From Pine View Farm

April, 2009 archive

Terminator: The True Story 0

Robotic war, the next sign of progress:

Autonomous armed robotic systems probably will be operating by 2020, according to John Pike, an expert on defense and intelligence matters and the director of the security Web site GlobalSecurity.org in Washington.

This prospect alarms experts, who fear that machines will be unable to distinguish between legitimate targets and civilians in a war zone.

“We are sleepwalking into a brave new world where robots decide who, where, and when to kill,” said Noel Sharkey, an expert on robotics and artificial intelligence at the University of Sheffield, England.

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Sophistry 0

The torture memos:

President Obama does not intend to prosecute Bush administration officials who devised the policies that led to the harsh interrogation of suspected terrorists, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel said yesterday.

Emanuel and other presidential aides also pushed back against a GOP contention that national security was undermined by the release of memos detailing controversial interrogation methods approved under President George W. Bush.

The only security that is threatened is the security of those who think that the Gestapo is a fitting role model.

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Evil in Our Names 0

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Andy Williams 0

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Krupa 0

The younger set thinks that Ginger Baker invented the drums:

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Please Make It Go Away 0

Newt Gingrich is babbling about the Founding Fathers on Marconi’s Magic Box.

Too bad he didn’t think about the Founders–about their ideals, about their dreams, or about the Constitution which they crafted–from 2001 through 2008.

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Twits on Twitter 0

Meghan McCain demonstrates a flair for the obvious:

“Simply embracing technology isn’t going to fix our problem,” she said. “Republicans using Twitter and Facebook isn’t going to miraculously make people think we’re cool again. Breaking free from obsolete positions and providing real solutions that don’t divide our nation further will. That’s why some in our party are scared. They sense the world around them is changing and they are unable to take the risk to jump free of what’s keeping our party down.”

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Bushonomics: Army Recruiting Dept. 0

Felons’ prospects to be all they can be down (emphasis added).

As the United States on Friday marks the sixth anniversary of the Iraq war, these are boom times for military recruiters. The number of people walking into recruiting offices has grown as the economy withers. And while patriotism continues to be a motivation for some recruits, many also see the military as a job with generous benefits and little prospect of layoffs.

(snip)

Many applicants who might think of the military as a last resort are finding out that criminal behavior, even while they were juveniles, prevents them from joining. The number of waivers for people with blemished records is dropping as the military meets its recruiting goals.

Via Harry Shearer.

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Just Deserts 1

Noz stumbled over a gem of an idea. Follow the link to read it.

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The Voter Fraud Fraud 1

Republicans in Florida are at it again. They realize their hope for electoral success is to keep people from voting as much as possible (emphasis added).

Republican state legislators, who are behind the latest bills, want to make it illegal for anyone to get within 100 feet of a line of voters. That provision would criminalize election protection programs, in which nonpartisan volunteers make themselves available outside of polling places on Election Day to ensure that eligible voters know their legal rights and are able to cast ballots.

The legislation would also impose onerous and unnecessary rules on voter registration drives, including a requirement that registration forms must be turned in within 48 hours. Grass-roots voter registration drives play an important role in getting poor and minority voters registered. If this legislation passes, however, many groups may stop registering voters rather than risk jail sentences or fines.

(snip)

Another provision would require election officials to purge voting rolls more frequently, a sore point in Florida, where an improper purge of the rolls before the 2000 election removed many eligible voters.

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Adsenseless 0

The winning entry in the “We’re Linux” video contest:

Read more »

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“Bot” Is Short for “Robot” 0

Scientific Blogging explains botnets. If you have a computer–and I suspect that, if you are reading this, you probably do, this is worth a read. A nugget:

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Fire Sale 0

White elephants at auction.

At the luxury beach community The Peninsula on the Indian River Bay, where residents are pampered with a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course and a wave pool, the tide of recession-driven frugality has pushed one builder toward a less-opulent vision.

Faced with the reality that luxury homes aren’t the hot properties they once were, Virginia-based builder Miller & Smith has decided to clear the slate with a May auction, with opening bids at $200,000 for houses that once listed for $890,000 — a 71 percent difference.

According to the story, not only is it a gated community, it is a “double-gated” community (in a part of the world where, frankly, security is not much of an issue). Looking at the pictures, I had to wonder why anyone would want houses like that if they didn’t have a wait staff to take care of them.

This is wankery via real estate.

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Twits on Twitter 0

(Actually, follow the link and read the whole thing. It’s a good reflection on the virtues and vices of connectivity.)

You subscribe to the yawps of a bunch of people; they subscribe to your yawps; and you produce and consume yawps for the rest of your days. The me-me-me clamor brings to mind Emily Dickinson’s poem about the disgrace of fame, “I’m Nobody! Who are you?”: “How public — like a Frog — / To tell one’s name — the livelong June — / To an admiring Bog!”

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PFA 0

In Delaware law, that’s a Protection from Abuse order.

H/T to Richard Blair for the link.

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Doom. Gloom. Army Geddons. 0

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Twits on Twitter 0

Skippy lays it out.

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QOTD 0

Gail Collins on Texas:

And how, by the way, can you stand at a rally waving the American flag while yelling “Secede”?

Via the Great Orange Satan.

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Methinks They Dost Protest Too Much 0

Lola Adesioyem, writing in the Guardian, considers wingnuttery’s over-the-top reaction to the Department of Homeland Security’s report on right wing extremism (learn about the earlier report on left wing extremism here). She points out that it was a report on “right wing extremism,” and asks

When did “right wing extremist” defined by the report as “groups, movements and adherents that are primarily hate-orientated (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly anti-government…” become synonymous with everyday Republican?

When, indeed.

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ISP Bandwidth Caps 1

Jeffrey lays it out. Complain. Now.

Bitstrips

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