Category: Ethics

Asimov did it first.

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This story about South Korea draws up code of ethics for robots is interesting.

Given that they already have autonomous robots patrolling the DMZ, and they are looking at the robotic equivalent of watch dogs, this makes sense.

The author however, is wrong when he states, “South Korea is writing a code of ethics for robots for the first time in the world as part of efforts to lift the robot industry.“

Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics, the seminal work in this area, is well over 50 years old.

Denmark evacuates Iraqi employees and their relatives – International Herald Tribune

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I read this story about Denmark evacuating Iraqi employees and their relatives in the IHT.

If the US behaves in a historically consistent matter, we will leave the tens of thousands of translators and other Iraqis hanging out to dry, where many will die, and more will become stateless refugees.

This is distressing for both ethical reasons, these people have risked their lives for us, and for pragmatic reasons, each time we do this, it makes it more difficult to recruit members of the indigenous population to help us.

The fact that we do not allow anyone who has already risked life and limb to help us entry into the US is largely an artifact of bigotry, and to be fair, the US military is far worse about this than the State Deartment, which is already making noises about getting its employees into the US.

Gordon Brown apologises for Tony Blair

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Really, this is about separating himself from Tony Blair, who is about to do the only thing that could possibly make him less popular in Britain, he is becoming a Catholic.

Brown is calling Blair a lying sack of $#@!.

Brown apologises for Iraq intelligence ‘mistakes’

Britain’s next prime minister Gordon Brown apologised for mistakes in intelligence made in the run-up to the Iraq war in a BBC television interview Friday.

Brown has stressed that he will push for a new emphasis in Iraq when he takes over from current premier Tony Blair on Wednesday but went further than before in his latest comments.

“We have apologised, and I repeat that, for the mistakes that were made in intelligence,” he said.

“I think we’ve got to be honest about it that mistakes were made at the point of reconstruction after Saddam Hussein fell … mistakes made by all of us in the reconstruction progress,” he said.

Brown also said that there would be clearer boundaries between intelligence and politics when he was in office.

“I’m setting in place what I think are far more rigorous procedures so that the intelligence is seen to be different from, if you like, any decision by a politician,” he added.

“I want people to know that in future, they can be satisfied that, where public information is provided, it has gone through an authoritative process and it is free of political influence.“

emphasis mine

Made in America????

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Same thing with your cars. Toyotas have more US content than GM cars.

Feds Investigate Patch Flap
Thursday, June 21, 10:17 a.m.
By Jim Hamill

U.S. troops are wearing patches made overseas and the patch flap apparently started right here in the Poconos.

Federal prosecutors said Moritz Embroidery Works in Coolbaugh Township, near Mount Pocono, contracted with the U.S. military to make more than three million American flag patches, but prosecutors say that didn’t happen.

They’ve charged Brian Moritz with conspiracy to defraud the United States by sending some of the work overseas.

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