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C.S. Lewis on Tyranny

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 21:30:51 GMT

clipped by: dulios
clipper's remarks: Better to live under robber barons than under "omnipotent moral busybodies."

Clip Source: www.quotedb.com

"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."

Tags: cs lewis, tyranny, morality, justice

The Nine Nations of North America by Joel Garreau

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 04:14:00 GMT

clipped by: Lexica
clipper's remarks: Have you ever wondered why San Francisco has more in common with Portland and Seattle than it does with Los Angeles, even though it's in the same state as LA while Portland and Seattle are in two different states? Joel Garreau would say that it's because Seattle, Portland, and SF all fall in the North American nation of Ecotopia, while LA is part of MexAmerica.

Written in 1981, a lot of his ideas seem to be holding up. The book's webpage looks at the recent elections in terms of this model, and says that the regionalism he describes continues on, 27 years after the book was written.

I read it several years ago, and was reminded of it now by wiccantexan's clip Russian Professor Predicts Not-So-United States.

Clip Source: www.garreau.com

North America

is Nine Nations. Each has its capital and its distinctive web of power and influence. A few are allies, but many are adversaries. Several have readily acknowledged national poets, and many have characteristic dialects and mannerisms. Some are close to being raw frontiers; others have four centuries of history. Each has a peculiar economy; each commands a certain emotional allegiance from its citizens. These nations look different, feel different, and sound different from each other, and few of their boundaries match the political lines drawn on current maps.

It's valuable to recognize these divergent realities. 'The layers of unifying flavor and substances that define these nations help explain the major storms and excursions through which our public affairs pass.

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

Approximate map of the Nine Nations of North America

Tags: books, america, north-america, regionalism, culture

Russian Professor Predicts Not-So-United States

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 01:59:57 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.bloomberg.com

A professor at the diplomatic academy of Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the U.S. will break into six parts because of the nation’s financial crisis.

Panarin said in the interview that the financial crisis will worsen, unemployment will rise and people will lose their savings -- factors that will cause the country’s breakup.

“Dissatisfaction is growing, and it is only being held back at the moment by the elections, and the hope” that President- elect Barack Obama “can work miracles,” he said. “But when spring comes, it will be clear that there are no miracles.”

The U.S. will fracture into six parts: the Pacific coast; the South; Texas; the Atlantic coast, central states and the northern states.

“Now we will see a change to the regulatory system on a global financial scale: America will cease to be the world’s regulator,” to be replaced by China and Russia, he said.

Tags: economy, united states

Our Rights are no longer Inalienable..!

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 19:38:21 GMT

clipped by: TJColatrella
clipper's remarks: This is what you get when a cabal like the Federalist Society eats away at our system of governance and Constitution from the inside...

I to want to get these criminal terrorists potential murderers but this now creates a permanent change in our Bill of Rights and a dangerous precedent..!

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Appeals Court Backs Warrantless Searches Abroad

A federal appeals court in Manhattan upheld the convictions on Monday of three Al Qaeda operatives in a ruling that bolsters the government’s power to investigate terrorism by holding that a key Constitutional protection afforded to Americans does not apply overseas.

The unanimous decision by a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit holds for the first time that government agents may obtain admissible evidence against United States citizens through warrantless searches abroad.

Tags: bill of rights, inalienable rights, federalist society, civil rights, appeals courts, constitution, james madison, monroe, jefferson, john jay

New Longevity Drugs Poised to Tackle Diseases of Aging

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 13:50:44 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: A growing number of scientists suspect that the breakdown of mitochondria is among the most important causes of cell-level changes that eventually cause the body's tissues to degenerate with age. The damage accumulates gradually until hitting some critical mass of malfunction, at which point diseases arrive rapidly. That may be why so many diseases first occur during middle age, and become steadily more common afterwards.

Clip Source: blog.wired.com

Cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, heart disease: All have stubbornly resisted billions of dollars of research conducted by the world's finest minds. But they all may finally be defied by a single new class of drugs, a virtual cure for the diseases of aging.

In labs across the country, researchers are developing several new drugs that target the cellular engines called mitochondria.

The first, resveratrol, is already in clinical trials for diabetes. It could be on the market in four years and used off-label as an all-purpose longevity enhancer. Other drugs promise to be more potent and refined. They might even be cheap.

"It's going to revolutionize western medicine," said Doug Wallace, a pioneer of mitochondrial medicine at the University of California at Irvine. "All the things that are common for an aging society, and nobody worried about when they died of infectious disease," he said, could be treated.

Tags: medicine, anti againg, resveratrol

Plumbing the oceans could bring limitless clean energy

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:30:53 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: Now rising fuel costs have revived interest in this neglected technology. In September, the Department of Energy awarded its first grant for ocean thermal energy in more than a decade, giving Lockheed Martin $600,000 to develop a new generation of cold water pipes.

Clip Source: www.newscientist.com

FOR a company whose business is rocket science Lockheed Martin has been paying unusual attention to plumbing of late. The aerospace giant has kept its engineers occupied for the past 12 months poring over designs for what amounts to a very long fibreglass pipe.

It is, of course, no ordinary pipe but an integral part of the technology behind Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC), a clean, renewable energy source that has the potential to free many economies from their dependence on oil.

"This has the potential to become the biggest source of renewable energy in the world," says Robert Cohen, who headed the US federal ocean thermal energy programme in the early 1970s.

The idea of tapping the ocean's different thermal layers to generate electricity was first proposed in 1881 by French physicist Jacques d'Arsonval but didn't receive much attention until the world oil crises of the 1970s.

Tags: energy, clean energy, ocean

Bush won't pardon Admin's torture advocates

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 20:18:14 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Because doing so would be admitting their actions were illegal

Clip Source: thinkprogress.org

The Wall Street Journal reports today that the White House “isn’t inclined to grant sweeping pardons for former administration officials involved in harsh interrogations and detentions of terror suspects.” White House officials believe that the Justice Department’s torture memos make such pardons “unnecessary”:

Some Republicans have been pushing for President George W. Bush to grant pre-emptive clemency to officials who fear being investigated by Democratic critics. White House officials have countered that such pardons are unnecessary, these people say. The officials point to Justice Department legal opinions that supported the administration’s methods of detaining and interrogating terror suspects. […]

Some former Bush administration officials have argued against a blanket pardon for post-9/11 activities, saying it would be tantamount to an admission that the Bush policies weren’t legal.

Tags: torture

Cartoon Lieberman: Can I have my knife back?

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 23:57:13 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: That'd be him, alright.

Clip Source: moliticon.blogspot.com

Tags: lieberman

The International Space Station - 10 years old this month

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 18:16:28 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman
clipper's remarks: Lovely hi-res at the source

Clip Source: www.boston.com

This month marks the 10th anniversary of the first launched module of the International Space Station (ISS). The module Zarya was lifted into orbit on November 20th, 1998

In the decade since, 44 manned flights and 34 unmanned flights have carried further modules, solar arrays, support equipment, supplies and a total of 167 human beings from 15 countries to the ISS, and it still has a ways to go until it is done. Originally planned to be complete in 2003, the target date for completion is now 2011. Aside from time spent on construction, ISS crew members work on a good deal of research involving biology and physics in conditions of microgravity. If humans are ever to leave the Earth for extended periods, the ISS is designed to be the place where we will discover the best materials, procedures and safety measures to make it a reality