Deluded politicians are running the country Matt Miller focused on the inevitability of politicians completely misinterpreting mid-term election results: Economic anxiety that fuels disgust with both parties is the seminal political fact of our time, but it will be ignored by Washington in the orgies of ecstasy and despair we’ll soon witness. Republicans will be [...]
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: deficits, Democrats, For both parties midterm tunnel vision, Matt Miller, politicians, politics, Republicans
- Published:
- 28 October 2010 – 10:58
- Author:
- By BrainiYak
Perhaps not so good news for people undergoing frequent radiological examinations or radiation-based cancer treatments A study of Japanese atomic bomb survivors demonstrated that: Conclusion For radiation exposure in middle age, most radiation-induced cancer risks do not, as often assumed, decrease with increasing age at exposure. This observation suggests that promotional processes in radiation carcinogenesis [...]
Categories: Medicine
Tagged: atomic bomb, cancer, Cancers Risks after Radiation Exposure in Middle Age, David J. Brenner, Igor Shuryak, radiological, Ranier K. Sachs
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- 27 October 2010 – 17:58
- Author:
- By BrainiYak
Robert J. Samuelson ably summarized the reasons for the trend Columnist Samuelson has this to say today: It’s not that the public has become sharply polarized. In 2010, 42 percent of Americans call themselves conservative, 35 percent moderates and 20 percent liberals, reports Gallup. In 1992, the figures were 43, 36 and 17 percent. So [...]
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: Robert J. Samuelson, The dysfunction of American politics
- Published:
- 25 October 2010 – 10:17
- Author:
- By BrainiYak
An ice-melting barometer of change The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) just updated its Arctic Report Card. The Report Card reviews sub-categories under atmosphere, sea ice, ocean, land, Greenland, and biology. As an example of the findings, the sub-report on Greenland shows a relatively dramatic 2010: Greenland climate in 2010 is marked by record-setting [...]
Categories: Climate,Climate change
Tagged: albedo, Arctic Report Card Update for 2010 Greeland, ice loss, J. E. Box, melting, NOAA
- Published:
- 22 October 2010 – 17:58
- Author:
- By BrainiYak
Chemistry and physics to the rescue ─ maybe Apparently the world’s standard kilogram, a more than century old cylinder of platinum and iridium kept in Paris, is losing mass. That obviously presents a problem for standardization of measures. Nature reports that two modern alternatives seek to replace it. Both are based on physical constants, rather [...]
Categories: Science
Tagged: Avogadro's constant, chemistry, Elemental shift for kilo, Geoff Brumfiel, International Committee for Weights and Measures, iridium, kilogram, physical constants, physics, Planck's constant, platinum, standardization of measures
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- 21 October 2010 – 18:57
- Author:
- By BrainiYak
Insight is a reluctant visitor to modernity, but Maureen Dowd has some, courtesy of her openness to History and her willingness to think Columnist Dowd’s editorial yesterday compared actress Marilyn Monroe’s tortured desire to learn against the ignorance of the women who stand as icons of today’s rightmost Right. Of Ms. Monroe: Scarred by her schizophrenic [...]
Categories: Culture
Tagged: Making Ignorance Chic, Marilyn Monroe, Maureen Dowd, Sarah Palin
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- 20 October 2010 – 18:51
- Author:
- By BrainiYak
Good science reviews are difficult to write ─ Aiguo Dai has written an excellent one about drought and the implications of climate change in regard to it Drought is a big deal. Understanding its definition, how its severity is measured, and predicting its future cycles is important, especially as the world’s population continues to grow. [...]
Categories: Climate,Climate change,Science
Tagged: Aiguo Dai, Drought under global warming a review
- Published:
- 19 October 2010 – 19:00
- Author:
- By BrainiYak
Facts matter, and we should take the time to see and learn them Charismatic Glenn Beck masks his frequent excursions into History’s un-truths with paranoid distortions and the deliberate destruction of pertinent facts. Today, Sean Wilentz, writing in the New Yorker, did a thorough job of reviewing the Cold War ideological tradition that spawned Beck [...]
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: Confounding Fathers The Tea Party's Cold War Roots, fringe, Glenn Beck, screwball, Sean Wilentz, William F. Buckley
- Published:
- 18 October 2010 – 13:00
- Author:
- By BrainiYak
Listening to others Lee Hamilton, former Indiana Congressman (D, 1965-1999), former vice president of the 9/11 Commission, and retiring president of the Woodrow Wilson Center made an observation that goes to the heart of much of what is wrong with American politics. Steven Lagerfeld passed it on: Lee explained that one of the biggest divides [...]
Categories: Culture
Tagged: extremist, Farewell Sir!, fringes, Lee Hamilton, listening, open-minded, Steven Lagerfeld
- Published:
- 17 October 2010 – 13:16
- Author:
- By BrainiYak
Thought and language combine to make a spear-point of insight Columnist Eugene Robinson wrote about this year’s midterm elections: Okay, I want to make sure I understand. Two years ago, with the nation facing a host of complex and difficult problems, voters put a bunch of thoughtful, well-educated people in charge of the government. Now [...]
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: Eugene Robinson, kooks, The year of politicking insanely
- Published:
- 15 October 2010 – 15:03
- Author:
- By BrainiYak