Tens Links o' Interest is Back!
SCIENCE!
The first two entries are from New Scientist. I think extrasolar planets are a seriously cool thing. Oxygen seen streaming off exoplanet A bit:
Carbon and oxygen have been observed streaming off an extrasolar planet for the first time by researchers using the Hubble Space Telescope.
The study is likely to add important insight into the nature and evolution of extrasolar planets, which are notoriously difficult to observe. It may also provide a model for understanding our own planet's evolution, as the Earth may have been too puny to hold onto its original atmosphere.
"It's a very intriguing and suggestive observation," says Sara Seager, an astronomer who studies extrasolar planets at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, US. "If confirmed, it will provide a nice constraint to understanding the upper atmosphere of this extrasolar planet."
Much more at link!
I like confirmation that things are made up of the same stuff as the Earth. The next link provides evidence that what you believe to be true may in fact be demonstrably false(Bush Administration members, and WMD believers take note)
Also from New Scientist comes this article about a phenomenon being called 'mindsight.' The obligatory tease:
Some people may be aware that a scene they are looking at has changed without being able to identify what that change is. This could be a newly discovered mode of conscious visual perception, according to the psychologist who discovered it. He has dubbed the phenomenon "mindsight".
Ronald Rensink, based at the University of British Columbia in Canada, showed 40 people a series of photographic images flickering on a computer screen. Each image was shown for around a quarter of a second and followed by a brief blank grey screen. Sometimes the image would remain the same throughout the trial; in other trials, after a time the initial image would be alternated with a subtly different one.
In trials where the researchers manipulated the image, around a third of the people tested reported feeling that the image had changed before they could identify what the change was. In control trials, the same people were confident that no change had occurred. The response to a change in image and control trials was reliably different.
Our visual system can produce a strong gut feeling that something has changed, Rensink says, even if we cannot visualise that change in our minds and cannot say what was altered or where the alteration occurred.
"I think this effect explains a lot of the belief in a sixth sense." He has no idea what physical processes generate mindsight, but says it may be possible to confirm it exists using brain scanners.
I think it is fabulous that science has given us the tools to de-mystify life. Then again, I harbor no superstitions nor subscribe to any myths. There is wonder and beauty in the quest for true knowledge. One door closes and another opens.
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WEB LITERATURE!
Ya know, in the less traveled parts of the web, there are some real gems. I don't mention these nearly often enough. For instance, Editor & Publisher always has great content.
In more or less the same vein, Harper's Magazine online is great resource for well researched material. Rick Mac Arthur and staff do a great job. Of course I could help them with their site layout ;) Why even Harper's has a blog.
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BLOGS!
As much as I read during the course of a day, I really don't get a chance to check out a great many blogs. My favorite non-corporate blogs are, in no particular order:
Jesse Taylor's Pandagon. Witty, and incisive. But mostly witty. He's a grand sense of humor.
Josh Marshall's Talking Points Memo. Probably the finest, most consistent political writing of all the 'A-List' bloggers.
David Neiwert's Orcinus. Dave could use some help on his layout, but his content is most excellent.
There are only two corporate blogs that I ever read.
Eric Alterman's Altercation Hosted by evil giants Microsoft AND
Joe Conason's oddly titled Joe Conason's Journal. Another insightful, thoughtful, and consistently good bit of work. -- This one isn't updated daily, so it's easy to keep track of.
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Globalisation!
I was trying to pry open a javascript pop-up window at Lou Dobbs Tonight entitled 'exporting America.' Well, that didn't work out, so I did a quick Google using the above in full quotation marks. I didn't get the list of companies I was looking for, but I did find Lou Dobbs Moneyline transcript. A pretty good summation of how globalisation is effecting the U.S. middle-class.
You can also check out the World Bank's Globalisation pages.
That's all I'm going to dedicate to that topic.
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BUSH'S BOGUS BUDGET
Biomed Central is reporting that Bush's budget proposes a 2.6% funding increase for the NSF(National Science Foundation), but an 8.9% funding cut for the CDC(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
Select quote:
The president's budget "threatens our progress in medicine and our position as world leader in the scientific research enterprise," said Robert D. Wells, president of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), in a statement.
Nils Hasselmo, president of the Association of American Universities, said the administration's budget "significantly underfunds" the nation's investment in scientific research. “The nation must pull itself out of our deficit spiral,” he said in a statement, "but we cannot do so by shortchanging research."
We are so going to lose our technological edge to Asia early in this century.
One more budget item. Okay, it's a few items.
OVERVIEW: The budget features big increases for military and homeland security but cuts or holds down the growth in spending for most other programs. President Bush projected the deficit to be $521 billion in the 2004 fiscal year and $364 billion in the 2005 fiscal year. The 2005 deficit figure does not count the cost of the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.
TAXES: About $1.1 trillion in additional tax cuts over 10 years, most taking effect after President Bush leaves office. About $175 billion in cuts would take place by 2009; the rest, about $900 billion, would come at the end of the decade.
DEFICITS: A deficit of $521 billion this year, declining to $237 billion by 2009. The budget makes no projections on the size of later deficits.
DOMESTIC SPENDING: Aside from relying on economic growth, the administration’s major proposal to reduce the deficit is holding spending increases on nonmilitary discretionary programs, like parks and health agencies, to less than 1 percent.
MILITARY: Increases spending to $401.7 billion, a jump of 7.1 percent. The increase does not include costs for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. That money, which the White House says may be up to $50 billion, will be sought after the November election.
Well, I'd say that's fiscally responsible. How the f$%# does the military warrant $1.1B I L L I O N per DAY? And that's not accounting for Iraq and Afghanistan. Down the road this tax cut..which of course can never be made truly permanent..is going to burden future generations when a majority of Americans don't even want the stupid thing.
Oh screw it, here's the rest:
ENERGY: The president proposes $24.3 billion in spending for the Energy Department. But the administration significantly scaled back energy tax breaks to $7.2 billion over 10 years compared with about $25 billion sought by Congress last year.
JUSTICE: The Justice Department's $18.7 billion includes $2.6 billion for counterterrorism, an increase of 19 percent from last year. The F.B.I. is the main beneficiary, with a proposed budget of $5.1 billion dedicated to expanding counterterrorism investigations, improving intelligence analysis and other areas.
EDUCATION: President Bush is proposing significant spending increases in two major areas. The budget would increase aid to poor districts by $1 billion, to $13.3 billion, which would go to schools that are the main beneficiaries of his No Child Left Behind program.
DOMESTIC SECURITY: The proposed budget would increase spending for the Department of Homeland Security to $40.2 billion, a 10 percent increase above last year's $36.5 billion. It calls for $890 million to enhance aviation and transportation security and $411 million to strengthen border and port security.
HEALTH CARE: The Bush administration is once again proposing new tax credits to help the uninsured buy health coverage, with a $70 billion plan over 10 years. It also plans a significant increase to the Food and Drug Administration to secure food safety.
NASA: A 5.6 percent increase is proposed in NASA's budget, to $16.2 billion, a step in pursuing the president's vision for refocusing space exploration. Courtesy the NYT
I remember small government conservatives. Although their social policies were a century or so out of touch, I agreed with their at least paying lip service to 'small government.' Why is the defense industry such a hard to kill sacred cow in America? Who exactly do we have to fear? Ourselves, that's who. But that misses the point. *heavy sigh*
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Well, folks. That's a wrap. I think I have ten or so there. I really didn't bother counting. ;)
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