crooked indifference

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Sun, 05 Feb 2012 13:19:47 -0800

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Sun, 05 Feb 2012 09:30:05 -0800

maddieonthings: Sparkman, AR my new favorite blog

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 08:00:05 -0800

maddieonthings:

Sparkman, AR

my new favorite blog

nevver: Instructions:1. Stare at the red dot on the girl’s nose...

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 06:30:05 -0800

nevver:

Instructions:
1. Stare at the red dot on the girl’s nose for 30 seconds.
2. Turn your eyes to a plain surface (your ceiling or blank wall).
3. Blink repeatedly and quickly.
4. WTF! one+infinity

NASA Receives Second Highest Number Of Astronaut Applications

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 09:54:23 -0800

NASA Receives Second Highest Number Of Astronaut Applications:

HOUSTON — More than 6,300 individuals applied to become a NASA astronaut between Nov. 15, 2011 and Jan. 27, the second highest number of applications ever received by the agency. After a thorough selection process, which includes interviews and medical examinations, nine to 15 people will be selected to become part of the 21st astronaut class.

Typically, the agency receives between 2,500 and 3,500 applicants for astronaut vacancy announcements. The highest response occurred in 1978 with 8,000 applicants.

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Sat, 04 Feb 2012 09:31:05 -0800

good: No Politics, Just Science: A New App Explains Climate...

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 08:00:05 -0800

good:

No Politics, Just Science: A New App Explains Climate Change

A new, free app for iPhones and iPads called Just Science jolts us back to reality by translating the science of climate change into layperson’s terms. The result, according to developer Nick Orenstein, is a gradual, everyday reminder of what’s happening to the planet.

Read about it on GOOD→

themermaidnyc: Meet our new friend Merkitty. She loves Oysters...

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 06:30:06 -0800

themermaidnyc:

Meet our new friend Merkitty. She loves Oysters as much as we do! Happy Thursday…

What's Happening in Syria Now.

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:58:50 -0800

What's Happening in Syria Now.:

popmuslim:

The situation has grown more dire since Assad’s regime began a violent crackdown last March—including reports of hundreds massacred this week.

On February 3, 2012, multiple reports from activists inside Syria described massive shelling and an army offensive in the central Syrian city of Homs. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights puts the casualty figure at over a hundred, and claims many hundreds more are injured; other estimates have the body count at 200 and climbing. Activists report that “nail bombs” were used by the army during a mortar attack on the Khaldiyeh neighborhood. The reports come thirty years after the infamous Hama Massacre was conducted by the Syrian army over the course of four weeks in February 1982 (the operation was ordered by President Hafez al-Assad, father and predecessor to Syria’s current ruler Bashar al-Assad).

The UN Security Council is scheduled to convene Saturday morning to discuss a much-debated draft resolution on Syria. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is set to meet with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov that same morning in Munich.

Here’s a rundown of the deteriorating situation in Syria:

The basics: Syria is an Arab country with more than 22 million people; it borders many of the major players in the Middle East (Israel, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, Turkey) and is roughly the size of North Dakota. Syria famously lost the Golan Heights to Israel in 1967, during the Arab-Israeli war; negotiations between the two countries have been minimal in recent years. Like many countries in the region, Syria’s main export is oil. Unlike Saudi Arabia or Iran, however, Syria’s oil reserves are relatively small; it ranks 33rd in the world. Syria is home to a smorgasbord of ethnicities and religions: Arabs, Kurds, Christians, Sunnis, Alawites, and Druze. The capital, Damascus, is a bustling metropolis (many believe it to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world) but is not the site of the country’s most significant protests (though rebels captured parts of the city in late January). That city, Hama, is the country’s fourth-largest, with fewer than 1 million occupants.

What’s happening now? Ever since last March, Syrians, especially those in the country’s central region, have protested the iron-fisted government headed by Bashar al-Assad. During the first week of August the Syrian army began a brutal campaign to control Hama, using tanks and troop assaults to kill citizens in a seemingly indiscriminate manner. The situation has continued to escalate in 2012. In late January, rebels known as the Free Syrian Army, reportedly took control of a portion of Damascus’ suburbs. On January 31, Syrian government forces, according to Reuters, “reasserted control” of the Damascus suburbs. Elsewhere, in Homs, a central-Syrian town with more than a million people, Syrian government forces killed nearly 100 people—activists say 55 civilians were killed—on January 31. The Free Syrian Army has fought on, asserting that “half of the country” is now effectively a no-go zone for Assad’s security forces. Since November, at least 3,000 Syrians reportedly have been killed.

Who’s in charge?: Assad has ruled Syria since 2000. His father, Hafez al-Assad, a member of the Baath Party, came to power in 1970 after leading a bloodless coup. Assad’s family came from a minority religious sect: the Alawites, an offshoot of Shia Islam. Thirty years ago, Assad launched one of the most brutal massacres in the modern history of the Middle East: His troops killed nearly 20,000 people in the city of Hama. In 2000, Hafez Assad died, and Bashar took over. To some, the shift from Hafez to Bashar suggested an opportunity (albeit a limited one) for Syria to become a more politically moderate society. Last year, Vogue magazine perpetuated that notion with a widely remarked profile of first lady Asma al-Assad published during the height of the Arab Spring. It stated that Syria was “the safest country in the Middle East.” Clearly that couldn’t have been more off-base, with Bashar apparently intent on following in his father’s footsteps.

What is the rest of the world doing about the situation? On January 31, the United Nations Security Council considered a resolution introduced by Morocco, urging Assad to resign. The prior weekend, the Arab League pulled its observers out of Syria due to continued violence. At the UN, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said: “The United States urges the Security Council to back the Arab League’s demand that the Syrian Government immediately stop all attacks against civilians and guarantee the freedom of peaceful demonstrations.” Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al-Thani, Qatar’s foreign minister, told the UN that Syria: “did not fully and immediately met (sic) its commitments to the Arab League” and that the Syrian “killing machine is still at work.” Nabil Elaraby, the secretary general of the Arab League, urged the council to adopt the sanctions, imploring: “Do not let the Syrian people down in its plight.” Russia and China, considering their own interests on the global chessboard, are likely to veto the measure. Until now, Turkey, the European Union, and the United States have all enforced strict sanctions against the Syrian government. Regardless, Russia, according to the BBC, has contracts worth an estimated $1.5 billion for weapons sales to the Syrian government. As of late January, the US has begun preparations to close its embassy in Damascus.

Should the United States now consider military involvement? Shadi Hamid, research director at the Brookings Doha Center, wrote in The Atlantic last week that the “case for intervention is strong” and that the international community “must begin considering a variety of military options.” Others, like Marc Lynch, a professor at George Washington University, say the US “should not be contemplating military intervention in Syria. Risky, costly foreign policy decisions can not simply be taken to express moral outrage.” Lynch believes a military intervention will not improve the situation in Syra, adding that “their failure would likely pave the way to something far worse.”

How do I follow what’s happening in real time? For keeping up with what’s happening in Syria—as well as most stories unfolding in the Middle East—it’s a good idea to follow the Twitter feed of Blake Hounshell, Foreign Policy’s managing editor. Ahmed Al Omran, author of the Saudi blog Saudi Jeans, and Borzou Daragahi, the Middle East reporter for the Financial Times, are also good Syria tweeps. Al-Jazeera English, the New York Times, and the Guardian’sconstantly updated Middle East blog all provide good, up-to-date information on the situation in Syria.

[Also see our first Syria explainer from August 2011 for additional details.]

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Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:12:25 -0800

Brant Widgeon is an Astronomical Image Enhancement Engineer....

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:20:25 -0800

Brant Widgeon is an Astronomical Image Enhancement Engineer. Many people are surprised to hear everything that goes into making the beautiful celestial images that have brought us so much awe and wonder. One of the most technically difficult parts of Brant’s job however is dealing with space cats.

The Delta IV RS-68 main engine is the world’s most...

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:30:05 -0800

The Delta IV RS-68 main engine is the world’s most powerful hydrogen/oxygen engine. At 100 percent power level, the engine produces 3.3 meganewtons of thrust. The turbopumps can pump more than 815 kilograms per second of propellant into the combustion chamber when operating at full power. The engine can also be throttled to 57 percent power to meet mission trajectory needs. Three RS-68 engines will power the Delta IV heavy launch vehicle

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Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:00:05 -0800

Humanity’s Earliest Space Station Concept: The Brick...

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 06:30:06 -0800

Humanity’s Earliest Space Station Concept: The Brick Moon

The earliest concept for a space station is from an article called “The Brick Moon” by Edward Everett Hale. Published in 1868 in the Atlantic Monthly, Hale’s article described the construction of a 200-foot-diameter sphere made of bricks that is accidentally launched into space with people aboard.

Hale envisioned the brick moon as a possible navigational aide. It could have served as a fixed reference point above the prime meridian to help travelers calculate longitude, analogous to the North Star’s use in determining latitude.

While certainly impervious to being blown down by big bad space wolves, the brick moon was mostly fantasy. But Hale’s funny concept did foresee one major aspect of space station design: the astronomical price. In the story, the narrator calculates that the brick moon would require 12 million bricks and cost $250,000 (a tidy sum in those days).

- The Atlantic Monthly, 1896

mohandasgandhi: South Sudan faces worsening crisis The...

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:43:57 -0800

mohandasgandhi:

South Sudan faces worsening crisis

The situation for the people of South Sudan is getting worse according to the United Nations.

Aid organisations are warning that the country is facing a humanitarian emergency.

Al Jazeera’s Anna Cavell reports from South Sudan.

jesuisperdu: ian stevenson

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:36:38 -0800

jesuisperdu:

ian stevenson

"Donnie: Why do you wear that stupid bunny suit?Frank: Why are you wearing that stupid man suit?"

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:30:30 -0800

“Donnie: Why do you wear that stupid bunny suit?
Frank: Why are you wearing that stupid man suit?”

Give Komen the Pink Slip: Five Ways to Support Women’s...

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:31:31 -0800

Give Komen the Pink Slip: Five Ways to Support Women’s Health for All

Rescinding the Planned Parenthood funding implies that the only women who deserve to receive breast cancer screenings are those who can afford a private doctor. Three million women and men visited Planned Parenthood last year. Over the past five years, Susan G. Komen allowed the health centers to provide nearly 170,000 breast exams and 6,400 mammogram referrals.

If you’re pissed off, show it with your dollars—even if you can only part with a few of them. And afterwards, be sure to tell the Komen Foundation where your money went.

Donate to Planned Parenthood. The obvious choice is to compensate for what Planned Parenthood has lost. The organization received $680,000 from Susan G. Komen last year alone, and virtually every dollar was used for breast exams. That leaves a gaping hole in their funding. Help fill it here (and make sure to mark it “for breast cancer screenings”).

Support a breast cancer organization with some integrity. Not every organization will sell out women’s health to please anti-abortion rights legislators. Some anti-cancer advocacy groups make their feminist messages explicit and central. Breast Cancer Action, the National Breast Cancer Coalition, and the Women’s Community Cancer Project are three that have genuinely feminist roots.

Help the women the Komen Foundation has ignored. Awareness isn’t enough—some women just can’t afford breast cancer screenings. Women of color and poor women will be hurt most by the foundation’s decision. Donating to places like the African American Breast Cancer Alliance or Black Women’s Health Imperative will help these women get the medical attention they need.

Prop up a pro-choice, pro-woman organization. A strike against Planned Parenthood is a strike against women’s health in general. If breast cancer is too specific a cause for you, donate to a women-centered organization that provides crucial sex and health information, like Our Bodies, Ourselves or the National Women’s Health Network.

Support your local women’s clinic. Planned Parenthood is the most ubiquitous group of health clinics in the country, but there are other local women’s health clinics that provide breast exams, and they’re likely struggling even more. Places like the Chicago Women’s Health Center or the Cedar River Clinics could really use some cash, too. Or donate to your local abortion fund—access to a safe abortion may be more of a political lightning rod than breast cancer screenings, but it’s no less essential.

International Space Station and Atlantis

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:30:05 -0800

International Space Station and Atlantis

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Thu, 02 Feb 2012 08:48:28 -0800