News Summary.
Oct. 7th, 2004 10:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elfsWe know who you are. We are watching you. To many, these would be chilling words, but to the Transhumanist Community, being mentioned In the Catholic Register is something worth popping the champagne bottles over. A reporter was sent to TransVision 2004 and came away with an interesting perspective on the whole thing. From the outside, Transhumanism might look like "a faith" and when "interfaith dialogue" is the only name you have for confronting ideologies and movements that challenge your own, I guess that's what you call for.
We're on the map. The Pope's organs officially think of us as an ideology worth confronting. Huzzah!
I have no idea of the validity of this, so take it with a grain of NaCl: US Officials are doping up Iraqis by distributing valium freely in cities in the hopes of pacifying the multitudes. This ties in nicely to a 2002 report in which a reporter from the admittedly sensationalistic Guardian basically says the same thing: armies around the world, not just the U.S., are researching how to use "legal-looking" drugs as a way of controlling populations.
It looks like the bill authorizing extraordinary rendition is headed towards a vote. This looks like a spectacularly vicious and hateful manuever intended as a poison pill for the Democrats. The Republicans know that if it passes, there won't be that much press about the provisions authorizing torture, but if the Dems vote against the total bill because of the torture authorization provision, they'll get hammered for being "weak on the war against terror." Sick, sick, sick.
Wow. An Open Letter To The President from major economists and business professors:
Wow 2. Bush's much-vaunted gubernatorial success, the Texas School System, is about to collapse. The state-imposed system moved money from rich districts to poor ones, in theory providing the students in poor districts with equal opportunities. The problem is that this movement meant that the cost in property taxes for a wealthy region was not corresponded with a commensurate increase in value for the property because of the value of local schools; the net result was a loss in property values statewide, and an estimated $27,000 per student in lost capital wealth. Ouch.
An important discovery in human evolution explains cell phone rage. Basically, human beings aren't wired to listen to half a conversation. We're good at registering and even ignoring full conversations, but half a conversation is something we don't have evolutionaly experience with, and so hearing it upsets our brain's natural programming and we become frustrated. Fascinating.
A treatment for Alzheimers, and possibly a vaccine in the works. If this works, it's amazing news. I, for one, don't relish the idea of my brain hardening.
An Interview with Bill Shatner, for his new album, Has Been. It's actually quite good. The man has finally learned to get past Trek and realize, "Hey, I'm William Fucking Shatner, and I can do whatever I want with that."
The stress of obesity on the body encourages an inflammatory response, which in turn leads to premature heart disease and death.
And finally, sexy voices get their owners laid. There's a significant association between the subjective sexiness of a voice and the perceived overall sexiness of the speaker, and as a result, people with "sexy" voices tend to get laid more often.
We're on the map. The Pope's organs officially think of us as an ideology worth confronting. Huzzah!
I have no idea of the validity of this, so take it with a grain of NaCl: US Officials are doping up Iraqis by distributing valium freely in cities in the hopes of pacifying the multitudes. This ties in nicely to a 2002 report in which a reporter from the admittedly sensationalistic Guardian basically says the same thing: armies around the world, not just the U.S., are researching how to use "legal-looking" drugs as a way of controlling populations.
It looks like the bill authorizing extraordinary rendition is headed towards a vote. This looks like a spectacularly vicious and hateful manuever intended as a poison pill for the Democrats. The Republicans know that if it passes, there won't be that much press about the provisions authorizing torture, but if the Dems vote against the total bill because of the torture authorization provision, they'll get hammered for being "weak on the war against terror." Sick, sick, sick.
Wow. An Open Letter To The President from major economists and business professors:
Nearly every major economic indicator has deteriorated since you took office in January 2001. Real GDP growth during your term is the lowest of any presidential term in recent memory. Total non-farm employment has contracted and the unemployment rate has increased. Bankruptcies are up sharply, as is our dependence on foreign capital to finance an exploding current account deficit. All three major stock indexes are lower now than at the time of your inauguration. The percentage of Americans in poverty has increased, real median income has declined, and income inequality has grown.
Wow 2. Bush's much-vaunted gubernatorial success, the Texas School System, is about to collapse. The state-imposed system moved money from rich districts to poor ones, in theory providing the students in poor districts with equal opportunities. The problem is that this movement meant that the cost in property taxes for a wealthy region was not corresponded with a commensurate increase in value for the property because of the value of local schools; the net result was a loss in property values statewide, and an estimated $27,000 per student in lost capital wealth. Ouch.
An important discovery in human evolution explains cell phone rage. Basically, human beings aren't wired to listen to half a conversation. We're good at registering and even ignoring full conversations, but half a conversation is something we don't have evolutionaly experience with, and so hearing it upsets our brain's natural programming and we become frustrated. Fascinating.
A treatment for Alzheimers, and possibly a vaccine in the works. If this works, it's amazing news. I, for one, don't relish the idea of my brain hardening.
An Interview with Bill Shatner, for his new album, Has Been. It's actually quite good. The man has finally learned to get past Trek and realize, "Hey, I'm William Fucking Shatner, and I can do whatever I want with that."
The stress of obesity on the body encourages an inflammatory response, which in turn leads to premature heart disease and death.
And finally, sexy voices get their owners laid. There's a significant association between the subjective sexiness of a voice and the perceived overall sexiness of the speaker, and as a result, people with "sexy" voices tend to get laid more often.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Sexy voices are helpful in a couple of other ways.
Date: 2004-10-07 10:45 am (UTC)And my darling husband has assured me that he fell in love with my voice far earlier than with my mind or body.
It carries over across languages, too. I've noticed the phenomenon (not just about getting laid) among various of my interpreter colleagues.
Very Good news
Date: 2004-10-07 05:25 pm (UTC)I couldn't ask for a clearer statement.
Re: Very Good news
Date: 2004-10-08 08:42 am (UTC)Re: Very Good news
Date: 2004-10-08 09:59 am (UTC)There is no way George Bush would veto a "security finance measure" like this in an election year. The Dems would pounce on him like tigers to a wounded bunny if he did. And it doesn't give George Bush the authority to decide if a case deserves extraordinary rendition, it gives Tom Ridge that authority.
If the bill makes it to the President's desk in its current form, with the extraordinary rendition clause intact, then the United States will be on record that We The People approve the use of torture.