By now, most of the stories behind the dazzling rise and ignominious demise of a proud, magnificent bird, the F-22 Raptor, have been told. Stories about the brilliant design and cutting edge manufacturing and assembly technology. A technology that has been described as "the only thing more complex than the human body." (I was fortunate to visit the “mile-long” Lockheed … [Read more...] about The Demise of the F-22 Raptor: The Story Behind the Story
Should Social Networks Be Non-Profits?
Bo Peabody in the WaPo: I launched the social networking site Tripod in 1995. By 1998, it was the eighth-largest site on the Web. But Tripod was never a successful business. Social networks aren't great places to advertise. You can't charge users for their services. And they never gain enough momentum to survive in the stock market. Indeed, no social network has ever made it … [Read more...] about Should Social Networks Be Non-Profits?
Artificial Retina Shows Concrete Results
Following up my Kurzweil Was Right post from the other day, The NYTimes today reports on an experiment testing whether electrodes implanted in the eye can restore sight. No miracle cure, and it doesn't work for glaucoma, the artificial retina produces the sensation of sight. It draws on cochlear implants for the deaf and is partly financed by a cochlear implant maker: The … [Read more...] about Artificial Retina Shows Concrete Results
Looney TUNes
Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to run on TMV. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. … [Read more...] about Looney TUNes
Obama’s JFK Test
The newest revelation of Iran's nuclear sneakiness echoes what happened in 1962 when the Soviets furtively put missiles into Cuba, but John F. Kennedy's problem was a faceoff for a few days compared to the complex struggle that will play out over the coming months. Yet the key issue is the same--testing an American president's skill and resolve by an adversary who may be … [Read more...] about Obama’s JFK Test
Obama Administration Still Fails To Recognize Honduran Government
Guest Post By Leonidas Leonidas is a frequent, right of center commenter on The Moderate Voice and has been invited as a Guest Voice. ********** The Congressional Research Service (CRS) has released a new report on the ousting of former President Manuel Zelaya. Among its findings: Available sources indicate that the judicial and legislative branches applied … [Read more...] about Obama Administration Still Fails To Recognize Honduran Government
Supreme Leader in Plea to Iranians Not to Fall for West’s ‘Soft War’: Kayhan, Islamic Republic of Iran
Unidentified members of Iran's august Assembly of Experts, purported under Iran's revolutionary constitution to oversee and be capable of removing that nation's 'supreme leader' who never faces the verdict of the average voter. (The same can apparently be said of that nation's president, but setting that aside for the moment ... While Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is … [Read more...] about Supreme Leader in Plea to Iranians Not to Fall for West’s ‘Soft War’: Kayhan, Islamic Republic of Iran
Barack Obama’s Weekly Address (Video): On G20 and Iran
President Barack Obama's weekly radio You Tube Internet address touches on the G20 -- and the ongoing crisis with Iran: … [Read more...] about Barack Obama’s Weekly Address (Video): On G20 and Iran
Iranian Crisis: “Cuban Missile Crisis In Slow Motion”?
Is the current crisis involving Iran just one more news cycle blip that will pass without triggering the worst case scenarios on each side? Or is this really "the Cuban Missile Crisis in slow motion" as one expert believes? Two things are thing is certain. 1. From the comments coming from each side at the end of the week, it's clear that it's No More Mr. Nice Guy -- or at … [Read more...] about Iranian Crisis: “Cuban Missile Crisis In Slow Motion”?
Obama’s Delusionary March Toward Utopia: Rzeczpospolita, Poland
As we've all heard by now, Western Europe is relieved, and Eastern Europe is aggrieved, over President Barack Obama's decision to scrap Bush-era missile shield bases in Poland and the Czech Republic. This article by Marek Magierowski of Poland's Rceczpospolita offers a good sense of how Poles view the decision. So why did Obama do it? Magierowski gives three … [Read more...] about Obama’s Delusionary March Toward Utopia: Rzeczpospolita, Poland
Did The Great Depression End In 1933?
I thought I knew the history of the Great Depression in this country. I thought it lasted the entire decade of the 1930s. Maybe you thought so, too. And maybe we were both wrong. Such a mistake seems obvious when listening to present pronouncements from our economic masters about our own Great Recession that started at the end of 2007. I've been thinking we were still in this … [Read more...] about Did The Great Depression End In 1933?
The Ghouls Surrounding Bill Sparkman
The horrible death of Bill Sparkman in backwoods Kentucky has brought out the usual collection of vultures, ghouls and opportunists. Even though everyone admits that details remain sketchy and investigating officials are (rightly) keeping some pertinent facts close to the vest, the piling on started almost immediately. We've had some of it right here at TMV, but you don't have … [Read more...] about The Ghouls Surrounding Bill Sparkman
Maoist Rebellion: Why Is India Helpless?
Prof. John K. Galbraith, a former US ambassador, once described India as a “functioning anarchy”. Galbraith’s famous quote comes to mind on hearing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s recent helpless cry that the country’s fight against Maoists/Naxalites is failing. Such public display of vulnerability appears pathetic, although it is a fact that governing a large democratic … [Read more...] about Maoist Rebellion: Why Is India Helpless?
Not ‘Photoshopped’
Philip B. Corbett, the NYTimes deputy news editor, is also in charge of The Times’s style manual. Says he: The folks at Adobe Systems Inc. remind us that “Photoshop” is a registered trademark referring to Adobe’s “digital imaging software products and related services.” It is not, they note, a generic term, and should not be used as a verb to describe the general process of … [Read more...] about Not ‘Photoshopped’
New Details in Census Worker Hanging
There are new details in the case of the census worker found hanged in Kentucky. … [Read more...] about New Details in Census Worker Hanging
More Good News for the Public Option
A new Times/CBS News poll asks the question, "Would you favor or oppose the government offering everyone a government administered health insurance plan -- something like the Medicare coverage that people 65 and older get -- that would compete with private health insurance plans?" … [Read more...] about More Good News for the Public Option
Let’s End Flexible Spending Accounts
I have never been a believer in the value of flexible spending accounts. The Baucus Bill calls for setting a $2,500 annual limit on what people can set aside in an FSA, among other restrictions. Ron Leiber reports that "a not-quite grass-roots effort has sprung up, led by companies that administer flexible spending accounts," to advocate for them. I've fought with one … [Read more...] about Let’s End Flexible Spending Accounts
Jon Kyl Tells Debbie Stabenow He Doesn’t Need Maternity Care…
... and Sen. Stabenow replied, "I think your mom probably did." … [Read more...] about Jon Kyl Tells Debbie Stabenow He Doesn’t Need Maternity Care…
Missile Defense and Iran’s Nuclear Ambitions
Well, well, well. Look at what the New York Times has buried on page 3 of its article about the joint announcement by Pres. Obama and by French and British leaders Nicolas Sarkozy and Gordon Brown that Iran is building a secret underground plant to manufacture nuclear fuel. … [Read more...] about Missile Defense and Iran’s Nuclear Ambitions
The Guantanamo Bay Fiasco
The building of a prisoner of war camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba was as big a screw-up by the Bush administration as is attempts by the Obama administration to close it. Neither administration understood the long-range problems inherent in the system that was created. That's the analysis we observe in stories today reported in three major newspapers. Retiring Marine Major … [Read more...] about The Guantanamo Bay Fiasco