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featured 07.09.09

Xinjiang Riots Explode in China

Ethnic protests have spread to a second city in China's western Xinjiang province after riots rocked the region's... more

afitzgerald
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Iowa policy puts religion in school

In Iowa officials are proposing a policy that will put religion back in the public school. The school board in Spencer, Iowa is... more

unimatrix0
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AIG wants permission to hand out $2.4 million in bonuses

American International Group is preparing to pay millions of dollars more in bonuses to several dozen top corporate executives... more

AwesomeJosh
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Survey: Do people even read the actual Article or just the Current posts?

Do people even read the actual Article or just the Current posts? Leave Comments

Crenshaw_Brothers
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The True Meaning of Patriotism

http://www.peacefreedomprosperity.com/?p=1840 An American Patriot Does Not Defend Land nor Government, It Defends The... more

shanklinmike
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New Mexico teen girl tasered in the head by police chief (VIDEO)

The use of tasers by law enforcement is becoming increasingly controversial as more examples emerge of them being used improperly... more

WakeUpPeople
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Michael Jackson Memorial Cost City of L.A. $1.4 million.

"Tuesday's memorial service for Michael Jackson cost the cash-strapped city of Los Angeles $1.4 million, a figure that... more

crobertson2345
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High Times In The Himalayas.

The people of Malana are poor, illiterate and grow some of the world's best pot. That may be about to change. Malana, an... more

btucker
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Dems Look At Taxing The Rich For Health Care

WASHINGTON - House Democrats working on President Barack Obama's goal of health legislation are narrowing in on an income tax surcharge on the highest-paid wage earners to help subsidize insurance for the 50 million people who lack it.

Pushing to complete a comprehensive health care overhaul plan by Friday and bring it up for committee votes next week, House Democrats abandoned earlier money-raising proposals, including a payroll tax. They met behind closed doors Thursday to fine-tune the details.

"I promised the president that we would have legislation out of the House before we went on an August break. That is still my goal," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday.

As discussed in the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, the surtax would apply to individuals with adjusted gross income of more than $200,000 and couples over $250,000, according to officials involved in the discussion. Most spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks were private.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., a member of the panel, said the panel is looking at a surtax of around 3.5 percent on income above those amounts. Other members suggested it would be closer to 3 percent.

In addition, key lawmakers are expected to call for a tax or fee equal to a percentage of a worker's salary on employers who do not offer health benefits.

Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., has said his committee needs to come up with $600 billion in new taxes to deliver on Obama's goal of sweeping changes to the nation's health care system to bring down costs and cover the 50 million uninsured. Hundreds of billions of dollars more would come from cuts to Medicare and Medicaid to pay for legislation expected to cost around $1 trillion over 10 years.

Lawmakers cautioned that no final decisions have been made. Smaller tax options remained possibilities, depending on the overall cost of the legislation, including a tax on sugared soft drinks and ending a tax break that drug companies receive for advertising.

The action in the House stood in contrast to the Senate, where Democrats edged away from their goal of passing health care legislation by early August amid heightening partisan controversy over tax increases and a proposed new government role in providing insurance to consumers.WASHINGTON - House Democrats working on President Barack Obama's goal of health legislation are narrowing in on an income tax... more

Crenshaw_Brothers
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10 responses

12 hours ago

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Dove World Outreach Center: Islam is of the Devil

About 125 people of diverse religions, ages and races gathered in front of the Dove World Outreach Center Wednesday evening for a... more

FallenMorgan
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12 responses

3 hours ago

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Pelosi says Jackson resolution unnecessary

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi shut the door Thursday to a resolution honoring Michael Jackson because debate on the symbolic measure... more

unimatrix0
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18 responses

5 hours ago

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Third-World Wind Power: First Look

Here is an interesting non turbine wind power generator. I saw the idea for this in the TerraPass Blog; another one of the Blogs... more

ras_menelik
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12 responses

16 hours ago

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Did China's nuclear tests kill thousands and doom future generations?

"Enver Tohti remembers the week that it rained dust. That summer of 1973 he was in elementary school in Xinjiang Province,... more

DeliaTheArtist
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31 responses

15 hours ago

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US ready to spend billions on flu vaccine

The Obama administration said yesterday that it has billions of dollars available to help pay for a national H1N1 flu vaccine... more

unimatrix0
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3 responses

47 minutes ago

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The Next Hacking Frontier: Your Brain?

Hackers who commandeer your computer are bad enough. Now scientists worry that someday, they’ll try to take over your brain.

In the past year, researchers have developed technology that makes it possible to use thoughts to operate a computer, maneuver a wheelchair, or even use Twitter — all without lifting a finger. But as neural devices become more complicated — and go wireless — some scientists say the risks of “brain hacking” should be taken seriously.

“Neural devices are innovating at an extremely rapid rate and hold tremendous promise for the future,” said computer security expert Tadayoshi Kohno of the University of Washington. “But if we don’t start paying attention to security, we’re worried that we might find ourselves in five or 10 years saying we’ve made a big mistake.”

Hackers tap into personal computers all the time — but what would happen if they focused their nefarious energy on neural devices, such as the deep brain stimulators currently used to treat Parkinson’s and depression, or electrode systems for controlling prosthetic limbs? According to Kohno and his colleagues, who published their concerns July 1 in Neurosurgical Focus, most current devices carry few security risks. But as neural engineering becomes more complex and more widespread, the potential for security breaches will mushroom.

For example, the next generation of implantable devices to control prosthetic limbs will likely include wireless controls that allow physicians to remotely adjust settings on the machine. If neural engineers don’t build in security features such as encryption and access control, an attacker could hijack the device and take over the robotic limb.

“It’s very hard to design complex systems that don’t have bugs,” Kohno said. “As these medical devices start to become more and more complicated, it gets easier and easier for people to overlook a bug that could become a very serious risk. It might border on science fiction today, but so did going to the moon 50 years ago.”

Some might question why anyone would want to hack into someone else’s brain, but the researchers say there’s a precedent for using computers to cause neurological harm. In November 2007 and March 2008, malicious programmers vandalized epilepsy support websites by putting up flashing animations, which caused seizures in some photo-sensitive patients.

“It happened on two separate occasions,” said computer science graduate student Tamara Denning, a co-author on the paper. “It’s evidence that people will be malicious and try to compromise peoples’ health using computers, especially if neural devices become more widespread.”

In some cases, patients might even want to hack into their own neural device. Unlike devices to control prosthetic limbs, which still use wires, many deep brain stimulators already rely on wireless signals. Hacking into these devices could enable patients to “self-prescribe” elevated moods or pain relief by increasing the activity of the brain’s reward centers.Hackers who commandeer your computer are bad enough. Now scientists worry that someday, they’ll try to take over your brain.... more

pjacobs51
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8 responses

13 hours ago

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Modern Bedfellows: LSD Inventor Wrote to Steve Jobs, Asked for Support

Apple CEO Steve Jobs is rumored to have dropped a little acid in his day, and apparently Albert Hofmann, the inventor of LSD, knew... more

ras_menelik
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14 responses

10 hours ago

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CIA lied repeatedly to Congress since 2001, says CIA Director Leon Panetta

WASHINGTON — CIA Director Leon Panetta told Congress last month that senior CIA officials have concealed significant actions... more

bansheewail
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36 responses

18 hours ago

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Moore tackles financial meltdown in 4th film

Award-winning film-maker Michael Moore has announced the title of his forthcoming documentary, which looks at the global economic... more

ClipsFC
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26 responses

19 hours ago

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Israel Threatening to Use Nukes....Again!!!

Oh here we go AGAIN! The little Zionist bully in the Middle East is threatening MAD--Mutually Assured Destruction. They say... more

blueghost09
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10 responses

12 hours ago

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What The Alternative Parties Need To Do

Since it was founded in 1971, the Libertarian Party hasn’t really gotten anywhere. I believe that the party was doomed at birth – not because of ideology or structure, but because of misguided ambitions. In this blog I will be talking about the Libertarian Party, but this can be applied to any alternative party in the United States.

In 1972 the LP had eighty members and ballot access in two states. There should not have even been a Libertarian candidate for President in that year. John Hospers should have ran for Congress, or for the California state legislature.

Candidates from alternative parties can and do fair better in congressional elections. Less people you have to reach with your message, and thus, less money that has to be spent. You have to target the whole state in a race for governor or senator, and the whole nation in a presidential race. Alternative candidates rarely win, but they do have a nasty habit of taking a big chunk of the vote.

With an effective campaign, that chunk can grow, perhaps even growing in size to a plurality. The chances of that happening can increase in an election for the state legislature. The sad fact about the centralization of government is that nobody cares about the state legislature. The only reason why people even vote in such elections is because it’s on the same ballot as the “important” stuff. It’s worth noting too, that voter turnout drops dramatically in the midterm elections.

I did not see one commercial for any of the people running for the state senate in my district in 2008. I did not even know there was a state senate, or know who was running, before I got a sample ballot. Because, they got absolutely no media coverage, as far as I know – nothing.

If one candidate gets a fifty dollar thirty-second commercial, he or she can accomplish victory. It’s the same for city council and other more local elections. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t care or that I don’t care – it’s just that it seems as though nobody cares, and to me that contributes to why American politics are in such a sad state.

The Libertarian Party should have worked from the ground-up, not the top-down. They should have put their resources towards elections for Congress, state legislatures, and local offices, with the national (or state) party contributing a logical amount of money for that person’s campaign.

There have been some elections where it was only a Republican and a Libertarian, or a Democrat and a Libertarian. In either case, the former usually received a huge majority. Does this mean people don’t agree with libertarianism? No. It means a lot of people don’t know what a “Libertarian” is.

In alternative party campaigns for president, a huge amount of funding goes to ballot access. Many states have very tough ballot access laws. Often, thousands of signatures are required, and the occasional legal battle shows up, taking up a lot of time and money. Imagine what ballot access laws would be like, if the state’s legislature had a multi-party structure. They’d still exist, probably, but there would be less toiling involved.

Once the Libertarian Party has members in Congress and state legislatures, they can move on to the offices of governor or senator. Instead of having some activist from Bumfuck, Egypt running for governor, you’ll have an actual politician running as the Libertarian candidate for governor. When there are Libertarian governors and senators, we can work on fronting a presidential candidate.

If America’s alternative political parties want to create a multi-party democracy, they have to switch gears and begin working from the bottom-up. Members of these parties can write-in Hebrew National Hot Dogs for president until their goal is accomplished.Since it was founded in 1971, the Libertarian Party hasn’t really gotten anywhere. I believe that the party was doomed at... more