Category: Points of Information

Very brief descriptions, with appropriate links, of current or recent news items.

“My healthcare plan I put in place in my state has everyone insured.”

1:52 pm

Romney on Thursday: “My healthcare plan I put in place in my state has everyone insured.” Also, it is an “important accomplishment” that is “working, by and large, pretty well.”

Oy. Romney apparently still does not realize that Romneycare is as politically toxic as Obamacare, which probably explains why he has not been able to pull ahead of Obama in the polls. It also once again explains why Republicans looked long and hard for an alternative before finally settling on Romney.

Nonetheless, Romney has been very clear about his opinion of Obamacare itself. He considers it an improper overreach of the federal government and a bad law. He has also been very clear about what he will do about it once in office: Repeal it. For this reason, voters will eventually choose him, even if the moment they finally make that choice will be in the voting booth on election day.

3 comments

The artist who sculpted a secret message in code — in plain view in the courtyard of CIA headquarters and unsolved now for twenty years — has now provided codebreakers a tiny clue to its solution.

9:26 pm

The artist who sculpted a secret message in code — in plain view in the courtyard of CIA headquarters and unsolved now for twenty years — has now provided codebreakers a tiny clue to its solution.

The final mystery of Kryptos – it means “hidden” in Greek – is known as the “Everest of codes” among the thousands of cryptographers who are obsessed with deciphering it. … Three passages were unravelled in 1999. But the fourth and toughest remains defiantly obscure, to the surprise of nobody more than Jim Sanborn, the sculptor who created the enduring puzzle.

Leave a comment

NASA today announced that recent research on ISS into bone loss due to weightlessness has found that proper exercise and diet can stabilize bone loss.

11:42 am

Good news! NASA today announced that recent research on ISS into bone loss due to weightlessness has found that proper exercise and diet can stabilize bone loss.

Past Russian research on Mir had found that exercise and diet could limit the bone loss, but not stop it entirely. The key difference in this recent work seems to be the use of more sophisticated exercise equipment.

If this research holds up, it eliminates one of the most serious obstacles to interplanetary travel.

Leave a comment

Todd Akin, whose stupid comments about rape have practically destroyed his campaign, is receiving death threats to himself, his family, and his staff.

9:41 am

Modern political civility: Todd Akin, whose stupid comments about rape have practically destroyed his Senate campaign in Missouri, is receiving death threats against himself, his family, and his staff.

I don’t know if the threats are coming from either the left or the right. The left kind of wants Akin to stay in the race so that Claire McCaskill has a better shot at winning. Yet, the left has also been quite willing in recent years to express and even commit violence against their opponents. For these kinds of death threats to come from the left would not be unusual or surprising. The right meanwhile is furious at Akin, mostly because of the absolute stupidity and ignorance exhibited by his comments. It is likely that the comments will cost them an easy Senate win, which in turn might cost them control of the Senate. Yet, threats of violence from the right are rare.

Thus, it is hard to say what politics might be instigating these threats.

It really doesn’t matter. The threats are horrible, and are far worse than anything Todd Akin said. I hope the police find and arrest every single person who sent a threat.

Leave a comment

Romney’s energy policy proposal announced today would redirect science funding towards basic research.

5:51 pm

Mitt Romney’s energy policy proposal, announced today, would redirect science funding towards basic research, according to this mostly positive analysis from the generally liberal journal Science.

Personally I’d like to get the federal government out of all this. Let the private market decide where the money should be spent for research. Moreover, we still have that federal debt to pay off. Where will Romney get the money?

3 comments

New ice core data from Antarctica suggests in the past 10,000 years temperatures have often been higher than today, and that the rise in temperatures during the past 100 years is also not unprecedented.

12:37 pm

The uncertainty of science: New ice core data from Antarctica suggests that in the past 10,000 years temperatures have often been higher than today, and that the rise in temperatures during the past 100 years is also not unprecedented.

These results are actually not news. Climate scientists have known for decades that today’s climate is not unique, and that the Earth has gone through similar temperature fluctuations in the past. The results simply reconfirm this fact, and make any global warming claims to the contrary less believable.

3 comments

More than 2,200 hospitals face penalties under Obamacare for how they decide to treat patients.

12:24 pm

Finding out what’s in it: More than 2,200 hospitals face penalties under Obamacare for how they decide to treat patients.

Starting in October, Medicare will reduce reimbursements to hospitals with high 30-day readmission rates — which refers to patients who return within a month — by as much as 1 percent. The maximum penalty increases to 2 percent the following year and 3 percent in 2014. Doctors are concerned the penalty is unfair, since sometimes they have to accept patients more than once in a brief period of time but could be penalized for doing so — even for accepting seniors who are sick.

The penalties are bureaucratic and statistical in nature, and have no relationship to the actual treatment of patients. Thus, they illustrate in one bold sweep the idiocy of Obamacare and why it must be repealed.

One comment

In a paper published today in Science, astronomers show that Type 1a supernovae, the kind used to measure the expansion rate of the universe, can be caused in more than one way, something not previously expected.

11:44 am

The uncertainty of science: In a paper published today in Science, astronomers show that Type 1a supernovae, the kind used to measure the expansion rate of the universe, can be caused in more than one way, something not previously expected.

Andy Howell, second author on the study, said: “It is a total surprise to find that thermonuclear supernovae, which all seem so similar, come from different kinds of stars. It is like discovering that some humans evolved from ape-like ancestors, and others came from giraffes. How could they look so similar if they had such different origins?” Howell is the leader of the supernova group at LCOGT, and is an adjunct faculty member in physics at UCSB.

Recently, some studies have found that Type Ia supernovae are not perfect standard candles –– their brightness depends on the type of galaxy in which they were discovered. The reason is a mystery, but the finding that some Type Ia supernovae come from different progenitors would seem to suggest that the supernova’s ultimate brightness may be affected by whether or not it comes from a nova or a white dwarf merger.

“We don’t think this calls the presence of dark energy into question,” said Dilday. “But it does show that if we want to make progress understanding it, we need to understand supernovae better.”

Leave a comment

A Virginia veteran who was arrested because of writings on Facebook has been ordered released by a judge.

11:29 am

A Virginia veteran who was arrested because of his writings on Facebook has been ordered released by a judge.

CBS 6 News’ Catie Beck said the judge dismissed the case Thursday against Brandon Raub. The judge said the original petition for Raub’s detention contained no facts. In other words, there was no information on why Raub was being held — and the judge deemed this violated his civil liberties. As a result, the judge ruled law enforcement has no grounds to hold Raub.

If I was this Marine, I sue everyone I could find for false arrest and a violation of his First Amendment rights.

Leave a comment

Police are preparing for significant violence at next week’s Republican convention in Tampa, based on threats by a number of leftwing groups.

3:59 pm

Leftwing civility: Police are preparing for significant violence at next week’s Republican convention in Tampa, based on threats by a number of leftwing groups.

In related news, the man who entered the conservative Family Research Center with a gun and shot a security guard after announcing “I don’t like your politics” has been indicted.

One comment
1 … 733 734 735 736 737 … 912