A reader writes:
Your reader's observation is even more true than they may have imagined. According to this article by Gary Kasparov, "The chess machine Hydra, which is a chess-specific supercomputer like Deep Blue, [is] no match for a strong human player using a relatively weak laptop. Human strategic guidance combined with the tactical acuity of a computer [is] overwhelming." Although computers may have passed humans in chess ability, the two working together are by far the strongest.
An ominous sign of the vicious repression by Khamenei's coup-government. As unrest spreads, you begin to see more clearly who the most shameless despots are. So far, none come close to the Revolutionary Guards and the basij.
Keisel's magnificent beard is being removed. At least it's for charity.
Palin today:
"I am still thinking of leading this country. I am still thinking about it. I haven't made up my mind. We hired a chief of staff because Todd is getting tired of doing it for me." When asked who else she might envision at the top of the GOP ticket Palin responded, "No one is more qualified to multi-tasking and doing all the things you need to do as a President than a woman."
AJE's latest report on Bahrain:
Drum's timeline on entitlement reform:
Here's my guess: the best time to do this is in 2013. The Republican Party needs to get the tea party out of its system and wait for guys like Glenn Beck to outlive their 15 minutes of fame. They need to get over the idea that another two years of lunacy will allow them to win back the White House. Barack Obama needs to win reelection without promising to extend the Bush tax cuts. And the rest of us need to let the economy recover so we're dealing with the deficit from a position of realism, not panic.
That's a hell of a lot of future conditions we cannot possibly foresee with any assurance. I'm relieved to see that a small group of Senators may be trying to find a way forward, which includes spending cuts and some tax increases. But we just had an election where ostensibly the winning party was intent on cutting debt and spending. That doesn't happen very often. We have a bipartisan debt commission set up by Obama with the obvious basic answers. We have a president who has shown an ability to compromise and who promised not to put off the hard decisions. And yet Washington's village wisdom is that we should put it off another two years.
One day, we are told, we are going to have an "adult conversation". How can we when we are governed by frightened, selfish children – and those who find excuses for them?
A boxer meets a mini-Dalek. The tail – notice – keeps wagging:
A fascinating bunch of US diplomatic cables have been published that reveal the full implications of the mounting and terrifying anti-gay pogrom in Uganda. It puts it in the context of broader politics, as a deliberate ploy to use gays as an excuse to discredit the opposition and buttress President Youweri Museveni’s 25-year rule as well. There are elections tomorrow. From the leader of the anti-gay fanatics, Martin Ssempa, a chilling quote:
Bahati also attacked the White House statement opposing the bill, saying that he admires President Obama, that President Obama ran on a platform of change, and that Uganda’s message to him is that “homosexuality is not a change but rather an evil that we must fight.” At this point the room erupted in loud applause, led by Ssempa pounding his hand on the head table…
It reads like something from the 1930s.
Clive Crook becomes yet another writer attacking a position that, so far as I can see, is entirely a straw man:
I also admired Gideon Rachman's thoughts on the revolution–not least his aside that the role of social media, though important, is being overstated:
The commentary about the role of social media in Egypt has become so breathless that it is easy to forget that the French managed to storm the Bastille without the help of Twitter – and the Bolsheviks took the Winter Palace without pausing to post photos of each other on Facebook. The Americans managed a revolution too, I believe, without benefit of the internet.
Really? I had no idea that the Bolsheiviks couldn't text. I mean, seriously: who exactly is saying that the web alone accounts for the revolutions now unfolding in the Arab world? Name or cite someone. So I clicked to read Gideon's piece, which is largely spot-on, to see his evidence of "breathless" commentary. Here's what he's got:
Facebook, which Mr Ghonim himself credited with playing a central role in the uprising, also sought to align itself with the outcome, while trying not to take the spotlight off the protesters. “We’ve witnessed brave people of all ages coming together to effect a profound, nonviolent change in their country,” the company said. “Certainly, technology was a vital tool in their efforts, but we believe their bravery and determination mattered most.”
So even Facebook's own spokesman is rightly noticing that the role of the web was vital but nowhere near sufficient. And surely, the spread of the uprisings across the region – the images of police brutality, the precedent in Tunisia and Egypt, the infectious courage – would not have happened without al Jazeera, the web, Twitter, Facebook and cell phones. When the only news people got was from sate TV or state controlled presses, these would have been a very different few weeks. I just don't see how you can deny or minimize that.
One that uses your GPS coordinates to find the nearest free condoms in NYC. Now all we need is a link to Grindr.
The Dish 