America the Ignorant

One filth believe Obama is a Muslim, as reported by Newsweek  

16 of he Dumbest Things Americans Believe

Americans are often misinformed, occasionally downright dumb, and easily misled by juicy-sounding rumors. But while the right wing is taking full advantage of this reality, the Left worries that calling out lies is "rude."

Conservative or Liberal? Workspace Reveals All

Your office or bedroom holds telltale signs of whether you are a conservative or a liberal, finds a new study. While political conservatives tend to keep a tidy, organized office, political liberals favor colorful, more stylish but cluttered spaces.

THE TRUTH WEARS OFF

Is there something wrong with the scientific method?

An across the boards decline in the significance of well accepted research is examined and explained

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/12/13/101213fa_fact_lehrer#ixzz19W1q1YEF

The Jobs Crisis

The recession has been over for more than a year now, but so many people are out of work that it doesn’t feel like much of a recovery. In November, the economy added just thirty-nine thousand jobs. The failure to translate G.D.P. growth into job growth has given us an unemployment rate that remains near ten per cent (twice what it was in 2007), and has swelled the ranks of the long-term unemployed

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2011/01/03/110103ta_talk_surowiecki#ixzz19VsFbz65

In Pursuit of a Mind Map, Slice by Slice

brain neurosciene A new and tremendously expensive research project is underway designed to eventually provide neuroscientists with an understanding of how the brain is wired.

The Data and the Reality

Maybe they’ve stumbled onto something in their windowless rooms. Maybe the economy really is gathering steam. But in the rough and tumble of the real world, where families have to feed themselves and pay their bills, there are an awful lot of Americans being left behind.

Cheaters Find an Adversary in Technology

Company uses "Data Forensics to identify cheating students and teachers

In ‘Daily Show’ Role on 9/11 Bill, Echoes of Murrow

Jon Stewart New Edward R. Murrow?  
Demonstrated by role in passage of 9/11 1st Responder Bill

Smart Pen -- Interesting idea

Here it is, a really interesting extension of the much older digital pen. This one requires no special paper, and records voices. It can also be sent as email to others. 


While working at Earthlink, somewhere around 2002, I had an early version of this kind of pen, but it required special paper, which was relatively expensive, and had no audio playback. I recall losing it , which was  monetarily expensive loss, but no loss in terms of usefulness.

Obama's insular White House worries his allies

The president famously relies on a tight circle of advisors. But with Republicans running the House next year, many say Obama will need some new faces to convey a new message.

Obama's Hawaii vacation mixes golf with such topics as arms pact and reelection

"Recharging the presidential batteries"
KAILUA, HAWAII - Almost immediately after he walked off Air Force One early Thursday morning, a relaxed-looking President Obamahad a green lei around his neck and a smile on his face

Computers That Trade on the News

Wall Street Traders Using Text Analysis Tools


The number-crunchers on Wall Street are starting to crunch something else: the news.
Math-loving traders are using powerful computers to speed-read news reports, editorials, company Web sites, blog posts and evenTwitter messages — and then letting the machines decide what it all means for the markets

Two U.S. presidents implicated by ex-CIA black-ops assassin

Two U.S. presidents are implicated in the well documented chronicles and confessions of ex-CIA black-ops assassin, Gene "Chip" Tatum, whose tortured body was found in 2007 on a beach in Panama.B

Barack Obama's Lost Principles

When President Obama ran for the presidency, his rhetoric was distinctly progressive. He is a very good orator and a superior debater and so we can be forgiven for taking the rhetoric seriously.

Julian getting ready to do it again?

Prospect of WikiLeaks Dump Poses Problems for Regulators

“Tens of thousands of its internal documents will be exposed on Wikileaks.org with no polite requests for executives’ response or other forewarnings.”

A Hacker's perspective on WikiLeks

The Hazards of Nerd Supremacy: The Case of WikiLeaks

Big government not the cause of economic problems

Robert Reich tells us what we already knew.


he tax deal negotiated between the president and Republicans is the latest version of trickle-down economics. It also confirms the Republican story of what happened to the economy and how to fix it: The bad economy is big government's fault, and the solution is to shrink government.

Life and Death Decisions Weigh on Junior Officers

QURGHAN TAPA, Afghanistan — The hill wasn’t much to behold, just a treeless mound of dirt barely 80 feet high. But for Talibanfighters, it was a favorite spot for launching rockets into Imam Sahib city. Ideal, American commanders figured, for the insurgents to disrupt the coming parliamentary elections

Obama has strong first-half finish

President Obama ends his first two years with image-altering successes; the next two may prove more frustrating.