Robert Altman, one of the most adventurous and influential American directors of the late 20th century, a filmmaker whose iconoclastic career spanned more than half a century but whose stamp was felt most forcefully in one decade, the 1970s, died Monday in Los Angeles. He was 81.

So "Prairie Home" will be his last.

“The people who get into this business are fast-buck operators, carnival people, always have been,” Mr. Altman said in a 1993 interview. “They don’t try to make good movies now; they’re trying to make successful movies. The marketing people run it now. You don’t really see too many smart people running the studios, running the video companies. They’re all making big money, but they’re not looking for, they don’t have a vested interest in, the shelf life of a movie. There’s no overview. No one says, ‘Forty years from now, who’s going to want to see this?’ No visionaries.”

Robert Altman, Iconoclastic Director, Dies at 81

“This war is more about will and perception than firepower. We have concluded that, in that sense, we are not equipped to attack the enemy. We must attack the intangible part of the network if we are going to win.”

To win against terrorism DOD networks must be innovative

Highly anticipated!

The consecration of a fleeting, fugitive moment is one of Mr. Wong’s specialties. Perhaps more than any filmmaker since Alain Resnais, his great subject is time — or more specifically lost time. His rhapsodic movies, haunted by voice-over ruminations and swathed in lush regret, seem to transpire in the realm of memory. People and places are mourned even as they are captured on camera.

I hope Wong's collaboration with Darius Khondji is as fruitful as that with Christopher Doyle. But maybe that will have to wait; Khondji explains about the tight shooting schedule for "My Blueberry Nights":

“It’s not as perfect as his last two movies. There’s no time for perfection.”

Those last two were perfect, cinematographically, at least. Still, it looks like there will be some great shots of the American West.

The Master of Time: Wong Kar-wai in America

In an article in this week's Nature, "Safe handling of nanotechnology", a team from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars argues that "the pursuit of responsible nanotechnologies can be tackled through a series of grand challenges." (Full text is openly available) The editor summarizes thusly:

The spectre of possible harm — real or imagined — is threatening to slow the development of nanotechnology.

If they and their colleagues can rise to these challenges — which include development of new ways of measuring exposure to nanomaterials and assessing the health and environmental impact of that exposure — the true extent of any risks involved should become clear.

The Wilson Center covers itself with a press release:

Society is in danger of squandering the powerful potential of nanotechnology due to a lack of clear information about its risks.

"We are running out of time to ‘get it right.’"

These are the five challenges:

1. instruments to assess environmental exposure to nanomaterials

2. methods to evaluate the toxicity of nanomaterials

3. models for predicting the potential impact of new, engineered nanomaterials

4. ways of evaluating the impact of nanomaterials across their life cycle, and

5. strategic programs to enable risk-focused research

The lead author has a Q&A:

It's very clear that we are moving into a new era in many ways. It's very clear that conventional ways of doing things and thinking just aren't going to be up to the job of dealing with some of these new technologies and products.

They go on:

TR: Have you considered a Wikipedia for nanotechnology research?

AM: The Wikipedia idea is something that has been talked about. And I think that either that or something like that is a very exciting idea. Of course you've always got the issue of validating the information which is there. But certainly I think that's one of the innovative ways that we can look at this.

TR: Has anyone actually looked into establishing a sort of nanowiki?

AM: Not to my knowledge. But there are the beginnings of it.

On 10 November, the website of the Islamic Renewal Organization, a Saudi dissident group headed by Muhammad al-Mas'ari and based in the United Kingdom, posted several links to a new audio message issued by Shaykh Abu-Hamzah al-Muhajir, AKA Abu-Ayyub al-Masri, leader of Al-Qa'ida Organizations in Iraq.

The message recorded by "Al-Furqan Foundation for Media Production at the Ministry of Information of the Islamic State of Iraq" is entitled: "The command is for none but Allah." (Part of a Koranic verse)

The audiotape begins with the recitation of the following Koranic verses: ...

Laura Mansfield provides a translated transcript of the audio message. She also offers the audio message for download. Other download locations are offered here.

I wonder whether the wise of Romans realize that they have become slaves and mercenaries for Persia who fight unpaid.
...
Do you think that we sacrificed our blood to leave ... the people of the south as an easy target for the Jews of Esfahan?

I sat among a group of Iranian soldiers watching "Lebanon, My Love" ("Lobnan eshq-e man") in a movie theater in Shiraz. Of the two general types of Iranian action films -- killing Iraqis and killing Israelis -- it was the latter. People cheered as the Hezbollah members infiltrated into the southern Lebanon security zone and ambushed the Israelis. Every time a Zionist was killed, there would be loud cheers. When the "freedom fighters" approached an unsuspecting Israeli, those around me would shout "kill the Jew!" in anticipation.

Once I have camera, using my experience in Hollywoods, I producing some new moviefilms - 'Dirty Jew', 'Dirty Jew 2', 'Attack of the Jew Claw', 'Jew Plague', 'Jew Plague 2', 'Help, there is a Jew in my Kitchen' and 'Where is my money, I think it was the Jews that take it'. I hoping that Mel Gibsons will come and direct some of these film.

...
I announce the integration of all the formations that we have established, ... putting at your disposal and direct orders 12,000 fighters, who constitute the army of Al-Qa'ida. All of them have pledged an allegiance to die in the cause of God, as well as more than 10,000 others who are still not fully prepared materially. Their eyes are full of tears out of sadness that they are still unable to contribute.
...
Most of the people are like the herds which do not know why they have been created and what is their objective.
...
You should leniently call for the good and preach against evil especially since the infidel Ba'th Party had confused the people vis-a-vis their religion. The prophet, peace be upon him, said: "God likes leniency in everything." An Arab beduin urinated in his mosque and the people shouted at him not to do so. The prophet, may peace be upon him, said: Do not interrupt him. Then he asked for a bucket of water to be poured on the urine. The God's religion is leniency. You should not resort to extremism and exaggeration. The prophet, peace be upon him, said: "Anyone who argues with the religion will be defeated by the religion." Almighty God says: "He has chosen you, and has imposed no difficulties on you in religion; And Allah hath full power and control over His affairs; but most among mankind know it not." (Koranic verse)

Al-Muhajir Pledges Allegiance to Al-Baghdadi, Threatens US, Europe | Laura Mansfield

A 22:24 minute audio speech attributed to the Emir of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, and titled: “There is No Judgment, but that of Allah,” was issued by the Ministry of Information of the Islamic State of Iraq today, Friday, November 10, 2006. Within his message, Muhajir speaks in the regard of recent events, including the establishment of the Islamic State, American elections in which the Democratic Party gained power within Congress, and the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld as the U.S. Secretary of Defense. These events, he believes, are portents of the victory of the Mujahideen, but on this he does not dwell. Rather, he speaks at greater length to the Mujahideen, specifically calling for the first time to those in Ansar al-Sunnah, the Islamic Army in Iraq, and the Mujahideen Army for their unity with the Islamic State, and continuity of jihad until they grab hold of the White House.

Rita Katz offers the audio, but not to you:

The Arabic audio clip and transcript are provided to our Intel Service members.

An Audio Speech from Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, Emir of al-Qaeda in Iraq, “There is No Judgment, but that of Allah” – 11/10/2006

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The head of al Qaeda's Iraq operations yesterday ... praised US voters ...

It's worth noting that this statement is coming from al-Masri. We still have not heard from Zawahiri since the madrasa attack. The clock is ticking ...

In neighboring Iran, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also expressed satisfaction with the Democratic gains in the US vote, calling them a boon for Tehran.

"This defeat [the thumpin'] is actually an obvious victory for the Iranian nation."

A vote against Christian conservatives is a vote for militant Islam? Were you thinking about that when you decided to punish them for Brownie's ineptitude?

On Tuesday, you were mujahideen, and your Diebold was your Kalashnikov.

Al Qaeda gloats over US election

Arresting though the outdoors photos are, with their silent testimony to a catastrophe that swept through humble neighborhoods accustomed to being ignored, it is the wrecked, mildewed interiors that take our eye and quicken our anxiety. Would our own dwelling quarters look so pathetic, so obscenely reflective of intimate needs inadequately met, if they were similarly violated and exposed? The third photograph in the Tisch Galleries, 6328 North Miro Street, brings the viewer shockingly close to a four-poster bed sagging beneath a dark weight of dried and crackled mud; carved pineapples blandly stand watch at the head of the posts, a chunky cabinet of some sort has been tossed by the evaporated flood into a corner, and lace curtains admit daylight between yellow curtains that have bent their valence under a weight of water. 5417 Marigny Street displays a gruesomely stained and still-soggy-looking orange sofa holding a lamp, TV table, and gaudy throw pillows amid a surrounding clutter that includes a vacuum cleaner, a broom, a baseball cap, a TV set. On the mold-spotted wall a small sign distinctly promotes SOUTHERN COMFORT.

On Losing the House

Rumsfeld was never a neoconservative; he was an obstreperous contrarian, committed not to putting forward any particular philosophy but to aggressively challenging whatever ideas his bureaucratic opponents and critics put forward.

That's the spirit I always liked about Rumsfeld's Rules. Unfortunately, on Iraq he viewed the uniformed military as his opponents and critics. Things might have gone much differently if he had decided to challenge Wolfowitz and Cheney instead.

Understanding Gates