{"id":27071,"date":"2015-12-04T12:43:15","date_gmt":"2015-12-04T20:43:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jerrypournelle.com\/chaosmanor\/?p=27071"},"modified":"2015-12-05T00:35:52","modified_gmt":"2015-12-05T08:35:52","slug":"vanishing-titles-there-will-be-war-the-house-of-peace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jerrypournelle.com\/chaosmanor\/vanishing-titles-there-will-be-war-the-house-of-peace\/","title":{"rendered":"Vanishing Titles; There Will Be War; The House of Peace? Bring back that old continuity…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chaos Manor View, Friday, December 04, 2015<\/p>\n

\"bubbles\"<\/p> <\/p>\n

My LiveWriter lost its title. That is, the title block simply vanished, and I could not put a title on my posts. The only way was to post it untitled, then go to another machine where it was working, download recent post \u201cUntitled\u201d into Live Writer, add a title, and repost. I mucked about with it and got nowhere and when Alex was over here he did the same, with the same results.<\/p>\n

In frustration I asked Google Why does my title in LiveWriter vanish? I was instantly led to Chaos Manor Reviews, http:\/\/chaosmanorreviews.com\/windows-live-writer-almost-good-enough\/<\/a> , where Managing Editor had posted Eric\u2019s complete account of the problem and a workaround that I can use. If you use Live Writer it\u2019s must reading. I still haven\u2019t completely restored LiveWriter on Alien Artifact to the state it was in before the title vanished; I can see the title, or I can see what the post (without title) will look like by toggling the f11 key, and that\u2019s good enough, but it\u2019s really frustrating. It\u2019s possible to post to this site from Word, which is what I use to compose it in the first place,, but I never took the trouble to find out how, LiveWriter works, and works pretty well; but I sure wish Microsoft would do more to explain how to use it, particularly themes and formatting and what appears on the page.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, if you haven\u2019t been by Chaos Manor Reviews recently, it\u2019s well worth your time.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m almost through with story introductions to Volume Ten of There Will Be War; the first nine volumes were published from 1983 to 1992, and the series sort of ended when the Cold War did. Obviously a book of science fiction stories and essays will look farther into the future that the Cold War and the end of the Soviet Union, and many of the stories and essays in that first series hold up very well; but much the non-fiction, in particular, was much concerned with the future of war in the in Cold War times. Themes like deterrence and defense. Of course I have one essay in the original series that I am tempted to publish again, making only the change of replacing \u201cSoviet Union\u201d with \u201cIran\u201d; a lot of readers would never know unless they had read the first essays.<\/p>\n

The new volume has Benford, Niven, Flynn, and a Poul Anderson story of the far future that I read in 1953 and have never forgotten, as well as new authors, an essay by Martin Van Creveld, and an essay on the future structure of the US Fleet by my son Commander Phillip Pournelle. It should be out in eBook form before the end of the year, and printed copies available by Spring.<\/p>\n

Getting those intros and a nonfiction essay done has become critical, and has pretty well taken up most of my time in the last week or so. Apologies.<\/p>\n

\"bubbles\"<\/p> \n

There\u2019s little to add to the San Bernardino massacre information. It\u2019s clear that Syed Farook and his Saudi wife had planned some kind of jihad activity: nobody has a hobby of collecting weapon, ammunition, and IED\u2019s without some plan for their eventual use. Whether it was to be an attack on Syed\u2019s co-workers is more doubtful, since the attack seemed less well planned than the couple\u2019s tactical behavior would imply. They seem to have rehearsed tactics, but the actual assault seemed almost unplanned. On the other hand, it doesn\u2019t seem reasonable that they \u2013 and it\u2019s clear that it was \u201ctheir\u201d not just \u201chis\u201d attack \u2013 would make all these preparations then respond to a religious argument at the Christmas Party. Even if Syed were mortally offended and determined to be avenged in blood, would his wife, who was certainly a willing participant, want to be involved?<\/p>\n

The latest headlines I have are<\/p>\n

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San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook may have been radicalized by Pakistan-born wife Tashfeen Malik, who pledged loyalty to ISIS before killing spree<\/h3>\n

http:\/\/www.nydailynews.com\/news\/national\/syed-farook-wife-tashfeen-radicalized-report-article-1.2455213<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I have no idea of the reliability of the report. It is obvious they planned something; why this attack at this time is not obvious.<\/p>\n

Islam, we are told, is a religion of peace; but the Islamic tradition defines Islam itself as the House of Peace, and all those outside it are at war, and must either submit and pay tax or concert. It is legal to make truce with infidels, but one cannot make peace with them. How many modern Muslims believe that is not known, but it is pretty clear that The Caliphate \u2013 ISIS \u2013 does believe it. We do not know if the couple sought advice or orders in this situation. Perhaps that would explain their obvious planning of a larger jihad activity than they undertook.<\/p>\n

\"bubbles\"<\/p> \n

\n

Thorium reactor<\/p>\n

Dear Dr. Pournelle,<\/p>\n

I hope it turns out to be true that progress is being made towards cleaner, safer, nuclear energy.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.pocket-lint.com\/news\/129913-world-s-first-thorium-reactor-ready-to-be-built-for-cheaper-safer-nuclear-energy<\/a><\/p>\n

It goes without saying that, though “climate change” is a fraud, the need for more, clean, abundant energy is beyond any debate, and this might be part of the answer.<\/p>\n

Respectfully,<\/p>\n

Brian P.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Thorium is a rather more common element than Uranium, and has figured in science fiction stories since the Golden Age; there is so far as I know no practical working Thorium power reactor, and not a lot of research devoted to it. But I may well be behind the times.<\/p>\n

\"bubbles\"<\/p> \n

\n

Google\u2019s chief of self-driving cars downplays \u2018the trolley problem\u2019 (WP)<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/innovations\/wp\/2015\/12\/01\/googles-leader-on-self-driving-cars-downplays-the-trolley-problem\/<\/a><\/p>\n

As automakers and tech companies talk up self-driving vehicles and the chance to bring their benefits to the world, plenty of questions are being raised about the technology. One that\u2019s attracted much attention is what\u2019s called \u201cthe trolley problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

The issue is this \u2014 do you flip a switch and divert a trolley from killing two people, so that it instead kills only one person? In the case of cars, should your vehicle drive off a bridge to avoid hitting a Boy Scout troop, sacrificing your life to save a dozen? Should a self-driving car veer away from the pedestrians in a crosswalk with a baby stroller and instead hit a lone pedestrian on a sidewalk?<\/p>\n

Consumers might be hesitant to take a ride in a self-driving vehicle if there\u2019s a chance the software powering the car is programmed to put them at risk to save someone else. This has raised a lot of questions regarding the ethics of machines.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

There hasn\u2019t, apparently, been much thought about this, but as we increasingly give control to machines, there ought to be. What would one of Asimov\u2019s \u2018Laws of Robotics\u201d AI systems do?<\/p>\n

\"bubbles\"<\/p> \n

This today from the Gatestone Institute; an intriguing notion.  Gaza has at least as many natural resources as the islands that comprise Hong Kong, and though not as strategically located as Singapore as a trade station, Gaza is well located; but instead of development, most of the effort seems to have been devoted to futile efforts against Israel. Hong Kong became rich on far less to start with; as of course did Singapore. I suppose it is impolite to wonder why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Who Is Stealing Palestinian Land?<\/a><\/h3>\n

by Khaled Abu Toameh<\/b>  \u2022  December 4, 2015 at 5:00 am<\/p>\n