This was bound to happen.Major Pakistani newspapers have been duped (or "made an offer they could not refuse") into printing headline stories based on false wikileaks cables that are extremely unflattering to India. And I am not surprised that the finest intelligence agency in the world was first with this new form of communication. btw, the pro-PPP website LUBP has investigated some of the operations used to disseminate intelligence agency propaganda and their expose is worth a read too..
-
I’ve been reading the Origin of Species this week, because I’ve often found pre-20th Century physics unreadable (notationally), and it’s enjoyable to engage with great science in the original from time to time. Just finished the first chapter, where Darwin makes his famous case for the analogy between artificial and natural selection. This bit caught my eye:
If it has taken centuries or thousands of years to improve or modify most of our plants up to their present standard of usefulness to man, we can understand how it is that neither Australia, the Cape of Good Hope, nor any other region inhabited by quite uncivilised man, has afforded us a single plant worth culture. It is not that these countries, so rich in species, do not by a strange chance possess the aboriginal stocks of any useful plants, but that the native plants have not been improved by continued selection up to a standard of perfection comparable with that acquired by the plants in countries anciently civilised.
This brought immediately to mind Jared Diamond’s opposite view in Guns, Germs and Steel, that the usable plant and animal species had geographical distributions that directly affected the trajectory of (pre)history. It seems like that particular set of arguments from Diamond was the weakest portion of his book, substituting a ‘straightforward’ explanation with a rather ad-hoc and mysterious one, with somewhat flimsy justificatory argumentation.
-
Saffron: You Can Have Too Much Of A Good Thing
Between FaceBook and 3QuarksDaily, there have been a couple of outstanding chefs and writers who have paid great homage to the incredible spice, Saffron. Exceptional among them is Elatia Harris' three-part series, Saffron Mother, on 3QD.
Now, the staff at National Public Radio (NPR) presents an interesting article on saffron for their All Things Considered program, Saffron: You Can Have Too Much Of A Good Thing.
The story features food writer Monica Bhide who writes a syndicated column called Seasonings. A bonus from all of us is two recipes. I'm not a foodie, and I've not kitchen tested anything, but that's what you readers can do and report your results.
The first recipe is for:
Soup Of Carrot, Bell Pepper And Saffron
The second recipe is for:
Indian Yogurt Pudding With Saffron
If you try them, please let the rest of know how they taste.
-
Revisiting Bangla Desh 1971
by Nadir Ali on Tuesday, December 7, 2010 at 7:14pmI served as a young captain and major in Dhaka and Chittagong and then as second in command and later as commander of 3 Commando Battalion , in the fateful 1971 .I was there from early April to early Oct . We were at the heart of events ; we picked up Mujib Ur Rehman from his residence on25th March ,71.We were directly under command Eastern Command and as SSG battalion commander I received direct orders from Gen Niazi, Gen Rahim and later Gen Qazi Majid of 14 Div Dacca .Of the adversaries Gen Zia Ur Rehman was a fellow instructor at Pakistan Military Academy , Gen Khalid Musharof , who overthrew Zia in a counter coup was my course mate / room mate at PMA and fellow officer in SSG. Brig Abu Tahir , who brought Gen Zia back into power in a counter -counter coup ,was also a friend and fellow officer in SSG . He was a leftist and was jailed and later hanged by Gen Zia .Another leftist friend was Maj Zia Ud Din , who as a freedom fighter and Naxalite remained under ground from 1971 to1989 , when a general amnesty was declared .
-
"Please don't call me Shirley."
by Norman Costa
"Leslie Nielsen began his life as a dramatic actor, starring in films like The Poseidon Adventure and Forbidden Planet, but became famous for parodying the same straight-arrow roles that gave him his start. He was ultimately best known for his comic roles, particularly his portrayal of the incredibly stupid detective from the Naked Gun franchise, Lt. Frank Drebin.
"On Sunday [November 28, 2010], the comic actor, who appeared in more than 100 films in his lifetime, died from complications of pneumonia. He was 84.
"In a 1993 interview on Fresh Air, Nielsen explained how the Naked Gun team — producers-directors-and-writers Jim Abrahams and David and Jerry Zucker — initially approached him, as well as Peter Graves, Lloyd Bridges and Robert Stack, to star in their 1980 disaster-movie spoof, Airplane!"
For more of Terry Gross' "Surely, Fresh Air Remembers Leslie Nielsen," go HERE.
-
The decision of a lower court to award the death penalty to a poor Christian woman accused of blasphemy has ignited a wide ranging debate over Pakistan’s blasphemy laws.
Liberals have asked that the Zia-era blasphemy law should be repealed or amended because it has become an instrument of oppression and injustice in the hands of mobs and gangsters (over 4000 prosecutions in 25 years with several gruesome extra-judicial executions). The religious right has mobilized its supporters to oppose any such amendment and regards these attempts as a conspiracy against Islam. Ruling party MNA Sherry Rahman has introduced a “private member bill” to amend the law and the governor of Punjab has intervened (somewhat clumsily) in the judicial process and indicated that a Presidential pardon is on the cards. The international media is arrayed against the law alongside Pakistan’s liberals and progressives, while the “deep state”, the Islamist front organizations and their mentors in the Gulf and Saudi Arabia are no doubt aligned on the other side. What will be the likely outcome of this struggle? It is always hazardous to make predictions, but let us make some anyway and try to state why these are the likely outcomes:
-
The "Boundary of Detectability" and the Time Particle
by Norman Costa
I just read a fascinating article about one of the most esoteric, and obscure areas of research in particle physics. Alan Boyle, Science editor at msnbc.com, writes: “Can one particle explain both dark matter and the mysterious origins of matter and antimatter? Some physicists think so. They're calling the as-yet-only-theoretical object the "X particle."”
You can find Boyle's article, Could X particle solve two puzzles? HERE.
It's too bad that Boyle was limited by time and space and did not go further into other developments in X particle research. A lot more is happening.
The Boundary of Detectability
Boyle wrote, “The researchers suggest that the existence of the anti-Y and anti-Φ particles could be confirmed by their interactions with protons. Such interactions "could be on the boundary of detectability [my emphasis]" at facilities such as the Super-Kamiokande underground particle detector in Japan, said UBC's Kris Sigurdson.”"
Boyle goes on, “Theoretically, the X particles would decay into detectable neutrons, or a pair of hidden particles called Y and Φ (the Greek letter phi).”
New Developments in X particle physics
There is a proposed subset of Y particles called the Mee particles, named after the medical physicist, Bernard Fischer, who developed the protocol for Mammography Equipment Evaluation (MEE.) The Y particles are very hard to detect, and none has been observed to date.
There is a particular type of Mee particle, the Tel particle, named after famed theoretical physicist, and H-Bomb champion, Edward Teller. It is hypothesized that the Tel-Mee-Y particle is responsible for the the annihilation of anti-matter, or anything that gets in the way of its own ascendancy up the ladder of particle dominance. The Tel-Mee-Y is hidden, and only inferred by the absence of what came before it.
The other X particle is the Φ (the Greek letter phi.) Like the quark, the Φ comes in two orientations, up and down. Physicists, who enjoy inventing banal names and acronyms for important ideas in quantum mechanics, refer to them as High-Φ, and Low-Φ.
Professor Corey in Science Tomorrow
Detecting the Tel-Mee-Y, and the High-Φ is the work, some say obsession, of Professor Irwin Corey, Chair of the Particle Physics Department at Dutchess County Community College in Poughkeepsie, New York. He is the world's foremost authority.
In an article in this month's Science Tomorrow, Corey explained how he proved that the Tel-Mee-Y and the High-Φ are on the "boundary of detectability". Corey claimed the "boundary of detectability" evidence is so compelling that new lines of research can proceed without completing the final step of actual detection.
Criticism has come from all quarters of the scientific community. Objections to Corey's article are varied, but there is a consistent theme to the dismissal of Corey's ideas. They are summed up in the following question: Is it true that the hypothesized particles are on "the boundary of detectability," or is Corey no where near the boundary of detecting? Corey says his critics are making too fine a distinction.
Religion and politics came into the picture when a Nobel Laureate issued this challenge to Corey: “Do you think we should abandon climate change research because, as some people firmly believe, the "end times" are near and, therefore, climate change research is unnecessary?”
New Research on the Time Particle
Corey went on to discuss the enormous savings in time and money that would otherwise be consumed in trying to detect particles that are known to be on the "boundary of detection." “That is money and time better invested in new research into detecting the hypothesized time particle,” he wrote. Though not yet accepted by the larger physics community, he refers to it as the π(the Greek letter pi)T. He is attracting research grants from around the world for his new investigations. He refers to the new focus of his research as "Deep πT."
I am sure we will be hearing more from Professor Irwin Corey and his critics in 2011.
You can contact Professor Erwin Corey HERE.
Alan Boyle can be reached by Connecting with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page or following @b0yle on Twitter. -
James K. Galbraith does a great job of giving us all a cram course in fiscal and economic policy.
Moment of Lies: Galbraith Attacks Lack of Evidence for Frantic Deficit Fear Mongering
By James K. Galbraith, New Deal 2.0
Posted on December 3, 2010, Printed on December 4, 2010
http://www.alternet.org/story/149075/"The report of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, issued on December 1, 2010 by Chairmen Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, is entitled “The Moment of Truth.” The words appear in block caps on the second page, weighty and portentous. They reappear in the first paragraph of the preamble:
"“Throughout our nation’s history, Americans have found the courage to do right by our children’s future. Deep down, every American knows that we face a moment of truth once again.”
"These sentences set the tone. The first is a bald-faced lie, as a Westerner like Senator Simpson knows perfectly well. To the contrary, we have often fallen under the sway of robber barons, water barons, oil barons, bison-killers, clear-cutters and strip-miners, hell-bent on maximum pillage in the shortest time. Only occasionally have a few heroes like Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt, Gifford Pinchot and Harold Ickes Sr. emerged to battle for the most precious physical elements of our heritage — and then only with limited success.
"In the next paragraph, the Commission states the threat:
“Our challenge is clear and inescapable. America cannot be great if we go broke.”
"Exactly what it might mean for America to “go broke” is not explained. Nor is it anywhere in the report. But the paragraph continues:
“Our businesses will not be able to grow and create jobs, and our workers will not be able to compete successfully for the jobs of the future without a plan to get this crushing debt burden off our backs.”
"Apparently “going broke” means becoming unable to pay interest on the national debt. That being so, let’s ask the question: under what circumstances might the United States Treasury Department become unable to pay interest on the federal debt?"
This painting is "Odalisque with Slave." It is interesting and relevant to this article. Would anyone like to guess, or propose what the connection is?
PLEASE READ ON…
-
Bernie Sanders, Democratic Senator from the State of Vermont in the U.S.A., is a socialist.
Is there a war on working families in America? Is our democracy in peril? Is the wealth of this country in the hands of, or under the control of, a relative few?
To everyone who has called Barack Obama a socialist, and everyone else who does not know what a socialist is, and all those who think socialists are dangerous, BERNIE SANDERS is a SOCIALIST. If you want to learn all about socialism in under 15 minutes, then watch and listen to this video. Bernie is talking before the U.S. Congress on 30 November 2010.
-
A professor friend of mine sends word that one of his students is drawing caricatures of famous historical figures as eggs. I checked out the student's web site, called "Eggs of History," and found the drawings to be delightful. I'm particularly fond of Sir Philip Sidney, Afrika Bambaata, and Django. Roll over, David Levine!
-
Optogenetics Relieves Depression in a Mouse Trial
* By David Dobbs Email Author
* November 30, 2010
* 5:00 pm
* Categories: Neuron Culture, Science Blogs
* Wired magazineForget about Area 51. The action is at Area 25.
"…A team of researchers has used light to make a mouse’s brain run better and relieve the mouse’s mousy version of depression….This optogenetic work suggests a less intrusive, even more exacting way to test, define, and tweak…[brain] circuits.
"The researchers, led by Stanford University’s Karl Deisseroth and UT Southwestern psychiatrist Eric Nestler, used optogenetics — a technique that makes specific neurons sensitive to light and then lets you use light to activate or silence them — to increase activity in a key part of a mouse’s prefrontal cortex.
"As the researchers put it,
"…[O]ptogenetic stimulation of mPFC exerted potent antidepressant-like effects, without affecting general locomotor activity, anxiety-like behaviors, or social memory. These results indicate that the activity of the mPFC is a key determinant of depression-like behavior, as well as antidepressant responses."
This is a line of research that has been yielding excellent results for some time. Read more HERE.
-
Razib Choudhry has a very interesting post about the relative decline of Western power (and of "White superiority" in the world. Check it out and give your comments. My own comments are in the comment section of his post..
-
Wikileaks is about to leak their latest document horde. Good.
The more the merrier. There will be a lot hyperventilating in the US media and "diplomatic community" for a few days, primarily by people who claim to think in terms of real "objective" factors in world affairs but actually have no confidence in their own propaganda.
The irony is, they are closer to the truth when they are spouting propaganda! The US is not the pre-eminent power in the world because its super smart diplomats write super smart cables. You could kick that whole delicately balanced house of cards and it would fly in the air and fall down looking much the same as it did before the kick. All these alliances and counter-alliances are too robust to fall apart over leaked cables.
In any case, we know from the old declassified cables of 50 years ago that American diplomats are no more "deep" than TIME magazine. Most of the time, its just CYA fluff and idiocy like "General Musharraf drinks scotch whisky, so he is definitely a pro-western moderate". Its mostly BS anyway.
Not that I want to imply that other countries do much better. In fact, I would be willing to bet that diplomatic intelligence from China and Russia and Japan and Sweden (not to speak of Pakistan and India) will be even more juvenile than the same from the USA. The world is what it is, which means most of the "analysis" out there is hot air (including this one).
If Chinese diplomacy is able to keep its cables secret, they are not "there" yet. When they get "there", some Chinese hacker will leak their cables too.The secret protects itself.
-
What do they know that they are not telling us?
I was intrigued by Cyrus Halls' post at Facebook on the effects of the new 'up close and very personal' Pat Down policy. He linked to a very good article at http://boardingarea.com
TSA Enhanced Pat Downs : The Screeners Point Of View
OK, we have an interesting article that is topical. The content is informative, gross, funny, and weird. Whatever is done, for good or ill, affects patter and pattee alike. Patters don't like it, maybe more so than pattees.Here's my question. What do the folks at TSA, or Homeland Security for that matter, know that they are not telling us? I understand the concept of stepped up security, they call it 'enhanced security' and the idea that higher levels of threat alert require more intrusive and disruptive measures.
What we have in an increased, full body pat down is a level of personal intrusion that is considered a violation, if not sexual assault, in other circumstances. Security officers are having difficulty in accepting what they must do. They do not like to touch other people's bodies in search of dangerous contraband.
'Enhanced Pat Down' is as disturbing, unsatisfying, and demeaning for security officers as it is for passengers. A security officer does not have a good day at the office, ever, when it involves 'enhanced Pat Downs." I suspect the unease, great at times, is not a passing thing that will be absorbed by the passage of time.
In organizations of any consequence, nascent policy matters are are exercised up and down the organization chart. The idea is to get all angles of the proposed policy reviewed in great detail. More times than not, a bad policy proposal is discarded or greatly adjusted. Weaknesses and alternatives are discussed. Opinions and reviews are solicited from legal, human resources, third party representatives, communications departments, law enforcement, etc.
Occasionally, a real "howler" gets through. For the most part you get, at the end, a pretty good policy that has been thought through to a "fare-thee-well."
So why do we get such a distasteful policy that will cause enormous anxiety and unkind responses from all sides? Is it really good for the country to train the security officers to palpate under folds of fat, and make contact with a traveler's genitals and accost their modesty?
Couldn't they come up with something better, less intrusive, and without an emotional and psychological burden on all involved? If the answer is, "No!," as it apparently is, then I ask again, "What do the TSA and the Department of Homeland Security know that they are not telling us.?"
What are they expecting? For what danger are they preparing lines of defense that require micro-inspections of body regions, the not-so-mini degradations for millions of people?
If your answer is, "It's the fucking terrorists with bombs, you stupid moron!," you missed the point. All experienced security professionals will advise to focus on fewer threats that have bigger and more deadly consequences, and even ignore threats (put them lower on the lists that have minimal chances for doing major, lasting harm.
For example, it would be foolish to devote enormous resources to guarantee that no one will throw a Molotov cocktail over the embassy wall. But, you do have to guarantee that explosives are not planted inside the embassy compound that will demolish the entire structure and kill scores, even hundreds of people.
Another truism in the security business, is that your most intrusive, obtrusive, even invasive, security measures are reserved for times of high likelihood of severe threats. I'm talking very, very severe threats.
One of the extreme measures is martial law and the suspension of Habeas Corpus. If a President wants to suspend civil liberties, and declare martial law, there damn well should be very good reason.
So I ask my question again. What are they expecting that they haven't told us? If the answer is that these are just heightened precautionary measures, and not indicative of anything we haven't experienced before, then I start to worry – a lot.
I would worry a lot less if I learned that these measures were dictated by risk averse management – and the hell with whomever complains. I would feel much safer if this is all a pretense to obfuscate the purposes of sweet heart deals for politically connected security providers.
But, if this is serious, well considered policy that has been properly staffed (this refers to what we call 'staff work' in organizations,) then I am really worried and would like to find out, “What do they know that they are not telling us?”
From the TSA website:
Pat-downs For Travelers
What triggers a pat-down?
Pat-downs are used to resolve alarms at the checkpoint, including those triggered by metal detectors and AIT units. Pat-downs are also used when a person opts out of AIT screening in order to detect potentially dangerous and prohibited items. Because pat-downs are specifically used to resolve alarms and prevent dangerous items from going on a plane, the vast majority of passengers will not receive a pat-down at the checkpoint.
What can I do to prevent an alarm at the security checkpoint?
The majority of pat-downs occur when a passenger alarms either the metal detector or the AIT unit. To reduce this circumstance, the most important thing you can do is take everything out of your pockets before you go through screening. Also, when traveling, avoid wearing clothes with a high metal content, and put heavy jewelry on after you go through security.
What do I do during a pat-down?
All passengers have important rights during a pat-down. You have the right to request the pat-down be conducted in a private room and you have the right to have the pat-down witnessed by a person of your choice. All pat-downs are only conducted by same-gender officers. The officer will explain the pat-down process before and during the pat-down. If you have a medical device, please inform the officer.
Will children receive pat-downs?
Transportation Security Officers will work with parents to resolve any alarms at the checkpoint. If required, a child may receive a modified pat-down. Parents are encouraged to ensure their children have taken all items out of their pockets as they go through the security checkpoint.
TSA Statement on New Pat-down Procedures"TSA is in the process of implementing new pat-down procedures at checkpoints nationwide as one of our many layers of security to keep the traveling public safe. Pat-downs are one important tool to help TSA detect hidden and dangerous items such as explosives. Passengers should continue to expect an unpredictable mix of security layers that include explosives trace detection, advanced imaging technology, canine teams, among others."
Accidental Blogger 