Omar Javaid: Personal Interests

Mon, 21 Apr 2003 06:51:52 GMT

Illicit Arms Kept Till Eve of War, an Iraqi Scientist Is Said to Assert. A scientist who claims to have worked in Iraq's chemical weapons program has told a U.S. military team that Iraq destroyed equipment only days before the war began. By Judith Miller. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]

Thu, 26 Dec 2002 19:13:50 GMT

Japan Fears North Korea; U.S. Promises Defense Shield. With Japan worried about North Korea, the U.S. has offered assurances that its Aegis destroyers are capable of shooting down medium-range missiles. By James Brooke. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]

Tue, 17 Dec 2002 20:02:30 GMT

French Thwart Possible Chemical Attack. Three alleged Islamic radicals arrested by French counterintelligence agents appear to have been preparing a chemical attack. By The Associated Press. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]

Wed, 04 Dec 2002 16:52:27 GMT

The Intellectual Origins Of America-Bashing: "America-bashing is anti-Americanism at its most radical and totalizing. Its goal is not to advise, but to condemn; not to fix, but to destroy. It repudiates every thought of reform in any normal sense; it sees no difference between American liberals and American conservatives; it views every American action, both present and past, as an act of deliberate oppression and systemic exploitation. It is not that America went wrong here or there; it is that it is wrong root and branch. The conviction at the heart of those who engage in it is really quite simple: that America is an unmitigated evil, an irredeemable enormity." [From the Desktop of Dane Carlson]

Mon, 02 Dec 2002 18:03:19 GMT

Where are the Protesters?.

All Muslims around the world are commanded to be on the lookout for the pagan woman Isioma Daniel, so that she may be beheaded. Her pursuers have already murdered hundreds of innocent Nigerians. The Islamist organization who has ordered these murders is demanding that her crime, exercise of freedom of speech, never again be repeated. This is, of course, no surprise to people who know of Salman Rushdie.

Kids today are pretty sophisticated, travelling the globe to ruckus in favor of Tibet's "God King", French cow farmers, and Falun Gong. So one wonders where are the protesters? And where are the calls to bring the facists to trial in the Hague for crimes against humanity?

I wrote last year about the strange way that the western elite ostracized Camus when he spoke out against similar facism in Algeria. But it is still curious to me that those who claim to stand for something seem to be absent when given such an unambiguous example of everything they claim to oppose.

[Better Living Through Software]

Thu, 31 Oct 2002 20:24:26 GMT

Don't Blame Columbus for All the Indians' Ills. Not recognized clearly until now, the general health of Native Americans had apparently been deteriorating for centuries before 1492. By John Noble Wilford. [New York Times: Science]

Wed, 16 Oct 2002 21:09:33 GMT

The Free State Project: "A plan in which 20,000 or more liberty-oriented people will move to a single state of the U.S. to secure there a free society. We will accomplish this by first reforming state law, opting out of federal mandates, and finally negotiating directly with the federal government for appropriate political autonomy. We will be a community of freedom-loving individuals and families, and create a shining example of liberty for the rest of the nation and the world." [From the Desktop of Dane Carlson]

Wed, 16 Oct 2002 21:08:52 GMT

Campus Hypocrisy. Criticizing Israel is not anti-Semitic, and saying so is vile. But singling out Israel for opprobrium is anti-Semitic, and not saying so is dishonest. By Thomas L. Friedman. [New York Times: Opinion]

Wed, 16 Oct 2002 21:03:05 GMT

Kissing Dictators.

I just heard that former disgraced president Jimmy Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize. Carter is known for having ignored foreign policy impacts on the economy (favoring "conservation" over engagement with the Middle East energy partners who have most impact on domestic economy). This led to the energy crisis, 10% inflation, energy riots and race riots. One might wonder why this sort of record would warrant a peace prize; but one recognizes that Carter emminently deserves the prize when one considers that Carter invented the most formidable technique known to peace-prize contestants this century: Kissing Dictators

Indeed, the genesis of the Kissing Dictators technique came directly from Carter's experiences destroying the American economy. Carter's deep sense of guilt at causing such "malaise" and suffering to the American people motivated him to seek penance by meddling in the Middle East fiercely. He took to heart the idea of "turn the other cheek", and began in earnest to seek out any evil or violent dictator with whom he could hug, kiss, and turn the other cheek to demonstrate the true peace-loving and affable "Carter" nature. For example, he actively worked to convince the Shah of Iran to step down in favor of the Ayatollah, and he signed a defense agreement with Libya's Gadhafi (inclusing sales of military aircraft and kickbacks for his brother). No matter that the Ayatollah soon began slaughtering Americans and Ghadafi rewarded Carter by funding terrorist attacks on Americans -- Carter refused to be the cause of any more suffering by attacking or resisting the enemies of America.

Of course, the economy didn't improve and the list of enemies only grew, but that wasn't the point. (We are talking about a peace prize here!) When the Soviet Union invaded Iran, Carter made a show of boycotting the Olympics and refusing to sell wheat to the Communists, but stuck to the overall plan of accomplishing nothing (other than crippling the American economy). He did manage to broker a peace accord which in retrospect did little for Middle East peace and opened the doors for Arafat's reign of terror to begin.

This was the time period during which Carter perfected the skill of lustily kissing world dictators for the camera. Here is an example:

It was not long before Carter had started a fad. Shown here, Castro and Arafat gaze lovingly; and next is a well-posed photo of Arafat laying some tongue on a senior military aide. With dedication like that, it is no wonder that Arafat earned a coveted Nobel Peace Prize even before his mentor Carter!

Carter redoubled his efforts, though, and his love sessions with Fidel Castro, Hafez al Assad, Kim Il Sung, and the Sandinistas seem to have done the trick.

And now the competition continues. Who do you think will win the next Peace prize? Clinton, Jackson, or the Pope? (Tenet was automatically disqualified by having his hands full when Arafat sidled up).

[Better Living Through Software]

Fri, 04 Oct 2002 19:13:57 GMT

Who Says We Never Strike First?. The president's pre-emption doctrine and its first application, in Iraq is firmly rooted in centuries of tradition. By Max Boot. [New York Times: Opinion]

Fri, 04 Oct 2002 19:13:09 GMT

The Stones of Baghdad. If President Bush thinks our invasion and occupation will go smoothly because Iraqis will welcome us, he is deluding himself. By Nicholas D. Kristof. [New York Times: Opinion]

Sun, 30 Jun 2002 00:42:19 GMT

Who started the war? "In 711 A.D., Muslims crossed the Strait of Gibraltar (Gibraltar is actually a Western version of the Arabic name, Gebel al-Tariq) and conquered Spain. For the next 200 years, Islam would rule in Spain. In 846, Arab invaders also captured parts of Italy and threatened Rome, plundering the churches of St. Peter and St. Paul. The Muslims were never able to capture France, having lost a decisive 7-day battle at Tours in 732, but during the entire history of Islamic occupation of Spain, no bordering region was free from harrassment, pillage, rape and murder." [From the Desktop of Dane Carlson]

Wed, 29 May 2002 19:04:38 GMT

A few tips on how the experts spot a terrorist: "Israeli security specialists say US system looks for the weapons while Israeli system looks for the terrorist." [From the Desktop of Dane Carlson]

Tue, 28 May 2002 18:05:08 GMT

New Scientist. Estimated deaths from a limited nuclear exchange between Pakistan and India. [John Robb's Radio Weblog]

Tue, 28 May 2002 18:04:40 GMT

Terrorism: Questions and Answers from the Council on Foriegn Relations [From the Desktop of Dane Carlson]

Tue, 23 Apr 2002 17:17:19 GMT

The United States Military Rank Insignia: "Examples of current enlisted and officer insignia used in the United States Armed Forces." Who salutes who. [From the Desktop of Dane Carlson]

Wed, 03 Apr 2002 18:44:48 GMT

Palestinian weblog: Electronic Intifada. [Scripting News]

Mon, 01 Apr 2002 17:41:17 GMT

NYT. Combat remotely piloted vehicles (RPVs) are ready for prime time. The recent combat success of Predator recon RPVs armed with Hellfire missiles has broken the ice on this concept. Prior to this success, the official estimates were that by 2020, up to 1/3 of military aircraft would be RPVs. I suspect that the situation has changed due to the experience we had with the Predator in Afghanistan. My current estimate is that up to 2/3 of all military aircraft will be RPVs by 2020.

Why? There are more than a few reasons:

Pilots are not able to handle heavy G-loads. The newest planes (since the debut of the F-16) have a performance envelope that take them well outside of the human tolerable range. As a result, new fighter aircraft were programmed not to exceed ~15 Gs (15x the force of gravity). Typically, 12 Gs is the max, but Israeli pilots developed a technique that involved ratcheting a turn that allowed their pilots to endure a 13G average. New RPVs like the Boeing X-45 will be able to easily exceed 20 Gs in combat. That means that they can more easily evade missiles and out turn manned-fighters in combat.
RPVs are inexpensive. The X-45 is expected to be 1/3 the cost of the new F-35. They also don't need expensive pilots (for example, the cost to the US taxpayers to train me was ~$2.5 m).
RPVs don't result in US combat casualties. This makes it much easier for national decision makers to deploy them in combat. It also removes the potential of rescue efforts to reacquire downed pilots.
The capabilities of RPVs march in synch with Moore's law. In time, they may actually become totally autonomous.
Control, speed, and endurance. The ability to keep planes aloft for 24-36 hours over targets, to dictate instructions to those aircraft in real-time, to launch planes on warning with little ramp-up time, to gather data from the arena of battle in real-time, and to centralize command authorization is a military commander's wet dream. RPVs make it possible.

[John Robb's Radio Weblog]

Wed, 27 Mar 2002 19:18:22 GMT

Saddam Hussein is paying $25,000 to the relatives of Palestinian suicide bombers. [From the Desktop of Dane Carlson]

Tue, 19 Mar 2002 22:08:48 GMT

Sebastian Unger interview on NPR on Afghanistan

Sat, 16 Mar 2002 21:05:13 GMT

China responds to the US State Department's "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices -- 2001" with their own "Human Rights Record of the United States in 2001." [From the Desktop of Dane Carlson]

Sat, 16 Mar 2002 21:04:53 GMT

Part of the U.S. government's secret Nuclear Posture Review that was leaked to the press last week is now online: "A broader array of capability is needed to dissuade states from undertaking political, military or technical courses of action that would threaten U.S. and allied security. U.S. forces must pose a credible deterrent to potential adversaries who have access to modern military technology, including NBC weapons and the means to deliver them over long distances." [From the Desktop of Dane Carlson]

Thu, 07 Mar 2002 20:51:26 GMT

Why Missile Defense Won't Work. An article by Theodore A. Postol in the MIT Tech Review criticizes the current missile defense system being pursued by the US, and discusses a system that would work. [kuro5hin.org]

Thu, 07 Mar 2002 20:50:00 GMT

Missing: 2 kg of Uranium and a Couple of Fuel Rods. From the article: "International researchers have compiled what they say is the world's most complete database of lost, stolen and misplaced nuclear material. It depicts a world awash in weapons-grade uranium and plutonium that nobody can account for. "It truly is frightening," Lyudmila Zaitseva, a visiting fellow at Stanford University's Institute for International Studies, said on Wednesday. "I think this is the tip of the iceberg." [kuro5hin.org]

Mon, 04 Mar 2002 20:35:32 GMT

Can We Stop the Next Attack? "Six months after Sept. 11, America has taken the fight to al-Qaeda. But behind the scenes, The CIA and FBI have been in a desperate scramble to fix a broken system before another strike comes." [From the Desktop of Dane Carlson]