Ladies and gentlemen, congratulations on your fine selection of Congressmen. FISA passed today. And not the FISA we wanted. No, the bad one.
Not that it wasn't expected: the writing has been on the wall for months now. The "Democratic majority" in Congress means diddlysquat, because it doesn't appear that they care for your rights as United States Citizens either. At this point, why do we bother?
Well, we bother because they're our rights, of course. They're nice to have. Like the one where the government doesn't have the right to search us without warrants? I think they wrote that one down somewhere kind of important, I don't really remember where. Oh, and that expectation that criminal acts should be punished justly? Yeah, well we can forget about that now.
And not only that, Presidential hopeful Barack Obama has joined the ranks of those who just don't care about you and I. Yeah, the promise of his brilliant, golden radiance was so incredibly inviting and clearly unattainable, but could he at least keep up the illusion until he's in office? At least he voted for the various amendments to strip retroactive immunity, but his initial promise of simply stripping retroactive immunity was weak enough that it would have been a terribly small token gesture to his base support.
He even had an excellent shield on the vote: John McCain, unhappy with simply being the most absent member of the 110th Congress and hypocritically knocking Congress for taking a week off, doesn't bother to show up after the Senate reconvened, meaning that he missed all the FISA votes. So it would not have been terribly difficult to defend: "what, you don't like my stand on FISA? My opponent didn't think it was important enough to even bother showing up!"
And this is why we need not more Democrats in Congress, we need more and better Democrats. Until then, remember to check over your shoulder before joking about George Bush.
Tag: news
Wed, May
28th
28th
Carbon nanotechnology: The seedy underbelly
Posted by clint
on May 28, 2008
Carbon nanotechnology is extremely promising. It will provide cooler, smaller circuitry to relieve the rapidly aging silicon technologies, it has given us the Memristor, it will allow us to efficiently target and destroy cancer, build a space elevator, develop fuel cells, and a veritable plethora of other applications. And, with new methods of mass producing them being developed constantly, the future looks bright.
The past week, however, has not been kind to the development of carbon-based nano-technology. First, we found out that longer carbon nanotubes are rather unfortunately similar to asbestos in a disconcerting number of ways, particularly in how the long fibrous tubes behave. There is a chance, therefore, that they may well cause cancer in the same way that asbestos does: long fibers are inhaled, whereupon cells in the lungs, unable to deal with such long, thin fibers, freeze, inflame, and eventually scar and develop into cancer. There is no complete study on the issue yet, but the resemblances are alarming.
As well, it seems that Buckminsterfullerene, better known as the Buckyball, is capable of crossing over lipid cell membranes with almost no effort - this also means that they could, according to the laboratory that ran the computer simulation, cross the all-important Blood-brain barrier, which keeps our brain free of invasions and toxic elements. It remains to be seen what the consequences of buckyball invasion into cells are.
This turn of events is sobering and unfortunate, but that attention is being paid to these types of issues is certainly reassuring.
The past week, however, has not been kind to the development of carbon-based nano-technology. First, we found out that longer carbon nanotubes are rather unfortunately similar to asbestos in a disconcerting number of ways, particularly in how the long fibrous tubes behave. There is a chance, therefore, that they may well cause cancer in the same way that asbestos does: long fibers are inhaled, whereupon cells in the lungs, unable to deal with such long, thin fibers, freeze, inflame, and eventually scar and develop into cancer. There is no complete study on the issue yet, but the resemblances are alarming.
As well, it seems that Buckminsterfullerene, better known as the Buckyball, is capable of crossing over lipid cell membranes with almost no effort - this also means that they could, according to the laboratory that ran the computer simulation, cross the all-important Blood-brain barrier, which keeps our brain free of invasions and toxic elements. It remains to be seen what the consequences of buckyball invasion into cells are.
This turn of events is sobering and unfortunate, but that attention is being paid to these types of issues is certainly reassuring.
Fri, February
1st
1st
Are we really supporting our troops? [take 2]
Posted by clint
on February 1, 2008
Because I have discussed this issue before,I would like to point out an update to the disturbing and ever-climbing number of our troops that are committing suicide. The latest report is in, and the troops are suffering. The number of troops taking their own lives has leapt 20% in the past year, and the rate doesn't appear to be slowing.
To all of you who still support the war in Iraq, I implore you to explore your human side, that side of you that believes in human decency and true morals. This war needs to end now, so we can bring our heroes home. Our heroes who give all they have to keep the dream of this country alive. Let them come home. Let us find them jobs, and homes, let them return to their families.
Please let them come home.
To all of you who still support the war in Iraq, I implore you to explore your human side, that side of you that believes in human decency and true morals. This war needs to end now, so we can bring our heroes home. Our heroes who give all they have to keep the dream of this country alive. Let them come home. Let us find them jobs, and homes, let them return to their families.
Please let them come home.
Wed, January
23rd
23rd
So much for M.A.D....
Posted by clint
on January 23, 2008
Armed forces leaders from the U.S. and other major countries of the world are urging NATO to maintain a preemptive nuclear strike as a major option to keep other nations from obtaining nuclear weapons.
That's real mature. Annihilate other civilizations with the very weapons they are trying to obtain? I don't exactly think that's the proper way to go about things. Mutually assured destruction is what's supposed to keep the world in check as far as nuclear weapons goes, not preemptive unilateral destruction.
Besides, doesn't anyone remember the last time we did something rash, bold, and maybe a little preemptive regarding weapons proliferation?
That's real mature. Annihilate other civilizations with the very weapons they are trying to obtain? I don't exactly think that's the proper way to go about things. Mutually assured destruction is what's supposed to keep the world in check as far as nuclear weapons goes, not preemptive unilateral destruction.
Besides, doesn't anyone remember the last time we did something rash, bold, and maybe a little preemptive regarding weapons proliferation?
