Thursday, April 28, 2005

70% of good sold at Wal-Mart is made in China?


70% of good sold at Wal-Mart is made in China?
I was checking out Walmartwatch.com, and found this post saying that 70% of everything that Wal-Mart sells is from China.

Walmartwatch.com is worth checking out, whether your Republican or Democrat or someone who lives in the radical middle, there's a value to knowing the good and the bad about America's largest employer.

Posted by Hello

Friday, April 22, 2005

A Green Army



Not talking about the army uniforms here, but this article from Wired.com reports the army is looking into hybrid vehicle technology. But from this picture its one but ugly vehicle that is unlikely to replace the Humvee as the dream vehicle of the real man. On the other hand suffering from abject poverty due to the cost of fuel their Humvee sucks down is unattractive.

This vehicle is powered by a small three cylinder diesel engine and 2 electric hybrid motors, it will cost approximately $20,000 and get 50 miles per gallon fuel efficiency.

One of the major design components is ease of maintenance with an unobstructed access to the engine electric motor and drivetrain. This is going to major factor in the adoption of hybrid vehicles. If your stop at the auto repair shop, costs two to three times that of the gasoline powered vehicle, fuel savings will not offset that cost.

The army does not intend to use this vehicle in combat but as a utility vehicle that the Humvee is overkill for.
Posted by Hello

Thursday, April 21, 2005

Biting the hand that feeds them

This article describes how the Chinese have suddenly realized that their image been damaged by the protest against Japan. It looks like damage control is starting swing into effect.

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

An Interesting Post from the Unknown Professor

I was pocking around looking for info on Blogging for charity (I will let
everyone in on that latter), this post from the Unknown Professor came up in
google. It is about the comparison of profit and charity, take a look.

Also testing posting through email.

Blog: drbridgette.blogstop.com

Monday, April 18, 2005

Has Fox News Lost Its Mind


Has Fox News Lost Its Mind
In one of its featured articles today Fox News talks about the difficulties researchers have in researching drugs like marijuana. The article talks about how medical use of marijuana has shown anecdotal benefits in treating diseases such as glaucoma and neuropathic pain. It is also shown to be useful in stimulating the appetite of patients on chemotherapy in AIDS patients suffering from dementia (AIDS wasting syndrome).

Researchers are struggling to find out if the benefits of medical marijuana outweighs the risks associated with its use. This is a question that the government through the FDA often asks, presently it's evaluating drugs such as Vioxx, Bextra, and Celebrex. Over the next few years will find out if these drugs are the best choice as a painkiller. The problem that researchers are having with the study of the use of medical marijuana is that the government is in the business eliminating the use of marijuana studying in for medicinal purposes is considered to be counterproductive to this goal.

Now you're probably thinking that it is the FDA that is standing in the way of these studies (so was I when I started reading this article) but the FDA has approved studies. The problem and researchers have is that they're unable to get marijuana to study.

As a personal note I think that's absolutely hilarious. The one drug in the world that is only slightly harder to find than aspirin is marijuana. Have to wonder how many of these researchers have a plant growing in their backyard or have smoked marijuana in the past year. Even though they probably have greater access to personal use of marijuana, due to the research methods they are unable to use marijuana that is not produced in a controlled environment and distributed through the federal government.

Presently ecstasy is being studied at both Harvard and with psychiatrist in South Carolina. The Harvard studies is aimed at researching the use of ecstasy with terminally ill cancer patients, to determine if it can help them discuss with their families their illness and the end of life issues that they're facing. The study being done in South Carolina is addressing whether ecstasy can help women who've suffered sexual assaults such as rape. This research especially the research with women who suffered sexual assaults may be a great benefit to our society, the possible use of ecstasy in treating post-traumatic stress associated with rape and sexual assaults may also offer help in treating other post-traumatic issues, such as the those faced by some of our soldiers returning home from Iraq are facing. The early reports show possible benefit to addressing many psychological problems through the therapeutic use of ecstasy.

The problem that researchers have in acquiring marijuana for research is that they have to receive a license from the National Institute of Drug Abuse. The national Institute of drug abuse job is to reduce the use of illegal drugs and thus may have a strong conflict of interest. For researchers to be a supply our society with true and accurate information this research needs to be done and the National Institute of Drug Abuse should step aside and allows research to be done.

The question that I have asked is has Fox News lost their minds. No, they haven't. What this does show is the new progressive ideology that is found a home with conservatives. This progressive ideology speaks to the fact that liberals are no longer progressive but conservative defenders of a static ideology. Fox News is quietly raising the idea that the new progressive is an individual neither tied to the right or left. The new progressive ideology is one that is willing to challenge all ranges of thought that have not had a significant benefit to our society.

Maybe the new progressive ideology that is being discussed is the rise of the "radical moderate".
Posted by Hello

Saturday, April 16, 2005

China Again

It has been awhile since I've posted, and I've been on China rant, so the latest news out of China will be today's post.

It looks like the Chinese government is now sponsoring anti-Japanese protests. Why do I claim the Chinese government is sponsoring this because no protests in China happen with out their approval. The government of China, is concerned about Japan's push to become permanent member of the UN Security Council. There also upset about Japanese textbooks that do not appropriately address Japanese war atrocities during Japan's occupation of China from 1930s to 1945.

China has a right to be upset about how Japan is addressing their past, as most countries including the United States they are presently trying to politely ignore the crimes of their fathers. Japan has a responsibility to the world but mostly the responsibility to the Japanese people to honestly address their past crimes. Openly and honestly addressing the crimes of their forefathers is by far the best route to Japan's of eventual acceptance as a major and important nation.

Though the Japanese reluctance to entrust their past rightfully aggravates the Chinese appoint that would be most troublesome for Chinese government is the inclusion of Japan on the Security Council. The inclusion of the Japanese government is appropriate Security Council is overly dominated by European nations and including greater representation from the Asian world is important to the overall stability of the world.

A hope none of the readers start thinking that I am becoming a fan of the UN. I still believe the UN is a corrupt and poorly managed organization. It is badly in need of reform. Possibly the new United States Ambassador to the UN (John Bolton) will give the the UN the shove that it needs to properly implement reforms.