Sneak-and-Peek legal?

The US Congress is still discussing a bill that:

A) Gives retroactive immunity to telecom companies for complying with government requests for information without warrants.
B) Allows the government to review online communications (with the US) without a warrant.

Yesterday a 15-day extension was passed in the House to allow more time for debate in the Senate.

It seems ridiculous that there would be any debate about gathering personal information about people without oversight from the judical branch. This bill would provide less rights for Americans than a rubber stamp from a judge and the companies that facilitated the breach of privacy wouldn't be held accountable for breaking the law.

Maybe we should get rid of warrants in general... I think that would bridge the "intelligence gap."

How much does the US spend on defense?

An interesting multi-page article by Chalmers Johnson cites a report by the Independent Institute of how much is actually spent on defense and how it affects Americans and the US economy.

The highlight is that even though the 2006 Department of Defense budget was a staggering 499.4 billion dollars, the actual amount spent on defense was 934.9 billion dollars... this is essentially A TRILLION DOLLAR budget, which rises every year.

Since the books are closed for 2007 now, we'll see how they compare.

Another interesting comparison is the euro value compared to dollar value year-to-year.

Oil Exec Acknowledges Impending Issues

For the first time ever, an oil exec (the Shell CEO) has come out admitting to the challenges we face in terms of global warming due to the use of fossil fuels, as well as the impending exhaustion of our fossil fuel supplies. Hopefully this will prove to be a tipping point as we start to finally address these two intertwined issues.

Scientists create life (almost)

Scientists have recently taken a giant step towards creating synthetic life by artificially constructing an entire genome.

SOA protesters could go to jail for trespass

This happens pretty much every year... http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow?bid=4&pid=274392

For more information:

Read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Hemisphere_Institute_for_Security_Cooperation
Listen: http://www.anti-flag.com/microsite/videos/index.php
http://www.plyrics.com/lyrics/antiflag/theschoolofassassins.html

Another reason to stop burning tires in your backyard

Geophysicists say no to GHGs!

Maybe if people sung more it would be cooler?

High Cholesterol: Not So Bad?

This BusinessWeek article discusses the market around "bad" cholesterol reducing drugs (statins) and how the market might be purchasing more than is required.

Highlight from the article:

"DOING THE MATH
The second crucial point is hiding in plain sight in Pfizer's own Lipitor newspaper ad. The dramatic 36% figure [Lipitor's ad states that it reduces the risk of heart attack by 36%...in patients with multiple risk factors for heart disease.] has an asterisk. Read the smaller type. It says: "That means in a large clinical study, 3% of patients taking a sugar pill or placebo had a heart attack compared to 2% of patients taking Lipitor."

Now do some simple math. The numbers in that sentence mean that for every 100 people in the trial, which lasted 3 1/3 years, three people on placebos and two people on Lipitor had heart attacks. The difference credited to the drug? One fewer heart attack per 100 people. So to spare one person a heart attack, 100 people had to take Lipitor for more than three years. The other 99 got no measurable benefit. Or to put it in terms of a little-known but useful statistic, the number needed to treat (or NNT) for one person to benefit is 100."

Where is your camel?

The Department of Agriculture has a tool known as the "National Animal Identification System" (NAIS), that can track all the livestock in the US.

The Bush administration has recently mandated that most animals will be required to be entered by 2009 (except pigs... they're clean).

This seems to be a technology in search of a program, as echoed in this Wired blog post.

XSS and Phishing

XSS (Cross-Site Scripting. not CSS) is a type of computer attack where malicious people insert bad code into seemingly innocent web pages.

Phishing is the attempt of a malicious person to make a forged web page to encourage a user to give some personal information (login credentials, etc...) via deception.

A new attack has been discovered that will allow XSS and Phishing to occur together.

The problem users face is that this attack will use the legitimate sites credentials (SSL certificate, otherwise known as "the lock picture in the bottom corner").

This problem has a simple solution however. Bookmark sites that you have to log in to. Then only visit these sites via your bookmarks. If a site ever changes the login web page, update your bookmark. This way if you ever get a suspect email, IM or carrier bird, you can visit the known good site and see if there are any comments that would verify the sketchy communication.

The Value Of Space Exploration

Often, particularly in these times of budget deficits, people look to the space program (and government funded science in general) as a waste of money that could easily be cut. Here's an interesting article that offers another perspective: an analysis of the benefits we've seen from investing in the space program, both tangible and intangible.

Stop that cytokine!

Cytokines are proteins and peptides that are used to send signals in the body. One of these cytokines is known as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF). Typically TNF regulates the neural impulses of the brain. This new study hypothesized that excess TNF was causing problems in Alzheimer patients.

The study shows that the application of TNF-blocking etanercept can provide marked improvement in cognitive abilities of Alzheimer's patients within a few minutes. Treatment consists of injection of etanercept into the spine. The etanercept then disables excess TNF.

Science Daily

More efficient ethanol

Burn grass, not corn.

This is the summary of a new theory about yields from a type of grass called "switchgrass." The authors claim the theoretical yield would deliver 540% of the energy used to produce it.

Sci Am article

HD DVD dying

Within 7 days the HD DVD and Blu-Ray format war has gone from stalemate to eventual winner. Warner Bros. announced that it would no longer support HD DVD, soon after 2 other major studies decided to update their plans to allow for Blu-Ray usage.

It might be time for a PS3...

Top 5 YouTube videos: January 2008

Awesome theme for January...

#5: Improve your bowling: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfhKZWS8Sys
#4: Video Games: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJ0c0DRmO94
#3: Swedish Twins: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVGwhj9avIU
#2: Room Service: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDFklEqdxmo
#1: Best Baby! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17tNCL5sg44

New Evidence For Evolution

Scientists have discovered new evidence of how one of the earliest stages of evolution, from simple self-replicating molecules to the use of complex proteins, occurred. Read the details here