Karen and Sherri On-Line

Post Graduate Science Education

2004-05-20T08:47:00.000-07:00

I don't know if most Americans are aware of this, but the overwhelming majority of the students in the graduate level research math, science and technology programs at our universities are foreign students. Students, mostly from Asia, but Europe as well, make up the vast majority of scientists and mathematicians trained in the US. This is, in my view, a real problem. Americans have utterly abandoned advanced science as a career. This does not bode well for either our economy or our national security in the future.

Something must be done!!!If the situation is not corrected quickly, steep and rapid national decline will be unavoidable.

I have some policy presecriptions. More on this later.

Saddam and Osama?

2004-05-20T08:07:00.000-07:00

Charles R. Smith reminds us that Clinton Defense Secretary Cohen testified before the 9/11 Commission that in 1998 in Baghdad, Saddam's top nerve gas expert met with several Al Queda operatives. Now I ask, what on earth did they haved to discuss? The weather? They no doubt talked about chems and germs and Al Queda's goals of destroying the US. Come again..there is no connection between Saddam and Al Queda? Please....

Alright the real issue is not contact. Common sense says that as two powerful entities, even if opposed to one another, within the same culture with a common external enemy, they would meet regularly. The issue is did they collaborate operationally. On this, the jury is still out. Many believe that Saddam was complicit in the 1993 bombing. There is strong circumstantial evidence for this. But who really knows?

Private-Sector Space Travel?

2004-05-19T18:47:00.000-07:00

Isn't this amazing? Space travel funded from the private sector. This is excellent. Maybe, this means it will be make it much cheaper and more of us can go in the future.

Abu Ghraid from a Saddam Victimized Iraqi

2004-05-19T18:29:00.000-07:00

Here we have an Iraqi who actually suffered in Saddam's prisons talking about Abu Ghraid under Saddam and prisons in general.

I include this link not to excuse or minimize Abu Ghraid, but to highlight the fact that there are people in prisons all over the world, who are invisible and powerless who suffer everyday like this. Many even if they are guilty, are guilty of trivial offenses, and in no way deserve this heinous abuse. Abu Ghraid is reality for the convicted petty thieves,local drug addicts, credit card hucksters, etc. in every country. Goodness knows I am not a liberal, but this type of abuse is too universal, and it should not be.

The Iraqi WMD Question: Case Definitely Not Closed

2004-05-18T20:47:00.000-07:00

At the end of a longer piece on Seymour Hersch and the Abu Ghraid scandal, Hitchens reflects on those Iraqi WMD that we all know never existed:

So a Sarin-infected device explodes in Iraq, and across the border in Jordan, authorities say that a nerve and gas weapon was discovered for use against them by the followers of Zarqawi, who was in Baghdad well before the invasion. Where, one idly inquires, did these toys come from? No it couldn't be...

Read the entire piece for Hersch's different take on Abu Ghraid. Not one I think I agree with, but anyway...

Melanie Phillips has more info on the missing WMD question. The son of the Syrian Defense Minister was purpotedly paid $50 million to hide the chems and germs right before the invasion. Is the source she sites accurate? Time will tell.

And where is the mainstream media?