links for 2009-01-03

Glad to see Sarah back at it.

"How does just war theory defend the deaths of many innocent civilians as a means to increase 'deterrent strength'? But notice also the modesty of Israel's apparent war-aims: a more stable security situation for residents of Southern Israel over the long term. They're not optimistic about ending those rocket attacks, are they?" Otherwise, it's "we had to! they started it!" :sigh:

"Now I’m exploring the parallel world of calendar syndication, using ICS feeds instead of RSS/Atom feeds. And it feels like 2001 all over again. There are ICS feeds out there, but nowhere near as many as RSS/Atom feeds. And my hunch is that even when ICS feeds are published, they’re often unused, so there isn’t enough feedback to flush out problems." I have been thinking that 2009-10 is going to be the year of distributed calendar feeds [for awesome!], so … something like this is terribly needed.

"Jon has done an excellent first step: demonstrating that there is a problem.

"The next step is harder, and for the feed validator was borne mostly by Mark. For each of the red entries on that page, somebody needs to identify what should be tested for, and for each test identify a short message, an explanation, and a solution. Identifying real issues that prevent real feeds from being consumed by real consumers and describing the issue in terms that makes sense to the producer is what most would call value." Amen. I love Sam for stuff like this.

"GAZA, Jan 3 (Reuters) – Israeli troops backed by helicopters advanced into Gaza on Saturday, a Palestinian witness and the Israeli army said, in the first ground action of an eight-day offensive against Hamas in the Palestinian enclave.

The small column of military vehicles crossed the boundary fence into the northern Gaza Strip under darkness, said the witness, a resident of Beit Lahiya." My gut instinct is this: if you want Hamas to recognize your sovereignty, you have to recognize theirs. SO TREAT GAZA AS SOVEREIGN, AS YOU DID WHEN YOU LEFT IN 2005, AND DON'T FUCKING INVADE THEM. :sigh:

This is going to be like that XKCD where Randall gave a foofy request to YouTube, and then they implemented it. Fantastic.

The United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East, Robert Serry, told reporters on Friday that he was deeply worried that Israel would decide to move into Gaza.

“We are gravely concerned about that prospect because that would just mean another cycle of violence and a further escalation of the conflict,” he said. “This must stop. With Israeli tanks on Gaza’s border, it is absolutely imperative now that we find an immediate and lasting way out to avoid an even deeper and deadlier conflict.”

"The company has never made a contribution. But less than a month after Mr. Rangel met with its officials, the company turned to the congressman for help: A senior A.I.G. executive who had attended the fund-raising meeting wrote a letter directly to Mr. Rangel, chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, urging him to support a provision of a tax bill that would save A.I.G. millions of dollars a year, according to Joseph M. Norton, a company spokesman." More openness, more openness, more openness.

"Mr. Obama was asked in a television interview last month whether he would consider imposing a stiff tax on gasoline, whose price has now fallen to below $2 a gallon after cresting above $4 a gallon last summer.

"He replied that while American families were getting some relief at the pump, they were hurting in other ways, through rising unemployment and falling home values. 'So putting additional burdens on American families right now, I think, is a mistake,' he said." I reluctantly agree, even though I support higher taxes on gasoline.

“If they adopt the Bush administration position, or some version of it,” said Brandt Goldstein, a professor at New York Law School, “it is going to be a moment of profound disappointment for everyone in the legal community and Americans generally who believe that the Bush administration has tried to turn the presidency into a monarchy.”

I feel like I'm contractually required to make these kinds of comments.

The Obama transition team, in meetings and requests for information from NASA, contractors and others with a stake in the process, has asked whether increased financing can narrow the five-year flight gap by speeding development of the new spacecraft. The advisers have also asked what the costs and consequences might be of continuing to fly the shuttles for at least one or two additional flights, or even to keep flying them until the next system is ready.