Could marriage equality become a dog whistle issue for the conservative base?
MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts talks to political power panel which includes,, Jackie Kucinich, political reporter for USA Today, Chris Kofinis, democratic strategist and former communications director for John Edwards, and Chip Saltsman, Republican strategist and former campaign manager for Mike Huckabee, about whether it would be a winning strategy for the president to take a stand on marriage equality.
>>> we have to move forward. to the future we imagine in 2008 . everyone does their fair share . and everyone plays by the same rules. that's the choice in this election and that's why i'm running for a second term as president of the united states .
>> president obama officially kicking off his re- election campaign in ohio this weekend, telling america he's not done yet. can the president convince americans that he needs four more years to finish the job or can mitt romney successfully make the argument that he's the only businessman in chief capable of leading the nation out of an economic hold? joining me for today's political power planl is " usa today " political reporter jackie kucinich, communications director for john edwards chris lafinis and republican strategist and former huckabee campaign manager chip saltsman. great to see all of you today. chris , i'll start with you. we have this new political poll showing this race is a dead heat . within the margin of error, mitt romney is leading with all the important independents by a 10% margin. if you are the obama campaign are you looking at these numbers and sweating bullets ?
>> well, i'm not sure you're sweating bullets . you've still got six months. here is the brutal truth . mitt romney is going to be a formidible opponent. i think some of the recent polling shows that. does he have weaknesses? absolutely. more than i think you can count. but given the economy and where the state of the mind of the voter is, you know, this is going to be a tough election. i think the obama campaign has got a tough job over the next six months and that is just the reality. but, you know, given mitt romney 's weaknesses i think they're in as good a position as they can be given where everything stands.
>> so, chip, this new " usa today " poll out shows that for the first time in years the democrats have the actual advantage when it comes to enthusiasm for the parties. do you think this is a result of a more fired up democratic base or do you think the republican base is just right now that much bruised up from this long and dreary primary battle?
>> well, i think it's the latter. there is no question we went through a war in our primary and the republican base is a little exhausted but as you've seen over the last week or two i think you're seeing a little more energy and the endorsements come in. we still got a vp pick that can energize the base which tends to do that. there are a lot of good things ahead. i'm frankly shocked we got a tough presidential election that is really close in america. it tends to happen every four years.
>> which candidate is more likeable? the president leads by double digits. one in four romney supporters even say the president is more likeable. basically this doesn't boil down to a popularity contest of who people like the more. it's who do they think can lead the best vision and call people to rise up to that vision. does this say more about the president or more about mitt romney ?
>> you know, it's interesting. ever since 1980 the candidate that has been more likeable has won. so i think romney wants it to be about obama's record. he wants it to be about that. and keep it focused on policy rather than, you know, likability. there's a reason for that. because it's been tougher for mitt romney . so i think you'll see a lot of this. you know, as a defining part of this campaign.
>> all right. so, chris , i want you to listen to this. all of you take a listen to this. it was secretary of education arne duncan appearing on " morning joe " today echoing the sentiments made by the vice president over the weekend and those sentiments in support of marriage equality . take a look.
>> do you believe that same sex men and women should be able to get legally married in the united states ?
>> come on. you're going to start there?
>> yes, i do.
>> okay. have you ever seen that publicly before?
>> i don't know if i've ever been asked publicly.
>> there we have it. arne duncan on the record now. are we going to see increased pressure on the white house as well as cabinet members to come out and give what they feel is an adamant statement about whether or not they support marriage equality ? i just got this hot note about david axelrod in a conference call with reporters this morning saying that in terms of the vice president's remarks as i said yesterday i think they were entirely consistent with the president's position which is that couples who are married whether they are gay or heterosexuhet roe sw sex yule couples are entitled to the same rights. chris , your thoughts?
>> well, i mean, here is what i think is going to end up happening. at some point the president is going to have to come out and address this clearly in terms of whether he supports gay marriage or not. just the brutal reality of where we are politically, you know, when these questions start they don't tend to stop until you give a definitive answer. we've heard what the president said before. the president has done an enormous amount for gay rights during his presidency. there is no question. but when it comes to marriage equality , you know, he's not there yet. and i think given what the president said, given what secretary duncan said, it puts pressure on the white house i think to come out and make it very clear. but compared to mitt romney 's position on this issue it's night and day and i think mitt romney is going to have a little difficulty on this issue as well to say the least because the country is moving in this direction where they support marriage equality .
>> chip, what are your thoughts? how would you advise one candidate over the other? 
>> well, i wouldn't advise my vice president to go ahead and set the table for a very tough week if he doesn't answer this question because right now the media is going to get louder and louder as mr. president, are you for it or against it? as far as the earlier question talking about energizing the base the president comes out for gay marriage this will energize the republican base in a big way.
>> all right. so, jackie , do you think that with the vice president coming out and talking about this over the weekend arne duncan coming out and speaking authentically off the cuff there, do you think this is going to act as a dog whistle to the left to get the base more enthused, to get them out realizing that there is more work to be done in a second administration of president obama and it may start with the civil rights , the marriage equality rights of the lgbt community ?
>> i think this is going to be an issue within the democratic party . there's already been talk about what is going to go on the party platform about this. you know, with some of the things that are going on in north carolina , this is going -- this conversation is not over i don't think by any stretch for the administration.
>> jackie kucinich, chris , great to see all three of you. thank you.
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How Operating Systems Work?
When you turn on your computer, it's nice to think that you're in control. There's the trusty computer mouse, which you can move anywhere on the screen, summoning up your music library or Internet browser at the slightest whim. Although it's easy to feel like a director in front of your desktop or laptop, there's a lot going on inside, and the real man behind the curtain handling the necessary tasks is the operating system.
Most desktop or laptop PCs come pre-loaded with Microsoft Windows. Macintosh computers come pre-loaded with Mac OS X. Many corporate servers use the Linux or UNIX operating systems. The operating system (OS) is the first thing loaded onto the computer -- without the operating system, a computer is useless.
More recently, operating systems have started to pop up in smaller computers as well. If you like to tinker with electronic devices, you're probably pleased that operating systems can now be found on many of the devices we use every day, from cell phones to wireless access points. The computers used in these little devices have gotten so powerful that they can now actually run an operating system and applications. The computer in a typical modern cell phone is now more powerful than a desktop computer from 20 years ago, so this progression makes sense and is a natural development.
The purpose of an operating system is to organize and control hardware and software so that the device it lives in behaves in a flexible but predictable way. In this article, we'll tell you what a piece of software must do to be called an operating system, show you how the operating system in your desktop computer works and give you some examples of how to take control of the other operating systems around you.
What is an Operating System?
Not all computers have operating systems. The computer that controls the microwave oven in your kitchen, for example, doesn't need an operating system. It has one set of tasks to perform, very straightforward input to expect (a numbered keypad and a few pre-set buttons) and simple, never-changing hardware to control. For a computer like this, an operating system would be unnecessary baggage, driving up the development and manufacturing costs significantly and adding complexity where none is required. Instead, the computer in a microwave oven simply runs a single hard-wired program all the time. For other devices, an operating system creates the ability to:
- serve a variety of purposes
- interact with users in more complicated ways
- keep up with needs that change over time
All desktop computers have operating systems. The most common are the Windows family of operating systems developed by Microsoft, the Macintosh operating systems developed by Apple and the UNIX family of operating systems (which have been developed by a whole history of individuals, corporations and collaborators). There are hundreds of other operating systems available for special-purpose applications, including specializations for mainframes, robotics, manufacturing, real-time control systems and so on.
In any device that has an operating system, there's usually a way to make changes to how the device works. This is far from a happy accident; one of the reasons operating systems are made out of portable code rather than permanent physical circuits is so that they can be changed or modified without having to scrap the whole device.
For a desktop computer user, this means you can add a new security update, system patch, new application or even an entirely new operating system rather than junk your computer and start again with a new one when you need to make a change. As long as you understand how an operating system works and how to get at it, in many cases you can change some of the ways it behaves. The same thing goes for your phone, too.
Operating System Functions
At the simplest level, an operating system does two things:
- It manages the hardware and software resources of the system. In a desktop computer, these resources include such things as the processor, memory, disk space and more (On a cell phone, they include the keypad, the screen, the address book, the phone dialer, the battery and the network connection).
- It provides a stable, consistent way for applications to deal with the hardware without having to know all the details of the hardware.
The first task, managing the hardware and software resources, is very important, as various programs and input methods compete for the attention of the central processing unit (CPU) and demand memory, storage and input/output (I/O) bandwidth for their own purposes. In this capacity, the operating system plays the role of the good parent, making sure that each application gets the necessary resources while playing nicely with all the other applications, as well as husbanding the limited capacity of the system to the greatest good of all the users and applications.
The second task, providing a consistent application interface, is especially important if there is to be more than one of a particular type of computer using the operating system, or if the hardware making up the computer is ever open to change. A consistent application program interface (API) allows a software developer to write an application on one computer and have a high level of confidence that it will run on another computer of the same type, even if the amount of memory or the quantity of storage is different on the two machines.
Even if a particular computer is unique, an operating system can ensure that applications continue to run when hardware upgrades and updates occur. This is because the operating system -- not the application -- is charged with managing the hardware and the distribution of its resources. One of the challenges facing developers is keeping their operating systems flexible enough to run hardware from the thousands of vendors manufacturing computer equipment. Today's systems can accommodate thousands of different printers, disk drives and special peripherals in any possible combination.
Delete one touch all your tracks on Facebook
Tricks & tips - Timeline of Facebook is here! The activate?
How many times have you posted on Facebook post photos and comments which you repented ... And how many times have you promised to remove all incriminating evidence from your profile? We have tried, but it takes a lifetime! It is not true, you just need a touch to get rid of all traces.
"It is an application for Android is coming, but also for iPhone and iPad"
Sweeper Social - If you tried, you know that it takes forever to erase everything you've posted on Facebook. Exfoliate is therefore a boon to destroy in one fell swoop all your tracks from the social. Indeed, it is a paid application for Android (2.30 €) - but also coming for iPhone and iPad - can eliminate without appeal, much like they do on the Exfoliating the skin, some or all of the content on Facebook . And what to save, or pulped, is up to you.
A clean sweep - Exfoliate once installed and launched, displays a list of items that may be removed. Simply "tick" with his finger the items to be healthy forever: your posts on the bulletin board, or that of friends, pictures and comments, a number of "like" and so on. The next step, of course, is to enter your Facebook login information: to protect your privacy, the authors ensure that Exfoliate not remember them . At this point you will need to authorize the program as a Facebook application: many prepared to grant permission because your exfoliating staff should stick their nose into a lot of places. Once you re-read good choices, before confirming, take a break. Remember that the process is irreversible! Have you decided? Then just a fingerprint on the screen to start cleaning.
Slow but steady - Exfoliate from the old items. That is, if you change your mind at the last minute and stop it while working, the last things on Facebook that you entered will still be there. Also keep in mind that proceeds slowly, so that to remove years of publications and links you should let it run at night, perhaps with the smartphone connected to the charger to avoid the risk of being halfway there. A trick to speed it up is to disable the ' option Use https only . However, if you think it does not work, try again under the menu item background override . Deleted everything? Well, now you can accept friend requests of anyone because the profile will be proof of employer ... If your timeline there are not enough to erase the secrets, it is worth it! (sp)
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In Northern Alaska, people don’t need to be convinced about climate change because they see it happening all around them and literally under them — the very ground is changing.
Each year, the sea ice gets thinner and arrives later. The lack of shore ice that used to protect them from storms is leading to some villages being moved inland. Fish species from warmer waters, new birds and new insects, like spruce bark beetles, which kill trees, are appearing.
Houses are built on stilts, to avoid melting the permafrost, a layer of frozen earth that begins about two feet beneath the surface and goes down, in North Alaska, some 2,000 feet. Some of those houses are collapsing. Roads which needed resurfacing once a decade because of melting permafrost are now being resurfaced every year. So-called ‘drunken forests‘ are appearing as trees start to keel over.
The ground is changing, melting and it could be a preview of our worst climate nightmare.
Globally, permafrost covers an area the area of the United States and Canada minus Texas. It holds an estimated 400 gigatons of methane, one of the greenhouse gases that is hastening the earth’s warming. As the permafrost thaws — which it has begun to do — lakes can drain away and the thawed soil can release billions of tons of methane into the atmosphere.
About half of the world’s underground organic carbon is found in northern permafrost regions. This is more than double the amount of carbon in the atmosphere in the form of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane.
Now scientists are using new satellite methods to track changes.
Although permafrost cannot be directly measured from space, factors such as surface temperature, land cover and snow parameters, soil moisture and terrain changes can be captured by satellites.
A February conference about the satellite measurements produced a number of animations showing disconcerting changes in freezing patterns and surface temperature over the arctic over several years.
· You can watch the animations here.
You can also watch another animation, which zooms in on the seasonal deformation of a track of land on Alaska’s North Slope during the summers of 2010 and 2011. Watch the red shift that signals the transformation of frozen ground into squishy muck — a meltdown that then subsides several centimeters as summer turns to fall.
The thaw which the satellites are detecting is already evident on the ground. In an article for the Smithsonian Magazine, Bob Reiss met Inuit Milton Noongwook. He is shown a series of large wooden boxes set deep into permafrost to store frozen walrus meat — winter food. Noongwook pulled aside a door and in the dark below Reiss sees hunks of meat amid a sheen of frost. But it was also wet down there. “It’s melting,” Milton said. “It never used to do that. If it gets too warm, the food will spoil.”
Greenhouse gases from permafrost have only been measured as a factor in global warming in the last few years. Currently, the estimate is that they will contribute to making warming happen up to a third faster. But this is only, as one scientist calls it, “a seat-of-the-pants expert assessment.”
Since 1970, the Arctic has warmed at a rate twice as fast as the rest of the globe, due to polar amplification. There is some evidence that the speed of temperature increases there is causing rapid change in the permafrost. A 2010 study found methane emissions rising by a third in just five years.
The good news? According to recent modeling work, if global emissions are cut rapidly and deeply enough to meet the world’s stated target of limiting the average global temperature rise to 2C above pre-industrial levels, the majority of the world’s permafrost will remain frozen.
US Marines urinating on men 'barbaric' says Taliban(video)
Afghanistan's hardline Taliban on Thursday denounced as "barbaric" an online video apparently showing US Marines urinating on the bloodied corpses of slain insurgents, but said it would not affect peace talks.
The US military was investigating the "disgusting" footage, a Pentagon spokesman said, of what appears to be four servicemen dressed in United States military uniform relieving themselves onto three bodies.
They are apparently aware that they are being filmed.
"This is yet another barbaric act by foreign forces. Over the past 10 years there have been hundreds of similar cases that were not revealed," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed told AFP.
"We strongly condemn this," he said.
A Taliban spokesman later said that the video would not affect proposed peace talks.
"I don't think this new issue will affect negotiations which at this stage are mainly about prisoner exchange," spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed told AFP.
However, if authentic, the images – which conjure up previous abuses committed by US troops during the decade-long war – could spark deep anger and resentment in Afghanistan and the wider Muslim world.
The video has been broadcast by leading Afghan television station Tolo News.
The Pentagon has not yet verified the footage, but spokesman John Kirby told AFP: "Regardless of the circumstances or who is in the video, this is ... egregious, disgusting behaviour, unacceptable for anyone in uniform."
"It turned my stomach," he added of the video, which was posted on the Live Leak website.
A military official who asked not to be named said the helmet and weapon carried by one of the men seems to indicate the four could be members of an elite sniper team.
The official also said such conduct would be punishable under the US code of military justice.
The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a prominent US Muslim civil rights and advocacy organisation, condemned the alleged desecration of corpses.
"If verified as authentic, the video shows behaviour that is totally unbecoming of American military personnel and that could ultimately endanger other soldiers and civilians," CAIR said in a statement.
"Any guilty parties must be punished to the full extent allowed by the Uniform Code of Military Justice and by relevant American laws."
A statement issued by the Pentagon said: "Headquarters Marine Corps has recently been made aware of a video that portrays Marines urinating on what appear to be deceased members of the Taliban.
"While we have not yet verified the origin or authenticity of this video, the actions portrayed are not consistent with our core values and are not indicative of the character of the Marines in our Corps.
"This matter will be fully investigated."
Some 20,000 Marines are deployed in Afghanistan, mostly in Kandahar and Helmand provinces in the south of the war-ravaged country, the heartland of the Taliban movement ousted from power in late 2001.
The United States and its Nato allies have 130,000 troops fighting the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.
US and coalition partners plan to hand over security for the whole of the country to Afghan forces by the end of 2014, allowing the withdrawal of combat forces.
In March 2011 the US military apologised after pictures surfaced of US soldiers from a rogue army unit posing with dead Afghans. Five soldiers from the unit were charged with murder for allegedly shooting civilians for sport.
In November the ringleader of the "kill team" – which was also charged with taking fingers and teeth as trophies from civilians killed for sport – was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison by a military panel.
That scandal was among the worst faced by the military since the April 2004 revelation of prisoner abuse at the US-run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, which became a potent negative symbol of the US occupation.
Eventually, 11 soldiers were convicted in connection with the abuse, and received punishments ranging from an army discharge to 10 years in prison.
The Very Real Danger of Genetically Modified Foods
New research shows that when we eat we're consuming more than just vitamins and protein. Our bodies are absorbing information, or microRNA.
Chinese researchers have found small pieces of ribonucleic acid (RNA) in the blood and organs of humans who eat rice. The Nanjing University-based team showed that this genetic material will bind to proteins in human liver cells and influence the uptake of cholesterol from the blood.
The type of RNA in question is called microRNA, due to its small size. MicroRNAs have been studied extensively since their discovery ten years ago, and have been linked to human diseases including cancer, Alzheimer's, and diabetes. The Chinese research provides the first example of ingested plant microRNA surviving digestion and influencing human cell function.
Should the research survive scientific scrutiny, it could prove a game changer in many fields. It would mean that we're eating not just vitamins, protein, and fuel, but information as well.
The Chinese RNA study threatens to blast a major hole in Monsanto's claim. It means that DNA can code for microRNA, which can, in fact, be hazardous.
That knowledge could deepen our understanding of cross-species communication, co-evolution, and predator-prey relationships. It could illuminate new mechanisms for some metabolic disorders and perhaps explain how some herbal medicines function. And it reveals a pathway by which genetically modified (GM) foods might influence human health.
Monsanto's website states, "There is no need for, or value in testing the safety of GM foods in humans." This viewpoint, while good for business, is built on an understanding of genetics circa 1950. It follows what's called the "Central Dogma" (PDF) of genetics, which postulates a one-way chain of command between DNA and the cells DNA governs.
The Central Dogma resembles the process of ordering a pizza. The DNA knows what kind of pizza it wants, and orders it. The RNA is the order slip, which communicates the specifics of the pizza to the cook. The finished and delivered pizza is analogous to the protein that DNA codes for.
We've known for years that the Central Dogma, though basically correct, is overly simplistic. For example: Pieces of microRNA that don't code for anything, pizza or otherwise, can travel among cells and influence their activities in many other ways. So while the DNA is ordering pizza, it's also bombarding the pizzeria with unrelated RNA messages that can cancel a cheese delivery, pay the dishwasher nine million dollars, or email the secret sauce recipe to WikiLeaks.
Monsanto's claim that human toxicology tests are unwarranted is based on the doctrine of "substantial equivalence." This term is used around the world as the basis of regulations designed to facilitate the rapid commercialization of genetically engineered foods, by sparing them from extensive safety testing.
According to substantial equivalence, comparisons between GM and non-GM crops need only investigate the end products of DNA translation: the pizza, as it were. "There is no need to test the safety of DNA introduced into GM crops. DNA (and resulting RNA) is present in almost all foods," Monsanto's website reads. "DNA is non-toxic and the presence of DNA, in and of itself, presents no hazard."
The Chinese RNA study threatens to blast a major hole in that claim. It means that DNA can code for microRNA, which can, in fact, be hazardous.
"So long as the introduced protein is determined to be safe, food from GM crops determined to be substantially equivalent is not expected to pose any health risks," Monsanto's website goes on. In other words, as long as the pizza is OK, the introduced DNA doesn't pose a problem.
Chen-Yu Zhang, the lead researcher on the Chinese RNA study, has made no comment regarding the implications of his work for the debate over the safety of GM food. Nonetheless, his discoveries give shape to concerns about substantial equivalence that have been raised for years.
In 1999, a group of scientists wrote a now-landmark letter titled "Beyond Substantial Equivalence" to the prestigious journal Nature. In the letter, Erik Millstone et. al. called substantial equivalence "a pseudo-scientific concept" that is "inherently anti-scientific because it was created primarily to provide an excuse for not requiring biochemical or toxicological tests."
To these charges, Monsanto responded: "The concept of substantial equivalence was elaborated by international scientific and regulatory experts convened by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1991, well before any biotechnology products were ready for market.
This response is less a rebuttal than a testimonial to Monsanto's marketing prowess. Establishing the concept of substantial equivalence worldwide was a prerequisite to the global commercialization of GM crops. It created a legal framework for selling GM foods anywhere in the world that substantial equivalence was accepted. By the time substantial equivalence was adopted, Monsanto had already developed numerous GM crops and was actively grooming them for market.
The OECD's 34 member nations could be described as largely rich, white, developed, and sympathetic to big business. The group's current mission is to spread economic development to the rest of the world. And while that mission has yet to be accomplished, OECD has helped Monsanto spread substantial equivalence to the rest of the world, selling a lot of GM seed along the way.
The news that we're ingesting information as well as physical material should force the biotech industry to confront the possibility that new DNA can have dangerous implications far beyond the products it codes for. Can we count on the biotech industry to accept the notion that more testing is necessary? Not if such action is perceived as a threat to the bottom line.
Image: Dirk Ercken/Shutterstock.
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