Clipmarks | Arms race Clips

WHEN WE WERE BUSY, US-INDIA NUKE DEAL

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 05:54:43 GMT

clipped by: klippety
clipper's remarks: Almost under the radar, the undermining of all international agreements continues. This one could have alarming consequences for all.

Clip Source: www.commondreams.org

Nuclear Arms Race Feared After US-India Deal Passes

"Congress missed an important opportunity to remedy many problems with the agreement and prevent the damage to non-proliferation efforts," said Leonor Tomero of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, an independent think tank in Washington, DC.

The current deal allows India to expand its nuclear industry without requiring it to sign the NPT. The United States had, until now, avoided any kind of nuclear cooperation with India for more than 30 years.

The nuclear trade pact contains no guarantee that India will sign contracts with U.S.-based companies. This week, the Indian government also signed a nuclear cooperation deal with France and showed interest in buying French fighter aircraft.

David Krieger, president of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation and a long-time critic of U.S. nuclear policy, thinks the U.S.-India pact will not only undermine the security of the American people, but the security of people everywhere.

Will the Internet Evolve into a Lifeform?

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 20:40:48 GMT

clipped by: Mohir
clipper's remarks: One route is the evolution of electronic intelligences in situations like the internet-arms race between spammers and shielders. It might sound silly, the idea that new life could be created in an attempt to offer you a great deal on C1@Lis!!, but have you tried registering for a forum recently? Even gaining access to the lowest level of interaction online now requires elementary Turing tests to tell the humans from the robots.

Another option is the idea of the net itself becoming sentient, a vast self-modifying array of connections and information storage with limited connections to the outside world (kind of like that glob of grey goo you carry around in your skull). If that happens then Gibson help us all - remember that the net is made of about 90% spam, 9% porn, and quite a lot of whining blogs. If that mixture ever becomes self-aware we're not quite sure what it'll do, but the odds are against it being anything good.

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

Some think that sentience could emerge from any sufficiently complicated system. By the way, you're reading this on a massively-crosslinked network built from millions of routers, allowing any of a billion individual units to access, modify and reply to the others. Interested?

Computer programs are already exhibiting many of the characteristics of organic lifeforms, up to and including evolution - hilarious, since they're the only things that really are "Intelligently Designed" - and there's no reason to believe that life or awareness are exclusively organic attributes. You could say we've only ever seen chemical-based constructs which are alive, but in the past the same argument could have been applied to things moving under their own power, flight or the ability to count - and it turns out we've built machines that are sort of far better at all those things than the fleshy equivalents. If there is a magic "life-chemical" mixed in with all the blood and guts, we haven't found it.

Tags: evolution, internet, life

Missing Person - Christopher Satterley

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 01:03:15 GMT

clipped by: yogini
clipper's remarks: Law Enforcement Agency: Miami Dade Police
Report Number: PD070108014162
Reward:
Contact: Lopez (5736)

Clip Source: floridamissingadults.com

Christopher Lawrence Satterley
AKA: Chris
Missing Since: 1/4/2007
Sex	Male	Race	White
Age	30	Age	32
(At time missing)		(Current)
Hgt	5Ft11In	Wgt	200
Hair	Brown	Eye	Brown

tatoos on both arms and upper back, visible circular scar on neck

Law Enforcement Agency: Miami Dade Police
Report Number: PD070108014162
Reward:
Contact: Lopez (5736)
Leave a tip about this Missing Person.

Office Energy Boosters

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 20:03:07 GMT

clipped by: fruit123grl

Clip Source: www.prevention.com

"Exercise gives you instant pep with no post-caffeine or sugar crash," says Kelli Calabrese, personal trainer and American Council on Exercise spokesperson. Increased bloodflow also helps clear your head, and the release of pleasure chemicals such as serotonin improves your mood.

Quick Bursts Do one of the following aerobic activities for 1 to 3 minutes.

Stairs. If you're lucky enough to have them in your office, use them--they'll get your heart pumping. Race up them as quickly as you can, then take them two at a time. Walk at a normal pace on the way down.

Chair aerobics. If you can't get away from your desk, quickly pump your arms overhead, then twist at your waist as you punch out across your body, side to side. Follow with several quick toe taps, heel lifts, and a seated jog-lift with your knees. (Slip off your shoes if you're worried about disturbing coworkers.) For a real heart pumper, try punching and jogging at the same time.

computer viruses and prayer

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 05:56:43 GMT

clipped by: shaor
clipper's remarks: prayer didn't help my computer too much! maybe I didn't pray right!

Clip Source: www.csmonitor.com

The invasion of computers by viruses, worms, and trojans with the intent to steal or damage is costing time and money, and peace of mind, to those whose lives it affects. Matthew Williamson, a researcher with Hewlett-Packard laboratories in Bristol, England, said, "Computer security is a bit of an arms race, and any development you make to combat things will be countered" (BBC News)

The Bible's account of David and Goliath (see I Samuel, chap. 17) has some useful insights on how this problem of computer security, which seems like a Goliath, might be faced through prayer. Goliath, a Philistine, was challenging anyone from the armies of Israel to fight him. The description of Goliath's size, weapons, and armor is formidable, and it would appear that whoever was going to fight him would have to be bigger and equipped with greater weapons.

Take unto you
the whole armour of God,
that ye may be able to withstand
in the evil day,
and having done all, to stand.

A major blow to the non-proliferation treaty

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 22:39:46 GMT

clipped by: jimbo1000

Clip Source: www.commondreams.org

UNITED NATIONS - Disarmament groups and peace activists are urging Congress to reject the Bush administration's plan to send U.S. nuclear technology to India after the proposal gained the assent of an international monitoring body late last week.

"We are concerned about this deal," said Leanor Tomero of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, an policy think tank on Capitol Hill. "It sets a very dangerous precedent."

Like many others, Krieger and Tomero think the nuclear pact with India would undermine the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and encourage other countries to acquire nuclear weapons.

"[It] risks fueling a regional arms race with Pakistan, complicating negotiations over Iran, and unraveling the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty," said Robert Gard, chairman of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, about the nuclear technology deal.

Tags: nuclear weapons, politics

Atomic Deal With India and New Nuclear Arms Race

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 17:39:32 GMT

clipped by: klippety
clipper's remarks: More nuclear power plants and more nuclear weapons while pressuring Russia to do less. Spoken like a good hypocrite. In the waning days of Bush's treachery, more weapons and more deals shoved down the throat of the world.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Atomic Club Votes to End Restrictions on India

The worldwide body that regulates the sale of nuclear fuel and technology approved a landmark deal on Saturday to allow India to engage in nuclear trade for the first time in three decades, after a pressure campaign by the Bush administration and despite concerns about setting off an arms race in Asia.

Only one hurdle now remains for the deal: final approval by the United States Congress. But passage is likely to be difficult, considering both political opposition and dwindling time in the Congressional calendar before November’s elections.

If the agreement ultimately goes through, it would stand as a symbol of the deepening strategic ties between the United States and India, seen as a potential balancing power to a rising China. It would also be enormously lucrative for sellers of nuclear fuel and technology all over the world; India plans to import at least eight nuclear reactors by 2012, according to projections by the State Department.

Salvador Dali's Alice in Wonderland Series

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 12:42:20 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.lockportstreetgallery.com

Clip Source: www.williambennettgallery.com

Clip Source: www.bl.uk

full of curiosity, she hurried across the field after it, and was just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge

Clip Source: www.williambennettgallery.com

Clip Source: www.lockportstreetgallery.com

Down the Rabbit Hole

Clip Source: www.bl.uk

"I wish I hadn't cried so much! said Alice, as she swam about, trying to find her way out, "I shall be punished for it now, I suppose, by being drowned in my own tears! Well! that'll be a queer thing, to be sure!

Clip Source: www.williambennettgallery.com

Clip Source: www.bl.uk

Clip Source: www.lockportstreetgallery.com

A Caucus Race and a Long Tale

Clip Source: www.williambennettgallery.com

Clip Source: www.bl.uk

"Oh, so Bill's got to come down the chimney, has he?" said Alice to herself, "why, they seem to put everything upon Bill! I wouldn't be in Bill's place for a good deal: the fireplace is a pretty tight one, but I think I can kick a little!"

Clip Source: www.bl.uk

Clip Source: www.williambennettgallery.com

Clip Source: www.bl.uk

She stretched herself up on tiptoe, and peeped over the edge of the mushroom, and her eyes immediately met those of a large blue caterpillar, which was sitting with its arms folded, quietly smoking a long hookah, and taking not the least notice of her or of anything else.

Clip Source: www.williambennettgallery.com

Clip Source: www.bl.uk

Clip Source: www.williambennettgallery.com

Pig and Pepper

Clip Source: www.williambennettgallery.com

Mad Tea Party

Clip Source: www.williambennettgallery.com

The Queen's Croquet Ground

Clip Source: www.bl.uk

Clip Source: www.williambennettgallery.com

The Mock Turtle's Story

Clip Source: www.williambennettgallery.com

Lobster's Quadrille

Clip Source: www.williambennettgallery.com

Clip Source: www.lockportstreetgallery.com

Clip Source: www.williambennettgallery.com

Clip Source: www.howarth-gallery.co.uk

Tags: art, dali

"White Guilt" Politics of Obama Crowd Undermined

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 02:10:31 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: and then morphed that into the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist) which earned him an invitation to sip tea with Chinese stalinists in Beijing in 1977. The Chinese were the originators of the idea that the rural third world south was being exploited by the urban developed world north. Klonsky fondly reminisced about his authoritarian left activities here in November 2007 stopping only to "repent" for his sectarianism while celebrating that he is now back together with former SDS comrades in "one movement." Now Klonsky blogs for the Obama campaign website on education policy and "social justice teaching."

How is it under that bus, Comrade Klonsky?

Mike Klonsky, former Weather Underground leader Bill Ayers' longtime comrade-in-arms from their days in SDS to the Chicago School Wars they fought in the 80s and 90s alongside Barack Obama, and presto he's gone.

http://globallabor.blogspot.com/2008/06/how-is-it-under-that-bus-comrade.html

Clip Source: globallabor.blogspot.com

If you believe the rhetoric of the "social justice" crowd influencing the Obama camp's approach to education policy - the authoritarian leftists Bill Ayers and his sidekick Mike Klonsky as well ed school professors like Linda Darling-Hammond

and Gloria Ladson-Billings - only reparations for 400 years of oppression of non-whites will allow us to close the "achievement gap" between the oppressors, whites, and the oppressed, minority kids.

Lying behind this argument is a pernicious concept - that white workers benefit at the expense of black workers and that more widely American workers live off the backs of workers in the third world. This is at the heart of the authoritarian and anti-union politics of the Ayers/Klonsky crowd.

And it would also come as a shock to those American workers, white and black, whose jobs have been shipped off to China or Mexico.

Klonsky and Ayers, of course, are veterans of this kind of race-based politics. Klonsky formed the pro-China October League out of SDS

Tags: obama, ayers, klonsky, marxist-leninist, students for democratic society(sds), pro-china october league

Dara Torres

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 04:08:47 GMT

clipped by: bleublogger

Clip Source: latimesblogs.latimes.com

BEIJING -- Dara Torres survived some pre-race drama when she tried to help one of her competitors, Therese Alshammar of Sweden, who suffered an equipment malfunction before their semifinal of the 50-meter freestyle.

Torres, 41, was the fastest qualifier for Sunday's final, going 24.27 seconds. Sixteen-year-old Cate Campbell of Australia and Britta Steffen of Germany were second and third, respectively.

"Therese's suit ripped when we were getting ready to walk out," Torres said. "I tried to help her with it, tried to do it up, and it ripped again. So I walked out and was trying to get them to hold the race for her. I was saying, 'Her suit's ripped.' And waving my arms around."

US, Poland Reach Agreement On Anti-Missile Defense Deal

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 06:51:24 GMT

clipped by: finifinito

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

US, Poland Reach Agreement On Anti-Missile Defense Deal

VANESSA GERA and MONIKA SCISLOWSKA | August 14, 2008 07:30 PM EST |

WARSAW, Poland — Poland and the United States struck a deal Thursday that will strengthen military ties and put an American missile interceptor base in Poland, a plan that has infuriated Moscow and sparked fears in Europe of a new arms race.

"We have crossed the Rubicon," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said, referring to U.S. consent to Poland's demands after more than 18 months of negotiations.

Chief U.S. negotiator John Rood, left, and Polish negotiator Andrzej Kremer exchange documents they just signed on an initial agreement on conditions for placing a U.S. missile defense base in Poland, in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, Aug.14, 2008. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)

Washington says the planned system, which is not yet operational, is needed to protect the U.S. and Europe from possible attacks by missile-armed "rogue states" like Iran.

Body Language of Winners and Losers Could be Innate

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 18:40:14 GMT

clipped by: einbar
clipper's remarks: "In the end, it’s all about evolution. The discovery by psychologists suggests that these gestures of pride and shame are hard wired into the human brain, probably because they were universal signs of dominance and submission among our ape relatives and ancestors [Telegraph]. So when you see arms raised in victory at the Beijing Olympics, you might really be seeing an symbol of dominance that humans developed long ago."

Clip Source: blogs.discovermagazine.com

When athletes throw a touchdown, hit a home run, or win a race, they often raise their arms straight up to celebrate. A new study suggests that these kinds of gestures are deeply rooted in our minds, and not just force of habit.

Jessica Tracy of the University of British Columbia

trying to see if blind and sighted people reacted differently to victory, since the blind could not have learned victory gestures socially by watching others. In their study

hey found that blind athletes who have never seen such a display make similar gestures of pride as sighted athletes when they win, and also slump their shoulders and narrow their chests in shame when they los

The body language of victory seems to be fairly universal, but shame is slightly different

n North American and west Eurasian countries, the shame response was somewhat more muted, which could be due to a Western cultural norm of hiding one’s shame

Phelps Swam into History as the Winningest Olympic Athlete Ever

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 07:51:45 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: He finished in 1:52.03, breaking his mark of 1:52.09 from the 2007 worlds.

Phelps barely smiled as he looked at the board, breathing heavily and hanging on the lane rope. Hungary's Laszlo Cseh really pushed it at the end, but settled for silver in 1:52.70. Japan's Takeshi Matsuda took the bronze in 1:52.97.

Phelps rubbed his eyes and said climbing from the pool, "I can't see anything." A pair of leaky goggles kept him from even seeing the wall as he touched.

"My goggles kept filling up with water during the race," Phelps said. "I wanted 1:51 or better."

Still, he had two more golds and two more records before lunchtime, leaving him just three wins away from beating Spitz's record in the 1972 Munich Games.

"There is nobody in our sport that can win like he wins," U.S. head coach Eddie Reese said. "He is not just winning, he is crunching world records."

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Slideshow: Olympic Swimming

BEIJING - For Michael Phelps, it's not enough to just set a new standard. He has to demolish the old one. Winningest Olympian ever? He's two golds past that already and not finished yet, just over halfway to his goal of breaking Mark Spitz's record seven in a single Olympics.

On Wednesday, Phelps swam into history as the winningest Olympic athlete ever with his 10th and 11th career gold medals — and five world records in five events at the Beijing Games.

Seemingly impervious to fatigue, he set a blistering pace of 1 minute, 43.31 seconds that got the Americans rolling toward a winning time of 6:58.56.

"There is still something left in the tank," Phelps said. "I've got three races left, so there had better be something left in the tank."

In his signature stroke, the butterfly, Phelps was second at the first flip, then pushed it into another gear, his long arms gobbling up huge chunks of water as he literally sailed along atop the surface

Tags: michael phelps, gold metal winner, set five world records

Answering Russia

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:31:50 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: 10. Announce the creation of a new information network, much larger and better funded than Voice of America or Radio Free Europe to deliver Internet, TV and radio broadcasts into neo-Soviet Russia so that Russians can learn the truth about their country.

Clip Source: larussophobe.wordpress.com

1. Admit Ukraine. Arm it to the teeth.

2. Eject Russia from the G-8.

3. Call for Russia’s ejection from the U.N. Security Council.

4. Recall all national ambassadors from Moscow for 90 days.

5. Invite a conference of Russian opposition leaders to Brussels for a formal meeting with the EU, followed by one in Washington.

6. Begin supplying weapons to the rebels in Russia’s breakaway provinces of Chechnya and Ingushetia. Call openly for Russia to free these regions from bondage.

7. Announce a massive new program of military spending, pushing Russia into a lethal new arms race it can’t afford or consigning it to permanent military impotence.

8. Announce a new program to aggressively seek alternatives to Russian fossil fuels, with fixed reduction targets.

9. Announce a boycott of the Russian winter olympics in Sochi in 2014 as long as Vladimir Putin remains in power.

Tags: russia, brussels meeting, eu/washington meetings, boycott sochi olympics

Kuwaiti Daily Reveals: Iran Building Secret Nuclear Reactor

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 05:33:57 GMT

clipped by: victorlamp

Clip Source: warnewsupdates.blogspot.com

From The Arab Times:

KUWAIT CITY : A secret nuclear bomb manufacturing center at Al-Zarqan Area in Al-Ahwaziya Region, which was first established in 2000, was discovered recently, highly reliable sources told Al-Seyassah. sources from Al-Ahwaziya claimed Tehran has started building a secret nuclear plant for manufacturing atomic bombs in Al-Zarqan Area near Al-Ahwaz city in southwest Iran and its border with Iraq.