Category: Points of Information
Very brief descriptions, with appropriate links, of current or recent news items.
Scientists cheer election of socialist president in Peru
Thirty percent of all companies plan to drop health coverage when Obamacare goes into effect fully
Repeal it! A new survey shows that thirty percent of all companies plan to drop health coverage when Obamacare goes fully into effect.
Supernova flares in M51
A new supernova has erupted in the nearby galaxy M51, 23 million light years away.
3 nuclear reactors melted down after quake, Japan confirms
And still no one has died from this particular failure: Japan confirms that all three nuclear reactors melted down after the quake and tsunami.
Density of forests increasing
The benefits of CO2 increase: The density of the world’s forests has been increasing as they act as a carbon sink.
The authors say most regions and almost all temperate nations have stopped losing forest and the study’s findings constitute a new signal of what co-author Jesse Ausubel of Rockefeller calls “The Great Reversal” under way in global forests after centuries of loss and decline. “Opportunities to absorb carbon and restore the world’s forests can come through increasing density or area or both.”
CBO hires Obamacare advocate to provide ‘objective’ health care budget numbers
Gotta keep that propaganda machine running: The Congressional Budget Office has hired an Obamacare advocate, Democrat Party operative, and Obama administration official to provide it “objective” health care budget numbers.
Spectacular images of Chilean volcano eruption
Check out the spectacular images of the eruption of this Chilean volcano, its first in 50 years.
Physicists have captured atoms of antimatter now for more than 15 minutes
In new research at CERN physicists now have captured atoms of antimatter for more than 15 minutes.
Police yesterday shut the Jefferson Memorial to clear out a crowd challenging a ban on dancing inside the monument.
Police yesterday shut the Jefferson Memorial to clear out a crowd protesting the arrest of five people last week for dancing inside the monument.
One man took to the microphone to demand that all intrusive government policies be overturned, specifically mentioning the need to repeal “Obamacare.” Medea Benjamin [of Code Pink] clarified that some participants also wanted a single-payer system, but that all agreed on the right to dance at the memorial.
On some issues we all agree.
Webb telescope disaster destroys NASA astrophysics budget
The James Webb Space Telescope: The disaster that destroyed NASA’s astrophysics program.
Homeowner forecloses on bank
Sweet justice: A homeowner forecloses on a bank.
The photography of the first clown in space
The photography of the first clown in space.
Melanoma Drug Combo Shows Promise in Early Trial
A melanoma cure in sight? Drug combination shows incredible promise in early trial.
Endeavour — Crime-fighter!
All new cars starting in June will have a mandatory black box
Big brother arrives: Starting in June all new cars will have a mandatory black box.
The installation and use of these black boxes can have infinite possibilities for local, state, and federal governments to monitor and record data for a number of other revenue programs that are currently under consideration. In March, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued a proposal to institute a tax on mileage to help pay for the federal budget deficit. Additionally, local cities and counties can download information from these black boxes, and they can be used to issue driving citations after the fact in the case of speeding or not wearing a seat belt.
I think the value of my old used Subaru Forester has just gone up!
A federal appeals court has lifted a ban on public prayer at a Texas high school graduation
A federal appeals court has lifted the ban on public prayer at a Texas high school graduation.
Good thing too, as any attempt by the court or the police to tried to stop someone from praying would have backfired very badly.
House Trims Homeland Security Science Spending
It’s a start: The House has trimmed the budget for the Homeland Security Agency by $1.1 billion, including a cut of about 75% from the Obama administration’s request for the agency’s science budget, ($398 million versus $1.2 billion requested). And of course, we don’t have to wait long to hear the pigs squeal:
DHS officials say the decrease in the directorate’s budget will wipe out dozens of programs, stalling the development of technologies for border protection, detection of bio-hazards, and cargo screening.
My heart bleeds.
Social Sciences Face Uphill Battle Proving Their Worth to Congress
Some squealing from the journal Science: NSF faces uphill budget battle in Congress.
When he asked the witnesses for ideas on shrinking the government’s $1.6 trillion deficit, Mo Brooks (R-Alabama) [chairman of the research panel of the House of Representatives Science and Technology Committee] made it clear he was talking about possible cuts to NSF’s entire $7 billion budget, not simply its SBE directorate.
Note that in 2008 the NSF budget was a $6.1 billion. Cutting it back to that number would hardly destroy social science research in this country.
Copenhagen Suborbitals’ first test launch
The first test flight of the Copenhagen Suborbitals rocket, designed to carry one passenger, launched successfully today, though there were problems with the parachutes.