Category: Monkwire

Stolen Afghan Artifacts on Display in Kabul

~ Michael A. Innes ~ Leave a comment

This is good news, I think:

KABUL, Afghanistan — On most days, the news from Afghanistan involves something exploding. Which is why Tuesday was such a surprise: instead of bombings, it brought the unveiling of stolen treasures, some as old as the Bronze Age.

The National Museum was celebrating the return of about 2,000 artifacts that had been smuggled into Britain over the years of war in Afghanistan. British authorities confiscated the smuggled items and, after several years spent figuring out where the artifacts had come from, sent them back to Afghanistan in February.

The pieces were on public display for the first time on Tuesday.

Read the rest here.

Dreaming of Electric Sheep

~ Michael A. Innes ~ Leave a comment

Fascinating. But how would this contend with the need to sift internally-generated and memory-based images from bona fide or current visual captures of the world around us? This would create potential new complications, I think, for anyone using visualization as a training aid, for example, and implies some tricky possibilities for both lie-detection technology and how to defeat it.  Next-gen would have to include machine readable memory time-stamps and GPS data… like some eidetic fusion of augmented reality and dream analysis.

H/t Zen.

O’Hanlon Elaborates on McChrystal

~ Michael A. Innes ~ Leave a comment

I took a swipe at Michael O’Hanlon last Friday on the AfPak Channel, as did a few others elsewhere, for his cursory comments on communication between President Omaba and General Stanley McChrystal. O’Hanlon elaborates in today’s WaPo. Go read.

NATO & Critical Infrastructure Protection – Tech Demo

~ Michael A. Innes ~ Leave a comment

I (and a lot of other people) helped define some of the margins of and requirements for this, once upon a time. 

NATO Sponsors Critical Infrastructure Protection Technology Demonstration

From 5-15 October, “BELCOAST 09” is marking the fifth anniversary of NATO’s Defence Against Terrorism Programme of Work (DAT PoW), demonstrating technologies that can improve the protection of military installations in operations. The event will take place at Koksijde Air Base and other locations along the Belgian coast.

More than 160 companies will join military units and technology experts to show, test and explain technologies for defending against different threat scenarios, including mortar, rocket and improvised explosive devices; chemical and biological attacks; and threats to land-based, maritime and aviation infrastructure. Technologies for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, target acquisition and non-lethal capabilities will also be shown.   

In response to the terrorist bombings in Madrid in March 2004, NATO launched the DAT PoW to develop cutting-edge technology or adapt existing technology to protect troops and civilians from terrorist attacks and other asymmetric threats. It comprises 10 technology initiatives, to include countering improvised explosive devices, defending against mortar attack and developing non-lethal capabilities. One initiative, critical infrastructure protection, led by Belgium, focuses on technologies that protect important civilian and military infrastructure.

Media is invited to attend on Wednesday, 14 October, at Koksijde Air Base for video presentations of the demonstrations and keynote speeches by Deputy Supreme Allied Command Europe, General Sir John McColl, and the Chairman of the NATO Research and Technology Board, Dr Robert S. Walker.

Media registration by 8 October is compulsory. The programme is available and registration can be done online on the website of the Belgian Ministry of Defence in French and in Dutch.

More information on this event can be found at: http://www.belcoast09.org/.