Friday, June 15, 2007

On the Russian Front Today

I seriously wonder if individuals in Russia will ever be able to overcome the horrors of their forced collective past.  There are times when I think events are going the individuals’ way, but mostly that thought is crushed by the seemingly lackadaisical attitude the majority of the Russian people exhibit toward current attempts to consolidate power at all levels into a new collectivism, which is simply the old collectivism, albeit in better suits.

Matthew Omolesky has an interesting piece up at The Spectator, regarding recent events in Russia, titled A Dangerous Historical Myopia, which cautions against ignoring recent events by referencing past events.  From the piece.

But these absurd claims of a Russian struggle against contemporary fascism are more than just historical myopia and incoherent bellicism. They are clear indicators of the failure of Russia after the initial promise following the collapse of the Soviet Union, and serve as a warning of worse to come. Vladimir Socor of the Jamestown Foundation has perspicaciously described these aforementioned appeals to anti-fascism first as “part of classical Soviet political-warfare techniques (undoubtedly studied by the KGB alumni who are now in charge of Russia) to singularize a designated opponent while attacking it, so as to inhibit general solidarity with that targeted opponent.” What is more, Socor ominously notes, “by stirring up enmity within Russia against Estonia over the Bronze Soldier, the Kremlin seeks to immunize the public against any Russian form of Vergangenheits-Bewaeltigung (Germany’s post-Nazi comprehension of its history) so as to avoid internal challenges to the Soviet-successor ruling elite.” More evidence, in other words, for Pyotr Chaadaev’s famous assertion that Russia’s universal lesson to the world is that its example is to be avoided at all costs.

Posted by John Venlet on 06/15 at 01:11 PM
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Artic Photos

It’s been rather warm here in Michigan the past few days, and in other areas of the country, which propels me to completing my outside chores in the A.M.

Grab a cold one and take a look at these artic photos. It may help you stay cool.

Via Fred at GoodShit.

Posted by John Venlet on 06/15 at 07:07 AM
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Is There Such a Thing as Junk DNA?

The ambitious Human Genome Project provided a wealth of scientific information, and was at times heralded as the possible beginninng of the end of disease and other maladies, as more and more data was gleaned from those strands of genetic coding.  One aspect of the study of the genome, though, that perplexed, was the amount of “junk DNA” in the genome.  Why hadn’t the process of evolution simply purged this “junk DNA?”

Well, because it isn’t junk.

The ninety-five percent of the human genome that doesn’t actively code for proteins and was historically known as “junk” DNA is actually vital for regulating the activities of that remaining five percent.

I guess we don’t know quite as much as we thought we knew.

Your Genome is Really, Really, REALLY Complicated

Here’s another article regarding this news titled Findings Challenge Established Views On Human Genome.

Posted by John Venlet on 06/15 at 06:31 AM
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Have You Been Had by Prius?

Gas prices, carbon offset credits, the religion of global warming, the “Hey, look what I’m doing for the environment and society” feel good factor, these are just a few of the reasons why the Toyota Prius has become the carriage of choice of many of the so called “environmentally conscious.” But just how green is the Prius?

Through a study by CNW Marketing called “Dust to Dust,” the total combined energy is taken from all the electrical, fuel, transportation, materials (metal, plastic, etc) and hundreds of other factors over the expected lifetime of a vehicle. The Prius costs an average of $3.25 per mile driven over a lifetime of 100,000 miles - the expected lifespan of the Hybrid.

The Hummer, on the other hand, costs a more fiscal $1.95 per mile to put on the road over an expected lifetime of 300,000 miles. That means the Hummer will last three times longer than a Prius and use less combined energy doing it.

Not to mention, Prius purchasers also get a state handout in the form of a tax credit, not that the producers of the Hummer have not fed long and deep at that trough of plenty, replenished, of course, by the state’s constant delving into yours and my pockets.

I think I’ll hang onto my ol’ 1982 Jeep Laredo and Magnum.

Here’s the link to CNW’s ‘Dust to Dust’ Automotive Energy Report, and also the link to The Recorder’s opinion piece on the subject titled Prius Outdoes Hummer in Environmental Damage.

Via my brother the Wizard.

Posted by John Venlet on 06/15 at 06:11 AM
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