Feingold on Patriot Act: 'The die has now been cast' - "The Senate on Wednesday swatted aside a prolonged filibuster against the renewal of the USA Patriot Act and agreed to add new curbs on the government's power to pry into private records under President Bush's antiterror law."
What to Do When the Emperor Has No Clothes - "But torture is something else. Most people agree with this, and in a democracy that puts the torturers in a delicate position. They must make sure to destroy their e-mails and have subordinates who will take the fall. Because it is impossible to keep torture secret. It goes against the American grain and it eats at the conscience of even the most disciplined, and in the end the truth will come out. It is coming out now."
Not necessarily the news, with Jon Stewart - " Don’t laugh. American culture, it seems, can’t decide whether to classify Stewart as a comedian or a journalist. ... Should we laugh at him? Or should we take him seriously? Both. Because Jon Stewart’s approach to the day’s headlines — too funny to be serious, too serious to be ignored — just might be where real TV news is headed." -- Interesting read on the possible future of television news.
U.S. invasion responsible deaths of over 250,000 civilians in Iraq - "New studies make the Bush administration's "liberation" argument for a 'pre-emptive' war against Iraq seem questionable."
Barbour says he'd likely sign bill to ban most abortions in Miss. - "Republican Gov. Haley Barbour said Wednesday that he likely would sign a bill to ban most abortions in Mississippi if it's approved by lawmakers. The state already has some of the strictest abortion laws in the nation. The bill that passed the House Public Health Committee on Tuesday would allow abortion only to save the pregnant woman's life. It would make no exception in cases of rape or incest."
Israeli 'ruler-in-waiting' plans to starve Hamas - "Israel's policy - described by a spokesman as putting "the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger" - has left London feeling squeamish. Tony Blair and Jack Straw will today undoubtedly show solidarity with Israel, saying Britain is not in the business of funding terrorists. But in private there is anguish that the policy will bring malnutrition to innocent Palestinians and punish them for taking part in a democratic election. The Palestinians are completely dependent on foreign aid for their survival and Israel's campaign to put 3.6 million people on starvation rations is foreboding."
10-Year U.S. Strategic Plan For Detention Camps Revives Proposals From Oliver North - "Oliver North represented a minority element in the Reagan administration, which soon distanced itself from both the man and his proposals. But that minority associated with COG planning, which included Dick Cheney, appear to be in control of the U.S. government today."
Halliburton Strikes Again - "Even though an Army audit determined that $263 million of charges by Halliburton were exaggerated or unjustified on its $2.41 billion no-bid contract for fuel deliveries and oil equipment repair in Iraq, the Army said it will pay all but $10.1 million of it. The Times reported Monday that the decision to withhold only 3.8 percent of the charges in question is far below the average of questionable charges that are withheld. That average has ranged between 56.4 percent and 75.2 percent over the last three years."
Bird flu likely in US flocks soon: Health Secretary - "The lethal avian flu that is spreading rapidly around the world could soon infect wild birds and domesticated flocks in the United States, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt said on Wednesday."
FOX Ratings In Free Fall - O'Reilly Leads The Way Down - "The just released February ratings (pdf) for cable news networks tell a tale that is decidedly downbeat for Fox News. In a comparison with February 2005, the numbers for every network are up except for Fox."
High school teacher's comments investigated by district - "A 16-year-old boy at Overland High School doesn't want to hear what he calls his teacher's left-wing political rants. ... Towards the end of the class, Bennish goes on to say, "I'm not in anyway implying that you should agree with me, I don't even know if I'm necessarily taking a position. But what I'm trying to get you to do is to think about these issues more in depth and not to just take things from the surface.""
Relive Your Rape Or Go To Prison (While Your Rapist Goes Free) - "Uh, if she is shown this horrific tape, she will suddenly remember and announce in open court that (despite being a highly inebriated 16 tear-old) she consented to have strangers spit on her while she was naked in public? Please. That would have to accrue several levels of probability to rise to the level of being "implausible." We all know what's going on here: the defense wants to show the videotape to intimidate (and punish) the victim, and given the less-than-trivial probative value the balance of interests shouldn't even be close. Unless the transparent goal of intimidation is given essentially no weight at all, I don't see how the balance can favor permitting this defense strategy."
What Portion of Our FY05 Federal Taxes Supports Current and Past Military Activities? - "Military spending is continuing to take a big bite out of our taxes. Overall military-related spending (for past and current wars and military activities) increased about 9.5 percent in FY05 over FY04, while total federal funds spending grew by about 9.0 percent. An estimated 42 percent of our federal income tax dollars was spent on past and present military activities."
What Is the Value of Algebra? - "Here's the thing, Gabriela: You will never need to know algebra. I have never once used it and never once even rued that I could not use it. You will never need to know -- never mind want to know -- how many boys it will take to mow a lawn if one of them quits halfway and two more show up later -- or something like that. Most of math can now be done by a computer or a calculator. On the other hand, no computer can write a column or even a thank-you note -- or reason even a little bit. If, say, the school asked you for another year of English or, God forbid, history, so that you actually had to know something about your world, I would be on its side. But algebra? Please." -- No comment. No, really. No comment.
Algebra-hating and societal problems - "What's up with the people responding to the failure of our schools with, "Aw honey, you didn't need that knowledge anyway! And, give me a Biggie Fry with that." ?"
Nev. Proposal Raises Evolution Questions - "A proposed constitutional amendment would require Nevada teachers to instruct students that there are many questions about evolution — a method viewed by critics as an opening to teach intelligent design."
MIT Method Reveals How Radiation Damages The Body; Work Could Reduce Side Effects For Cancer Patients - ""We've come up with a tool to selectively irradiate blood vessels to study how radiation damages normal tissue over both the short term and the long term."
Why Not Just Castrate Them? - "Yes, I thought I'd seen it all. I thought that no proposed treatment for autism could be so bizarre, so unbased in science, so risky, that it would shock me anymore. ... They're talking about adding chemical castration with Lupron to chelation therapy as a "treatment" for autism."
Scientists Confirm Historic Massive Flood In Climate Change - "Scientists from NASA and Columbia University, New York, have used computer modeling to successfully reproduce an abrupt climate change that took place 8,200 years ago. At that time, the beginning of the current warm period, climate changes were caused by a massive flood of freshwater into the North Atlantic Ocean."
Kids Build Soybean-Fueled Car - ""We made this work," says Hauger. "We're not geniuses. So why aren't they doing it?" Kosi thinks he knows why. The answer, he says, is the big oil companies. "They're making billions upon billions of dollars," he says. "And when this car sells, that'll go down — to low billions upon billions.""
OK, let's get rid of basic research. - "Some of us, I think, see basic research as potentially worthwhile even in the absence of applications down the road.
But who cares what the technocrats think! If it's the public's money, then it's the public's opinions that matter here. Why on earth should they fund research whose only payoff is to deepen our knowledge and understanding of some bit of the universe? ... If science becomes more focused on applications versus basic knowledge, how will this affect science education at various levels? What kind of effects will this have on things like basic scientific literacy?I don't know the answers to these questions, but I think they're worth considering."
Microsoft says better than Google soon - "Microsoft will introduce a search engine better than Google in six months in the United States and Britain followed by Europe, its European president said on Wednesday."
Spotting the Liar - "Far more reliable than eye contact is tone of voice. With the exception of sociopaths, who are expert liars, most people sound tense, their voices highly pitched, when they fib."
Better Headgear Through Chemistry - "For the helmet-haters: a soft beanie lined with elastic polymers that stiffen upon wipeout."
When a stranger calls, Caller ID may not be trustworthy - "In the last few years, Caller ID spoofing has become much easier. Millions of people have Internet telephone equipment that can be set to make any number appear on a Caller ID system. And several Web sites have sprung up to provide Caller ID spoofing services, eliminating the need for any special hardware."
Quote of the Day
"The news and truth are not the same thing."
~ Walter Lippmann
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