Fucking disgusting. Watch it all.
March 7, 2008
Bush to veto bill banning waterboarding
The White House says President Bush will veto legislation on Saturday that would have barred the CIA from using waterboarding — a technique that simulates drowning — and other harsh interrogation methods on terror suspects.
...
The legislation would bar the CIA from using waterboarding, sensory deprivation or other coercive methods to break a prisoner who refuses to answer questions. Those practices were banned by the military in 2006, but the president wants the harsh interrogation methods to be a part of the CIA's toolbox.
...
He noted that the Army field manual contends that harsh interrogation is a "poor technique that yields unreliable results, may damage subsequent collection efforts, and can induce the source to say what he thinks the (interrogator) wants to hear."
And anyone who doesn't believe that should be waterboarded.
Read more.
...
The legislation would bar the CIA from using waterboarding, sensory deprivation or other coercive methods to break a prisoner who refuses to answer questions. Those practices were banned by the military in 2006, but the president wants the harsh interrogation methods to be a part of the CIA's toolbox.
...
He noted that the Army field manual contends that harsh interrogation is a "poor technique that yields unreliable results, may damage subsequent collection efforts, and can induce the source to say what he thinks the (interrogator) wants to hear."
And anyone who doesn't believe that should be waterboarded.
Read more.
It took eons to make Grand Canyon grand
The Grand Canyon often is referred to as about 6 million years old — but its western half actually began to open at least 17 million years ago, a University of New Mexico team reports Friday in the journal Science.
Wait: The western side of the canyon is the downstream end of the Colorado River, so how could it be older than the arguably more spectacular eastern side?
Read more.
Wait: The western side of the canyon is the downstream end of the Colorado River, so how could it be older than the arguably more spectacular eastern side?
Read more.
Lawsuit Could Force RIAA to Reveal Secrets
According to Mike Ratoza, a copyright lawyer with Bullivant, Houser and Bailey who teaches at the University of Oregon, Andersen is close to forcing the RIAA into the discovery phase of her countersuit. During that discovery phase, the RIAA could be forced to release potentially incriminating details about its techniques for investigating alleged file sharers.
This information will likely be held under a confidential seal, but if lawsuits over mold, tobacco, and asbestos are any indication, the RIAA's secrets will likely leak out into the legal community at large, potentially culminating in a class action suit.
Give 'em hell, Tanya.
Read more.
This information will likely be held under a confidential seal, but if lawsuits over mold, tobacco, and asbestos are any indication, the RIAA's secrets will likely leak out into the legal community at large, potentially culminating in a class action suit.
Give 'em hell, Tanya.
Read more.
How many nonbelievers?
Are there more atheists and agnostics in this country than is commonly supposed? Two studies -- last week's U.S. Religious Landscape Survey from the Pew Forum and one published two years ago -- suggest so.
...
Moreover, I think a more fruitful distinction than the one between atheists and theists is the one between those who acknowledge that there are no compelling logical arguments for believing in God (even if they choose to believe anyway) and those who are sure of their God and the literal truth of their particular holy book.
There is a bravery and a wisdom associated with disbelief and honest doubt. As my father used to say, "Uncertainty is the only certainty there is." More biting is William Butler Yeats' line: "The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity."
Read more.
...
Moreover, I think a more fruitful distinction than the one between atheists and theists is the one between those who acknowledge that there are no compelling logical arguments for believing in God (even if they choose to believe anyway) and those who are sure of their God and the literal truth of their particular holy book.
There is a bravery and a wisdom associated with disbelief and honest doubt. As my father used to say, "Uncertainty is the only certainty there is." More biting is William Butler Yeats' line: "The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity."
Read more.
3 CEOs made $460 million - House panel
House oversight committee prepares to investigate why executives at companies battered by the mortgage crisis were awarded big payouts.
Read more.
Read more.
March 6, 2008
Appeals Court Weighs Teen's Web Speech
According to the lawsuit, she wrote: "'Jamfest' is canceled due to douchebags in central office," and also referred to an administrator who was "pissed off."
After discovering the blog entry, school officials refused to allow Doninger to run for re-election as class secretary. Doninger won anyway with write-in votes, but was not allowed to serve.
A lower federal court had supported the school. U.S. District Judge Mark Kravitz, denying Doninger's request for an injunction, said he believed she could be punished for writing in a blog because the blog addressed school issues and was likely to be read by other students.
Her lawyer, Jon L. Schoenhorn, told the appeals court Tuesday that what students write on the Internet should not give schools more cause to regulate off-campus speech.
Read more.
After discovering the blog entry, school officials refused to allow Doninger to run for re-election as class secretary. Doninger won anyway with write-in votes, but was not allowed to serve.
A lower federal court had supported the school. U.S. District Judge Mark Kravitz, denying Doninger's request for an injunction, said he believed she could be punished for writing in a blog because the blog addressed school issues and was likely to be read by other students.
Her lawyer, Jon L. Schoenhorn, told the appeals court Tuesday that what students write on the Internet should not give schools more cause to regulate off-campus speech.
Read more.
March 5, 2008
Was Moses high on psychedelic drugs?
High on Mount Sinai, Moses was on psychedelic drugs when he
heard God deliver the Ten Commandments, an Israeli researcher
claimed in a study published this week.
Read more.
heard God deliver the Ten Commandments, an Israeli researcher
claimed in a study published this week.
Read more.
Scary or sensational? A machine that can look into the mind
Scientists have developed a computerised mind-reading technique which
lets them accurately predict the images that people are looking at by
using scanners to study brain activity.
Read more.
lets them accurately predict the images that people are looking at by
using scanners to study brain activity.
Read more.
March 4, 2008
Photo shows avalanche on Mars
A robotic spacecraft circling Mars has snapped the first image of a series of active avalanches near the planet's north pole, scientists said Monday.
Check out the pic.
Check out the pic.
March 3, 2008
Court may consider broadcast decency rules
The Supreme Court this week may reopen for the first time in more than 30 years the debate over what qualifies as an "indecent" broadcast.
...
The issue before the court now is delicately described as the problem of "fleeting expletives" in over-the-air broadcasts, which are still regulated. Television viewers who watch some of the entertainment industry's award shows may be familiar with the phenomenon.
No fucking comment.
Read more.
...
The issue before the court now is delicately described as the problem of "fleeting expletives" in over-the-air broadcasts, which are still regulated. Television viewers who watch some of the entertainment industry's award shows may be familiar with the phenomenon.
No fucking comment.
Read more.
March 2, 2008
Study: Spanking can bring problems later
Professor Murray Straus concludes that children who are spanked are more likely as adults to coerce partners to have sex, to have unprotected sex and to have masochistic sex.
Other studies have shown the link between spanking and physical violence, but Straus said his research is the first to show a link between corporal punishment and sexual behavior.
Read more.
Other studies have shown the link between spanking and physical violence, but Straus said his research is the first to show a link between corporal punishment and sexual behavior.
Read more.
Japan looks to a robot future
While robots are a long way from matching human emotional complexity, the country is perhaps the closest to a future — once the stuff of science fiction — where humans and intelligent robots routinely live side by side and interact socially.
Read more.
Read more.
Cold Water on "Global Warming"
A whole cottage industry has sprung up among people who get grants, government agencies who get appropriations, politicians who get publicity, and the perpetually indignant who get something new to be indignant about. It gives teachers something to talk about in school instead of teaching.
Those who bother to check the facts often find that not all those who are called scientists are really scientists and not all of those who are scientists are specialists in climate. But who bothers to check facts these days?
...
The bigger problem is that this has long since become a crusade rather than an exercise in evidence or logic. Too many people are too committed to risk it all on a roll of the dice, which is what turning to empirical evidence is.
Those who have a big stake in global-warming hysteria are unlikely to show up at the conference in New York, and unfortunately that includes much of the media.
Read more.
Those who bother to check the facts often find that not all those who are called scientists are really scientists and not all of those who are scientists are specialists in climate. But who bothers to check facts these days?
...
The bigger problem is that this has long since become a crusade rather than an exercise in evidence or logic. Too many people are too committed to risk it all on a roll of the dice, which is what turning to empirical evidence is.
Those who have a big stake in global-warming hysteria are unlikely to show up at the conference in New York, and unfortunately that includes much of the media.
Read more.
Economic Armageddon
The world's second richest man, Bill Gates, is also critical of the capitalist system that made him rich. "We have to find a way to make the aspects of capitalism that serve wealthier people serve poorer people as well," he told a recent World Economic Forum.
Gates is giving back by setting up the world's largest private foundation with a $34.6 billion US endowment for charitable projects around the world.
One he's investing in, according to globalresearch.ca, is a "doomsday seed bank" located on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, where 3 million different crop seeds from around the world will be stored in a mountain vault.
What does Gates know that we don't?
Read more.
Gates is giving back by setting up the world's largest private foundation with a $34.6 billion US endowment for charitable projects around the world.
One he's investing in, according to globalresearch.ca, is a "doomsday seed bank" located on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, where 3 million different crop seeds from around the world will be stored in a mountain vault.
What does Gates know that we don't?
Read more.
March 1, 2008
Bush thinks spied-on Americans should ’suck it up’?
According to Bush, what are Americans entitled to in response? Absolutely nothing.
...
Telecoms and the administration teamed up to break the law and violate your privacy. The only appropriate response, Bush believes, is to change the law and make those crimes legal several years after the fact, ending reasonable lawsuits that already before the judiciary.
And if you don’t like it, you should suck it up.
Read more.
...
Telecoms and the administration teamed up to break the law and violate your privacy. The only appropriate response, Bush believes, is to change the law and make those crimes legal several years after the fact, ending reasonable lawsuits that already before the judiciary.
And if you don’t like it, you should suck it up.
Read more.
Video Cops, Get Arrested
This past October, when Simon Glik used his cell phone to record Boston police officers making what he thought was an overly forceful arrest on Tremont Street, he didn’t think he would be the one who ended up in the back of a police cruiser. But cops saw Glik using his cell phone’s camera with its sound-recording feature, so they arrested him for breaking the Massachusetts law that prohibits secret electronic recording, deemed “wiretapping.”
Read more.
Read more.
What Makes Finnish Kids So Smart?
High-school students here rarely get more than a half-hour of homework a night. They have no school uniforms, no honor societies, no valedictorians, no tardy bells and no classes for the gifted. There is little standardized testing, few parents agonize over college and kids don't start school until age 7.
...
The academic prowess of Finland's students has lured educators from more than 50 countries in recent years to learn the country's secret, including an official from the U.S. Department of Education. What they find is simple but not easy: well-trained teachers and responsible children.
...
Teachers must hold master's degrees, and the profession is highly competitive: More than 40 people may apply for a single job. Their salaries are similar to those of U.S. teachers, but they generally have more freedom.
Read the rest.
...
The academic prowess of Finland's students has lured educators from more than 50 countries in recent years to learn the country's secret, including an official from the U.S. Department of Education. What they find is simple but not easy: well-trained teachers and responsible children.
...
Teachers must hold master's degrees, and the profession is highly competitive: More than 40 people may apply for a single job. Their salaries are similar to those of U.S. teachers, but they generally have more freedom.
Read the rest.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
