Plasma Accelerator

This is pretty cool. Accelerate high-energy particles through the two miles of the SLAC then pass them through 2 meters of plasma and double their energy. Look for higher energy accelerators with much less real estate in the future.

Nano-stupid

Amidst all the furor about nano-materials I think someone needs to make the point that all materials are nano-materials. It's just that the ones we are used to are especially crude nano-materials. All materials have structure at the 100 nanometer scale. Just because we now refine that structure is no reason to go running to the hills.

No I-Told-You-So's

Lynne Duke:

"For people who were pilloried, penalized or warned to be careful because of their opposition to a powerful president's war, vindication is nothing to celebrate. It is a victory most bitter.

'Emotionally, it's a very traumatic and unhappy outcome.' That is retired Army Lt. Gen. William E. Odom, head of the National Security Agency under President Ronald Reagan. 'How can you be happy about being right about the disaster that's been created?'

It weighs on him."

Vice President's Shadow

It's really beginning to look like the Bush (hwsib) White House legacy may end up like Nixon's. Over at the Scooter Trial, the more we learn the more it looks like Cheney may be the real villain here.

One might predict that eventually Cheney will get Agnewed. Bush(hswib) will replace him with someone who has good congressional connections. Then Bush (hswib) will get backed into a corner on war crimes and other assorted malfeasance. And we'll be left with Bush's Gerald Ford. Wouldn't that be wild?

Human-caused Global Warming Is Now 'Unequivocal'

Well here's the link.

Those in denial will not be convinced. True believers will make more of it than it merits. But in climate science, truth is slippery little devil.

Washington State Democrats are keeping the dams

This may have been reported in other places but I feel the need to make this clear in this forum as well.

In last week's session of the Washington State Democratic Party Central Committee meeting the committee had an opportunity to put itself on record as favoring the removal of the Snake River dams. However they showed a bit more wisdom than I normally see by resoundingly defeating the proposed resolution.

So the next time some unaware, ambitious east-side right-winger tries to demonize the Democratic party by saying the party wants to remove the dams, they should be countered with the fact that the party has formally and profoundly rejected that course of action. Yes, I'm talking to you, "Doc".