Clipmarks | kelvin273's clips

New York Rep. has four rent-control apartments

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 11:09:07 GMT

clipped by: kelvin273
clipper's remarks: Even though I'm not a New Yorker, I'll take this as evidence that rent control should die a quiet death. It's really fun when you read about Rangel's villas in the Caribbean on top of these apartments.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Alma and Charles B. Rangel’s Harlem residence, as shown in “Style and Grace: African Americans at Home” (2003).

The Harlem building where Representative Charles B. Rangel has four rent-stabilized units.

While aggressive evictions are reducing the number of rent-stabilized apartments in New York, Representative Charles B. Rangel is enjoying four of them

Mr. Rangel, the powerful Democrat who is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, uses his fourth apartment, six floors below, as a campaign office, despite state and city regulations that require rent-stabilized apartments to be used as a primary residence.

Mr. Rangel, who has a net worth of $566,000 to $1.2 million, according to Congressional disclosure records, paid a total rent of $3,894 monthly in 2007 for the four apartments

The current market-rate rent for similar apartments in Mr. Rangel’s building would total $7,465 to $8,125 a month, according to the Web site of the owner, the Olnick Organization.

Tags: politics, corruption, rent, new york

Hyped up drug studies

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 23:19:58 GMT

clipped by: kelvin273
clipper's remarks: If you read the full article, some of the methods they use to make drugs look good are shocking. For example, if a drug doesn't reduce deaths from strokes, but does reduce the incidence of disability in survivors, they add the two numbers together in one column and claim that the drug reduces "death and disability" (meaning "death + disability," but people assume it means that the likelihood of death is reduced, too).

Clip Source: discovermagazine.com

How often do today’s medical “breakthroughs” become tomorrow’s discredited science? John P. A. Ioannidis, an epidemiologist at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston and the University of Ioannina School of Medicine in Greece, studied the question. He examined the most-cited clinical studies published in the top three medical journals between 1990 and 2000 to see how well researchers’ initial claims held up against subsequent research. His findings, published in JAMA, show that the key claims of nearly one-third (14 out of 49) of the original research studies he examined were either false or exaggerated. Small study size, design flaws, publication bias (failure to publish negative results or duplication of positive results), drug-industry influence, and the play of chance were among the problems Ioannidis found that caused false or exaggerated claims.

Tags: science, medicine, drugs, pharmaceuticals

Animals experience old age in captivity

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 09:02:31 GMT

clipped by: kelvin273
clipper's remarks: This is interesting because I remember hearing that the conventional wisdom was that animals don't age. Maybe animals really do age, but they usually don't live long enough for it to show.

Clip Source: www.usatoday.com

Even as a youngster, Rollie looked older and wiser than his years. His white mustache sprouted longer by the month, until it flamed from his cheeks like a German kaiser's. Sometimes, it all but hid his mouth.

In the last few years, though, the tribulations of age — not just the appearance of it — have begun catching up with Rollie. It wasn't immediately noticeable on the outside. But his keepers at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo are reminded each time they get a look past the Emperor Tamarin's flowing whiskers, and into his jaws.

The tiny monkey, used to crunching away on raw sweet potato and celery, has surrendered all but 6 of his 32 teeth to the toll of time.

At 17, Rollie is a senior citizen of his species. In the wilds of the Amazon, his keepers say, he almost certainly would never have made it this long.

The Golden Years have arrived at the nation's zoos and aquariums, and that is taking veterinarians and keepers, along with their animals, into a zone of unknowns.

Tags: science, animals, aging, zoos

Five Science Fiction Movies That Get the Science Right

Fri, 09 May 2008 22:24:50 GMT

clipped by: nohobot
clipper's remarks: "2001: A Space Odyssey" is my all-time favorite film, so I included almost all of the information from that section. The others on the list are also interesting, though, of course.

Clip Source: www.newscientist.com

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

"Open the pod-bay doors, HAL."

Despite being made before the first moon landing, Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C Clarke's masterpiece is a strikingly realistic depiction of space travel.

Among the film's neater details:

All scenes in outer space are silent – sound does not travel in a vacuum

The stars do not move past the ship – for there to be a visible motion of the star field, the ship would have to be travelling at close to the speed of light

The crew eat paste-like food and only drink liquids through straws.

Additionally, crew members are shown coping with the boredom and routine of a long, straightforward trek across empty space.

Newtonian physics is strictly obeyed in the behaviour of the ship and little "pods" that the astronauts use to travel outside it. Trouble only starts when a carefully-aligned radio transmitter, the crew's lifeline to Earth, begins to drift out of position.

The secret ingredient in absinthe: lots of alcohol

Thu, 01 May 2008 04:31:22 GMT

clipped by: kelvin273

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

An analysis of century-old bottles of absinthe — the kind once quaffed by the likes of van Gogh and Picasso to enhance their creativity — may end the controversy over what ingredient caused the green liqueur's supposed mind-altering effects .

The culprit seems plain and simple: The century-old absinthe contained about 70 percent alcohol, giving it a 140-proof kick. In comparison, most gins, vodkas and whiskeys are just 80- to 100-proof.

The modern scientific consensus is that absinthe's reputation could simply be traced back to alcoholism, or perhaps toxic compounds that leaked in during faulty distillation. Still, others have pointed at a chemical named thujone in wormwood

Prior studies suggested that absinthe had only trace levels of thujone. But critics claimed that absinthe made before it got banned in France in 1915 had much higher levels of thujone than modern absinthe produced since 1988, when the European Union lifted the ban on making absinthe.

Foxes guarding NASA's henhouse

Thu, 01 May 2008 04:08:52 GMT

clipped by: kelvin273
clipper's remarks: This has become such a business as usual thing in government that I'm not sure I can summon the outrage anymore.

Clip Source: www.space.com

The NASA inspector general says the space agency is breaking the law by allowing conflicts of interest on a board overseeing the building of a new spaceship to return astronauts to the moon.

The board is set up to review NASA's new Orion capsule. The panel is loaded with employees of the contractors it is supposed to scrutinize, the inspector general report says.

The report says the board chairman and five other members work for contractors hired by NASA for the multi-billion-dollar space shuttle replacement program. Four of the six are also stockholders in firms making money off the NASA project, the report says.

Tags: science, space, nasa

Dog whistle for teenagers

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 07:57:09 GMT

clipped by: kelvin273
clipper's remarks: My first reaction: If this had been posted on April 1, I wouldn't have believed it. But I have some sympathy for the teens. After all, "loitering" seems to mean "hanging around and being somebody I don't like."

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

NEW YORK (AP) -- A wall-mounted gadget designed to drive away loiterers with a shrill, piercing noise audible only to teens and young adults is infuriating civil liberties groups and tormenting young people after being introduced into the United States.

Almost 1,000 units of the device, called the Mosquito, have been sold in the United States and Canada after the product debuted last year, according to Daniel Santell, the North America importer of the device sold under the company name Kids Be Gone.

The high-frequency sound has been likened to fingernails dragged across a chalkboard or a pesky mosquito buzzing in your ear. It can be heard by most people in their teens and early 20s who still have sensitive hair cells in their inner ears. Whether you can hear the noise depends on how much your hearing has deteriorated: How loud you blast your iPod, for example, could affect your ability to detect it.

McCain, Ohio Dem Party aim ads at each other

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 04:36:54 GMT

clipped by: kelvin273
clipper's remarks: And so the onslaught begins, and it won't end until November. Such is life in a swing state.

Clip Source: www.daytondailynews.com

COLUMBUS — With a trip to Youngstown by Republican John McCain and an anti-McCain radio attack ad from Ohio Democrats, the general campaign for president in Ohio unofficially blasts off today, April 22.

McCain put up a TV ad in the Youngstown area last week.

The battle between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination still rages with today's primary in neighboring Pennsylvania.

That leaves it to the Ohio Democratic Party to "welcome" McCain with an ad to be broadcast through Friday in Youngstown and across southeast Ohio on a variety of radio stations, including those with country and Christian formats.

Tags: politics, election, ads

Congress may investigate BCS legality

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 08:51:46 GMT

clipped by: kelvin273
clipper's remarks: I agree that the BCS is a stupid system, but Congress has much more important things to look into.

Clip Source: www.cbsnews.com

Forget government corruption or corporate fraud.

Reps. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, Lynn Westmoreland, R-Ga., and Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, are introducing a resolution rejecting the oft-criticized bowl system as an illegal restriction on trade because only the largest universities compete in most of the major bowl games.

The measure also would put Congress on record as supporting a college football playoff.

Abercrombie said the matter is worthy of federal review because college football is big business with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake.

But it's no coincidence that all three lawmakers have home-state schools with recent beefs against the bowl system.

The University of Hawaii and Boise State University in Idaho each had an undefeated season in recent years, but were denied a shot at the championship. And Westmoreland said he is still smarting about his University of Georgia Bulldogs being passed over for the national championship game last year.

Tags: sports, football, college, congress

Evangelicals may go Democratic

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 23:12:33 GMT

clipped by: kelvin273
clipper's remarks: If a fair number of evangelicals were to actually vote for a liberal like Obama in the general election, that would mark a sea change in U.S. politics. I can't help but worry that Hell would also freeze over.

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

(CNN) -- Which Democrat is winning the battle for religious voters? God only knows.

For years, the evangelical community has largely supported Republican presidential candidates.

Conservative Christian activists, drawn by the party's stands on abortion, gay marriage and other social issues, have been among the GOP's most reliable foot soldiers. Watch how faith is playing into the election »

During the primary season, former Baptist minister Mike Huckabee appealed directly to evangelicals as one of their own -- but in opinion polls conducted early in the primary season, those voters preferred either Democrat to the former Arkansas governor.

Winning over religious voters, especially evangelicals, is still an uphill climb for any Democrat -- but for the first time in recent memory, the party believes its next nominee may have a prayer.

Tags: politics, religion, election

Russian space shuttle clone retired

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 01:06:40 GMT

clipped by: kelvin273
clipper's remarks: It would have been interesting to see how the Buran would have developed. While we were good at going to the moon and sending probes to planets, the Soviet program was more concerned with the kind of earth-orbit stuff the shuttle's about.

Clip Source: www.space.com

COLOGNE, Germany (AP) - The one-time pride of the Soviet space program is making a decidedly sedate journey to its new home, chugging up the Rhine River aboard a pontoon boat.

The Buran 002 space shuttle is headed for the Technik-Museum Speyer in southwestern Germany, which says it has long had its eye on the spacecraft.

The shuttle has been in storage in Bahrain since 2002.

The Buran - the Soviet space program's answer to NASA's space shuttle, to which it bears a strong resemblance - made its maiden flight in 1988.

Soviet space officials claimed at the time that the Buran was superior to its American rival because of its ability to fly on autopilot and its bigger capacity, but the program was mothballed amid chaos and fund shortages in the run-up to the 1991 Soviet collapse. Several Buran shuttles were left rusting in hangars.

Tags: space, russia

Cubans allowed to buy products they can't afford

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 03:11:11 GMT

clipped by: kelvin273
clipper's remarks: This is interesting. On the one hand, the new access to personal computers creates a new, de-facto freedom of the press (even without internet access to blog or post on forums, all you need is a printer to distribute anti-government literature). On the other hand, only the well-off can afford this stuff, and the well-off are less likely to agitate against the system, particularly if the system gives them cell phones and computers.

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

In the past week, President Raúl Castro has legalized cell phone use for ordinary Cubans; granted Cubans access to previously off-limits tourist hotels; and legalized the sale within Cuba of microwaves, DVD players and personal computers. Cubans are welcoming the change, even if the costs are out of their reach.

And although computers hadn't yet been seen on the shelves Wednesday, Yamile Batista, the commercial director of La Puntilla department store, said they were among various products that would appear this week.

"We're talking about complete computer systems, 21-inch televisions, DVD players, home theater systems," she said.

Most Cubans can't afford to rent cell phones, stay in hotels or buy any of the new products available to them. The average monthly salary is just under $20.

Those in the stores this week were primarily those with access to hard currency, either from relatives abroad or through jobs in the tourist industry.

Tags: cuba, technology

Lincoln letter to be sold at auction

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 02:35:58 GMT

clipped by: kelvin273
clipper's remarks: I had to clip this just for the little historical fact few people know.

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

The "Little People's Petition" asked him "to free all the little slave children of this country."

Lincoln wrote, "Please tell these little people I am very glad their young hearts are so full of just and generous sympathy and that, while I have not the power to grant all they ask, I trust they will remember that God has, and that, as it seems, He wills to do it."

Although Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation had declared freedom for all slaves held in areas "in rebellion" against the United States as of January 1, 1863, full abolition of slavery was not accomplished until adoption of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution late in 1865.

Tags: history, lincoln, auction, letter

Where The Boys and Girls Are

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 04:37:46 GMT

clipped by: kelvin273
clipper's remarks: The good news for me is that single women outnumber single men by at least 20,000 in my hometown, according to this map.

Clip Source: creativeclass.typepad.com

It's not just that some places have more singles than others. If you're a single man or a single woman the odds of meeting that special someone vary dramatically across the country.

By far, the best places for single men are the large cities and metro areas of the East Coast and Midwest. The extreme is greater New York, where single women outnumber single men by more than 210,000. In the Philadelphia area and greater Washington, D.C., single women outnumber single men by 50,000.

But women do have an advantage in the American West and Southwest. In greater Los Angeles, for example, there are 90,000 more single men than women. In Phoenix and the San Francisco Bay Area, single men outnumber single women by roughly 65,000.

Tags: demogragphics, dating

Are body piercings really worth it?

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 06:46:55 GMT

clipped by: kelvin273
clipper's remarks: Jokes aside, it's weird that nipple rings set off the alarm but belly-button piercings don't. It makes you wonder if male agents calibrate the machine.

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

Mandi Hamlin, at center with attorney Gloria Allred, demonstrates how she removed her nipple ring.

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- A Texas woman who said she was forced to remove a nipple ring with pliers in order to board an airplane called Thursday for an apology by federal security agents and a civil rights investigation.

"I wouldn't wish this experience upon anyone," Mandi Hamlin said at a news conference. "My experience with TSA was a nightmare I had to endure. No one deserves to be treated this way."

Hamlin said she told the woman she was wearing nipple piercings. The agent called over her male colleagues, one of whom said she would have to remove the jewelry, Hamlin said.

She was taken behind a curtain and managed to remove one bar-shaped piercing but had trouble with the second, a ring.

She said she heard male TSA agents snickering as she took out the ring. She was scanned again and was allowed to board even though she still was wearing a belly button ring.

Tags: airlines, security

Clipmarks | kelvin273's clips

New York Rep. has four rent-control apartments

Hyped up drug studies

Animals experience old age in captivity

Five Science Fiction Movies That Get the Science Right

The secret ingredient in absinthe: *lots* of alcohol

Foxes guarding NASA's henhouse

Dog whistle for teenagers

McCain, Ohio Dem Party aim ads at each other

Congress may investigate BCS legality

Evangelicals may go Democratic

Russian space shuttle clone retired

Cubans allowed to buy products they can't afford

Lincoln letter to be sold at auction

Where The Boys and Girls Are

Are body piercings really worth it?

The secret ingredient in absinthe: lots of alcohol