6/29

posted by Stephen Lee @ 6/30/2006 10:58:00 AM 0 comments   

6/28 - Robert Baer

• Flag Burning. The Senate voted 66-34 in favor of a constitutional amendment that would allow for the banning of flag-burning, falling one vote short of the 2/3 majority required for Senate approval (roll call vote on-line here). Since 1989, when the Supreme Court ruled that a law banning flag-burning unconstitutionally suppressed free expression, Congress has tried several times to amend the U.S. Constitution to allow for such a law. If such an effort were to make it past Congress, then three-quarters of the states would have to approve the amendment for it to be ratified.

• The Word: Superman. The New York Times reported last week that sources had reported that the United States had initiated a secret program soon after the September 11, 2001 attacks to examine bank transactions involving people in the United States (article on-line here). President George W. Bush defended the program on June 23 as “fully authorized under the law” and criticized the disclosure of the program as “disgraceful” (transcript on-line here). Vice President Dick Cheney also defended the program and said he was offended by news media that “take it upon themselves to disclose vital national security programs, thereby making it more difficult for us to prevent future attacks against the American people” (transcript on-line here).

• Citizens in Action.

• Reference to Iran and Terrorism. The United States has also long considered Iran to be the "most active" state sponsor of terrorism, as cited in an April 28, 2006 report on-line here. In that report, the State Department noted that Iranian agencies were "directly involved in the planning and support of terrorist acts and continued to exhort a variety of groups … to use terrorism in pursuit of their goals” and were “increasingly involved in supplying lethal assistance to Iraqi militant groups, which destabilizes Iraq.” The State Department also said that Iran represented a “particular concern” as a state sponsor of terrorism, as it “could support terrorist organizations seeking to acquire WMD.”
  The 9/11 Commission did indicate that Iran may actually have had some connection to the 9/11 attacks and called for further investigation of such a role. The 9/11 Commission reported that there was "strong evidence" that Iran facilitated the transit of some of the "muscle" hijackers between Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia in late 2000 and early 2001. The 9/11 Commission also reported that some hijackers may have had contact with operatives of Hezbollah, the terrorist organization that receives aid from Iran and that is believed to have been involved with several anti-US attacks, including anti-US attacks in Beirut in 1983 and 1984.

posted by Stephen Lee @ 6/29/2006 07:45:00 AM 0 comments   

6/27 - Chris Mathews

• Flag Burning. The Senate voted 66-34 in favor of a constitutional amendment that would allow for the banning of flag-burning, falling one vote short of the 2/3 majority required for Senate approval (roll call vote on-line here). Since 1989, when the Supreme Court ruled that a law banning flag-burning unconstitutionally suppressed free expression, Congress has tried several times to amend the U.S. Constitution to allow for such a law. If such an effort were to make it past Congress, then three-quarters of the states would have to approve the amendment for it to be ratified.

• Conservative Rock Songs. An article about Bruce Springsteen’s June 23 interview with Soledad O’Brien is on-line here. The National Review’s list of 50 top conservative rock songs is on-line here.

• The Word: Cold, Dead Fingers. The United Nations’ conference on illegal small arms is on-line here.

• Movies That are Destroying America: Summer Edition 2: The Sequel. A Scanner Darkly, Barnyard, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, and Strangers with Candy.

posted by Stephen Lee @ 6/28/2006 07:51:00 AM 0 comments   

6/26 - Mark Bowden

• Buffet Donation. Renowned investor Warren Buffet has announced that he would begin giving away much of his fortune in July to five foundations, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Article on-line here and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation statement on-line here.

• Fraud Medals. The USA Today article referred to is on-line here.

• The Word: Class Warfare. A transcript of former Senator John Edwards’ June 22 speech about poverty is on-line here. The Census Bureau has statistical information about poverty on-line here.
  The Senate voted 52-46 on June 22 against a proposed increase in the minimum wage. The federal minimum wage for covered workers has stayed at $5.15 per hour since 1997, when legislation enacted the year before went into effect. The minimum wage is not adjusted automatically for inflation, which means that the value has fallen in real, inflation-adjusted terms since 1997 and now has purchasing power of about 80 percent its value when last adjusted.
  
  Beyond the federal government, many states have enacted their own minimum-wage laws to cover those employers who are exempt from the federal law. Many states simply adopt the federal minimum wage as their own, and several have a state minimum wage higher than the federal government (map on-line here). Some states have a rate lower than the federal government or have no minimum-wage law at all; the federal standard applies in such states.

• All You Need to Know. The National Academies of Science announced on June 22 that there was sufficient evidence to conclude that recent decades have been warmer than any comparable period in the last 400 years (information on-line here). An article about the increase in the maximum enlistment age for the Army is on-line here.

• Iran. Regarding the Iranian hostage crisis, militant Iranian students occupied the American embassy in Tehran and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days, beginning in November 1979 and lasting to January 1981.

• Highlights. A press release about the printing of the billionth copy of Highlights, now celebrating its 60th anniversary, is on-line here.

posted by Stephen Lee @ 6/27/2006 08:48:00 AM 0 comments   

6/22 - Douglas Brinkley

• World Cup. The United States failed to advance out of its group in the 2006 World Cup, having lost two matches (to the Czech Republic and Ghana) and having tied one match (to Italy).

• The Word: Cut and Run. A story about Stephen Hawking’s June 12 press conference is on-line here.
  President George W. Bush announced his space program on January 14, 2004 (transcript on-line here and more details on-line here). At that time, Bush announced plans to strengthen the United States' space program by completing the International Space Station by 2010, returning the space shuttle to duty, developing a new spacecraft by 2008 and conducting its first manned mission by 2014, and returning to the moon by 2020. Bush said he plans to increase NASA's FY 2004 budget of $15.4 billion by an average of 5 percent per year for the next three years.

• Better Know a District. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colorado) is on-line here.
  The idea of a female president of the United States has become more acceptable to the American people over the past few decades. For example, the Gallup organization has conducted polls on this question periodically since 1937 and has found increasing support for the concept of electing a qualified candidate who happened to be a woman. Results of such polls are shown in the graph below:

• Quarters. The U.S. Mint has information about the 50-state quarter program on-line here.

• Hurricane Katrina. Some have asked whether more preventive measures could have contained the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. Lt. General Carl Strock, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said on Sept. 2, 2005 (on-line here) that the levee system was designed only for a class 3 hurricane and that "the intensity of this storm simply exceeded the design capacity of this levee."
  A House special committee issued its final report on February 15 (on-line here) in which it concluded that Katrina was a "national failure" that was in part due to a failing "at every level – individual, corporate, philanthropic, and governmental." Among other things, the report concluded that Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Ray Nagin delayed ordered a mandatory evacuation after receiving adequate warning before landfall, that Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff should have taken more actions prior to landfall, and that President George W. Bush did not receive adequate advice and counsel.
  The White House released on February 23 its own report reviewing the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina and made recommendations for the future (on-line here). The report included 17 lessons learned, 125 specific recommendations, and 11 critical actions to be completed before the start of the 2006 hurricane season, including steps to improve communication among various agencies. According to the report, "the response to Hurricane Katrina fell far short of the seamless, coordinated effort that had been envisioned by President Bush when he ordered the creation of a National Response Plan in February 2003."
  Bush, who has been criticized by some in the past for his vacation schedule, was on vacation during the week that Hurricane Katrina hit.
  • Sunday, August 28 (the day before Katrina hit Louisiana): Bush was in Crawford and gave a speech in which he urged Gulf Coast residents to take precautions (on-line here).

  • Monday, August 29 (the day Katrina hit Louisiana): Bush was in Arizona for a speech on Medicare (on-line here). He declared major disasters in Louisiana (on-line here), Alabama and Mississippi.

  • Tuesday, August 30: Bush was in California for a speech commemorating the 60th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II (on-line here).

  • Wednesday, August 31: Bush returned to Washington DC, where he noted that "as we flew here today, I also asked the pilot to fly over the Gulf Coast region so I could see firsthand the scope and magnitude of the devastation" (on-line here).

  • Thursday, September 1: Bush was in Washington DC, where he gave a speech with former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton about relief efforts (on-line here).

  • Friday, September 2: Four days after Katrina hit Louisiana, Bush visited the region for the first time. Bush visited Alabama, where he praised Federal Emergency Management Agency head Michael Brown and made a remark about Sen. Trent Lott's home (on-line here), and Mississippi (on-line here).

posted by Stephen Lee @ 6/23/2006 08:40:00 AM 0 comments   

6/21

posted by Stephen Lee @ 6/22/2006 06:11:00 AM 0 comments   

6/20 - Bart Ehrman

• Snake Marriage. An article about a woman in India marrying a snake is on-line here.

• The Word: Everything Must Go. Thomas Friedman’s May 31 op-ed article, in which he criticizes General Motors’ “fuel price protection program,” is on-line here. General Motors’ responses to Friedman are on-line here.

• Stephen Makes It Simple. Big Government: controls something you own. Small Government: controls your body. Small Government: control your genitals. Small Government: 10 Commandments, no gays. Big Government: Poor, other cheek, taxes.

posted by Stephen Lee @ 6/21/2006 08:13:00 AM 0 comments   

6/19 - Gustavo Arellano

• Bill Gates. Microsoft announced on June 15 that chairman Bill Gates would transition out of a day-to-day role at the company in July 2008 in order to spend more time on charitable work through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (release on-line here). The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which focuses on global health and education issues, is on-line here.

• The Word: Risky Business. The June 15 New York Times article that Stephen cited is on-line here. The article cited the discovery that a specific gene in mice may be connected to risk-taking behavior (September 2005 release on-line here.
  The reference to the number 402 is based on a February 27 Washington Post article about sperm banks and about a group of 11 women who were impregnated using sperm from the same donor, "Donor 401," and who keep in touch; the article is on-line here. According to the Washington Post article, Donor 401 probably lives around Washington DC, is tall, is of German heritage, has a master's degree, and is athletic. The Fairfax Cryobank, which Donor 401 used, is on-line here.

• Threat Down: Gay Superheroes! Cirque du Soleil! The World Cup! The Ex-Gay Movement! Desirable Men! The Advocate article about the appeal of superheroes to gay readers is on-line here. Exodus International, a group that promotes its self-described message of “freedom from homosexuality through the power of Jesus Christ,” is on-line here.

• Reference to Immigration. The Senate passed on May 25 an immigration reform bill (S.2611) that would, among other things, require the replacing and extension of existing fences along the border and the creation of at least 370 miles of triple-layered fences along the Mexican border. The House of Representatives passed an immigration bill in December that also required more fences and security measures along the Mexican border, though the bills are further apart on other issues such as a guest-worker program and whether some illegal immigrants could apply for citizenship.
  Various surveys have estimated that the number of illegal immigrants grew dramatically over the 1990s. The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service estimated in 2003 that there were 7 million illegal immigrants in the United States in January 2000, almost doubling since 1990 (on-line here). A more recent study by the Pew Hispanic Center (on-line here) estimated that there were 10.3 million illegal aliens in the United States in March 2004.
  Both studies estimated that Mexicans comprised the majority of illegal aliens. Both studies also found that many states that had relatively few illegal aliens around 1990 experienced large increases in their illegal alien population over the 1990s. The INS study estimated that Arizona's illegal alien population tripled between 1990 and 2000 and that illegal aliens comprised 5.5 percent of the state's population as of 2000.

posted by Stephen Lee @ 6/20/2006 08:29:00 AM 0 comments   

6/16 - Michael Pollan

• Duke Cunningham. Republican Brian Bilbray won a special election on June 6 to replace Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-California), who pled guilty in November 2005 to bribery, fraud and tax evasion charges. Bilbray won 49.33 percent of the vote, and Democrat Francine Busby received 45.46 percent of the vote (results on-line here).

• The Word: Lock & Load. The Senate passed on May 25 an immigration reform bill (S.2611) that would, among other things, require the replacing and extension of existing fences along the border and the creation of at least 370 miles of triple-layered fences along the Mexican border. The House of Representatives passed an immigration bill in December that also required more fences and security measures along the Mexican border, though the bills are further apart on other issues such as a guest-worker program and whether some illegal immigrants could apply for citizenship.
  Various surveys have estimated that the number of illegal immigrants grew dramatically over the 1990s. The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service estimated in 2003 that there were 7 million illegal immigrants in the United States in January 2000, almost doubling since 1990 (on-line here). A more recent study by the Pew Hispanic Center (on-line here) estimated that there were 10.3 million illegal aliens in the United States in March 2004.

• Formidable Opponent. Military officials announced on June 10 that three detainees at Guantanamo Bay had died of apparent suicides earlier that day. Articles on-line here and here. The United States began holding detainees at Guantanamo Bay in late 2001 and early 2002, and currently has about 460 detainees in Guantanamo Bay. It has released 192 detainees and transferred 95 to other governments in the past four years. The following graph is based on Defense Department news releases and media kits (example: here).
  
  Some have criticized the treatment of those at Guantanamo. For example, the International Committee for the Red Cross has said that detainees at Guantanamo should be charged, released, or have their continued detention be governed within a legal framework. The ICRC said in a December 2005 release (on-line here) that it believes that "uncertainty about their fate has added to the mental and emotional strain experienced by many detainees at Guantanamo Bay" and that it is "concerned by the fact that the US authorities have not resolved the questions of their legal status and of the applicable legal framework."

posted by Stephen Lee @ 6/16/2006 08:32:00 AM 0 comments   

6/14 - David Sirota

• Iraq Visit. Transcripts of President George W. Bush’s remarks during his June 13 visit to Iraq are on-line here and here.

• The Word: License Renewal. Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Illinois) introduced H. Res. 861 on June 12. This resolution states that “the United States will prevail in the Global War on Terror, the noble struggle to protect freedom from the terrorist adversary” and that the United States should complete its mission “to create a sovereign, free, secure, and united Iraq” without setting an arbitrary deadline for withdrawing U.S. forces.

• Better Know a District. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Georgia) is on-line here.
  The Ten Commandments, otherwise known as the Decalogue, are drawn from God's speech to Moses on Mount Sinai in the Book of Exodus, Chapter 20. As generally understood, the first four commandments deal with the beliefs and practices of Christians and Jews. The last six are moral and ethical rules dealing with general behavior and are thus applicable to non-believers.
  1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
  2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.
  3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
  4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant.
  5. Honour thy father and thy mother.
  6. Thou shalt not kill.
  7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
  8. Thou shalt not steal.
  9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
  10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant.

posted by Stephen Lee @ 6/15/2006 08:32:00 AM 0 comments   

6/13 - Tim Flannery

• Karl Rove. Karl Rove’s lawyer said on June 13 that special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald had informed Rove that Rove would not be indicted in connection with Fitzgerald’s investigation into the possible leak of an undercover CIA agent’s name. A New York Times article is on-line here.

• The Word: Great F****ing Idea. Both houses of Congress have voted in favor of the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act, which would increase the maximum fine that the Federal Communications Commission can impose for an indecent broadcast by 10 times from $32,500 to $325,000 each violation. The Senate approved the bill on May 18 by unanimous consent, and the House voted 399-35 in favor of it on June 7. President George W. Bush said in a June 7 statement (on-line here) that the legislation would “make television and radio more family friendly by allowing the FCC to impose stiffer fines on broadcasters who air obscene or indecent programming.”
  The FCC, which has authority to enforce federal obscenity law, has reported (on-line as a PDF here) it received about 1,000 times as many complaints in 2004 than in 2000. Complaints in 2004 concerned 314 programs (145 radio, 140 television, and 29 cable), while complaints in 2000 concerned 111 programs (85 radio, 25 television, and 1 cable). In 2004, the FCC issued 12 notices of apparent liability seeking $7.9 million in fines; five recipients of complaints paid or agreed to pay.

• On the Phone. USA Today reported on May 11 that the National Security Agency has maintained a database of information about domestic phone calls (on-line here).
  President George W. Bush did not confirm or deny the existence of the program in a May 11 appearance (on-line here, but did defend intelligence activities generally. "First, our international activities strictly target al Qaeda and their known affiliates. Al Qaeda is our enemy, and we want to know their plans. Second, the government does not listen to domestic phone calls without court approval. Third, the intelligence activities I authorized are lawful and have been briefed to appropriate members of Congress, both Republican and Democrat. Fourth, the privacy of ordinary Americans is fiercely protected in all our activities," he said. "We're not mining or trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans. Our efforts are focused on links to al Qaeda and their known affiliates."

• Reference to Global Warming. Many people do agree that global average surface temperature has increased over the 100 years by about one degree and that higher concentrations of greenhouse gases relating to human activity such as the use of fossil fuels have contributed to this increase. President George W. Bush himself acknowledged the temperature increase and the greenhouse effect in a June 11, 2001 speech (on-line here), though he also raised questions about how much was known and what should be done in response.
  The Kyoto agreement that commits participating countries to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases went into effect on Feb. 16, 2005, having been ratified by countries accounting for more than half of the carbon dioxide emissions in 1990. Under this agreement, industrialized countries would have to meet certain carbon-dioxide emission reduction levels by 2010 while non-industrialized countries such as China and India would not have such specific goals. Only countries that have ratified the Kyoto agreement are bound by it; the United States and China, the two largest emitters of carbon dioxide, did not ratify the agreement though President Bill Clinton did sign it.
  President George W. Bush has long criticized the Kyoto agreement. In a March 2001 letter (on-line here), he wrote that his administration would not agree to the Kyoto Protocol because it "exempts 80 percent of the world, including major population centers such as China and India, from compliance, and would cause serious harm to the U.S. economy."

posted by Stephen Lee @ 6/14/2006 08:02:00 AM 0 comments   

6/12 - Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

• Tony Awards. A list of the winners of the 2006 Tony Awards is on-line here.

• Mort Zuckerman. A collection of Mort Zuckerman's columns from U.S . News & World Report is on-line here.

• His Word: Tom Delay's Farewell Speech. Representative Tom DeLay (R-Texas, on-line here) announced on April 4 that he would resign his House seat (statement on-line here) and gave his farewell address on June 8 (statement on-line here). DeLay stepped down as House majority leader in September 2005 after being indicted on campaign finance charges related to the allegedly illegal transfer in 2002 of certain money to the Republican National Committee so that the money could be transferred to campaigns for the Texas state legislature. DeLay had close ties to lobbyist Jack Abramoff and decided not to seek the leadership post again after Abramoff's guilty plea in January 2006.

• Tip of the Hat, Wag of the Finger: College Students! Pat Robertson! Lions! Rabid Kittens! China! An article about Pat Robertson's claim that he once leg-pressed a ton is on-line here. An article about China's plans to prevent rain during the 2008 Olympics is on-line here.

• Reference to Ohio Election. The Rolling Stone article by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is on-line here.

posted by Stephen Lee @ 6/13/2006 10:02:00 AM 0 comments   

6/8 - Steven Johnson

• Zarqawi Death. U.S. and Iraqi officials announced on June 8 that U.S. forces had killed Abu Zarqawi, a Jordanian leader who led the insurgency in Iraq. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said that Zarwai's death would not end violence in Iraq but was a "significant victory in the battle against terrorism in that country and I would say worldwide because he had interests well outside of Iraq" (transcript on-line here). A statement by President George W. Bush on the Zarqawi death is on-line here.

• Newsweek. An article in the June 5 issue re-examining the so-called "marriage crunch" is on-line here.

• The Word: Goooooaaaaaal! The 2006 World Cup tournament in Germany begins on June 9 and is scheduled to end with a final match on July 9. The official World Cup site is on-line here.

• Better Know a District. Representative Tom DeLay (R-Texas, on-line here) announced on April 4 that he would resign his House seat (statement on-line here) and gave his farewell address on June 8 (statement on-line here). DeLay stepped down as House majority leader in September 2005 after being indicted on campaign finance charges related to the allegedly illegal transfer in 2002 of certain money to the Republican National Committee so that the money could be transferred to campaigns for the Texas state legislature. DeLay had close ties to lobbyist Jack Abramoff and decided not to seek the leadership post again after Abramoff's guilty plea in January 2006.

• Commencement Address. A transcript of Stephen's Knox College commencement address is on-line here.

posted by Stephen Lee @ 6/09/2006 08:44:00 AM 0 comments   

6/7 - Steve Squyres

• 6/6/06. The number 666 is associated with one of the three enemies described in the Book of Revelations. Revelations refers to three different enemies: a dragon who is named as the Devil and Satan, a "beast" with seven heads and ten horns, and another "beast" with "two horns."
  As described in Chapter 13 of Revelation (on-line here), the first beast came from the sea, had authority over the world, which worshipped the dragon because the beast had its authority from it, and had one head that had recovered from a mortal wound. The beast appears to be described further in Chapter 17, where a woman is seen riding a beast that has seven heads and ten horns and appears to be the same as in Chapter 13; the seven heads are explained here as representing seven hills as well as seven kings, of whom five had fallen, one still lived, and the last was still to come but only for a while.
  The second beast is described as coming from the earth, wielding the first beast's authority, making the world worship the first beast, and forcing people to be given a stamped image of the first beast on their right hands or foreheads so that none could buy or sell without that image or the beast's number, which was 666.
  Some have seen the two beasts as being symbolic representations of the Roman Empire (Rome was known as having seven hills, and the emperor Nero was rumored to have suffered a head wound that he survived; Nero's Greek name can be converted to Hebrew letters with numeric values totaling 666), the governors who ruled on behalf of the Roman Empire, and false prophets. Some have seen the beasts more broadly as representations of the spiritual battles facing people or the ongoing battle between good and evil, suggesting, for example, that the seven heads of the first beast represent the seven deadly sins and that the ten horns represent violations of the Ten Commandments.
  Others, however, have seen the descriptions as signs of the "Antichrist" and have tried identifying various national leaders as the Antichrist. The list of would-be candidates, at least in some people's eyes, is long and includes leaders of the Soviet Union, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, Pope John Paul II, and even U.S. presidents such as John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan.

• The Word: Big Deal. The documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” which features former Vice President Al Gore, is on-line here.
  Many do agree that global average surface temperature has increased over the 100 years by about one degree and that higher concentrations of greenhouse gases relating to human activity such as the use of fossil fuels have contributed to this increase. President George W. Bush himself acknowledged the temperature increase and the greenhouse effect in a June 11, 2001 speech (on-line here), though he also raised questions about how much was known and what should be done in response.

• Threat Down: Ivy Leaguers! Bad Heroin! US Diplomats! Repetitive Corporate Sponsorship! Conservationists! Harvard University announced on June 6 that it had approved experiments to create stem-cell lines to treat diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases, and blood disorders (information on-line here). Stem-cell research is not illegal, though President George W. Bush announced a policy in 2001 that provided for federal funding of stem-cell research in only certain cases (on-line here).
  A June 5 Department of Justice report on fatal overdoses connected to fentanyl, a synthetic drug, is on-line here.
  Some reports have indicated that the United States would allow Iran to have some nuclear technology if it suspended uranium enrichment activities. White House spokesman Tony Snow said on June 7 (transcript on-line here) that he would not get into details of what had been offered to Iran and said that the United States still maintained that Iran must suspend enrichment activities (Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced on April 11 that Iran had enriched uranium for use in nuclear power plants). “They have to do that to get to the table, period. That has not changed,” Snow said.

• Mars Rovers. The Spirit land rover landed on January 3, 2004 in Mars' Gusev Crater, and the Opportunity rover landed on Jan. 25 in the Meridiani Planum, on the opposite side of the planet from Spirit. These rovers are part of NASA's ongoing efforts to locate areas on Mars that may once have contained water and thus would be likely areas to find evidence of past life. Both rovers have continued to operate for more than one Martian year (about two Earth years). NASA has information on the Mars rovers on-line here.

posted by Stephen Lee @ 6/08/2006 08:34:00 AM 0 comments   

6/6 - Christine Amanpour

• 6/6/06. The number 666 is associated with one of the three enemies described in the Book of Revelations. Revelations refers to three different enemies: a dragon who is named as the Devil and Satan, a "beast" with seven heads and ten horns, and another "beast" with "two horns."
  As described in Chapter 13 of Revelation (on-line here), the first beast came from the sea, had authority over the world, which worshipped the dragon because the beast had its authority from it, and had one head that had recovered from a mortal wound. The beast appears to be described further in Chapter 17, where a woman is seen riding a beast that has seven heads and ten horns and appears to be the same as in Chapter 13; the seven heads are explained here as representing seven hills as well as seven kings, of whom five had fallen, one still lived, and the last was still to come but only for a while.
  The second beast is described as coming from the earth, wielding the first beast's authority, making the world worship the first beast, and forcing people to be given a stamped image of the first beast on their right hands or foreheads so that none could buy or sell without that image or the beast's number, which was 666.
  Some have seen the two beasts as being symbolic representations of the Roman Empire (Rome was known as having seven hills, and the emperor Nero was rumored to have suffered a head wound that he survived; Nero's Greek name can be converted to Hebrew letters with numeric values totaling 666), the governors who ruled on behalf of the Roman Empire, and false prophets. Some have seen the beasts more broadly as representations of the spiritual battles facing people or the ongoing battle between good and evil, suggesting, for example, that the seven heads of the first beast represent the seven deadly sins and that the ten horns represent violations of the Ten Commandments.
  Others, however, have seen the descriptions as signs of the "Antichrist" and have tried identifying various national leaders as the Antichrist. The list of would-be candidates, at least in some people's eyes, is long and includes leaders of the Soviet Union, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, Pope John Paul II, and even U.S. presidents such as John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan.
  The New York Times article Stephen mentions is on-line here.

• The Word: The Military. President George W. Bush has pushed in recent days for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages (June 5, 2006 remarks on-line here). The Senate, which last considered such a measure in the summer of 2004, now is considering a measure that would amend the U.S. Constitution so that marriage would be defined as “only of the union of a man and a woman” and preventing any federal or state constitution from being construed as allowing same-sex marriage. The measure, S.J. Res. 1, is unlikely to get the two-thirds support necessary in the Senate, and would need two-thirds support in the House and ratification by three-quarters of the states before becoming part of the U.S. Constitution.
  Massachusetts is the only state that recognizes same-sex marriages, as a result of two decisions by that state's highest court in 2003 and 2004. Two other states (Vermont and California) recognize same-sex couples' rights via an equivalent to marriage such as civil unions or domestic partnerships. In the wake of the Massachusetts rulings, voters in many states approved measures amending their constitutions to ban same-sex marriage either by defining marriage as between a man and a woman or by going further and stating that legal equivalents such as civil unions may not be recognized.

• Stephen’s Sound Advice for College Graduates. "Move back home! Pad your resume! Plastics (credit cards)! Don’t backpack in Europe! Streak the quad! Don’t graduate!"

• Reference to Iran. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on May 31 that the United States would be willing to participate in talks with Iran about its nuclear capabilities, marking a change in position for the Bush administration (remarks on-line here). Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced on April 11 that Iran had enriched uranium for use in nuclear power plants, advancing its nuclear plans, just weeks after a statement by the United Nations Security Council (on-line here) calling for Iran to suspend all nuclear enrichment activities.

posted by Stephen Lee @ 6/07/2006 08:18:00 AM 0 comments   

6/5 - Stone Phillips

• The Word: Me. I don’t have anything to add for this anniversary episode, which was mostly a look back on the past 99 shows. Congratulations to Stephen on 100 episodes.

posted by Stephen Lee @ 6/06/2006 08:25:00 AM 0 comments