Clever Science

I found an absolutely fascinating article today.  Researchers at Stanford determined a fairly straightforward method of predicting solar sunspots and thereby solar flares and mass ejections.  Why is this important, you ask?  Well, solar flares are a key factor in a lot of electronic interference and can cause problems with cell phones, computers, etc.  Being able to predict them, though a minor move forward in knowledge of the universe is both a fascinating scientific discovery and a bit of knowledge with some very practical (and potentially profitable) applications.

Scientists Can Predict Sunspots by Listening to Sound Waves

Justice and mercy

There is a curious article regarding the war on Libya and the actions and repercussions surrounding it.  On one hand, you have the Western nations involved in NATO claiming humanitarian crisis to justify a war to stop a tyrant who is harming large portions of his population in order to retain power, while on the other, you have an international judicial system that is offering this justification and ensuring that justice be dealt to this man.

These two realities are preventing justice from occurring easily or cheaply, and instead costing the lives of many people on both sides of the conflict.  The quote that I find most fascinating within this article is related to justice and pragmatism: "a judiciary that is impervious to political realities can create catastrophes in the name of justice."


It seems that sometimes it is better to offer the assurance of mercy in order to be most merciful to those who are enduring the situations that we are attempting to end.


You can read the full article below:

Gaming Violence and Sex, Part 2

I found this article related to my previous post on the Supreme Court case on violent video games.  It seems that the court decided to overturn California's law banning the sale of violent video games.  Something else happened here though, that I think is important and potentially momentous for the the gaming community: games were listed along side other forms of idea communication such as books, music, and other communicative forms of entertainment.

Although, I am glad that the court decided to limit the ban on sales, I do hope that state governments continue to uphold severe penalties for not marking these types of games appropriately.  It is the right and responsibility of parents to monitor their children's behavior, and that should never be taken away from them by any government.

America's corroded economic system

There is a curious, and terribly disturbing article about the greed of Wall Street people and the lengths to which they are willing to go to make a buck, even if it means the downfall of capitalism.

America's dodgy financial plumbing

A page out of the NATO book on Libya

I found an article on Yahoo about the NATO's involvement in the Libya conflict, and I thought that a specific quote in here applied to the US conflict in Iraq.

French Defense Minister Gerard Longuet said: "NATO has a military vocation and rebuilding Libya is a civilian issue. So really simply, in order to rebuild Libya, if the Libyan people ask for it, because it is first of all an issue for the Libyan people, it is the job for civilian international institutions — and not military — to bring a response"

Our military needs to take this stance in Iraq.  It is not our job to rebuild Iraq, nor should it require American tax dollars.

The end of the European Union?

As many of you are aware, the European Union (EU) is not in good economic shape.  The French and Germans are working to support the core of the EU, while other countries sap their resources whilst working through their various economic woes.  This predicament seems to be predominantly due to the economic malaise in Greece, Ireland, Spain, etc.  These economic conditions are creating political issues within the member nations of the EU, such that I believe that the future of the European Union is in jeopardy.  The Germans are getting tired of bailing out the rest of the EU, and I can imagine that this would foment their eventual catastrophic departure from the EU.  I found this curious article on Stratfor.  It seems to firmly indicate that the trust and faith of the nations in and near the EU are wavering in their confidence in the EU and NATO.  This kind of distrust is the beginning of cracks in the framework that currently exists to cement the unity of the EU.  Should these manner of events continue to escalate, the future of the European Union is less than certain.

What kind of effects will this have on regional stability?  If everything that is presented in this article comes about, one can easily see the Germans aligning themselves with the Russians, thus fracturing the European Union and redrawing the lines in the Eurozone.  France and the rest of the EU will be left to fend for themselves economically and militarily.  Hopefully, a break such as this will not produce hostility between the newly redrawn factions, but I would not count on that.  Perhaps, we will one day be dealing with a Russo-Germanic coalition.

The full article is posted below >>

The death of a wicked man

A week ago, Osama bin Laden, leader of the world-wide terror network Al-Qaida died in a U.S. Navy SEAL raid on his highly secured compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Everyone in the country reacted in a different way, many rejoiced, many sat silent, and many felt relief but sadness.  I felt some comfort in the fact that the American way of life is safer now with bin Laden gone, but I feel sad that he died without a chance to redeem himself in God's eyes.

I cannot agree with those who rejoiced; for although I felt some comfort at the news, I remained somber to the fact that there is yet another broken family somewhere.  To feel only joy at his death is most certainly a sign of callousness to the truth of the fact that, despite his horrible crimes, Osama bin Laden was still a human being.

This article reflects the range of complex emotions that passed through people around the country at this news.

World Views

A world view is an often misunderstood concept that has more importance to what each person believes, and how they form all of their actions and ethical underpinnings.  Each person possesses a world view whether or not they realize it, from which they derive all of their beliefs about the world, people, culture, politics and other significant issues.


Due to the sheer significance of the world view concept, I would challenge you to understand your own world view, because it will allow you to better understand yourself and your place in the world.


I will proceed to layout my own world view, in as concise a manner as I can, primarily as an example, but also to allow reader's a glimpse into my own thoughts.

Welcome to tomorrow!

 The US Air Force wrapped up testing of a reusable space-craft last year, presumed to be exclusively for reconnaissance.  This type of spacecraft is certainly the future of our access to the stars, and for now this step is the beginning of a new generation of space-faring craft.

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/secret-x-37b-robot-space-plane-landing-101203.html

Quote for today

"I think I see the conflict in the great arena of the universe. Man piles a mountain of sin, but God will match it, and he upheaves a loftier mountain of grace; man heaps up a still huger hill of sin, but the Lord overtops it with ten times more grace; and so the contest continues till at last the mighty God plucks up the mountains by the roots and buries man's sin beneath them as a fly might be buried beneath an Alp. Abundant sin is no barrier to the superabundant grace of God."    - - C. H. SPURGEON

Globalism and War

I haven't posted in a while, but I had a curious thought yesterday.

With globalization slowly encompassing the entire world, and transportation being global in nature, the economies of the world are becoming more and more entwined with one another.  Every nation is becoming more and more dependent on every other nation in the world.  Although this peculiarity has two edges to it, I am going to focus on the more positive one.

A side effect of the interdependency of globalization arises when you consider the reasons for nations going to war with one another.  Typically there are several reasons why nations go to war, one being for resources to ensure survival of the nation, one being for proactive self-defense, or for other nefarious reasons.

However, between the developing and industrialized nations of the world, there is a strong deterrence for going to war now: the interdependence of nations.  A nation is not going to attack another sovereign nation, if their economies are tied together.  Thus, I imagine that any future warfare will be between nations who are not part of the global economy and those who are.  Perhaps, this will help to prevent wars, at least on the worldwide scale, but people will still scuffle over resources as long as humanity exists.

Language and Meaning

There is a curious trend that I have been observing for a while now.  Back in the 'old' days (when my parents were kids) words that were considered dirty and filthy were rarely ever spoken.  They were relegated to a list of words that should not be said and simply avoided. 

As time progresses and these words are used more frequently, they are slowly being decontextualized.  These words are being used so frequently and in such non-related situations that they begin to lose whatever meaning that they had originally been imparted with and empowered by social stigmas.

I imagine that as the social stigmas surrounding these words slowly dissipates, the words themselves will come to be simply words that we say without any relevant meaning to them.