I posted on Wednesday about Matthew Hoh and his views on Afghanistan. Tonight I read in the British newspaper, the Daily Mail, about that country’s Centre for Policy Studies and its perspective on the conflict. The two reports are very similar, and draw the same conclusions. Here’s an excerpt from the Daily Mail article. All… Continue reading A British perspective on the Afghanistan situation
Tag: Dilemma
The dangers of ‘cloud computing’ have just been amply demonstrated
I’ve written before about the hazards inherent in so-called ‘cloud computing’. Last week’s data outage among users of T-Mobile’s Sidekick device was a graphic illustration of just how dangerous it is to entrust one’s personal data and valuable information to a third party, rather than have it under one’s immediate control. The more that emerges… Continue reading The dangers of ‘cloud computing’ have just been amply demonstrated
Environmental dangers again (Sigh)
I note that President Obama’s being called upon to take swift, speedy action against global warming. This may be tricky, as the so-called ‘hockey stick graph’ so often cited as evidence (which turns out to have been shaped like something entirely different, to have been based on false information, and to have contributed only lies… Continue reading Environmental dangers again (Sigh)
Feral kids and the problems they pose
The Daily Mail is running a series of articles on feral kids in Britain and the problems they pose in terms of crime, anti-social behavior, etc. Two have been published so far: Feral youths: How a generation of violent, illiterate young men are living outside the boundaries of civilised society Machetes by the door, drugs… Continue reading Feral kids and the problems they pose
Why we are born to believe
That’s the beginning of the title of an article in the Daily Mail. Here’s an extract: A study into the way children’s brains develop suggests that during the process of evolution those with religious tendencies began to benefit from their beliefs – possibly by working in groups to ensure the future of their community. The… Continue reading Why we are born to believe
The end of privacy as we know it?
There’s a very worrying article on CNET that discusses the ever-diminishing privacy of the individual. A brief excerpt: The population of the world stands at about 7 billion. So it takes only 10 digits to label each human being on the planet uniquely. This simple arithmetic observation offers powerful insight into the limits of privacy.… Continue reading The end of privacy as we know it?
How to slow down neighborhood speeders
It seems residents of Durham, NC have come up with a novel way to slow down idiots speeding through their suburbs. A group of Durham residents taking aim at speeders with the threat of a paintball gun said Tuesday that they are “amazed and gratified at the reaction.” The group, Angry Neighbors With Paintball Guns,… Continue reading How to slow down neighborhood speeders
The twisted logic behind socialized health care
Roberta has a fine rant today about an article in the Christian Science Monitor by a professor of philosophy, titled ‘The Real US Healthcare Issue: Compassion Deficiency‘. I clicked over to read the article for myself, and found a number of issues that I thought might be worth addressing (over and above those that Roberta… Continue reading The twisted logic behind socialized health care
More fallout from the current economic nightmare
Powerline reports that the enormous federal deficit, run up in part by former President Bush’s administration, but trebled already under President Obama, is going to be difficult to pay off, because taxes can’t be raised without significantly impacting the economy. Tim Geithner and Alan Greenspan were on ABC’s This Week this morning; both talked about… Continue reading More fallout from the current economic nightmare
Afghanistan
I’ve been thinking about the situation in Afghanistan for some months, and watching US policy there with growing concern. The current ‘mini-surge’, adding almost 20,000 to the forces already in that country, is not a bad idea: but it’s a bandage on a festering wound. Unless the underlying infection is dealt with, the wound can… Continue reading Afghanistan