Scientists Shake Hands Over the Internet

Thu   31 Oct 2002   9:57 by Kevin McGehee 0 comments [Our Times] [blogoSFERICS]

LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists in Britain and the United States shook hands Tuesday. No big deal, one might think, but the men in question were 3,000 miles apart, connected only by the Internet. In a technological first, two scientists—one in London and one in Boston—picked up a computer-generated cube between them and moved it, each responding to the force the other exerted on it. The devices allowing them to do it are called phantoms, which re-create the sense of touch by sending small impulses at very high frequencies via the Internet, using newly developed fiber optic cables and high bandwidths. “The experiment went very well,“ said Joel Jordan, part of a team of scientists at University College London (UCL) teaming up with colleagues at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to conduct the experiment. “You can actually feel the object being pushed against your hand,“ he told Reuters. “We can feel each others’ forces.“ » Scientists Shake Hands Over the Internet Cybersex is about to take on a whole new meaning. Link via Transterrestrial Musings.

So, What Did We Learn?

Wed   30 Oct 2002   8:12 by Kevin McGehee in Coweta County, GA 0 comments [Our Times] [Get Offa My Lawn!] [blogoSFERICS]

Jeff Jacoby: So Shannon O’Brien doesn’t think parents need to know if their 16-year-old is getting an abortion. She thinks convicted serial murderers deserve to live to a ripe old age. She blames Joe Malone, who hasn’t been treasurer for nearly four years, for the fact that her office has been illegally paying out hundreds of thousands of dollars in pensions to criminals. And she thinks Mitt Romney has ‘'the wrong set of values?‘’ Lord knows Romney has his faults, but I’ll give him this: He managed to answer most of moderator Tim Russert’s questions with straightforward sentences. Why is he for the death penalty despite its price tag? Because ‘'the death penalty doesn’t have anything to do with cost; it has everything to do with deterrence.‘’ Would he support a law requiring a one-day waiting period before abortions? ‘'No, I am not going to change our prochoice laws.‘’ If the Legislature passes a budget with a tax increase, what will you do? ‘'I will veto any budget that raises taxes.‘’ But there were no straightforward declarative sentences from O’Brien last night. Six times she was asked about higher taxes, and six times she went into a long-winded filibuster that did everything but actually answer the question. Or was it eight times? Fortunately, Romney was on hand to translate from O’Brienese into English. ‘'Shannon, everyone knows if you’re elected governor we’re going to have a one-and-a-half-billion-dollar tax increase.‘’ So, what did we learn? » So, What Did We Learn?

Green Technology

Wed   30 Oct 2002   8:00 by Kevin McGehee 0 comments [Our Times] [blogoSFERICS]

DES MOINES -The chairman of Syngenta, the Swiss-based agricultural firm, said last week that the way to reduce world hunger and preserve the environment is to produce much more food on roughly the same amount of land - and the way to do that is through technology. The chairman, Heinz Imhof, who is a trained agronomist, spoke here in the middle of Iowa on Friday at a symposium honoring the 2002 winner of the World Food Prize. The $250,000 award goes each year to men and women - mainly agricultural scientists, often from developing countries - who have done the most to reduce hunger and boost the global supply of food. » Green Technology

Cheerful Libertarianism

Mon   28 Oct 2002   8:42 by Kevin McGehee 0 comments [Our Times] [blogoSFERICS]

Here’s a thought that might help freedom-loving men and women win elective office and gain influence over society’s future course: Perhaps our fellow citizens aren’t fools after all! Isn’t that the central belief of lovers of liberty? The notion that educated free adults can be trusted with matches… not to mention their bank accounts and votes? If the masses are intrinsically stupid - sheep - then the paternalists are right and no future society of maximized freedom will ever be possible. The fundamental premise of classical liberalism is an assumption that people are basically rational and wise. Yet this flies right in the face of the most common libertarian lament - that those idiots out there keep electing statists and every resulting policy has been just plain awful. One of these two deeply held beliefs will have to go! » Cheerful Libertarianism Ron Paul is a libertarian who decided the people aren’t fools after all. That’s why he’s in Congress today—as a Republican.

Whatever Happened to…?

Fri   18 Oct 2002   14:41 by Kevin McGehee 0 comments [Our Times] [blogoSFERICS]

...the campaign to have Dr. Laura Schlesinger drawn, quartered, and burned at the stake for daring to disapprove of homosexual conduct? The station I listen to for the Rush Limbaugh show also has had Dr. Laura on its schedule from the very beginning. If you don’t think Atlanta has a staunch gay advocacy, you’d be mistaken. But it occurs to me just now, I haven’t heard any noise about Dr. Laura in a couple of years. Has she been de-emphasized since the danger arose, of America defending itself against bloodthirsty terrorist enemies who do even worse things than speak disapprovingly of things they don’t like about America? That would make too much sense…

Acts That Don’t Deserve the Prize

Thu   17 Oct 2002   7:53 by Kevin McGehee in Coweta County, GA 0 comments [Our Times] [Here's Your Sign] [blogoSFERICS]

Jeff Jacoby: As a patriot and a man of honor, Jimmy Carter should refuse the Nobel Peace Prize. That act of integrity would win him more respect than anything he has done in the past two decades. The Nobel Peace Prize committee has sometimes shown disturbingly bad judgment, but never before has it awarded the prize with the explicit purpose of castigating the United States. That new low was achieved last week, when the Nobel Committee chairman, Gunnar Berge, emphasized that the award was meant as a denunciation of US policy toward Iraq. ‘'It should be interpreted as a criticism of the line that the current administration has taken,‘’ Berge said. ‘'It’s a kick in the leg to all that follow the same line as the United States.‘’ Gunnar Staalsett, another committee member, confirmed that the award was intended as a condemnation of US policy. And the Nobel secretary, pointing to the language of the citation - which implies criticism of President Bush for creating ‘'a situation currently marked by threats of the use of power’‘ - remarked, ‘'There can’t be much doubt about the intention of that.‘’ No, there can’t: A smug little group of Norwegian politicians chose Carter for the Nobel Peace Prize in order to take a slap at a superpower willing to go to war, if necessary, to depose a vicious tyrant. Carter should be livid at this attempt to use him to discredit his country and embarrass President Bush and should turn the prize down. » Acts That Don’t Deserve the Prize

Silence of the New Jersey Lambs

Fri   11 Oct 2002   8:21 by Kevin McGehee in Coweta County, GA 0 comments [Our Times] [Courting Disaster] [blogoSFERICS]

Does the Constitution empower the U.S. Supreme Court to be the nation’s board of elections? Of course not. Yet more and more conservatives are joining liberals in promoting this distortion of our republican form of government. Article I, section 4, paragraph 1 of the Constitution states, in relevant part: “The times, places and manner of holding elections for senators and representatives, shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing senators.“ The New Jersey supreme court’s decision seems wholly inconsistent with state election law and clearly accommodates the political shenanigans of the Democratic party. Under such circumstances, it’s the responsibility of the state legislature to reign in a rogue court—yet the New Jersey legislature has been completely silent. Apart from some rhetorical flashes, even New Jersey’s Republican officeholders have made no concerted effort to act on their outrage or redress the problem. What can they do? They can use parliamentary procedures to make life very difficult for the Democratic governor, Jim McGreevey, and slow down the legislative process. The Democrats have mastered this technique; Republicans should have learned from them by now. » Silence of the New Jersey Lambs

History’s Greatest Monster Wins Nobel Peace Prize

Fri   11 Oct 2002   7:56 by Kevin McGehee 0 comments [War] [Our Times] [Yee-haw!] [Here's Your Sign] [Wackadoodle] [Media Ochre] [blogoSFERICS]

OSLO, Norway — Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.“ The Norwegian Nobel Committee cited Carter’s “vital contribution” to the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt and his efforts in conflict resolution on several continents and the promotion of human rights after his presidency. “In a situation currently marked by threats of the use of power, Carter has stood by the principles that conflicts must as far as possible be resolved through mediation and international co-operation based on international law, respect for human rights, and economic development,“ the citation said. The award is worth $1 million. » Jimmy Carter Wins Nobel Peace Prize

The Bra That Sucks!

Thu   10 Oct 2002   8:59 by Kevin McGehee 0 comments [Our Times] [blogoSFERICS]

It sounded too good to be true. When the news first emerged that an American surgeon had invented a device—a sort of glorified suction bra—called the Brava, which expands breast tissue and gives lasting results, the initial reaction was incredulity, closely followed by a rush of interest from women fearful of breast implants. The Brava, which is launched this week, works on the principle of tension induced tissue growth—a phenomenon well known by the medical establishment, which has been used for decades to lengthen limbs, and to expand tissues in post-cancer breast reconstruction. The Brava consists of a large pair of plastic domes which are fitted over the breasts and held in place by a tight black sports bra. Air is sucked out of the domes, and a gentle vacuum pressure is created, controlled by a microprocessor. If you’ve ever used a breast pump, that’s what it feels like. This stimulates new breast tissue to grow. The contraption must be worn for at least 10 hours a day, every day, for at least 10 weeks, after which the average increase in breast volume is 100cc—one cup size. » The Bra That Sucks! The law of supply and demand makes it a pretty fair certainty that a walking-around male counterpart to this will be on the market very soon… [Link via Transterrestrial Musings]

Pageant Permits Promotion of Chastity

Thu   10 Oct 2002   7:55 by Kevin McGehee 0 comments [Our Times] [Here's Your Sign] [blogoSFERICS]

Miss America 2003, Erika Harold, announced in Illinois yesterday that she has won her battle with pageant officials over the right to talk about teen sexual chastity. Saying that The Washington Times “brought this controversy to the forefront” in an article yesterday, the 22-year-old former Miss Illinois told reporters in suburban Chicago that she is now permitted to talk about sexual-abstinence education as part of her youth-violence prevention platform. Miss America Chief Executive George Bauer removed the restriction after intense discussions during a trip to Washington, she said. » Pageant Permits Promotion of Chastity Good sense does win sometimes.

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