Friday, February 10th, 2012
Stephan: It is upon the amorphous phrase 'terrorism' that a wide spectrum of our civil liberties have been taken away. You probably already suspect this, here is the evidence. The vast octopus of secret activities that is DHS, has placed us under increasing surveillance, and for what? Liberties once surrendered I believe are going to prove very difficult, if not impossible, to reclaim.
Click through to see the chart referenced.
It’s worth noting that, while an aggressive counter-terrorism policy may be publicly popular, there are indications that it’s completely unnecessary. Kevin Drum has this chart showing that indictments for homegrown support for terrorist attacks have declined significantly. In addition, violent attacks carried out by Muslim-Americans in 2011 were almost non-existent. Drum quotes a recent report: ‘Of the 20 Muslim-Americans accused of violent terrorist plots in 2011 only one, Yonathan Melaku, was charged with carrying out an attack, firing shots at military buildings in northern Virginia. Nobody was injured.
No Comments
Thursday, February 9th, 2012
Stephan: This is an extraordinary development in a trend we have been following on SR for several years. It holds enormous potential for what I think is going to be the post-Illness Profit System model of healthcare.
A 3D printer-created lower jaw has been fitted to an 83-year-old woman’s face in what doctors say is the first operation of its kind.
The transplant was carried out in June in the Netherlands, but is only now being publicised.
The implant was made out of titanium powder – heated and fused together by a laser, one layer at a time.
Technicians say the operation’s success paves the way for the use of more 3D-printed patient-specific parts.
The surgery follows research carried out at the Biomedical Research Institute at Hasselt University in Belgium, and the implant was built by LayerWise – a specialised metal-parts manufacturer based in the same country.
Articulated joints
The patient involved had developed a chronic bone infection. Doctors believed reconstructive surgery would have been risky because of her age and so opted for the new technology.
The implant is a complex part – involving articulated joints, cavities to promote muscle attachment and grooves to direct the regrowth of nerves and veins.
However, once designed, it only took a few hours to print.
A 3D printer was used to make the synthetic jawbone – Courtesy of LayerWise
‘Once we received the 3D digital design, the part was split up automatically into 2D layers and then we […]
No Comments
Thursday, February 9th, 2012
FRANK HOFFMAN, - Armed Forces Journal
Stephan: This is the military future. Never again, if the American military has anything to say about it, will there be mass troop movements on land, such as we saw in WWII, Korea, and Iraq. One may hope that war will cease anywhere on the planet but it is very unlikely to come true. The only time in recent history that war as an expression of American policy did not occur was during the administration of President Jimmy Carter.
Reflecting revered assumptions and long-standing paradigms, The Principles of War are a list of tenets enshrined since 1949 in the Army’s Field Manual 3-0 ‘Operations
No Comments
Thursday, February 9th, 2012
KRISTIN RAWLS, - AlterNet
Stephan: This is so immoral it takes your breath away. The sexual obsessions of the Theocratic Right are now afflicting not only the U.S. but other countries as well. My niece worked for years in Uganda trying to help the poor and bullied. Other friends have also started non-profit service organizations in Uganda, to help the downtrodden. They tell me that urged on by the American Theocratic Rightists, the Ugandan government has become notably more intolerant and the civil society is under increasing stress.
Uganda’s notorious ‘kill-the-gays’ bill, supported by some far-right Christian advocates in United States, was placed back on the Ugandan Parliament’s schedule for a vote yesterday. The proposed legislation punishes repeated instances of ‘homosexual behavior
No Comments
Thursday, February 9th, 2012
SEUNG MIN KIM, - Politico
Stephan: I think this is a very alarming state of affairs. When 90 per cent of the population does not respect or approve of the Congress then cynicism sets in, and these fundamental institutions of government are held in contempt. Not a healthy situation for a democracy.
Just when you didn’t think Congress could get any worse in the eyes of the public, it has.
Gallup said in new poll Wednesday that a mere 10 percent of 1,029 participants approve of Congress’s performance – a record low for the respected polling outfit. Congress’s job approval rating was 13 percent in January and 11 percent in December.
Independents, at 8 percent, are most likely to disapprove of Congress, Gallup said. And Democrats and Republicans are about equally disgusted with lawmakers, giving them respective 11 percent and 12 percent approval ratings.
The average job approval rating for all of 2011 was 17 percent, according to Gallup.
The latest numbers come as Congress is again bickering over how to extend a temporary payroll tax cut that affects 160 million Americans, as well as jobless benefits and a delay of steep payment cuts for doctors who provide Medicare.
The tax cut and other provisions expire at the end of the month. Lawmakers are at loggerheads over how to pay for an extension, as well as some policy changes affecting unemployment insurance.
‘It is notable that President [Barack] Obama has continued to make criticism of Congress a part of his broad presidential reelection strategy,
No Comments
