Igår var hela högen här och kollade på Zoolander, helt helt helt otrolig är den! Sen sov vi, sen ringde Linnéa och sa att vi måste upp och diska samt städa för att Sillen var en timme bort, det stämde inte, men iallafall. Sillen är för övrigt Linnéas mamma. Men det behöver jag inte berätta, för Linnéa är väl den enda som läser min blogg och hon vet nog om det. Sen skulle Erica och Lisa in till stan iallafall så jag hakade på. Köpte ett par byxor och en jättegod glass. Erica klippte sig jättefint. Och idag is the big day, hoppas jag.

Pratade också med mamma tidigare idag. Hon hade pratat med Christer som berättade att "Sofia Amberg och Linnéa Sandström står på gästlistan till Kent+Thåström på fredag". Nu kan jag andas igen. Trodde inte att jag skulle kunna gå.

På söndag och Emilie hit, roligt! Det ska bli så himla jättekul att träffa henne igen. Jag trivs jättebra här, och trots att vi inte gör någonting så har jag det kul och trevligt. Men ändå, jag saknar Emilie. Och mamma och tralalala. Vi ska gå på liseberg och sightseeing hade vi tänkt iallafall.

Nu kom Rebecka hem med godis till mig, så nu är det bäst att jag slutar blogga.

But when it comes to the military, our Department of Defense (DOD) the word accountability comes as easily as the Fonz saying he was wrong.  You just never hear it.

For example, during the November 6, 2003 Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) highlight this in his opening comments (PDF).

An investigation recently completed by the General Accounting Office found that almost three-quarters of DOD’s first and business class airline travel was improper. This accounts for tens of millions of taxpayer dollars inappropriately spent by DOD. In fiscal years 2001 and 2002, DOD spent almost $124 million on over 68,000 premium airline tickets. Among DOD’s 28 most frequent first and business class flyers, GAO found problems with almost all of the justifications for premium class travel. This lack of accountability cannot be tolerated. Under government travel regulations, government employees are also allowed to upgrade their accommodations by using their frequent flyer miles or paying the difference themselves.

Let me outline some of the most egregious and outrageous abuses of the system. A DOD employee flew first class on a roundtrip ticket from Los Angeles to Washington, DC, for $3,253, compliments of the Federal Government. A coach fare for the same trip would have cost $238, a difference of $3,015.

Another employee flew business class on a round-trip ticket from Washington, DC, to Taiwan for $4,319 when a coach fare ticket for the same trip would have cost $1,450, a difference of $2,869.

A family of four relocated from London and Honolulu and flew first and business class nonstop at a cost to the taxpayers of $20,943. Had they simply made the effort to reduce costs and follow travel procedures, they would have saved the taxpayers $18,443.

Other cases involved a traveler who took 14 trips at a cost of $88,000 to taxpayers [average of $6285.71 per trip] because he inappropriately claimed that he needed to be upgraded to first class and business class because of a medical condition.

In each of these and dozens of other cases, it appears that travel orders were either not authorized or not justified and premium class tickets should not have been issued.

It is amazing that the GAO could even document this waste, as the San Francisco Chronicle reported in May 2003 that the DOD Inspector General couldn't account for $1 trillion, yes that is a "t" not a "b".

Though Defense has long been notorious for waste, recent government reports suggest the Pentagon's money management woes have reached astronomical proportions. A study by the Defense Department's inspector general found that the Pentagon couldn't properly account for more than a trillion dollars in monies spent. A GAO report found Defense inventory systems so lax that the U.S. Army lost track of 56 airplanes, 32 tanks, and 36 Javelin missile command launch-units.

And I thought it was pretty funny last week when my co-worker said she lost her sewing machine, not exactly a small object, but quite a bit smaller than a tank or airplane.  Guess it wasn't that funny in comparison.

Maybe we need to start with penalties, a sort of accountability, to make the DOD get it's financial house in order.  As these quotes from an article in the Defense Industry Daily point out, there really is now way but up to go for DOD and accounting.

Rep. Todd Platts [R-PA] was quoted as saying that

“The [US Department of Defense] for more than five decades has just kind of layered system on top of system on top of system, and not been serious until recent years that this is not an efficient way to protect against waste, fraud and abuse or in assuring the most effective and efficient systems are in place for those serving in harm’s way.”

That is a Republican saying that.

As Winslow T. Wheeler of the Center for Defense Information, puts it:

“It’s not that DOD flunks audits, it’s that DOD’s books cannot be audited. DOD aspires for the position where it flunks an audit.”

Talk about the soft bigotry of low expectations, oh wait that is just for schools.  I mean an improvement would be having a sufficient financial system that could be audited, and failure would still be fine because they would have something that could be audited.

I guess looking at the inability to account for money or equipment should have prepared us for the waste and undocumented expenditures in Iraq as reported in the Christian Science Monitor in March 2007.

Overall, the Defense Contract Audit Agency has found $4.9 billion in overpricing and waste in Iraq contracts since 2003. US auditors have identified another $5.1 billion in expenses charged without documentation.

It is time to hold the military spending accountable.  Actions or inactions should have consequences, and the military should not be exempt from them.  Any penalty should shift the appropriated funds to social services funds that have been cut.

-Josh

Happy Friday, radio fans.  Do you have great weekend plans? You know, even if you're away from your laptop you can still listen to great segments. Download your BlogTalkRadio favorites and take them with you!  I like to remind listeners about our in demand programming because I often hear from people who would like to tune in but don't think they can because they missed the live broadcast. Don't ever let that deter you from taking in a great segment!

We're having another one of those days where our "studios" are filled with so much awesome content I don't know if I have space to mention it all.  I'll do my darndest though...check out the highlights:

• Did you know the D.O.D has a regular segment on BlogTalkRadio? That's right. Today at the Department of Defense Blogger's Roundtable: More than 100 active and Reserve Sailors and Soldiers, mainly from MDSU-2 Norfolk and the U.S. Army Dive Company from Fort Eustis, Va., have been working since June 1 to raise the former Soviet submarine K-77, also known as Juliet 484. The 1960's-era Soviet cruise missile submarine-turned-museum sank at the pier during a nor'easter on April 17, 2007. This is worth a listen as the sub has a great history. Today at 9:30 a.m. EST.

• Golf.com Radio is talking British Open at 10:00 am. EST.

• Don't miss World Talk Live's Seinfeld Special today at 6:00 p.m. EST. Liz Sheridan, who played [caption id="attachment_2012" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Liz Sheridan with Jerry Seinfeld"][/caption]

  Jerry's mom in the series and Soup Nazi Larry Thomas are coming by to answer questions and reminisce.

• Writers and journalists will be interested to learn the Columbia Journalism School will present a discussion about instructional technology for the 2008-09 academic year. Get all your technology questions answered by sending them in advance to: dos@jrn.columbia.edu. Today's speakers are Larry Fried, Assistant Dean for Technology, and Craig Hettich Broadcast Technology Manager. That's this morning at 12:30 p.m.

• Tonight on After Dark Radio, who killed Mia Zapata? Guests Kerri O'Kane and Jessica Bender discuss their film "The Gits": The rousing and heartbreaking story of Seattle band The Gits, whose promising start was cut short by the tragic murder of spirited lead singer Mia Zapata. 10:00 pm. EST.
  

• Natalie, from the MTV reality program "Legally Blonde: The Search for the Next Elle Woods" is a guest on Hollywood Hits today to dish on what really went down behind the scenes. This afternoon at 3:00 p.m. EST.

Not too shabby, right? And that's only a few of the highlights. Do check out today's On Air Schedule for a complete rundown.

Have a great weekend!

In a memorandum of understanding that was signed today, the Department of Defense and the National Science Foundation agreed to work cooperatively to support social-science research on topics of interest to the Pentagon.

As widely expected, the NSF has agreed to help review proposals submitted to the Pentagon's Minerva Research Initiative, a fledgling program that will offer grants to university-based scholars to study the Chinese military, the records of Saddam Hussein's regime, and other specific topics.

The two agencies will soon - possibly within a week - release a joint request for Minerva-related proposals. Those proposals will be judged by the NSF's typical merit-review panels, though both the science foundation and the Pentagon will have the right to nominate experts to serve on those panels. (The Pentagon is also accepting Minerva proposals through a separate pathway known as a broad agency announcement. Proposals that are submitted via this second track will reviewed through the Defense Department's usual processes, not by NSF panels.)

•••••••

American Anthropological Association, Public Affairs Blog:
Minerva & NSF
July 10, 2008

The Pentagon has launched a program called the Minerva Research Initiative that would fund university-based social scientists to study topics of interest to the Department of Defense, such as the Chinese military and religious fundamentalism. The AAA expressed its concerns about Minerva in a letter to Washington, and urged the Pentagon to coordinate with the National Science Foundation and other agencies that have extensive experience in peer-review and are familiar with the ethical standards and concerns of our discipline. The Pentagon was apparently listening. Pentagon officials signed an agreement with NSF last week enabling the two agencies to collaborate on approving Minerva-funded social science research. Still, there are concerns within the discipline that research will only be used when it supports the Pentagon's agenda.

•••••••

American Anthropological Association: Conference Call

Click here for more details from Culture Matters.

•••••••

David H. Price
Inside the Minerva Consortium: Social Science in Harness
Counterpunch, June 24, 2008

Minerva doesn't appear to be funding projects designed to tell Defense why the US shouldn't invade and occupy other countries; its programs are more concerned with the nuts and bolts of counterinsurgency, and answering specific questions related to the occupation and streamlining the problems of empire. This sort of Soviet model of directed social science funding will make America's critical perspective more narrow precisely at an historical moment when we need a new breadth of knowledge and perspective.

•••••••

The U.S. military’s quest to weaponize culture
By Hugh Gusterson | 20 June 2008

•••••••

Kintisch, Eli. (2008). Defense, NSF team up on national security research. Science, 11 July, 321 (5886): 186-187.

The program will have two arms of equal size. One will be managed by Defense officials and the other by NSF, with some Pentagon input on the selection of reviewers. "There are several topics of mutual interest" within the Minerva areas, says David Lightfoot, who heads NSF's social sciences directorate. "Securing the national defense was part of our charter in 1950," he adds.

•••••••

Nature. (2008). Editorial: A social contract — Efforts to inform U.S. policy with insights from the social sciences could be a win-win approach. Nature, 10 July, 454: 138.

Social scientists, meanwhile, should embrace the opportunities that the AAA pointed out last November in a report on engagement with the military. These include studying military and intelligence organizations from the inside and educating the military about other cultures and societies. Outrage at the current administration should not derail efforts that have potential to be a win-win for all concerned - including, most especially, the people of Iraq, Afghanistan and regions of future conflict.

•••••••

Steven R. Corman
Minerva Followup
COMOPS Journal, July 11, 2008

I think what's really going on here is that that the anthropologists, who have an NSF division of their own, want to be sure they have control over the money (isn't that a conflict of interest?). Also many of their members are squeamish about taking money from the Big Bad DoD, and somehow the same money will be purified if it is routed through NSF.

In a press release yesterday, the AAA bragged that "the Pentagon was apparently listening" because they signed a Memo of Understanding (MOU) with the NSF. Well, not exactly. The MOU is about future NSF programs. The original Minerva program is going ahead as planned, with DoD organizing the reviews.

•••••••

Navy Lt. Jennifer Cragg
Pentagon Funds National Security Research
American Forces Press Service, July 14, 2008

The Defense Department is continuing its efforts to finance university research on national security-related issues, a senior Pentagon official said.

The Minerva Initiative is an effort to build the Defense Department's capacity to reach out to the academic community for research in social science topics of interest to national security both present and future, Thomas Mahnken, deputy assistant secretary of defense for policy planning, said in a teleconference with online journalists and bloggers July 10.

Mahnken said the project has multiple strands, such as an agreement with the National Science Foundation and "broad agency announcements that seek research proposals in specific areas of study.

A memorandum of understanding recently signed between DoD and that the National Science Foundation allows researchers to apply for grants to study subjects that may be of interest to U.S. national security. Officials anticipate the agreement will fund work leading to new knowledge about topics such as religious fundamentalism, terrorism and cultural change.

•••••••

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

Press Release 08-114
NSF Signs Memorandum of Understanding with Department of Defense for National Security Research

"To secure the national defense was one of the original missions we were given when we were chartered in 1950," said David Lightfoot, assistant director of NSF's Social, Behavioral and Economic (SBE) Sciences Directorate. "We've always believed that sociologists, anthropologists, psychologists and other social scientists, through basic social and behavioral science research, could benefit our national security. In fact, we've always done so through various research projects. The MOU gives us another tool and more resources to do what we've always done well."

According to the MOU, funding for research projects will be determined on a case-by-case basis. DoD will consider supporting proposals submitted to regular NSF programs managed by SBE. In return, DoD will get the gold standard for the U.S. peer review process ensuring the research meets specific criteria for intellectual merit and broader impact.

Grant proposals will be evaluated by SBE's normal merit-review panels, though Pentagon officials will have some input into who sits on the panels. The research will not be classified and there will be no constraints on the researchers' ability to publish their results.

•••••••

Topic: How to integrate social media (blogging, podcasting & other new media) with traditional channels to maximize your communication efforts and results

Summary:

The DoD is becoming more attuned to digital natives; those aged 18-25. Along with being raised in generation "me" the DoD recognized many of their incoming recruits were intermediate to advanced users in social media. The traditional military hierarchy had to adjust. Paraphrasing the Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates stated in the featured video clip, "It is a sad state of affairs when Al Qaeda is better at communications than the US."

Charles and many of his colleagues have started creating a culture within the DoD where social media is not only accepted, it is embraced like traditional media. Of course the DoD is similar to many other organizations. They tried many social media applications and test them for their functionality before committing resources to their upkeep.

Their outreach efforts were very similar to DHS by conducting blogger roundtables. In addition the DoD has their own blog as well as their own online video channel where they post as many military videos as possible.

DoD Link Blog: http://www.defenselink.mil/Blogger/Index.aspx

Benefits:

As a result of the social media presence, the DoD is maintaining a presence in the blogosphere even when they are not on the national news. As items become more popular they are getting new requests for information that may have been disseminated days and months ago. For video they use feedroom.

A key lesson learned is to always upload linkable source information. By doing this, members of on-line communities can argue over the facts and not opinions that very well could be based on inaccurate information.

Key Thing to Remember:

The DoD has experimented with many social media applications and found what works best for their organization. Perhaps your organization should take on a similar mentality.

Hade jag inte undersökt mina tuttar och hittat min "jävla knöl".. och efter några månader pallat mig iväg till doktorn så hade jag inte suttit här.. fan.. knöljäveln hittade jag 2005 och 2006 blev det ju konstaterat bröstcancer.. med spridning till tre lymfknutor..

2007 blev jag kallad för första gången till mammografi.. hade jag väntat tills dess så hade det betyt att jag antagligen hade haft metastaser både i skelett, lever och lungor.. och att jag antagligen inte suttit här och bloggat

Nu klarade jag mig.. för att jag undersökte mig själv..

Så jag undrar om jag finns.. mitt liv existerar ju inte enligt den här forskningen..

Dessutom är det så att bröstcancern kryper ner i åldrarna.. för det är statistiskt.. och det hör man.. jag vet jättemånga som är runt 40 som fått bröstcancer.. och de har inte genomgått mammografi än.. utan först gjort det när knölen hittades av DEM SJÄLVA

Jag läser artikeln på engelska och även om jag har gjort detta ett antal gånger så får jag inte ihop det med artikeln som står i Aftonbladet. Det är inte lätt att läsa en vetenskaplig artikel och inte heller lätt att översätta..

Säger bara en sak.. tro inte på allt ni läser.. Tjejer.. undersök er.. innan det är för sent.. för en del blir det försent.. och de dör..
Förlåt mig.. men det är bittra sanningen.. den där riktiga sanningen.. och inte några vitrockar som sitter och läser vetenskapliga forskningsrapporter dagarna i ända..

Artiklar till blogginlägget: nordiska Cochrane-centret
Artikeln i sig: Regular self-examination or clinical examination for early detection of breast cancer

Läs även andra bloggares åsikter om Pysan, bröst, cancer, tafsa, tuttar, död, liv, knöl, bittra sanningen

Hi there! I'm Zelkina, I'm a 22 yr old girl. Games I play included Day of Defeat, Team fortress 2, Guild Wars, Travian, Call of Duty 4, Company of Heroes, BF2142 to name a few. I'm also in to rock/metal music and like going to concerts and such. I also write fan fiction and my own stories, am a big Harry Potter fan so much of my fanfiction is based on that. This is my first attempt at a reveiw, so i hope you enjoy!

Zel.

After much complaining and utterances of "Why haven't you got it yet?" from my clan mates, I purchased Day of Defeat: Source two weekends ago. Bargain price of £5, with all the conversion charges and what have you thrown in. That, and we had been playing from about 12 noon that day as they were doing a free weekend of it.

For those who don't know the game, and may have been living on a remote island just north of the Antarctic, let me enlighten you. Day of Defeat (or DoD) is a WWII multiplayer game. The game re-creates battles of WWII in both fictional and non fictional settings. You have a choice to step in to the shoes of either the U.S. Army, or the Wehrmacht. You then either have a choice of capturing control points, usually shown with a flag on, or mercilessly hunting down the enemy and slaughtering every last one of them. I'd suggest you stick with the games main theme, and use the team work idea...some people don't take too kindly to people who don't participate in team action.

Game play is quite engaging, as I found out yesterday. Meaning only to play a round or two, I ended up playing for three hours. When opting for the U.S. Army, I usually adopt the Support class. I used to play as Assault, but found controlling the Thompson a little difficult. I have a somewhat "itchy trigger finger" which made playing with this gun a little awkward for me. My aiming also goes to hell in a hand basket as well. It's rather like being told to aim at the closest person to you with a rotten egg, and even though that person is seemingly no less than a metre or so away from you, you still throw the egg at a wall in the opposite direction. But that's just me.(I hope)

As Support, I find I'm at least not sitting on the bottom of the scoreboard, but seeing the rest of your clan at the top of the bored, then six spaces below you can see your name, is a little disheartening, but that's just me as a player. I like using the Browning Automatic Rifle a lot more than the Thompson. I can aim better, I can actually shoot the person in front of me trying to stab my face or spade me. I enjoy playing as this class. I don't usually go for any of the other classes, I tend to stick with what I know. And I know I can get a lot of kills with my little BAR.

As for playing Wehrmacht, I tend just to play Assault. The MP40 is easier to control for me than the Browning, and of course, who wouldn't pass up the opportunity to walk behind a helpless Sniper and batter them to death with a spade? The fact you now get achievements for it makes it all the more worthwhile.

Of course with every game, there are good bits, and there are bad bits. One thing I find particularly annoying is the mod that makes you drop your gun if you are shot in the arm. You then get a little message from the game in the corner with the chatter from the room "You have been shot in the arm-pick up your gun" OK, so people want to play it as it really was, and I guess yes, if I was actually shot in the arm, I probably would drop my gun if I was holding it. But having some hyper-active 13 yr old kid shoot you in the arm, so that you automaticly pull out your knife, (meanwhile you're still clicking the mouse button wondering why your gun isn't going off, because this all happens in the blink of an eye) and while you're trying to figure out where the hell your gun went they stab you, which to me warrants the little brat's head snapped off and shoved up his behind in something akin to Hancock (if you've seen it, you'll know). It's a really, really annoying game play feature, but I guess people will say to shut up and be thank full it's not a part of the actual game.

A second thing I find annoying is idiots who enter the sever, and start team killing everyone. I went in a server last night, and some pillock (I can think of a much better word but wont use it) was lying with his machine gun, facing the sandbags in the map.......cant remember the name but it's the one where you have to stop the other team blowing your things up. That's where his team spawned, and the moment we came out, he started emptying his machine gun in to us! I mean, what's the point? You're getting yourself banned from servers where you'll probably want to play in some day, and incurring the wrath of everyone playing at that moment in time. These people probably get kicks from watching old ladies fall over in the street or something.

And of course, no sever is complete without the irritating whining of someone who uses the word "noob" every ten seconds and whining about campers. Seriously. Shut the hell up. You joined the sever to play, so play and stop the whining. Who gives a damn if people are camping? DoD_Avalanche is a snipers dream. Of course there are going to be campers, it's part of any fps. As long as there's a class that lets you snipe while hidden in bushes/buildings/behind crates/on walls etc., there's going to be campers. That's life.

Graphicly, the game has stood the test of time. It's never going to be as wonderfully polished and look as fantastic as the newest of the new games, lets all agree on that. But the soldiers don't look like something from a Spectrum or a Commodore 64. You can tell who they are, what gun they have. Hell, it's even got bullet spray and dust as the bullets hit the ground around you. Surely, for a massive game that thousands play every day, graphics that meet standards and aren't trying to out-do themselves in a wave of pixilated glory are ok?

Over all, I enjoy Day of Defeat: Source. I may be rubbish at it, but it keeps me coming back for more. If you're the kind of person who hates any form of even remotely camping, doesn't know what team work is, team kills regularly and finishes every sentence with "Noob, ur such a noob" don't bother with this game. You'll only disappoint yourself and annoy everyone else. Although you may find a perverse pleasure in the sound of the Sniper's bullet pinging through your helmet and sending you off to the Reaper.

I give it 9/10....if it wasn't for the gun mod and the annoying whining it'd be 10/10

Wehrmacht. You then either have a choice of capturing control points, usually shown with a flag on, or mercilessly hunting down the enemy and slaughtering every last one of them. I'd suggest you stick with the games main theme, and use the team work idea...some people don't take too kindly to people who don't participate in team action.

Game play is quite engaging, as I found out yesterday. Meaning only to play a round or two, I ended up playing for three hours. When opting for the U.S. Army, I usually adopt the Support class. I used to play as Assault, but found controlling the Thompson a little difficult. I have a somewhat “itchy trigger finger” which made playing with this gun a little awkward for me. My aiming also goes to hell in a hand basket as well. It's rather like being told to aim at the closest person to you with a rotten egg, and even though that person is seemingly no less than a metre or so away from you, you still throw the egg at a wall in the opposite direction. But that's just me.(I hope)

As Support, I find I'm at least not sitting on the bottom of the scoreboard, but seeing the rest of your clan at the top of the bored, then six spaces below you can see your name, is a little disheartening, but that's just me as a player. I like using the Browning Automatic Rifle a lot more than the Thompson. I can aim better, I can actually shoot the person in front of me trying to stab my face or spade me. I enjoy playing as this class. I don't usually go for any of the other classes, I tend to stick with what I know. And I know I can get a lot of kills with my little BAR.

As for playing Wehrmacht, I tend just to play Assault. The MP40 is easier to control for me than the Browning, and of course, who wouldn't pass up the opportunity to walk behind a helpless Sniper and batter them to death with a spade? The fact you now get achievements for it makes it all the more worthwhile.

Of course with every game, there are good bits, and there are bad bits. One thing I find particularly annoying is the mod that makes you drop your gun if you are shot in the arm. You then get a little message from the game in the corner with the chatter from the room “You have been shot in the arm-pick up your gun” OK, so people want to play it as it really was, and I guess yes, if I was actually shot in the arm, I probably would drop my gun if I was holding it. But having some hyper-active 13 yr old kid shoot you in the arm, so that you automaticly pull out your knife, (meanwhile you're still clicking the mouse button wondering why your gun isn't going off, because this all happens in the blink of an eye) and while you're trying to figure out where the hell your gun went they stab you, which to me warrants the little brat's head snapped off and shoved up his behind in something akin to Hancock (if you've seen it, you'll know). It's a really, really annoying game play feature, but I guess people will say to shut up and be thank full it's not a part of the actual game.

A second thing I find annoying is idiots who enter the sever, and start team killing everyone. I went in a server last night, and some pillock (I can think of a much better word but wont use it) was lying with his machine gun, facing the sandbags in the map.......cant remember the name but it's the one where you have to stop the other team blowing your things up. That's where his team spawned, and the moment we came out, he started emptying his machine gun in to us! I mean, what's the point? You're getting yourself banned from servers where you'll probably want to play in some day, and incurring the wrath of everyone playing at that moment in time. These people probably get kicks from watching old ladies fall over in the street or something.

And of course, no sever is complete without the irritating whining of someone who uses the word “noob” every ten seconds and whining about campers. Seriously. Shut the hell up. You joined the sever to play, so play and stop the whining. Who gives a damn if people are camping? DoD_Avalanche is a snipers dream. Of course there are going to be campers, it's part of any fps. As long as there's a class that lets you snipe while hidden in bushes/buildings/behind crates/on walls etc., there's going to be campers. That's life.

Graphicly, the game has stood the test of time. It's never going to be as wonderfully polished and look as fantastic as the newest of the new games, lets all agree on that. But the soldiers don't look like something from a Spectrum or a Commodore 64. You can tell who they are, what gun they have. Hell, it's even got bullet spray and dust as the bullets hit the ground around you. Surely, for a massive game that thousands play every day, graphics that meet standards and aren't trying to out-do themselves in a wave of pixilated glory are ok?

Over all, I enjoy Day of Defeat: Source. I may be rubbish at it, but it keeps me coming back for more. If you're the kind of person who hates any form of even remotely camping, doesn't know what team work is, team kills regularly and finishes every sentence with “Noob, ur such a noob” don't bother with this game. You'll only disappoint yourself and annoy everyone else. Although you may find a perverse pleasure in the sound of the Sniper's bullet pinging through your helmet and sending you off to the Reaper.

I give it 9/10

Basically, the news, reported in Nature on July 10, is that "on 30 June, the defence department signed a memorandum of understanding that will direct some of its money into social and behavioural science research through the National Science Foundation (NSF)."  Here are a few relevant bits from the article:

"All proposals will be selected for funding through the NSF's standard peer-review process. The research will be unclassified and no restrictions will be placed on researchers' freedom to publish their results — or for that matter, to criticize the defence department...."

"The NSF agreement has been widely acclaimed by university administrators, who welcome the extra research money . But it has aroused the suspicion among some researchers that it will distort social science towards military priorities. Of particular concern is the fact that the defence department will have some say in the choice of the NSF's peer reviewers."

This has also been covered in Science.  Here's an excerpt:

"The program will have two arms of equal size. One will be managed by Defense officials and the other by NSF, with some Pentagon input on the selection of reviewers. "There are several topics of mutual interest" within the Minerva areas, says David Lightfoot, who heads NSF's social sciences directorate. "Securing the national defense was part of our charter in 1950," he adds."

What this seems to mean is that applications for Minerva Project money will go through an academic peer-review process, rather than being vetted by military officials, which was something critiqued when Wired first reported on Minerva when it was announced a few months ago.

The official NSF announcement is available on their website, and has also been covered in the Chronicle of Higher Education blog, which clarifies that there are two tracks for reviewing proposals, and also a mechanism for people to refuse DoD funding for their NSF project applications:

The Pentagon is also accepting Minerva proposals through a separate pathway known as a broad agency announcement. Proposals that are submitted via this second track will reviewed through the Defense Department’s usual processes, not by NSF panels.)

But today’s agreement is broader than Minerva: It also creates a mechanism through which the Department of Defense can help to finance other national-security-related proposals submitted to the NSF. In such cases, scholars will have the option to decline the Pentagon’s money.

Anthropologist David Price has described in counterpunch his concerns about how military funding will transform the kinds of research that social scientists do:

...today, American social science faces new forms of ideologically controlled funding that stand to transform our universities’ production of knowledge in ways reminiscent of the Soviet Union’s ideological control over scientific interpretations.

(Meanwhile, if anyone has anything interesting to say about HTS or the relationship between anthropology and the military that they think would be particularly relevant to a Middle East audience, please get in touch with me at lisa.wynn[at]mq.edu.au.)

--L.L. Wynn

Konstigt att man graderar hur man uppfattar döden. Att man känner mer för unga människor mister livet. Och om man är vän eller inte. Konstigt. Döden är demokratisk. Inga förutfattade ideér. Alla behandlas lika. Men samtidigt inte.

Och hur svårt det är att sätta sig in i hur människor långt borta, i andra kulturer.

Har ingen relation alls med denna tjej som miste livet. Men är sorgsen iallafall. I den korsningen höll 2 av mina bättre vänner oxå på att dö. Men dom klarade sig trots totalkvaddad bil. Airbag på förarsidan, O fick sina glasögon intryckta. Ingen airbag på andra platsen, bara ovanligt tjock skalle på P? Tillfälligheter. Kanske...kanske inte.

Är fortfarande ateist. Men ödmjuk inför sorg och lidande.

http://nogg.se/startpage.asp?idHomepage=81218

Läs gärna bloggen om/för henne. Försök sedan att inte gråta. Lyckades du? Beklagar djupt det och hoppas du vaknar upp.

Kom en tår? Grattis. Det finns hopp iallafall.

Man börjar så smått undra vad fan det är som händer egentligen, har vi så undermålig säkerthet på våra arbetsplatser att folk ska behöva sätta livet till så ofta som nu sker.

Egentligen känns det inte som en tillfällighet att arbetsplatsolyckorna duggar tätt och har blivit fler de senaste åren med den politik regeringen har fört mot Arbetsmiljöverket (AV) och Arbetslivsinstitutet (AI).

Lite kortfattat så har regeringen dragit ner budgeten för AV med 1/3 sen de tillträdde för 2 år sedan och AI (som bedrev världsledande forskning i hur vårat arbete påverkar vår fysiska och psykiska hälsa) har de helt lagt ner (mer siffror och fakta om detta kan ni läsa på Josefin Brinks blogg).

Självklart kan man inte se riktigt än hur denna slakt av svenska arbetares säkerhet kommer påverka oss men inte allt för vild gissning säger att det jag länkar till ovan bara är en början.

Hur länge ska folk egentligen tåla den totalt idiotiska politik som förs och att tempot på våra arbetsplatser ökar allt mer med följden att vår säkerhet sätts ur spel?

Hur länge ska LO slicka röv på Svenskt Näringsliv innan de slår näven i bordet?

En dag som denna får Ken Ring stå för mina vidare tankar om dessa parasiter som sätter profit före liv.

Läs mer om olyckan här: SvD, Aftonbladet, Expressen, SUF Stockholm

Ännu mer: Svd1, Svd2, Svd3

Mer om Arbetsplatsolyckor på Kim Müllers blogg

Dom Ljuger om högskolan och språket,

Intressant? Låt fler läsa!

Jag tycker att det är jävligt fel att människor i Sverige (Som är världens mest sekualiserade land) som inte är ett dugg jävla kristna i vanliga fall, helt plötsligt blir det så fort nått tragiskt händer eller när det vankas giftermål.
Jag menar att det är jävligt FEL att gifta sig i kyrkan om man inte är en troende kristen. Att stå att svära i kyrkan, inför en gud som man inte tror på, att man aldrig ska lämna sin partner i vått eller tort. Det är för fan som att stå och ljuga sin partner RÄTT upp i ansiktet. Förutom det är det också jävligt respektlöst mot kyrkan och dom kristna som faktiskt är troende.
Om man gifter sig i kyrkan med motivationen: "Men det är ju så fiiint och mysigt." eller "klart man ska gifta sig i kyrkan, det är ju så det ska vara". Då är man för fan korkad.

Jag tycker också att det är jävligt konstigt att så fort nån dör eller tar sitt eget liv. Ja då, då passar det att tro på gud ett par veckor. Och vem är det inte som får sätta upp krisgrupper och möten? Jo, kyrkan.
Sen börjar alla helt plötsligt att tro på himlen, vilket dom aaaaldrig gör annars. Alla börjar säga saker som: "Du har det säkert bättre där du är nu", "Jag vet att du vakar över oss" eller "Du har det säkert bättre hos änglarna! vi ses igen".. Vilket är absolut helt okej och väldigt vackert sagt, OM man nu är kristen. Annars känns det bara falskt och inte alls särskillt omtänksamt! Eller att säga R.I.P.! Hur jävla smaklöst är inte det att säga? För fan, vi kan väl åtminstone droppa den engelska slangen när någon faktiskt har gått bort.. Vila i frid passar otroligt mycket bättre. Om nån jag tycker väldigt mycket om skulle gå bort, skulle jag absolut säga hur mycket den personen betytt för mig, jag skulle bära han/hon med mig i tankarna, varje dag för resten av livet. Men jag Skulle INTE börja prata om gud och himmelen eller livet efter. Nej det skulle bara vara jävligt smaklöst om någon som jag gjorde så.

Alla borde stå för det dom tror på, vad det än är. Och respektera det andra tror på, vad det än är. Men att i falskhet ty sig till nånting som man inte tror på, eller svära inför en gud man inte tror på. Det bara fel.

//Rick

Mikaela

(Click the above link if you want to read the thoughts on the Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom.  Who would have thought that comparing who's Red Tape was redder would make me proud to be an American!?)

Hat tip Hand-Salute:  SWJ Blog.

Har iaf begärt uppskov med nästa inlämningsuppgift så att jag inte behöver cykla omkring i skogen kring Torestorp/Älekulla och leta efter någon med bredband *ASG*

Lilleman var med för första gången i stugan sedan i vintras då vi bara var ute och fick den uppvisad för oss.

Han var i sjunde himlen. FIck vara med P ute i verkstaden och prova slipmaskinen, med Ps hjälp så klart. P gjorde klart för lilleman att han gärna fick vara med ute i verkstaden men att han inte får gå dit utan att någon vuxen är med honom där och det var inga som helst problem med den saken. Han var bra sugen på att tassa dit ut men glömde aldrig att fråga om nån av oss "snälla, kan ni följa med tack" så det var en underbar dag. Han får ju springa lite som han vill där, har stor tomt och inga vägar eller någon trafik, inget farligt som djupa diken eller brunnar utan bara skön härlig natur, och lite feg är han ju så han höll sig ju nära runt huset, sprang mest mellan verkstaden, där P befann sig och köket där jag var. Herregud så könsrollsaktiga vi var i går. heheh...

Mys med lördagsgodis och lite trassel vid läggdags, Lilleman var ju inte van vid att sova där och ville inte riktigt somna till en början, men han somnade och i morse vid 7 vaknade vi av att han ropade från sitt rum

-Kuckelikuuuuu nu är det morgon.... väl??? Visst är det morgon mamma?

Han hade nämligen redan dagen innan förstått att här ute vaknar man minsann till fåglarnas sång och då bestämde han sig för att han skulle vara tupp på morgonen :-D

Nu ska jag om en timma sätta mig på tåget tillbaka mot "landet"

Är skitsne på västtrafiks hemsida som guidat mig helt fel vad gällande tidtabeller.

I morse tog vi bussen 10.22 från Skene mot Borås, där fick vi vänta i nästan en timma på tåget som gick mot Herrljunga där vi bytte (10 min väntan bara) till tåg mot Falköping.... när vi istället kunde tagit länståget kl 11.30 från Skene direkt till Herrljunga.. helt sjukt.. Nu tar jag iaf den turen tillbaka, behöver bara byta en gång alltså. När jag sökte på tillbakavägen till Skene fick jag veta att jag skulle åka tåg falk-herrlj, byta till tåg herrlj-borås, byta tåg borås-KINNA, för att sedan vänta där i en dryg timma på bussen som skulle ta mig den långa vägen av 6 minuter till Skene... herrejösses.. det bästa är helt klart att bläddra tidtabeller på egen hand, precis som "förr i tiden".. det VAR alltså bättre förr... P har HELT rätt. *S*

Vi hade en fluga som var som terminator i går...TVÅ gånger skjöt P iväg den med fingrarna.. och han har SNÄRT i sina fingrar.. flugan låg på golvet (vill kila in med att det inte var någon vanlig fluga utan typ 3 ggr så stor med vita fläckar på ryggen, förmodlinge nån stekel av något slag) och dansade breakdans ett tag och sen slutade den.. död ... trodde vi.. nänä.. Tio minuter senare var den uppe och gick omkring på golvet.. GICK inte flög.. verkade lite groggy. Den var verkligen skitäcklig så vi tog den elektriska smällaren, laddade den till fullo och gav flugan en rejäl dos.. den stod upp. ryckte lite och sen trillade den över på sidan. Som en RIKTIGT DÅLIG dödsscen i nån B-film. Vi kunde inte låta bli att skratta lite.. sen kollade vi vidare på filmen.. och så kastade jag ett öga ner på golvet.. och vad ser jag???? FLugan har rest på sig och börjat gå omkring igen !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! P tog smällaren IGEn, laddade den och den gången höll han den mot flugan tills det faktiskt började lukta bränt och ryka lite...Sen släppte vi inte flugan med blicken.. och tror ni inte fanskapet fortsatte att röra på sig efter en stund... Det fanns bara en sak att göra.. köra elsmällaren riktigt länge och noga se att den verkligen dog, rullade i hop sig i fosterställning och bara la av helt enkelt..

I morse var det första vi kollade om den fortfarande låg kvar orörlig.. jag måste säga att jag hade itne blivit ett dugg förvånad om den hade tassat omkring på golvet...

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I had a gentle and gentlemanly disagreement with the keynote speaker, Mike Nelson.  Mike has a distinguished career, working with Internet-inventor Al Gore while he was VP, and later Director of Internet Technology and Strategy at IBM.  I offered that he was perhaps slightly overly enamored of the "rush to the Cloud" school of thinking.  I've written about that school of thought before, and the balance of where computing power is likely to reside in future, given Moore's Law for the foreseeable future.  The GCN quotes capture my thinking in short form: there'll be the cloud, along with increasingly powerful computing in local form factors (some desktops, more laptops, handhelds, mobiles, and embedded-computing forms of all sorts).

If you'd like to see where some of our research is heading, check out this RFP description (awards were two months ago) for "Safe and Scalable Multicore Computing," a set of Microsoft Research three-year projects just beginning. As it points out, "The emergence of multicore/manycore architectures and the expected rapid growth in the number of cores per chip is changing the landscape of computing," and parallel architectures are really still emerging - huge growth field.

Multicore: This is the one which will have the biggest impact on us. We have never had a problem to solve like this. A breakthrough is needed in how applications are done on multicore devices.” – Bill Gates

“It’s time we rethought some of the basics of computing. It’s scary and lots of fun at the same time.” – Burton Smith

Oh - one amusing typo from the GCN story: when it gets down to my remarks, just before I got in my inevitable plug for semantic computing, I was speaking about "manycore and multicore processors," but perhaps because I was talking about their powering small devices or being embedded to drive services, it came out as "mini-core." 

Okay, wow, maybe that's a geek view of an amusing typo....  Won't see it on Jay Leno I suspect :-)

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yeah, you guessed it... the DoD is starting a secret new program.  don't let the sweet demeanor of dachshunds fool you... they're viscous!  watch out terrorists...

all images © andrew r. slaton | photographer 2008