DENNIS KUCINICH CALLS FOR IMPEACHMENT

Evidence for a parallel universe?

Last August, astronomers working on the analysis of data being acquired by NASA’s WMAP (Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe) satellite announced that they found a huge void in the universe. A void is a region of space that has much less material (stars, nebulae, dust and other material) than the average. Since our universe is relatively heterogeneous, empty spaces are not rare, but in this case the enormous magnitude of the hole is way outside the expected range. The hole found in the constellation of Eridanus is about a billion light years across, which is roughly 10,000 times as large as our galaxy or 400 times the distance to Andromeda, the closest “large” galaxy.
The dimension of the hole is so big that at first glance, it results impossible to explain under the current cosmological theories, although scientists put forward some explanations based on certain theoretical models that might predict the existence of “giant knots” in space known as topological defects.
However, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill physics Professor Laura Mersini-Houghton made a staggering claim. She says, “Standard cosmology cannot explain such a giant cosmic hole” and goes further with the ground-breaking hypothesis that the huge void is “… the unmistakable imprint of another universe beyond the edge of our own“.

Source

Latest Sunscreens

All the buzz this year is about new ways to block wrinkle-causing UVA rays.

Last summer, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a new compound called ecamsule for use in sunscreens sold in this country. Ecamsule, an organic filter that protects against UVA rays, has been included in sunscreens sold in Canada and Europe since 1993 under the name of Mexoryl SX.

Right now, the only over-the-counter product sold in the United States that uses ecamsule is L'Oreal's Anthelios SX. The sunscreen, which has an SPF of 15, also contains two other protective ingredients, avobenzone and octocrylene. Researchers say ecamsule offers longer protection and is better at absorbing UVA rays than anything else available. Anthelios SX is available at www.anthelios.com. A 3.4-ounce tube of the daily moisturizing cream sells for $29.

Another ingredient to watch for is Helioplex, a Neutrogena-patented stabilized form of avobenzone (Parsol1789), the most widely used ingredient for blocking UVA rays. Helioplex breaks down slower than regular avobenzone so it offers longer protection. Neutrogena patented Helioplex for use in many of its sun-protection products, but says the most popular is its new Fresh Cooling Sunblock Gel, which protects with SPF 30 against a broad spectrum of UVA and UVB rays. It is available at Target and other stores for $8.99.

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Can Capitalism Be Green?

TORONTO - Capitalism has proven to be environmentally and socially unsustainable, so future prosperity will have to come from a new economic model, say some experts. What this new model would look like is the subject of intense debate.

One current theory states that continuous growth can be environmentally compatible if clean and efficient technologies are adopted, and if economies leave behind production of material goods and move towards services. This is known as sustainable prosperity.

International agreements to fight global problems, like the thinning of the atmosphere’s ozone layer and climate change, have used market principles to achieve compliance by the private sector.

But the problem is, “we are consuming 25 percent more than the Earth can give us each year,” says William Rees, of the School of Community and Regional Planning at the University of British Columbia.

Rees and other experts have calculated that annual human consumption of natural resources exceeds the planet’s ecological capacity to regenerate them by 25 percent, a proportion that has been growing since 1984, the first year they calculate that humanity crossed that capacity threshold.

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Will be back soon...

Sorry for the long hiatus, the blog will be back with new posts soon.

Is American Capitalism on Its Way Out?

A little over a decade ago, the American model of capitalism was triumphant. The Soviet Union had recently collapsed, recession took the shine off the vaunted Japanese model of the 1980's, the social-democratic models of northern and Western Europe languished in high unemployment and low growth, and the so-called East Asian miracle was soon to be engulfed in a financial crisis.

For the many developing and transition economies in search of a model, there was only one prescription: Liberalize, privatize and copy the Anglo- American institutions of legal, financial and corporate governance.

Today there is less certainty. The technology and housing booms in the United States have subsided. High American living on borrowed Asian money is now widely considered unsustainable; extreme income concentration at the very top with stagnation at the bottom has made the hollowness of the productivity growth particularly palpable for most working people.

Unemployment in the United States and Britain has generally been lower than in much of Europe, but crises looms in health insurance and social security.

Meanwhile, the social-democratic and Japanese models, after some necessary repair, have come alive. Their economies have revived while still keeping most of their distinctive institutional features, including a continuing emphasis on social protection and on a more coordinated style of corporate governance.

There is an increased appreciation of the fact that countries have different political contexts and the bargaining powers of the different stakeholders in the economic system — owners, managers and workers — vary.

For developing countries, the East Asian model has not lost its influence. The model is characterized by relative equality at first, followed by land reform and mass expansion of education, which helps smooth the wrenching conflicts and readjustments of early industrialization.

In addition, state coordination of private enterprise strengthens rather than stifles the market processes. The phenomenal growth of capitalism in China under pervasive government control has only added to the attraction of the basic East Asian model.

India, another high-growth country, has also not quite followed the economic orthodoxy in a systematic manner, particularly in matters of privatization, deregulation and fiscal deficit management.

In the 2006 "index of economic freedom" compiled by the Heritage Foundation, China and India rank far below most Latin American and many African countries. Yet the economic performance of the latter countries, which did follow the liberalizing and privatizing reforms of the Anglo-American model more faithfully during the last two decades, has been, with a few exceptions, disappointing.

Capitalism in both rich and poor countries has been afflicted by problems of rising inequality and environmental degradation. Globalization has increased anxiety everywhere about job security. This underlines the value of social safety nets in coping with adjustments to market competition.

We need to explore the many ways in which equity can be enhanced without giving up on efficiency. These include expansion of facilities of education, training and health care. In many poor countries the barriers faced by large numbers of people in credit markets sharply reduces the society's potential for productive investment, innovation and human-resource development.

Protest is not enough. It is necessary to explore viable and sustainable ways of constructing alternatives to capitalism.

On the other side, it is important to stress that single-minded pursuits of efficiency are bound to be counterproductive. In particular, a standardized policy prescription that ignores social and institutional diversities or the complexities of a particular society is a recipe for failure.

The accumulated resentment of the large numbers of losers worldwide in the process of globalization is already in danger of triggering a substantial backlash in many countries. The advocates of capitalism should try to protect it from the enthusiasts for any one particular variety of capitalism.

Source IHT

iPhone introduced by Steve Jobs

Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs on Tuesday announced the iPod maker's long-awaited leap into the mobile phone business and renamed the company just "Apple Inc.," reflecting its increased focus on consumer electronics.

The iPhone, which will start at $499 when it launches in June, is controlled by touch, plays music, surfs the Internet and runs the Macintosh computer operating system. Jobs said it will "reinvent" wireless communications and "leapfrog" past the current generation of smart phones.

"Every once in a while a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything," he said during his keynote address at the annual Macworld Conference and Expo. "It's very fortunate if you can work on just one of these in your career. ... Apple's been very fortunate in that it's introduced a few of these."

He said the company's name change is meant to reflect Apple's transformation from a computer manufacturer to a full-fledged consumer electronics company.

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Gates says day of the home-help robot is near

An office worker checks her home-gadget webpage from her work computer. The tasks she set for her home robots in the morning have all been completed: washing and ironing, vacuuming the lounge and mowing the lawn.

She orders dinner from the kitchen chefbot - sushi today, using a recipe from a Japanese website - then checks her elderly mother's house. The companionbot has given mum her medicine and helped her out of bed and into a chair.

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