Cutting the arts to balance gov't budgets?

Click on this link to read a Washington Post article (8-4-10) about the radical cuts in government funding of the arts in Britain that are being contemplated to reduce levels of public debt.

Be gay: break the law (in 76 countries)

Study Finds Being Gay Is a Crime in 76 Countries

A comprehensive study of gay rights conducted by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association found that being gay is a crime for which individuals are persecuted in 76 countries worldwide. Seven of those countries punish same-sex acts with death. "On a global scale, the nations doing something positive for gay rights are dwarfed by those behaving negatively," the Independent on Sunday reported after seeing the study. "While 75 countries will imprison you if you are gay, only 53 have anti-discrimination laws that apply to sexuality. Only 26 countries recognize same-sex unions." While Britain, home of the Independent, is considered a relatively progressive nation where gay people can adopt children, can enjoy civil ceremonies, and are protected from discrimination by legislation, Stonewall, a gay rights organization, says there is still work to be done. "We are mindful that however remarkable the progress we might be making in Britain is, there are countries around the world where people still live in fear of their lives just because of the way they were born," said Ben Summerskill, Stonewall's chief executive. Even in Britain, Stonewall says, two-thirds of young lesbian, gay, and bisexual students are subject to homophobic bullying in school. According to Amnesty International, sub-saharan Africa, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East are the areas of greatest concern for gay rights, but the group is quick to also call out "Western nations becoming complacent." Referring to Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Widney Brown of the group said: "The U.S. is the only country in NATO with a prohibition of being openly gay in the military."

Read original story in The Independent on Sunday | Monday, Aug. 2, 2010

World population approaches 7 billion

From Slate (7-30-10):

Forecasters Expect World Population to Reach 7 Billion Next Year

The population of the world will climb above 7 billion sometime in 2011, says the Population Reference Bureau, a research group. With 267 people being born every minute and only 108 dying, developing countries are adding more than 80 million people to the world's population every year. Carl Haub, the group's senior demographer, estimated that by 2050 the world's population will be more than 9 billion.While the news can be celebrated because it represents longer life spans, the group is concerned. A closer look at the data shows that the ratio of working-age adults to the elderly that they are called on to support is rapidly declining because of lower birthrates. It also shows that the majority of population growth is happening in the world's poorest countries, "exacerbating poverty and threatening the environment," according to William P. Butz, the president of the Population Reference Bureau. "While the United States, Australia, Canada and New Zealand will continue to grow because of higher birthrates and immigration, Europe, Japan and South Korea will shrink (although the recession reduced birthrates in the United States and Spain and slowed rising birthrates in Russia and Norway)," the New York Times reported. In the U.S., where people seem constantly worried by the state of Social Security and Medicare, the proportion of the gross domestic product spent on those two entitlement programs will jump from 8.4 percent this year to 14.5 percent by 2050.

Read original story in The New York Times | Friday, July 30, 2010

Warlords as allies in Afghanistan?

Click on this link to read a Washington Post (7-29-10) story about a brutal warlord who has been enlisted as an ally against the Taliban.  Do you think it is a good idea to use such people in Afghanistan?  Do we have any real choice?  Are such dilemmas a sign of a war we shouldn't be in to begin with?  Or does a realistic assessment of our dangerous world suggest that such alliances are inescapable?

Continuing controversy over proposed Islamic Center near Ground Zero

Click on this link to read a New York Times column (7-27-10) by Clyde Haberman that complains about the protests regarding a proposed Islamic Center near the site of the 9-11 World Trade Center collapse.  Do you think building such a center near (not "at", as the column notes) is a bad idea?  Should it, even if so, still be permitted?

Dangers of full body radiation scanning?

Click on this link to read a New York Times column (7-27-10) by Joe Sharkey that explores the potential radiation dangers from full body scanning techniques being implemented the next 2 years in airports.

Vast enterprise of "secret" agencies formed since 911

Click on this link to read a Sarasota Herald Tribune/Washington Post (7-18-10) article about the huge network of secretive agencies that have been created since September 11th, 2001.  Collaboration between these many agencies is proving difficult and the amount of intelligence data being generated dwarfs the abilities of leaders to keep up with it.  Is such a vast ediface necessary in the 21st century to sustain the security of a world superpower?

Is synthetic marijuna sold as incense dangerous?

Click on this link to read a New York Times article (7-10-10) about the various forms of K2, a chemical blend of various herbs and synthetic marijuana, that are now being banned by a number of states.  Poison control centers and emergency rooms point to an uptick of distress calls traced to the use of the substances, but others argue that they are harmless.  States such as Missouri have illegalized them, but chemists are quickly inventing new formulas that elude the newly-passed laws.

Is desalinization a solution for water shortages? Australia's experience

Click on this link to read a New York Times story (7-10-10) about the pros and cons of desalinization plants as a response to droughts and over-consumption of fresh water.  Are there better solutions, such as water conservation and population reduction, or is this expensive and energy-consuming technology the most realistic solution?  Attached is a video that was included in the WorldNews site that repeated the NYT article.

Students, meet your new teacher, Mr. Robot

Click on this link to read a New York Times another article (7-11-10) about how robots are taking roles formerly played by people--in this case, providing companionship to autistic children.

Can machines become our companions?

Click on this link to read a Sarasota Herald Tribune (7-5-10) article about the use of robots to provide companionship to elderly people suffering from dementia and moral support for drug addicts seeking to kick the habit.

Young Women Are Addicted to Facebook

From Slate (6-7-10): Even before they go to the bathroom or brush their teeth, one of the first things one-third of women age 18-34 do in the morning when they wake up is check their Facebook account. The results of a two-month study of more than 1,600 adults released by Oxygen Media and Lightspeed Research on Wednesday show that "young women are becoming more and more dependent on social media and checking on their social networks," Mashable reported. The study's results go further than previous studies on the subject, finding that 57 percent of young women talk to people online more than face-to-face and 39 percent go so far as to declare themselves addicted to Facebook. More than 20 percent even check Facebook in the middle of the night. Other statistics that emerged from the study seemed a bit contradictory: 89 percent of young women advise against loading anything onto Facebook that you wouldn't want your parents to see, yet 42 percent have no problems with posting photographs of themselves drunk. Mashable sumarized the results: "Our habits are changing due to social media technology, particularly Facebook. It's not just a connection tool for many women, but a research tool, a dating network, and a way to keep tabs on both boyfriends and enemies."

Read original story in Mashable | Wednesday, July 7, 2010

New Technology Could Allow Blind To Drive Independently

From Slate (July 2, 2010):

After years of research, the National Federation of the Blind and Virginia Tech hope to demonstrate by next year a prototype vehicle that would allow a blind person to drive independently. The technology, known as "nonvisual interfaces," is based on Virginia Tech's third-place entry into the 2007 DARPA Grand Challenge, a competition funded by the Defense Department for driverless vehicles. It uses sensors to relay information to a blind person about his or her surroundings. "We're exploring areas that have previously been regarded as unexplorable," said Dr. Marc Maurer, president of the National Federation of the Blind, during a press conference in Daytona Beach, Fla. "We're moving away from the theory that blindness ends the capacity of human beings to make contributions to society." Maurer has been talking about building a car for the blind since launching the research institute of his Baltimore-based organization a decade ago. "Some people thought I was crazy and they thought, 'Why do you want us to raise money for something that can't be done?' Others thought it was a great idea," he said. Advocates for the blind, who consider driving a car a goal on par with landing on the moon, acknowledge that years of testing will be required before society accepts blind drivers regardless of how good the technology is. Various options are being considered: One uses a vibrating vest to direct drivers, another uses compressed air to create a map of objects that surround a vehicle. "The results will be demonstrated next January on a modified Ford Escape sport utility vehicle at the Daytona International Speedway before the Rolex 24 race," theAssociated Press reported.

Read original story in The Associated Press | Friday, July 2, 2010

Al-Qaida Launches English-Language Magazine

From Slate (July 1, 2010):

With articles like "Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom" and "What to Expect in Jihad," al-Qaida is hoping that its new English-language magazine, entitled Inspire, will help to recruit English-speaking Muslims inside of the United States and Europe. Run by the al-Qaida branch in Yemen that has been linked to the failed Chrismas Day bombing, Inspire was sort of distributed online on Wednesday. Only the first few pages, which Marc Ambinder has posted as image files on theAtlantic, came through. (Uncertain that the PDF was without a virus, he refrained from posting the entire file.) The rest of the pages were infected. "AQAP's first effort to post the magazine to jihadist websites failed Wednesday, as many of the pages were contaminated with a virus," Ambinder wrote. "(I half seriously believe that U.S. cyber warriors might have had a hand in that little surprise.)" In the introduction, the magazine's editors, led by Anwar al-Awlaki, ask readers to contribute their own articles and suggestions. Al-Awlaki has inspired several recent terrorist plots through his online sermons, according to the Associated Press. A U.S.-born cleric, al-Awlaki's English language skills are far superior to most of his al-Qaida comrades. But Ambinder suggests that Western intelligence officials, and not al-Awlaki, may be behind Inspire. "It is possible, although not likely, that the magazine is a fabrication, a production of a Western intelligence agency that wants to undermine Al Qaeda by eroding confidence in its production and distribution networks," he wrote. "The U.S. is engaged in direct net-based warfare with jihadis; this sort of operation would not be too difficult to pull off."

Read original story in The Atlantic | Thursday, July 1, 2010

Flying car clears major hurdles

Click on this link to read a Sarasota Herald-Tribune article (July 2, 2010) about a "flying car" that has been moving to market (for about $175,000).  The car will enable someone to drive to the airport, then take off from the runway.  It may also feature a parachute that would drop safely to earth if difficulties were encountered.

Is the Web redesigning our brains? For the better?

Click on this link to read an excerpt, published in Wired (June, 2010) from The Shallows by Nicholas Carr.  Carr argues that the riot of information currently available to us is shattering our ability to concentrate and is rewiring our brain.  But is it rewiring it for the better?

A totally different approach to motivating people?

Click on this link to read a Wired dialogue between Clay Shirky and Daniel Pink about a different form of human motivation beside the traditional "carrot and the stick."  How can we tap into the motivation that led to 100 million hours of free labor on Wikipedia?

How to evaluate the safest technologies

Click on this link to read an article by the chairman of the Sierra Club that suggests a "rule of thumb" to evaluate the safest energy technologies.

Could alternative energies also contribute to the Gulf's demise?

Click on this link to read an editorial column in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune (6-17-10) arguing that alternative energies such as bio-fuels will actually increase the "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico.  The article is by a member of the conservative American Enterprise Institute.  Do you agree with his concerns, or do you believe he makes certain assumptions about common practices that could be questioned? 

Sexual desire pill?

Click on this link to read a Sarasota Herald-Tribune article (6-17-10) that describes the FDA's concerns about a new drug meant to increase women's sexual libido.  Unlike male drugs like Viagra, this drug changes the brain to (allegedly) produce an increased sexual response.  But the results have been controversial.  The drug has been developed as a substitute for the conventional treatment--the administration of male hormones--that has undesirable side effects.

What is the worst American environmental catastrophe?

Click on this link to read a Sarasota Herald-Tribune article (6-19-10) about previous environmental catastrophes (such as the dust bowl, pictured here) that rival the BP oil spill.  Which has been the worst?

Abortion drugs given by video link

Click on this link to read a Sarasota Herald Tribune story (6-9-10) that describes how doctors can prescribe abortion-inducing drugs on line, dispensing the pills at a nurse's office hundreds of miles away.  Could teleconferencing equipment become the new means by which drugs are dispensed to patients?

Woman sues Google over walking directions

Click on this link to read a Washington Post article about a woman who sued Google because, while following the route it provided her for a walk, she was hit by a car.  She argues that the route was not "reasonably safe" for a pedestrian.  (Note: read the full article before you come to a conclusion about the strength of her claims!)  Do you think Google should be liable for any potential dangers created by the directions it provides?  For a more comical example, think of the episode of The Office in which two of the characters end up driving their car into a pond while trying to follow GPS directions.

Supreme Court Instructs Suspects To Speak Up If They Want To Remain Silent

From Slate (6-2-10):

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled that a suspect's silence can be used against them in court—unless they speak up and explicitly say otherwise. In a 5-4 decision, the court determined that in order for people to invoke their Miranda rights—the right to a lawyer, to remain silent, etc.—they have to tell the arresting police officer that they're doing so. The case in question involved a Michigan man, Van Thompkins, who was arrested for murder in 2000. Thompkins kept quiet during a nearly three-hour police interrogation, then answered "yes" to the question "do you pray to God to forgive you for shooting that boy down?" Thompkins argued that he had invoked his Miranda rights to remain silent by actually remaining silent, but he was eventually convicted of murder in 2001.The conviction was overturned after the 6th Circuit appeals court agreed with him, but today's ruling reinstates his conviction and forces suspect to inform police if they want to invoke their Miranda rights. Writing for the opposition, Justice Sonia Sotomayor argued that the ruling "turns Miranda upside down." "Criminal suspects must now unambiguously invoke their right to remain silent— which counterintuitively, requires them to speak," Sotomayor wrote. ''At the same time, suspects will be legally presumed to have waived their rights even if they have given no clear expression of their intent to do so."

Read original story in The Los Angeles Times | Tuesday, June 1, 2010

New BP Effort Could Make Things Worse

(From Slate, 6-2-10):

After "Top Kill" failed late last week, BP officials announced that they would try another method to stop the oil spill from the Deepwater Horizon site in the Gulf of Mexico. The new method involves placing a giant cap over the opening of the well and siphoning oil to the surface of the water. (The site of the leak is about 5,000 feet below the surface.) Before the cap can be lowered into place, though, the broken riser pipe must be cut down to a size that will fit under the brim. "[I]t's a big gamble: Even if it succeeds, it will temporarily increase the flow of an already massive leak by 20 percent—at least 100,000 gallons more a day," the Associated Press reported. "That's on top of the estimated 500,000 to 1 million gallons gushing out already." Estimates of the amount of oil vary widely, but somewhere between 20 million and 40 million gallons of oil have leaked into the Gulf since April 20, when the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, killing 11 workers. It is already the largest oil spill in U.S. history, and if the cap fails, it could continue spewing oil until August, when a set of relief wells are completed. "Eric Smith, an associate director of the Tulane Energy Institute, likened the procedure to trying to place a tiny cap on a fire hydrant that's blowing straight up," theAssociated Press reported.

Read original story in The Associated Press | Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Tesla-powered rock band

Click on this link to view a video about a band that uses huge tesla coils to spark its performances.

3 books chart the rise of "state capitalism" over democracy

Click on this link to read a Washington Post review (5-30-10) of 3 books that, in different ways, describe how the triumphant free market globalization of a couple of decades ago has given way to autocratic forms of "state capitalism" (think China, Singapore).  And no one seems to mind.  Here's an excerpt from the review that comments on John Kampfner's book, Freedom for Sale:

"To John Kampfner, the differences between the two economic approaches hardly seem the point anymore. Both systems are dedicated to creating wealth -- and over the past 20 years have done so with remarkable success. The result, Kampfner writes in "Freedom for Sale," is a "narrowing of the gap between democracies and autocracies." What has emerged, he contends, is populations dedicated to amassing wealth and material comforts, even at the expense of their individual liberties. In Kampfner's telling, consumers now pursue the same goals no matter whether they live under authoritarian regimes in Singapore, China, Russia or the United Arab Emirates, or in democratic societies of the United States, United Kingdom or Italy. In all cases, he argues, these consumer societies have produced docile, disengaged citizens who have formed a pact with their governments: The people will overlook an infringement of liberties so long as they are permitted the freedom to pursue a lifestyle of designer clothes, sports cars and holiday travel. The loss of liberties is obvious in the authoritarian countries. But Kampfner, the former editor of the New Statesman, also identifies subtle encroachments in Britain, for example, where authorities spy on citizens using a fifth of the world's closed-circuit television cameras, and in Italy, where Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has systematically eroded the independence of the Parliament, media and courts, and in the United States, where the war on terror brought covert surveillance of citizens, expanded the government's powers of detention of noncitizens and gave the Treasury increased power to investigate bank dealings."

Are electronic devices on planes dangerous? Ask the flight attendants using them!

Click on this link to read a Washington Post story about a Southwest Airlines passenger who spotted a flight attendant texting while passengers were forbidden from using electronic devices.  The article explores the much-debated question of whether such devices present any real dangers and describes how the prohibition is causing increasing friction with passengers.  Do you believe the prohibition is unreasonable?

Nurse online encourages suicides

Click on this link to read a Sarasota Herald-Tribune story about a nurse who gave out medical advice online about how to commit suicide.  While this would seem to be a blatant violation of the Hippocratic Oath to "do no harm," some would argue that such information could be beneficial to those suffering from terminal illnesses.  Do you believe the nurse's actions were dangerous?  Illegal?  Unethical?  Or not so?

Cellphones used more but not for talking

Click on this link to read a Sarasota Herald-Tribune story about how use of cellphones for purposes other than conversations has, for the first time, exceeded voice calls.  The article offers some interesting observations about what this says about the change in lifestyles and schedules.

New study reveals most children unrepentant psychopaths

This link is to a story that proves Hobbes was right, even about children!  OK, so it was in the Onion...

Using Volcano Updrafts to Fly into Outer Space

This is a link to a Washington Post article about David Bigelow.  Bigelow pioneered a form of aviation technology using gliders to catch the violent updrafts from volcanoes to fly into the upper atmosphere/edge of outer space.  He died in one of his attempts but the technology is being reconsidered as an energy-efficient way to travel to the edges of the earth's atmosphere.

Power and Light in developing countires.

In Worldchanging, on pages 167-168, there is an excerpt titled Power and Light in the Developing World. Personally I thought this was a pretty interesting read because it talks about bringing a form of electricity under developed countries. Basically 1/3 of the world still has no form of electricity to light up there homes at night. What is being done by the Light up the World Foundation is installing LEDs into these homes which can be powered by foot cranked generator, wind turbine, or solar panel. The good thing is the of energy amount it would take to power one normal incandescent light bulb can instead power 100 homes with LEDs in each. It has been tested in roughly 26 different countries and maybe it can be implemented into more. Its kind of hard to imagine anyone not really having electricity in this day and age. Most people especially in this country tend to waste electricity without even thinking twice about it. Hopefully this becomes something that is implemented in more countries and help people a little more in their daily lives.

When does an alternative lifestyle cross the line? (NAMBLA)

Our discussion on Tuesday dealt with acceptance of alternative lifestyles that happen within the global cultural pattern—lifestyles which increasingly challenge society's moral tolerance, and are a product of an era of globalization and homogenization of culture.

Here's an example of a lifestyle that crosses many boundaries. NAMBLA (North American Man Boy Love Association) is an overt organization that aims to legitimize and de-stigmatize sexual and affectionate relationships between adult men and young boys (as young as pre-teen.) South Park rightfully parodied this organization and is where I first heard about it (to my disbelief.)

This is unfortunately not a joke. See for yourself: www.nambla.org, and more on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nambla

SARCOS Military Exoskeleton

Editorial Published in 56 Newspapers Urges Action in Copenhagen

The editors at 56 newspapers in 45 countries decided to publish the same editorial out of concern that "humanity faces a profound emergency" and the hope that the gathering in the Danish capital can begin to address climate change in a serious way. The editorial, which was mostly published in front pages, strikes out at the United States for its "obstructionism" throughout the years and notes that the world distressingly "finds itself at the mercy of American domestic politics." Still, it emphasizes that no one is safe from climate change, so it "must be solved by everyone," including rich countries that are going to have to help poorer countries adapt to a changing climate and developing countries that will have to step up to the plate and "pledge meaningful and quantifiable action of their own."

Project Natal

Project Natal enables users to control and interact with the Xbox 360 without the need to touch a game controller through a natural user interface using gestures, commands. The project is aimed at broadening the Xbox 360's audience beyond its typically hardcore base.

Video

Do Babies Automatically go to Heaven?

Do Babies Automatically go to Heaven?

by K.B Naplier

link

Food sprinkles that make you lose weight!

"Real weight loss without diet and exercise - too good to be true"

An interesting article about a new diet supplement that is odorless and tasteless. You simply sprinkle it on your food and your brain no longer tells your stomach to over-eat.
Because consuming food in a reasonable manner is evidently not an option.

Americans Are Fat... But Is This Really Necessary?

College's too-fat-to-graduate rule under fire

By Elizabeth Landau, CNN

November 30, 2009 10:28 a.m. EST

(CNN) -- Most college students expect to receive their diplomas on the basis of grades, but at a Pennsylvania school, physical fitness matters too.

Students at Lincoln University with a body mass index of 30 or above, reflective of obesity, must take a fitness course that meets three hours per week. Those who are assigned to the class but do not complete it cannot graduate.

Now that the first class to have this requirement imposed is nearing graduation day -- students who entered in the fall of 2006 -- the school faces criticism from both students and outsiders about the fitness class policy.

One of those students is Tiana Lawson, 21, whose recent editorial in the student paper has drawn national attention to the issue. Lawson wrote in The Lincolnian that she would be more understanding if the requirement applied to everyone. She thinks all students, not just those with a high BMI, should have to take the class.

"I didn't come to Lincoln to be told that my weight is not in an acceptable range," Lawson wrote. "I came here to get an education which, as a three-time honor student, is something I have been doing quite well, despite the fact that I have a slightly high Body Mass Index."

Lawson, who told CNN she had been putting off getting her BMI tested until this year, recently found out she would have to take the class. At first angry, Lawson said she is now more "confused" about the requirement.

Read Entire Article Here:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/11/30/lincoln.fitness.overweight/index.html