Blog Heap of Links for the day 27 June 2012

Why can’t this president simply state the truth, that the Syrian people are rising out of decades of servitude and fear to bid for a new political life? On my recent visit to Syrian refugee camps in Turkey, ordinary Syrians asked me why the U.S. was not more concerned with their fate. But they ask and anguish less and less over Obama, knowing that their sorrows have not stirred his conscience. The Obama policy rests on a blissful belief that Syria will burn out without damage to American interests, and that the president himself can stay aloof from this crisis. By his lights, he has kept his compact with his progressive base – he liquidated the war in Iraq and has kept out of the conflict next door in Syria. It suffices that Osama bin Laden was killed, and drone attacks on Al-Qaeda continue apace.

It usually comes down to political will. The U.S. government does not have it .... the Russian government has .... hence they will use this weapon system (and others) if they have to.

The Soviets realized an important point during their conflict in Afghanistan .... that as long as the safe havens were permitted to operate in Pakistan, and having Afghan allies that were either corrupt and/or incompetent .... there was no chance of the Red Army being victorious. The same can be said today. As long as Pakistan permits the safe havens to operate on their territory, and as long as the Kabul government remains corrupt .... the Western effort to defeat the Taliban will also end in eventual defeat.

A political website that contained stinging criticism of the Obama administration and its handling of the Fast and Furious scandal was ordered to be shut down by the Obama campaign’s ‘Truth Team’, according to private investigator Douglas Hagmann, who was told by ISP GoDaddy his site contained information that was “maliciously harmful to individuals in the government.” … Turning to his contacts within government, Hagmann then spoke with another source who confirmed that the ‘Obama Truth Team’ was responsible for the shut down order.

tiny remote controlled vehicles based on insects are already likely being deployed.

Imagine a boat that moves through the water differently from any other boat in existence. It uses “supercavitation”—the creation of a gaseous bubble layer around the hull to reduce friction underwater—to reach very high speeds at relatively low fuel cost. Its speed and shape means it can evade detection by sonar or ship radar. It can outrun torpedoes. Its fuel efficiency means it has greater range and can run longer missions than conventional boats and helicopters.

Engineers have created a new camera with the capability of capturing over a gigapixel of data, a resolution that is significantly better than normal human vision.

Google Now will learn your daily commute home. And if there’s particularly congested traffic that would cause you to get home much later, it’ll send you a notification suggesting alternate routes. Another thing it does is update you on restaurants/retail stores as you’re walking past them, provides reviews of those stores, and other recommendations.

In a brief demonstration, Google showed off Jelly Bean’s revamped home screen, which now automatically rearranges icons when you’re moving apps and widgets around. The new OS sports a “refined dictionary” and a predictive keyboard (that’s hopefully better than past Android keyboards). Google is also bringing Voice Typing offline in Jelly Bean, which should be a big plus for dictation junkies.

Jelly Bean’s camera app has also been updating to allow for easier browsing of photos. The interface looks smoother and simpler than the Ice Cream Sandwich camera.

Feeling comfortable in his home crowd, Sullivan proudly defended his support for the NatGas Act during a debate two weeks ago. But Jim Bridenstine spoke to the inner-core of the conservative Oklahoma crowd. He called the bill a “big-government boondoggle” and boldly declared that “we ought not let Washington, D.C., control free markets with tax subsidies.” As they say, the rest is history. This must serve as an enduring lesson for those who desire to let the free market work – at least in the most conservative parts of the country.