Notable Omissions. Remember when Al Qaeda wasn't operating in Iraq? The State Department does. [The Gadflyer | All Feeds]

An outstanding graphic. Has al Queda stopped operating in any of these countries? If not, then there are MORE countries, not less, since November, 2001. Because Iraq was NOT one of the countries in November, 2001, that the State Dept. said housed al Queda terrorists. Now it does. So much for the war on terrorism. an effective leader would have reduced the amount of red on this map, or at least set a path for effectively removing the red, in the last 3 years. An effective leader would not have allowed the world to gain red.

How can anyone call Bush an effective leader? His administration took wonderful ideals and has completely mismanaged the process. Simply wanting something good is not enough. You have to effectively make it happen, to plan for success. A CEO that misjudged things this poorly would be ousted by the shareholders. That is what needs to be done. I do not hate Bush. I beleive him to be a poor leader and to have assembled an administration that mishandles almost everything. He needs to be voted out.  comment []3:24:01 PM    

The Daily Outrage: Is Michigan Next?. Voter suppression signals. [The Nation Weblogs]

The only way such incompetent people are allowed to remain in their position eems to be a willful plan to prevent people from voting. In this state, they lost their job when there was a problem mailing out absentee ballots!! Yet, this guy gets a pass. Must be nice work if you can get it. (Seems like a brick could if it really wanted it.)  comment []3:13:17 PM    

The Daily Outrage: Hell on the Hudson. RNC detention facility likely hazardous. [The Nation Weblogs]

Not only was there asbestos and other hazardous materials on the floor, there were no smoke alarms and a sub-optimal sprinkler system! A fire could have been devastating. How could anyone with any moral sense think of housing over a thousand detainees in such a fire-trap. Violate state law by housing detainees for extended time in an unsafe claptrap of warehouse. I expect that NYC will lose quite a bit of money from the lawsuits from this.  comment []3:10:15 PM    

Editor's Cut: The Smearing of Captain Yee. The Army owes James Yee an apology and an explanation. [The Nation Weblogs]

A great example of what our country may be moving towards. An officer is kept in solitary confinement, his reputation destoyed, his effectivieness ruined, yet all charges are dropped, even spurious, vindictive ones. They took an good officer and served him up as an exampple. Anyone can be sent away on trumped up charges. So, when someone speaks up for the human rights of others, his own human rights are abused. What a wonderful lesson to teach our chidren. And there is no accountability, since the same men who started this questionable path are still running things. Some of that unconscious incompetence I mentioned below. remember, this Administration is now 0 for 5000 in successfully prosecuting anyone at trial for terrorism. Quite a record.  comment []3:00:58 PM    

Conscious kills the unconscious knowledge?.

A comment at the AOK discussion list turned up an interesting quote in a review of Friends in Low Places by Dr. James AR Willis, posted on his own website.
Welcome to Dr James A R Willis

The author quotes a wonderful piece of research which found that people are half as good at remembering a face in a photograph, if they've tried to describe it when they first see it. If we only trust our innate and wordless ability to remember a face, we are twice as likely to remember it: a metaphor for general practice. Doctors are being constrained not to rely on their hard-won experience, knowledge and skill, their unarticulated sense of what needs to be done. But instead always to use their conscious brain function to work out a solution. Thus quite possibly reducing their effectiveness by half.

This give a more accurate portrayal of the value of the "unconscious competence" pane of Johari's Window (the other windows being unconscious incompetence, conscious incompetence, and conscious competence). When a person knows their work so well, they don't need to articulate how they know it. This blurb suggests that in some cases, asking someone to explain their thinking actually reduces the value of their unconscious knowledge by forcing them to consider how it is they know something.

[Knowledge Jolt with Jack]

'Unconscious incompetence' is such a great phrase.  comment []2:54:29 PM    

Halliburton may sell troubled KBR. Halliburton will restructure and may even sell its controversial KBR subsidiary, which is mired in overcharging scandals in Iraq. [BBC News | Business | World Edition]"QB

Couldn't happen to a better mis-run company.  comment []2:51:29 PM    

The real home computer in 2004. Scientists at the RAND corporation illustrated a home computer in the year 2004. Seems feasible for the typical home (not!). I especially liked the plans of using a teletype interface and the Fortran language, being a Fortran programmer myself.

Update: Check Submarines in the Cold War, especially the third picture, which is eerily similar to the RAND "home computer". Beware falling monitors! [Universal Rule]

Why you should never believe wat you find on the Internet and why everything you find on the Internet is fact-checked ;-) So be skeptical and look for verification.  comment []2:49:49 PM