/midpol/ - Politically (Mis)Informed

Welcome to /midpol/

/midpol/ is a board for any open-minded individuals who are interested in political discussion and debate.

Spamming will result in a ban.

There are no other rules.

Where do you fall on this, pyra/midpol/ice?

http://www.isidewith.com/

Brain Implant Will Let Amputees Move Individual Fingers on Prosthetics With Thoughts Alone

To test the device, scientists at Johns Hopkins University recruited the help of an epilepsy patient who was preparing for surgery to pinpoint the source of his seizures. (The patient himself was not missing a limb.) The scientists used the same electrode array implanted in his brain to control the prosthetic limb. After mapping the parts of the brain responsible for individual finger control movements, the researchers programmed the prosthesis to move the corresponding finger. The details of the experiment can now be found in the Journal of Neural Engineering.

“We believe this is the first time a person using a mind-controlled prosthesis has immediately performed individual digit movements without extensive training,” said senior author Nathan Crone in a press statement. “This technology goes beyond available prostheses, in which the artificial digits, or fingers, moved as a single unit to make a grabbing motion, like one used to grip a tennis ball.

https://archive.is/yISyf

A Northeastern student is using 3D printing to make affordable prosthetics

Brian Foun­taine knows how dif­fi­cult it is to live with pros­thetic limbs–10 years ago, he became a double below-​​the-​​knee amputee after sus­taining a combat injury in Iraq.

Foun­taine, an under­grad­uate graphic design stu­dent at North­eastern Uni­ver­sity, set out to find a way to make high-​​quality, life-​​changing pros­thetics afford­able. The answer he found was 3D printing pros­thetics using carbon fiber, an idea so promising that the Ford Foun­da­tion awarded him $25,000 to make it happen.

“I’m for helping anybody who has any kind of a mobility or amputee problem that they would need addressed,” he says. “Everybody has their own unique injuries.”

Fountaine is also allowing other students in Northeastern’s College of Arts, Media, and Design to use the 3D printers purchased through his grant, in an effort to keep the flow of ideas going. It’s a gesture in keeping with Fountaine’s humble outlPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

Every Swiss adult resident would have the right to guaranteed basic monthly income of 2,500 francs a month, if a proposal to be submitted to voters this summer is accepted.

Swiss to vote on guaranteed income for all

In this small country that has avoided most of the massive immigrant movements they want to provide universal welfare to all citizens.

The initiative, proposed by a group of intellectuals, was one of five subjects approved by the federal government on Wednesday for the ballot box on June 5th.

Switzerland will become the first country in the world to vote on the introduction of unconditional income' at the national level.

But it has not won much support from traditional politicians, even those on the left.

The initiative’s backers say it aims to break the link between employment and income, with people entitled to guaranteed income regardless of whether they work.

Each child would receive 625 francs a month.

The federal government estimates the cost of the proposal at 208 billion francs a year.

Around 153 billion taxes would have to be levied from taxes, while 55 billion francs would be transferred from social insurance and social assistance spending.

The action committee pushing the initiative consists of artists, writers and intellectuals, including publicist Daniel Straub, former federal government spokesman Oswald Sigg and Zurich rapper Franziska Schläpfer (known as “Big Zis”), the SDA news agency reported.

Personalities supporting the bid include writers Adolf Muschg and Ruth Schweikert, philosopher Hans Saner and communications expert Beatrice Tschanz.

The group said a new survey showed that the majority of Swiss residents would continue working if the guaranteed income proposal was approved.

Only two percent would stop working, while eight percent said they could envisage this possibility depending on circumstances.

“The argument of opponPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

Genetic Engineering & NanoBioTechnology

We are rapidly approaching an era when it may not only be possible but also insuppressible that people will be able to modify their genes at low cost.

>Genetic engineering is probably the area of systems biology about which the general public has most awareness. One of its sets of tools is CRISPR, a genome-editing system that enables scientists to change the expression of genes in living cells.

>The ability to do this could mean the elimination of all kinds of genetic diseases or alteration of DNA in a way that becomes permanently sealed in the germ line, and therefore inheritable by future generations. It could mean the modification of future humans.

>There is a lot of research at a microbial level. Combining synthetic biology and methods for deciphering bacterial communication could lead to the creation of designer microbial services. Teams at Princeton University are investigating the ways in which bacteria use chemical signals to co-ordinate group behaviour.

>At Duke University, researchers have electronically linked the brains of rats, while in a pilot study at the University of Washington one person’s brain signal was sent over the internet to control the actions of another person’s hand. Could we, then, be on the brink of synthetic telepathy? Could we end up being able to communicate across species? It would make Doctor Dolittle obsolete.

>Biomimicry is an approach to human problems based on emulating nature’s own patterns and strategies, with a view to building more sustainable futures.

The very least brands could do now is stop thinking of themselves as operating systems and start thinking of themselves as living systems, building brands through biomimicry. For food, transportation and travel brands, health brands, and indeed any brand whatsoever, now is the time for a new metaphor.

https://archive.is/Q5wfo

A comPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

A 41-year-old Scottish man was arrested after posting an allegedly 'offensive' message on Facebook about refugees.

The posts were supposedly about resettling refugees on the island where he lives.

According to Breitbart, The tiny Isle of Bute in the Firth of Clyde had a population of only 6,498 in 2011 and is now expected to take in 1000 Syrians.

Police told The Guardian that social media abuse towards Muslim migrants won't be tolerated.

“I hope that the arrest of this individual sends a clear message that Police Scotland will not tolerate any form of activity which could incite hatred and provoke offensive comments on social media,” Inspector Ewan Wilson said.

Oh, so having a different opinion than yours and voicing it on social media won't be tolerated?

This comes just days after a Danish man was charged for 'racist offenses' and was convicted for comparing Islam with Nazism. A case where the prosecution was able to successfully argue that Muslims are a 'race'.

http://archive.is/ZsDpk

Turkey's capital Ankara rocked by deadly explosion

As of 17 Feb 2016 22:00 GMT - At least 28 killed and 61 wounded after car bomb reportedly targets military personnel travelling in heart of city.

Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr, reporting from Gaziantep, said officials believe a car bomb had caused the explosion on Wednesday evening and the target had been Turkish military personnel, who were travelling in a vehicle which was stopped at a traffic light.

The death toll rose steadily on Wednesday night, with those wounded in the blast sent to hospitals across the city.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for an urgent emergency meeting with top level security officials in Ankara.

"We will continue our fight against the pawns that carry out such attacks, which know no moral or humanitarian bounds, and the forces behind them with more determination every day," Erdogan said in a statement.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but government officials said they were treating the incident as a "terrorist" attack.

Analysts and unnamed Turkish officials said the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) armed group would be among the leading suspects.

The explosion was heard across the capital when it went off at about 6.15pm local time.

The attack happened at the height of evening rush hour, not far from Turkey's parliament, government buildings and military headquarters.

Witnesses shared images on social media showing a large plume of smoke rising into the sky and and local news footage showed a large fire burning at the site of the explosion.

"This is really in the heart of the Turkish capital - it is clearly a message to the Turkish government," Khodr said.

"This is the fourth major explosion in Turkey in the past few months."

'Terrorist' act

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said in a speech that the "blatant, treacherous attack" was well organised.

DepPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

Norwegian officials called the school guards "extra supervision". Critics said the plan to post security personnel near an Oslo school in case of assaults by newly arrived refugees was an ugly euphemism for intolerance.

Critics said that huh? Why would it be intolerance to keep your kids safe from sexual molestation and gang physical violence?

Across the border in the far northern Swedish town of Kalix, a traditional bastion of center-left politics, over 100 residents signed a petition against plans to turn a 19th century country house into a reception center for unaccompanied minors.

Kalix has a population of just over 7000 people.

The debate among these liberal Scandinavian stalwarts would have been unheard of a year ago, underscoring how concern about a record influx of immigrants is percolating into the Nordics' mainstream from the populist fringes.

Anti-immigrant, populist parties have gained support since some 250,000 refugees entered the Nordics last year.

This is a false number. Most immigrants to the scandinavian countries are neither spread into the northern parts of the region nor concentrated anywhere except the capital cities such as stockholm, the immigrants have also been coming for about a decade and the numbers of family members brought in are hard to find and track, that is in addition to the original illegal immigrants.

A record 163,000 refugees arrived in Sweden and the far right is vying for top spot in polls. In Denmark, the anti-immigration Danish People’s Party is the second largest in parliament.

But it is a backlash among the mainstream that may be the biggest change. There are signs that voters may be broadly supportive of immigrants but not in their own backyard. From welfare cuts to new ID checks, it is a trend that shows the limits of even some of Europe’s most open societies, and may represent a sea change for politics in Scandinavia.

"It's a big change happening close to us. In all neighborhoods there are concerns," said Pia Almvang, head of the parents' association at Lysaker primary school in a leafy well-to-do area of villaPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

I will be open minded and will listen to any reasonable arguments. My only values are that heavy government is corrupt and that shit sucks.

With just over 40 percent of German social media users classed as coming from a background of "high formal education" in OECD statistics released in November, a clear dividing line from other nations is clear.

In France, the figure is almost 50 percent, while around 70 percent of British social media users are well-educated – a figure matched by less-developed Turkey and former communist states like Hungary.

Stranger yet is the fact that more social media users – in fact, almost a majority – come from a low educational background.

Dr Klemens Skibicki, a professor at Cologne Business School's Institute for Internet Law and Communication, suggested a combination of factors are at work.

Aging society

Germany is an older society – in fact, it's the second-oldest society in the world.

With the median-aged German 46 years old, most people will look around and see little reason to get involved in social media, as none of their peer group are using it.

That's a big difference from a country like the USA, whose median age is ten years lower, or Turkey, where the median age dips below 30.

"Digital natives in Germany don't behave much differently from those in other countries – but here they're just a much smaller part of the population," Skibicki told The Local.

So far, so good – of the small proportion of Germans on social media, most are likely to be young and therefore less likely to be highly educated.

But age also has an indirect influence on the problem.

Fear-mongering

Most people's first impressions of social media come from traditional media – and while newspapers, radio and television in other countries have been enthusiastic, Skibicki accuses German media of over-caution and scare-mongering.

"The advantages are almost never discussed," Skibicki said.

Instead, a range of fears – for privacy, of profit-making, tax-dodging American companies moving into a German media space dominated by the public broadcasters, and so on – combine into a conscious or unconscious bias against social media among producersPost too long. Click here to view the full text.