CHICAGO (Reuters) - Monkeys performed about as well as college students at mental addition, U.S. researchers said on Monday in a finding that suggests nonverbal math skills are not unique to humans.
The research from Duke University follows the finding by Japanese researchers earlier this month that young chimpanzees performed better than human adults at a memory game.
Prior studies have found non-human primates can match numbers of objects, compare numbers and choose the larger number of two sets of objects.
"This is the first study that looked at whether or not they could make explicit decisions that were based on mathematical types of calculations," said Jessica Cantlon, a cognitive neuroscience researcher at Duke, whose work appeared in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Biology (www.plosbiology.org).
"It shows when you take language away from a human, they end up looking just like monkeys in terms of their performance," Cantlon said in a telephone interview.
Her study pitted the monkey math team of Boxer and Feinstein -- two female macaque monkeys named for U.S. senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein of California -- with 14 Duke University students. The names are obviously ironic, everyone knows that libs can't do math ("free health care" etc.
"We had them do math on the fly," Cantlon said.
The task was to mentally add two sets of dots that were briefly flashed on a computer screen. The teams were asked to pick the correct answer from two choices on a different screen.
The humans were not allowed to count or verbalize as they worked, and they were told to answer as quickly as possible. Both monkeys and humans typically answered within 1 second.
And both groups fared about the same.
Cantlon said the study was not designed to show up Duke University students. "I think of this more as using non-human primates as a tool for discovering where the sophisticated human mind comes from," she said.
The researchers said the findings shed light on the shared mathematical abilities in humans and non-human primates and shows the importance of language -- which allows for counting and more advanced calculations -- in the evolution of math in humans.
"I don't think language is the only thing that differentiates humans from non-human primates, but in terms of math tasks, it is probably the big one," she said.
As for the teams, both were paid. Boxer and Feinstein got their favourite reward: a sip of Kool-Aid soft drink. As for the students, they got $10 (5 pounds) each -- enough for a beer or two. Boxer and Feinstein did ape their human counterparts by drinking the Kool-Aid then.
Posted by: Dick Arbusto, CEO of Hallibushwater ||
12/19/2007 18:16 ||
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#1
Hey monkeyboy, you don't need to have that great of a memory if you know how to write.
#2
The task was to mentally add two sets of dots that were briefly flashed on a computer screen. The teams were asked to pick the correct answer from two choices on a different screen.
The humans were not allowed to count or verbalize as they worked, and they were told to answer as quickly as possible. Both monkeys and humans typically answered within 1 second.
Not allowed to count how many dots they were adding together, but still add them together?
The only thing that can be taken from this study is
1) They didn't put the dots on the screen long enough for them to be counted.
2) Universities continue to waste money.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
12/19/2007 20:24 Comments ||
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#3
Now I have visions of Boxer and Feinstein scratching their hairy butts and picking fleas from each others hair.
Supporters of Jacob Zuma have been celebrating his election as the new leader of South Africa's governing party, the African National Congress.
Mr Zuma defeated President Thabo Mbeki after an acrimonious conference, during which Mr Mbeki was heckled. As the celebrations got under way, both sides spoke of trying to heal the deep rifts in the party. Mr Zuma is now in a strong position to become the country's next president when Mr Mbeki's term ends in 2009.
from the frying pan into the fire...
... going to emulate Zim-bob-we, are they ...
Of the 3,834 voting delegates, Mr Zuma received 2,329 to Mr Mbeki's 1,505. Mr Zuma and his supporters also won a clean sweep of five other top positions in the ANC. The BBC's Peter Biles at the conference says South Africa now has two centres of power - Mr Mbeki as president and Mr Zuma as head of the ruling party. The announcement of the result was greeted with chants of "Zuma, Zuma".
Mr Mbeki embraced Mr Zuma and clasped his rival's hand in congratulation. Our correspondent says the public show of unity was a powerful signal to the rank and file that they needed to heal the rift and get on with the business of running the country. But the real question is whether Mr Zuma can deliver on that promise of unity and continuity, he adds. Mr Zuma has already made it clear that there will be no change in ANC policy.
But while he is strongly placed to become the next national president, Mr Zuma could still face corruption charges in connection with a multi-million dollar arms deal. Helen Zille, leader of the main opposition Democratic Alliance, called the vote a "dismal day" for the ANC and for South Africa. "It is an indictment on the ruling party that they could find no better candidate than Jacob Zuma to lead them," she said. Correspondents say it has been the most divisive contest in the long history of the ANC - for some this is a sign of a healthy democracy in action while others fear the split in the ANC could spell trouble for South Africa. It was the ANC's first leadership contest in 58 years.
Delegates were warned to behave or face disciplinary action on Monday after rival supporters tried to out-sing each other amid chaotic scenes. Mr Mbeki had said claims by the Zuma camp that he had centralised power were false. But growing unpopularity with Mr Mbeki's style of leadership had made Mr Zuma favourite. Mr Zuma's supporters believe he will do more to reduce poverty in South Africa.
Once close allies, Mr Zuma and Mr Mbeki fell out in 2005 when Mr Zuma was sacked as deputy president over corruption allegations. The case against Mr Zuma was thrown out by a judge last year. He was also acquitted of rape charges, which he said were politically motivated. Before the vote, former President Nelson Mandela said he was saddened by "the nature of the differences currently in the organisation". The former Archbishop of Cape Town, Desmond Tutu, said neither Mr Zuma or Mr Mbeki were suitable candidates.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/19/2007 07:10 ||
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I hear prices on the Jo'burg used Michelin market opened up sharply this AM...
Jacob Zuma was elected leader of South Africa's ruling ANC Tuesday after defeating President Thabo Mbeki in a vote at the party's conference, a senior party official announced. Zuma won a total of 2,329 votes against 1,505 for Mbeki, Dren Nupen, head of the party's electoral commission, told the conference in Polokwane. The result puts Zuma in pole position to become head of state in 2009 when Mbeki is constitutionally obliged to step down.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/19/2007 00:00 ||
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With the vote in hand, I doubt Jacob will wait until 2009. I suspect we'll soon be seeing the exit of Mbeki for "health" reasons.
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Not even Santa Claus is safe as the violent Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro celebrates the Christmas season. Drug traffickers in a Rio slum opened fire on a helicopter carrying a Santa to a children's party, apparently mistaking it for a police helicopter, police said Tuesday. "They thought it was a police operation and started shooting. Luckily, nobody was hurt," a police official said.
The helicopter had to return to its base after the attack. Two bullet holes were found in its fuselage.
Police said the pilot, contracted to take an actor dressed as Santa to the party in the Nova Mare slum, was flying over the neighboring Vila Joao shantytown when it was fired upon on Sunday. Jingle BANG Jingle BANG...
Santa later returned to Nova Mare by armored car to distribute Christmas presents.
Polls opened Wednesday in South Korea's presidential election, with a business-friendly conservative tipped to end a decade of left-leaning rule despite an upcoming fraud investigation. Voting began at 6:00 am (2100 GMT Tuesday), a National Election Commission spokesman said, and will close at 6:00 pm. The result is expected by 10:00 pm. Up to 37.6 million people are eligible to vote at 13,178 polling stations. But the commission predicts a relatively low turnout of below 65 percent because the contest has long been seen as a one-horse race.
Lee Myung-Bak, the opposition Grand National Party candidate, was leading his rivals by wide margins when final opinion polls were published last week. Since then, parliament has voted to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate claims he was involved in a 2001 share manipulation scandal. But analysts still expect him to triumph over his closest rivals, Chung Dong-Young of the liberal pro-government United New Democratic Party and rightwing independent Lee Hoi-Chang.
A total of 10 candidates are standing but only three have recorded more than single figures in opinion polls. Lee Myung-Bak, a 65-year-old former construction executive and ex-mayor of Seoul, is best trusted by many to reinvigorate the economy -- the key preoccupation of voters. Growth is forecast at close to five percent this year. But there are frequent grumbles about high youth unemployment, an ever-widening income gap and high property and other prices in the world's 13th largest economy.
Lee Tuesday promised a "new era" if voters elect him. "Businesses will no longer be reluctant to invest. Consumers will open their purses. Markets will be vitalised. Foreign investors will rush here," he said.
However, any victory for him would usher in weeks of political uncertainty as the independent investigation goes ahead. State prosecutors had on December 5 cleared Lee of involvement in the case linked to the now-defunct BBK investment firm and to his detained former business partner. Lee had always said he had nothing to do with the firm. But his opponents on Sunday publicised a video clip of a speech he made in 2000, in which he says he founded BBK.
On Monday parliament voted to start the new inquiry. Local media predicted it would report before a new leader takes office on February 25, raising the possibility of a president-elect being interrogated or even indicted. Lee has said he made erroneous comments on the video because he was trying to promote new financial business. On Tuesday he again denied any wrongdoing. "Tens or even hundreds of special investigations would never change the results because there is only one truth," he said.
His rival Chung suffers from his past membership of the unpopular Roh Moo-Hyun government and his failure to unite all liberal forces behind his standard. His achievements as a former unification minister in charge of relations with North Korea appear not to have greatly boosted his support. Voters see policy towards their communist neighbour as only a side election issue, according to surveys, because moves to scrap its nuclear programme are making progress.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/19/2007 00:00 ||
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Swastikas have been painted on a memorial to a pre-Second-World-War synagogue, Berlin police say.
Paint was also smeared over the picture of Emil Bernhard Cohn (1881-1948), a former rabbi at the synagogue in the German capital's Grunewald district. Strollers discovered the damage Monday evening.
The police said they had not yet traced the vandals. Anti-Semitic graffiti was found at the same memorial in summer 2006. The monument marks the site of a synagogue which was erected in 1923 and set on fire in 1938.
Most German synagogues were not used after the Reichskristallnacht vandalism of November 1938. Many were demolished by the time the Nazis were defeated in 1945.
#1
Synagogues aside, I have never seen so much graffiti as there is in Germany now. Twenty years ago it was highly discouraged and would have been painted over within a few hours.
Ukraine's pro-Western coalition Tuesday appointed Orange Revolution leader Yulia Tymoshenko prime minister and named a government that favours the ex-Soviet republic winning NATO and EU membership. Deputies in the single-chamber Rada voted 226-0 -- the absolute minimum for a vote to pass -- in favour of Tymoshenko, proposed by pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko. The opposition, who control just under half of the 450 seats, boycotted the vote.
The ruling coalition then voted in a new government, including Volodymyr Ogryzko, a strong proponent of Ukraine entering NATO and the European Union, as foreign minister.
Tymoshenko supporters cheered following her victory. However, opposition deputies, who oppose the NATO bid and back closer ties with Russia, boycotted the vote, reflecting the bitter divisions in this country of 46 million people.
Ukraine, which is sandwiched between Poland and Russia, is a key transit route for Russian natural gas to the European Union and has had strained relations with President Vladimir Putin's Kremlin since Tymoshenko and Yushchenko led the 2004 Orange Revolution.
Tymoshenko has called for a shake-up in the way Ukraine buys gas from Russia. However, in Moscow's first reaction to her appointment, Putin's European affairs advisor Sergei Yastrzhembsky offered congratulations and promised that Russia would be a "stable, predictable" partner. Tymoshenko's victory in parliament came a week after a first vote failed to pass by just a single deputy.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/19/2007 00:00 ||
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The New Girl Order???
ION, IHT > WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MOSCOW, ISLAM FLOURISHES. More Russ Muslims allowed to make HAJ to Mecca; + MANILA'S DIRTY WAR. Not a little war either.
#1
Yet another country added to the ranks of the realistic. Congratulations and good luck to South Korea, especially as they look north across the border to their cousins.
STEVE DOOCY: Mike Huckabee has started running an ad in Iowa, where you're at right now, also in New Hampshire and South Carolina, and in the back, it's a windowpane but it also looks a lot like a cross. And, and, we had a guest a little while ago who said it was inappropriate to be using religion for political purposes. Congressman, I'm just curious what you think?
RON PAUL: Well, I haven't thought about it completely, . . . but that won'ts stop me!
but you know, it reminds me of what Sinclair, uh, Lewis once said, he said "when Fascism comes to this country, it will be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross." So Ron agrees with the Rosie O'Donnell view of Christianity, eh? Kinda goes hand-in-hand with the anti-Semitisim.
I don't know whether that's a fair assessment or not, "Oh crap!" Ron thought to himself, "did I just call Christians fascists? In a Republican primary? Dumb dumb dumb dumb DUMB! Gotta think of something!"
but you wonder about using a cross like he is the only Christian, or implying that subtly. So, uh, I don't think I would ever use anything like that.
DOOCY: So, uh, Congressm-- you know, uh, Governor Huckabee is not selling fascism. "God, are you a blithering idiot!" Steve thought to himself, mustering every ounce of his self control to maintain some semblance of journalistic detatchment.
He's -- simply sending out a Christmas message, anyway, just curious how you felt about that. Congressman, if you would sit right there in Des Moines just for a moment, we're going to take a quick time out...
Advice to Ron Paul: better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak up and remove all doubt.
Personally, I don't get why everyone's all spun up about the Huckabee ad. It's pleasant, inoffensive (unless you find Christanity offensive), scores some warm fuzzy points for the candidate, and he obviously means what he says--and I say that as someone who will not vote for him.
Posted by: Mike ||
12/19/2007 09:06 ||
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I've paid comparatively little attention to Dr. Paul, and am certainly no supporter, but neither condemn him wholesale as many do - often based on the looniness of some of his supporters.
All that said, this crack of his is shooting from the hip at best, and oddly bitterly divisive at worst - as Mike's comments note.
Even after all that, there's the admirable nugget left over of a presidential candidate quoting Sinclair Lewis - quirkily charming in its own way.
Posted by: Jack Snusogum1397 ||
12/19/2007 11:48 Comments ||
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#2
What's a Steve Doocy?
He's the a**brain that sees a cross in the mullions of a window. Bejeebas these folks shouldn't be let out loose.
Is every intersection of two straight lines a religious symbol now?
#3
in the back, it's a windowpane but it also looks a lot like a cross
Oh, for fuck's sake. Sometimes a windowpane is just a windowpane, ya know?
How long until candidates are required to only appear in front of plain gray backgrounds?
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
12/19/2007 12:06 Comments ||
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#4
So now what? I don't vote for Huckabee, the sky turns black and rains blood?
I can't figure out who's loonier here. Steve Doocy (whoever he is) for seeing a cross or Ron Paul for taking the bait.
Next time, Mike, just have a talking Jesus head floating around back there talking up ths campaign so the nuts don't have to figure all this subliminal stuff out. It hurts their heads...
#5
So Ron agrees with the Rosie ODonnell view of Christianity, eh? Kinda goes hand-in-hand with the anti-Semitisim.
In light of the fact that two of Ron Pauls brothers are ministers of the Christian faith, I doubt he shares very much with O Donnells view of Christianity. Also, to imply that anybody who acknowledges that AIPAC exerts tremendous influence in American Politics is somehow issuing a coded metaphor for a Jewish World Conspiracy is shallow and naïve. I will agree that the Sinclair Lewis quote in response to a totally innocuous political advertisement strikes me as odd. But then again, Ron Paul strikes as an odd person.
#7
Those of you saying it's just a windowpane, have you seen the commercial, do you really think the editors and such didn't notice the resemblence? It's a political primary, EVERYTHING in a commercial is noticed and approved.
Huckabee got hours of free advertising because of that cross/windowpane. It was done during teh holidays so that complaints about it come up as anti-Christian which gives him votes in Iowa. This whole thing was a well planned political move. I don't like Huckabee but this cross/windowpane was a brilliant move, and I will give credit where credit is due.
#8
Looks like a bookcase to me. Yall are a bit late on hearing about the cross "controversy". It first came to light 2 days ago.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
12/19/2007 13:18 Comments ||
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Paul has a point, though he didn't explain it very well. That is, scoundrels of all varieties tend to use religion and faux patriotism as smokescreens to get away with something else.
Think Bill Clinton carrying that huge Bible out of a church for a photo op, as if he cared one whit about what was written in it.
And most Democrats pretending that they like and respect "the troops", while attacking, undermining and endangering them every way they can. Pretending to be patriotic while sneering at America.
A politician citing religion, especially, raises a big question that makes Americans nervous.
Much like if you are pulled over for speeding by a policeman who for some reason remarks that he is a very good Christian and prays a lot. What had been an uncomfortable exercise of getting a ticket from a government official, is suddenly scary in a "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" sort of way.
Their religion or beliefs isn't part of their job, and their bringing it up as part of their official role sends up, or should send up, all kinds of warning flares.
Even going back to the founding of the US, with respect to God, unlike in Europe, the founding fathers did not claim that God ordained US law or government organization. God didn't write the US constitution, James Madison did.
And while they didn't deride God, they said that people wrote the laws, so people can change the laws.
To make matters worse, religion isn't standardized, and neither is morality. So for a politician to claim he is religious and moral doesn't say anything. He could have the religion and morality of a Taliban, a Thugee, an Episcopalian or a Satanist, whichever is worse.
It wasn't particularly wise, as well, to quote from Sinclair Lewis, though most people have never heard of him. To the point, perhaps, but still not a very wholesome character. Even though Elmer Gantry reflected some of the Evangelism of the time, it is a stretch that it might lead to fascism, any more than Pat Robertson might today.
#10
Anonymoose, I disagree. It would take years to really get to know a politician. We need bulletpoints on who they are so we have some basis of judging. Religion is one of those bullet points and how they treat it (hide behind the Bible or beat folks over the head with it) says a lot about who they are.
Personally I think some reputable (cough cough) journalist should interview every candidate specifically on this issue and really nail down what they think, why they think it, and how they think that would affect policies in their administration. Thus avoiding any hiding or misrepresentation by others.
One of the reasons I won't vote for Huckabee was because of his answers regarding religion and the Bible in the debates.
#11
The whole idea that Christianity will be the source of fascism in this country, if we ever get it, is nonsense in a hot air balloon. As Mark Steyn is fond of saying, the long dark night of fascism that's supposedly ever descending on Christer-dominated AmeriKKKa always seems to land in secular, rationalist, humanistic, enlightened, post-religious Europe. There's a good reason for that.
Posted by: Mike ||
12/19/2007 14:11 Comments ||
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#12
Jesus Christ on a skate-board. I looked at the ad again and, yes Decon, it is a bookcase. It's not an f******g cross.
Why the hell all this crap about "subliminal" messages (which don't work anyway) and not one word about the f*****g CHRISTMAS TREE!!!!!!!
Mr. Schwarz you sound as paranoid as the rest of the looney tunes. "EVERYTHING in a commercial is noticed and approved." Maybe they approved A FU****G BOOKCASE NOT A CROSS!
#13
If Facism landed in the US it would find the US military and the majority of citizens rising up against it. It would not last long.
You really need to disarm the population, weaken the military, and make the populace dependent upon the government for Facism to really get hold. Speaking of that, what are the Democrat talking points this week.
#14
rjschwarz: I agree that some small introduction is in order, especially in this case of this election, as there are a lot of people who have no idea what Mormons are, or if Obama is a Muslim.
However, in general terms, Americans tend to differentiate between "ethics", the following of the written law, which they desire in their leaders, and "morality", which is far more tenuous and subjective.
That is, when a politician is seen as "ethical" by the public, everybody can endorse them for obeying the law. But when a politician claims that he is "moral", it creates confusion. This is because morality is relative to the religion, or even a sect within a religion, or the lack thereof.
The public is quite apprehensive about politicians whose idea of morality may be very different from their own. On top of everything else, morality is also a function of both thoughts and actions.
There are a lot of Catholic politicians, for example, who go to church frequently, but also vote in favor of abortion. Yet they still call themselves "Catholic" and insist they are "moral".
However, there is no confusion if they say they are "ethical", but get caught by the FBI stuffing hand fulls of hundred dollars bills into their underwear (or refrigerator) from some undercover agent dressed as an Arab sheik. Everybody in the country knows that they are not ethical.
#16
UPDATE: Ron Paul made up the quote! USA Today's political blog:
According to the executive director of The Sinclair Lewis Society, Illinois State University English Department associate dean Sally Parry, "it sounds like something Sinclair Lewis might have said or written ... but we've never been able to attribute it to him." We spoke to her by telephone this morning.
Posted by: Mike ||
12/19/2007 16:27 Comments ||
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#17
AlanC, if you think the Huckabee folks didn't realize that bookcase would look to many like a cross you are niave about how both politics and commercials work. They know everything that appears in the frame and approve it. That's not paranoid, that's reality, you should try it sometime.
#19
Remember the subliminal bureaucrats in W's 2000 campaign? And then when they asked him about it he couldn't even pronounce subliminal? Boy, that was fun.
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush has approved ``a significant reduction'' in the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile, cutting it to less than one-quarter its size at the end of the Cold War, the White House said Tuesday.
At the same time, the Energy Department announced plans to consolidate the nuclear weapons complex that maintains warheads and dismantle those no longer needed, saying the current facilities need to be made more efficient and more easily secured and that the larger complex is no longer needed.
``We are reducing our nuclear weapons stockpile to the lowest level consistent with America's national security and our commitments to friends and allies,'' White House press secretary Dana Perino said. ``A credible deterrent remains an essential part of U.S. national security, and nuclear forces remain key to meeting emerging security challenges.''
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/19/2007 00:00 ||
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Its good enough for these dream world dwelling morons that we're getting rid of thousands of nukes, they won't let us build any new ones worth a damn either.
Must not be built in Murthas district.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
12/19/2007 1:25 Comments ||
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#2
ION, DIGG > THE KGB'S SECRET WEAPON - TELEKINESIS. Whatever happeeened to defeating the decadent Americanskis by using bikini-clad Commie babes???
Posted by: Thomas Woof ||
12/19/2007 17:59 Comments ||
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#6
See also PRAVDA/OTHER > AMERICA PLANS TO RENEW AND REPLENISH ITS ARMY; + BUSH APPROVES ARMY REORGANIZATION PLAN. ARPLAN 2010? > increase in numbers by 74,000 soldiers in six new Combat Brigade Teams + eight supporting units, all needing 69,000 new Barracks spaces, 4100 family housing units, and 66 child care centers. PLans will broadly affect 304 Army installations + 308,000 soldiers directly or indirectly. Georgia, Colorado, Texas.
Sen. John McCain's resurgent strategy to capture independent voters in New Hampshire is forcing a flagging Rudolph W. Giuliani to scale back his efforts in the state and pin his hopes on later primaries.
The Arizona senator this month swept into second place in state polls, besting the former New York mayor for the first time since July, and yesterday Mr. McCain picked up the endorsement of a former Democratic senator admired by many New Hampshire independents. "McCain's gain is Giuliani's loss; the two are tied together," said Dante Scala, a political scientist at the University of New Hampshire. "They both appeal to a somewhat more moderate Republican voter, so I think if McCain is going up, it's likely that Giuliani is drifting downward, and that's exactly what has been happening the last month."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/19/2007 00:00 ||
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Whoever wrote this story has less brains than Mr. Potato Heads Bucket of Parts.
They are making an honest effort to convince us that McCain is picking up registered Republican voters in the Republican Primary because he got endorsed by a former Democrat senator who is admired by independents.
This is some far fetched shit. I'd sooner believe that the optimum water to ice ratio in Frank G's bong is 100:1
Posted by: Mike N. ||
12/19/2007 2:14 Comments ||
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#2
Scratch last. I'm the moron. NH lets unregistered voters vote in primaries.
Now where's my nose, I coulda swore it was around here somewhere...
Posted by: Mike N. ||
12/19/2007 2:24 Comments ||
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#3
REDDIT POLITICS [paraph]> There is no LIBERAL PROGRESSIVE PARTY in America - in any other country, THE US DEMOCRATS WOULD BE JUST ANOTHER RIGHT WING PARTY.
SAM WATERSTON [Law & Order Star][paraph] > POLITICS IN AMERICA IS "BROKEN". Amer needs a independent third eye/medium to watch the GOP-DEMS. Claims Amer voters won't even be missed by major Parties at elex time. *DEMOCRACY BROKEN IN AMERICA AS WELL???
#4
ION, NIE: RUSSIA, CHINA, IRAN WARN USA OVER ME WAR PLANS; + TOPIX/WORLDNEWS > KCNA [North Korea] - US DANGEROUS MILITARY MOVES UNDER COVER OF DIALOGUE UNDER FIRE. Post-Iran NIE, NK criticizes the USA for diplomatic hypocrisy + hidden mil imperialism.
"undeclared", actually. You do have to be registered, though it can be done earlier on election day. But no longer is it anything like having to be a male landowner who's lived in the state for five years.
I was filling my wife in on how to be a spoiler (we're both undeclared) - question is, should I vote for Hillary or Obama?
#8
KBK: I was filling my wife in on how to be a spoiler (we're both undeclared) - question is, should I vote for Hillary or Obama?
Vote for Obama. I would prefer to see an Obama effect in the general election than in the Democratic primaries. Besides, an Obama effect would be more memorable in the general election.
If this is what winning looks like, then Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wants no part of it. Tired of Republican crowing about winning on Iraq funding, the budget battle and the energy bill, Reid (D-Nev.) shot back on Tuesday afternoon. "We hear a lot of Republicans boasting ... because of their unprecedented obstruction," Reid said.
Pot, kettle, color application. Harry was so accomodating when he was the Minority Leader, wasn't he.
Indeed, Republicans have gotten their way in the battle over spending, have forced Democrats to jettison rollbacks of tax breaks for oil companies, and have beaten back attempts to pay for expanded children's health care programs with a tobacco tax increase. Even though they're in the minority, the GOP, backed by President Bush, has used the filibuster to block Democratic priorities over and over this fall.
For a lame duck Dubya sure seems to be winning a lot of battles in Congress.
"Who's winning?" Reid asked a group of reporters. "Big Oil, Big Tobacco. ... Al Qaeda has regrouped and is able to fight a civil war in Iraq. ... The American people are losing."
Harry once again demonstrates that he's essentially an idiot. Al-Qaeda is getting whacked in Iraq. Between us and the Sunni tribal chiefs there are few safe places left for them. Even the al-Q bigs are lamenting the powers of the infidels and apostates in Anbar. Harry clearly has chosen to ride his original position all the way down to the bottom.
Reid left the microphones to head to a signing ceremony for legislation which increases gas mileage rules for the first time in 30 years something Democrats will indeed tout as a "W" in their won-loss column.
Which GWB signed, by the way. He can take credit too if he wants.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/19/2007 00:00 ||
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"Al Qaeda has regrouped and is able to fight a civil war in Iraq. ... The American people are losing."Reid
Yep, right when it looked like you were not going to fund the troops, Al Qaeda got thier hopes up and began attacking again.
I am just about ready to suggest that we demand San Francisco, Pelosi's hole, and Las Vegas, Reid's hole in the desert, secede from the Union, declare war on both places and promptly nuke the places with only a 24 hour notice.
#6
Your war is lost, Harry. It's a quagmire. Withdraw all the Democrats from the Senate now. Support your troops, send them home.
Posted by: Mike ||
12/19/2007 9:01 Comments ||
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#7
McConnell outmanuevers this blazing fool day in and day out, and he's stupid enough to call attention to it yet. Talk about salt in an open wound. Harry, want to know why the ratings for Congress are rock bottom ? Look in the mirror.
#8
Here I had believed that Reid was a genius of parliamentary procedure. That was compared with former Majority Leader Frist--a nice guy, and very smart, but not a great tactician.
I'm glad to hear the GOP has someone who can run rings around the Dems. If they can keep their own pork habit under control, I might even register as a Republican.
#13
"Reid left the microphones to head to a signing ceremony for legislation which increases gas mileage rules for the first time in 30 years something Democrats will indeed tout as a "W" in their won-loss column."
Yesterday's Seattle papers were falling all over themselves telling us how the improved fuel numbers would save the average driver $700 a year in fuel costs. Failed to mention how much more the car would cost to recoup the engineering costs for those higher numbers however. (DISCLAIMER: your mileage may vary, and savings in the mirror will be smaller than they appear).
#14
"Yesterday's Seattle papers were falling all over themselves telling us how the improved fuel numbers would save the average driver $700 a year in fuel costs."
Heh..USN,Ret.
Yeah boy...can hardly wait for them savings...
in...2020?
#15
IOn, DIGG > TONY SNOW - THE SECOND WAR IN THIS COUNTRY IS A "WAR ON GOD"; + HARPERS MAGAZINE > WIDER SPYING [WOT Govt demands/requiremts]FUELS [US Govt.]AID PLAN FOR TELECOM INDUSTRY. DAWN OF THE NATIONAL SURVEILLANCE STATE OF THE USA = AMERIKAN KGB/USSA??? The post-Cold War Amer National-Global KGB is a [For-Profit?]PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP = GOVT-CORPORATE JOINT VENTURE, by and for the defense and security of the sacred Motherland and the Great People's/Socialist Utopia Amerika???
Also from HARPER'S > BUSH ASSAILS THE JAG CORPS.
RISE OF THE AMERIKAN GLOBAL KOMMISSARIAT = KOMMISSAR DIRECTORATE/BUREAU, of the People's Army of Amerika.
#5
I sure miss the Weekly World News- no celebrity gossip, political pretense, consumer news or other frivolity, just straightforward sensationalism and unabashed fabrication. It was a mirror held mockingly to the face of the media-industrial complex.
Posted by: Dick Arbusto, CEO of Hallibushwater ||
12/19/2007 1:38 Comments ||
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#6
The Enquirer is controlled by a Friend of Bill Hillary's.
First we get the allegedly-unauthorized "Obama is a drug-addled Muslim!" whispering campaign, and now this. There's a fair circumstantial case to be made that this is the Clintons' attempt to kneecap their two serious opponents and save Hillary's bacon in Iowa.
'Course, if the story's true, the man is a pig.
Posted by: Mike ||
12/19/2007 8:13 Comments ||
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#7
What if Edwards contributed to a sperm bank?
Then the DNA would be positive but there would be no sex.
#15
BRITNEY SPEARS' sister = other Hollywood celebs have also announced they're preggers. Not quite sure how to interprete these within the scope of the MSM + GWOT > BRITNEY, etal. = DUBYA/USA?, ergo Britney's now reported delayed BOOK ON PARENTING = BAD US INTEL [e.g. NO WMDS + NEW IRAN NIE]??? JOHN EDWARDS' "LOVE CHILD" = POST-SADDAM IRAQ, enbarrassed MRS EDWARDS' = HILLARY vv MONICA???
Posted by: Fred ||
12/19/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
I've met a fair number of Americans over the years. None have had names like Barak or Obama, or even Hussein. Not even one. The name just doesn't jump out at you as being very American. I suspect people outside the inner-cities like to think of their President in terms of being American, and having an American identity, ideology, religion, looks, name, etc. I guess one is stuck with the name you are given, unless you decide to take on an American or western name, like John Williams, or William Jones, or Peter Smith....something along those lines. But taking American names probably isn't "in" today I suppose, at least with the inner-city constituencies. Just my thoughts on it.
#3
If anyone thinks this is not an orchestrated campaign of cheap shots approved by Hillary! herself, I have some federally-protected wetlands in Nevada I'd like to sell you.
Posted by: Mike ||
12/19/2007 6:33 Comments ||
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#4
"Her thighness" will just distance herself from this claiming that it was a rovian plot.
#6
Hussein readily admitted in Iowa a couple of days ago, in response to a direct question, that both his father and grandfather were Muslims. Yet he denies he is. Why is he not dead ? Muzzie scum really wouldn't tolerate his bolting from the cult would they ? Yet we hear no shrieking from the Muzz brotherhood or CAIR or any other scum affiliation. Why ?
#7
Woozle, I'm sorry to have to put it this way, but that is one of the dumbest comments I've ever seen. This is America. "Here we judge you by what you do, not by who your father was."*
I do not plan to vote for Barack Obama. He seems like a nice enough guy--I'd probably get along with him if I knew him personally--but he's too far Left for my tastes, and dead wrong on most of the issues. However, he didn't pick his parents or grandparents--neither did you!--or his name. All you're doing by repeating this "Obama's a secret Moslem!" crap is validating the Clintons' gutter tactics--which, if they are successful, will be used against your guy in this or some later election.
*Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry, as rendered by Michael Sharra in The Killer Angels.
Posted by: Mike ||
12/19/2007 10:02 Comments ||
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#8
Mike, I think (not sure) Woozle's point is different. Yes, you and I (and I hope Woozle) rightly believe Gov. Chamberlain's statement: in America we judge you by who you are.
But in Islam, if your father was a Muslim, you're a Muslim. And Islam doesn't allow people to renounce their faith willingly.
Now you could reply, 'who gives a rats ass?' Well not me. But there are a few crazy people out there, people you and I both detest, who might make an issue of this.
So I suspect CAIR is keeping their mouths shut for a reason. I think that's Woozle's point. Would be fun to ask CAIR.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/19/2007 10:50 Comments ||
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#9
Steve, if that's the issue, I suspect it's because CAIR tries to project itself as the very soul of patriotic, soft, warm, fuzzy, wouldn't-hurt-a-fly-ness, and screaming "Death to the Apostate Barak Obama!!!!" like a manic Wahabbist on uppers would be a little off-message, to put it mildly.
Posted by: Mike ||
12/19/2007 11:07 Comments ||
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#10
"American" "Muslim" "leaders" should all be asked on the record if B. Hussein Obama is a muslim or whether it is ok for children of muslim fathers to be Christian.
#11
Fact is every four years the parties thrash themselves in the primaries and then they thrash the other party in the general election. only a relative few really pay attention to the primaries so this is forgotten.
Al Gore brought up Willie Horton long before Bush Sr did. It just didn't offend Democrat Primary voters the same way it offended the country at large.
#12
RJS: Al Gore brought up Willie Horton long before Bush Sr did. It just didn't offend Democrat Primary voters the same way it offended the country at large.
It offended different people different ways. Democratic primary voters were offended that Gore brought it up, since black criminals are clearly - in the Democratic mind - much more the victims (of an uncaring society - insert the liberal piety of your choice) than the actual victims themselves. General election voters were offended that Dukakis pardoned Willie Horton so he could go out and rape again.
#14
It is the primary season where Darwin politics seem to be the order of the day. I'd rather candidates stick to the issues and talk about what they are going to do during his/her administration rather than bash candidates of their party and then candidates of the other party.
#15
I do long for the days of the smoke filled rooms when they hashed and bashed and vetted in private. Then each party presented a candidate that in theory had no baggage, or baggage that could be hidden in Kennedy's case.
BANGALORE, India (AFP) India has installed a pair of giant antennas to monitor a planned robotic mission to the moon next year, making it one of a few nations with deep space tracking ability, officials said.
The deep space network at Byalalu, 45 kilometres (30 miles) from Bangalore, will keep track of the Chandrayaan-1 lunar mission and provide command support during its two-year orbit around the moon, India's space agency said.
The facility, which reporters visited Saturday, consists of two powerful dish antennas 32 metres (105 feet) and 18 metres in diameter.
"The network will be used to send commands and receive telemetry signals, including massive scientific data from the spacecraft," said S.K. Shivakumar, director of the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) Telemetry Tracking and Command Network.
By installing the network at a cost of one billion rupees (25 million dollars), India joins the United States, Europe, Japan, China and Russia in the ability to track deep space missions, officials said.
India plans to launch Chandrayaan-1 in April next year, joining Asian nations Japan and China in moon exploration. The spacecraft will conduct a lunar orbit at a distance of 385,000 kilometres from Earth.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/19/2007 13:59 ||
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As part of measures to boost strategic defence ties with Vietnam, India will supply vital spares of Russian origin Petya class warships and send an expert team to train army of the country.
The announcement to supply 5000 essential spares, which would enable Vietnam to again operationalise its Russian anti-submarine warships, was made by Defence Minister A K Antony after a meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart General Phung Quang Thanh in Hanoi.
Antony, on his first visit to Vietnam, also said a four member army team would go to Hanoi in the first half of next year to train Vietnamese army on conduct of UN Peacekeeping operations. The two countries also agreed to set up a Joint Working group to frame to form a framework for boosting further defence cooperation, a defence ministry release said here.
Little by little Vietnam comes back into the world community. They're in the world trade organization, they have a trade relationship with the U.S., and now this. Next step is to nudge the commies out of the way in Hanoi much the way other authoritarian regimes had to make way for democracy when there was enough prosperity.
Vietnam, which has been a close ally of India, evinced interest to take Indian help in application of information technology in defence and technical support to the country's navy.
The Vietnamese Defence Minister also suggested increase in Joint Naval and Military level exercises between the two countries. The Vietnamese Minister also thanked India for imparting training to a number of its armed forces personnel.
Antony, who is on a three day official visit to Vietnam, said the new measures initiated today will open a "new strategic chapter in defence cooperation" between the two countries. "Commonality of views of the two countries in many areas are a reflection of our shared strategic interests," Antony told his host. He also congratulated Vietnam on being elected as a new non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/19/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Compare wid NOSI > SOUTH AFRICA CAN'T AFFORD TO RUN ITS NEW SUBS. No money, no honey for the SA Navy.
Stanford researchers have found a way to use silicon nanowires to reinvent the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that power laptops, iPods, video cameras, cell phones, and countless other devices.
The new version, developed through research led by Yi Cui, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, produces 10 times the amount of electricity of existing lithium-ion, known as Li-ion, batteries. A laptop that now runs on battery for two hours could operate for 20 hours, a boon to ocean-hopping business travelers.
"It's not a small improvement," Cui said. "It's a revolutionary development."
The breakthrough is described in a paper, "High-performance lithium battery anodes using silicon nanowires," published online Dec. 16 in Nature Nanotechnology, written by Cui, his graduate chemistry student Candace Chan and five others.
The greatly expanded storage capacity could make Li-ion batteries attractive to electric car manufacturers. Cui suggested that they could also be used in homes or offices to store electricity generated by rooftop solar panels.
"Given the mature infrastructure behind silicon, this new technology can be pushed to real life quickly," Cui said.
The electrical storage capacity of a Li-ion battery is limited by how much lithium can be held in the battery's anode, which is typically made of carbon. Silicon has a much higher capacity than carbon, but also has a drawback.
Silicon placed in a battery swells as it absorbs positively charged lithium atoms during charging, then shrinks during use (i.e., when playing your iPod) as the lithium is drawn out of the silicon. This expand/shrink cycle typically causes the silicon (often in the form of particles or a thin film) to pulverize, degrading the performance of the battery.
Cui's battery gets around this problem with nanotechnology. The lithium is stored in a forest of tiny silicon nanowires, each with a diameter one-thousandth the thickness of a sheet of paper. The nanowires inflate four times their normal size as they soak up lithium. But, unlike other silicon shapes, they do not fracture.
Research on silicon in batteries began three decades ago. Chan explained: "The people kind of gave up on it because the capacity wasn't high enough and the cycle life wasn't good enough. And it was just because of the shape they were using. It was just too big, and they couldn't undergo the volume changes."
Then, along came silicon nanowires. "We just kind of put them together," Chan said.
For their experiments, Chan grew the nanowires on a stainless steel substrate, providing an excellent electrical connection. "It was a fantastic moment when Candace told me it was working," Cui said.
Cui said that a patent application has been filed. He is considering formation of a company or an agreement with a battery manufacturer. Manufacturing the nanowire batteries would require "one or two different steps, but the process can certainly be scaled up," he added. "It's a well understood process." The military applications are staggering, from UAVs to infantry tech, to everything in between.
#1
It's the automotive application that has the greatest national security implications. If this makes long range, low weight, rapidly rechargeable electric vehicles feasible, petroleum loses much of its allure. And we've got lots of coal.
#2
Toshiba has a battery that can recharge up to 80% capacity in a couple of minutes. If the two battery types are compatible the Saudi's will shit themselves 'cause they are done.
#5
This could end Osama bin Hiden. Put one of these 20 hour batteries in a smart bomb. Propellor bomb at that. Needs a camera for iris scans. when it sees a turban headed person, it pulls up for a quick iris scan.
Let 100 of these loose along the border of Pakistan for 18 hours, 1 hour for heading out from base to the border, 1 hour for heading back for recharge. First one that gets and correct iris scan blows up in Osama's face.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Monkeys performed about as well as college students at mental addition, U.S. researchers said on Monday in a finding that suggests nonverbal math skills are not unique to humans. 
Swastikas have been painted on a memorial to a pre-Second-World-War synagogue, Berlin police say.
Ukraine's pro-Western coalition Tuesday appointed Orange Revolution leader Yulia Tymoshenko prime minister and named a government that favours the ex-Soviet republic winning NATO and EU membership. Deputies in the single-chamber Rada voted 226-0 -- the absolute minimum for a vote to pass -- in favour of Tymoshenko, proposed by pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko. The opposition, who control just under half of the 450 seats, boycotted the vote.
Sen. John McCain's resurgent strategy to capture independent voters in New Hampshire is forcing a flagging Rudolph W. Giuliani to scale back his efforts in the state and pin his hopes on later primaries.
If this is what winning looks like, then Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wants no part of it. Tired of Republican crowing about winning on Iraq funding, the budget battle and the energy bill, Reid (D-Nev.) shot back on Tuesday afternoon. "We hear a lot of Republicans boasting ... because of their unprecedented obstruction," Reid said.
