France to be blackmailed?

This article deals with the "crisis" in France after two of their journalists were kidnapped in Iraq. I hope this works out for the best, and I hope too that France realizes that the US isn't the only country that has initiated policies that have maddened the Arab world. Even though I do agree with the statement in the article that their kidnapping was opportunistic.

Let the games...end

The Olympic Games have ended. I wish I had seen more of them because what I did watch I enjoyed a lot. Here's one writer with a rave review of Athens and its handling, despite the bad press going in, of the games.

Mars again...I love this planet

Here's yet even more evidence that Mars almost surely had water on its surface in the past. The first picture linked at the bottom of the page (and the same as the one posted above) is a new favorite of mine.

Worlds Apart

This is just, well, silly. The point is always made that we in the West need to be sensative about how we craft our messages so we will appeal as much as possible to the Islamic world in the Middle East. The point is never or at least seldom made that they should think about their message and how it might be received here. There's a basic disparity of expectation in the world between the West and the Middle East. In my view, these differences of expectation are built on a racist assumption--namely that the Arab world is incapable of responding with reason and sensativity and so we shouldn't expect them to do so. When this is applied conversely, then we in the West should assume the full burden of diplomacy and reason in sorting through the various cultural and diplomatic tensions that exist between the "Christian" west and the "Islamic" Middle East. The Western mindset towards the Arab world has basically assumed from them their duty to seek peace and understanding and transformed it into excessive attempts to reach out and go out of our way to appease. The fact that throngs of people in the Middle East have outrage towards America doesn't automatically mean it's because of something we've done. It's just as possible it's the result of misunderstanding, religious brainwashing, and ignorance on their part. The duty to establish a good relationship between our worlds will only be fruitful if its equally shared.

The Flip Flopping Record

Most anyone would agree that the President of the United States must be a man of steady leadership and firm conviction. And most would agree, whether they like him or not, agree with him or not, that George W. Bush is a strong leader. Even many of his detractors agree with the fact that for the most part, Bush is consistent and predictable. The question, then, is to what extent does Kerry's 19 year record in the Senate suggest that he will be a strong leader with the tenacity to stick to his convictions? Much has been made of his so called flip flopping. Below are a few sites that list instances of Kerry taking two different sides of an issue. Some (like Bush's campaign site) would have an agenda in distorting Kerry's record and taking things out of context. Other sites, though, wouldn't have such an agenda (Slate Magazine, for example). The evidence from my point of view is overwhelmingly devestating to Kerry.

This is a 12 minute video produced by the RNC consisting almost entirely of Kerry's own statements regarding Iraq

Slate: John Kerry's Waffles

George W. Bush's site: Kerry's Flip Flops

FlipFlopper.com

The New York Times: Nuanced Ideas or Flip Flops?

Kerry's Flip Flops on Israel Stir Concern

The swift boat fiasco

This article provides a great synopsis of the present swift boat controversy swirling around Kerry. In my opinion, Kerry is killing himself by constantly breathing life into this story. The fact that its persisted so long only suggests that there is something valid about at least some of the claims of the swift boat veterans.

Dems for Bush

A democratic mayer in a historically democratic part of Ohio has just endorsed President Bush. This is excellent news for Bush, and could prove significant if the state is as closely divided as the polls suggest it will be on election day.

Terror in our midst?

Here's a bit of disturbing news right out of Oxford. It appears as though a former student at Ole Miss is being held for laundering money that was used to finance terrorist attacks against Israel.

A high command of language

This is absolutely amazing, especially if the vocabulary, grammar, and syntax is correct (it's Klingon, lest there be any confusion).

The report is out...

USA Today has a brief article on the long lost Beagle probe to Mars. I can't help but think of Snoopy when I read about this mission.

The Party's Here...

This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who's actually spent any time at Ole Miss, but the University of Mississippi has landed in the top ten of the nation's top party colleges. I would love to know what questions they asked in their survey to derive the ranking. I know Ole Miss is in fact a party school, but I wonder what makes it more of one than say...LSU, which failed to make the top ten.

On second thought

I recently posted a small picture from a hilltop on Mars. Well, I found at the JPL site a 2.7 Meg picture like the one I posted. What struck me in this picture wasn't just the detail, but the layers of distant hills in the background. They really come to life in the high res picture. Absolutely stunning.

A sad use of pressurized oxygen

Here's a way to get drunk without even taking a sip...It's sad how much human ingenuity has been squandered on various ways to become intoxicated.

A Kerry Distortion

This article is yet another example of Kerry's mishandling of the truth and his desire to distort reality in order to scare as many gullible people as possible. This same article is also a good example of a diligent press (in this case, two New Hampshire publications) looking to hold those in power accountable.

Ante Up

USA Today has an interesting article on the da Vinci Project's last minute attempt to win the X-Prize. What astounds me is that the team--backed by an online casino--is going to proceed with a manned attempt in early October despite the fact that they haven't conducted any unmanned tests. Pardon the pun, but the pilot seems to be gambling a bit in more ways than one...

There's something amazing about looking at photos from another world. No matter how drab or dull the features or colors may be, just a glimpse of another world is exhilerating. While I think photos like the one above would look better with an astronaut standing next to a firmly planted American flag, I'm pleased with it nonetheless. I wonder, though, how the powers that be at mission control for probes like Spirit name the rocks they find nameworthy. Is it a rotating system where everyone takes turns naming a rock, hill or outcropping, or do they just agree by consensus? Is there any way to get a Martian rock named after me...?

You better watch this guy

This makes you wonder if someone in the Bush administration is having too much fun...

Ready to Go...

I'm finally finished with orientation and received my first assignments so I'm ready to hit the ground running. After listening to the talks we had this morning, I'm all the more happy I got this new laptop. It looks like I'm going to spend all my time reading and writing (and memorizing throughout both of those). I'm not nervous, just ready for classes to get underway. After listening to the overviews of what law school is and what we're supposed to learn over the next three years, I'm all the more convinced that this is right up my ally. Time will tell, though...

Powerbook!!

Law school is only a few days away from starting, so that can only mean one thing: a great excuse to get a new computer. After months of consideration, I settled on the 12" Powerbook. So far I'm thrilled with it. I've noticed, though, that on this site where I edit my blogs some of the tool bar functions like inserting hyperlinks don't appear (I've noticed this in certain web browsers on PC's (I'm using Safari now)). It looks like I'll be learning my html a bit better...

An Israeli Cave...

Findings like this are as tantalizing as they are frustrating. Tantalizing because they offer tangible evidence of the Gospel accounts. Frustrating because there is no way they can reasonably be verified. For the faithful, confirmation of the historical accuracy of the Gospels isn't necessary, but it is comforting. For the skeptics, nothing short of the work of God Himself will convince them of the truth of His Word.

This land...

I find both maps enlightening in their own rights. For the political map, it just demonstrates the wisdom of our founders in creating the electoral college. As for the US at night--it makes the astronomer in me weep.

Spaced out in Siberia

The 1908 Tunguska meteorite crash continues to make headlines almost a century later. Apparently the Russian winters are too long and too cold for some Russian scientists who are claiming that the meteorite was actually destroyed by aliens before it pulverized the planet. As one scientist put it: "I am fully confident and I can make an official statement that we were saved by some forces of a superior civilization." To buttress their claims, they say they have debris from the alien spacecraft. Hmmm....

Hyperion

I watched Woody Allen's Manhattan last night, and, in light of the reference to Saturn's moons, I thought a post about, well, a moon of Saturn would be appropriate. These grainy little fuzzies always fascinate me. Granted, there's not much to be seen in this tiny glimpse of Saturn's moon Hyperion, but its still amazing to have any photo of it in the first place. In September 2005 Cassini should provide us with a better glimpse as it flies by this 165 mile wide mystery.

Bush in a Landslide?

I've maintained all along that Bush is going to win in November. Friends and family alike are worried that Bush is going to lose--and those worries are mostly grounded on all the polls the media is so fond of broadcasting. Here's an article, though, that bolsters my confidence in my belief that Bush will walk away with another term. An economist, who apparently has been fairly accurate in his past predictions, (and who is also a Kerry supporter) maintains that Bush will win in a big way. Economic growth and inflation are such that Bush should easily prevail. I would like to know though the formula this guy uses. I know most people don't vote based on whether the inflation rate is this or that. So I'm assuming that inflation within a certain range translates into certain voting patterns which are based on people's subconscious awareness of the power of their dollars. It's a tricky business, though, predicting how people will vote--especially when irrationality seems to be driving more and more people in this country.

I love cats...

Even after reading this article, I don't understand why an entire plane full of people weren't able to contain a cat.

He Holds the Keyes...

I can't help but like Alan Keyes. He's an excellent speaker, full of passion, and bold in his faith. He has no shame in talking about the intricate link between his faith and his politics--and that is a rare and remarkable thing in a politician these days. He's got a long road ahead of him if he wants to win the Illinios senate seat against Obama--a Democrat who has been unquestionably catapulted into the spotlight. Keyes will question him and at the least run circles around him in the debates, which Obama is understandably trying to minimize.

9/11 Report

Recently I've been reading through the 9/11 Commission's Report. Overall, it has been a very informative read--doing a great job of detailing everything pertaining to 9-11 as well as giving the reader some good insights into the inner workings of our governement. I thought the following excerpt from the report captures the essence of part of the problem plaguing the CIA:

"The CIA had been created to wage the Cold War. Its steady focus on one or two primary adversaries, decade after decade, had at least one positive effect: it created an environment in which managers and analysts could safely invest time and resources in basic research, detailed and reflective. Payoffs might not be immediate. But when they wrote their estimates, even in brief papers, they could draw on a deep base of knowledge.
"When the Cold War ended, those investments could not easily be reallocated to new enemies. The cultural effects ran even deeper. In a more fluid international environment with uncertain, changing goals and interests, intelligence managers no longer felt they could afford such a patient, strategic approach to long-term accumulation of intellectual capital. A university culture with its versions of books and articles was giving way to the culture of a newsroom."

Al-Jeezera no more...

"It has also subjected the security, safety and property of citizens as well as government facilities, security and safety of national armed forces to danger."

You would think this was referring to terrorists, but its actually part of a statement released by the Interior Ministry in Iraq referring to the Al-Jeezera all news channel. Iraq is shutting down their Baghdad office for a month to give them a "chance to readjust their policy against Iraq." As much as I believe in the value of free speech, I think this a right and necessary decision. Many of the problems on the ground in Iraq aren't the result of a specific terrorist occurance. Rather, its due to a populace that is primed for terror and cynicism towards the US. Unfortunately, for the time being, media outlets that are over the top anti-American and open to terrorist manipulation are a security issue in Iraq.

Jammin for Kerry

This isn't really that surprising but I can't remember a time when the entertainment industry has been this zealous and organized in their efforts to boost a candidate in an election. It would be cool though to have a Toby Keith counter concert. The Dixie Chicks would at least be unnerved...

$900 Million?

Nasa officials are now saying that the cost of returning the shuttle to flight may top $900 million. This is going to make the billion dollar cut Congress is trying to dish out to Nasa all the more painful if Bush doesn't veto the bill...

Going Up

I first heard about the concept of a space elevator several years ago, but it wasn't until I read the cover story in the July 2004 Discover magazine that I began to think it might actually be feasable soon. I'm wondering, does anyone think this concept could become a reality soon? From what I've read, if the United States were to actually build this thing, it would give us a virtual monopoly on access to space for who knows how long. Is this really something to get excited about or is the hype far ahead of the technological feasability and administrative resolve of Nasa and the government?

A Sinester Conspiracy...

This really shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, but it turns out the press--at least according to an informal poll--leans heavily to the left. The fact that liberals will try sometimes to argue with a straight face that the press is actually biased towards conservatives proves they have a difficult time coping with the facts. Often they cry out "Oh, well what about Fox News?" as though Fox News is part of the vast right wing conspiracy. Actually, it's just that Fox isn't as liberal as the other networks, and so by comparison they stand out as more conservative.

It's not that I'm bothered by the fact that far more journalists are liberal than are conservative. If all journalist were truly objective and balanced in their presentation of the news--if all journalists were actually fair in their assessment of any given situation or issue--then I wouldn't be able to care less about how many of them will vote for Kerry over Bush. But the fact is that mainstream journalists, on the whole, drive their political agenda in some way in their coverage of the news. Some (like Mike Wallace or Dan Rather) are fairly obvious in their bias. Other times, the bias is a lot more subtle. It's giving 4 minutes of coverage to Kerry before the 2 minute spot on Bush. It's covering a Bush campaign rally by talking about the Kerry protesters in attendance. The worst part is that most Americans are oblivious not only to this slant but to the influence it has on them.

Mercury's Rising...tomorrow

MESSENGER, Nasa's probe to our first planet from the sun, will blast off tomorrow, not today. What fascinates me is that Nasa only has a 12 second window to play with. If most Americans had even a remote concept of the care and amazing precision involved in space travel they would be completely blown away and actually appreciative of our space program.

Dems for Bush?

Considering I just returned from a weekend in the Twin Cities, this bit of news is particularly interesting to me. It turns out not all Democrats are gung-ho Kerry...

What Bounce?

Conventions for both parties usually produce a notable, if not significant bounce in the polls for their candidates. Kerry's convention, however, seems to have given him no gain in the polls. Ironically, if anything, Bush was helped by the Dem convention which apparently galvanized Kerry's opposition.