Clipmarks | Travels Clips

Light's Most Exotic Trick Yet: So Fast it Goes ... Backwards?

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 04:15:39 GMT

clipped by: LoPhatt

Light's Most Exotic Trick Yet: So Fast it Goes ... Backwards?

In the past few years, scientists have found ways to make light go both faster and slower than its usual speed limit, but now researchers at the University of Rochester have published a paper today in Science on how they've gone one step further: pushing light into reverse. As if to defy common sense, the backward-moving pulse of light travels faster than light.

Confused? You're not alone.

"I've had some of the world's experts scratching their heads over this one," says Robert Boyd, the M. Parker Givens Professor of Optics at the University of Rochester. "Theory predicted that we could send light backwards, but nobody knew if the theory would hold up or even if it could be observed in laboratory conditions."

Beautiful New England

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 01:20:42 GMT

clipped by: madame travels

Clip Source: philip.greenspun.com

Pentagon 9/11 Memorial

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:59:47 GMT

clipped by: madame travels

Clip Source: www.archdaily.com

Adjacent to the point of impact of American Airlines Flight 77

the Pentagon Memorial is a place like no other

Inviting personal interpretation on the part of the visitor

the Memorial provokes thought yet does not prescribe what to think or how to feel

Both individual and collective in nature

the Memorial intends to record the sheer magnitude of that tragic day by embedding layers of specificity that begin to tell the story of those whose lives were taken

Organized by a timeline based on the ages of these individuals, 184 Memorial Units are uniquely placed along Age Lines parallel with the trajectory of Flight 77– each marking a birth-year, ranging from 1998 to 1930

the Memorial Unit is the heart of the project, as each Unit demarcates a special place dedicated to each individual

Each individual’s name is engraved at the end of the cantilever, hovering above a pool of water that glows with light at night

a tactile, sensory driven environment with all materials contributing to an emphasis on life

Whale Oil Still Being Used in Space

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:58:53 GMT

clipped by: Tylast
clipper's remarks: Interesting.

Clip Source: www.treehugger.com

But did you know that whale oil was used to send a man to the moon? I learned this weird but true fact during my sea travels...

Back in the day, NASA used whale oil as a lubricant in their space program, including the ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) for expeditions to the Moon and Mars. Fast forward to the future and whale oil is still being used to lubricate spacecraft such as the Hubble space telescope and the Voyager space probe. Apparently spermaceti--or Sperm whale oil--doesn't freeze in sub-zero temperatures (quite important given space's super-chilly temps) and man hasn't yet found a suitable substitute for the natural lubricant.

Why Republican heavies hate ACORN

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 05:35:02 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: ACORN conducts voter registration drives among poor and minority voters, who are under-represented in the US electorate, and lean Democratis. Suit after suit has been filed against them; ACORN has been exonerated again and again. Eventually, the heat travels to Karl Rove, and leads to the US Attorneys firing scandal (when US Attorney David Iglesias refuses to prosecute on insufficient evidence, he is fired). Simple answer: Republican bigwigs are struggling to keep the voters that ACORN registers out of the voting booth. Numbers of mis-registered voters are miniscule.

Clip Source: open.salon.com

In all of those states, Republicans filed suits against ACORN for voter fraud, and, in every case, ACORN was exonerated.

ACORN came under White House fire after registering more than 1.6 million voters

mostly poor and minority people who tend to vote Democratic, and mostly in swing states

The GOP voter-fraud vendetta might have remained

below the radar of the press—had it not been for the scandal surrounding the firing of eight U. S. attorneys, including David C. Iglesias

Iglesias lost his job in December 2005 after he declined to prosecute a voter-fraud case against ACORN

Prominent New Mexico Republicans, including U.S. Senator Pete Domenici, had repeatedly complained to chief White House political strategist Karl Rove about Iglesias’ failure to bring voter-fraud indictments

Iglesias said he couldn’t prove a case against ACORN

Attorney-General John Ashcroft launched a

crack down on supposed voter fraud in battleground states

Florida, Missouri, Ohio, and New Mexico

baseless charges

Tags: acorn

Iraqi embassador interview on John Stewart

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 13:21:51 GMT

clipped by: kobes89

Clip Source: www.thedailyshow.com

Oliver's Travels - Iraq

John Oliver asks Iraq's ambassador to the UN, Hamid al-Bayati, to rate America's invasion on a scale of one to five.

Tags: John Oliver , Iraq , Iraq War , war , war on terror , democracy , media

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Official Website | current events & Pop Culture News, Comedy & Fake News | Comedy Central

it IS time for america to get pissed off at mccain

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 12:20:24 GMT

clipped by: doodleicious

Clip Source: www.smirkingchimp.com

It is time for America to get pissed off at John McCain

Does everyone remember that financial-nuclear missile that I eluded to in a previous piece? As I just logged onto the NY Times web site, in my not so learned opinion, we are about to get hit and hit hard again tomorrow even after our own stock market plunged to new lows today. On Thursday the DOW sunk by 678 points going below the 9,000 mark for the first time since 2003. As this financial-nuclear missile travels towards us, I am not shaking in fear but raising my fist in abject anger.

The NY Times reports, “Japan stocks plunged, dragging the Nikkei 225 average down 11 percent and leading to a suspension of futures trading.” And the “The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down about 8 percent to 14,675.53.”

BBC-TV: "Set up to steal it again." Is 2008 already fixed?

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:39:46 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: It's quite possible, ya know--the neocons are very, very sneaky and corrupt and our voting systems are outrageously flawed.

Clip Source: www.stealbackyourvote.com

"A lot of Europeans wonder: Why are Americans so crazy, they keep reelecting this guy?” Well the answer is, we don’t! They keep stealing these elections! And they stole it in 2000, they stole it in 2004, and they’re all set up to steal it again!" - Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on BBC Television Newsnight.

[Video]

On Friday at 6pm and 10pm Eastern Time, BBC America will bust open the story of the systematic attack on US voters that could easily cost Barack Obama the White House. (Watch the promo below)

Or watch it, beginning Friday night, at www.Gregpalast.com.

Newsnight investigative reporter Greg Palast travels from the Native pueblos of New Mexico to the war-zone of the 8 Mile neighborhood of Detroit to meet some of the three million voters (Show me more...)

StealBackYourVote.org will be back up and running soon - for now you can download the comic and order bulk print copies of the Investigative Comic Book below.

Donate to download the investigative comic book

Atlas of Creation by Harun Yahya

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:21:30 GMT

clipped by: aerialsky
clipper's remarks: The theory of evolution is a major hoax and deception in the history of science.

Clip Source: www.harunyahya.com

ATLAS OF CREATION

Some 150 years ago, the British naturalist Charles Darwin proposed a theory based on various observations made during his travels, but which could not be supported by any subsequent scientific findings. In essence, his theory of evolution consisted of various scenarios, assumptions and conjectures that Darwin dreamed up in his own imagination.

This book will provide you with not only such information as what fossils are and where and how they are found, but also a closer examination of a variety of fossil specimens, millions of years old, that are still able to declare, "We never underwent evolution; we were created." The fossils discussed and illustrated in this book are just a few examples of the hundreds of millions of specimens that prove the fact of creation. And even these few are enough to prove that the theory of evolution is a major hoax and deception in the history of science.

ATLAS OF CREATION VOLUME II

ATLAS OF CREATION VOLUME III

Tags: atlas, creation, darwin, harun, yahya, islam, knowledge, nature

Some Good News: The U.S. Dollar Strengthens

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 23:25:07 GMT

clipped by: madame travels

Clip Source: current.newsweek.com

The dollar is making a comeback. It’s now somewhat cheaper for Americans to visit many foreign countries than it has been in a while

euro is $1.37, as of this morning. That's down from $1.44 when I was in Munich about a month ago and from record highs of around $1.60 earlier this year

Mexico is the cheapest it's been since 1993 with the peso at .08 cents (roughly 12 pesos to $

Canadian dollar, which crept above $1 in 2007, is back at 91 cents. The British pound is $1.76, and the Australia dollar has plummeted to 73 cents, just in time for spring down under

Among major currencies, only the Japanese yen has bucked the trend and strengthened against the dollar

even in a climate of panic, ongoing job cuts, and wildly fluctuating markets—triggered by the U.S. and now spreading across the globe—the dollar is still viewed as the safest currency. The New York Times recently provided helpful context, crediting the phenomenon partially to faith in America’s economic and political systems

Palin’s Alternate Universe

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 03:20:22 GMT

clipped by: glennbah

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Palin’s Alternate Universe

We’ve lived through nearly two terms of an administration that believed it could create its own reality:

“Deficits don’t matter.” “Brownie, you’re doing a heckuva job.” “Those weapons of mass destruction must be somewhere.”

Now comes Ms. Palin, a smiling, bubbly vice-presidential candidate who travels in an alternate language universe. For Ms. Palin, such things as context, syntax and the proximity of answers to questions have no meaning.

In her closing remarks at the vice-presidential debate Thursday night, Ms. Palin referred earnestly, if loosely, to a quote from Ronald Reagan

if Americans weren’t vigilant in protecting their freedom, they would find themselves spending their “sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was like in America when men were free.”

What Ms. Palin didn’t say was that the menace to freedom that Reagan was talking about was Medicare

Reagan “saw Medicare as the advance wave of socialism

Does Ms. Palin agree

Palin’s Alternate Universe

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:49:48 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Palin’s Alternate Universe

Sarah Palin is the perfect exclamation point to the Bush years.

We’ve lived through nearly two terms of an administration that believed it could create its own reality:

“Deficits don’t matter.” “Brownie, you’re doing a heckuva job.” “Those weapons of mass destruction must be somewhere.”

In her closing remarks at the vice-presidential debate Thursday night, Ms. Palin referred earnestly, if loosely, to a quote from Ronald Reagan. He had warned that if Americans weren’t vigilant in protecting their freedom, they would find themselves spending their “sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was like in America when men were free.”

Tags: palin, elections, us, republicans, debates

Make-Believe Maverick--McCain's true nature

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:49:23 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: EXCELLENT article Highly recommend if you are wavering or undecided...Dramesi continued:
"McCain says his life changed while he was in Vietnam, and he is now a different man," Dramesi says today. "But he's still the undisciplined, spoiled brat that he was when he went in."

Clip Source: www.rollingstone.com

A closer look at the life and career of John McCain reveals a disturbing record of recklessness and dishonesty

• VIDEO: Five Myths About John McCain
• The Double-Talk Express
• Mad Dog Palin: The Full Story

On the grounds between the two brick colleges, the chitchat between the scion of four-star admirals and the son of a prizefighter turns to their academic travels; both colleges sponsor a trip abroad for young officers to network with military and political leaders in a distant corner of the globe.

"I'm going to the Middle East," Dramesi says. "Turkey, Kuwait, Lebanon, Iran."

"Why are you going to the Middle East?" McCain asks, dismissively.

"It's a place we're probably going to have some problems," Dramesi says.

"Why? Where are you going to, John?"

"Oh, I'm going to Rio."

"What the hell are you going to Rio for?"

McCain, a married father of three, shrugs.

"I got a better chance of getting laid."

The brain parasite that influences human culture

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:04:07 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman
clipper's remarks: Spread by cats

Clip Source: scienceblogs.com

We like to think that we are masters of our own fates. The thought that others might be instead controlling our actions makes us uneasy. We rail against nanny states, we react badly to media hype and we are appalled at the idea of brainwashing. But words and images are not the only things that can affect our brains and thoughts. Other animals - parasites - can do this too. According to research by Kevin Lafferty from the University of California, Santa Barbara, a common brain parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, could be influencing human culture across the globe.

spread by cats

in another animal, it travels to the brain and changes the host's behaviour to maximise its chances of ending up in a cat

For rodents, this means being eaten

infected individuals are less fearful of cats

Humans

tend to show long-term personality changes that are small but statistically significant

higher level of neuroticism

To establish the true direction of causality

need to find out how the parasite manipulates the mind

Palin's Alternate Universe

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 12:58:35 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: “Say it ain’t so, Joe! There you go pointing backwards again ... Now, doggone it, let’s look ahead and tell Americans what we have to plan to do for them in the future. You mentioned education, and I’m glad you did. I know education you are passionate about with your wife being a teacher for 30 years, and God bless her. Her reward is in heaven, right?

Aw-shucks, darn-right, I’m-just-a-hockey-mom governor of Alaska mouthing something completely devoid of meaning?

If Governor Palin didn’t like a question, or didn’t know the answer, she responded as though some other question had been asked. She made no bones about this, saying early in the debate: “I may not answer the questions the way that either the moderator or you want to hear.”

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Sarah Palin is the perfect exclamation point to the Bush years.

We’ve lived through nearly two terms of an administration that believed it could create its own reality:

“Deficits don’t matter.” “Brownie, you’re doing a heckuva job.” “Those weapons of mass destruction must be somewhere.”

Now comes Ms. Palin, a smiling, bubbly vice-presidential candidate who travels in an alternate language universe.

After Ms. Palin had woven one of her particularly impenetrable linguistic webs, Joe Biden turned to the debate’s moderator, Gwen Ifill, and said: “Gwen, I don’t know where to start.”

Of course he didn’t know where to start because Ms. Palin’s words don’t mean anything. She’s all punctuation.