Koyaanisqatsi

2011-11-03T04:21:00.002Z

I was as startled as anyone when Greek prime minister George Papandreou announced that he was going to take the latest bailout proposal to a referendum. My initial reaction was a near-certainty that of course people would vote the proposed measures down: and then what?Since then, I have reconsidered.Protests in the Greek capital are ongoing. So long as austerity measures continue, there is

2011-10-27T02:33:00.003Z

To have a right, then, is, I conceive, to have something which society ought to defend me in the possession of.- John Stuart MillThe true irony of all "inalienable" individual rights, especially in a libertarian context, is that it takes societal structure to ensure their existence. In the absence of such a structure, people are left to fend for themselves: and "inalienable" rights quickly go out

2011-09-25T06:09:00.002Z

Do you seek a hero, a Gilgamesh or Superman or even an Eisenhower, to solve a world's problems instantly with a flurry of headlines and a snap of his fingers? Do you seek in desperation, uneasily suspecting such a hero to be the last, best, perhaps only hope for mankind?Do you yet fear to cede a single strand of your own personal power to a single other person?Don't seek heroes. If you do not

2011-05-02T04:10:00.012Z

Just one week after WikiLeaks released its latest batch of cables, the Guantánamo Files, indicating that the movements of Osama bin Laden were a good deal better known than had been publicly admitted: United States President Barack Obama has declared that Osama bin Laden has been killed in a small, targetted operation.During his 2008 election campaign, Obama had repeatedly vowed: "We will kill

2011-05-02T04:09:00.002Z

Full transcript of the announcement by United States President Barack Obama of Osama bin Laden's death. Video here.Good evening. Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, and a terrorist who’s responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.It was

2011-05-01T18:42:00.001Z

There is much we don't understand about how our bodies work -- far more, if we are honest, than yet we do understand. It is entirely possible that we never can understand the processes involved in their entirety. Systems of sufficient complexity breed additional complexity at a more rapid rate than the additions can be understood and categorised.Many times, treatments work as we expect and hope.

2011-04-22T23:13:00.002Z

One year ago on this date, not too long after the Department of the Interior exempted British Petroleum's Gulf of Mexico drilling from a detailed environmental impact study and then a detailed blowout plan, the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded, killing eleven men. The resulting oil spill turned out to be one of the worst environmental disasters in modern history.Lives can never be

2011-04-20T19:17:00.000Z

A comment by Perfectly_Craumulent in What will the universe look like in one trillion years?, in response to repeated outright rejections of all things beyond the known equations. Minor spelling corrections by me. - TMy point with the electron [quantum physics] is that it "seems" to defy logic, like the belief in a creator may "seem" also, but both only because of our limited understanding. I'm

2011-04-19T15:24:00.001Z

[A] recent Gallup study ... found that 6 percent of Americans in households earning over $250,000 a year think their taxes are "too low." Of that same group, 26 percent said their taxes were "about right," and a whopping 67 percent said their taxes were "too high."And yet when this same group of high earners was asked whether "upper-income people" paid their fair share in taxes, 30 percent said "

2011-04-15T11:06:00.000Z

Atlas Shrugged has finally been made into a film, with a release date carefully timed for tax day in the United States. Hollywood was reluctant (purely on a return on investment basis, nothing to do with any attempted censorship): but the rise of the Tea Party demonstrates that times have changed, and it should be a more than adequate moneymaker.Although it is also being seen as a polariser, I

2011-04-01T23:23:00.002Z

In years -- decades -- of watching April Fool's jokes go by, the crass and the clever: never have I seen so stiff, so rigid a general response, even to the lightest attempts at humour. Where the humour hangs on an ambiguous turn of phrase, the attempt at humour is increasingly met with a demand for literality. Twists in meaning are struggling, metaphor failing, irony a lost art. If the

2011-03-21T18:21:00.002Z

SpringO city of trees! we'll not forget your pain!It will be beyond difficult to stand fast:But the cherry trees will blossom once again.Though they bloom in a world become inhumane --All of us stared at those images aghast --O city of trees! we'll not forget your pain!This stillborn spring forgotten, so many slain,Lost, torn loose from the earth: who could have held fast?But the cherry trees

2011-03-12T12:13:00.002Z

Seems that helium.com has been blacklisted by Wikipedia. Ah well. I did warn them.

2011-02-21T23:22:00.001Z

Sunrise at Svalbard KirkeThere are no stars behind the clouds. The nightIs blind, not even a moon to give light.It was brighter before. In the deep coldThere are no clouds, nothing between the nightAnd the crisp snow. There is just an untoldVastness, veiled by hissing vermilion light.As the cold fades, the green and scarlet lightRecedes into a warmer, darker night.Despite the dark, the path is

2011-01-09T20:24:00.005Z

I don't know the motivation behind yesterday's targetted shooting of United States representative Gabrielle Giffords and many of those who happened to be around her at the time. I can make guesses certainly: but unless Jared Lee Loughner decides to tell us anything more, all we have to work with is the action itself and his previous statements.I can say something as to the state of modern

2011-01-01T22:44:00.001Z

When I saw a treasured heritage bridge, the last of its kind yet still sure and solid underfoot, condemned to be sold for scrap with the mayor's gleeful statement, "It is not every day that you can find $1 million to save in the city budget, just like that!" : I knew that one day, future generations will see us as the Dark Ages.In previous times, we reduced the value of all things to virtue, or

2010-12-18T20:36:00.000Z

I expect all choices to have consequences.If I set myself up publicly as the never-questioning promotional voice of a cause, I expect to be publicly identified with that cause in its totality, whether or not I personally have the power to alter a tiny hair in the direction of its policies. If I choose never to waver from that tone in the slightest, no matter what the circumstances, I expect

2010-12-14T00:43:00.007Z

In 1917, the United States Patent Office awarded Clarence Saunders a patent for a "self-serving store". Customers enjoyed the new freedom to be able to choose their products directly.Against that newfound freedom and the promise of lowered prices, what was a little lost customer interaction as quota'ed checkout stands, turnstiles, and fences replaced the local grocer? Few noticed or cared that

2010-12-13T20:31:00.000Z

Some wait for the first snowdrop of the year,The first swallow, travelling ahead,The first crocus to shyly show her headThrough the snow, the first robin to appear.To some, quiet winter snow brings no cheer,No laughter, no joy, just a constant dreadOf snow, and snow, and yet another spreadOf endless white. When will it disappear?!Huddled away inside houses and barsWith shutters closed, they can't

2010-12-12T12:39:00.000Z

What is the use of universal education if most people refuse to use it? If the purpose of education is to be job training alone, the apprenticeship system is much more effective.

2010-12-10T14:10:00.000Z

I know the length of these posts deters some readers. Twitterfeeds run a maximum of 140 characters, but even newspaper columns are almost never longer than eight hundred words. Some of the more detailed or introspective posts in this blog are easily twice that.But what does it cost, here, save server space which Google claims to have in abundance, my time in writing, and your time in reading?

2010-12-09T11:48:00.002Z

Note: WikiLeaks is not associated with Wikipedia or the Wikimedia Foundation.- note at the top of the WikiLeaks article on WikipediaI find it truly interesting that the current denial of service attacks on the companies which have cut off Wikileaks (Amazon, Paypal, VISA, Mastercard) and the websites of those politicians who seem to be most closely involved in trying to take down Wikileaks are not

2010-12-07T23:21:00.000Z

The results of Haiti's controversial election are expected to be released today. Currently, polls show a possible run-off between the top two candidates: Misery and Corruption. Optimism withdrew from the race weeks ago.- The Current, CBC Radio

2010-12-06T12:14:00.001Z

We love the comfort of the familiar morning newspaper. We may curse its inconvenience or its temporary isolating qualities when it is spread out halfway across the breakfast table, but to those of us who grew up with it, the routine is as well-worn and familiar as a pair of old shoes.Who would even consider casting it aside? The backlighting of most computer screens is extremely wearing on the

2010-12-05T14:00:00.005Z

It seems Wikileaks' release of the diplomatic cables has touched a nerve mere military releases could not. The general public seemed just fine with protecting First Amendment rights during a series of leaky hiccoughs involving some dozen (other) countries, odd reports of toxic dumping, the inner secrets of sorority sisters and Scientologists, illegal practices in Icelandic banks; and let's not

2010-12-02T15:10:00.008Z

CHONPS: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulphur. These six elements are the building blocks of all life.The first four of these elements are each the least massive element in their respective periodic table group. Hydrogen is the simplest, a single electron orbiting a single proton: from it are all the other elements made. Helium comes next but it reacts chemically with nothing

2010-11-29T08:21:00.002Z

The newest Ring cycle, by the New York Metropolitan Opera, is -- something else. Something exquisite, but also in a way opera rarely is: something that speaks not only to the opera lover but also to those who yearn for experiences with some depth to them.I did not see it in person. I can see where that experience would be very different. Parts of what I saw may definitely have been improved by

2010-11-28T04:01:00.003Z

Another month, another document dump by Wikileaks. At this point, the United States law enforcement agencies might be best served to start thinking of these releases as test cases, not even so much to try to find the sources and plug them as to determine whether a non-egotistical, non-boasting internal source is still findable within the growing intelligence bloat. How much longer can the Defense

2010-11-27T17:00:00.001Z

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, without Joss Whedon?No doubt the major plot elements will be preserved ... which may be an interesting way to discover just how much more Whedon brought to the series than a simple chronological series of events, a clever turn of phrase, and a bit of comedy.

2010-11-26T13:55:00.001Z

"No evidence exists" is not the same as "negative evidence exists."Governments and pundits have long based their policies on the absence of any concrete scientific evidence which would oppose a desired policy direction. Yet both government and private research funding is based almost entirely upon pre-existing solid precedent: with private enterprise funding additionally looking for good

2010-11-25T13:52:00.002Z

I would go so far as to say that National Opt-Out Day was a big bust.- Genevieve Shaw Brown, spokesperson for TravelocityBy now it is a very rare person in the continental United States who has not yet heard of the airport security pat-down furour. They may not know John Tyner's name, they may not all have seen the recording; but most people are certain he missed his flight as a consequence of an

2010-11-24T15:45:00.002Z

An individual human being is a wondrous thing, capable of so, so very much.We are the wave-makers, not the wave-tossed things. All things created and caused by people, no matter how great or small, are sourced in individual human beings. Our own personal ripples may seem small at first, may even sometimes seem to have vanished altogether, but they can end up paying great dividends: to ourselves,

2010-11-23T03:05:00.003Z

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has just broken the story that, based on the evidence collected by the United Nations International Independent Investigation Commission and an independent police investigator, Hezbollah was behind the 2005 assassination of Lebanese prime minister Rafic Hariri. Neil Macdonald, the investigative reporter who put together this report, also has a few choice

2010-11-22T03:12:00.000Z

As a road to peace, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is worse than useless. It was broken even at the very moment it came into existence.The (1970) NPT is based on three pillars: non-proliferation, disarmament, and the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Since it came into existence, the number of nuclear states has doubled (not even counting the breakup of the Soviet Union), we probably already

2010-11-20T11:30:00.000Z

MirrorBallQuest.org?Reality television which allows viewer voting has always been a cross-sectional microcosm of its country's psyche. Most notice only that on-line and telephone voting rules are so loose as to seem meaningless. For determining a winner on a merit basis, they are.Yet from my perspective, this type of voting reveals trends and pattens in a way that direct question polls cannot. It

2010-11-19T17:56:00.000Z

From You might be a Christian Fundamentalist if::You complain when Christians aren't allowed to practice religion in other countries, but you go berzerker when someone tries to set up a Mosque in your neighbourhood.For the record, I consider the quoted section to be the highlight of the entire article and subsequent comment thread. For example, one of the following pointsYou believe we were

2010-11-17T17:32:00.001Z

It's not so much the falling leaves I mind.They don't ever stop, not really, but thenThat's only to be expected of fall.I do not really mind so much at all.To falling leaves I'm pretty much resigned.They have to fall. Why get all upset whenThey're only doing what leaves do in fall?You'd think I had no perspective at all.Why sigh that more are always left behind?Of course there's more behind! It

2010-11-15T13:35:00.000Z

The job of customer service is to close the files on customer issues as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible.If customer issues cannot be quickly and cheaply resolved with actions the company is willing to take, the job of customer service is to stall problems until they go away. Obviously if a customer issue goes away "on its own", the issue has been resolved (or never was a real problem

2010-11-13T16:07:00.006Z

Thank you and welcome to my second annual first show.- Conan O'Brien, introducing his new show ConanOn the surface of things, it is hard not to use the words of a younger generation and say that Conan pwned his opening night ratings. With more than 4.1 million viewers, Conan's show handily outpulled everyone else in the (early) late show bracket, including both his Tonight Show predecessor/

2010-11-11T04:44:00.002Z

Why is there a holiday to honour soldiers, but none to honour firefighters or electricity linesworkers? Why is there no holiday to honour the farmers and fishermen who put food on our table by working in jobs where injury and death are far more likely than for people serving in the military?Why are soldiers worshipped while these others toil and are often killed to ensure our continued safety and

2010-11-08T03:40:00.002Z

At two ends of a popular polemic are two statements:Wealth creates wealth.Wealth perpetuates those who are already wealthy.Both tend to be repeated as truisms which need no further consideration. Both have elements of truth, but neither reveals the full story.Wealth creates wealth in a community only if its proceeds are invested in that community in proportion with the growth of that wealth. The

2010-11-05T00:28:00.000Z

The most beautiful sunsets do not happen in clear skies.

2010-11-02T15:52:00.004Z

In this day and age, to be too highly educated -- or even to be tarred as highly educated -- is the kiss of death to a political career.This pattern is often explained as a broad dislike of elitist attitudes: yet nearly all of those cited as having such attitudes are firmly entrenched in academic careers with no desire to venture into the political arena. Why should they? Thus far, they have had

2010-11-01T18:10:00.005Z

From a comment by Human445://Initializepresent = startOfUniverse//main loopwhile (present < endOfUniverse){simulateAllUniverseStuff(present)present+=planckTime}Whether or not the information from Craig Hogan's elegant laser experiment turns out to be of any immediate practical use, it is rather nice to know that experiments sophisticated enough to determine whether the fabric of the universe is

2010-10-31T11:21:00.005Z

The pumpkin has a dreamDon't tell me what my place must be.I was born in the gutter, but I long to be free.I was born in a furrow, but I long for the sky:How can you know if you never try?

2010-10-30T23:54:00.010Z

Best signs from the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear:Stand United Against SignsThe Only Thing We Have To Fear Is Fear Itself -- And Zombies My Parents told me there would be CANDY here (a reference to Stephen Colbert's previous, rather unique show) Sanity Is A Pre-Existing Condition Stark Raving ReasonableStop Illegal Migration; Keep Canadian Geese From Entering Our CountryMake Awkward Sexual

2010-10-27T04:47:00.000Z

Never have I seen so much determined denial of the evidence of our own eyes. It can be as simple a thing as considering it impossible to live on a slightly lower amount of income, never mind that the known average income of the area demonstrates that more than half of all households somehow manage it. It can even be a refusal to accept that all pies are in themselves finite. (If more pieces are

2010-10-24T07:57:00.001Z

A recent mishap which had caused significant inconvenience to another (but fortunately not anything really serious) had me searching for an apology card. Note, personal in-person apology, action, and even a gift card would be included, but I planned to use the card as the basic framework for the rest.In every one of the all-purpose stores which also carry greeting cards, the only types of "sorry"

2010-10-23T01:43:00.003Z

East Europeans and Turks are still the Mexicans of Europe.German chancellor Angela Merkel has declared multiculturalism dead, an utter failure. Cartoonists who go out of their way to mock other cultures are to be explicitly honoured in the name of free speech. France has followed up law 2004-228 (banning all religious symbols and garb in publicly-funded schools) with a full legal ban on wearing

2010-10-20T02:09:00.000Z

If we judge people based on what they do and do not know, we judge only ourselves.People who are determined not to know: these judge themselves, and assign themselves a harsher sentence than any we could impose.

2010-10-19T23:03:00.003Z

Hurricane Track has noted repeatedly this year that the United States has dodged a hurricane bullet. The same, fortunately, has been mostly true (thus far) for Haiti, where over a million people left homeless by the earthquake still live in tarp villages and suspected cholera has now broken out. The people of Haiti do not need to add a hurricane to their current suffering.But it has not been true

2010-10-17T01:28:00.001Z

The distinction between entertainment and politics is not always clear these days. Self-proclaimed satirists and entertainers on both sides of the political spectrum get the kinds of billings most pundits and politicians can only dream of.With the Restoring Honor Rally and the subsequent Rally to Restore Sanity (and/or Fear), the line has become blurred beyond all recognition.(Who pays attention

2010-10-16T03:04:00.001Z

As of mid 2010, FAO is confident that the rinderpest virus has been eliminated from Europe, Asia, Middle East, Arabian Peninsula, and Africa.- The United Nations Food and Agriculture OrganisationOn October 14, 2010, the FAO announced that rinderpest, an extremely high mortality disease of cattle, had been completely eradicated. The key breakthrough was Walter Plowright's development of an

2010-10-15T13:56:00.002Z

All thirty-three Chilean miners have emerged into the daylight again. I am grateful to those who worked night and day to accomplish this. I cannot express the amount of respect I have for Luis Urzúa, the shift supervisor whose actions and leadership did so much to preserve the lives and health of those who worked under him. Good news is rare in the mining industry.Though I hoped along with the

2010-10-14T11:31:00.005Z

United States President Barack Obama just cannot catch a break.Now Cesar Millan, the self-trained, self-named "Dog Whisperer", has announced on a veritable marathon of shows that Obama -- or, more accurately, his dog trainer Dawn Sylvia-Stasiewicz (because presumably we want Obama himself to be occupied with more world-shaking matters than dog training) -- is training the First Dog incorrectly.

2010-10-13T10:12:00.000Z

At one end of the production process are the raw resources. At the other is the consumer and market share. We understand and appreciate (more or less) the need to manage all renewable resources, so that they shall remain renewable for our children and grandchildren.Yet we have never thought to manage market share itself as a resource which is not infinitely renewable?Invert the view, and the

2010-10-11T02:01:00.000Z

Children want everything, now. It is the adult's job to tell them "no". It may be a "no" driven by lack of money, or it may even be an arbitrary "no". One hopes it is driven most often by the child's best interest.Who tells the adult "no"? Society tells us that if we have the money to buy a thing and it is not explicitly illegal: if we want it, we ought to be able to have it. Oh, the fights over

2010-10-09T10:51:00.001Z

In response to a clergyman who hoped "the Lord was on our side,"I am not at all concerned about that, for I know that the Lord is always on the side of the right. But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation should be on the Lord's side.- Abraham Lincoln (1864), as remembered by F. B. Carpenter, the artist who painted his portrait that yearIronically, it seems that this quote

2010-10-08T12:50:00.004Z

... and one part to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.- Alfred Nobel's willIn some parts of the world, democracy and free speech are knee-jerk articles of faith. Awarding the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize to jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo is

2010-10-06T18:35:00.000Z

Jeremy Rifkin notwithstanding, connectivity is neither the same thing as empathy nor naturally facilitates empathy. A dictionary connects us to its maker: yet when we look up the definition of the word 'dictionary', we do not expect to find the words, "Very funny". Rather, connectivity which also increases convenience takes away from the awkward need for working without an off button. It does not

2010-10-03T23:20:00.005Z

The whole of my remaining realizable estate shall be dealt with in the following way: the capital, invested in safe securities by my executors, shall constitute a fund, the interest on which shall be annually distributed in the form of prizes to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind. The said interest shall be divided into five equal parts,

2010-09-28T12:08:00.003Z

All our lives, we have been taught that if our actions cause harm to another, we ought to apologise.Without a true feeling of regret, words mean nothing. Without the spoken words, the wronged person can never know that a feeling of regret even exists.Without willing, unforced action taken to mend the wrong, words and feelings alike are meaningless.That every act we take has consequences is as

2010-09-24T02:33:00.003Z

Full text of Alfred Nobel's WillEnglish translation from the official Nobel Prize websiteI, the undersigned, Alfred Bernhard Nobel, do hereby, after mature deliberation, declare the following to be my last Will and Testament with respect to such property as may be left by me at the time of my death:To my nephews, Hjalmar and Ludvig Nobel, the sons of my brother Robert Nobel, I bequeath the sum of

2010-09-21T00:29:00.001Z

He who hesitates wakes up to a damp slipper (courtesy of the dog having thoroughly licked it out).

2010-09-16T13:46:00.008Z

Twenty-three years ago on this date, 196 nation-states committed to ending ozone depletion by phasing out the use of chloroflurocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). The CFC Phase-Out Management Plan is complete: CFCs can no longer be found anywhere in the commercial market. The HCFC Phase-Out Management Plan is scheduled to begin in earnest in 2013, with phasing out to be

2010-09-09T13:21:00.001Z

Sunset is sweeping the world from east to west, bringing Ramadan to an end and heralding the joyous Muslim holiday of Eid ul-Fitr, a holiday bearing a similar emotional weight to the Chinese New Year or the Christian Christmas. Once again this year, family and friends will come together over large parties, children, gifts, and lots and lots of food.Because the Islamic calendar is lunar, its dates

2010-07-11T19:21:00.001Z

Pity the Netherlands. After the latest World Cup defeat to Spain, how many people must be starting to wonder if the Netherlands is doomed to be always a bridesmaid, never a bride?

2010-06-16T11:31:00.001Z

Occasionally I find it of interest to take a look at how the news is presented: especially given that most people never read more than the headline and maybe the lede. The latest piece of -- not-good news -- is that the rate of new home construction in the United States fell in May: yet there is more of immediate relevance here than just the fact of the drop. This was the initial Google selection

2010-06-01T17:30:00.001Z

This much is certain: no one is going to get any credit out of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill: not with the equivalent of an Exxon Valdez still being added to the spill every four days.Set aside politics, for once. Is there any action whatsoever that Obama could have taken that would not have been criticised?If he does something substantial, it is abuse of power and interference with legitimate

2010-05-29T05:38:00.003Z

I find it rather ironic that Firefly's diehard fans -- those who initiated petition after petition and campaign after campaign -- should name themselves 'Browncoats'.The brown coat worn by Malcolm became a symbol of resistance against the Alliance government, the dominant power in the Firefly universe. It continues to survive on the outlying worlds, poor and poorly terraformed and thus of

2010-05-27T07:35:00.002Z

Both Smallville and Buffy the Vampire Slayer can be said to be bildungsromans (stories of growing up). Both originally take place in a small town where assorted weirdities take place for an in-show logical reason (the Hellmouth in Buffy, the meteor shower in Smallville). Thus Smallville was thought to appeal to the previous Buffy audience.Yet it is at these superficialities that the similarity

2010-05-23T16:21:00.002Z

If the series did not work for poor children, the entire project would fail.- Gerald S. Lesser, Professor of Education and Developmental Psychology, writing about the goals of Sesame StreetMuch of modern policy has been driven by self interest: some of it enlightened (as far as pragmatism and long-term employment will allow), most of it pragmatic. In a democratic system, careers are gained and

2010-05-21T14:20:00.002Z

Why is it that, in every corporate "information" session with the public or media, the person designated to field the questions never seems to have the answers to any of the important ones? Are corporate information sessions intended to provide actual information relevant to the public interest, or to consist only of the specific line of information the corporation wishes to promote?What would

2010-05-19T00:25:00.002Z

When the ten-kilo bag of rice crossed the scanner, the young female cashier blinked and laughed: "That is a lot of rice. Are you planning something special, a party?"It would not have occurred to me to buy rice -- or any other dry or frozen staple with reasonably long shelf life -- in any other way. Working out per-weight/volume unit costs, in my head long before some stores began to post them on

2010-05-17T04:28:00.000Z

Random thought for the day:Longitudinal waves are normally understood to consist of particles vibrating along the direction of the wave's propagation, while in transverse waves, particles vibrate at right angles to the direction of the wave's propagation. Yet in a third kind of wave -- often confused with longitudinal waves -- particles actually oscillate inward and outward relative to the

2010-05-15T13:08:00.000Z

Eruption of the old volcano of Eyafjeld Jokkul in Iceland, in December 1821- from the Liverpool Mercury, 13 September 1822The remarkable fall of the barometer which took place almost simultaneously throughout all Europe, in the month of December, 1821, and which in some cases was accompanied with an agitation of the magnetic needle, brought many persons to conjecture that some tremendous

2010-05-13T05:14:00.000Z

Many years ago, when I first set a toe into the world of advanced physics, I asked a question which was not in the textbooks. Today, I would ask that question differently, but it is still essentially the same question.Then: Why is light, being massless, affected by gravity?Now: If matter and energy are equivalent, separated only by a speed-of-light squared constant, why are they assymetrical?

2010-05-11T01:04:00.001Z

Don't give this guy his Miranda rights until we find out what it's all about. That would be a serious mistake at least until we find out as much information as we have.- John McCain, talking about Faisal Shahzad, the would-be 2010 New York City bomber and a naturalised citizen of the United StatesBut tell me ... in what way am I being harmed if someone intercepts my phone call to aunt martha

2010-05-10T03:06:00.003Z

A blank pageI've been nudged out by a computer screenAnd that's never blank, you know (unless it's on the fritz).There's always a companion there, a blinking cursor, a mouse:You can play with its tailMake sparkling stardust with its tailWith the right app you can make full screen ripplesWith this tale –Or you could turn off all the glitz and, you know,Write.I've been nudged out by a computer

2010-05-09T20:02:00.002Z

We are caught in an evolutionary catch-22. Several, in fact.For almost as long as we have been on this earth, we lived a precarious existence between hunger and just enough food to survive. Our bodies learned how to store food against the ever-present probability of starvation, and our minds learned how to select food for adequate nutrition but highest caloric value. Even our tastebuds have

2010-05-08T00:38:00.002Z

The concept of rights and the assumption of a functioning government are inextricably intertwined. Where there is no societal governing structure to enforce it, the concept of rights can have no meaning. At the same time, there is no need for a concept of rights without a functioning government.A perceived need for rights is cored in the belief that government and the instruments of government

2010-05-07T01:41:00.000Z

The Battle Hymn of the Republic (Brought Down to Date)- Mark Twain (1901, written in the wake of the the Philippine Revolution (1896-8) / Spanish-American War (1898) / Philippine-American War (1899-1902)Mine eyes have seen the orgy of the launching of the Sword;He is searching out the hoardings where the stranger's wealth is stored;He hath loosed his fateful lightnings, and with woe and death has

2010-05-06T08:21:00.000Z

Why think in terms of "It all revolves around me?"Just for a change, why not think in terms of "Who would I be, without each and every one of them?"

2010-05-05T14:31:00.000Z

Never ask a doctor what they would recommend as a treatment. The gold standard of medicine is based as much on cost-effectiveness as it is on efficacy. Instead, ask what the doctor would do for their own child -- and, if you happen to have asked it differently earlier and found different answers to the two different questions, pay very close attention to where the two answers differ.

2010-05-04T14:25:00.001Z

Armed societies are governed by fear: of government on the one hand, and of people on the other. All people are seen as fundamentally self-serving, each man out for himself without regard for anyone else; the actions of individuals or institutions not personally known or vouched for are additionally seen as arbitrary. That fear goes even deeper: since fear of consequences is perceived as the only

2010-05-03T10:30:00.004Z

To contain a deepwater offshore oil leak, the leak must be sealed off below the leak and the wellhead must be capped or otherwise closed off as soon as possible. Only after the submarine leak is capped can the surface oil slick be properly dealt with. Anything less is pulling individual raindrops out of a hurricane -- and even that little at a short- and long-term cost to the environment almost

2010-05-02T12:40:00.002Z

It was such a simple question.What song is this? please help:):so earlier today i heard this song on the radio and i really liked it:) but idk what ittts called.i remembered this one part of the songand it goes like this...'they'll call me freedom just like a waving flag'.somethnglike that:)and his voice was like jamaicann.pease help:) thanks.So why, when the full and preferred answer is given,

2010-05-01T22:13:00.002Z

Facebook is not free. Even if its staff were able to do their duties out of the goodness of their hearts, bandwidth and other site-related expenses must still be paid.Thus, like so many other "free" services, Facebook must base its business model at least in part on data gathering. The service is only the bait. We ourselves are but eyeballs who have taken the hook, collected and sorted for

2010-04-30T17:09:00.000Z

I resent films that are so shallow they rely entirely on their visual effects, and of course science fiction films are notorious for this. I've always felt that there's another way to do it: a lot of effort should be expended toward rendering the environment of the spaceship, or space travel, whatever the fantastic setting of your story should be–as convincingly as possible, but always in the

2010-04-29T23:20:00.003Z

With the simple replacement of polarised lenses for the old coloured lenses combined with modern CGI effects, 3-D films have finally left behind 1950s basement nostalgia and embraced modern blockbuster productions. DreamWorks Animation has already announced that all its future films will be released in 3-D.It is only a matter of time before most other production studios follow DreamWorks' lead.

2010-04-28T19:17:00.003Z

When we understand that slide, we'll have won the war.- General Stanley A. McChrystal, leader of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan[Powerpoint is] dangerous because it can create the illusion of understanding and the illusion of control. Some problems in the world are not bullet-izable.- Brigadier General H. R. McMaster

2010-04-26T15:28:00.001Z

Volcanoes are notorious carbon emitters. Eyjafjöll has been releasing an average of 150,000 tonnes of CO2, each and every day during its peak eruptions. In the five April days of significant airline disruption, this comes out to 750,000 tonnes.During the same period of time, the removal of so many jets from the skies has kept at least 1,300,000 tonnes, and perhaps as much as 2,800,000 tonnes, of

2010-04-24T18:08:00.002Z

The Eyjafjallajökull volcano has spawned its first videogame. At Volcanic Airways, the challenge is to successfully pilot an aircraft through an ash plume.

2010-04-18T04:30:00.004Z

With the previous collapse of the banking system, the ongoing lawsuits over British money lost in Icelandic savings accounts, and the current eruption of Eyjafjöll (Eyjafjallajökull is the name of the glacier, not the volcano), Europe might be excused for starting to wonder if all good things come from Iceland.It is a useful lesson in learning just how much in the way of convenience and travel we

2010-04-16T01:45:00.000Z

Law is a secular approximation of morality. What shall be acceptable for society is legislated by the chosen leaders of that society, whose choices in turn are sanctioned by that society. (No matter the system of government, leaders who are not acceptable to those they lead do not remain leaders for long.)Through law, morality becomes the province of government. While law exists at all, it cannot

2010-04-08T10:48:00.001Z

Old Father Frost had a daughter,He hid her among the trees,He hid her away from the meadowLest the sun see her beauty and freeze.Her skin was pale as the snowflakes,Her eyes as blue as the sky,Her hair, it sparkled like crystalsBound with a silver tie.Deep in the woods he hid herWhere never a sunbeam should stray,But he reckoned without her own yearningTo be young, and happy, and gay.Though never

2010-04-07T00:14:00.005Z

We live in a 24/7 media world. With all the sanitised images flooding our airwaves, it is easy to start assuming that they are the whole picture. Sometimes we forget that what we are allowed to see is a very small percentage of the whole. Sometimes we forget that war is an ugly thing.06:18:40 Crazyhorse [lead helicopter] notices a group of people on an open plaza.06:20:05 Crazyhorse: Have five to

2010-04-06T05:04:00.002Z

In these days of 10-second sound bites, video clips, carefully managed marketing messages, and shortened attention spans, to take longer than a minute in asking any question or responding to it is usually public relations death. People lose interest. More crucially, the media loses interest.And yet: no social issue can be adequately explained in a sound bite, no matter what the position. What

2010-03-30T16:29:00.002Z

On this day, two beams collided at 7 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider, setting the world record for the highest energy man-made particle collisions to date. The first article based on previous, lower energy LHC collisions has been completed as of March 7. Its results show that 10-14% more charged kaons and pions had been produced than expected, suggesting that the previous models upon which all

2010-03-01T21:54:00.006Z

March played poker with FebruaryAnd bluffed away three days,February just laughed, knowing thatThey were the winter's strays.March played poker with AprilWiser to the gain,April coughed when the river thawedAnd folded aces twain.That's why February cuts it shortAnd willingly cedes three days,Letting winter huff and roarAnd win young March no praise.That's why April's slow to comeWith jacket