A machine to read the mind came a step closer on Thursday, when scientists at University College London released the results of an experiment in which brain scans revealed the location of people moving around a virtual reality environment.

Demis Hassabis, co-author of the study, said it was "a small step towards the idea of mind reading, because just by looking at neural activity we were able to say what someone was thinking"...

Four volunteers navigated around a room in a computerised virtual reality game while the researchers examined their hippocampus with an fMRI scanner...

"Surprisingly, just by looking at the brain data we could predict exactly where they were in the virtual reality room," said Eleanor Maguire

But Dr Hassabis said it would be at least 10 years - and probably much longer - before the technique could be used in forensic investigations, for example to tell whether a suspect was lying about whether they had been at a crime scene..

While this sounds great as far as rooting out criminals, it's a bit scary too.  Reminds me of the movie Jim Carey played in called "Liar, Liar" in which he played a lawyer that couldn't tell a lie.

Imagine in the future going to work with a mind reading machine, something the size of an ipod, that would allow you to read your coworker's minds at any given point.  Even worse, imagine them having one of their own.

How would it feel to go on a date and know what that date is thinking?  Geez, that would be weird! "Honey, you look beautiful tonight."  Your machine starts beeping like a cell phone....it says, "Too bad your hair looks like crap though."

I guess we have to remember that where there is good, there's also the bad....LOL

Seymore Hersh has reportedly said that:

"Right now, today, there was a story in the New York Times that if you read it carefully mentioned something known as the Joint Special Operations Command -- JSOC it's called. It is a special wing of our special operations community that is set up independently. They do not report to anybody, except in the Bush-Cheney days, they reported directly to the Cheney office. They did not report to the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff or to Mr. [Robert] Gates, the secretary of defense. They reported directly to him. ...

"Congress has no oversight of it. It's an executive assassination ring essentially, and it's been going on and on and on. Just today in the Times there was a story that its leaders, a three star admiral named [William H.] McRaven, ordered a stop to it because there were so many collateral deaths.

"Under President Bush's authority, they've been going into countries, not talking to the ambassador or the CIA station chief, and finding people on a list and executing them and leaving. That's been going on, in the name of all of us.

"It's complicated because the guys doing it are not murderers, and yet they are committing what we would normally call murder. It's a very complicated issue. Because they are young men that went into the Special Forces. The Delta Forces you've heard about. Navy Seal teams. Highly specialized.

"In many cases, they were the best and the brightest. Really, no exaggerations. Really fine guys that went in to do the kind of necessary jobs that they think you need to do to protect America. And then they find themselves torturing people.

"I've had people say to me -- five years ago, I had one say: 'What do you call it when you interrogate somebody and you leave them bleeding and they don't get any medical committee and two days later he dies. Is that murder? What happens if I get before a committee.?'

"But they're not gonna get before a committee."

I've always thought that the Bush administration was behind Yasser Arafat death.  I said it back then and I continue to believe it.  It was just to obvious that after years and years of the man being around, suddenly he gets sick and just up and dies.  What's your opinion?

I'm not saying this man didn't deserve to die, he did terrible things over the years; but we have a law saying no assassinations --- did we do this one?

In 2003, Arafat ceded his post as Prime Minister to Mahmoud Abbas amid pressures by the US. In 2004, President Bush dismissed Arafat as a negotiating partner.

In September 2005, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that French experts could not determine the cause of Arafat's death.

Ashraf al-Kurdi, a personal physician of Arafat for twenty years who had also treated the Hashemite kings of Jordan, later declared that nothing in Arafat's medical report mentioned the existence of any infection.

Here's an idea that Obama should go for.  Tell credit card companies to drop their interest rates by at least half or even two thirds so that consumers can payoff their debt much sooner.  This helps the credit card company and the consumer. 

The company gets those bad loans paid off and the consumer can get out of debt sooner.

As far as making sure the consumer doesn't abuse, put a temporary stop on their card till they get their debt below a certain dollar amount.

The three astronauts took refuge for 11 minutes Thursday in a Russian escape capsule before returning inside. Officials were worried that the space station might get hit with a piece of space junk.

NASA says the debris was a small piece of an old spacecraft motor and it was passing within three miles of the station.

The piece measured less than an inch but tiny pieces of debris could cause a fatal loss of air pressure in the station. NASA says it isn't the first time they've sent the station crew into the capsule for safety.

Quick question for those in the know.  Why couldn't they shoot down the piece of junk or incinerate it with a laser gun.  Surely if we can shoot from earth into space and knock a missile down, we can shoot at a piece of junk.  Can't we?

This tells me those billions of dollars we've all spent building this space station can all go up in smoke by something as small as a piece of gum in space.

If we can't knock the stuff away, why are we building something, that is this fragile, in a place that will most definitely get even more crowded as time goes by?

Treasury Secretary Geithner will be asking Congress for 100 billion dollars to give to the International Monetary Fund to aid struggling nations.  Sorry, but this is one area that irks me to no end.

Millions of Americans have lost their jobs, thousands have lost their homes and word has it many more will do so this year.  We are already borrowing money from China to get ourselves out of our own economic hole in the ground; why on 'earth' should be funding other nations with borrowed money?

This is one area that's always struck me as being stupid.  I say that if you can't feed or house your own people you have no business feeding another nation.  That's like a family that is having difficulty feeding their own children giving away money to a neighbor so they can feed theirs.

Giving away money to better relations between nations is logical; but not during the worse recession, nearly a depression, that we've had in nearly a century.

Sorry President Obama and those supporting this idea, but you will need to explain this one to me and why I should be willing to accept such an idiotic plan.

Here's a way to save money, save jobs, give veterans the same health care as any other human being and save veterans from traveling for hours across many miles just to get the health care they need.

President Barack Obama should include veterans health care with any Universal Health Care plan his administration comes up with. 

If this is done, the veteran would receive a VA Health Insurance card and it would be used just like any other private/governmental health care card at any clinic or hospital in the nation.

Veterans of course would pay no more than they already are required to pay, possibly less since money will be saved by closing down the VA hospitals and clinics across the nation.

As for the jobs of those employed at the VA hospitals and clinics, those doctors and nurses can apply at other medical facilities.  News reports have recently stated there is a great shortage across America for these jobs.

Lastly, if veteran's health care is included in any universal health care plan sent to Congress, members of Congress will find it very difficult to vote 'no' on the bill.  They would be voting in essense, 'no' to veterans, our heros.

I've suggested something like this in the past where a newspaper instead of reporting on the daily news which is usually at least a day behind anyway, should instead report on Internet websites, blogs and bloggers. 

To my knowledge there is no one place to go to to find out if a website if valid (not a scam), or whether a blog is safe to join or whether a blogger is telling the truth or not. 

Is that website safe enough to use your credit card on?  Do you really want to have you name associated with that website?  Can I trust what I read here?  Should I be downloading things from this site or not?

All those things go through an Internet user's mind when they visit different sites.  Wouldn't it be nice to have somebody tell you (that you trust) that the site is a safe one or to avoid that one because they've been infected in the past?

I think a newspaper should consider doing this.  It would need to be one that's well known already, name wise, like the New York Times or USATODAY - a name that readers trust.

Doing something like this could bring life back to a newspaper.  Reporters would still be investigating and researching; but they'd be checking out the Internet instead of the Internet/blogs/bloggers criticizing what newspapers are doing or not doing.

President Barack Obama was inaugurated on January 20, 2009, just 49 days ago.   Since that cold wintry historical day the President has done the following:

 

 Executive Orders:

 

  3/9/2009 Removing Barriers to Responsible Scientific Research Involving Human Stem Cells

 

2/20/2009 Amending Executive Order 13390

 

2/19/2009 Executive Order: Establishment of the White House Office of Urban Affairs

 

2/6/2009 Executive Order: Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction Projects

 

2/6/2009 Presidential Executive Order Establishing the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board

 

2/5/2009 Executive Order - Further Amendments To Executive Order 12859, Establishment Of The Domestic Policy Council

 

2/5/2009 Executive Order: Further Amendments to Executive Order 12835, Establishment of the National Economic Council

 

2/5/2009 Amendments to Executive Order 13199 and Establishment of the President's Advisory Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships

 

1/30/2009 Revocation Of Certain Executive Orders Concerning Regulatory Planning And Review

 

1/30/2009 Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Service Contracts

  

 MEMORANDUM:

  3/9/2009 Memorandum on Presidential Signing Statements

 

3/9/2009 Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies 3-9-09

 

3/4/2009 Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies - Subject: Government Contracting

 

3/3/2009 Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies

 

2/27/2009 Transfer of Detainee to Control of the Attorney General

 

2/5/2009 Appliance Efficiency Standards

 

2/4/2009 Presidential Memorandum -- State Children's Health Insurance Program

 

1/30/2009 Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies

 

1/27/2009 Unexpected Urgent Refugee and Migration Needs Related to Gaza

 

1/26/2009 The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007  

 

 PROCLAMATIONS

 

  3/3/2009 Women's History Month, 2009

 

3/2/2009 Irish-American Heritiage Month, 2009

 

2/27/2009 National Consumer Protection Week, 2009

 

2/27/2009 Read Across America Day, 2009

 

2/27/2009 American Red Cross Month, 2009

 

2/27/2009 Save Your Vision Week, 2009

 

2/2/2009 American Heart Month, 2009

 

2/2/2009 National African American History Month, 2009

 

1/20/2009 National Day of Renewal and Reconciliation, 2009

  

If you visit the White House <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/">Website</a> you can find the 42 nominations and appointments he's made since taking office.

 

To top all that off, he's been having Republicans over to the White House not only to greet them but to discuss his plans several times.  He's visited the House and talked to both parties at the State of the Union address.

 

He's been able, with the help of mostly Democrats in Congress, to pass the historical tax cutting stimulus bill in history, they've passed the SCHIP bill and are about to pass the first budget since taking office that was first created during the last congress session.  He's signed the stem cell executive order, held the first health care forum and he's met with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and he's set a date for ending the war in Iraq and repairing the one in Afghanistan.

 

He and his team have come up with ways to help solve or lesson the pain of the recession for housing foreclosures, the banking system, financial systems and created ways of saving or creating 3.5 million jobs in the next two years.

 

While doing all this he's visited his children's school twice, went to a birthday bash for Ted Kennedy and held a few official dinners at the White House.

 

This is just a small part of what this President and his team have done in 49 days.  It doesn't include visits with other foreign leaders or interviews with the media, phone calls made or official speeches.

 

Americans voted for Barack Obama to be their president.  They chose 'change' over the 'same old way'.  Yet even after losing big time in November many of the senators and representatives in the Republican Party (even some in the Democratic Party) continue down the road of obstruction. 

 

What are we hearing on political talk shows?

 

"President Obama is 'too' nice", "President Obama is finally today getting tough.  He's learning that Washington isn't like running a campaign.", "He's doing too much", "He's not doing enough.", "He's hurting the stock market", "He's a dreamer", "Hope isn't the answer", "He's too depressing" and "He needs to give people more hope.", "He's allowing earmarks", etc...

 

Now we're hearing that it's 'his' economy now.  He's to blame for the downturn in the stock market, yet he gets no credit for the days it goes up.  He's made the recession worse they are saying, yet we're starting to hear about companies making profits and jobs being created across the country.  Governors and Mayors across the nation are making plans for spending on infrastructure and creating jobs.

 

We are going through the worse financial crisis since the depression, we have two wars to finish up, we have an energy crisis, health care crisis, education and environment problems, yet this team is staying on top of things and trying to get things done.   They have not and will not faultier.

 

Give them a break people.  This administration has done more, against more odds, in just 49 days then President Bush did in his whole eight years in office.  President Obama is doing what we've asked him to do.   Give the plans time to work.   

 

 

 

 

BREAKING NEWS!

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks rallied Tuesday morning after Citigroup said it was profitable in the first two months of the year, tempering comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke about the need for an overhaul of the financial system.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) gained 260 points, or 4%, around two hours into the session. The Dow ended the previous session at its lowest point since April 15, 1997.

The S&P 500 (SPX) index gained 30 points, or 4.6%, after ending the previous session at the lowest point since Sept. 12, 1996.

The Nasdaq composite (COMP) climbed 64 points or 5%, after ending the previous session at its lowest point since Oct. 9, 2002.

Gee whiz, I wonder if Pres. Obama will get credit for this market jump?  He's been blamed for the downswings for the past 2 months, will he get credit for this 'good' day in the market?  I doubt it.

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama signed an order Monday that allows federal taxpayer dollars to fund expanded embryonic stem cell research, reversing one of his predecessor's policies viewed by many as blocking development of potentially life-saving medical treatment.

The executive order undoes former President George W. Bush's directive that was based on his determination that using embryos to create additional stem cell lines was morally wrong and, therefore, research on those lines should not be funded by the government.

Obama, however, said he was ending what he believed was "a false choice between sound science and moral values."...

Bush had limited the use of taxpayer money to research using 21 stem cell lines that were created before Aug. 9, 2001. While the Obama order reverses that, it does not address an earlier legislative ban ' that remains in place -- precluding any federal money to researchers who develop stem cell lines by destroying embryos....READ MORE

I happen to support the use of the embryonic stem cell research; but nobody explains what would happen if they suddenly found a cure for cancer or diabetes using these embryonic stem cell lines.  Will they simply ignore their findings?  Doesn't this discovery of a cure mean that millions of patients will begin demanding their 'stem cell' cure for their cancer or diabetes?

Will they be able to clone the embryonic stem cell that was used for the cure 'find' and just keep using it?  I'll admit my ignorance, I really don't know the answer to this, do you?  Will they have to allow other embryonic stem cells to be produced to take care of all the sick people?

When Pres. Bush announced that he'd allow only the use of existing stem cells I asked the same questions.  What would he have done if that cure had been found during his administration?  Ignore it, or release even more?

I liken the current situation with our economy, banking system, foreclosures, sky rocketing heath care costs, loss of jobs, changing our deregulation to a more regulated system, the environment to the idea of owning a home.  If you don't take care of it 'all' you risk losing it 'all'.  Each piece of the puzzle requires something from the other.   For example:

Economy - Foundation of Home, without it the home will sink

Banking System - Watch your credit rating or fail to get a loan in future for that new roof

Businesses - Your job, if you have none you can't afford the home

Health Care - Protect the home from future damages or risk losing it all

 Regulation - Lock your doors at night or risk being burglarized or destroyed.

Foreclosures - Don't get too much debt or risk not paying your mortgage

Environment - Get termite protection, keep the yard green, new siding, clean the air vents or lose value in home

Medicare - Create a savings for future emergencies

President Obama is looking at our current mess (economy, banking, business failures, health care, regulation, foreclosures and the environment) like he would after buying a new home.   If he doesn't then any one thing he leaves behind for a later date to tackle could mean the loss of that home.

For this reason, I think he is on the right track, although it's scary to be spending so much money upfront like he is, he's seeing to it that our home is secure in the years to come.