-
-
We've Got You Covered 10.09.08
Sarah Palin's Pores, America's Richest People, and the Battle of the Money Honeys in roundup of the week's magazines.
We've Got You Covered is a recurring segment on Current TV's weekly television show, infoMania. In each episode of We've Got You Covered, Conor Knighton catches you up on everything you need to know about what's in this week's magazines.
infoMania is a half-hour satirical news show that airs on Current TV. The show puts a comedic spin on the 24-hour chaos and information overload brought about by the constant bombardment of the media. Hosted by Conor Knighton and co-starring Brett Erlich, Sarah Haskins, Ben Hoffman, and Sergio Cilli, the show airs on Thursdays at 10 pm Eastern and Pacific Times and can be found online at current.com/infomania. Sarah Palin's Pores, America's Richest People, and the Battle of the Money Honeys in roundup of the week's magazines. ... more -
The Bleeding Edges of Physics and Metaphysics
Interested in learning about a subject on the bleeding edge of both physics and metaphysics? Look no further.
Written by David Bruce Hughes
Consciousness is the primary issue in human life. Indeed, without consciousness, there are no other issues. Consciousness and its corollaries are fundamental to every thought, word and action. Yet how strange it is that no universally accepted, comprehensive theory of consciousness exists in Western science. The reason for this is clear: until recently, science intentionally restricted its domain to empirical investigations of the manifest objective world, while consciousness is intrinsically subjective and immanent.
However, without a practical theory of consciousness, science cannot adequately explain the world in which we live. Consciousness is the most basic experiential fact of existence. Without a theory of consciousness, Quantum Mechanics in particular has nowhere to turn but to mathematical theories of probability and chance to explain observations of subatomic energy transactions. Einstein famously expressed his discomfort with this by saying, “God does not play dice with the Universe.” Quantum Mechanics cannot predict the behavior of a quantum system until a macroscopic conscious entity interferes with it, decohering the indeterminate superposition of the quantum wave function into a definite classical result by the process of measurement and observation.
Clearly, Quantum Mechanics is missing something; just as clearly, what is missing is a workable theory of consciousness. The sometimes bizarre concepts and calculations of quantum theory all depend on the existence and actions of an observer. Any observer must be conscious, and therefore the consciousness of the observer is critical to the outcome of any quantum experiment. However, so far Quantum Mechanics still treats the observer’s consciousness as a ‘black box,’ as if consciousness were proscribed from serious scientific inquiry. Whether this is a consequence of Western science’s origins as a weapon against the intellectual repression of the Church, or because of materialistic empirical bias of theorists and researchers, is not the issue here. The intent of this work is to present and explore an extant theory of consciousness from an ancient tradition of vital, living importance to hundreds of millions of adherents and practitioners all over the world, and to evaluate its potential value to modern science.
See link above for rest of article. Interested in learning about a subject on the bleeding edge of both physics and metaphysics? Look no further. ... more -
Poles Apart
A couple of years ago, Maryla Smolicz's Polish deli in Swindon was besieged with new arrivals seeking the comforts of imported kielbasa and advice on setting up life in the southern English town. They came to Britain because their earnings would far exceed what they made in Poland. "Now, they're all going home," says Smolicz. "This week alone, two couples have stopped by to thank me and say goodbye."
Since the European Union's enlargement in 2004, when Britain opened its job market to Europe's new member states, Poles have provided the British economy with a flood of cheap and plentiful labor. (Sweden and Ireland also opened their doors to East Europeans seeking work, while other E.U. countries delayed their legal arrival.) The immigration wave took Britain by surprise. While the government expected at most 13,000 East Europeans annually, nearly 800,000 applied for work permits between 2004 and the end of 2007. The stereotypical arrival was the Polish plumber, but thousands of professionals arrived too. Today, the community's U.K. directory lists Polish accountants and cardiologists, a hypnotist and a youth theater. Tesco supermarkets import Polish cookies and pâtés, and Britain's best-known tabloid the Sun put out the Polish-language Polski Sun in honor of Euro 2008.
(continues) A couple of years ago, Maryla Smolicz's Polish deli in Swindon was besieged with new arrivals seeking the comforts of imported ki... more -
Fear Is Running Rampant - Call to Lower Interest Rates on Massive Scale
Just a few weeks ago the world was wondering if we were about to be pitched into a deadly Black Hole created by CERN’s Large Hadron Collider in Europe.
Relax. The machine has broken down and will not be cranked up again until the spring.
Strange then that another Black Abyss stretches before us today in the shape of a virulent debt deflation of almost unimaginable ferocity.
Take these words by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in today’s UK Telegraph:
We face extreme danger. Unless there is immediate intervention on every front by all the major powers acting in concert, we risk a disintegration of global finance within days. Nobody will be spared, unless they own gold bars.
In case you think that smacks of hysteria, this is a man who has called this crisis correctly ever since the late summer of 2007. He adds:
“During the past week, we have tipped over the edge, into the middle of the abyss. Systemic collapse is in full train. … Central bankers still paralysed by a misplaced fear of inflation – whether in Europe, Britain, or the US – have become a public menace and should be held to severe account by our democracies. The imminent and massive danger is now self-feeding debt deflation.”
What this crisis shows is that world prosperity was built on a giant illusion: that there was real value in other people’s promises to pay at some future date, and that you could pass the parcel at a vast profit.
Time has run out and a bubble the size of an asteroid has landed and exploded in the centre of our civilization — the banking system.
The Sage of Omaha, Warren Buffett agrees, “In my adult lifetime, I don’t think I’ve ever seen people as fearful.”
Evans-Pritchard is lascerating about the EU and its Central Bank. It offered no “cover” to the Fed when Ben Bernanke slashed rates to 2 percent. The ECB simply raised its rate to 4.25 percent into a steep downturn, making oil inflation even worse.
As a last resort, it seems, the American authorities will use Bernanke’s famous printing press “to expand the menu of assets that it buys.” In the worst case, that could lead to a massive run on the dollar by foreign creditors and no end of misery for us all. But it may be necessary nonetheless.
At home, I have absolutely no confidence in the British government under Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling. They have been woefully slow to act, their policy to hide their heads under a pillow hoping it will all go away.
If Brown had even a small slice of a leader’s courage he would give notice of Britain’s resignation from the useless European Union; disown the Basel 2 accounting agreement which forces banks into insolvency by estimating their assets on depressed valuations; take immediate control of interest rates by reducing them to 2 percent; and work closely with the Americans, who are, at the very least, fully aware of the immense dangers we face.
The Kraken is awake and bearing down on us fast. Over coming months and years we may wish that the Hadron Collider had swallowed us all up when it had the chance.
John Evans Just a few weeks ago the world was wondering if we were about to be pitched into a deadly Black Hole created by CERN’s Large Hadron Co... more -
In Quantum Channels, Zero Plus Zero Can Equal Non-Zero
In quantum channels, zero plus zero can equal non-zero.
(PhysOrg.com) -- Physicists have discovered a strange characteristic of quantum communication channels. If two quantum channels each have a transmission capacity of zero, they may still have a nonzero capacity when used together. This effect, which has no classical counterpart, reveals a new complexity in the fundamental nature of quantum communication.
The coauthors of the study, Graeme Smith of the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York, and Jon Yard of Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico, have published their research in a recent issue of Science.
Smith and Yard explain that one of the most important challenges in designing communication networks of any kind is taking steps to correct for noise. By decreasing noise levels in communication channels, developers can increase channel capacity, which is defined as the number of bits (or qubits, in quantum channels) that one channel can transmit. For a channel with zero capacity, no bits are transmitted.
For several decades, scientists have used a well-known formula developed by Claude Shannon in 1948 for developing error-correction techniques in classical communication channels. This formula guides the design of modern communication schemes used in cell phones, the Internet, and deep-space communication. In this classical formula, capacity is additive: when two channels are used simultaneously to transmit data, the capacities of the channels are added to obtain the total capacity.
But even today, physicists don’t understand quantum communication nearly as well as the classical kind. In the current study, Smith and Yard show that some pairs of zero-capacity channels can have a positive quantum capacity when used together. As the physicists explain, that would be like two cut telephone cables being able to transmit data when used together. Their finding shows two things: that quantum capacity is not additive like classical capacity, and that the quantum capacity of a single channel does not completely specify its capability for transmitting quantum information.
“To me, the strange thing is that you have these two things that you would have thought were useless – I mean, you'd usually think that a zero-capacity channel was good for nothing – and when you put them together, somehow there's a kind of synergy and they develop a very quantifiable value,” Smith told PhysOrg.com. “This doesn't happen when you work with classical channels, and since my intuition was based on that case, I was really surprised when it happened here.”
Article continues at link. In quantum channels, zero plus zero can equal non-zero. ... more -
The Incredible Corpus Clock In Action
Check out this fanatic vid of the amazing Cambridge Corpus Clock finally in action - with a narration by its inventor about how it works and has been put together. Check out this fanatic vid of the amazing Cambridge Corpus Clock finally in action - with a narration by its inventor about how it wor... more
-
We've Got You Covered 9.18.08
The Hottest Woman on Earth, The Dawn of the Age of Palin, and Obama's Pet Peacock all in this roundup of the week's magazines.
We've Got You Covered is a recurring segment on Current TV's weekly television show, infoMania. In each episode of We've Got You Covered, Conor Knighton catches you up on everything you need to know about what's in this week's magazines.
infoMania is a half-hour satirical news show that airs on Current TV. The show puts a comedic spin on the 24-hour chaos and information overload brought about by the constant bombardment of the media. Hosted by Conor Knighton and co-starring Brett Erlich, Sarah Haskins, Ben Hoffman, and Sergio Cilli, the show airs on Thursdays at 10 pm Eastern and Pacific Times and can be found online at current.com/infomania. The Hottest Woman on Earth, The Dawn of the Age of Palin, and Obama's Pet Peacock all in this roundup of the week's magazine... more -
£1 million Cambridge clock featuring time-eating grasshopper
Worth more than a million pounds, and combining a unique blend of new and old technology, including blue LED lights and a mechanical grasshopper that will 'literally eat away time', the Corpus Clock, which is to go on the front of the Corpus Christi library in Cambridge, is quite a spectacular piece of design. The clock was invented by Dr John Taylor, who used his own money in its funding and spent over five years working on the project.
From the description, it sounds like a wonderful contraption with some brilliantly dark details, including, "[the grasshopper is] a fearsome beast which drives the clock, literally "eating away time". It hypnotises the watcher with its perpetual motion, punctuated by an extraordinary repertoire of slow blinks, jaw-snaps and stings from its tail."
The clock has no numbers but a blue LED lights are arranged behind the slits, and 60 quarter inch lenses. When the escape wheel moves, the lights rapidly run in concentric circles to mark passing seconds, and pause at the correct hour and minute."
On the hour, a chain drops into a wooden coffin hidden behind the clock to remind us all of our mortality." Worth more than a million pounds, and combining a unique blend of new and old technology, including blue LED lights and a mechanical g... more -
Allergies Getting Worse? Blame Global Warming.
One of the few potentially positive effects of climate change, at least in the short term, is that increased concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may enhance the growth of plants. That could be good for agriculture — though warming temperatures and changing rain patterns in a warmer world might wipe out that advantage. But there are no unalloyed gifts from climate change. Recent research suggests that global warming will also exacerbate respiratory allergies, as higher CO2 concentrations lead to vast increases in ragweed pollen production. "There's no denying there's a change," says Paul Ratner, an immunologist with the American College of Allergies. "It's definitely bad news for people who have allergies."
Asthma and other respiratory ailments are already on the rise in much of the world. The World Health Organization estimates that 300 million people globally have asthma, with 250,000 dying from the disease each year. That rate is up considerably over the past few decades, and scientists say a number of factors could be at work. One clear reason is rising levels of ragweed pollen — which can be connected directly to rising levels of CO2. Researchers have shown repeatedly that elevated levels of CO2 stimulate weeds to produce pollen out of proportion with their growth rates — meaning you get more pollen per plant, which means more allergies. Even worse, it seems that the weediest species seem to thrive disproportionately in high CO2 environments. The wave of urbanization in America and much of the world doesn't help — the urban environment, often hotter and with more CO2 than rural areas, is ragweed heaven. "Urban places, because of the baking effect of that increased concrete, definitely pollinate more," says Ratner. It doesn't help that warming will also increase the production of ground-level ozone, a respiratory irritant that worsens asthma.
Longer growing seasons in a warmer world may further worsen allergies. A study in September's Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology reported data from 1982 to 2001 showing that, for example, increasingly early pollination of the European olive in Spain led to higher overall pollen counts, similar to what is found in warmer parts of the Mediterranean; comparable outcomes can be expected in other temperate parts of the world as climate change kicks in. A similar effect will also be felt in the northward shift of what is known as the hardiness zones — meaning that northern countries where allergies were once rare may no longer be as safe. "Those borderline northern regions will definitely feel changes," says Ratner.
The causes of allergies and respiratory disorders are complex, and scientists cannot predict exactly how much impact climate change will have on their global rates. But the recent data — records on pollen counts rarely go back more than 20 years — certainly would indicate that warming will only make things worse. So, what can be done to help millions of sneezing, watery-eyed patients? As allergy sufferers already know, not a whole lot. But any action taken to control rising CO2 levels might at least help stem the increase in global allergy rates. So far, the global asthma epidemic shows no signs of abating, and in a warmer world, effective treatments for allergies will likely become even more important. One option for allergy suffers might be to start agitating for action to reduce CO2 emissions — after all, the only thing you have to lose is your breath. One of the few potentially positive effects of climate change, at least in the short term, is that increased concentrations of carbon ... more -
Stephen Hawking to unveil strange new way to tell the time
Prof Stephen Hawking is to unveil a remarkable £1,000,000 clock with no hands that pays tribute to the world's greatest clockmaker. Prof Stephen Hawking is to unveil a remarkable £1,000,000 clock with no hands that pays tribute to the world's greatest clockmake... more
-
Apology Not Accepted
Back in 2000, after John McCain lost his mostly honorable campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, he went about apologizing to journalists--including me--for his most obvious mis-step: his support for keeping the confederate flag on the state house.
Now he is responsible for one of the sleaziest ads I've ever seen in presidential politics, so sleazy that I won't abet its spread by linking to it, but here's the McClatchy fact check.
I just can't wait for the moment when John McCain--contrite and suddenly honorable again in victory or defeat--talks about how things got a little out of control in the passion of the moment. Talk about putting lipstick on a pig.
(Joe Klein, TIME) Back in 2000, after John McCain lost his mostly honorable campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, he went about apologizi... more -
We’ve Got You Covered 8.21.08
America’s Worst Colleges, Fall Fashion, and Vogue without all the ads in our roundup of the week’s magazines.
We've Got You Covered is a recurring segment on Current TV's weekly television show, infoMania. In each episode of We've Got You Covered, Conor Knighton catches you up on everything you need to know about what's in this week's magazines.
infoMania is a half-hour satirical news show that airs on Current TV. The show puts a comedic spin on the 24-hour chaos and information overload brought about by the constant bombardment of the media. Hosted by Conor Knighton and co-starring Brett Erlich, Sarah Haskins, Ben Hoffman, and Sergio Cilli, the show airs on Thursdays at 10 pm Eastern and Pacific Times and can be found online at current.com/infomania. America’s Worst Colleges, Fall Fashion, and Vogue without all the ads in our roundup of the week’s magazines. ... more -
Best of Craigslist : Stupid clock with day, month and date read out
Thought this was funny:
"I bought this stupid clock on E-Bay for my 86-year old aunt, because she is getting confused. Unfortunately, I didn't realize until it arrived that you have to manually change everything, every day, except the time.
Every day. Push three buttons. If you forget for a day, or only push two buttons, the large, black and white read-out that is so easy to read, is wrong. I found it made her even more confused. If the stupid clock said something, she believed it. I would call her up and tell her what day it is and she would argue with me, because her stupid clock said something different.
Stupid clock. I bought her a new one that automatically changes every day.
This stupid, battery operated clock is free to whomever wants it. You will find it easier to work in harmony with it if you are a fairly cognizant person. On the other hand, if you are not always cognizant and want to drive your family crazy, this is the PERFECT clock for you. " Thought this was funny: ... more -
Numb3rs
A visual sequence that shows that almost everything deals with numb3rs.
-
Creation Cycle Craze
The year is 2008. According to the Mayan Sacred Calendar, the end of the Earth's creation cycle ends in 2012. That leaves us a mere 4 years remaining, out of an over 16 billion year cycle. I am putting this piece together to try and thwart the negative outcomes of 2012.
For years I only heard of 2012, rumors of it being tied to the end of the world. Later, closer to the truth, heard it was the year the Mayans prophesied our Earth would end. Then when I finally did some research, found that it wasn't the prophesied end of times, rather just the end of the Earth's creation cycle. Take in mind the Mayans accurately prophesied their own fall.
Now, I still said it was the END of the cycle. But as we all know, a cycle doesn't really begin nor end, instead it just continues from the beginning. There are numerous different viewpoints on the subject. Many people have different interpretations of the calendar. I am basing my information on Ian Xel Lungold's work on http://www.mayanmajix.com.
In recent years (like the last 20 years), humanities' technology and understanding of not only the world, but humanity itself, has increased exponentially. We are reaching a point where we will be advancing at such a rate that we will see our own development before it takes place. I think the Mayans knew this period would come about, and it is in my mind a very important time. As the days go by, people are opening up more and more to one another. We are accepting and learning and growing together. This unity is what will be key here.
The Mayan calendar goes through nine stages during the Earth's creation cycle. Each stage is a cycle in itself and get's significantly shorter as you ascend the calendar. During each of these nine cycles we were given tools for consciousness. Starting with basics like matter and cellular activity 14-16 billion years ago, and eventually working our way up through first animals 850 million years ago, first monkey 40 million years ago, first humans 2 million years ago, spoken language 100,000 years ago, written language in 3100 BC, Industrialism in 1769, and ethics in the current cycle we are in which started in 1999.
In 2011 we will enter the 9th and final cycle. In which it is said we will be given the tool of universal co-creation. Now I might be stepping a bit far here, but that doesn't sound like a bad thing. In fact, co-creation is what UNITY is all about. And with all that out of the way, here's my theory.
The end of this creation cycle is not the end of the world. The end of the creation cycle is the beginning of humanity finally coming together and evolving further as one. We've conquered the physical world, our Earth. Now we must only conquer ourselves. Make way for utilization of the human's full unbound mental capacity.
2012 isn't nearly the end. Rather, it's only the beginning. The year is 2008. According to the Mayan Sacred Calendar, the end of the Earth's creation cycle ends in 2012. That leaves us a ... more -
Stoner Cinema - Photo Essays - TIME
I hate to just rip off the top story on digg buts its 5 in the morning and i heartily endorse this event or product.
-
26th Parallel: Video: Miami in the Early 80s
I received this interesting and very disturbing video below via e-mail several days. The 6+ minute video looks back at the crime wave which hit Miami in the late 70s and early 80s, right around the time of the infamous Time Magazine article "Paradise Lost". A central theme of the video is the supposed role played by Colombian drug traffickers and people who came to Miami via the Mariel boatlift of 1980 in the sharp increase in homicides during that era.
A little context: the video was posted by a group called Immigration Control Florida (ICF), whose opening paragraph on their website states:
ImmigrationControlFlorida.com / ICF requests that Americans join our group to support our stated goals to save America. Our group worked to stop the 125,000 Mariel Cuban refugees that illegally invaded Miami-Dade County that destroyed Miami with 50,000 murderers, psychopaths, criminals, criminally insane, hitmen, drug pushers, and enforcers making "Miami the murder capital of the world" with 615 murders in only 1 year with so many bodies that the Miami Medical Examiner had to rent a refrigerated truck to store the excess bodies at a cost of $150 million in 1 year making "Miami a 3rd World Country" ! (U.S.News & World Report -Jan.16, 1984 - page 29).
Let me make something totally clear: I am against illegal immigration, but ICF doesn't even try to conceal their disdain for any immigrant group, in particular Cubans from Mariel. Yes, there were criminals mixed in with regular folks who came over via Mariel. Yes, there was a strain on the services the Miami community could provide, but I don't know where and how ICF got the "50,000" number they use to slime an entire community. As we know, the collective group from Mariel has turned out to be yet another in the long tradition of Cuban-American success stories, despite the initial shock of Miami having to absorb 125,000 new arrivals in Miami in only a few short months.
In short, ICF sounds like nothing more than a bunch of bigots and racists who give reasonable folks' objections to illegal immigration a bad name (as well as provide unnecessary fodder to those who feel naturally inclined to bash anything resembling securing borders).
Some of the quotes in the video are quite over-the-top and no doubt representative of the ethnic conflict which gripped Miami during that time. Riots in Liberty City in 1980, Mariel a few months later, passing of "English Only" ordinances in Miami, huge law enforcement scandals. It was a pretty turbulent time. For those of you who weren't here during that time, it's worth your time to view the video below. For those of you who feel that Miami and South Florida are currently living through bad times never seen before, the video offers some much needed perspective.
H/T Rubio for the video.
(Note: make sure to identify the journalists in the video. It's a who's-who of local and national personalities). I received this interesting and very disturbing video below via e-mail several days. The 6+ minute video looks back at the crime wave ... more -
Why $4 gas is good!
1. Globalized Jobs Return Home
2. Spraw Stalls
3. Four Day Workweeks
4.Less Pollution
5. More Frugality
6. Fewer Traffic Deaths
7. Cheaper Insurance
8. Less Traffic
9. More Cops on the Beat
10. Less Obesity
The world had long assumed that americans were just unrepentant energy pigs. If gas prices went up, well, we kept our Explorers aimed at the horizon, and little changed. We truthfully didn't have lots of options. Unlike Europeans, we didn't have jobs we could bike to or convenient public transit. Gasoline prices never stayed high enough long enough to force those kinds of shifts in how we lived.
Now here we are. Gas prices are near $4 a gallon, as no one needs to tell you, and they are likely to stay that way. Most of us still don't have the alternatives we need to adapt with grace, which means that many will adapt just by suffering. We will run out of gas on I-80, ease our minivans over to the shoulder and tell the kids everything is O.K. We'll fall behind on Visa bills to pay for gas so we can buy food made ever more expensive by energy costs.
But it's also true that Americans are finding options where there seemed to be none. They're ready to change — just waiting for their infrastructure to catch up. They are driving to commuter-rail lines only to find there are no parking spots left. They are running fewer errands and dumping their SUVs. Public-transit use is at a 50-year high. Gas purchases are down 2% to 3%. And all those changes bring secondary, hard-earned benefits.
"You suddenly are reminded how the economy works," says Eric Roston, author of a new book about energy, The Carbon Age. "Nobody wants high prices for oil. But there's also no faster mechanism to change behavior." The suffering will go on. But the story, like any good tragedy, is not without redemption.
Follow link for the 10 good things about $4 gas and pictures. . . 1. Globalized Jobs Return Home 2. Spraw Stalls 3. Four Day Workweeks 4.Less Pollution 5. More Frugality 6. Fewer Traffic Deaths ... more -
The Skinny On Martian Time
Discovery-News.com: Mars time and Earth time are so similar, scientists working on the Phoenix Mars Lander mission are in a constant state of jet lag. Space producer Dave Mosher finds out how they're coping with the ever changing clock. Discovery-News.com: Mars time and Earth time are so similar, scientists working on the Phoenix Mars Lander mission are in a constant ... more
-
We’ve Got You Covered 6.19.08
Conor demonstrates Cosmo’s top four sex noises and so much more in our rapid-fire rundown of the week’s magazine cover stories
-
related topics
Time
Contributors (175)
Time
