Solar power from space

Hey, let’s put solar panels on 300 satellites in space, have them beam the energy to a mother satellite then to earth using radio waves. Seriously.

LTTE surrendered, then was killed. UTHR(J)

For those unfamiliar with UTHR(J), they are a group of former professors, Tamils all, which has been critical of both sides in the Sri Lanka conflict– one of the few relatively unbiased sources of information and analysis on the conflict.  They have strongly criticized both LTTE and GOSL, resulting in the assassination of one of their founding [...]

Anonymous Iran. Info on safe, secure web surfing

From their intro

How-to surf securely and avoid censorship: http://torir.org

This forum aims to be a secure and reliable way of communication for Iranians and friends. Use it to discuss what is happening in Iran. Post in the forum either anonymously as a guest, as a registered user, or login with your facebook-account. We [...]

The International Socialist Organization vs. the Party for Socialism and Liberation over China

The International Socialist Organization just whopped the Party for Socialism and Liberation upside the head for their support of the Chinese government crackdown in Tiananmen Square (because it supposedly supported socialism.) PSL fired back with a scathing article slamming ISO. Much sound and fury will no doubt result, with party bigwigs on both sides [...]

High altitude wind turbines could completely power the planet

Researchers have found there is enough high altitude wind to power the planet 100 times over, with the eastern US coast being a prime location. The turbines are tethered and deliver the power back to earth by cables.

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You just can’t make up headlines like this

Pentagon wants cyborg insects to sniff WMD, offer free wi-fi

Could ‘Latvia on the Pacific’ default on its debt

It could happen.

California has $5.7-billion in debt obligations. And while that will grow, debt occupies pride of place in California’s constitution — only education must be paid off before the next slug of cash goes to creditors. Get that? Healthcare, prisons, and other frivolities can all go to rack and ruin, but creditors must [...]

Iran protests. Huge coverage by Twitter and blogs

Mashable has the numbers and graphs

Twitter: 221,744 “Iran” tweets in one hour

Blogs: 2,250,000 blog posts on Iran in 24 hours

YouTube: 3000 Iran videos uploaded in one day

These trends clearly demonstrate that social media has been front-and-center in the Iran election protests. The Iranian government has reportedly been trying to [...]

Iran protests going beyond the election now

Juan Cole:

Protesters are even now targeting Khamenei directly, not just denouncing dictatorship, according to Robert Tait at the Guardian, chanting, ‘”Seiyed Ali Pinochet, Chile Iran nemishe” (Seiyed Ali Pinochet, Iran won’t become Chile).’ This chant is consistent with a ‘Third Worldist’ (including international left solidarity) tinge to the Green Revolution. I.e. it is [...]

The liberal blogosphere’s uncertain future

This was retweeted twelve times in five minutes after I posted it. Blogs can’t move news that fast. Eric Boehlert at TPM says the liberal blogosphere faces two challenges. Keeping readership after Obama’s win (and liberal blog readership has plummented since Obama got elected), and staying relevant when the real time web like Twitter [...]