"That kind of thing is insulting to the American people."'
Yes, yes it is.
'And he was dismissive of the fact that Mrs Palin, the governor of Alaska, has made few trips abroad.
"You get a passport for the first time in your life last year? I mean, I don't know what you can say. You can't say anything."
Mr Hagel also criticised the McCain campaign for its suggestion that the proximity of Alaska to Russia gave Mrs Palin foreign policy experience.
"That kind of thing is insulting to the American people."'
Yes, yes it is.
Plants and CO2
Another nail in the global coffin No plant CO2 relief in warm world.
Plants take up less CO2 under warmer/drier conditions (like what is expected to happen over large swathes of the worlds grasslands.
"So in the warm year, the temperature goes up and causes more evapotranspiration from the plants," he (Jay Arnone, who led the study) told BBC News.
"But plants have evolved to 'know' that when it gets dry they should curb their water loss, so they reduce the apertures of their stomata (pores) to conserve water, and that constrains the amount of CO2 they can take up (by photosynthesis)."
In addition warmer temperatures meant that bacteria degraded extra carbon resulting in a net release of carbon to the atmosphere.
Plants take up less CO2 under warmer/drier conditions (like what is expected to happen over large swathes of the worlds grasslands.
"So in the warm year, the temperature goes up and causes more evapotranspiration from the plants," he (Jay Arnone, who led the study) told BBC News.
"But plants have evolved to 'know' that when it gets dry they should curb their water loss, so they reduce the apertures of their stomata (pores) to conserve water, and that constrains the amount of CO2 they can take up (by photosynthesis)."
In addition warmer temperatures meant that bacteria degraded extra carbon resulting in a net release of carbon to the atmosphere.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
The world without humans?
Well, okay, maybe not the world, but how about the art?
See some examples of an art exhibit HERE done by Spanish artist José Manuel Ballester in which he removed all humans, animals and motion from some famous paintings with some interesting, if perhaps slightly disturbing results.
See some examples of an art exhibit HERE done by Spanish artist José Manuel Ballester in which he removed all humans, animals and motion from some famous paintings with some interesting, if perhaps slightly disturbing results.
Offshore Drilling
Add one more reason that I fall into the 80% of Americans who think this country is on the wrong track.
The House approve a bill opening waters 50 miles (80 kilometers) off the Pacific and Atlantic coasts to oil and natural gas development.
It still has to be approved by the senate (which it probably will since the Democrats have become weaklings pandering to the desire by the public for lower gas prices in an election year).
Despite as the article points out: "But expanded offshore drilling has become a mantra of Republican energy policy that has been felt in both presidential and congressional campaigns, even though lifting the drilling ban would have little if any impact on gasoline prices or produce any more oil for years."
Hello people!!! It is not going to help gas prices!!!! All it will do is feed the profits of giant oil companies and feed our dependence on oil for even longer.
GAH!
The House approve a bill opening waters 50 miles (80 kilometers) off the Pacific and Atlantic coasts to oil and natural gas development.
It still has to be approved by the senate (which it probably will since the Democrats have become weaklings pandering to the desire by the public for lower gas prices in an election year).
Despite as the article points out: "But expanded offshore drilling has become a mantra of Republican energy policy that has been felt in both presidential and congressional campaigns, even though lifting the drilling ban would have little if any impact on gasoline prices or produce any more oil for years."
Hello people!!! It is not going to help gas prices!!!! All it will do is feed the profits of giant oil companies and feed our dependence on oil for even longer.
GAH!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Apocalypse Watch
The Large Hadron Collider has officially set in motion the test that will recreate the conditions that existed just a few moments after the Big Bang.
Either that, or the folks at CERN have just set the planet in motion on a path towards total annihilation.
Either way, we'll learn more about our universe. Either it's birth, or what it's like to be sucked into a black hole. It's a win-win for science.
Read a BBC article about the LHC HERE.
Why not in America?
A lack of infrastructure — not sprawl — hinders the adoption of bicycles.
There is also a video of a really cool bike storage system at Japanese subway stations.
Warning: it's in Japanese with no subtitles.
There is also a video of a really cool bike storage system at Japanese subway stations.
Warning: it's in Japanese with no subtitles.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Free the Goats!
"A minister in DR Congo has ordered a Kinshasa jail to release a dozen goats...
The beasts were due to appear in court, charged with being sold illegally by the roadside...
There was no word on what their punishment would have been, had they been found guilty."
The beasts were due to appear in court, charged with being sold illegally by the roadside...
There was no word on what their punishment would have been, had they been found guilty."
Nature Podcast
Also just to let people know: Nature is running a series of podcasts on the election and the economic and science implications of the their proposed policies. The first one was last week on energy and climate.
Alcohol can be a gas!
Another book added to my to read list. The author, David Blume, was interviewed on npr and had some interesting thoughts on how to make ethanol actually carbon and environmentally friendly, such as the fact that ethanol competes with food for corn.
From his website:
"But 87% of the U.S. corn crop is fed to animals. In most years, the U.S. sends close to 20% of its corn to other countries. While it is assumed that these exports could feed most of the hungry in the world, the corn is actually sold to wealthy nations to fatten their livestock. Plus, virtually no impoverished nation will accept our corn, even when it is offered as charity, due to its being genetically modified and therefore unfit for human consumption."
Also, fermenting the corn to alcohol results in more meat than if you fed the corn directly to the cattle. We can actually increase the meat supply by first processing corn into alcohol, which only takes 28% of the starch, leaving all the protein and fat, creating a higher-quality animal feed than the original corn."
In theory it could even reduce the "methane emissions" i.e. farts and belches of the cattle by feeding them something that more closely resembles what they are adapted to eat..
Also, cattails are apparently a plant that would be very efficient for making ethanol, so he's proposing using cattail marshes to treat sewage waste and then harvesting them for ethanol, plus they reseed themselves so practically no maintenance, and helping solve coastal eutrophication problems at the same time.
It sounds pretty fantastic, though I'd need to read it to see how convincing it really is.
From his website:
"But 87% of the U.S. corn crop is fed to animals. In most years, the U.S. sends close to 20% of its corn to other countries. While it is assumed that these exports could feed most of the hungry in the world, the corn is actually sold to wealthy nations to fatten their livestock. Plus, virtually no impoverished nation will accept our corn, even when it is offered as charity, due to its being genetically modified and therefore unfit for human consumption."
Also, fermenting the corn to alcohol results in more meat than if you fed the corn directly to the cattle. We can actually increase the meat supply by first processing corn into alcohol, which only takes 28% of the starch, leaving all the protein and fat, creating a higher-quality animal feed than the original corn."
In theory it could even reduce the "methane emissions" i.e. farts and belches of the cattle by feeding them something that more closely resembles what they are adapted to eat..
Also, cattails are apparently a plant that would be very efficient for making ethanol, so he's proposing using cattail marshes to treat sewage waste and then harvesting them for ethanol, plus they reseed themselves so practically no maintenance, and helping solve coastal eutrophication problems at the same time.
It sounds pretty fantastic, though I'd need to read it to see how convincing it really is.
Monday, September 8, 2008
For Wacked:
Behold... Tardinauts
"Tradigrades become the first animals to survive vacuum of space"
Also I may have to start following the blog I just linked to, because it's fascinating and I find his profile description quite amusing :)
"Tradigrades become the first animals to survive vacuum of space"
Also I may have to start following the blog I just linked to, because it's fascinating and I find his profile description quite amusing :)
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Scary Scary stuff
"Last June Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told ministry students at her former church that the United States sent troops to fight in the Iraq war on a 'task that is from God.' "
I have to strongly agree with the statement by Rob Boston (spokesman for Americans United for Separation of Church and State):
"I miss the days when pastors delivered sermons and politicians delivered political speeches," he said. "The United States is increasingly diverse religiously. The job of a president is to unify all those different people and bring them together around policy goals, not to act as a kind of national pastor and bring people to God."
I have to strongly agree with the statement by Rob Boston (spokesman for Americans United for Separation of Church and State):
"I miss the days when pastors delivered sermons and politicians delivered political speeches," he said. "The United States is increasingly diverse religiously. The job of a president is to unify all those different people and bring them together around policy goals, not to act as a kind of national pastor and bring people to God."
Monday, September 1, 2008
Science Debate 2008
Not sure if you guys have heard about this, they tried to get a live debate, unsuccessfully, but at least the candidates agreed to give written responses.
Obama's responses are up, McCain's are still to come.
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