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The Irresistible Illusion
Rory Stewart:
When we are not presented with a dystopian vision, we are encouraged to be implausibly optimistic. This misleads us in several respects simultaneously: minimising differences between cultures, exaggerating our fears, aggrandising our ambitions, inflating a sense of moral obligations and power, and confusing our goals. All these attitudes are aspects of a single worldview and create an almost irresistible illusion.
It is a language that exploits tautologies and negations to suggest inexorable solutions. It makes our policy seem a moral obligation, makes failure unacceptable, and alternatives inconceivable. It does this so well that a more moderate, minimalist approach becomes almost impossible to articulate. Afghanistan, however, is the graveyard of predictions.
It is unlikely that we will be able to defeat the Taliban. But the Taliban are very unlikely to take over Afghanistan as a whole.
If you're not failing all the time, you're not creating a situation where you can get super-lucky.
From the archive:
The average Afghan spends one-fifth of his income on bribes.
Nir Rosen:
"You Westerners have your watches," the leader observed. "But we Taliban have time."
Graeme Wood:
“Is the boy a Talib?” I asked. “Future Talib,” he said.
Elizabeth Rubin, from the Korengal Valley:
It didn’t take long to understand why so many soldiers were taking antidepressants.
Nora Johnson, from 1961:
An Englishman said to me recently, "You Americans live on a much higher plane of expectancy than we do. You constantly work toward some impossible goal of happiness and perfection, and you unfortunately don't have our ability just to give up. Really, it's much easier to accept the fact that some things can't be solved." He is right; we never accept it, and we kill ourselves trying.
Rory Stewart, from today:
Americans are particularly unwilling to believe that problems are insoluble.
The Arduino open-source microcontroller platform can be programmed and equipped to perform a nearly endless list of functions. It's likely the best all-around centerpiece to a modern electronics project. But one of the tasks Arduino is best used for is straight-up fun - the open design means there's an Arduino board suitable for almost any project, and a wealth of add-on "shields" extends its abilities with ease.
I wish more of these prints were available for sale, or at least in a large format image for printing. I love this style of art.
The final image especially reminds me of Todd McFarlane's artwork in Pearl Jam's Do The Evolution Video (which contains one of my favorite guitar riffs of all time).
Want to learn about databases without the tedium? With its unique combination of Japanese-style comics and serious educational content, The Manga Guide to Databases is just the book for you.
Princess Ruruna is stressed out. With the king and queen away, she has to manage the Kingdom of Kod's humongous fruit-selling empire. Overseas departments, scads of inventory, conflicting prices, and so many customers! It's all such a confusing mess. But a mysterious book and a helpful fairy promise to solve her organizational problems-with the practical magic of databases.
In The Manga Guide to Databases, Tico the fairy teaches the Princess how to simplify her data management. We follow along as they design a relational database, understand the entity-relationship model, perform basic database operations, and delve into more advanced topics. Once the Princess is familiar with transactions and basic SQL statements, she can keep her data timely and accurate for the entire kingdom. Finally, Tico explains ways to make the database more efficient and secure, and they discuss methods for concurrency and replication.
If Billy wrote a script for The Hentai Guide to Web Security, I'm sure we could find someone to illustrate it. Just imagine having SQL injection explained by a school girl and a tentacle monster....
July 2, 1982: Up, Up and Away With 42 Balloons | This Day In Tech | Wired.com
1982: Frustrated in his dream of becoming an Air Force pilot, a southern California truck driver gets himself airborne anyway with the help of a lawn chair and 42 helium-filled weather balloons. Airborne, as in 16,000 feet worth of airborne.
Yet another writeup of this old story, this one from wired. 27 years ago today.
We Drive BMW’s Electric Mini E | Autopia | Wired.com
The BMW Mini E is a solid little electric ride that provides a comfortable, effortless driving experience with all of the usual small-car perks, plus an ultra cheap operating cost and a carbon footprint approaching zero. But as a $50,000 two-seater with no head-turning quotient, the pitch for this first cousin of the Mini Cooper won’t be so much to our inner rock star as our inner Al Gore.
Nicholas Kristof | July 1, 2009 | ColbertNation.com
Nicholas Kristof Nicholas Kristof describes the endocrine disruptors in the water that are causing genital malformations in male animals and humans. (05:44)
