Giving the Terrorists What They Want

Giving the Terrorists What They Want: "Bruce Schneier writes about how the U.S. is giving the terrorists what they want by reacting with fear.

I'd like everyone to take a deep breath and listen for a minute. The point of terrorism is to cause terror, sometimes to further a political goal and sometimes out of sheer hatred. The people terrorists kill are not the targets; they are collateral damage. And blowing up planes, trains, markets or buses is not the goal; those are just tactics. The real targets of terrorism are the rest of us: the billions of us who are not killed but are terrorized because of the killing. The real point of terrorism is not the act itself, but our reaction to the act. And we're doing exactly what the terrorists want.

I made a similar argument here when discussing the London attacks and proposed racial profiling programs as a response.

Why do we need terrorists to destroy the cornerstones of democracy with bombs when governments are willing to do it themselves out of fear? Isn't that a sign that the terrorists have w"

Social Conservatives' Obsession with Crime

Here's another well-done post by Dave Pollard to save the world.

Social Conservatives' Obsession with Crime: "
A couple of days ago I reported a liberal's assertion that conservatives seem 'unwilling or unable to engage in issues that are fundamental to the future of mankind'. In the last few days we've seen evidence of what social conservatives, at least (economic conservatives have different preoccupations), are engaged in, to the point of obsession: Crime, criminals, and punishment. The social conservative media are full of news and hand-wringing about the following issues, all of them crime-related:



The War on Terror (actually a War on the Desperate) -- currently focused, of course, on the heroic foiling of the British criminal airline bombing plot, the heroic Israeli war with criminal suicide bombers and the criminal Hizbollah (who are armed by the criminal Iranians), and why the botched wars against tyrants in Iraq and Afghanistan are not now civil wars and are still 'winnable'. In the minds of social conservatives, Al Qaeda is the master criminal behind all of these activities.
The War on Drugs -- to social conservatives, everyone in this is a war"

technorati tags: politics, crime, howtosavetheworld, htstw, garrysblog

Copenhagen Consensus

If the world would come together and be willing to spend, say, $50 billion over the next five years on improving the state of the world, which projects would yield the greatest net benefits?

That's the question answered by the Copenhagen Consensus.

Here are the results for 2006 with communicable diseases, sanitation and water, education and malnutrition at the top of the list. Financial instability, conflict prevention and climate change are at the bottom of the list.

technorati tags: copenhagenconsensus, world, health, hunger, improve, garrysblog

About the Dulcimer

Did you know the dulcimer is one of the few old American stringed instruments. Read about it here, and listen to it here. See other instruments on the gallery of the facinating site, OddMusic.com.

technorati tags: dulcimer, oddmusic, garrysblog

BULLSH*T!

Penn & Teller are brave American Heroes.

BULLSH*T!: "BULLSHIT! Penn & Teller present their rational, libertarian bent views on diverse subjects, now available for free download on Google Video ::: profanity; creationism; alien abductions; conspiracy theories; recycling; gun control; endangered species; religion; the bible; family values; the apocalypse; signs from heaven; the occult; 12-step recovery programs; exercise v. genetics; environmentalism; hypnosis; ghosts; the war on drugs; feng shui / bottled water; college; PETA; and abstinence."

Reaction vs. Response

Thanks to the Cato-at-Liberty post below. It helps to explain security.

Reaction vs. Response: "See if you can pick out which statement below represents reaction to yeterday’s news of the foiled terror plot, and which statements represent response to the strategy of terrorism.


“This country is safer than it was prior to 9/11.” — President George W. Bush, 8/11/06, quoted in the Washington Post Express.
“We cannot afford no security, but we cannot afford total security, because . . . absolute security could come only at the expense of grounding all the planes and really undermining our way of life. And that would, of course, be a defeat for America.” — Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, 8/11/06, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
“Everything that can be done to protect [travelers] is being done.” — Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, 8/11/06, quoted in the Washington Post Express

As Ohio State University national security expert John Mueller points out in his brilliant Regulation article, A False Sense of Insecurity, ”The costs"

technorati tags: politics, security

The "Threat" and our Liberties

In his blog, Sic Semper Tyrannis 2006, Colonel W. Patrick Lang (retired) wrote, The "Threat" and our Liberties over six months ago. I think it is quite timely to read this important post once more - especially after hearing of Homeland Security logic.

technorati tags: politics, freedom, liberty

App offers solution for those with disabilities

Kudos to Apple and Steve Jobs. We need more of this.

App offers solution for those with disabilities: " Video: App offers solution for those with disabilities. Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs demonstrates Universal Access, an application that will be bundled with the company's new operating system Leopard. The program has features such as voiceover enhancements, braille support and closed captioning."

technorati tags: apple, disabilities, handicapped, software

North Carolina Becomes First State With an Innocence Commission

For doing the right thing, I look at North Carolina's Governor Mike Easely as a national hero.


North Carolina Becomes First State With an Innocence Commission: "History was made this morning when North Carolina Governor Mike Easely, a former prosecutor, signed into law a bill establishing an Innocence Commission.

Gov. Mike Easley signed a measure Thursday, creating the country's first innocence inquiry commission -- a state panel that will examine possible wrongful convictions.

'As a state prosecutor for more 15 years, I know that law enforcement's greatest nightmare is to have an innocent person in jail or on death row,' Easley said. 'As a state that exacts the ultimate punishment, we should continue to ensure that we have the ultimate fairness in the review of our cases.

'Its creation gives our criminal justice system yet another safeguard by helping ensure that the people in our prisons in fact, belong there. This is something all North Carolinians can be proud of,' Easley said."

technorati tags: politics, reform, prisons, innocence, garrysblog

M&M's as in memos? Candy seeks corporate business (Reuters)

Finally, some innovative marketing.

M&M's as in memos? Candy seeks corporate business (Reuters): "Reuters - The candy that 'melts in your mouth, not in your hand' has a new message: this space for rent."

technorati tags: m&m, marketing, garrysblog, candy

Steal this plant: Brazil fights big pharma name-nappers

I love Brazil. I lived there for a couple of years. The women have got to be the most beautiful in the world - on a par with Greece and Russia (sorry Ms. Puerto Rico and Texans).


Steal this plant: Brazil fights big pharma name-nappers: "Xeni Jardin: BoingBoing reader Chris Spurgeon says,

Brazil is sick and tired of companies stealing their plant names, and they're not going to take it any more! Brazil has a wonderful rep for not just rolling over and accepting the increasingly draconian intellectual property treaties being foisted on developing nations by the first world. Their latest move comes in response to a growing trend. It goes like this:

1) Brazilians spend millennia eating some great tasting Brazilian plant that's also great for your health.
2) Foreign company learns about the plant.
3) Foreign company trademarks the plant name and creates a company to sell the plant (turned into a health drink, or shampoo, or anti-aging cream, or brain-tonic pills, or God knows what else).
4) Some poor guy in Brazil opens up a local business cooking up the plant for the locals. (He uses the plant name in his company's name). He starts a little export business selling his product.
5) He gets the pants sued off of him because some company 5"

The Iran-Israel War

Andrew Sullivan is dead on target.

The Iran-Israel War: "It's already started, and looks like it will escalate. Only by annihilating the Jews can the Shiite Islamists in Iran realize their dream. And so the war begins. It will end only in either the destruction of Israel and Iran's..."

How Did You Like the Cybercrime Treaty Debate?

How Did You Like the Cybercrime Treaty Debate?: "Perhaps you weren’t aware of the Senate’s debate over the cybercrime treaty. You would be like most people. The Senate quietly approved the cybercrime treaty yesterday.

The treaty is the product of years of diligent work among governments’ law enforcement departments to increase their collaboration. It lacks a dual criminality requirement, so Americans may be investigated in the United States for things that are not crimes here. And it applies not just to “cyber” crimes but to digital evidence of any crime, so foreign governments now may begin using U.S. law enforcement to help them gather evidence in all kinds of cases.

But you already knew that if you were following the debate. You were following the debate, weren’t you? "

Digital art that responds to emotional state

Digital art that responds to emotional state: "David Pescovitz: Computer scientists have created a digital artwork that changes based on the mood of the viewer as expressed in his or her face. A webcam tracks eight facial features and then changes the digital image in response. The researchers from the University of Bath and University of Boston University call the technique 'empathic painting.'


From a press release:

For example, when the viewer is angry the colours are dark and appear to have been applied to the canvas with more violent brush strokes.

If their expression changes to happy, the artwork adapts so that the colours are vibrant and more subtly applied...

“The programme analyses the image for eight facial expressions, such as the position and shape of the mouth, the openness of the eyes, and the angle of the brows, to work out the emotional state of the viewer,” said Dr John Collomosse from the Department of Computer Science at the University of Bath.

“This kind of empathic painting only needs a"

The Federal Government is Remarkably Efficient (at Throwing People in Prison)

"The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports some distubing statistics on conviction rates at the federal level:

About 95 percent of federal criminal defendants plead guilty. Of the remaining few who fight in court, nearly nine of 10 are convicted, according to national statistics.

[…]

“The odds are pretty stacked against defendants once an indictment is issued; that pretty much seals their fate,” said Mark Allenbaugh, a Huntington Beach, Calif., lawyer and nationally recognized expert on the federal court system. “Once the indictment is issued, conviction is almost guaranteed.”

Between 2000 and 2005, 99 percent of the 435,000 federal criminal defendants prosecuted nationwide were convicted.

I suppose it’s possible that just about everyone ever indicted at the federal level is guilty, but I doubt it. U.S. Attorneys’ offices tend to be better staffed and better funded than local prosecutors’ offices, and certainly have ...."