Danger Room - Wired Blogs

Danger Room - Wired Blogs: "The drones themselves may be progressing faster than the weapons they'll one day fire. Earlier this month, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. began test-flying the newest model in its Predator line of unmanned attack craft."

See previous story here on SJ:

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

Bill Gates 2.0

Bill Gates 2.0: "Bill Gates 2.0

Traditional methods of scientific research have not produced the medical breakthroughs he expected. Now he's going to use his money, through the Gates Foundation, to challenge old ways. The man is breathtaking.
By Robert Fortner"

The error here may well be fatal ... can anyone "manage" science? The real breakthroughs have come about because of paradigm busting experiments. Orderly research can build A bombs and explore the genome but new paradigms?

Swat Home fopr OBL?

The Hindu : Front Page News : Tuesday, April 21, 2009: "Swat not a place for Mullah Omar and Osama: US
Washington (PTI): Reflecting its views on the peace agreement by Pakistan government with the Taliban in the Swat valley, the United States said it is not a place where Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden could be welcomed as stated by the extremistleaders.

The Taliban leaders, following a peace agreement with the Pakistan government, have reported to have said that they would welcome Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden in the Swat Valley.

"With regard to Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden, this is not a place where they should be welcome," the State Acting Department spokesman, Robert Wood said, to query on the issue.

Reiterating America's viewpoint on this, Wood said, "violent extremism needs to be confronted not just by Pakistan, but the entire international community."

Asserting that the US would continue to work with the Governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan to try to help root out these violent extremists, Wood said they're a threat to democracy and stability in the region.

"We call on all those who are interested in bringing about stability to that region to work with us to root out violent extremism," he said.

Cold Fusion

Latest Microsoft News - CNET News - CNET News: "'60 Minutes' video: Cold fusion is hot again

Once dismissed as junk science, Scott Pelley reports there's renewed buzz among scientists that cold fusion could lead to huge breakthroughs in energy production."

Latest Microsoft News - CNET News - CNET News

Latest Microsoft News - CNET News - CNET News: "Ballmer, IBM reportedly surprised by Oracle-Sun deal
by Ina Fried

* 27 comments

Reporters caught up with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in Moscow to get his take on Oracle's deal to buy Sun Microsystems for $7.4 billion.

But apparently Ballmer, who is rarely at a loss for words, didn't exactly have a sound byte at the ready.

'I need to think about it,' Ballmer told reporters in Moscow, according to Reuters. 'I am very surprised.'

I'm hearing that Ballmer wasn't the only one surprised by Monday's deal. According to a source of mine, IBM hadn't given up on purchasing Sun and was blindsided by Oracle's move.

Oracle is, of course, one of Microsoft's chief rivals in the database and business applications space--a fact that Ballmer highlighted in an interview in February. Sun is also a longtime rival, although the two companies have had a technology partnership in recent years stemming from their settlement of legal hostilities back in 2004.

I imagine we'll hear far more from Ballmer and Microsoft in the coming days and weeks."

Can you spell C L O U D?

Leadership

World News and Opinion on The Huffington Post: "*

U.S. Public Favors Obama's Cuba Approach: Poll
Obama"

Polygamy, a Religous Freedom Issue?

WATCH: The Price of Polygamy In Ethiopia: 12 Wives 78 Children = Trouble

Who is the Guy in Whte and Why is He Talking with a Cosmologist?

Stephen Hawking Hospitalized, "Very Ill"

From John Gallant

Subject: The Jewish Samurai



There once was a powerful Japanese emperor who needed a new chief samurai. So he sent out a declaration throughout the entire known world that he was searching for a chief.

A year passed, and only three people applied for the very demanding position: a Japanese samurai, a Chinese samurai, and a Jewish samurai.

The emperor asked the Japanese samurai to come in and demonstrate why he should be the chief samurai. The Japanese samurai opened a matchbox, and out popped a bumblebee. Whoosh! went his sword. The bumblebee dropped dead, chopped in half. The emperor exclaimed, "That is very impressive!"

The emperor then issued the same challenge to the Chinese samurai, to come in and demonstrate why he should be chosen. The Chinese samurai also opened a matchbox and out buzzed a fly. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! The fly dropped dead, chopped into four small pieces. The emperor exclaimed, "That is very impressive!"

Now the emperor turned to the Jewish samurai, and asked him to demonstrate why he should be the chief samurai. The Jewish Samurai opened a matchbox, and out flew a gnat. His flashing sword went Whoosh! But the gnat was still alive and flying around. The emperor, obviously disappointed, said, "Very ambitious, but why is that gnat not dead?" The Jewish Samurai just smiled and said, "Circumcision is not meant to kill."

End of Palestine mandate

The British mandate for Palestine ended at midnight. Some hours before, the Jewish National Council in Tel Aviv proclaimed a new Jewish State of Israel. The National Council is to act as a provisional Government, and Mr Ben Gurion has been made Prime Minister

Sun Sets?

Epicenter - Wired Blogs: "IBM To Sun: Not Interested, at Any Price
By John C Abell EmailApril 16, 2009 | 12:35:16 PMCategories: IBM, Sun Microsystems

CNBC is reporting that IBM has given what sounds a lot like a final rebuff to Sun Microsystems: We are not interested in re-opening merger talks at any price.

Negotiations between the two companies collapsed two weeks ago after IBM lowered its offering price and a majority of Sun's divided board questioned if the wording of the formal proposal left IBM with the wiggle room to wriggle out of the deal if the going got tough with regulators."

Taax Ennui ... "let the poor eat cake!"

Latest polling doesn't bode well for a tax vote

Posted Sun, Apr 19, 10:26 p.m.

By Austin Jenkins

The poll, taken last week amid tax protests and tax-paying day, shows soft support for boosting the sales tax to pay for health care and softer support for an income tax. No wonder Olympia politicians are skittish.

Of course noone wants taxes .. that is why I want leadership that can explain to folks what happens when the stated eos not pay its bills! Do we need a democratic party unable to lead? Why?

Lovers: Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra and Richard Burton as her lover Mark Antony in the 1963 film of the Egyptian queen

Tea bags Across Amerika!

Donkeylicious: "260,000+ attend Tea Parties
So sayeth Nate Silver. I believe the Obama campaign would call that 'Portland, St. Louis, and Kansas City'.

Immigration rally organizers would call it 'Between one-half and two-thirds of Dallas'."

Elders of Zion to Retire – Forward.com

Elders of Zion to Retire – Forward.com: "Elders of Zion to Retire
Backward: A Purim Spoof
By Anthony Weiss
Published March 04, 2009, issue of March 13, 2009."

BACKWARD ASSOCIATION

The Wild Bunch: The Elders of Zion, pictured here in younger, more rambunctious days, are hanging up their fezzes and heading south. Noted Morris (third from left), ‘The only thing I’m looking to dominate now is a Piña Colada.’

DC Attractions

Naughty DC

FiveThirtyEight: Politics Done Right

FiveThirtyEight: Politics Done Right: "Maybe Democrats should take Rick Perry up on his idea that Texas should secede from the Union."


Consider:



-- If Texas were not in the Union, the Democrats would currently have a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate -- or at least they would once Al Franken gets seated. This is because, in a 98-seat Senate, only 59 votes would be required to break a filibuster.

Coleman dodges egg with 'Bush move' - Andy Barr - POLITICO.com

Coleman dodges egg with 'Bush move' - Andy Barr - POLITICO.com: "Republican Norm Coleman used a quick George Bush-esque move to dodge an egg thrown at him outside his Minnesota home.

Coleman told police that he heard a thumping on his door Tuesday night and walked outside to investigate. .............
“He said something, some little obscenity, and then he threw another one,” Coleman told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “I kind of ducked. A George Bush move.”"

The Open University... is closed for now | Israel | Jerusalem Post

The Open University... is closed for now | Israel | Jerusalem Post: "he Open University in Ra'anana - the country's largest university in terms of enrollment - was indefinitely closed on Sunday, after the academic staff went on strike following a four month long labor dispute over working conditions.

This is the first time an institution-wide strike has been held at the university, in which some 40,000 students are enrolled.

The dispute is centered around continued attempts to gain improved working conditions for the university's junior faculty members, whose demands are based on a collective agreement similar to those which their counterparts at other universities and colleges have acquired.

The strike, which is being undertaken by the entire academic staff, is aimed at changing employment patterns that may be harmful to workers into a foundation for fair labor conditions through a collective agreement, as was done six months ago at all the other universities in Israel, except for the Technion Institute in Haifa, according to Yaniv Bar-Ilan of the Koach Le'Ovdim (power to the workers) association, who organized the strike."

Jerusalem Post | Breaking News from Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World

Jerusalem Post | Breaking News from Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World: "Germany cancels its plans to attend Durban II conference
Obama: Event's anti-Israel slant is hypocritical; Lieberman: Fact that 'racist like Ahmadinejad' is main speaker proves true aim of conference."

When Did Chairs become Convenors?

Convenorship

OK, I have an ego. I know that. But I do like to learn from others and was very disappointed by a meeting this afternoon.

Years ago we joined a synagogue in Seattle. This community has a long and honorable record of social activism. Founded during the intense years of civil rights by young, socially active Jews, the Temple has a number of very impressive members with real talent.

As our kids grew up, the imperatives of Jewish community became less imperative but we continued the membership mainly for high holidays and for our admiratiion for the Rabbis.

The rabbis, a couple, are among the "best" I have met. Rabbi J is a wonderfully thoughtful guy, tolerant of my didactic approach to Judaism and wiliing to listen to any idea. Rabbi B brings a deep knowledge of Jewish mysticism that transcends the all to often sterility of ritual. Both care deeply about society.

I have talked a number of times with our Rabbi J. of finding a way to be useful to the Temple while serving causes that interest me. He keeps encouraging me so, this afternoon we attended a meet-up convened by some neighbors who are Temple members.

The ostensible purpose was to bring together members interested in social activism beyond the usual charitable activities of a liberal Jewish synagogue

Sounds good? ……….not so good.

Somewhere, someone has written a manual on how to assure that a meeting stifles discussion. I suspect the title is “Convenorship” or “Meeting Management for Middle Level Naval Officers” or “Maoist Manual for Communal Discussions.” The room had a number bright people but we were all treated like children scripted for a high school performance on MLK day.

About 30 folks so …we were led by the convener in the usual go around the room to say, “Who Am I?”. Pointedly missing was any invitation to say what causes interested us. Two exceptions to this rule .. politely and subtly, it was made clear that a major agenda for the hosts was universal health care. I was, by this time pretty certain I was not having a good time so I mentioned my interests in crossing the racial gap and promoted this blog.

Next on the agenda? All the students were told to choose a pair. Not four or five folks, but pairs of folks new to each other. I was forced to remember reading a leadership manual someplace (Navy?) about not letting groups larger than three get together if you wanted to maintain control.

Of course the pairs were given, well prepared, written instructions. For ten (not 15) minutes we pairs were supposed to trade a history of our families and how that history led us to be socially conscious Jews. One member of thr pair was supposed to record this on a yellow Post-It. I am not sure why they wanted us to use the Post-It, the ancestry shtick never came up again and notes were not stuck up the wall for the class to read later. I think the intent was to release a few drams of serotonin-blocking endorphins in each of us. It was pleasant.

Following step 3 of the Manual, each member of each pair was then supposed to list up to 4-5 things that kept them up at night. This was to include BOTH personal issues and issues that might be appropriate for joint action. A few folks asked why the personal issues were relevant, but I suspect they (including me ) still had not reached the correct level of serotonin.

My pair volunteered his urinary problems and I countered with worries over my brother. Then we each rolled out our personal causes. As it turned out, Walter is a Professor Emeritus of presidential governance. An interesting guy! Walter and I share some ideas about the decay of participatory democracy, global corporate statism and need for a reversal of Bush-Clinton era classism. A lot to find out in 7 minutes , but by then .. somehow, we also realized this was not the place? We agreed to tal;k later.

The convener then had each pair do a show and tell. You remember the drill? Each student in the class explained what they had done last summer. Our meeting was not quite that divers. The pairs’ lists were as predictable as one might expect of a group of largely over 60 middle class, reform Jews: healthcare, retirement, violence against (women, people of other classes), Israel, drugs, schools, bad social effects of twittering, the decay of our aging minds ……… I was tempted to raise my great concern about hungry pet bears but thought better of it. On the other hand, we just finished Passover so maybe the idea was to recite the ten plagues?

As is usual for such meetings, there was only about 10 minutes left. Most of that was taken up by the host’s husband making his spiel about health care. He is obviously knowledgeable. Naturally, there was no time to explore other ideas. Even if there were, the convener told us The Committee would use the data from the Post-Its to decide where to direct the Temple’s efforts.

One or two folks tried to offer other suggestions but were assured that they were not necessary. Ourm two hour meeting ended on time.

Sad thing is that the host seemed unaware that there were a number of people in the room who probably actually could have been recruited to bring some good ideas to the table. My ego aside, I suspect several folks left the room unlikely to do much more that join in the TBA Task Force of Universal Health Care.

Disappointing!