Dirty Power
Dirty power is knocking out my host’s routers and NIC cards. Theoretically the down time will only be at night. We’ll see.
Foiled Attack in Damascus
UPI–
The Syrian government said it had foiled a would-be car bomb attack on the U.S. Embassy in Damascus Tuesday in a bloody shootout.
But Israel isn’t convinced –
Without naming sources, Israel’s Arutz Sheva broadcaster said “Western sources are not convinced the incident was not staged” to show the United States that it, too, is fighting terrorism.
Iraqi Troops Are Now Iraqi Troops
BBC – Iraqis begin taking control of their own units and…
Other divisions will be transferred in the coming months according to a timetable set by Iraq’s leaders
But this NPR story shows the dark side (and what is likely the actual reasoning for) of these troop movements to Baghdad even as the insurgency moves north. Bottom line – minimize American casualties in an increasingly unpopular war, evidenced by Stryker units in Mosul being moved back to the relative safety of Baghdad. Even while the capital is racking up 1500 deaths a month (counting only morgue processed bodies) the green zone is a fortified safe zone.
Funding Accountability Act
Frist –
Tonight I’m proud to report that the Senate unanimously passed S. 2590, the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006.
But the House version exempts contractors. And the database in question costs a bloated 15 million.
New Knowledge Workers
Fantastic article in S+B regarding future knowledge economy workers using Joi Ito as a model. Very much in line with my own thoughts on the subject. Some snippets:
Core –
In some ways, Mr. Ito’s style foreshadows the changing nature of knowledge work; he moves among many organizations at once, balancing his entrepreneurial individualism against an avid, even obsessive participation in the organizations and communities that interest him, whether online or offline.
Modus Operandi-
“I started playing around with blog software,” says Mr. Ito, “and I sort of just clicked about where this was all going to go. Then I blogged like crazy until I understood blogging well. Then I went and met every blogging company worth talking to. I ended up approaching the company that made the software that I was using.”
No Politics-
Despite his occasional forays into left-wing politics (he advised the Howard Dean campaign on its use of blogs and digital networks), Mr. Ito professes to have no particular political agenda.