January 2011
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A Sputnik Moment? || Taylor Dinerman →
After Sputnik was launched on Oct. 4, 1957, President Eisenhower reacted calmly; he knew that by not complaining about the overflight of U.S. territory by the Soviet spacecraft, he was setting a precedent. He understood the significance of Sputnik in large part because in 1953, almost immediately after taking office, he had ordered work to begin on America’s first spy satellite, the WS-117....
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A history of supercontinents on planet Earth ||... →
Continents are still on the move, and they’ll almost certainly continue to move until the Sun vaporizes our planet in five billion years’ time. In all likelihood, the continents will merge again to form a new supercontinent within in the next 250 million years, completing the latest turn of the supercontinent cycle.
[check out the très cool videos at the link]
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Freedom in the Arab world || Washington Post →
This has been the greatest failure of policy and imagination in the administration’s approach: Looking at the world map, it sees states and their rulers, but has forgotten the millions of people suffering under and beginning to rebel against those rulers. “Engagement” has not been the problem, but rather the administration’s insistence on engaging with regimes rather than...
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Protest movements swelling in Mideast ||... →
A wave of political unrest threatening Middle Eastern governments grew ominously larger Thursday as new protests shook impoverished Yemen and Egyptian authorities braced for massive anti-government demonstrations set to begin Friday.
The fresh turbulence deepened fears of a prolonged period of chaos and uncertainty in the region while raising new questions about the viability of autocratic...
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“We believe government’s role is both vital and limited – to defend the nation...”
– Remarks of Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI), following the State of the Union address, 25 January 2011
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Vogue — Madonna
Ladies with an attitude ...
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Hezbollah moves to pick Lebanon's leader ||... →
The Shiite armed movement Hezbollah cobbled together enough support Monday to appoint Lebanon’s next prime minister, effectively ending nearly six years of rule by Western-backed leaders and prompting the United States to warn it could cut off aid to this key Arab nation.
The apparent strength of Hezbollah marked an important political achievement for the group. It also signaled what...
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Yellowstone Has Bulged as Magma Pocket Swells ||... →
Yellowstone National Park’s supervolcano just took a deep “breath,” causing miles of ground to rise dramatically, scientists report.
The simmering volcano has produced major eruptions—each a thousand times more powerful than Mount St. Helens’s 1980 eruption—three times in the past 2.1 million years. Yellowstone’s caldera, which covers a 25- by 37-mile swath of...
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“The purpose of Newspeak was not only to provide a medium of expression for the...”
– 1984, George Orwell
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Self-esteem problem || George Will →
The idea that America’s problem of governance is one of inadequate resources misses this lesson of the last half-century: No amount of resources can prevent government from performing poorly when it tries to perform too many tasks, or particular tasks for which it is inherently unsuited.
Actually, government is not sufficiently demoralized. The hubris that is the occupational hazard...
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Evolution of Feathers || National Geographic →
Most of us will never get to see nature’s greatest marvels in person. We won’t get a glimpse of a colossal squid’s eye, as big as a basketball. The closest we’ll get to a narwhal’s unicornlike tusk is a photograph. But there is one natural wonder that just about all of us can see, simply by stepping outside: dinosaurs using their feathers to fly.
Birds are so...
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Behind The New Bomber || Ares →
Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ announcement on January 6 that the US Air Force would get the go-ahead for a new bomber - at least, approval to restart the requirements process that he put on hold in April 2009 - could turn out to be a historic move.
It is a big turnaround since last summer, when it seemed that even mentioning a new bomber was more than anyone dared to do…. [T]he real...
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Court debates fairness, not secrets || Washington... →
It has been more than 50 years since the Supreme Court addressed the principle of “state secrets” and when the federal government may invoke them. But the justices indicated in an oral argument Tuesday, in a case that hinges on the issue, that they are in no hurry to break their silence.
The dispute between General Dynamics and Boeing on one side and the Defense Department on the...
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In New Military, Data Overload Can Be Deadly ||... →
[cf, the 1972 ARPANET map, for contrast]
“Information overload — an accurate description,” said one senior military officer, who was briefed on the inquiry and spoke on the condition of anonymity because the case might yet result in a court martial. The deaths would have been prevented, he said, “if we had just slowed things down and thought deliberately.”
Data is among the most potent...
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Tunisia's revolution should be a wake-up call to... →
The popular uprising that drove Tunisia’s aging, autocratic president from power Friday was an earthquake not just for that North African nation of 10 million people but for the Arab world as a whole. Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, 74, ruled his country in much the same way as the strongmen who govern neighboring Algeria and Libya, as well as key U.S. allies such as Egypt and Jordan - by jailing...
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dive for dreams →
by e.e. cummings
dive for dreams or a slogan may topple you (trees are their roots and wind is wind) trust your heart if the seas catch fire (and live by love though the stars walk backward) honour the past but welcome the future (and dance your death away at the wedding) never mind a world with its villains or heroes (for good likes girls and tomorrow and the earth) in spite of...
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dive for dreams →
by e.e. cummings
dive for dreams or a slogan may topple you (trees are their roots and wind is wind) trust your heart if the seas catch fire (and live by love though the stars walk backward) honour the past but welcome the future (and dance your death away at the wedding) never mind a world with its villains or heroes (for good likes girls and tomorrow and the earth) in spite of...
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Moravská lidová poesie v písních (Moravian Folk...
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Moravská lidová poesie v písních (Moravian Folk...
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