Category: Journal ISSN 1078-1935

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SmartPlanet: Supercomputers Have Limits – Humans Do Not

Advanced Cyber/IO

Why supercomputers will always have limits

| November 4, 2012

A couple of decades back, in his seminal work MegaTrends, author John Naisbitt pointed out that no technology can ever succeed without a compelling human benefit, referring to it as “high tech-high touch.”

EXTRACT:

Likewise, some technologists are discovering that many computational challenges may be better solved by interactive, online games — not brute-force supercomputing.  In a recently released video of his latest TED talk, Shyam Sankar, director at Palantir Technologies, explains how a long-time biological puzzle in protein analysis was solved in a matter of days by three non-technical, non-biological amateurs playing a computer game called Foldit:  Read full article.

See Also:

Graphic: Business Intelligence Hits the Wall

Graphic: Jim Bamford on the Human Brain

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Eagle: So What’s Wrong with the USA?

Communities of Practice, Corruption, Ineptitude, Policies
300 Million Talons…

So What’s Wrong With The States?

Martin Varsavsky

November 04, 2012

The USA is a great nation for entrepreneurship and innovation, it has the best science in the world, the most creativity in the arts, it is the number one economy in the world, it has an energy unrivaled by other nations and we have chosen to move to this great nation with our family.  So everything that follows must be seen as friendly criticism from a person who loves this country.

Now most of my friends in the USA agree on what is great about this nation. But when I speak to some American friends they seem to be unaware of the shortcomings of the USA compared to others, and this is what I would like to focus on. Here are some quick examples.

The USA ranks 38th in life expectancy which is shocking considering that it has the best medical science in the world.  And this generation is the first one that will live less than the previous generation. The average American is expected to live two years less than, say, the average Spaniard. This is partly because the USA has a medical system that leaves 50 million people uninsured and many others under-insured or worried about losing their insurance (my wife Nina, for example, can’t get medical insurance to have our next baby because pregnancy is considered a pre-existing condition and we moved to USA when she was already pregnant).  It is also partly because the USA is the nation with the highest percentage of its population obese, over 30%.  The WHO studied overall level of health and concluded that Americans rank 72 in the world. Family structure is also weak as the USA has the highest divorce rates in the world. Moreover inequality is on the rise: as this Wikipedia article argues, the top earning 1 percent of households gained about 275% over a period between 1979 and 2007, compared to a gain of just under 40% for the 60 percent in the middle of America's income distribution.

Continue reading “Eagle: So What's Wrong with the USA?”

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Dolphin: Sandy Dislocates 40,000 (Katrina was 700,000)

03 Environmental Degradation
YARC YARC

To put Sandy in perspective, the number of mid- to long-term dislocated is 40,000, as compared to 700,000 for Katrina.

NYC Needs Housing for 40,000 as New Storms Bear Down

Damage from Hurricane Sandy means New York may need to find shelter or new homes for as many as 40,000 people, at least half of whom live in public housing, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

That total, a worst-case scenario, may get reduced by half as power is restored, he said at a news conference.

Read full article.

Phi Beta Iota:  Meanwhile, Haiti appears for help after Sandy, and there has been no accounting from the Red Cross for all the money it collected, ostensibly for Haiti, the last time around….roughly $248 million is the amount not accounted for, our of $354 million donated.

See Also:

Is Occupy Wall Street Outperforming the Red Cross in Hurricane Relief?

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Graphic: Benghazi Fiasco Master Post with Links to All Posts, Map of DoD Assets Ordered to “Stand Down,” + RECAP Updated 11 May 13

Ethics, Government, Ineptitude, Military
Click on Image to Enlarge

Short URL to This Post: http://tinyurl.com/DoDBenghaziMap

Below the Line:  Meta-Links & All Phi Beta Iota Benghazi Fiasco + Bimbo-Gate Posts

Continue reading “Graphic: Benghazi Fiasco Master Post with Links to All Posts, Map of DoD Assets Ordered to “Stand Down,” + RECAP Updated 11 May 13″

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Mini-Me: Germans Suspect Federal Reserve Bank of NY Has Stolen 1536 MetricTonnes of Gold — On Tim Geithner’s Watch

Commerce, Corruption, Government
Who? Mini-Me?

Huh?

Germans demand bullion back after Federal Reserve refuses to let them view their own gold

Marc Howe

Mining.com, 1 November 2012

A secret report by Germany's Federal Audit Office leaked to the public last week states that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York refuses to allow Bundebank staff to even view the gold, triggerin suspicions that the vaults are empty as well as calls for the gold to be shipped back to Berlin.

. . . . . . .

Click on Image to Enlarge

The leaked report has now led to calls from some of Germany's leading politicians for the nation's stateside gold hoard to be shipped back to Berlin. Heinz-Peter Haustein of the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP) was quoted by German newspapers as saying that “all the gold has to be shipped back.”

Bundesbank board member Carl-Ludwig Thiele has urged calm, however, referring to some of the debate surrounding the gold to be “rather grotesque” and stating that the hoard is in the care of “highly respected central bankers” as opposed to “dubious business partners.”  Read full article.

Related Article:  Name The New Reserve Currency: China Imports More Gold In 2012 Than All ECB Holdings

Tip of the Hat to Mark Thompson and Albert Martin at Google+.

Continue reading “Mini-Me: Germans Suspect Federal Reserve Bank of NY Has Stolen 1536 MetricTonnes of Gold — On Tim Geithner's Watch”

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DefDog: State Email to White House – Seven Hours Elapsed Time From Advisory to Death of Two in Benghazi

Ethics, Government, Idiocy, Ineptitude, Military
DefDog

So far what we have is a CIA base not a consulate; State blase about security because it was a CIA base; Libyan local security evaporated; attack motivation still up in the air — pre-arranged kidnapping for political milking far-fetched; Stanley Inc. video clearly incidental; Russian intervention to stop CIA's less than covert arms deliveries to Syria makes more sense. Seven hours — and instead of leveraging the multitude of assets within 1-2 hours of the site, the Secretary of Defense focused on relieving two flag officers. My gut says Romney wins big and Obama goes home. If Obama wins, he will need a new Secretary of Defense, not just a new Secretary of State.

CIA Timeline Confirms: Woods and Doherty Killed in Benghazi 7Hrs After WH Told of Attack; Commercial Airliner Can Fly From London to Libya and Back in That Time

By Terence P. Jeffrey

November 4, 2012

Read full article with links.

Click on Image to Enlarge

See Also:

Phi Beta Iota / Benghazi

Phi Beta Iota / Khost Kathy

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Penguin: Close Overhead Photograph of US “Consulate” in Benghazi — Looks More Like a CIA Villa

Corruption, Government, Idiocy, Ineptitude
Who, Me?

In no way does this look like a consulate. Rather, it looks like a high end CIA villa.  Bearing in mind image comes from Fox, needs validation, but it seems authentic.

Exclusive: Security officials on the ground in Libya challenge CIA account

Adam Housley

Fox News, 3 November 2012

Despite a carefully narrated version of events rolled out late this week by the CIA claiming agents jumped into action as soon as they were notified of calls for help in Benghazi, security officials on the ground say calls for help went out considerably earlier — and signs of an attack were mounting even before that.

Click on Image to Enlarge

The accounts, from foreign and American security officials in and around Benghazi at the time of the attack, indicate there was in fact a significant lag between when the threat started to show itself and help started to arrive.

Read full article with video.

Phi Beta Iota:  If validated, this photograph shows that the consulate is not, as most would assume, in a high-density urban area.  From a military point of view, this is a piece of cake for a helo evacuation and/or a curtain of fire.  This looks more and more like a mix of incompetent CIA operations and inattentive political appointees detached from reality.

See Also:

Phi Beta Iota / Benghazi

Phi Beta Iota / Khost Kathy

noble gold