Personally, based on our space program's success rate, I'd be more concerned about the asteroids they attempted to harness hitting the earth than the near miss asteriods they would attempt to deflect.
Not only does Pluto have a moon, but some scientists think that at some point Pluto and Neptune may have switched moons. Pluto would have to be large enough to maintain its own orbit while the switch occured (in other words it has to be big enough not to have gotten sucked in as just another moon of Neptune). This lends support to keeping Pluto listed as a planet and not relisting it as a planetiod.
If we're going to talk about Israeli prime ministers who are also terrorists, let's not forget Ariel Sharon. He (in case anyone doesn t know, he was a military commander for years before joining the government in Israel) and his troops slaughtered hundreds of innocent civilians in various raids on Jordanian villages and Palestinian refugee camps (even after they knew the PLO members they were originally after had already left) and also stood by and watched other groups do the same.
If you want more information on the Arab-Israeli conflict, I recommend reading a book by Avi Shlaim called "The Iron Wall". He's a modern Israeli historian who does a great job of presenting the facts about both sides and doing it in a way that makes the book easy to read.
Actually, it is possible to have airport security without destroying personal rights...European airports and Middle Eastern airports (I haven't been in airports anywhere in the world besides America, Europe, and the Middle East, so I can't speak for them) have been doing it for years. I always wondered why American airport security was so lax...
I'm having a hard time deciding if this is the stupidest thing the government has done since September 11 or just the most revolting. For one thing, does the idea that they plan not only to monitor airlines but also "to extend its use to screen truckers, railroad conductors, subway workers and others whose transportation jobs involve the public trust" scare anyone else? Where will the line be drawn? Will there be anywhere in the public or private sectors where people will be able to live outside of a fishbowl?
The system is supposed to "analyze passengers' travel reservations, housing information, family ties, identifying details in credit reports and other personal data to determine if they're 'rooted in the community' -- or have an unusual history that indicates a potential threat." What is this really supposed to mean? "Anylyze passengers' travel reservations", so everyone beware...set all your travel plans ahead of time and don't vary from them or you could be showing odd behavior that indicates you are a terrorist. "Housing information" - let's not let anyone who doesn't have a permanent address or who lives in an area known to have other suspicious characters in it travel. "Family ties", well, we all know everyone who has a family member who disagrees with the government or who is tied to anti-American activity must be evil, so let's arrest them. "Identifying details in credit reports" - pay your bills or more branches of the government besides the IRS will be after you.
And the real kicker..."determine if they're 'rooted in the community' -- or have an unusual history that indicates a potential threat." So, if you didn't grow up in the same place your family has lived in for the last six or seven generations you must be a terrorist.
Yea, I think I've figured it out...our government has completely lost its mind. If we wanted to stop terrorism at its roots, why weren't more steps taken after the Oklahoma City bombing (and please note how young, white, Christian men weren't placed under scrutiny by our government as young Muslim and Arab men have been since September 11)? Why didn't the government take more precautions after they were placed on high alerts after threats were made the summer before September 11?
Don't get me wrong, I'm proud to be an American. I'm an Army brat who was raised across the US and the Middle East and loves her country. But taking away the rights that makes this country great and alienating the citizens who make it so wonderful is not the way to go about saving it.
At this site there is a great interview by NOVA with Mark Lehner - an Assistant Professor or Egyptian Archaeology at the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago. He's been working on the Giza Plateau Mapping Project with Dr. Hawass since 1984. He's got a lot of informative things to say about the pyramids and their construction.
I read the book too (and highly recommend it). There are other ties between ancient Egypt and the stars (no, not the Futurama episode where Bender becomes pharaoh). They have a legend about the constellation we call Orion. They considered it to be Osiris. Ancient Egyptian legends talk of how once a pharaoh (or a queen or certain other high level advisors, family members, etc.) died, they were represented by a star in the heavens.
As far as the stone vs. clay goes, I know that as far as homes and tombs were concerned most Egyptians relied on a form of mud bricks because stone was too valuable. Sarcophagi were also made of wood and metal. So, it stands to reason that the same may be true for sarcophagi. The handprint could have been formed not by the person who sealed the coffin, but rather the person who formed the lid.
Not only was that the only was for the ancient Egyptians to build something that big/tall, it was also symbolic for religious reasons. Their legend of the creation of the world states that once there was only water (Nu). Eventually a hill emerged from Nu and then the first sunrise rose over it. Another states that the sun god Atum (the original sun god, before Ra became popular) willed himself into being, surrounded by Nu. Since he had no where to stand, he created a hill and then the other gods. Of course, there are several other creation myths that tie into these, such as the one where Khnum (a ram headed god) created humans on his potter's wheel, but soon grew tired of the process as people asked for more and more children, so he put a potter's wheel in the belly of each woman on earth to create new children. But I seem to have wandered slightly off topic. ( If you care to learn more about various myths and gods/goddesses of Ancient Egypt there's a good, simple introductory page run by artist Richard Deurer at http://members.aol.com/egyptart/index.html )
If Batman and Superman don't have to hyphenate their names why should Spiderman have to? Are you trying to demean the geekiest and greatest (male) superhero of all time?
Cell phones do save lives in accidents though, especially in rural areas where it would be harder for emergancy crews to find/get to the site.
Cell phones can also prevent emergancies from happening. Here at UGA a girl last year was being followed home from downtown by a serial rapist. She got out her phone and called 911 and the man fled instead of having to deal with the cops.
Cell phones can be a nuisence when people abuse them, but they are a good thing.
"Sure, when the price of transportation is prohibitive, then people will spend decades developing alteratives.
Unfortunately, during that time in development, there will be NO transportation, or very little."
If you tax gas for public consumption, but provide public transportation options then you've created an interim phase that allows for decreased gas usage without leading to a lack of transportation.
With recent rates of US oil consumption - 19.7 million barrels of oil in 2000 (http://www.ott.doe.gov/facts/archives/fotw191.sht ml), something has to be done to introduce alternative fuel sources at a faster rate or we'll find ourselves without access to sufficient oil to run factories, much less for everyone to have their own cars.
Along side the problems that contiued consumption at this rate will entail for supply vs. demand, it's causing horrific problems environmentally.
Plus, let's not forget that 12.6% of that oil comes from the Persian Gulf (same URL as above) and they are not too happy about our current weak attempts to rein in our ally Israel in their incursions into Palestinian territories. Like the Crown Prince of Saudi has pointed out, the US could be facing a major increase in oil prices, if not the elimination of a major portion of our oil.
There are similar problems in most sites they find mummies or tombs at lately. In Alexandria, Egypt they had only a few weeks to excavate and save what they could from catacombs unearthed while building a bridge.
As far as respect for the dead goes, mummification studies have come a long way since unwrapping parties in the early 1900's. Now scientists can study the remains via X-rays, CAT scans, endoscopy, and other non-destructive processes. After that, some of the more unusual mummies will probably be kept for further study, but a lot may be re-interred. Even if they didn't want to rebury at least some of the bodies, there is simply not enough funds, experts, or supplies available to keep them preserved.
Re:hmm. not sure about this...
on
Rare Earth
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· Score: 1
There is evidence that the core of Mars was hot at one time. This is a pretty simplistic link, but it might answer some...
http://www.howstuffworks.com/mars3.htm
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Personally, based on our space program's success rate, I'd be more concerned about the asteroids they attempted to harness hitting the earth than the near miss asteriods they would attempt to deflect.
Not only does Pluto have a moon, but some scientists think that at some point Pluto and Neptune may have switched moons. Pluto would have to be large enough to maintain its own orbit while the switch occured (in other words it has to be big enough not to have gotten sucked in as just another moon of Neptune). This lends support to keeping Pluto listed as a planet and not relisting it as a planetiod.
If we're going to talk about Israeli prime ministers who are also terrorists, let's not forget Ariel Sharon. He (in case anyone doesn
t know, he was a military commander for years before joining the government in Israel) and his troops slaughtered hundreds of innocent civilians in various raids on Jordanian villages and Palestinian refugee camps (even after they knew the PLO members they were originally after had already left) and also stood by and watched other groups do the same.
If you want more information on the Arab-Israeli conflict, I recommend reading a book by Avi Shlaim called "The Iron Wall". He's a modern Israeli historian who does a great job of presenting the facts about both sides and doing it in a way that makes the book easy to read.
Actually, it is possible to have airport security without destroying personal rights...European airports and Middle Eastern airports (I haven't been in airports anywhere in the world besides America, Europe, and the Middle East, so I can't speak for them) have been doing it for years. I always wondered why American airport security was so lax...
So, what are they claiming is suspicious to buy... box cutters? Nail clippers? Scissors?
I'm having a hard time deciding if this is the stupidest thing the government has done since September 11 or just the most revolting. For one thing, does the idea that they plan not only to monitor airlines but also "to extend its use to screen truckers, railroad conductors, subway workers and others whose transportation jobs involve the public trust" scare anyone else? Where will the line be drawn? Will there be anywhere in the public or private sectors where people will be able to live outside of a fishbowl?
The system is supposed to "analyze passengers' travel reservations, housing information, family ties, identifying details in credit reports and other personal data to determine if they're 'rooted in the community' -- or have an unusual history that indicates a potential threat." What is this really supposed to mean? "Anylyze passengers' travel reservations", so everyone beware...set all your travel plans ahead of time and don't vary from them or you could be showing odd behavior that indicates you are a terrorist. "Housing information" - let's not let anyone who doesn't have a permanent address or who lives in an area known to have other suspicious characters in it travel. "Family ties", well, we all know everyone who has a family member who disagrees with the government or who is tied to anti-American activity must be evil, so let's arrest them. "Identifying details in credit reports" - pay your bills or more branches of the government besides the IRS will be after you.
And the real kicker..."determine if they're 'rooted in the community' -- or have an unusual history that indicates a potential threat." So, if you didn't grow up in the same place your family has lived in for the last six or seven generations you must be a terrorist.
Yea, I think I've figured it out...our government has completely lost its mind. If we wanted to stop terrorism at its roots, why weren't more steps taken after the Oklahoma City bombing (and please note how young, white, Christian men weren't placed under scrutiny by our government as young Muslim and Arab men have been since September 11)? Why didn't the government take more precautions after they were placed on high alerts after threats were made the summer before September 11?
Don't get me wrong, I'm proud to be an American. I'm an Army brat who was raised across the US and the Middle East and loves her country. But taking away the rights that makes this country great and alienating the citizens who make it so wonderful is not the way to go about saving it.
At this site there is a great interview by NOVA with Mark Lehner - an Assistant Professor or Egyptian Archaeology at the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago. He's been working on the Giza Plateau Mapping Project with Dr. Hawass since 1984. He's got a lot of informative things to say about the pyramids and their construction.
i ld ers.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pyramid/explore/bu
Um...the Sumerians had beer before the ancient Egyptians.
I read the book too (and highly recommend it). There are other ties between ancient Egypt and the stars (no, not the Futurama episode where Bender becomes pharaoh). They have a legend about the constellation we call Orion. They considered it to be Osiris. Ancient Egyptian legends talk of how once a pharaoh (or a queen or certain other high level advisors, family members, etc.) died, they were represented by a star in the heavens.
As far as the stone vs. clay goes, I know that as far as homes and tombs were concerned most Egyptians relied on a form of mud bricks because stone was too valuable. Sarcophagi were also made of wood and metal. So, it stands to reason that the same may be true for sarcophagi. The handprint could have been formed not by the person who sealed the coffin, but rather the person who formed the lid.
Not only was that the only was for the ancient Egyptians to build something that big/tall, it was also symbolic for religious reasons. Their legend of the creation of the world states that once there was only water (Nu). Eventually a hill emerged from Nu and then the first sunrise rose over it. Another states that the sun god Atum (the original sun god, before Ra became popular) willed himself into being, surrounded by Nu. Since he had no where to stand, he created a hill and then the other gods. Of course, there are several other creation myths that tie into these, such as the one where Khnum (a ram headed god) created humans on his potter's wheel, but soon grew tired of the process as people asked for more and more children, so he put a potter's wheel in the belly of each woman on earth to create new children. But I seem to have wandered slightly off topic. ( If you care to learn more about various myths and gods/goddesses of Ancient Egypt there's a good, simple introductory page run by artist Richard Deurer at http://members.aol.com/egyptart/index.html )
If Batman and Superman don't have to hyphenate their names why should Spiderman have to? Are you trying to demean the geekiest and greatest (male) superhero of all time?
Cell phones do save lives in accidents though, especially in rural areas where it would be harder for emergancy crews to find/get to the site.
Cell phones can also prevent emergancies from happening. Here at UGA a girl last year was being followed home from downtown by a serial rapist. She got out her phone and called 911 and the man fled instead of having to deal with the cops.
Cell phones can be a nuisence when people abuse them, but they are a good thing.
"Sure, when the price of transportation is prohibitive, then people will spend decades developing alteratives.
t ml), something has to be done to introduce alternative fuel sources at a faster rate or we'll find ourselves without access to sufficient oil to run factories, much less for everyone to have their own cars.
Unfortunately, during that time in development, there will be NO transportation, or very little."
If you tax gas for public consumption, but provide public transportation options then you've created an interim phase that allows for decreased gas usage without leading to a lack of transportation.
With recent rates of US oil consumption - 19.7 million barrels of oil in 2000 (http://www.ott.doe.gov/facts/archives/fotw191.sh
Along side the problems that contiued consumption at this rate will entail for supply vs. demand, it's causing horrific problems environmentally.
Plus, let's not forget that 12.6% of that oil comes from the Persian Gulf (same URL as above) and they are not too happy about our current weak attempts to rein in our ally Israel in their incursions into Palestinian territories. Like the Crown Prince of Saudi has pointed out, the US could be facing a major increase in oil prices, if not the elimination of a major portion of our oil.
There are similar problems in most sites they find mummies or tombs at lately. In Alexandria, Egypt they had only a few weeks to excavate and save what they could from catacombs unearthed while building a bridge. As far as respect for the dead goes, mummification studies have come a long way since unwrapping parties in the early 1900's. Now scientists can study the remains via X-rays, CAT scans, endoscopy, and other non-destructive processes. After that, some of the more unusual mummies will probably be kept for further study, but a lot may be re-interred. Even if they didn't want to rebury at least some of the bodies, there is simply not enough funds, experts, or supplies available to keep them preserved.
There is evidence that the core of Mars was hot at one time. This is a pretty simplistic link, but it might answer some... http://www.howstuffworks.com/mars3.htm