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28FebBill Gates wants to know

There is a question on LinkedIn by Bill Gates.

How can we do more to encourage young people to pursue careers in science and technology?

An excellent question. I decided to answer and so I did, but once I submitted it, I decided I wanted to add more to the answer, so i deleted it and once I was done editing, I tried to submit it again. Unfortunately, LinkedIn didn’t notice that I had deleted by previous answer and told me I couldn’t answer the same question twice. This being the case, I’m going to blog my answer here.

The continual shift and evolution of the collective mindset and public memes will inevitably reach a phase where careers and lives dedicated to science and technology are not only attractive pursuits for young individuals but are also universally admired and appreciated as the gears of progress in the machinery of human existence and are respected as such.

One traditional field that has already settled its distinguished position is medicine. A career in this field is often encouraged (or at least mentioned as a suggestion) by parents. Key in this advice is not only the monetary considerations of the parent for the child’s future, but a career in medicine is universally viewed as being respectable, noble and beneficial. Simplifying this anthropologically; being the (parent of) the doctor in your tribe has obvious benefits.

The speed at which our culture and the ideas in it evolve is dynamic and manipulable. In order to popularize careers in science and technology, these avenues of opportunity must be presented as beneficial, respectable and attractive in our collective consciousness. This can be done through popular media (sitcoms, TV ads, movies) on school campuses but is also influenced by decisions made by governments and the language used by our political leaders.

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17NovPolice State comes to campus

Written by Felicia Williams

Lawyer: U.S. student hit by stun gun thought officer was racial profiling

LOS ANGELES: A video of a UCLA officer using a Taser on a student was uploaded to YouTube yesterday. This is the third videotape of a Los Angeles police incident that involves “excessive force” to surface in the past week.

Technology is watching and spreading the news. With video cameras being built into cell phones and still cameras, a new surge in citizen journalism continues to gain momentum. Once a novelty feature, cell phone video is quickly becoming a valuable tool for capturing political inequities. This week, LA police officers thrice became the subjects of this guerilla video-journalism, which has exposed their brutality in situations portrayed as seemingly unprovoked.

When Mostafa Tabatabainejad, 23, refused to provide his ID to the community service officer, he was asked to leave. Refusing to comply with the random ID check, Tabatabainejad was asked to leave “multiple times” before the campus police were called in.

Despite the UCLA police report that said “the officers attempted to escort him out, he went limp and continued to refuse to cooperate with officers or leave the building,” witnesses defend their fellow student and argue there was no resistance. And when campus police arrived, Tabatabainejad had begun to “walk toward the door with his backpack”.

This video, shot from a student’s camera phone, shows part of the Tabatabainejad’s struggle and has clear audio of the student yelling, “Here’s your Patriot Act, here’s your fucking abuse of power,” while he struggled with the officers.

“It was beyond grotesque,” said a witness who was quoted in the LA Times. “By the end they took him over the stairs, lifted him up and Tasered him on his rear end. It seemed like it was inappropriately placed. The Tasering was so unnecessary and they just kept doing it.”

While this video is disturbing, it can’t be denied that captures such as this are an exciting reverse-Orwellian act of citizen’s response. Upholders of the Second Amendment insist that we keep guns to protect ourselves from our government, maybe now all we need is a cell phone.

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20OctUS military Policing of Space for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of America

MySpace!

US President George “Nucular” Bush has signed a document stating the US has a right to block nations it deems “evil” and “rogue” or “not willing to allow us to exploit their resources” from going to space.

The document (declassified content of which can be viewed here^pdf) indicates future plans of future US administrations to blackmail and threaten other nations using access from and weapons stationed in space.

Quote:

In this new century, those who effectively utilize space will enjoy added prosperity and security and will hold a substantial advantage over those who do not. Freedom of action in space is as
important to the United States as air power and sea power. In order to increase knowledge, discovery, economic prosperity, and to enhance the national security, the United States must have robust, effective, and efficient space capabilities.

It goes on to state:

The fundamental goals of this policy are to:

Strengthen the nation’s space leadership and ensure that space capabilities are available in time to further U.S. national security, homeland security, and foreign policy objectives;

Enable unhindered U.S. operations in and through space to defend our interests there;

Implement and sustain an innovative human and robotic exploration program with the objective of extending human presence across the solar system;

Increase the benefits of civil exploration, scientific discovery, and environmental activities;

Enable a dynamic, globally competitive domestic commercial space sector in order to promote innovation, strengthen U.S. leadership, and protect national, homeland, and economic security;

Enable a robust science and technology base supporting national security, homeland security, and civil space activities; and

Encourage international cooperation with foreign nations and/or consortia on space activities that are of mutual benefit and that further the peaceful exploration and use of space, as well as to advance national security, homeland security, and foreign policy objectives.

US stakes claim on space

By Lucy Sherriff

The US has claimed “dibs” on the Universe with its new space policy. The document, signed by President Bush, was released on a Friday, just before a long weekend in the States. This, in itself has caused a bit of a stir, but not more so than the tone and content of the document.

In it, the US government allocates itself rights to access and use space without anyone else getting in its way. It also sets security at the heart of the space agenda, frequently citing its right to use space as part of its national defence.

Significantly, however, it does not commit to restrict, or even to join talks about restricting the development of space-based weapons. This is despite a UN vote last year in which 160 nations voted in favor of such talks.

The first bullet point outlining the principles of the programme sets the tone for the rest of the document:

“The United States is committed to the exploration and use of outer space by all nations for peaceful purposes, and for the benefit of all humanity. Consistent with this principle, ‘peaceful purposes’ allow US defence and intelligence-related activities in pursuit of national interests.”

In other words: “Everyone has to use space peacefully, except us. We can do what we like, cos we were here first(*). And anyway, if you try to stop us, it won’t stay peaceful for long, which would spoil the first part of our principle.”

The document then warms to its military theme. The first fundamental goal of the programme is not given as being to explore the solar system or better understand the Universe, but:

“To strengthen the nation’s space leadership and ensure that space capabilities are available in time to further US national security, homeland security, and foreign policy objectives.”

In keeping with this goal, the policy also confirms the Bush administration’s abandonment of robotic space exploration of the solar system, in favour of manned exploration of the moon, and Mars. This approach is much more glamorous and exciting for Joe Public, true, but critics argue quite convincingly that it is much more expensive and scientifically less valuable.

International cooperation is not overlooked, but again the emphasis is on security. The US, the document says, might be happy to cooperate internationally on “providing space surveillance information consistent with security requirements and US national security and foreign policy interests”.

Oh and “space exploration” too. Phew.

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21SepVote all you want

Since politicians are too busy filling the pockets of the energy, industry and pharmaceutical companies that feed and lobby their parties and companies, influential entrepreneurs are stepping up to change the world for the better. Joining the likes of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffet who give billions to good causes to Richard Branson is stepping up to the moral calling that all of us should feel.

Sir Richard Branson is to invest $3bn (£1.6bn) in fighting global warming.

The Virgin boss said he would commit all profits from his travel firms, such as airline Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Trains, over the next 10 years.

http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5368194.stm

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