Monday, March 11, 2002

Uranium weapons health warning. Use of depleted uranium weapons may lead to kidney damage in a small number of soldiers and civilians, says the UK's Royal Society. [BBC News: sci/tech] This is just silly. Here's a news flash for the Royal Society: war can be hazardous to your health. comment () trackback ()  8:22:50 PM     Wired.  Stem cell work is moving fast in the lab.  Human stem cells used to cure a spinal cord injury in mice.  One thing I am sure of:  the right to lifers, and this includes Bush, are going to get rolled on this issue if they don't get out of the way.  My daughter has diabetes and my father has Parkinsons, this issue hits home.   Stem cells = life.  A vote against stem cells = retirement. [John Robb's Radio Weblog] Unfortunately it's not just the "pro-life" crowd that's causing problems. There are also luddites and lunatics such as PETA, and "bioethicists" who believe that humans have an ethical duty to live short unhealthy lives. It's the same crowd that's opposed to any other sort of human cloning, really. I don't get what Bush is supposed to be doing that puts him in the way, though. The only time he's mentioned in the article is his approval of federal funding (which is unconstitutional, of course). comment () trackback ()  8:12:57 PM     Longitude clock comes alive. John Harrison's H4, the famous timekeeper that solved the longitude problem, is running again this week for the first time in over a decade. [BBC News: sci/tech] Harrison radically re-thought his design and produced H4, a timekeeper that resembled a large pocket watch. It was a revelation. In six weeks, it was out by just five seconds; an accuracy three times better than that required to win the £20,000 prize. That kind of accuracy is much better than any modern mechanical watch I know of. A modern mechanical wristwatch will often be five seconds off in just one day. comment () trackback ()  9:33:21 AM     Capitalism vs Statism. There's an interesting article about how the US is practicing statism rather than capitalism. I thought it was a rather balanced treatment on the whole. It astutely points out that most "Free Trade" organizations are actually promoting "big corporation" trade in the first place. [kuro5hin.org] The article is written for some sort of punk rock fan website, so it's a bit odd at times. Still, the author is right--the US economic system has slowly been perverted into a bizarre combination of socialism and national socialism. For those who aren't aware, the economic philosophy of the national socialists (better known as Nazis) is to allow private ownership of property, but allow the government to dictate how that property is used. The Endangered Species Act is an example of the national socialist philosophy in action. comment () trackback ()  6:26:53 AM     World Reacts to U.S. Nuclear Plan. Japan, the only country ever to be hit by nuclear weapons, was tightlipped about news that Washington is reviewing its policy for nuclear attacks on countries that threaten the United States with weapons of mass destruction. Governments around the world reacted with the same caution. [AP World News] This story, like the "shadow government" story, is a product of ignorant reporters--such contingency plans have been around for as long as nuclear weapons have existed. Next thing you know they'll be reporting on the "news" that the Navy keeps some of its ballistic missile submarines ready to launch. comment () trackback ()  6:06:35 AM

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