Forty-some Days Until the Inauguration

Sweet Molecule Could Lead Us To Alien Life

ScienceDaily (Nov. 26, 2008) — Scientists have detected an organic sugar molecule that is directly linked to the origin of life, in a region of our galaxy where habitable planets could exist.

The international team of researchers, including a researcher at University College London (UCL), used the IRAM radio telescope in France to detect the molecule in a massive star forming region of space, some 26000 light years from Earth.

The molecule – glycolaldehyde - has previously only been detected towards the centre of our galaxy where conditions are extreme compared to the rest of the galaxy. This new discovery, in an area far from the galactic centre, also suggests that the production of this key ingredient for life could be common throughout the galaxy. This is good news in our search for alien life, as a wide spread of the molecule improves the chances of it existing along side other molecules vital to life and in regions where Earth-like planets may exist.

The study is published on the Astro-ph website. Dr Serena Viti, one of the paper’s authors from University College London, said, "This is an important discovery as it is the first time glycolaldehyde, a basic sugar, has been detected towards a star-forming region where planets that could potentially harbour life may exist."

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"Imagine" that! Sweet science.  Life outside of planet earth has always fascinated me ever since I was a child.     Of course now, with all of the technology out there beaming information back to us, that imagination is more of when than if.  

Why the universe may be teeming with aliens

No, this is not a continuation of my zombie post of this morning; it is science.  The title is from the NewScientist website. 'We are not alone!' has always haunted me over the decades.  My interest in the stars and planets piqued in late grade school when my father purchased an 8 in. reflecting telescope.  On dark evenings he and I would peer at the stars and wonder what and who were out there.

The article states:

Now, though, it's becoming increasingly clear that the question of what makes a planet habitable is not as simple as finding it in just the right spot. Many other factors, including a planet's mass, atmosphere, composition and the way it orbits its nearest star, can all influence whether it can sustain liquid water, an essential ingredient for life as we know it. As astronomers explore newly discovered planets and create computer simulations of virtual worlds, they are discovering that water, and life, might exist on all manner of weird worlds where conditions are very different from those on Earth. And that means there could be vastly more habitable planets out there than we thought possible. "It's like science fiction, only better," says Raymond Pierrehumbert, a climate scientist at the University of Chicago, who studies planets inside and outside of our solar system.

Near the end of the article is this:

Last year, a team of astronomers led by Stéphane Udry of the Geneva Observatory, Switzerland, discovered Gliese 581c, the first likely rocky planet orbiting a sun-like star in another solar system.Given the size of its orbit around its star, initial calculations suggested it should be in the Goldilocks zone - at about the right temperature for liquid water. But other scientists soon pointed out that if it had an atmosphere containing greenhouse gases, it would most likely be far too hot for liquid water. However, the same effect could make a planet called Gliese 581d, orbiting further out round the same star, suitable for life.Then again, Gliese 581d may be too big to be a rocky planet. The team that discovered the planets point out that Gliese 581c could still be habitable if it is very cloudy, and it remains the best candidate so far for a habitable planet in another solar system. With new planets being discovered all the time, though, there are sure to be others.

Naturally, all of this science conjecturing complicates the philosophical, ethical and religious fields of study.  The complication is this: are the theorums and theories of these fields of study earth-bound or do they apply to all creatures, alien and all?

"Wrap it up in Iraq"

Wrap it up in Iraq is the title of an editorial in today's Toledo Blade.  Interesting title. The sham war, the Bush Folly. We Americans will be plagued for decades for this war not unlike the fate of the German citizens over the two world wars.  

When ideologues get into office all judgement and rationality are left at the doorstep as we Americans easily witnessed with this Bush Administration.

The painful memories [and the pain of injuries to our military] will last a long time.  The question that is most important as we look back on the fiasco is this: Has the American electorate learned an  lesson on the the importance of carefully vetting their choice for the highest office in the land?  The jury is still out on that one.

Ohio's Blackwell Still Doesn't Get it

George W. Bush owes his 2nd term largely to Ohio's evangelical Secretary of State Ken Blackwell.  Voters in Ohio 'rewarded' him two years later by electing his rival as governor. Too bad they weren't as keen in '04, but the voters rectified their gross error in judgement in '08.

Mr. Blackwell, however, continues to do his dirty work for the GOP. He penned an OpEd for the Washington Times today which says, "Now, after two disastrous election cycles, it is clear the Republican Party must refocus again. A reenergized GOP must make Republican principles appealing both to its base and also to the changing face of America. If the party of Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan wants to return to power, it must become the party of the 21st century"

The party of Lincoln. Is that so?  Our 16th president must roll over in his proverbial grave each time he hears a christocrat refer to him.  And TR as well?  The man who fought to preserve the environment and railed against Big Business?  At least Blackwell got the Reagan reference correct.  That bloated Reagan deficit that he created pales in comparison with the Bush whopper!

Yet here is the most humorous part of the Blackwell tome:  "On these and many other issues, the Republican Party embraces what the majority of Americans believe, and the Democratic Party opposes those same positions." 

Yes, he said that.  He, like other christocrats, live in the 'I believe' world of their own creation. Why would anyone doubt that the majority of Americans support Republican issues?

Let's see:  Obama won 365 to 173 electoral votes, 53% to 46%, 67,000,000 to 58,000,000.  Democrats took 8 Senate seats from the GOP and more than 20 House seats.

Looks like Blackwell was right:  America favors the Republican Party.

QUICK: Pass the Disinfectant!

I did it.  I knew that I should have worn protective clothing and gloves, but I went in unprotected.  It was the Joe the Plumber message board. Yes, the Samuel Wurtzelbacker Sell-A-Book website.  By the way, have you pre-ordered yet?  It comes out on December 1.  Hurry!

It was dark in there and musty-smelling as if the windows hasn't been opened in quite a while, like a cottage that has sat vacant for months. Earlier I reported on this blog that I had visited his website [book selling site] and that the 'free' forum button took me to the 'pay' forum.  It cost $19.95/year for the Freedom Membership [autographed copy of book included] but yesterday the 'free' area was open and I walked in.

Have you ever wondered what Right-Wing Talk Radio would look like in printed form? There it was.  All of the reactionary-right topics and dittoheads had gathered there to rant their gripes.  Joe's 'breech of privacy' [Joe's Battle to Seek Justice in the State of Ohio] thread was one of the more hot topics there.   Joe's feelings on Israel thread was, suspiciously 'closed.'  Gun Rights, of course, drew many comments. Voter Registration and Fraud drew the usual ACORN commentary and there was even a thread on Rahm Emanuel asking if he is the 'right man' for the job.

I've washed my fingers several times already, but I can't seem to get them fully clean.  Any suggestions?

Unitarian minister recalls night in 1965 that changed history

The Blade featured Rev. Clark Olsen, civil rights leader, who returned to the Toledo area to give a talk this Sunday on Civil Rights at the First Unitarian Chruch.  The Blade says:

He had gone to Selma, Ala., on March 9, 1965, after the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., asked U.S. clergy to join a voting rights demonstration. While African-Americans had a right to vote, election officials in some areas made it difficult - or impossible - for most of them to register.

In an emotional talk yesterday morning to about 200 students at his alma mater, Ottawa Hills High School, Mr. Clark choked back tears at times as he described how he and two fellow Unitarian ministers were attacked by three "white rowdies" from Selma who were angry at outsiders supporting African-Americans' right to register to vote.

One of the ministers, the Rev. James Reeb, 38, of Boston, died from injuries suffered in the attack, and his death led to nationwide protests and ultimately the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

It was a night of terror, intimidation, and hatred, Mr. Olsen said yesterday at the high school and during an earlier interview with The Blade. On Sunday, he will speak at First Unitarian Church of Toledo.

What is interesting to me, personally, is the fact that I lived through this time.  In fact, I almost went to Selma with a group of college friends, but our transportation fell through and the trip and the experience faded away.  Yet I recall those days, that ugliness as if it were yesterday.  The scenes on TV - images of blacks being harassed, beaten, sprayed with water canons and bitten by police dogs-  are etched into my memory forever.  I was outraged that fellow humans would be treated that way just for the color of their skin.  Perhaps that experience itself set me on the course that I have followed all of my lifetime- to fight for the rights of the downtrodden, the weak, and the defenseless.

The Obama campaign mantra, 'Yes we can!' means a great deal more to black Americans than to white. They lived this racial bigotry all of their lives; they suffered the racial slurs and the closed doors and all of the other injustices that bigoted Americans threw at them.  'Yes we can!' has become an affirmation of equal justice under the law and a dream [now a reality] that a black man in America can open any door he chooses to go through.

The Lessons of Niccolo Machiavelli

The Lessons of Niccolo Machiavelli

By Engineer of Knowledge

 

This article is another installment as part of my mission to keep informing the new young voters, educating them with the truth, exposing stupid arguments and countering the blatant lies that the extreme conservative political right wing put out on a daily bases.  Please pass this article to the young voters who have come of age.

Niccolo di Bernardo dei Machiavelli, who was born and lived in 15^th century Florence Italy, has been given credit as the father of modern political theory.  Machiavelli’s most famous quote that is stated most often is, “Absolute power will corrupt absolutely.”

Although Machiavelli had written many books in his lifetime, it is noted that his book, “The Prince” which has the warning within the main theme that, “All means may be resorted to for the establishment and preservation of authority; the end justifies the means, and that the worst and most treacherous acts of the ruler are justified by the wickedness and treachery of the governed.”

For too long Americans have been willing to excuse and embrace ignorance, paranoia, poor performance or anti-social behavior in the name of political conservatism.

By using Machiavelli’s own words I will give the current examples of what he was referring to.

1.      “All Means May Be Resorted To For The Establishment And Preservation Of Authority” when properly registered voters were purged from the Florida’s rolls in 2000 to reduce those who would not vote as you desired.  This fact was even praised and accolades were presented to the person responsible of accomplishing this.  Let’s address the examples of inaccurate voting machines that would change a person’s vote right before their eyes and yet these machines recorded vote numbers casted were accepted as being accurate in 2004.  There were examples of candidates voting for themselves but noted that their vote was registered as being cast for their opponent.  Yet those who rose up to protest this fraud and were quickly labeled as trouble makers by those who viewed themselves as being righteous and pious because it continued their status quo of corruption in the name of Conservative Religious Values.  The hypocrisy of the act of preaching a certain belief of religious truth and way of life, but in fact not holding these same virtues for oneself was so blatant.

2.      “The End Justifies The Means” aspect with regards to the religious context, it became OK to lie or commit crimes so long as it furthered their agenda.  Truth be damned.

3.      The Worst And Most Treacherous Acts Of The Ruler Are Justified By The Wickedness And Treachery Of  The Governed” where the example that too many in this country could not concern themselves or chose to ignore the abuses, accept the lies and the crimes committed over the eight years of this outgoing administration.  Those that had misdirected reasoning’s of their ignorance and apathy because of it being wrapped up in “Conservative Religious Values.”

 

Now in conclusion the good news in all of this is that power that is obtained by these means has no longevity.  The population masses will finally recognize the corruption, abuses, and lies.  This is when the majority will rise up to throw off the shackles of this oppression.  To the benefit of those who had mislead and lied to obtain rule by this means for the last 14 years since 1994, this latest timely overthrow by those of clear minds was by our democratic means instead of a violent overthrow.

The President

The President