We are all seeing rather less of the Sun. Scientists looking at five decades of sunlight measurements have reached the disturbing conclusion that the amount of solar energy reaching the Earth's surface has been gradually falling. Paradoxically, the decline in sunlight may mean that global warming is a far greater threat to society than previously thought.
Learn more here.
May 11, 2007
Administration Withheld E-Mails About Rove
The Bush administration has withheld a series of e-mails from Congress showing that senior White House and Justice Department officials worked together to conceal the role of Karl Rove in installing Timothy Griffin, a protégé of Rove's, as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas.
Now what else do you think they've withheld?
Here ya go.
Now what else do you think they've withheld?
Here ya go.
Cheney vows Iran will not get nuclear weapons
"We'll stand with others to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons and dominating this region," he told thousands of sailors on the nuclear-powered USS John C. Stennis as it cruised roughly 240 kilometres (150 miles) from Iran.
He's so manly.
In reality, he think the U.S. should dominate the region.
Any country without nuclear weapons is at the mercy of those countries that have them.
Read more here.
He's so manly.
In reality, he think the U.S. should dominate the region.
Any country without nuclear weapons is at the mercy of those countries that have them.
Read more here.
May 10, 2007
Only Ron Paul Can Defeat Hillary Clinton
There is only one Republican candidate that can prevent Hillary Clinton from walking into the Oval Office after the next election and that's Ron Paul - which is why the corporate interests that have already selected Hillary are busy trying to stem the tide of a populist onslaught to bring the Texas Congressman to the attention of the American people.
Read more here.
Read more here.
'Memory-freezing' tool to help fight crime
Tests have shown that witnesses using the form were 42 per cent more accurate than other witnesses who were simply asked to report as much as they could remember.
Read more about this new tool here.
Read more about this new tool here.
Teenage girls strangled their best friend ‘just because we felt like it’
If children are our future then...
The girl who twisted the wire around Eliza’s throat told police how she watched with detachment as her friends’s emotions shifted from anger, to terror and eventually the realisation that she was going to die.
For the next five to ten minutes both girls watched as the life ebbed out of their friend.
They said that they knew it was wrong, but that it just “felt right” and that they did not feel any remorse.
I'm too disgusted to comment.
The girl who twisted the wire around Eliza’s throat told police how she watched with detachment as her friends’s emotions shifted from anger, to terror and eventually the realisation that she was going to die.
For the next five to ten minutes both girls watched as the life ebbed out of their friend.
They said that they knew it was wrong, but that it just “felt right” and that they did not feel any remorse.
I'm too disgusted to comment.
Atheist offers to send letters post-Rapture
I wonder how much this guy is making off this.
As Witter sees it, it will fall to the unsaved to serve as the postmen of the Apocalypse.
As Witter sees it, it will fall to the unsaved to serve as the postmen of the Apocalypse.
'Mercy killing' husband convicted of murder
A devoted husband has been found guilty of murder for killing his wife after she repeatedly begged him to help end her life.
...
Nobody during the trial questioned that the pair were anything but a "passionate and devoted couple" or that Lund had acted out of anything but compassion for his wife, who had attempted suicide on five previous occasions and was severely depressed by the affects of irritable bowel syndrome.
Now, however, Lund faces an automatic life sentence after being convicted of murdering her at their home in New Brighton, Merseyside, last September.
Here's more.
...
Nobody during the trial questioned that the pair were anything but a "passionate and devoted couple" or that Lund had acted out of anything but compassion for his wife, who had attempted suicide on five previous occasions and was severely depressed by the affects of irritable bowel syndrome.
Now, however, Lund faces an automatic life sentence after being convicted of murdering her at their home in New Brighton, Merseyside, last September.
Here's more.
War debate cited as aiding al Qaeda
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates yesterday told Congress that al Qaeda will establish a stronghold in Iraq's Anbar province if U.S. troops pull out prematurely and that the group is reacting to the war debate in Washington by stepping up attacks.
Orwell rolls in his grave.
There's more here.
Orwell rolls in his grave.
There's more here.
Record Shops: Used CDs? Ihre papieren, bitte!
From the paranoia file, we get this gem:
New "pawn shop" laws are springing up across the United States that will make selling your used CDs at the local record shop something akin to getting arrested. No, you won't spend any time in jail, but you'll certainly feel like a criminal once the local record shop makes copies of all of your identifying information and even collects your fingerprints. Such is the state of affairs in Florida, which now has the dubious distinction of being so anal about the sale of used music CDs that record shops there are starting to get out of the business of dealing with used content because they don't want to pay a $10,000 bond for the "right" to treat their customers like criminals.
The legislation is supposed to stop the sale of counterfeit and/or stolen music CDs, despite the fact that there has been no proof that this is a particularly pressing problem for record shops in general.
'We don't need no stinkin' proof!'
New "pawn shop" laws are springing up across the United States that will make selling your used CDs at the local record shop something akin to getting arrested. No, you won't spend any time in jail, but you'll certainly feel like a criminal once the local record shop makes copies of all of your identifying information and even collects your fingerprints. Such is the state of affairs in Florida, which now has the dubious distinction of being so anal about the sale of used music CDs that record shops there are starting to get out of the business of dealing with used content because they don't want to pay a $10,000 bond for the "right" to treat their customers like criminals.
The legislation is supposed to stop the sale of counterfeit and/or stolen music CDs, despite the fact that there has been no proof that this is a particularly pressing problem for record shops in general.
'We don't need no stinkin' proof!'
Research confirms theory that all modern humans descended from the same small group of people
So wars are just really big family fueds?
The research confirms the “Out Of Africa” hypothesis that all modern humans stem from a single group of Homo sapiens who emigrated from Africa 2,000 generations ago and spread throughout Eurasia over thousands of years. These settlers replaced other early humans (such as Neanderthals), rather than interbreeding with them.
Read more.
The research confirms the “Out Of Africa” hypothesis that all modern humans stem from a single group of Homo sapiens who emigrated from Africa 2,000 generations ago and spread throughout Eurasia over thousands of years. These settlers replaced other early humans (such as Neanderthals), rather than interbreeding with them.
Read more.
Comics = Terrorism
Details are sketchy at this time, but it appears that making a comic about his experience counts as making terroristic threats. I realize that by this logic, me reporting on the making of a comic that’s seen as a terroristic threat may count as lending support to terrorists. If I wake up in Gitmo, tell my wife that I love her, and I’m sorry I’m not there to help walk the dog.
Here's the comic in question.
Read the rest of the story.
Here's the comic in question.
Read the rest of the story.
Coming Soon to a Toll Booth Near You
The future looks bleak this morning.
These governors and lawmakers, unwilling to tax the rich to maintain America’s roads, are now taking bids to sell these roads to the rich.
Learn more.
These governors and lawmakers, unwilling to tax the rich to maintain America’s roads, are now taking bids to sell these roads to the rich.
Learn more.
Widespread 'Twilight Zone' Detected Around Clouds
There seems to be something new under the sun -- in the sky, specifically -- that could complicate scientists' efforts to get a fix on how much the world will warm in the future. Greenhouse gases are not the only things in the air that influence the temperature of our atmosphere. Clouds and small airborne particles called aerosols also play an important and complicated role. And now a new ingredient has been discovered: an extensive and previously unseen “twilight zone” of particles that represents a gradual transition from cloud droplets to dry particles.
Find out more here.
Find out more here.
Japan's first 'baby hatch' opens to controversy
Japan's first "baby hatch", where parents can drop off unwanted infants anonymously, opened Thursday despite opposition from the conservative national government.
The baby hatch, modelled on a project in Germany, went into operation at a Roman Catholic hospital in the city of Kumamoto, some 900 kilometres (560 miles) southwest of Tokyo.
Read the rest.
The baby hatch, modelled on a project in Germany, went into operation at a Roman Catholic hospital in the city of Kumamoto, some 900 kilometres (560 miles) southwest of Tokyo.
Read the rest.
Face recognition next in terror fight
Ah, the future...
Homeland Security leaders are exploring futuristic and possibly privacy-invading technology aimed at finding terrorists and criminals by using digital surveillance photos that analyze facial characteristics.
Read more.
Homeland Security leaders are exploring futuristic and possibly privacy-invading technology aimed at finding terrorists and criminals by using digital surveillance photos that analyze facial characteristics.
Read more.
May 9, 2007
Internet Calls Subject To Phone Tapping
Companies that provide Internet phone service have just six days to meet a deadline from the Justice Department. By next Monday, they'll have to make their systems easier to tap. That's right -- make it easier to secretly listen in on your phone calls, or face daily fines of $10,000 dollars.
Where's my carrier pigeon?
Here's the story.
Where's my carrier pigeon?
Here's the story.
New Jersey to consider abolishing death penalty
New Jersey lawmakers will consider abolishing the death penalty this week, starting a process that could see the liberal state become the first to scrap capital punishment since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated it in 1976.
Read the rest.
Read the rest.
Glendale professor faces termination over e-mail
Hmmmm.
"This case would be almost funny if it wasn't having such serious implications for the professor's life and livelihood," Lukianoff said.
Link.
"This case would be almost funny if it wasn't having such serious implications for the professor's life and livelihood," Lukianoff said.
Link.
More TV time means worse school performance
In the duh column:
The more TV adolescents watch, the more likely they are to develop attention and learning problems, and to do poorly in school in the long-run, a new study confirms.
Here ya go.
The more TV adolescents watch, the more likely they are to develop attention and learning problems, and to do poorly in school in the long-run, a new study confirms.
Here ya go.
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