Mornin' Edition of Around the Internets

Still haven't seen Batman yet. Sigh.

AROUND THE INTERNETS

• Philip Carter, apparently a reservist, has been called to active duty. This is one of the few pro-war vets that I respect because he sincerely cares about the plight of the American soldier no matter the many giddy and optimistic pronouncements declared by the Bush Administration. Of course, I'm sure that his criticism of the war has nothing to do with his being called up and probably being sent to the Russian Front front lines. Who would imply that the Bush administration is mean-spirited and vengeful? Nothing to do at all I'm sure.

• Update: I added this low key comment to his site. There's a bit of contrast with the boosters. I don't think it would be banned. Afterall, we kinda know Philip Carter isn't a pussy.

First, watch your back.

Second, I do not congratulate you because I do not think you'll be murdering Iraqis for a good cause. For the record, I wouldn't wish a German soldier good luck in Poland or France, either.

Third, I have the greatest respect for your courage. Here's somebody who walks the walk and talks the talk. You're smart enough to be a conscientious objector, or even to make some other nuanced claim, but you didn't. In a fair world, the Patrick Ruffinis and Instapundits and Pejmanpundits would go in your place...

Four: I have to say this out loud: Do you think your critiques against the war led to you being called up?

Philip Shropshire
www.threeriversonline.com

6.27.2005 4:18am

• There's an exciting new media project called Independent World Television. It's an attempt to create a publicly funded new media movement. Check out the very good 15 minute video about their origins. Features the wide array of alt journalism heroes: My fantasy girlfriend and love Naomi Klein, Amy Goodman, Robert McChesney and others. Watch the whole thing.

• I wish Ralph Nader would get out of reactionary and harmful politics and join this media project. Check out his thoughtful piece (always maintained that Nader is world's greatest journalist) on the common sense proposal to legalize hemp. Go to www.votehemp.com for more info. We could replace tobacco with a crop that's potentially both profitable and beneficial.

• New Environmental Link: www.treehugger.com

• ACLU takes up the pro science agenda.

• Science as Art. Beautiful stuff.

• Debate about mundane science-fiction.

• Like the new "Bleed Like Me" Tune from Garbage

• For those of us who watched Tech TV and then watched it get raped by that dopey brain dead gaming channel that bought it, the old guys who had a clue have their own online podcast called TWIT. or This Week in Tech.
  They read books. They know history. They even bring back John Dvorak, who used to have a radical show, even featured a cute female socialist. It felt more like ABC's old Bill Maher show. Of course they changed it around and cancelled it even before those game show morons got into the act. (Needs editing and insider tech jargon demanding but go for it Leo...)

• Did you know there was a peak oil blog?

• Incredible Live Music Site (Wax Poetic, Zero 7, all kinds of interesting stuff, 40 minute live concerts...)

• Older but interesting story about Russian stem cell research. It's the new frontier. Thanks Ales Rarus.

Here's more on the same topic. I was always under the impression that if you knew more about embryonic stem cells then you would better understand adult stem cells. It's not either/or, it's complimentary. Fight Aging has my back:

You folks may find this of interest: a long MSNBC interview with biologist James Thompson on topics relating to stem cell research. Some of the more interesting items:

Q: How do you respond to the claim that we have these other sources of stem cells — adult stem cells or cord blood — and there's no need to turn to embryonic cells?

A: We don't. The most studied cell in the whole body, in terms of stem cells, is the hematopoietic stem cell. It can't be grown. So what you do when you do a bone marrow transplant is you take some bone marrow out of you - actually, we do peripheral blood - and we put in another patient without expanding it. There's a clinical need for that expansion step, but it can't be done right now. And hundreds of labs for 30 years have studied that adult stem cell, and that’s the one we know the most about.

...

And again, getting back to the basic science thing: If we study the embryonic stem cells, we learn the basic science. That knowledge is just as likely to be applied to adult stem cells as to the embryonic stem cells. The knowledge goes back and forth. And in the case of the blood, people have failed at growing that cell for three decades. Well, studying that lineage with embryonic stem cells, we might learn the clues to make it growable, and it might be that we still want to use adult stem cells to do that because there are a lot of advantages to that, but the knowledge might come from embryonic stem cells.

Stem cell research really all boils down to a matter of trying to fully understanding and controlling our cells. If researchers can learn to do that, then opportunities to develop cures for aspects of degenerative aging simply fall out of the process.