Astronomers Confirm Youngest Supernova Ever Seen

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory reports the youngest supernova seen in the Milky Way. The former star is G1.9+0.3, located about 25,000 light years from Earth. The images below show the expanding remnants of the star over a 23-year period, from 1985 to 2008. From the speed of the expanding gases, astronomers can determine that we’re looking at the system about 140 years after the explosion. (The explosion didn’t occur in 1868, of course.)

Links:

• NRAO Press Release
• Tom’s Astronomy Blog
• Space.com article
• CNN article (Associated Press)
• Wired Science Live Blog of the Announcement

About America’s Lack of Oil Refineries

FactCheck.org has posted an article that answers the following question:

“The lack of U.S. oil refinery capacity keeps being blamed for some of the large increases in gas prices. Do we lack refining capacity and, if so, why?“

The short answers are below the fold.

Hagee Apologizes to Catholics

John Hagee has issued a written apology to Roman Catholics, addressed to Catholic League president Bill Donohue. From Washington Wire:

“Out of a desire to advance greater unity among Catholics and Evangelicals in promoting the common good, I want to express my deep regret for any comments that Catholics have found hurtful,” Hagee wrote, according to an advanced copy of the letter reviewed by Washington Wire. “After engaging in constructive dialogue with Catholic friends and leaders, I now have an improved understanding of the Catholic Church, its relation to the Jewish faith, and the history of anti-Catholicism.”

* * *

Hagee’s letter explains some of the harsh words he has used when describing the Catholic Church. “I better understand that reference to the Roman Catholic Church as the ‘apostate church’ and the ‘great whore’ described in the book of Revelation” — both terms Hagee has employed — “is a rhetorical device long employed in anti-Catholic literature and commentary,” he wrote.

Follow this link for the full article from Washington Wire, and this link for the full text of Hagee’s apology (PDF).

How Will John McCain Balance the Federal Budget?

FactCheck.org discusses John McCain’s plan to balance the federal budget while extending the Bush tax cuts.

McCain’s big promise is that he can balance the budget while extending Bush’s tax cuts and adding a few of his own. He likes to leave the impression that this can be done painlessly, for example, by eliminating “wasteful” spending in the form of “earmarks” that lawmakers like to tuck into spending bills to finance home-state projects. We found that not only is this theory full of holes, it’s not even McCain’s actual plan. In this story we examine the spending-cut side of McCain’s budget program. In Part II, we’ll look at what McCain has said about taxes.

Follow this link for the full article.

McCain has said he can save $100 billion by cutting earmarks. But experts say earmarks don’t cost that much, meaning McCain will have make cuts in discretionary spending. What will he cut? No one knows, except it won’t be defense spending, which might increase under McCain. If it does increase, even more cuts will be required to make up for it. What programs will suffer?

All that’s left for John McCain to become the Republican nominee for President is the formality of the Republican convention. It’s time for McCain to provide a clear, detailed explanation of how he plans to balance the federal budget while preserving the Bush tax cuts. It’s also time for voters to hold him accountable. If McCain can’t explain himself on something as important as the federal budget, he doesn’t deserve your vote.

Should Illegal Immigrants Be Admitted to College?

At InsideHigherEd.com, Elizabeth Redden writes about the North Carolina Community College System’s effort to develop a stable admissions policy vis-a-vis undocumented immigrants. Last week, the NC Attorney General issued a statement saying that the state’s community college system should return to its former policy of not admitting undocumented immigrants to college-level courses. The AG was primarily concerned about federal law. From an earlier Redden article:

The North Carolina Community College System set off a firestorm in November when it issued a directive indicating that all 58 colleges must begin admitting undocumented students under the open admissions policy. But the state attorney general’s office has now called for reversing course. The office sent out an advisory letter Tuesday suggesting a return to an earlier system policy, propagated in 2001, which limited enrollment of illegal immigrants on the basis that federal law restricts their eligibility for most state and local public benefits. “Postsecondary education is one of those benefits that undocumented or illegal aliens are not eligible to receive,” the 2001 policy reads.

Rolling Stone: Jesus Made Me Puke (and John Hagee)

Writing for Rolling Stone, Matt Taibbi went “undercover” at John Hagee’s Cornerstone Church, a fundamentalist mega-church in San Antonio, Texas. Taibbi writes about a spiritual retreat called “Encounter Weekend.” His article is an irreverent eye-opener for those not familiar with modern-day Christian fundamentalism.

Has the Price of Oil Signaled the Fall of the United States?

At the History News Network (HNN), Michael Klare has penned a sobering assessment of America’s superpower status. Basically, we ain’t got it anymore. Klare’s thesis is that the United States’ ascendancy as a superpower was fueled by cheap, abundant oil. But with oil prices reaching record highs, our national addiction to oil has left us at the mercy of forces we cannot control. Klare sees the $110/barrel threshold as the equivalent of the Berlin Wall coming down. Just as the latter signaled the end of the Soviet Union’s superpower status, the former signals the end of our own.

Help Prevent the Spread of Malaria in Myanmar

You can help save lives in Myanmar. Cyclone Nargis killed over 22,000 people 100,000 people, but thousands more are at risk from malaria. You can help by making a donation to His Nets, a non-profit organization that provides insecticide-treated bed nets to families all over the world. The bed nets provide a barrier to mosquitoes, and help prevent the spread of malaria. It costs only $6.00 to provide a bed net to a family. More details below the fold.

On Proposed Solutions to High Gas Prices

FactCheck.org has a new article analyzing the two proposed solutions to high gas prices offered by presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and John McCain, and President Bush. The skinny: neither idea is going to work. Clinton and McCain’s suggestion of rescinding the federal gas tax will likely have no effect on the price at the pump, and could lead to gasoline shortages. Neither has a credible solution for how the Highway Trust Fund will be funded if the tax goes away. Bush’s suggestion of drilling for oil in Alaska misses two key points: at peak production, ANWR would supply only about 5% of current US oil consumption, not enough to have a large effect on gas prices; and peak production would not be realized for about fifteen years. More details below the fold.

The Separation of Church and State

Lauren Smith at Americans United [for Separation of Church and State] shares five lessons she learned while working for AU. She enters law school this year. Her observations are enlightening and illustrate why we need separation of church and state to protect our religious and civil liberties.

To me, her most important point is #3. Her full response appears below the fold. Further down, I address the “Christian Nation” theory.

3) Education is essential.
This is the most common e-mail AU receives:

“As you are well aware, the ‘separation of church and state” it is NOT in our Constitution. Your platform is un-Constitutional.”