http://www.articledashboard.com/Category/Root-Category/77 Root Category articles from Article Dashboard Rss Follow Up Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:33:00 -0600 Finally, the house was quiet and I was relaxing in my favorite recliner musing on the activities of the day. Just a few hours previous, the house was clamoring with the noise of my family celebrating another Thanksgiving Day together. My wife is in the kitchen putting the final touches on the cleanup activity that finished a few moments ago. http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Drumsticks-along-the-Tabletop/115581 Wed, 08 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Drumsticks-along-the-Tabletop/115581 Really? Yeah. We figure, why make the creatures think about the billions of things that will be going on to keep them alive. We want to free them up to think about their lives, do things they actually want to do, and, my favorite subject, think about and discover the given. The given? What the universe is made of, how it works, etc. http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/The-Invention-of-Details--With-A-Final-Q---A-Period---Second-Half-The-Invention-of-Everything/114785 Mon, 06 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/The-Invention-of-Details--With-A-Final-Q---A-Period---Second-Half-The-Invention-of-Everything/114785 Love the good things in life? So we do. Unfortunately, a new study shows that if you're content with voluntary starvation you can live longer. The proof is in the monkeys. One rhesus monkey was put on a calorie-restricted diet, while the other one was allowed to eat till content. You already know the disgusting result. http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/New-Study-Shows-The-Good-Life-May-Be-The-Short-Life/114784 Mon, 06 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/New-Study-Shows-The-Good-Life-May-Be-The-Short-Life/114784 We knew chimpanzees are a 98% genetic match for humans. We didnt, however, know Lou, a 42-year-old chimp who was born in Africa and brought to the U. S. when he was two. In the season premiere of Nature on PBS, called Chimpanzees: An Unnatural History, we learn that Lou lived in New Mexico, where he was the object of a variety of medical experiments. They were, we are told, often risky and painful. Then the documentary provides much better news about humans, who, according to the same biology, are 98% chimpanzee. We learn that there are some people who are dedicated to making Lous remaining years, as well as those of other chimps, more enjoyable. http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Lou--The-Chimp--98--Human-And-Still-Going-Strong-After-40-Years-In-A-Cage/114783 Mon, 06 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Lou--The-Chimp--98--Human-And-Still-Going-Strong-After-40-Years-In-A-Cage/114783 A new medical study has provided more good news about booze. There is an ingredient in red wine that apparently really does prolong life, at least, the life of mice. How do we know? In a recent study, mice that were fed all kinds of artery-clogging foods and fattened up were given huge doses of the elixir, while other mice were just fattened up. Despite being obese, the cardiovascular systems of the lucky mice on the regimen remained healthy so healthy the researchers, at no less than the Harvard Medical School, rushed to publish their findings even before the study was complete. http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/More-Good-News-About-Booze/114782 Mon, 06 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/More-Good-News-About-Booze/114782 The usual cynics choice is to ask, what would you rather have, fame without power or power without fame? Yet even a cursory look at contemporary society reveals that celebrities have managed to devise a third choice: fame with power. http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Celebrities-Provide-The-Third-Answer--Fame-With-Power/114781 Mon, 06 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Celebrities-Provide-The-Third-Answer--Fame-With-Power/114781 At last, we came to the final meeting. It was time to invent details like gravity and magnetism. Then we were scheduled for a final question and answer period. I was waiting for the right moment to bring up my idea that every planet that would have life that can read should come with an instruction manual. Well, what do you know? Here we are, at our final meeting. How long do you think we need? It should go pretty fast. Good. Did you prepare an agenda? Yes, I did. I thought wed start with gravity, move on to magnetism, confirm food, and then cover a few elements of environmental variety that we havent discussed, like snow. Snow? Whats that? Something that happens to rain when it gets colder. Ill get to it later. What about the Q and A session? I believe we scheduled that for the end. Good. Then, please, proceed. http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/The-Invention-of-Details--With-A-Final-Q---A-Period-The-Invention-of-Everything--An-Eyewitness-Account/114778 Mon, 06 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/The-Invention-of-Details--With-A-Final-Q---A-Period-The-Invention-of-Everything--An-Eyewitness-Account/114778 Although John Kerry was not very merry when he lost his bid for President, he continued to maintain that he deserves a second chance. He might have had one if it werent for two very significant obstacles: Hillary Clinton and John Kerry. There is little he can do about the allure of Hillary. Though shes a member of the party that seems determined to be at odds with the inclinations of most Americans, she might have so much appeal that she can pull off a Presidential win. But a more significant obstacle for Senator Kerry is the Senator himself. Veteran politico that he is, he seems to have run his own swift boat into the rocks. How could he have allowed himself such an egregious misjudgment as to state before a university audience that anybody who doesnt study hard could get stuck in Iraq? http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Presidential-Prospects-of-John-Kerry-Not-Very-Merry/114776 Mon, 06 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Presidential-Prospects-of-John-Kerry-Not-Very-Merry/114776 Hardly a day goes by that we dont hear diminutive Iran roar like a lion about its nuclear ambitions. Or growl about its mighty power by launching yet another flight of missiles. Yet among the worlds most powerful nations Iran remains inarguably diminutive. So, regardless of all the bluster, it can never be more than the mouse that roared. The powers that be can observe and even indulge Iran, but they know quite well that the mouse better behave itself, because they can always give in a backhand and send it sprawling across the floor and scurrying back into its hole. Are we attempting to make fun of the descendants of the Darius? No. We have a more considerate goal. Our intention is to reveal that the efforts of its leaders to brandish weapons and pretend to be a superpower are unwisely conceived. They hope to be what, due to their nations size and resources, they can never be. http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Iran-Continues-To-Star-As-The-Mouse-That-Roared/114769 Mon, 06 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Iran-Continues-To-Star-As-The-Mouse-That-Roared/114769 Most days we all feel pretty powerless, except for where we decide to spend our money. Now, thats real voting power! Yet every couple of years were reminded that we actually do get to vote for the people who will lead the nation. Contemplating our returning power, we start to feel a strength even greater than we get from voting with the almighty dollar. Our growing cynicism gives way to hopes for improvement. And we realize once again that our most important vote really is who we vote for as the captain and officers of the good ship America. http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Surprised-Again--Our-Most-Powerful-Vote-Is-Not-Where-We-Spend-Our-Money/114767 Mon, 06 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Surprised-Again--Our-Most-Powerful-Vote-Is-Not-Where-We-Spend-Our-Money/114767 As the body count mounts in Iraq, it has become evident that the terrorists, along with the homicidal sectarians, have developed a new form of argument that is not found in Aristotles Rhetoric. The philosophers civilized inclinations never prompted him to include, among such acknowledged forms of argument as Argumentum ad Populum and Argumentum ad Hominem, the terrorist oratorical mainstay, Argumentum ad Homicidium. In other words, argument by murder. We might also note that Aristotle neglected to include it even though he himself had to flee threats against his life by his former, and apparently much disgruntled student, Alexander The Great. http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Form-Of-Argument-Used-By-Terrorists-Not-In-Aristotle-s-Rhetoric/114765 Mon, 06 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Form-Of-Argument-Used-By-Terrorists-Not-In-Aristotle-s-Rhetoric/114765 Now, heres a radical idea. As we see the body count pile up in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Africa, along with the daily occurrences of murder worldwide, including right here in the gun-toting USA, we ask ourselves, wouldnt it be wonderful if everybody would promise not to kill anybody for just one day? Imagine, an entire 24-hours without a single person being killed by another person? One day and one night without having to see a tearful human being lamenting the murder of someone they love. http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/What-If-Everybody-Promised-Not-To-Kill-Anybody-For-Just-One-Day-/114764 Mon, 06 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/What-If-Everybody-Promised-Not-To-Kill-Anybody-For-Just-One-Day-/114764 President Bush continues to row upstream in Iraq, even though the current seems to pick up speed every minute. In fact, he seems to be rowing up Niagara Falls. But he just keeps on going, despite the fact the majority of Americans are standing on the venerable Niagara tour boat, The Maid of the Mist, and calling out to him to quit already. Apparently, the roar of the falls is too deafening for him to hear them. While he presents the appearance of flexibility, his goal remains the same: a peaceful, secure, and democratic Iraq. Does that sound like a fairytale or what? And can somebody please tap him on the shoulder and tell him fairytales dont usually come true? http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Bush-Rows-Upstream-In-Iraq--As-In-Up-Niagara-Falls/114763 Mon, 06 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Bush-Rows-Upstream-In-Iraq--As-In-Up-Niagara-Falls/114763 As if Halloween isn't in big enough trouble because of the ability of the everyday world to spook us, two of the fright night's favorite ways of horrifying children have now been declared scientific impossibilities. A scientist, determined to disabuse the public of its belief in the preternatural, has proved mathematically that vampires can't exist. Using a calculator, he determined that if a vampire sucked one person's blood each month and, in the process, turned every victim into a vampire, who in turn began to bite other people at the same rate, after just a few years the entire human race would be vampires. To be exact, he started on January 1, 1600 with just one vampire and the current human population of 537 million. According to his calculator, by July 1602 normal folks would have vanished. Since that doesn't appear to be the case, the existence of even one vampire has apparently had the stake put in its heart. http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Halloween-Takes-A-Hit--Ghosts-And-Vampires-Are-Now-Scientifically-Impossible/113536 Fri, 03 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Halloween-Takes-A-Hit--Ghosts-And-Vampires-Are-Now-Scientifically-Impossible/113536 Vladimir Putin, the elected 3-time czar of Russia, announced that he will not seek a fourth term. In doing so, he dutifully tipped his hat to the Russian constitution, which forbids anyone to run for more than three terms. Yet the former KGB wiz, while managing to present himself as likable, indicated that he would still remain a power in Russian politics. "Despite the fact that I like my job, the constitution doesn't allow me to run a third time in a row," he said, while his supporters have already called for a referendum to amend the laws so he can stay in office. http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Clever-Vladimir-Putin-Says-He-Won-t-Run-For-A-Third-Term/113535 Fri, 03 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Clever-Vladimir-Putin-Says-He-Won-t-Run-For-A-Third-Term/113535 Think youve seen it all? How about having eyelashes long enough to perm or gazing into the eyes of a woman who perms her own? As long as weve got our eyes on tomorrow, how about if the lovely lass wears them in pigtails? Such lashes just became a real possibility, thanks to ever-resourceful plastic surgeons figuring out how to transplant head hair into eyelids. http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/New-Cosmetic-Surgery-Provides-Eyelashes-You-Can-Perm/113528 Fri, 03 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/New-Cosmetic-Surgery-Provides-Eyelashes-You-Can-Perm/113528 Stephen King has published a new book that is supposed to be a romance. But it turns out to be a romance that should might best take place during Halloween. He has not only written about two characters who loved each other; he has reverted to character. While based somewhat touchingly on his relationship with his wife, recently deceased, the story turns things around a bit. Now, the lead character is the wife, Lisey, who is going through the papers of her well-known writer-husband, recently deceased. You guessed it. She discovers scary things. http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/-Lisey-s-Story--By-Stephen-King--A-Romance-Just-In-Time-For-Halloween/113526 Fri, 03 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/-Lisey-s-Story--By-Stephen-King--A-Romance-Just-In-Time-For-Halloween/113526 When todays meeting began, there was a special excitement in the air. We had invented the creatures that would go in the water and the air. Now, we were going to invent the land creatures. Once we decided on them, wed have creatures for all the places where there would be places for them. Todays the big day. We finish inventing creatures. Did you bring any prototypes? Yes, I did. Excellent. Why dont you take the lead? Thank you. Ill get to the examples I brought in a moment, but first Id like to give you an overview of what we have in mind in tech. Please, go ahead. Thank you. As I said in the previous meeting, we plan to utilize the creatures we already have in the water to get some up onto the land. http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/The-Invention-of-Land-Creatures--Part-Seven--The-Invention-of-Everything--An-Eyewitness-Account/113521 Fri, 03 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/The-Invention-of-Land-Creatures--Part-Seven--The-Invention-of-Everything--An-Eyewitness-Account/113521 There are a lot of things you can say about Hillary Clinton, and just about all of them have been said too many times. Now, her Republican opponent for Senate in New York, John Spencer, decided to say something about her looks. "You ever see a picture of her back then? Whew," the desperate politico reportedly confided to a reporter for the New York Daily News. "I don't know why Bill married her," he reportedly raved on. He is also reported to have said that she had benefited from "millions of dollars of work plastic surgery." She looks good now," he supposedly conceded. His attack immediately labeled him as such an airhead that he surgically removed himself from contention, not that, according to the pollsters, he was ever in contention. http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Debate-Opponent-Knocks-Hillary-s-Looks--Surgically-Removes-Self-From-Contention/113519 Fri, 03 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Debate-Opponent-Knocks-Hillary-s-Looks--Surgically-Removes-Self-From-Contention/113519 Remember Lenins quip that The capitalists would sell us the noose to hang them with? Talk about the inevitability of history. Now the statement seems to apply more to the communists. When UN sanctions went into effect against North Korean, Beijing vowed to enforce them, at least, as much they vow to enforce anything other than repression of their own peoples freedoms. Remember how atwitter Condi Rice was about Chinas willingness? But a look along its border with Kim Jong ILs potentates paradise reveals that goods and services are passing the Chinese boarder guards as freely as they did before sanctions were imposed. And to think that we expected China to forgo profit for principles, when it has obviously attached itself to the principle that the best way to defeat the capitalists is to do business better than they http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Communists-Sell-North-Korea-And-Iran--The-Noose-To-Hang-Themselves-With-/113518 Fri, 03 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Communists-Sell-North-Korea-And-Iran--The-Noose-To-Hang-Themselves-With-/113518 Now, even the most nefarious politicians have clean hands. Just ask them and theyll show them to you. How is that possible? Have they all suddenly been overcome by moral rectitude? Not at all. While were free to tell ourselves such a fairytale, the surprising feat is due entirely to the wide use of hand disinfectant. It seems that politicians have discovered the germ theory of disease. They know if they go out and shake a multitude of hands, theyre likely to get cold and flu germs on them and who knows what else. http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Politicians-Now-Have-Clean-Hands--Rectitude-Not-Required/113516 Fri, 03 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Politicians-Now-Have-Clean-Hands--Rectitude-Not-Required/113516 As we contemplate the scary rituals and costumes of Halloween, we cannot help but reflect that the everyday world has become so spooky it makes the night of goblins and witches seem downright safe. For example, we see the annual proliferation of rubber monster masks and skeletal getups in store windows that are intended to frighten children of all ages and compare the ability of them to horrify them with the world adults have condemned today's kids to grow up in, like real headless bodies being tossed into the streets of Iraq on an almost daily basis and real skeletons are unearthed in the mass graves left by Saddam Husseins barbarous regime. http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Everyday-Events-Now-Make-Halloween-Night-Seem-Safe/113514 Fri, 03 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Everyday-Events-Now-Make-Halloween-Night-Seem-Safe/113514 The press was abuzz with the news that President Bush has dropped the dumb saying in regard to Iraq that America will stay the course. Unfortunately, almost all other comments emanating from the oval office indicate that he intends to keep the same dumb strategy. In other words, with political pressures mounting as the November wakeup call draws nigh, the administration seems to have arrived at the politically expedient policy, Dont say it; just stay it. http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/New-Bush-Tactic-On--Stay-The-Course--In-Iraq---Don-t-Say-It--Just-Stay-It--/113513 Fri, 03 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/New-Bush-Tactic-On--Stay-The-Course--In-Iraq---Don-t-Say-It--Just-Stay-It--/113513 An extensive study by the U. S. government of Mexicans hoping to enter America illegally has concluded that not a single one of them knows what a ladder is.This key finding has given impetus to funding for extensions of the border fence between America and Mexico. As President Bush noted, Today is a lucky day for America. We have learned that aspiring illegal immigrants cannot resort to ladders, because they never heard of them. So all we need is a fence thats too high to jump over. http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/New-Government-Study-Fails-To-Locate-Mexicans-Who-Know-What-A-Ladder-Is/113511 Fri, 03 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/New-Government-Study-Fails-To-Locate-Mexicans-Who-Know-What-A-Ladder-Is/113511 Ill go along with that. You were talking about developing a way for the creatures in the water to breathe. Howd you manage that? Gil had an insight, so we call it gills. Let me take this little fella out and demonstrate for a moment. Excuse me, hes kind of feisty. Got ya! OK, now look here. See these little red things just behind its head. Yeah. Those the gills? Right. How do they work? The fish uses its mouth and these flaps to move water over th... http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/The-Invention-Of-Water-And-Air-Creatures--Second-Half-Of-Part-Six--The-Invention-Of-Everything/112783 Thu, 02 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/The-Invention-Of-Water-And-Air-Creatures--Second-Half-Of-Part-Six--The-Invention-Of-Everything/112783