Space shuttle explosion

Poynter Online and Scripting News are running continous news, links, and info on this breaking tragedy.

Doc Searls notes

“I covered the first and 7th launches of Columbia, the first launch photos are on the wall in my office. The oldest shuttle is no more.

Implications: 1. 3 people are still on board the International Space Station 2. No shuttles will fly for at least 2 to 3 years 3. We will be relying on the Russians to support ISS”

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Blowback

War anxiety propels euro above dollar

“Growing fear of war in Iraq has pushed Europe’s common currency, the euro, sharply higher against the dollar, reversing a long-established pattern in which geopolitical jitters led investors to seek refuge in U.S. currency

Analysts say the euro is showing signs of becoming a serious rival to the long-dominant dollar on world markets.”

It is highly unusual for investors to be leaving the dollar on war nerves. This indicates a massive geopolitical / financial shift is occurring. 

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Iraq war deaths could reach half a million

From Physicians for Social Responsibility

“Estimates of the total possible deaths on all sides during the conflict and the following three months range from 48,000 to over 260,000. Civil war within Iraq could add another 20,000 deaths. Additional later deaths from post-war adverse health effects could reach 200,000. If nuclear weapons were used the death toll could reach 3,900,000. In all scenarios the majority of casualties will be civilians.“

A Canadian group reached similar conclusions in projecting deaths of children

“While it is impossible to predict both the nature of any war and the number of expected deaths and injuries, casualties among children will be in the thousands, probably in the tens of thousands and possibly in the hundreds of thousands,” Canadian team leader and medical doctor Eric Hoskins said in a statement.

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Heat

This January was the hottest ever for Los Angeles. Average temperature was 74 degrees. It was also one of the driest ever, with no measureable rainfall. Yesterday, while other parts of the country were chilly, it was 85 here. For those of you who were chipping the ice off your windshields, I can only say “A HA HA HA” … oops … of course I meant to say “I feel your pain”.

I spent the afternoon putting heat resistant film screen on the south facing windows, which reduces heat coming in the windows by 66%. This will make things decidely more liveable when it’s 105 outside, not to mention saving $$$ on air conditioning. Lemme tell you, if it’s hitting 85 in January, I’m NOT optimistic about this being a cool summer! Plus most areas of the West aren’t getting even their normal precipitation, so the drought is still with us.

Using heat resistant film is also a Green thing to do. Why waste energy? That’s why I use compact flourescent light bulbs (CFL’s) rather than regular incandescent light bulbs.  CFL’s cost more, however they last vastly longer and use 1/10 the energy to produce the same light. They also burn way cooler. You can turn off a CFL by twisting the bulb. Try doing that with a 100w incandescent and you’ll burn your fingers. And of course, cooler burning bulbs mean the air conditioning doesn’t work as hard in the summer. You can get them most anywhere now, including Home Depot.

Yes, it can be a shock paying $6-15 for one light bulb. However, they last 10,000 hours, and if you factor in the electricity savings they can pay for themselves quickly.

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Is touchscreen voting worse than what we have now?

Touchscreen voting will be implemented soon in California. Many think it is a wonderful idea as it greatly simplifies the process of voting as well as counting the votes. Greens favor touchscreen because it makes going to Instant Runoff Voting possible. However a coalition of computer professionals and researchers is strongly opposing touchscreen voting.

Why? Because there is no audit trail with touchscreen voting. And with no audit trail, all manner of mischief is possible.

From Dan Gillmor’s Silicon Valley column

“Listen to the people who know technology best — computer-science professors and researchers from the nation’s top universities and labs.

They’ve signed onto a document urging voting officials everywhere to think further before acting so stupidly. Their language is blunt, and frightening in its implications. Here is the gist of their message:

“Computerized voting equipment is inherently subject to programming error, equipment malfunction, and malicious tampering. It is therefore crucial that voting equipment provide a voter-verifiable audit trail, by which we mean a permanent record of each vote that can be checked for accuracy by the voter before the vote is submitted, and is difficult or impossible to alter after it has been checked.

Many of the electronic voting machines being purchased do not satisfy this requirement. Voting machines should not be purchased or used unless they provide a voter-verifiable audit trail; when such machines are already in use, they should be replaced or modified to provide a voter-verifiable audit trail. Providing a voter-verifiable audit trail should be one of the essential requirements for certification of new voting systems.“

And lookie here, Senator Chuck Hagel (NE-R) has apparently been less than forthcoming about his financial interest in the largest voting machine company in America.  

“One underlying issue is whether Hagel properly disclosed his financial ties to Election Systems & Software (ES&S), a company that makes nearly half the voting machines used in the United States, including all those used in his native Nebraska.

ES&S is a subsidiary of McCarthy Group Inc., which is jointly held by the holding firm and the Omaha World-Herald Co., which publishes the state’s largest newspaper. The voting machine company makes sophisticated optical scan and touch-screen vote-counting devices that many states have begun buying in recent years.”

Conspiracy buffs, start your engines.

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