Source Code used in PUBLIC election is "trade secret"

Judge rules against Jennings, Democrats to seat Buchanan

I've always said that any voting machine should have its code turned over the the state and independently verified. These machines are not "new" technology and designing one is straight forward and easy. There is nothing "secret" about it unless the company is taking short cuts to save money.

I don't know the merits of this case, but getting a look at the source code should not require any special reason, it should be public information. [This Post Continues after the jump...]

Media Bias? A tale of two reports on the same poll

One Poll, Two very different reports on it....
Interesting enough, they are both by the AP news service..
Its a perfect, almost textbook, example of how the news can be biased when reporting things.

Poll: Americans See Gloom, Doom in 2007

AP Poll: Americans Optimistic for 2007



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Scrooge and intellectual property rights

Interesting...

Scrooge and intellectual property rights
A medical prize fund could improve the financing of drug innovations

At Christmas, we traditionally retell Dickens's story of Scrooge, who cared more for money than for his fellow human beings. What would we think of a Scrooge who could cure diseases that blighted thousands of people's lives but did not do so? Clearly, we would be horrified. But this has increasingly been happening in the name of economics, under the innocent sounding guise of "intellectual property rights."

Intellectual property differs from other property—restricting its use is inefficient as it costs nothing for another person to use it. Thomas Jefferson, America's third president, put it more poetically than modern economists (who refer to "zero marginal costs" and "non-rivalrous consumption") when he said that knowledge is like a candle, when one candle lights another it does not diminish from the light of the first. Using knowledge to help someone does not prevent that knowledge from helping others. Intellectual property rights, however, enable one person or company to have exclusive control of the use of a particular piece of knowledge, thereby creating monopoly power. Monopolies distort the economy. Restricting the use of medical knowledge not only affects economic efficiency, but also life itself.

We tolerate such restrictions in the belief that they might spur innovation, balancing costs against benefits. But the costs of restrictions can outweigh the benefits. It is hard to see how the patent issued by the US government for the healing properties of turmeric, which had been known for hundreds of years, stimulated research. Had the patent been enforced in India, poor people who wanted to use this compound would have had to pay royalties to the United States.

In 1995 the Uruguay round trade negotiations concluded in the establishment of the World Trade Organization, which imposed US style intellectual property rights around the world. These rights were intended to reduce access to generic medicines and they succeeded. As generic medicines cost a fraction of their brand name counterparts, billions could no longer afford the drugs they needed. For example, a year's treatment with a generic cocktail of AIDS drugs might cost $130 (£65; {euro}170) compared with $10 000 for the brand name version.1 Billions of people living on $2-3 a day cannot afford $10 000, though they might be able to scrape together enough for the generic drugs. And matters are getting worse. New drug regimens recommended by the World Health Organization and second line defences that need to be used as resistance to standard treatments develops can cost much more.

Developing countries paid a high price for this agreement. But what have they received in return? Drug companies spend more on advertising and marketing than on research, more on research on lifestyle drugs than on life saving drugs, and almost nothing on diseases that affect developing countries only. This is not surprising. Poor people cannot afford drugs, and drug companies make investments that yield the highest returns. The chief executive of Novartis, a drug company with a history of social responsibility, said "We have no model which would [meet] the need for new drugs in a sustainable way ... You can't expect for-profit organizations to do this on a large scale."2

Research needs money, but the current system results in limited funds being spent in the wrong way. For instance, the human genome project decoded the human genome within the target timeframe, but a few scientists managed to beat the project so they could patent genes related to breast cancer. The social value of gaining this knowledge slightly earlier was small, but the cost was enormous. Consequently the cost of testing for breast cancer vulnerability genes is high. In countries with no national health service many women with these genes will fail to be tested. In counties where governments will pay for these tests less money will be available for other public health needs.

A medical prize fund provides an alternative. Such a fund would give large rewards for cures or vaccines for diseases like malaria that affect millions, and smaller rewards for drugs that are similar to existing ones, with perhaps slightly different side effects. The intellectual property would be available to generic drug companies. The power of competitive markets would ensure a wide distribution at the lowest possible price, unlike the current system, which uses monopoly power, with its high prices and limited usage.

The prizes could be funded by governments in advanced industrial countries. For diseases that affect the developed world, governments are already paying as part of the health care they provide for their citizens. For diseases that affect developing countries, the funding could be part of development assistance. Money spent in this way might do as much to improve the wellbeing of people in the developing world—and even their productivity—as any other that they are given.

The medical prize fund could be one of several ways to promote innovation in crucial diseases. The most important ideas that emerge from basic science have never been protected by patents and never should be. Most researchers are motivated by the desire to enhance understanding and help humankind. Of course money is needed, and governments must continue to provide money through research grants along with support for government research laboratories and research universities. The patent system would continue to play a part for applications for which no one offers a prize . The prize fund should complement these other methods of funding; it at least holds the promise that in the future more money will be spent on research than on advertising and marketing of drugs, and that research concentrates on diseases that matter. Importantly, the medical prize fund would ensure that we make the best possible use of whatever knowledge we acquire, rather than hoarding it and limiting usage to those who can afford it, as Scrooge might have done. It is a thought we should keep in mind this Christmas.3 4 5 6

Joseph E Stiglitz, professor

1 Columbia University, New York, NY 10025, USA

jb2632@columbia.edu

Competing interests: JES was chief economist of the World Bank from 1997 to 2000 and a member and then chairman of President Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers from 1993 to 1997. He won the Nobel Prize for economics in 2001.

References

1. Médecins Sans Frontières. People not getting the treatment they need to stay alive. Newer AIDS drugs unaffordable and unavailable. Geneva: MSF, 29 November 2006.
2. Andrew J. Novartis chief in warning on cheap drugs. Financial Times 29 September 2006.
3. Stiglitz JE. Making globalization work. New York: WW Norton, 2006.
4. Hollis A. Optional rewards for new drugs for developing countries. Geneva: World Health Organization, 5 April 2005. www.who.int/entity/intellectualproperty/submissions/Submissions.AidanHollis.pdf.
5. Pogge T. Human rights and global health: a research program. Metaphilosophy 2005;1/2(36).
6. Love J. Submission of CPTech to IGWG. 15 November 2006. www.who.int/entity/public_hearing_phi/summary/15Nov06JamesLoveCPTech.pdf

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Uphold Free Speech or Resign

British Lord Stings U.S. Senators Rockefeller and Snowe: 'Uphold Free Speech or Resign'
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/12/18/prnw.20061218.DCM029.html

"I challenge you to withdraw or resign because your letter is the latest in what appears to be an internationally-coordinated series of maladroit and malevolent attempts to silence the voices of scientists and others who have sound grounds, rooted firmly in the peer- reviewed scientific literature, to question what you would have us believe is the unanimous agreement of scientists worldwide that global warming will lead to what you excitedly but unjustifiably call 'disastrous' and 'calamitous' consequences."

Ouch...


Full letter here
http://ff.org/centers/csspp/pdf/20061212_monckton.pdf

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Gore urges scientists to warn public

Why can't I take this guy seriously anymore? I mean he's right on a few things.. we DO need to think about the future more than we do... we DO need to look at the long term effects of our actions... we DO have too short of an attention span.. and DO need to find a renewable, sustainable way of living...

But I just have little respect for the guy anymore.

Part of the problem is that I have no idea what he and others really want us to do about Global Warming. He makes the problems out to be so big (lost of all arctic ice in 36-40 years), that little changes that I can do (changing out a few light bulbs) won't make a difference.. and the BIG changes often proposed (Kyoto, stop burning fossil fuels) cost too much for anyone to do willing if they have any doubt about "Science" behind global warming.


http://news.com.com/
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Gingrich: Imams should have been arrested

I saw this over at Instapundit and liked it (like I do most things there).

Newt calls them like he see them. This whole Imams thing was staged from the beginning. [This Post Continues after the jump...]

Italy: Judge rejects man’s request to cut life support

Judge rejects man’s request to cut life support
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16242596/

"The (Italian) constitution states that no one can be forced to undergo health treatments unless ordered by law".... but the since "Italy’s medical code requires doctors to maintain the life of a patient." .... no one can legally remove this respirator.

Go figure.... [This Post Continues after the jump...]

Painful Execution?

Botched execution likely painful, doctors say
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16241245/


This looks like a very bad situation, but is any amount of pain automatically "cruel"? Can we really make death painless? Certainly there is the emotional pain of knowing you will day on a given day, and just putting the IV needles in causes some real (but trivial) pain.

When we come up with a new mix of drugs, how are we going to "test" it. There will always be some doubt that the person has some amount of pain. The people fighting this because it may be "painful" won't be happy when we make sure it isn't painful.

So even though this is a real bad situation and needs real attention, its hard to take it seriously because I know nothing the state of Florida does will satisfy them [This Post Continues after the jump...]

The Mendacity Of the Liberal Press

Funny, this guy calls the "Drudge Report" liberal because of all the links to liberal newspapers.
Maybe I misunderstood, but I always thought the Drudge Report was "pointing out" the outrageous headlines but not necessarily agreeing with them. I know I post things here that I don't agree with.

Where did I get the idea that the Drudge Report was not liberal? and was actually making fun of the headlines it posts? This is weird..


http://www.nysun.com/pf.php?id=45266 [This Post Continues after the jump...]

Mars in Springtime

My First YouTube video post...

first seen at NASA WATCH
http://www.nasawatch.com/archives/2006/12/ever_wonder_whe.html

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Dems to Wipe Out Pet Projects in Bills

WOW,

If this is any indication of what the Dems will do, where do I sign up?

I'm thinking of switching parties anyways so I can vote against Hillary in the primary....

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/12/11/D8LV029G0.html [This Post Continues after the jump...]

"For Sale" sign banned?

In 2003, Pagan parked a 1970 Mercury Cougar with a “for sale” sign in front of his Sharon Road home. But Glendale police threatened to cite him under an ordinance forbidding such signs on vehicles in public areas.

The village has argued in court that commercial signs are regulated for safety reasons, on the chance that “careless, irresponsible people might get run over while looking at them..."

Sign case gets rare hearing
(http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061204/NEWS01/312040001)
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Cow 'emissions' more damaging to planet than CO2 from cars

By Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor

Published: 10 December 2006

Meet the world's top destroyer of the environment. It is not the car, or the plane,or even George Bush: it is the cow.

A United Nations report has identified the world's rapidly growing herds of cattle as the greatest threat to the climate, forests and wildlife. And they are blamed for a host of other environmental crimes, from acid rain to the introduction of alien species, from producing deserts to creating dead zones in the oceans, from poisoning rivers and drinking water to destroying coral reefs.

The 400-page report by the Food and Agricultural Organisation, entitled Livestock's Long Shadow, also surveys the damage done by sheep, chickens, pigs and goats. But in almost every case, the world's 1.5 billion cattle are most to blame. Livestock are responsible for 18 per cent of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, more than cars, planes and all other forms of transport put together.

Burning fuel to produce fertiliser to grow feed, to produce meat and to transport it - and clearing vegetation for grazing - produces 9 per cent of all emissions of carbon dioxide, the most common greenhouse gas. And their wind and manure emit more than one third of emissions of another, methane, which warms the world 20 times faster than carbon dioxide.

Livestock also produces more than 100 other polluting gases, including more than two-thirds of the world's emissions of ammonia, one of the main causes of acid rain.

Ranching, the report adds, is "the major driver of deforestation" worldwide, and overgrazing is turning a fifth of all pastures and ranges into desert.Cows also soak up vast amounts of water: it takes a staggering 990 litres of water to produce one litre of milk.

Wastes from feedlots and fertilisers used to grow their feed overnourish water, causing weeds to choke all other life. And the pesticides, antibiotics and hormones used to treat them get into drinking water and endanger human health.

The pollution washes down to the sea, killing coral reefs and creating "dead zones" devoid of life. One is up to 21,000sqkm, in the Gulf of Mexico, where much of the waste from US beef production is carried down the Mississippi.

The report concludes that, unless drastic changes are made, the massive damage done by livestock will more than double by 2050, as demand for meat increases.

Link:Cow 'emissions'

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UCF in the News!!

Yes, UCF as in Orlando, as in right here... as in believe it or not!!

UCF mad scientists squeeze 1TB of data onto single DVD
University of Central Florida Chemistry Professor Kevin D. Belfield and his team have cracked a puzzle that stumped scientists for more than a dozen years. They have developed a new technology that will allow users to record and store massive amounts of data ... onto a single disc or, perhaps, a small cube.

Belfield’s Two-Photon 3-D Optical Data Storage system makes this possible.

Link
http://news.ucf.edu/UCFnews/index?page=article&id=0024004105bd60439010c0c76ce2f00409b


The UCF team’s work was published in Advanced Materials
(2006, vol. 18, pp. 2910-2914, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/adma.200600826)

and recently highlighted in Nature Photonics (www.nature.com/nphoton/reshigh/2006/1106/full/nphoton.2006.47.html ). [This Post Continues after the jump...]

RIAA Petitions Judges to Lower Artist Royalties

Oh, when will people wake up? The RIAA wants it both ways. Claim to be looking out for ARTIST when they really are just looking out for the incresingly unnecessary "Middle Men" (Record Companies and publishers)

"We hope the judges will restore the proper balance by reducing the rate and moving to a more flexible percentage rate structure so that record companies can continue to create the sound recordings that drive revenues for music publishers."

The language of this statement reveals a great deal about who the RIAA is looking out for, and it's not artists. Couched in terms of apparent necessity, the RIAA's is insisting that the real musicians be paid less so that the record companies can continue to "drive revenues." (for who??)

Whatever happened to the poor starving ARTIST the RIAA claimed to be protecting before?

RIAA Petitions Judges to Lower Artist Royalties

First seen at Engadget
(http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/09/riaa-petitions-to-lower-artist-royalties-weakens-piracy-argumen/) [This Post Continues after the jump...]

Archbishop Ordains Two Married Priests

"Currently, there's one celibate priest for every 3,500 Catholics in the world and frankly, something needs to change."

Milingo has called celibacy "outdated" and noted on Sunday that it was not required of priests until the 12th century.

I've always wondered why Catholic priests had to be celibate. I don't see the requirement in the New testament and most of the disciples are said (assumed?) to have been married. Of all the issues facing the Catholic Church today, I would think this one could be changed without effecting much else. It would just be changing a church/social policy not reinterpreting the Bible or anything.

Archbishop Ordains Two Married Priests
(http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,235777,00.html)


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New York City Bans Science

Its laws like this that make me realize why we need a court system and some protected rights.

Not that this is a protected right, but its a stupid law that shows how even an elected governmental body can trample a man's rights just as much as a king or dictator.

Click on the URL below for the rest of this story:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,235317,00.html

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Richest 2% hold half the world’s assets

“many people in high-income countries have negative net worth and, somewhat paradoxically, are among the poorest people in the world in terms of household wealth.”

So in the US some people are actually POORER than people that have almost NOTHING because we're in so much debt... but is that a real picture of wealth?

FT.com / World / International economy - Richest 2% hold half the world’s assets [This Post Continues after the jump...]