GroupThinkTank
Revolutionizing the world, one "I agree" at a time
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
stephen, 1:45 AM:
NYT blows CIA air cover
...and, in the process, lends support to detainee claims regarding rendition and associated threats.
Very, very interesting. On the one hand, it's nice to check our government's honesty about our human rights record. On the other hand, I worry about friends working for agency. It seems like this can't make their lives any safer.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/31/national/31planes.html
Sunday, May 22, 2005
Mark Dixon, 2:13 PM:
Hillbilly armor and transfer tubes
Hillbilly armor - Steel welded onto vehicles as makeshift armor by US forces in Iraq. The retrofit shops are referred to as monster garages.
Transfer tubes - Bush administration euphemism for military body bags. During the Gulf War, the Pentagon began calling them "human remains pouches" but recently settled on this even-more sterile term.
(From "Jargon Watch", Wired magazine 13.02)
Get some hillbilly armor so you don't wind up in a transfer tube.
Sunday, May 15, 2005
Tom Fletcher, 12:36 PM:
Present for Eric...
Headline, Contra Costa Times, Saturday:
Retired 49er Halts Suspected Robber
Who was it? Of course... Brent Jones. He saw the middle-aged woman running from the store, heard the clerks shouting from inside, and grabbed her in a bear hug. She was carrying an air gun in her purse.
Police thanked Jones, but reminded the public that Jones "is a big guy" and that citizens should not try to stop fleeing armed robbers.
Mark Dixon, 12:21 PM:
Outlawing organizations and belief systems
I was reading this morning about the ongoing unrest in Uzbekistan and recent violence in Tashkent, and it occurred to me that I'm really uncomfortable with the idea of making it a crime to belong to a particular organization, whether it's Akramiya, the IRA, the KKK, the Communist Party, the Bloods or the Crips. When members of a group commit crimes (e.g., the Symbionese Liberation Army robbing the Hibernia Bank), there are in most countries existing laws on the books to deal with the individual crimes short of criminalizing membership in the organization. Prosecute those involved for bank robbery, or shooting a policeman, or conspiracy, but tarring everyone else in the group with the same brush scares me. It has a chilling effect on freedom of association, and is unlikely to result in more freedom for the rest of us.
Similarly, the idea of making it a crime to be a Muslim extremist worries me. Shep has shared his misgivings about the concept of hate crimes because it's so uncomfortably close to the idea of "thought crimes." I think making it illegal to "be" a Muslim extremist goes even further in that direction than hate crime legislation. Would there be any substantial difference between making it a crime to be a Muslim extremist and making it a crime to be a Branch Davidian? Or a Christian fundamentalist? Or a Zionist? That, I fear, is a slippery slope that leads to letting the government decide whose belief systems are acceptable and whose are not. Ungood.
Just thought I'd throw this out there for discussion.
Friday, May 06, 2005
Mark Dixon, 3:54 AM:
Algorithm
This is waaaay off topic, but if any of you could point me toward a good algorithm for nonlinear least squares curve fitting, I'd appreciate it much.
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Tom Fletcher, 3:53 PM:
Strange World
Where are you on this one Warren Ellis?
Arthur Pendragon for Parliament
Yes, this is serious.
