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| compos mentis. Concision. Media. Clarity. Memes. Context. Melange. Confluence. Mishmash. Conflation. Mellifluous. Conviviality. Miscellany. Confelicity. Milieu. Cogent. Minty. Concoction. |
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Inventing A Better Future |
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| Topic: High Tech Developments |
11:48 pm EST, Jan 25, 2004 |
The IAC report on worldwide S&T capacities, entitled "Inventing a better future: A strategy for building worldwide capacities in science and technology," will be officially released on 5 February 2004 at a United Nations "publication launch" at UN Headquarters, hosted personally by Secretary-General Kofi Annan. All UN ambassadors, their senior staff and the UN press corps have been invited by the UN. The IAC Co-Chairs, Bruce Alberts and Goverdhan Mehta, will officially present the report to the Secretary-General. The IAC study panel Co-Chairs, Jacob Palis and Ismail Serageldin, as well as panel member Mamphela Ramphele, will present the report conclusions and recommendations and respond to questions. The IAC publication launch can be seen live (3 - 4 pm New York time) as a webcast on the UN website www.un.org/webcast or it may be accessed there at a later time. A press conference with the IAC speakers will precede the publication launch event. Inventing A Better Future |
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Think Again: Neocons, by Max Boot | Foreign Policy |
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| Topic: International Relations |
10:04 am EST, Jan 25, 2004 |
A cabal of neoconservatives has hijacked the Bush administration's foreign policy and transformed the world's sole superpower into a unilateral monster. Say what? In truth, stories about the "neocon" ascendancy -- and the group's insidious intent to wage preemptive wars across the globe -- have been much exaggerated. And by telling such tall tales, critics have twisted the neocons' identities and thinking on US foreign policy into an unrecognizable caricature. Think Again: Neocons, by Max Boot | Foreign Policy |
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George Soros, Bubble Book Boy |
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| Topic: International Relations |
10:00 am EST, Jan 25, 2004 |
On January 12, George Soros, investor and philanthropist, launched his new book, The Bubble of American Supremacy: Correcting the Misuse of American Power, with a speech and discussion at the Carnegie Endowment. Soros: "I have never been involved in party politics but I am deeply disturbed by the direction America has taken under President Bush. It is not a matter of party politics or personal animosity against President Bush. I consider it crucial that the policies of the Bush administration be rejected in the forthcoming elections. Let me explain why." "2004 is not an ordinary election; it is a referendum on the Bush doctrine. The future of the world hangs in the balance. That is the other point that I want to make; it is not enough to defeat President Bush. We must also develop and adopt a more constructive vision." You can read a transcript of the speech, or you can download an MP3 of the introduction, speech, and discussion. George Soros, Bubble Book Boy |
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Restoring a Red Rover's Spirit |
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| Topic: Science |
9:46 am EST, Jan 25, 2004 |
The computer on Spirit started crashing on Wednesday, and the problem has been traced to part of the computer memory, said Mr. Theisinger, the project manager. It will still take some time for the problem to be fully diagnosed and for the engineers to devise procedures to work around it. "I think we're probably like three weeks away from driving," Mr. Theisinger said. The troubles began Wednesday, as controllers were testing one of the instruments. Spirit's computer crashed, and over the next two days, a cycle of rebooting and crashing repeated more than 60 times. The rover also did not shut down at night. Suspecting that the problem might be with the flash memory, flight controllers radioed instructions for Spirit to start up in what Mr. Theisinger called the cripple mode, using only the RAM and not the flash memory. For the first time since Wednesday, the rover's software did not crash. This is the first clear explanation I've read of the problems with Spirit. Restoring a Red Rover's Spirit |
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| Topic: Business |
2:35 am EST, Jan 25, 2004 |
Fish are for fun, not for food. Fish Market |
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Children in the crosshairs: enforcing patents on GM pets |
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| Topic: Biotechnology |
2:30 am EST, Jan 25, 2004 |
Mr. Blake of Yorktown said that while hobbyists could breed fish for their own collections, anyone who tried to sell the GloFish they bred would be infringing the company's patents. He would not say what action would be taken if unauthorized fish were sold by individuals, but he said the company would try to enforce its patents if a business was doing the selling. The GloFish wants to be free! Children in the crosshairs: enforcing patents on GM pets |
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The Tyranny of Copyright? |
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| Topic: Intellectual Property |
2:15 am EST, Jan 25, 2004 |
The DMCA is one of several recent laws that regulate intellectual property and are quietly reshaping the culture. ... intellectual property law can now be found at the center of major disputes in the arts, sciences and politics. In less than a decade, the much-ballyhooed liberating potential of the Internet seems to have given way to something of an intellectual land grab, presided over by legislators and lawyers for the media industries. "We are at a moment in our history at which the terms of freedom and justice are up for grabs." "I think it is good to have a price tag attached to each use because it tells producers what consumers want; it lets them vote with their purchase for the kinds of culture they want." The Tyranny of Copyright? |
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| Topic: Current Events |
1:48 am EST, Jan 25, 2004 |
Would Americans have supported a war to go get "program activities?" What is a program activity? I suspect that Maureen's questions are on the minds of many. Riding the Crazy Train |
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| Topic: War on Terrorism |
1:44 am EST, Jan 25, 2004 |
Ideas don't just spread on their own. Ideas spread in a context. "... an aging developed world ... trying to protect its jobs, and ... a young, job-seeking, job-needing emerging world ..." The region stretching from Morocco to the border of India had almost no lights. War of Ideas, Part 6 |
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Powell Voices Doubts About Iraqi Weapons |
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| Topic: Current Events |
1:37 am EST, Jan 25, 2004 |
Colin Powell: "We had questions that needed to be answered. What was it: 500 tons, 100 tons or zero tons? Was it so many liters of anthrax, 10 times that amount, or nothing? What we demanded of Iraq was that they account for all of this and they prove the negative of our hypothesis." "... weapons-of-mass-destruction-related program activities ..." "It's going to take some additional considerable period of time ..." "... the jury is still out ..." Did he just say that? Prove the negative? Powell Voices Doubts About Iraqi Weapons |
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