Email response to the last entry

I think I already got this message once, somehow.

My intention is not to be harsh, but I'm going to go ahead with a screed (and in the process tell you how to do your job).

Aerial surveillance technology, in the hands of the US government, is not likely to have peaceful applications--insofar as the explicitly claimed goal of "preventing the spread and/or use of weapons of mass destruction" has ever been pursued by peaceful means. They have a proven track record on "WMD" that includes very little honesty. Realistically, I think it's more likely be used with the Predator drones. The handout talks about using your neurons to solve way cool problems rather than the strategic value of bombing Afghan wedding parties (and oh, how patronizingly written it is), but then they probably don't want to narrow the applicant pool to outright sociopaths.

You should know that you aren't absolutely obligated to pass this sort of thing on. On the one hand, it certainly is a job opportunity for students, but that must be balanced against the greater good. I'm sure there's no shortage of amoral technical minds clambering for the opportunity, but every person counts. That is, every person we can get not to do this work counts. The fewer bright young minds there are working on helping the gentle men and women of our government with their aerial surveillance, the safer we all are (the more so if we have the misfortune to live in what's left of central Asia).

I'm conflicted about sending this, but I'm doing it, in the hopes that not keeping my opinions to myself will in this instance be appreciated.


Best,
jeff

Jesus Christ: forwarded to me from our chair

A recruiting letter from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to all the students in my department...

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Warning: This opportunity is not for everyone, but rather focused on passionate, super-smart computer scientists looking to solve massive and challenging problems. Problems both technical in nature and global in scope. Still interested?
If “Yes” then ask yourself these questions, then keep reading:
Are you an expert in video imaging? Would you rather think about applications for digital signal processes than watch the clock tick? Are you able to make high-performance code? If so we'd like to talk to you about an opportunity in Silicon Valley - and relocation is available if you're the right fit.
The Global Security Computing Applications Division provides computing expertise and technology to aid in preventing the spread and/or use of weapons of mass destruction. We also provide high-quality information system solutions that contribute to prevention, detection, and response with respect to the capabilities and intentions of potential proliferators.
The Mission: If you Choose to Engage
The Global Security Computing Applications Division within the Computing Applications and Research Department has openings for computer scientists to work on the Embedded Computing Program’s “Persistics” project team to develop algorithms and software tools for their scalable aerial surveillance video processing pipeline.
What is the Persistics Program All About?
It is a collaborative effort involving multiple Department of Defense partners that leverages the brightest minds in research to solve problems and put research into practice. Some of the areas you will explore include advanced image stabilization, high fidelity moving object segmentation, representation and compression, and efficient large format data processing utilizing the most advanced techniques in efficient out-of-core stream based computation.
If you are added to the team, you will develop expertise with respect to heterogeneous multi-core processing on Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) and cell-based clusters. Sounds cool, right? It is, and it will support your interest in harnessing your brainpower to leave your legacy and make the planet safer. Expect to work closely with external research and engineering teams; internal interactions will be with team members, peers, project leadership, and program management, and more as this is not to a role involving confinement to a cubicle.
That said, there will be plenty of time to work independently, solve complex issues people have not even identified yet.
What We Expect:
The ability to design, implement, and deploy prototype systems that demonstrate the application of the Scalable Persistent Surveillance processing pipeline to problems of Laboratory interest. It’s hard to believe we would actually pay you for this, right? Then again you didn’t get your MS or PhD to not execute. Remain current on the state of the art in image and video processing, 3D extraction from video, Geospatial Validation and Verification, out-of-core stream-based computation, and heterogeneous multi-core processing. Present detailed analyses of pipeline performance relative to final data products and processing both within LLNL and to external communities. Transition prototypes to use in customer applications in collaboration with the customers.
Perform all assignments in accordance with ES&H, Security, and business practice requirements and policies.
Skills We Need to Tap Into in Addition to your Raw Brainpower (I bet your brain synapses are firing like crazy)
B.S. in Computer Science, Engineering, or Mathematics, or equivalent level of demonstrated knowledge. Experience in algorithm development for signal, image, and video processing applications. Familiarity with developing software applications in Linux, UNIX, and Windows environments. Experience with distributed and parallel computing.
Experience developing and documenting software designs, implement code, develop and document test plans, and disseminate results. Familiarity Knowledge of a wide variety of programming languages such as C++, C, Python, Lua, Matlab, IDL, and Perl.
Effective verbal and written communication skills along with strong analytical, organizational, and interpersonal skills. Demonstrated ability to work independently and implement research concepts in a multi- disciplinary team environment, where commitments and deadlines are important to project success.
Demonstrated ability to effectively communicate technical information, document work, and prepare and present research papers.
The Following would be really nice:
M.S./Ph.D. in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or related discipline. Familiarity with 3D extraction from video, optical flow and object motion tracking, wavelet compression and entropy coding, progressive hierarchy data layout and out-of-core stream processing, heterogeneous multi-core processing, machine learning, machine vision, and
computational statistics. Visualization experience for large-scale imagery.
Real-time image processing experience. Experience programming on commodity architectures such as GPUs or Cell Broadband Engines (CBE).
Experience working with customers to define, refine, and implement programmatic requirements and milestones. - Experience developing complex software solutions. - Experience with Systems Engineering.
- Familiarity with data management systems. - Ability to travel to sponsor sites.
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS: Pre-Placement Medical Exam: A job-related pre-placement medical examination may be required. Pre-Employment Drug Test: External applicant(s) selected for this position will be required to pass a post-offer, pre-employment drug test. Anticipated Clearance Level: Q, SCI. (Position will be cleared to this level). Applicants selected will be subject to a federal background investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information or matter. In addition, all L or Q cleared employees are subject to random drug testing.
LLNL offers a challenging environment and a competitive salary/benefits package. To view and apply for this job, go to https://careers.llnl.gov and search by job #009365. When applying and prompted please mention where you saw this ad. LLNL is operated by the Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer with a commitment to workforce diversity.

Sure you've seen this, but just in case...
"Russia and China, which have close ties to Iran, joined fellow permanent council members Britain, France and the United States as well as non-member Germany in supporting the sanctions proposal, ignoring a deal that Tehran agreed to a day earlier to try to stave off the penalties." For a moment I was worried that the eminently sensible enrichment deal would somehow preclude the drive to war.

Peter Hart of FAIR, with aid from Chomsky (who seems to pop up here every day), here points out what I did yesterday, but better, highlighting the difference between US media's version of the "international consensus" and the actual positions of most people and countries. Chompers:

To take another illustration of the depth of the imperial mentality, New York Times correspondent Elaine Sciolino writes that "Iran's intransigence [about nuclear enrichment] appears to be defeating attempts by the rest of the world to curtail Tehran's nuclear ambitions." The rest of the world happens to exclude the large majority of the world: the non-aligned movement, which forcefully endorses Iran's right to enrich Uranium, in accord with the non-proliferation treaty (NPT). But they are not part of the world, since they do not reflexively accept U.S. orders.

We might tarry for a moment to ask whether there is any solution to the U.S./Iran confrontation over nuclear weapons. Here is one idea: (1) Iran should have the right to develop nuclear energy, but not weapons, in accord with the NPT. (2) A nuclear weapons-free zone should be established in the region, including Iran, Israel and U.S. forces deployed there. (3) The U.S. should accept the NPT. (4) The U.S. should end threats against Iran, and turn to diplomacy.

The proposals are not original. These are the preferences of the overwhelming majority of Americans, and also Iranians, in polls by World Public Opinion, which found that Americans and Iranians agree on basic issues. At a forum at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies when the polls were released a year ago, Joseph Cirincione, senior vice president for national security and international policy at the Center for American Progress, said the polls showed "the common sense of both the American people and the Iranian people, [who] seem to be able to rise above the rhetoric of their own leaders to find common sense solutions to some of the most crucial questions" facing the two nations, favoring pragmatic, diplomatic solutions to their differences. The results suggest that if the U.S. and Iran were functioning democratic societies, this very dangerous confrontation could probably be resolved peaceably.

This text is in fact from 2008, but could be written now with no amendment. Strong echoes of Iraq... "the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce."

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So what's the plan for Iran? Apparently there are about 70,000 soldiers in Afghanistan but there will be soon be something like 250,000 DoD outside contractors there, in line with the ideology of privatization in general and further removing "our troops" and mercenaries from oversight. A sane observer might note that the US can't pay for a war, but where there's a will, there's a way. We've overthrown Iran's government before. Our politicians watched the Green Revolution and salivated last year, and our publicly touted new military strategy relies on training the natives of the countries we need to control to quell unrest, a sort of delegation of war. Are these things connected?

I should also link Richard Estes on the planned reconfiguration of NATO. That sort of entry (and some of the comments to it) are the exact sort of thing I wish I could do here.

The New York Times is portraying old cold warrior Robert Gates as a military budget-cutting maverick today, fighting against Congressional corruption and the bloated defense corporations for the sake of the common American! He bravely fends off irate calls from the Capitol and K Street! F-22s have been cancelled, and threatening noises made about aircraft carriers and the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle. What's his game? It is true that an increasingly large proportion of US imperial murder is conducted via unmanned, sky-borne death machine. Maybe this is a practical move.

The NYT's concern with military cost-cutting extends to the health care of retirees: "Active-duty military and their families rightly do not pay for health care. But what retirees pay — $460 annually per family — has not risen in 15 years. Mr. Gates said that many retirees earn full-time salaries on top of their military retirement pay and could get coverage through their employer. We owe our fighting forces excellent care, but this is a time when everyone must share the burden." As we know, NYT editorialists are the type of people who like to share burdens.

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USAID has been paying to build the Apartheid road in Israel and the Occupied territories, despite US promises six years earlier not to.

Jonathan Cook says, with obvious irony, "The US agency’s involvement in building a segregated West Bank road infrastructure would run counter to Washington’s oft-stated goal, including as it launched 'proximity talks' last week, to establish a viable Palestinian state with territorial contiguity. "

Mr Khalilieh said the PA was being effectively bullied into conceding the road infrastructure wanted by Israel.

"What happens is that USAid presents a package deal of donations for infrastructure projects in the West Bank and the Palestinians are faced with a choice of take it or leave it. That way the PA is cornered into accepting roads it does not want."

He said some roads were also being approved because of a lack of oversight by the PA. An inter-ministerial committee to vet proposed roads to ensure they did not contribute to the Israeli plan had been inactive since 2006, he said, following the split between Fatah and Hamas in the Palestinian elections.

The Palestinian Authority is now scrambling to look like it's paying attention.

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"Tropical" diseases are apparently also common in poor (especially minority) communities in the US, and apparently could be cheaply dealt with: "Mass distributions could control or eliminate most neglected tropical diseases from the Caribbean at an estimated cost of $20 million per year for five years." The extent of the problem in the US is not fully known. Meanwhile, the war on AIDS is falling apart. Donors are focusing their money on cheaper diseases to treat.

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Japanese people are not generally thrilled with the American bases, which they may associate with approximately 200,000 accidents and crimes involving U.S. soldiers, in which 1,076 Japanese civilians have died since 1952. Okinawans are anxious to remove one of several bases, Futenma Air Force Base, from their island, which they associate with fatal car crashes and rapes, but prime minister Yukio Hatayama is having trouble living up to his promises to do so. 59% of Japanese voters say he should resign if he can't work it out. (If you want to see some real ugly Americans, look at the comments on that one.) The beginning of this interview with Chalmers Johnson has a little more background on the bases in Okinawa. "After research, you discover that the rate of sexually violent crimes committed by our troops in Okinawa leading to court-martial is two per month!"