More on 'Gating Dr. Gates' & More for Thursday, July 23, 2009

We know we shouldn't be flip, but having viewed TDS too many times, we can't resist. To have kept things interesting (and flip)during Mr. Obama's press conference on health care he just needed to say two words: 'Medical Marijuana'. And the resultant sales tax on the sales of the same would in itself pay for most of healthcare. Of course, most Americans are opposed to legalizing the medicinal use in all 50 states. Which is true, we just can't have half of the population high on medical marijuana half the time - it is just too dangerous. Also, it is too comical. Can you imagine characters like Jay and Silent Bob (from the Kevin Smith movies) on almost every street corner - or storefront - in America. Or worse, Harold and Kumar stereotypes. Or - much worse - Cheech & Chong stereotypes in every college town in America. Gosh, its kind of sad, isn't it? Reducing the nation's health care reform to this kind of ridiculous portrayal. Will the health care reform have to go the way of the medical marijuana sales tax to pay for itself? Probably not. However, the sales tax on beer, wine, liquor, spirits, tobacco, pornography, sugar, fast foods and other pleasures will probably be raised to help pay for the reform. Oh, or raise taxes on the rich to help pay for the reform? Huh? What did you say? You changed your mind to legalizing medical marijuana to pay for the reform? We thought you would give in.

Anyway, regarding the political firestorm growing out of the Gates' arrest (and Obama's outrage), see the links below. Also, see our posting of yesterday (which was published before the press conference...don't worry, our prescience does not make this a 'Blog of Note'...): 'Gating Dr. Gates'.

Oh, and don't panic, but check out the links to the latest on the H1N1 Pandemic. Medical marijuana probably won't be helpful here - except to reduce any levels of panic.

Oh, and check out Arnold wielding a 2-foot knife on the internet.

And the unemployed may have no reason to fear drug testing for medical marijuana, because

Many unemployed giving up

http://www.yahoo.com/s/1104441

Black scholar arrest angers Obama

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8164862.stm

'THE POLICE ACTED STUPIDLY': Obama Jumps Into the Race Debate

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=8153681&page=1

Obama: Police 'acted stupidly' in prof's arrest

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/22/harvard.gates.interview/index.html

Obama says police acted 'stupidly' in arrest

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090723/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_harvard_scholar;_ylt=Ana29zX4t6zXW1jpUWlllAkEtbAF

Gates’ Daughter Speaks Out (CBS)

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5181954n

Cop: Obama remark disappoints

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32092715/ns/us_news-race_and_ethnicity/

Gating Dr. Gates

http://americanpoliticalhandbook.blogspot.com/2009/07/gating-dr-gates-and-more-for-wednesday.html

Obama defends healthcare reforms

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8164177.stm

Obama turns health push into a snoozer

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/07/23/2005548.aspx

Feds bust mayors, others in huge N.J. graft sweep

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32103250/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

The Ann Arbor News hits the streets for last time

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090723/ap_on_re_us/us_ann_arbor_news_goodbye;_ylt=AiYoefTXw.4rJxuFAsBbVhis0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTFlNDVqY21sBHBvcwM3MARzZWMDYWNjb3JkaW9uX3Vfc19uZXdzBHNsawN0aGVhbm5hcmJvcm4-

US pessimistic on Iran overtures

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8165265.stm

Iran opposition leader's brother-in-law arrested

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090723/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran_election;_ylt=AkFx_E1qo4XB1hkG0uP8J6ys0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTFicmtxcWtmBHBvcwM1NgRzZWMDYWNjb3JkaW9uX3dvcmxkBHNsawNpcmFub3Bwb3NpdGk-

Bin Laden son 'believed killed'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8164763.stm

Saad Bin Laden

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saad_Bin_Laden

Mumbai suspect trial to proceed

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8164279.stm

Ajmal Qasab

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajmal_Qasab

Wall Street jacks up pay after bailouts

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32099693/ns/business-washington_post/

Schwarzenegger wields knife, touts cuts

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32099641/ns/us_news-life/

Karadzic asks for DNA from graves

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/07/23/karadzic-war-crimes.html

Radovan Karadzic

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radovan_Karad%C5%BEi%C4%87

Atleo wins AFN election

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/07/23/afn-national-chief-vote-ballot752.html

Shawn Atleo

http://www.shawnatleo.com/

This Article Will Self-destruct: Tool To Make Online Personal Data Vanish

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090721113309.htm

Vanish Paper & Prototype

http://vanish.cs.washington.edu/

New Statistical Tool Identifies Predictable Economic Variables

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090721091824.htm

How To Maintain The Integrity And Accessibility Of Research Data

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090722120830.htm

Ensuring the Integrity, Accessibility, and Stewardship of Research Data in the Digital Age

http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12615

Artificial Noise Saves Energy For Computer Network Providers

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090624093734.htm

RIM warns Mideast customers of spyware

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/07/23/rim-uae-spyware-blackberry.html

B.C. Taser inquiry to issue report

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/07/23/bc-braidwood023.html

UK space sector 'to double value'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8164776.stm

Tamiflu-resistant swine flu case found in Canada

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090722/ap_on_he_me/cn_canada_swine_flu;_ylt=ApO6b87pQdQjX5BOprQ5Ki.s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTFkMHNuaTdzBHBvcwMxNTUEc2VjA2FjY29yZGlvbl9oZWFsdGgEc2xrA3RhbWlmbHUtcmVzaQ--

Flu infects 100,000 in past week (BBC UK)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8163930.stm

Swine flu fears prompt Hajj curbs

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8164535.stm

Hajj

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hajj

Biodiesel On The Wing: A 'Green' Process For Biodiesel From Feather Meal

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090722110903.htm

The Moon Landing Anniversary & More for Monday, July 20, 2009

We admit, we have been inundated - like you - by the broadcasting and re-broadcasting of the 40th Anniversary of the Moon landing, and the passing of the late, great Walter Cronkite (& his coverage of the same). But, we think a message has been lost here to the public at large. What we're missing is the coverage of the Moon Base, the Mars Colony and the L5 Station. What you say? We don't have any of those things? Yes, we don't. We ask, why, after 40 years we are not even close to having any of those things?

Instead, our flawed media circus has chosen to focus on the hero worship of the late Mr. Cronkite (which we understand, is more than necessary...) and the glorification of the landing that happened 40 years ago. Instead, they should also be covering the reasons why we have not had more moon missions (yes, we know that there have been other moon missions and the shuttle) and even missions to Mars since then. Why is this media circus so myopic? Has journalism truly become a subjective exercise and not the objective enterprise it was once meant to be (as in during the Cronkite-era of journalism)? Is this why so many of our newspapers are folding (pun intended), due to the loss of great journalism and the failure of the human species to meet two of its most basic drives - the need to know and the need to explore? Is it because we are truly getting dumber - as a species? (See the link: Kids' lower IQ scores linked to prenatal pollution ).

True, we have had the Space Shuttle program. But it has not been without its disasters (Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster and Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster). But, these disasters have served to educate us on the dangers and risks inherent in space travel and colonization. We think its very, very important to all (all life on earth, that is...) that we definitely relocate to more remote locations. For reasons of safe haven from potential further disasters and economic reasons. True, we may be a little late in delivering our little homily, but not many will pay heed to this message - until it is too late.

The potential for worldwide disaster is too often overlooked by our regular media. So is its connection to space travel and colonization. This is why we find the media's attention to past glories - decades ago - so troubling, so fatuous, so vacuous and so vapid - as if it were all over. But it shouldn't be. The arguments for safe passage to space and colonization should be as fast and furious as any other important topic of the day. This is one more reason we miss Cronkite and his kind. We need the message delivered by great people. It is vital, it is current, it is topical and it is now.

Moon astronauts urge Mars mission

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8158519.stm

Buzz Aldrin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzz_Aldrin

Michael Collins

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Collins_(astronaut)

Mars Colonization

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_colonization

L5 Society

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L5_Society

Gerard K. O’Neill

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerard_K._O%27Neill

Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Challenger_disaster

Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Columbia_Disaster

First Look At The Apollo Landing Sites

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090717150244.htm

Apollo 11 Moon Rocks Still Crucial 40 Years Later, Say Researchers

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090717150254.htm

India's first unmanned moon probe malfunctions

http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre56g1pz-us-india-space/

The Coming Space-Based Economy?

http://americanpoliticalhandbook.blogspot.com/2009/01/coming-space-based-economy.html

He sold you subprime loan, now he hawks fix

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32007521/ns/business-the_new_york_times/

Stimulus Funds Spent, but Where Are the Jobs?

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=8122651&page=1

RNC Chair Attacks Obama on Health Care

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/07/20/politics/main5173848.shtml

Geothermal To Deliver Clean Power Generation?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090716113356.htm

Geothermal Energy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geothermal_Energy

Newsweek: How coal ruined one Tennessee town

http://www.newsweek.com/id/207445

Kingston Fossil Plant coal fly ash slurry spill

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_Fossil_Plant_coal_fly_ash_slurry_spill

TVA

http://www.tva.gov/

Clean Coal?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_coal

U.S. halts uranium mining at Grand Canyon

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32004574/ns/us_news-environment/

Uranium Mining in Arizona

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_mining_in_Arizona

Western Reservoirs Could Be Dry By 2050

U.S. recession easing but likely not over: survey

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20090720/sc_livescience/westernreservoirscouldbedryby2050;_ylt=AgfOknqrW9wxp8ezQ_ox_54PLBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTNvbzdxcmI1BGFzc2V0Ay9saXZlc2NpZW5jZS8yMDA5MDcyMC9zY19saXZlc2NpZW5jZS93ZXN0ZXJucmVzZXJ2b2lyc2NvdWxkYmVkcnlieTIwNTAEcG9

http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre56j0or-us-usa-economy-recession/

Late 2000s Recession in the Americas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_2000s_recession_in_the_Americas

White House creates climate job

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31970467/ns/us_news-environment/

In the year 2040 - 1.3 billion senior citizens

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32007564/ns/health-aging/

US 'seeks Afghan prison overhaul'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8158528.stm

American Expansion of Pul-e-Charkhi Prison

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pul-e-Charkhi_prison#American_expansion

Mumbai suspect changes plea to guilty

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8158741.stm

Mohammad Ajmal Amir Qasab

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajmal_Kasab

Khatami calls for Iran referendum

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8158692.stm

Mohammad Khatami

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Khatami

Spain, Portugal open nanotechnology research center

http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre56g5ur-us-portugal-spain-nanotech/

Higher Speed Limits Cost Lives: Study

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090716164339.htm

260 Car Pile-Up on Germany’s Autobahn

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8159096.stm

Autobahn

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobahn

Alarming Africa male gay HIV rate

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8158469.stm

Tourists warned of Thailand airport scam

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8154497.stm

Bangkok International Airport(s)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangkok_International_Airport

Zig-zag Scam

http://antizendictionary.blogspot.com/2009/07/zig-zag-scam.html


Churchill bunker 'not bomb-proof'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8158099.stm

Winston Churchill

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill

Researchers Help Set Security Standards For The Internet

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090708110426.htm

Cooking With Sound: Bio-Mass Burning Stove Also Converts Heat Into Sound Then Electricity

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090717170933.htm

Quantum Goes Massive: Profound Effect Of Astrophysics Experiment On Future Quantum Experiments

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090716093526.htm

Afghan Strikes, No Torture Charges and More for Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Afghan policemen at entrance of suspected Taliban hideout image licensed under Creative Commons by talkradionews

Summit puts focus on Obama doctrine

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/05/06/1923900.aspx

Obama to press Pakistan to target Taliban

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30599619/

Taliban

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taliban

Wildfires scorch parts of California, Arizona

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/05/06/western.wildfires/index.html


US Afghan strikes 'killed dozens'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8035204.stm

Clinton: U.S. ‘deeply’ regrets Afghan airstrike

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30579367/

Better Water Use Could Reduce Future Food Crises

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090505061838.htm

AP: No charges likely over ‘torture’ memos

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30587005/

Foresight and luck put Ford in pole position

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30576127/

Record decline in eurozone sales

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8035772.stm

Eurozone (Euro area)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurozone

Russia expels Canadian diplomats

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8035397.stm

Mumbai suspect denies all charges

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8035809.stm

Mohammad Ajmal Amir Qasab

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajmal_Kasab

Bid to transfer Lockerbie bomber

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/8035714.stm

Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdelbaset_Ali_Mohmed_Al_Megrahi

Madoff ex-secretary says she helped FBI gather evidence

http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre54541s-us-madoff-secretary/

Boston Globe reaches deal with largest union

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30600582/

Boston Globe

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Globe

China quake parents 'harassed'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8035124.stm

Ghost of Genghis back to haunt West?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7991277.stm

Genghis Khan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genghis_Khan

EU and US reach deal in beef row

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8036202.stm

Zombie computers 'on the rise'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8032886.stm

Zombie computer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zombie_computer

Schwarzenegger: Calif. needs pot debate

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30587296/


Pax Obama

http://antizendictionary.blogspot.com/2009/05/pax-obama.html

Pax Obama Stars in Rebirth of a Nation

http://thejournal.epluribusmedia.net/index.php/state-news/ohio-news/218-pax-obama-will-hasten-rebirth-of-a-nation

Pax Romana

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pax_Romana

Vanpoon

http://antizendictionary.blogspot.com/2009/05/vanpoon.html

Vanity Fair (Magazine)

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2009/06/edward-kennedy-excerpt200906?currentPage=1

Lampoon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parody

Kenpoon

http://antizendictionary.blogspot.com/2009/05/kenpoon.html

Lampoon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parody

Kennedy Clan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennedy_Family

Hardball with Chris Matthews

Video discussion on the new Ted Kennedy Bio

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/#30587101

Rebulling

http://antizendictionary.blogspot.com/2009/05/rebulling.html

Repower America

http://www.repoweramerica.org/

On B*llsh*it

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0691122946