tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post9048916661397288468..comments2024-03-29T00:39:31.629-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Suggestions for the Lame Duck CongressDavid Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger53125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-39146134631122650452010-11-30T21:29:20.946-08:002010-11-30T21:29:20.946-08:00Onward to next posting...Onward to next posting...David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-3117564496588004132010-11-30T18:35:17.649-08:002010-11-30T18:35:17.649-08:00There are no exoplanetary astronomers on the list ...There are no exoplanetary astronomers on the list of panel members for The Dec 2 announcement. None at all. Hence, I lean toward something having to do with prebiotic and biotic chemistry. (One of the scientists is known for forecasting an imminent shortage of free phosphorus on Earth, for fertilizers, as the great known deposits get mined out.)David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-32838003539495978212010-11-30T17:31:41.297-08:002010-11-30T17:31:41.297-08:00Chemical evidence of live on exoplanets plus lette...Chemical evidence of live on exoplanets plus letters to the editors demanding wage cuts, taken together, explain Fermi's Paradox:<br /><br />We're entertainment.<br /><br />===<br /><br />("...or, as Rod Serling would have it, '<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WudBfRa0ETw" rel="nofollow">To Serve Man ... It's a Reality Show!</a>'")rewinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14008105385364113371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-77346749467261957892010-11-30T14:13:31.959-08:002010-11-30T14:13:31.959-08:00Re:NASA press conference:
http://astrobiology.asu...Re:NASA press conference:<br /><br />http://astrobiology.asu.edu/Astrobiology/Home/Home.html<br /><br />Prediction: Chemical evidence of life has been found on exoplanets. <br /><br />People like us will be agog at the implications for humanity and the universe.<br /><br />Most people will forget about it in around 60 seconds.<br /><br />(Feeling a little cynical today...and overwhelmed by the wonder of the universe...)SteveOnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-8611495823755645952010-11-30T13:24:35.320-08:002010-11-30T13:24:35.320-08:00Robert,
Maybe I'm misinterpreting your remark...Robert,<br /><br />Maybe I'm misinterpreting your remarks, but it SOUNDS as if you're saying that when I said it was a fantasy that Democrats were increasingly liberal, it's only because their ranks are watered down by former Republicans who have fled that party.<br /><br />What I MEANT was that there is a popularly accepted view of Obama and the congressional Dems--so accepted as to be considered self-evident truth--that they're raging socialists intent on pillaging the wealth of real producers and implementing totalitarian control over hapless America. To me, this is so at odds with the record of the actual Democrats as to be absurd. In fact, in the face of a crisis of Great Depression proportions, Obama has specifically chosen to be more Andrew Mellon than Franklin Roosevelt. The dems are willing to let banks foreclose on homeowners, now that those banks themselves have been saved by taxpayer largesse. They're willing to let unemployment benefits lapse because we "can't afford them", while they're about to cave on a permanent tax giveaway to the wealthy. And now, they're asking their supporters to write letters to the editor of local newspapers in favor of lowering wages?<br /><br />You may disagree with me on whether any of these things are good or bad, but the fact is that that's what this administration and congress are actually doing, and for all that, they're portrayed as the greatest Socialist menace in history? THAT's what I meant when I said that "the Democrats are increasingly liberal" is mere wish-projection.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-63827046326630937282010-11-30T10:05:57.420-08:002010-11-30T10:05:57.420-08:00Yes, I saw. And it is a next-generation attack app...Yes, I saw. And it is a next-generation attack apparently - it's a Denial of Service that attacks the DNS directly rather than using a Botnet to overwhelm the site. The hacker involved is believed to be ex-military and has gone after jihad forums and anti-American websites in the past.<br /><br />So it's not quite a government-ops, unless the hacker in question is contracting out to the Feds while maintaining a non-government persona.<br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-90112731529988067462010-11-30T09:53:49.913-08:002010-11-30T09:53:49.913-08:00Robert, did you see the just-up headline? Someone...Robert, did you see the just-up headline? Someone is doing a DOS attack on Wikileaks.<br /><br />http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40433287/ns/technology_and_science-security<br /><br />crizzi -- Italian Christmas specialty cookies<br /><br />TheMadLibrarianTheMadLibrariannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-61627313235923508182010-11-30T08:39:09.673-08:002010-11-30T08:39:09.673-08:00Re: NASA press conference:
http://astrobiology.as...Re: NASA press conference:<br /><br /><a href="http://astrobiology.asu.edu/Astrobiology/Home/Home.html" rel="nofollow">http://astrobiology.asu.edu/Astrobiology/Home/Home.html</a>TwinBeamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-58843019967878301362010-11-30T06:52:33.828-08:002010-11-30T06:52:33.828-08:00Eh? What the...?
WASHINGTON -- NASA will hold a n...Eh? What the...?<br /><br />WASHINGTON -- NASA will hold a news conference at 2 p.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 2, to discuss an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life. Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe.<br /><br />http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/nov/HQ_M10-167_Astrobiology.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-65059978341633821502010-11-30T05:15:20.571-08:002010-11-30T05:15:20.571-08:00Vale Worldchanging<a href="http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/011738.html" rel="nofollow">Vale Worldchanging</a>Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-60974978579726857462010-11-29T21:58:09.871-08:002010-11-29T21:58:09.871-08:00One issue with wikileaks: how much is it beholden ...One issue with wikileaks: how much is it beholden to Assange's whim? While I suspect he is simply a figurehead, there is still a group deciding what and what not to release.Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-87335144378126810332010-11-29T21:24:09.689-08:002010-11-29T21:24:09.689-08:00Someone just tweeted about wikileaks: "Dear G...Someone just <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/search?q=%23wikileaks" rel="nofollow">tweeted about wikileaks</a>: <i>"Dear Government: like you always tell US, if you've done nothing wrong, then you have nothing to fear!"</i><br /><br />I'm not sure if I entirely agree about that, but on the whole, if we're the good guys, then we should be on the side of openness. If it's embarassing to the Saudis for the world to know that they wanted us to attack the Iranians for them, well I certainly feel their pain, but not in the way our troops do.rewinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14008105385364113371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-37768679696423101182010-11-29T20:50:51.400-08:002010-11-29T20:50:51.400-08:00What I find interesting is the next set of "l...What I find interesting is the next set of "leaks" that will apparently be coming in a few months: <a href="http://blogs.forbes.com/andygreenberg/2010/11/29/wikileaks-julian-assange-wants-to-spill-your-corporate-secrets/" rel="nofollow">Wikileaks has the dirty laundry on one of the big banks and is going to leak it</a>. Personally I think they should release that data NOW, not later. This latest release is going to likely result in another next-generation cyber-attack. This one will be from the U.S. to shut down Wikileaks. <br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-89740962123207083002010-11-29T20:42:19.764-08:002010-11-29T20:42:19.764-08:00I referred to the Saudis' 'request' ea...I referred to the Saudis' 'request' earlier.<br /><br />Public response to wikileaks is mixed but appears to be generally positive. Personally, I would like to see a wider mix of sources being trumpeted (while the biggest to date, the US is only one of several. It depends, too, on who decides to blow their whistles. This is less likely where the probable response is a bullet to the back of the head)<br /><br />Is it in the public interest to have all this revealed? Tricky, but overall I feel I've no reason to trust someone to tell me what I shouldn't know.<br /><br />I certainly think the US response is a bit over the top, especially calls to have wikileaks registered as a terrorist organisation.<br /><br />Probably the first thing that will happen is that diplomats will learn the use of courtesy in their despatches.Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-48262231756187986732010-11-29T20:09:41.768-08:002010-11-29T20:09:41.768-08:00OK, I can't believe no one has raised it here ...OK, I can't believe no one has raised it here in the home of "transparency" yet:<br /><br />What do you think of the latest "radical transparency" by WikiLeaks? <br /><br />Good thing, or should governments be allowed to keep some things secret in the name of practical diplomacy? <br /><br />Is South Korea better or worse off for it being made public that China has had just about enough of North Korea? Etc?<br /><br />What is the most interesting revelation so far?<br /><br />How about the official responses to the leaks? Anger at WikiLeaks for doing the leaking of course - but also anger at poor security practices allowing the leaks.TwinBeamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-51904064552337459942010-11-29T13:35:10.746-08:002010-11-29T13:35:10.746-08:00Well, when you get down to it, the Democratic part...Well, when you get down to it, the Democratic party has become more conservative because the moderates have fled the Republicans. If the Republican party regained its sanity and became more moderate, then the Republicans that fled to Democrats as the saner of two choices would have the chance to rejoin the party they wish they still had. The end result would be fewer moderate-conservatives in the Democrats, and a "leaning" to the left by the lack of association.<br /><br />So indirectly you're right. But we speak of this as the end-result of Republican politicians regaining their sanity and the party itself no longer dominated by a group that is out of touch with American society as a whole.<br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-7537754133946539432010-11-29T13:00:15.253-08:002010-11-29T13:00:15.253-08:00I know you guys (Robert and Tacitus) are more Repu...I know you guys (Robert and Tacitus) are more Republican than not, but from my perspective, the only "wish projection" in your story there is that the Democrats are increasingly liberal.<br /><br />:)LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-37328679766336788562010-11-29T10:57:47.368-08:002010-11-29T10:57:47.368-08:00Ah, well if we're going with Wish Projection, ...Ah, well if we're going with Wish Projection, then I'd say that a young charismatic Republican, probably Hispanic, takes the lessons that Obama taught using social media to his advantage and starts building a grassroots effort to (despite his/her inexperience on the national level) draw young people into the Republican Party. This core of youthful voters that newly register and unite behind the Upstart will (combined with his/her charisma) end up with surprising victories in Iowa and New Hampshire, and then proceed to prevail against the Old Guard using a message of anti-incumbency and the youth movement assisting him/her to win the Republican primary (the question being whether the Upstart would choose an older "experienced" establishment Republican as a running mate to draw in the old-guard Republicans, or goes for broke with another younger Republican candidate who isn't a Washington Insider to draw in even more disenfranchised voters.<br /><br />The Upstart then proceeds to win over Obama in a fairly tight race because of all of the youth vote that feel betrayed by Obama's failure to uphold all of his promises. Upon getting into office, the Upstart CONTINUES to use his/her grassroots connections to bully/shame the Republican Congress (seeing that if a Republican wins in 2012, they'll probably also win in the House and Senate by inertia) into enacting more moderate legislation to keep the youth vote as part of the new Moderate Republican party. <br /><br />There's several jokes bandied about that the Republican emblem should be changed from the Elephant to the Phoenix, seeing that they have been reborn. The Tea Party feels disenfranchised and tries to go third-party, but ends up being unable to gain much traction, especially as most mid-level conservative Republicans would rather vote for the new Moderate Republicans than risk allowing the increasingly liberal Democrats getting control of Congress.<br /><br />You know, if we were going for Wish Projection here. ;)<br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-69464641936358814582010-11-29T10:25:50.927-08:002010-11-29T10:25:50.927-08:00Predictions are all too often a type of Wish Proje...Predictions are all too often a type of Wish Projection! But what the heck I have a decent batting average...<br /><br />Palin either does not run or does not get much traction after the first couple of small state primaries. If the last two years have taught us anything it is that lightly experienced divisive figures should not be in the Big Chair.<br /><br />GOP ends up nominating a midwestern governor, of whom there are about three plausible choices.<br /><br />Obama wins a second term because the economy is improving.<br /><br />Further attrition of incumbants of both parties.<br /><br />Of course, this assumes Obama moves to the center a bit. If he "doubles down" on the progressive agenda again (and he is up to about 32nd's down by now), he is a one term pres who does not get many invites from Dem officeholders....the few survivors will have kept their distance.<br /><br />TacitusTacitusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-62915842983711403202010-11-29T09:34:07.851-08:002010-11-29T09:34:07.851-08:00What has happened to the Republican party (and has...What has happened to the Republican party (and has happened to a (significantly) lesser extent to the Democratic party) is a combination of Voter Apathy and the growth of the Independent voters faction. The people who are now making up the Tea Parties are the ones who've been voting consistently in the Republican party for decades now. Moderate Republicans succumbed to apathy and then saw the election of increasingly conservative candidates in office. They were turned off by the message of these ultra-conservatives (and the lack of moderate candidates to oppose them), so they quit the Republican party rather than try to run for office themselves. <br /><br />This becomes a Catch-22. The ultra-conservatives have become a larger and larger percentage of the Republican party because more and more moderates quit because they don't like where the Republican party is going. This has resulted in the ultra-conservatives achieving critical mass. <br /><br />Now, it is nearly impossible for moderate Republicans to remain in office. You have to embrace the far Right in order to stay in the good graces of the remaining Republicans. Unfortunately, critical mass for an ultra-conservative Republican party is insufficient to win in a number of states. The reason Republicans won so big in 2010 is anger over the ineffectiveness of Democrats to end the Recession... which Republican leaders ensured by blocking as many legislative bills in the Senate as possible through the filibuster and refusing to negotiate. This gave specific Democrats too much power, so they demanded kickbacks to help their own states... which Republicans used in a public relations coup that showcased Democrats as ineffectual and corrupt.<br /><br />The big test for Republicans will be 2012. If Republicans are saddled with Palin as their Presidential candidate, then there will be a significant backlash against Republicans as people go out to vote against her. More people will be voting in 2012 in any event, which will be detrimental for Republicans unless they are able to pass legislation and see the economy improve under their control of the House. <br /><br />The problem being... if the economy improves, Obama is strengthened. If the economy weakens, the Republicans are damaged due to being the ones in charge of the House. If the economy just stays the same, Republicans are likewise damaged. Possibly the best-case scenario is a weakened economy with someone other than Palin (say, Romney) running against Obama. Republicans gain the White House... but lose the House and Senate.<br /><br />Theoretically.<br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-35220138160909806212010-11-29T09:10:01.491-08:002010-11-29T09:10:01.491-08:00Political parties rise and fall, change names, cha...Political parties rise and fall, change names, change their orientation from progressive to conservative. These things matter little in the long run.<br /><br />It may well be that the Republican party is changing into something else, and please recall that this is something that many of you were wishing to have happen a couple of years ago.<br /><br />Be so very careful what you wish for.<br /><br />Now, if on the other hand California does not present a desperate case study in the need for a successful fiscal conservatism, under whatever flag, then there is no hope for that state or for our nation as a whole.<br />TacitusTacitusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-76141807047940487062010-11-29T08:09:21.220-08:002010-11-29T08:09:21.220-08:00You're talking to someone who wishes the Repub...You're talking to someone who wishes the Republican Party would make a comeback in Massachusetts to help balance the out-of-control idiocy of Massachusetts Democrats (which are a different breed than the Democrats in the rest of the country - to use Dr. Brin's analogy of Depressives and Manics, Mass. Dems are so manic they make their brethren in the rest of the nation look depressive in comparison).<br /><br />There's nothing wrong with Republicans. What's wrong is how a super-minority faction has seized control of the party, turning it into something it shouldn't be. To use a medical comparison, the Republican Party has a cancer, and this cancer has resisted chemotherapy and radiotherapy to continue growing and metastasizing. <br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-71234771997652242062010-11-29T06:36:33.352-08:002010-11-29T06:36:33.352-08:00Robert:
The Republican Party may be dead in Calif...Robert:<br /><i><br />The Republican Party may be dead in California, which bodes ill for the Republican party itself as a national party. <br /></i><br /><br />Oh, how I wish I could believe that, but as a Democrat and a Cubs fan, I've learned to expect disappointment. The GOP seemed dead and buried in Illinois as recently as 2006, but today, we just swore in a Republican to fill out Barack Obama's old Senate seat. The problem seems to be that every time someone kills the Republican Party (since 1964), they forget to chop off the head and bury the parts at separate crossroads.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-37988488179888237352010-11-28T21:42:35.540-08:002010-11-28T21:42:35.540-08:00(and here's the second link, hoping it works.....(and here's the second link, hoping it works...)<br /><br />http://thinkprogress.org/2010/11/27/danforth-lugar-overboard/<br /><br />The second article concerns Senator Dick Lugar and the fact Lugar will likely face Tea Party competition in 2012... and includes a comment from former Senator John Danforth that suggests if Danforth is seriously challenged in the Republican primary, then the Republican party as a whole may be beyond redemption.<br /><br />Posted without comment. Tempted to comment, but I'll be good and stay true to the "can't talk about politics" straitjacket I'm stuck in thanks to getting lost trying to find the polls. <br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-22788940396492950592010-11-28T21:42:18.735-08:002010-11-28T21:42:18.735-08:00Definitely should have remembered about Siberian t...Definitely should have remembered about Siberian tigers. I blame a lack of caffeine when I posted that, and being in a rush to leave. Sorry about that. ^^;; At least I didn't call North Korea our ally... ;)<br /><br />Now on to a couple interesting articles (addendum note: seeing that the post vanished after I posted it and I recognize what happened last time (the URL is causing issues) I'm posting the URLs without HTML coding. My apologies on this) (addendum note 2: it happened again. I'm posting the two URLs separated to see which one is being nuked by the system): <br /><br />http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/28/AR2010112802024.html<br /><br />The Republican Party may be dead in California, which bodes ill for the Republican party itself as a national party. The article mentions several things that have killed the Republican party in California, including the alienation of non-Caucasian voters by Republicans and a shifting of the party to the Right, with an emphasis on the over-65 crowd and on Caucasian men, both of which are not a strong position to build a voting base from (with one, you risk your voters dying off of old age, and the second is becoming more and more a minority group, albeit one with significant economic and social power).Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.com