Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
-
U.S. delays plan that could deter foreign visitors
The Bush administration has decided to postpone enforcement of new antiterrorism regulations that had threatened to block millions of Western Europeans and citizens of other developed nations from traveling to the United States unless they obtained new, computer-coded passports, according to senior administration officials. The new passport rules, which were supposed to take effect Oct.…
-
Blogging politics
I will be meeting up with now veteran political blogging MP Tom Watson tomorrow for a chat. I met him briefly before, in a haze of booze and lobbyists. Looking forward to meeting up again, and getting his thoughts on blogging, and the future for blogging politicians.
-
Venus possibly habitable for billions of years
Heres an interesting story. Maybe, just maybe, life existed on the planet Venus. A new study reveals that Venus may have had an atmosphere like our own and liquid water for up to 2 billion years, before a greenhouse effect enveloped the planet. Mars and Venus are the two most likely candidates for life given…
-
Has Meacher completely lost the plot?
David Aaronovitch fisks Meacher in today’s Guardian. The Sep 11 theory is ever so slightly off the wall, there are just way too many holes in his argument, and David does a good job of scuppering the whole thing.
-
Suffocation suspected for greatest mass extinction
The oxygen-starved aftermath of an immense global belch of methane left land animals gasping for breath and caused the Earth’s largest mass extinction, suggests new research. Greg Retallack, an expert in ancient soils at the University of Oregon in Eugene, says his theory also explains the mysterious survival of a barrel-chested reptile that became the…
-
Blair defends EU blueprint
Tony Blair seems to be living under the impression that the EU Constitution is required for the 10 new members to join next year. He is mistaken. All the measures required for enlargement were brought about by the Nice Treaty. Or at least thats what the Irish people were told in two referenda. No to…
-
Other People's Sacrifice, Paul Krugman
Paul Krugman looks like he is back in top form again. This piece discusses Bush’s recent address to the nation, and what he believes to be the sheer gall of the administration. Now almost half the Army’s combat strength is bogged down in a country that wasn’t linked to Al Qaeda and apparently didn’t have…
-
Power and Weakness By Robert Kagan
I got this one via Horst, cheers! Bob Kagan with a very lenghty essay on US-EU relations. I don’t have time to read the whole thing now, but it looks great, I will get time tomorrow. It is from June 2002, so was written long before the fallout over the UN resolution. Meanwhile in the…
-
Europeans' doubt over U.S. policy rises
An interesting poll in the IHT this week: The yawning political divide between Europe and the United States that was opened by the war in Iraq has continued to widen, according to a new survey of trans-Atlantic attitudes. The survey of 8,000 Americans and Europeans, conducted by the German Marshall Fund, found citizens on both…
-
Visit to the WNA
I popped along to the WNA Annual Symposium in London yesterday to try and find out more information on nuclear waste. Low and behold who did I meet only former UN Chief Weapons Inspector, Dr. Hans Blix. And no, no exclusive interview, just a polite and softly spoken – “Sorry I am not doing interviews”.…
Got any book recommendations?