Monthly Archives: October 2008

George Bush’s Stealth Visit to Coral Gables

Even the traveling press isn't being told exactly where George Bush will be in Coral Gables tomorrow.

This is all the White House will say:

Coral Gables, Florida
2:35 p.m. EDT EVENT: REMARKS AT A CONGRESSIONAL TRUST 2008
3:25 p.m. EDT RECEPTION
(CLOSED PRESS)
LOCATION: Private Residence
Coral Gables, Florida

3:45 p.m. EDT – 4:30 p.m. EDT EVENT: MEETING WITH CUBAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY LEADERS
(TRAVEL POOL COVERAGE AT END)

LOCATION: Coral Gables Location
Coral Gables, Florida

I suppose they know that if they let anything out, the demonstrators would be out in force. Probably headed by an army of retirees who have seen their savings start to evaporate.

Yes, George Bush is afraid of angry grandmothers. Probably with good reason.

Posted in Miami | 1 Comment

Quantity Has a Quality All of Its Own

The folks Emergent Chaos think they've spotted a scientific revolution:

This paper, “More Really is Different,” may be one of the most important papers of the last half-millenium. It argues that P.W. Anderson's concept of “emergence” is provable. It may have even proved it.

The idea of emergence, from whence this blog gets its name is the opposite of reductionism. It is the idea that a complex system acquires properties that the underlying parts cannot predict. It's nothing more and nothing less than a formalization of the adage, “The whole is more than the sum of its parts.”

The authors, Mile Gu, Christian Weedbrook, Alvaro Perales, and Michael A. Nielsen, argue directly that this may mean that a “Theory of Everything” may therefore be impossible.

This is big, big news. Read the paper. Read the commentary in The New Scientist, “Why nature can't be reduced to mathematical laws.”

If they are right, this goes to the core of the philosophical underpinnings of the way we understand the world. It may help explain everything from weather prediction to the origins of life to whether souls exist. I might even be engaging in understatement rather than hyperbole on that last bit. You may think it's a long way down to the chemist's, but this is big.

While you're at it, expect some highly entertaining debate, and pseudo-scientific whackos of every stripe to start quoting this. Maybe the next Kuhnian revolution has begun.

I am not a (series of) numbers, I am a free man.

[PS. New Scientist seems to be behind a paywall, alas.]

Posted in Science/Medicine | 2 Comments

Breaking: McCain Replaces Palin on Ticket

According to electmccain2008.us, Senator McCain has asked Gov. Palin to leave the ticket and replaced her with Debra J. Fields.

Here's the announcement (minus the illustrations — go visit the site to get the full flavor of the announcement):

My Fellow Americans,

It is with the heaviest of hearts that I have asked Sarah Palin to step down as my running mate and as the Republican Party candidate for Vice President. As a devoted Republican, as someone believing fervently in our cause, Sarah Palin will continue to campaign vigorously on my behalf.

In the days and weeks ahead the media will focus upon the reasons why I made this incredibly difficult but necessary decision.

But as others focus on the past, I will be looking forward and onward to the all-important task before me: showing America that I am indeed still the recipe for success for our country in these difficult and trying times.

For even when the chips are down and we've been battered about, we can rise up.

And rise we will, together with one voice, as we announce to the world the esteemed individual who will now join me on our ticket as Vice President for the Republican Party. For she is truly a beloved American. She is a mother, an incredibly successful business woman and an unswerving philanthropist.

She is the American dream made real.

And in this time of great need for our party, when asked … her answer was a loud and unequivocal “Yes!”

So, please join me with a deep and heartfelt welcome to our Vice Presidential nominee for the Republican Party, Mrs. Debra J. Fields.

McCain's new VP is Debbi Fields, aka Mrs. Fields

From her humble but determined beginnings at the age of 20, “Mrs. Fields” (as she is lovingly known throughout America and the world) took a meager investment and turned it into a $500 million company. She knows business. She knows the economy. And with ten children (five from her first marriage and five stepchildren), this working mom knows a thing or two about families.

Her personal mottos of “Good enough never is” and “The biggest failure in life is never trying,” show us that Debbi Fields brings to this ticket the authenticity and freshness America is craving today.

McCain – Fields, the Republican Presidential ticket for 2008

I invite you to take this opportunity to learn about Debbi Fields – all she has done and all she has to offer America – by reading her biography at ElectMcCain2008.us.

We know that we now have real challenges ahead in this campaign. But with Debbi Fields' motto closely at heart, we will also know that “Good enough never is” …

… and we will rise above.

Together, as Americans.

With The Firmest Resolve,

John McCain

I'll have to chew this over before I decide what to make of it.

Posted in Completely Different | 8 Comments

Obama’s Field Game Lauded

Stories with good news like 538.com's On the Road: St. Louis County, Missouri make me nervous.

Still, imagine what they do to the McCain campaign.

Posted in Politics: US: 2008 Elections | Comments Off on Obama’s Field Game Lauded

Gitmo In America

Just plopped into my mailbox:

New Military Documents Reveal Unlawful Guantánamo Procedures Were Also Applied On American Soil

According to newly released military documents, the Navy applied lawless Guantánamo protocols in detention facilities on American soil. The documents, which include regular emails between brig officers and others in the chain of command, uncover new details of the detention and interrogation of two U.S. citizens and a legal resident – Yaser Hamdi, Jose Padilla and Ali al-Marri – at naval brigs in Virginia and South Carolina.

The documents were obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic at Yale Law School and the American Civil Liberties Union.

According to the documents, Navy officers doubted the wisdom of applying Guantánamo rules on American soil. In particular, officers expressed grave concern over the effects of the solitary confinement imposed upon the three men detained at the brigs, a practice that was considered to be even more extreme than the isolation imposed at Guantánamo. Navy officers also exhibited frustration with the Defense Department's unwillingness to provide the detainees with access to legal counsel or any information about their fates. The documents clearly show that the standard operating procedure developed for Guantánamo Bay governed every aspect of detentions at the two bases inside the United States. Though Navy personnel tried several times to improve the harsh conditions under which Hamdi, Padilla and al-Marri were detained, senior Defense Department officials repeatedly denied the requests.

The press release

The newly released documents

The Guantánamo Standard Operating Procedure

Posted in Guantanamo, Padilla | Comments Off on Gitmo In America

New National Security Law Blog

Say hello to Security Law Brief.

Hosted by the Georgetown Center on National Security and the Law.

Posted in Blogs | 1 Comment