Closing things down

Well, it's been an interesting number of years doing this blog, but unfortunately the time has come to shut things down. Being in a PhD programme is just a little too much commitment to continue to do this on the side, as you may have noticed from the lack of posts in the last couple of years. It was fun while it lasted though, and certainly got me the years working in an occupation that I wasn't particularly suited for.

So for now at least, this is it.

It's been a long time...

...but I thought I'd post a few things I recently read.

The Chicago Reader takes on neocon bogyman Leo Strauss, showing him not to be the granddaddy of the neoconservative movement that people make him out to be. Having taken a course on Strauss at Dal, it's something that I agree with - at the most his disciples have taken his philosophical works as political, something that is interesting given his explicit idea of separation between the philosopher and the polis.

Even cooler though, is an article from The New Republic on a trio of political psychologists who have been studying the effects of bringing up morality on the people's political behaviour. Apparently you get more conservative and hate outsiders more, which could explain much about American politics since 9/11.

Finally, a speech given to the APA about gender roles entitled, 'Is there anything good about men?'- one that will undoubtedly spark controversy, especially with its idea that men created culture through their superior extended networking abilities. An interesting read overall.

Problems in Eastern Europe

Der Spiegel has put together a couple of stories about the political problems, corruption, and the rising influence of extreme political views facing several Eastern European countries. As a perfect example of some of these problems, in Russia gay rights activists were beaten up by neo-Nazi's while the police watched, bearing signs such as 'Death to Gays'. To make things worse, the police then went in and arrested the activists, leaving the neo-Nazi's alone. A couple days later, another British official was assaulted after giving a talk on globalisation. Mayors of major European cities decried the violence.

Astronomers have discovered another 28 exoplanets, taking the overall known total to 236 and demonstrating advances in technique that should make it easier to find even more. They are also watching 2 suns orbiting each other that could soon (and that's a relative term) combine to form a 'supersun' 100 times larger than our own. In biology, scientists working on the genome project have identified 6 variations in the genetic code that increase the risk of breast cancer.

Also:
- The first creationist museum has opened in Kentucky.
- USA Today looks at the long history of resistance to science in the US.
- Obama has put forward his health care plan.

Who needs political freedom when you have oil?

In what is becoming a common occurrence, Russia detained more than a dozen opposition leaders who threatened to protest in the provincial city of Samara. Apparently the reasons for the detention according to Putin's government were to ensure the 'authenticity of their airline tickets,' and had nothing to do with the protest itself. This comes a week after authorities raided the local newspaper, once again ostensibly because of 'potential software violations.' Since this is only one of many problems with human rights going on in Russia, the CSM featured a piece from a member of the Russian Duma whose party has been banned, who presented an overview of the sheer scale of the loss of political freedoms in Russia. Also, Frontline examines the Russian government's attacks on independent media.

This act obviously complicates the relationship between Russia and the EU, and German newspapers had much to say about the relationship between the two. Of course, the recent electronic attacks against Estonia, reportedly coming from Russian government sources, only demonstrates the caution is required when dealing with Russian affairs. As a measure to guard against future economic dependency on Russia, the EU is looking into constructing another pipeline to deliver gas to Europe.

In France, Sarkozy is sworn in as the new President. Spiegel looks at what this means for Europe, while the New York Times looks at his surprising choice of left-wing Bernard Kouchner as France's new Foreign Minister.

Astronomers must have been working overtime this week - some found that the solar system is likely to be relegated to a sparse area of space after the collision between our galaxy and the Andromeda galaxy - in 3 1/2 billion years. They also discovered an extra-solar planet whose surface might completely covered in of water. Astronomers finally found evidence of a dark matter ring, accompanied by a pretty amazing photograph.

Also:
- Christopher Hitchen's scathing scathing take on the life of Jerry Falwell.
- Explaining the origins of 'white trash'.
- Christina Hoff Sommers on the lack of engagement the American feminist movement has with the oppression of women in Islamic countries.
- Turkey, Islamic parties, the EU and the legacy of Atatürk.
- An argument for the increasing irrelevance of the Middle East in Western foreign policy.
- The CSM on Africa's lack of action over Mugabe.

Vivre la Démocratie!

Tomorrow is the big day! France goes to the polls for the 1st round of balloting to elect the next President of the 5th Republic. In a race widely seen to be a dive to the centre (or right) for the top three candidates, the media has a whole pile of goodies out there, for instance, about the pragmatic voter, the endemic economic and racial problems in the banlieues, straight-up overviews the candidates, or focusing on the frontrunner's book. The election itself is a tossup with 40% of those polled still undecided, so it should make for an interesting election night.

Russian police beat down a bunch of protesters this week as 2,000 protesters met 9,000 riot police in St. Petersburg. Given the size of the crackdown, Spiegel asks an important question: what exactly is Putin afraid of? Russian police held and questioned former world-champion chess player Kasparov about comments he made on a radio programme, attempting to gather evidence to charge him with making 'extremist' remarks against the government. Slate compares this protest with the protests that are going on in the Ukraine. And you wonder why Britain gave opposition figure Boris Berezovsky political asylum.

Putin's government shut down a media foundation after a police raid because its President didn't declare some currency she brought back from the EU - apparently the private actions of an executive member is enough to bring everything to a stop. It's not all about the political freedoms either. Russia is making it much more difficult for Westerners to adopt children from orphanages, despite the large demand - 260,000 children are considered available for adoption in Russia. Adoption agencies, who helped place almost 7,000 children last year, are facing a dramatic increase in the amount of bureaucracy to reapply for their status this year. Finally, the trust between the EU and Russia is at a very low level, although the main issue here is whether Russia can provide a constant natural gas supply.

Couple of interesting science stories out there this week. The results of Gravity Probe B scores another victory for Einstein. Astronomers have found that big ass stars are really bad for planetary formation. Speaking of stars, our own sun has recently found to have musical potential. In a page directly out of sci-fi, some are speculating that deflector shields could be used to protect future astronauts from radiation. Oh, and looking for a new way to explore other planets? Why not try smart dust!

Also:
- Yay! No more limbo!
- If I haven't said it before, animal rights activists are seriously crazy.
- One Tory MP is looking to censor the internet in Canada.
- Slate argues for promiscuity.
- A 1,400 year-old business files for bankruptcy.
- What is Stephen Harper Reading?
- Women do more work overall then men, right? The empirical data is in, and in the West, it's actually a tie.

Wolfowitz in Hot Water

Paul Wolfowitz, noted neocon and recent head of the World Bank, has come under fire for giving his partner a promotion and large pay raise without the approval of the executive board. The New York Times explores the background to the scandal, especially given the relationship between the United States and the rest of the West.

You should check out this documentary entitled 'Death of a Nation' - it overviews the demographic crisis that Russia is currently facing, and how it plays into xenophobic attitudes toward those ethnic groups seen to be having many children. The part with the Cossacks is particularly frightening. On a similar topic, Russia has banned all immigrant vendors from working - even those who are legal immigrants. Now that only ethnic 'Russians' can sell goods, the people are paying the economic cost of that decision in higher prices and shortages. Oh, and if you want to protest this legislation, you should think twice. A key opposition leader, Garry Kasparov, has been arrested after attempting to organise a rally against the Putin regime.

Also:
- Slate overviews the French Presidential election.
- Spiegel published the results of a Dutch study on European Islamic terrorism.
- The White House 'accidentally' lost millions of emails, many of which could have been used in proving Republican wrongdoing.
- 13 detainees at Guantanamo Bay are being force-fed.
- If you have Google Earth, check out their new coverage of Darfur.
- The CSM gives great coverage of how Chiquita had Columbian paramilitaries on salary.
- Who killed JFK? Apparently a French assassin hired by LBJ.
- You can now listen to the 2007 Reith Lectures, delivered this year by Jeffrey Sachs.
- Which came first, the chicken or the Tyrannosaurus Rex?
- The Mozart effect is just a placebo.
- Do we really need 8 hours of sleep?
- The hardest Super Mario level... ever... (he never finishes 1-2, so you can stop after 1-1)

I'm Coming Back!

Yeah, it's been a while since the last post. PhD's, shockingly, take a lot of work. I'm over the big hump for the month though, so watch this space for something new. ;)