Monday, March 05, 2007
|
Surprise, surprise
Or, I love the smell of irony in the heading
I thought that I had lost my rage and vitriol at the stupidity of unthinking conservatives. I was wrong, wrong, wrong. Some of the reactions to the L. Scooter Libby convictions on CNN got my blood boiling. For example:
Sharon Yarbrough of Brandon, Florida
What travesty of justice! That woman's husband was behind all this mess, and it is a travesty when this woman was not even an active operative at the time her identity was made known. How idiotic to waste more taxpayer money on this type of foolishness, but how typical of the Democrats who want to make a name for themselves.
D. Hanes of Jacksonville, Florida
Lots of taxpayers dollars foolishly spent! The Libs had to be pushing this ignorant case!
For christ's sake - why is anything remotely bad for Republican's a liberal/Democratic conspiracy?!? This whole afair is quite clearly a White House attempt to destroy someone's career and political life. This is hardball politics at its worst! It put partisan politics over national security. This is hardly a Democratic plot - the Dem's aren't that clever!
Sharon, who is "that woman"? I assume you mean Valerie Plame. If so, WOW! You speak of her as a scandalous whore of Bablyon.
D., do you have any sense of scale? Why do you howl over the cost of a court case and not over the Iraq war costs? A few million in a trial is hardly worthy of concern vis a vis $300 billion.
Disgusting.
Or, I love the smell of irony in the heading
I thought that I had lost my rage and vitriol at the stupidity of unthinking conservatives. I was wrong, wrong, wrong. Some of the reactions to the L. Scooter Libby convictions on CNN got my blood boiling. For example:
Sharon Yarbrough of Brandon, Florida
What travesty of justice! That woman's husband was behind all this mess, and it is a travesty when this woman was not even an active operative at the time her identity was made known. How idiotic to waste more taxpayer money on this type of foolishness, but how typical of the Democrats who want to make a name for themselves.
D. Hanes of Jacksonville, Florida
Lots of taxpayers dollars foolishly spent! The Libs had to be pushing this ignorant case!
For christ's sake - why is anything remotely bad for Republican's a liberal/Democratic conspiracy?!? This whole afair is quite clearly a White House attempt to destroy someone's career and political life. This is hardball politics at its worst! It put partisan politics over national security. This is hardly a Democratic plot - the Dem's aren't that clever!
Sharon, who is "that woman"? I assume you mean Valerie Plame. If so, WOW! You speak of her as a scandalous whore of Bablyon.
D., do you have any sense of scale? Why do you howl over the cost of a court case and not over the Iraq war costs? A few million in a trial is hardly worthy of concern vis a vis $300 billion.
Disgusting.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
|
THEY'RE ALL CRAZY - I SWEAR
or why I ain't religious
I recently read End of Days: Fundamentalism and the Struggle for the Temple Mount, by Gershom Gorenberg. Wow, this was eye opening.
I had previously considered Rapture driven uptoian theroy to be a uniquely Anglo-Evangelical Christian thing. This book made me realzied that the shared religio-DNA of Jew, Christians, and Muslims has, at its core, a prophetic message. In a nut shell; the Messia (Jew), Christ (Christians), or Hidden Imam (Shia), was lost in the haze of ancient history. With this loss came corruption and the humanity went astray. Only the return of these religious figures will make humanity be made perfect again. (A rather typicl
The stories are remarkably similar. But I must admit the Hidden Iman takes the cake for me. Maybe it's just that I didn't grow up arround this narrative so that it seems trite. But for the Shia (think Iranian or Southern Iraqi Muslims), the Hidden Imam was a seven year old boy who claimed he was the next Iman. He then went to the basement of a mosque in Sammara and never came out. But he still lives, sort of (maybe only in spirit). And when he returns there will be perfect justice, perfect spirituality, and the end of history. See the following web page for further details.
Sheeh...
Great Pumpkin any one?
.
or why I ain't religious
I recently read End of Days: Fundamentalism and the Struggle for the Temple Mount, by Gershom Gorenberg. Wow, this was eye opening.
I had previously considered Rapture driven uptoian theroy to be a uniquely Anglo-Evangelical Christian thing. This book made me realzied that the shared religio-DNA of Jew, Christians, and Muslims has, at its core, a prophetic message. In a nut shell; the Messia (Jew), Christ (Christians), or Hidden Imam (Shia), was lost in the haze of ancient history. With this loss came corruption and the humanity went astray. Only the return of these religious figures will make humanity be made perfect again. (A rather typicl
The stories are remarkably similar. But I must admit the Hidden Iman takes the cake for me. Maybe it's just that I didn't grow up arround this narrative so that it seems trite. But for the Shia (think Iranian or Southern Iraqi Muslims), the Hidden Imam was a seven year old boy who claimed he was the next Iman. He then went to the basement of a mosque in Sammara and never came out. But he still lives, sort of (maybe only in spirit). And when he returns there will be perfect justice, perfect spirituality, and the end of history. See the following web page for further details.
Sheeh...
Great Pumpkin any one?
.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
|
DAM! Google's taking over everything!
Ok, so I've been an extremely bad blogger. It has been so long since I've blogged I'm quite sure I've lost the three people who read this laborious thing.
So, I stumbled across a blogthings test. Whala ---here's the result:
I disagree with the outcome. Giving me a young woman's elfin face bumps my happiness up +2 points.
Finding out Google now owns Blogger... -10 points.
Boo hoo.
But overall, the notion that "I'm happy" is hogwash. Emotional states are not constant. Simplistic Elle-inspired tests like this that make me want to puke. I can't help but suspect that they encourage self conscious people to wonder what is wrong with themselves if thier score is "low".
Ok, so I've been an extremely bad blogger. It has been so long since I've blogged I'm quite sure I've lost the three people who read this laborious thing.
So, I stumbled across a blogthings test. Whala ---here's the result:
| You Are 88% Happy |
 It's unlikely that you know anyone happier than you. You know how to be happy, no matter what life throws at you. |
I disagree with the outcome. Giving me a young woman's elfin face bumps my happiness up +2 points.
Finding out Google now owns Blogger... -10 points.
Boo hoo.
But overall, the notion that "I'm happy" is hogwash. Emotional states are not constant. Simplistic Elle-inspired tests like this that make me want to puke. I can't help but suspect that they encourage self conscious people to wonder what is wrong with themselves if thier score is "low".
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
|
THANK GOD
or Wait! God had nothing to do with it
There have been a host of breakthroughs in basic research surrounding stem cells in the last couple of months. The most startling was announced today. It appears that two researchers, Harvey Lodish and ChengCheng Zhang, have figured out what growth hormones spur the growth rate of adult stem cells in mice.
Remeber, adult stem cells are different than fetal stem cells. It is the fetal type that has created most of the political fire storm. In response to that political controversy, President Bush limited fedral funding for stem cell research. Why? because only fetal cells could be found in large enough quantities to be useable in a labratory.
There is now a promising line of research to allow adult stem cells to be sufficently plentiful for researchers. This should eventually defuse the political debate - assuming all sides can be honest about this issue.
If scientist can figure out how to get human adult stem cells to grow like their mouse counterparts, an extremely significant step towards unimaginable medical advances will be within reach.
If you are interested in some of the other stem cell related research, check these out:
Blood stem cell discovery is announced
Molecule dictates how stem cells travel
Researchers derive animal-free stem cells
Transplanted stem cells repair hearts
Study: How stem cells become brain cells
or Wait! God had nothing to do with it
There have been a host of breakthroughs in basic research surrounding stem cells in the last couple of months. The most startling was announced today. It appears that two researchers, Harvey Lodish and ChengCheng Zhang, have figured out what growth hormones spur the growth rate of adult stem cells in mice.
Remeber, adult stem cells are different than fetal stem cells. It is the fetal type that has created most of the political fire storm. In response to that political controversy, President Bush limited fedral funding for stem cell research. Why? because only fetal cells could be found in large enough quantities to be useable in a labratory.
There is now a promising line of research to allow adult stem cells to be sufficently plentiful for researchers. This should eventually defuse the political debate - assuming all sides can be honest about this issue.
If scientist can figure out how to get human adult stem cells to grow like their mouse counterparts, an extremely significant step towards unimaginable medical advances will be within reach.
If you are interested in some of the other stem cell related research, check these out:
Blood stem cell discovery is announced
Molecule dictates how stem cells travel
Researchers derive animal-free stem cells
Transplanted stem cells repair hearts
Study: How stem cells become brain cells
Friday, January 20, 2006
|
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
or Krung Thep here I come!
Work has me traveling to exotic locations again - this time on short notice. I'm off to Thailand on Saturday. I will be there for one week and visit Bangkok (or Krung Thep to the Thais) and Pattaya. It will be a very busy trip, I don't know how much I'll be able to see. But rest assured, dear readers, I'll blog about noteworth events.
It should be interesting.
or Krung Thep here I come!
Work has me traveling to exotic locations again - this time on short notice. I'm off to Thailand on Saturday. I will be there for one week and visit Bangkok (or Krung Thep to the Thais) and Pattaya. It will be a very busy trip, I don't know how much I'll be able to see. But rest assured, dear readers, I'll blog about noteworth events.
It should be interesting.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
|
PERCEPTUAL SIMILARITIES
or we all ain't that different
I don't suspect many people have given any thought to what happens in our brain when we look at something. Two researchers at the University of Zurich have, fortunately, put a large amount of effort into this. Specifically, they studied how people categorize other people's faces.
When a I look at someone, their face is identified by my visual cortex. This identification is value neutral. It's just one face of the oodles I've seen in my lifetime. Positive, or negative response to that face is assigned by the amygdala. This process can be thought of as a reward circuitry. The researchers postualted that I would respond my favorably to faces that I found attractive. That seem pretty reasonable to me.
The researchers took it one step further and postuated that a homo-sexual woman values faces in a similar way to me. And that homo-sexual men would be similar to hetro woman. Their findings support this.
I find that very interesting. It suggest that all people identify faces similarly. That is the visual cortex works similarly for all people, straight or not (would that be crooked?). However, our amygdala's response to faces - or the values we place on them - can be classified based on sexual preference. This has interesting implications on the debates about sexuality being a choice.
Is sexuality really a choice when our brains are not the same? I don't know, at least not in any incontroversial way. However, choice seems too simplistic.
or we all ain't that different
I don't suspect many people have given any thought to what happens in our brain when we look at something. Two researchers at the University of Zurich have, fortunately, put a large amount of effort into this. Specifically, they studied how people categorize other people's faces.
When a I look at someone, their face is identified by my visual cortex. This identification is value neutral. It's just one face of the oodles I've seen in my lifetime. Positive, or negative response to that face is assigned by the amygdala. This process can be thought of as a reward circuitry. The researchers postualted that I would respond my favorably to faces that I found attractive. That seem pretty reasonable to me.
The researchers took it one step further and postuated that a homo-sexual woman values faces in a similar way to me. And that homo-sexual men would be similar to hetro woman. Their findings support this.
I find that very interesting. It suggest that all people identify faces similarly. That is the visual cortex works similarly for all people, straight or not (would that be crooked?). However, our amygdala's response to faces - or the values we place on them - can be classified based on sexual preference. This has interesting implications on the debates about sexuality being a choice.
Is sexuality really a choice when our brains are not the same? I don't know, at least not in any incontroversial way. However, choice seems too simplistic.
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
|
ARHHHHGGG!!!!!!!
or I should really stop reading this stuff
Check out these quotes from VP Cheney:
"Watergate and a lot of the things around Watergate and Vietnam, both during the 1970s, served, I think, to erode the authority I think the president needs to be effective, especially in the national security area."
Or
"the president of the United States needs to have his constitutional powers unimpaired."
What powers are those? The right to make war at personal whim? That ain't in the Constitution. Only Congress has that right, see Article 1 section 8. The right to spy unencumbered on anyone? So far as I can tell, and I am not a constitutional scholar, Article II governs the "constitutional powers" of the president.
Article II is very brief. I don't see where is provides anything except the following four things:
1) Defines who can be president and how long they can serve
2) Fill his cabinet and federal vacancies
3) Faithfully execute the laws which includes commissioning congress and offices as well as receiving ambassadors
4) The president has the right to be impeached
Now, is that what the VP is saying? If so I don't get what all the bruh-ha-ha is about. But sadly, I don't think that is what Cheney wants. He seems to want to return the US to the bad old days of a Nixonian Imperial Presidency. To quote John Dean, the goal seems to be to "make Congress merely another administrative arm of the presidency."
In the end, there is more too this than meets the eye. Per usual, the Administration appears to hold little regard for the truth when dealing with the public.
NOTE: if you are interested, here is some further reading:
John Dean: HOW THE WAR ON TERRORISM IS SHRINKING CONGRESSIONAL POWERS: PART ONE
John Dean: Part Two Of A Series On Shrinking Congressional Powers
Watergate info: American Political Values from an Australian perspective
or I should really stop reading this stuff
Check out these quotes from VP Cheney:
"Watergate and a lot of the things around Watergate and Vietnam, both during the 1970s, served, I think, to erode the authority I think the president needs to be effective, especially in the national security area."
Or
"the president of the United States needs to have his constitutional powers unimpaired."
What powers are those? The right to make war at personal whim? That ain't in the Constitution. Only Congress has that right, see Article 1 section 8. The right to spy unencumbered on anyone? So far as I can tell, and I am not a constitutional scholar, Article II governs the "constitutional powers" of the president.
Article II is very brief. I don't see where is provides anything except the following four things:
1) Defines who can be president and how long they can serve
2) Fill his cabinet and federal vacancies
3) Faithfully execute the laws which includes commissioning congress and offices as well as receiving ambassadors
4) The president has the right to be impeached
Now, is that what the VP is saying? If so I don't get what all the bruh-ha-ha is about. But sadly, I don't think that is what Cheney wants. He seems to want to return the US to the bad old days of a Nixonian Imperial Presidency. To quote John Dean, the goal seems to be to "make Congress merely another administrative arm of the presidency."
In the end, there is more too this than meets the eye. Per usual, the Administration appears to hold little regard for the truth when dealing with the public.
NOTE: if you are interested, here is some further reading:
John Dean: HOW THE WAR ON TERRORISM IS SHRINKING CONGRESSIONAL POWERS: PART ONE
John Dean: Part Two Of A Series On Shrinking Congressional Powers
Watergate info: American Political Values from an Australian perspective
