the palestinian situation

i spent christmas break in palestine and in jerusalem (israel). (bethlehem, ramallah, jericho, and jerusalem) while there i witnessed the absurd suffering of the palestinians, and the absurd rule of the israeli government. on relating some simple stories to some friends back home (like: palestinians have to have different color license plates, and have to drive on different, unpaved, 5x as long roads to get from point a to b. they cannot visit jerusalem without a permit, and if they are also muslim (many palestinians are christian) they cannot visit jerusalem at all, and so on) my friends said they had never heard of these injustices towards the palestinians. they are in essence treated as second class people, denied many civil liberties, and are quite desperate for liberty and peace.

my question is: what do you know about the situation? and how did you learn about it?

i am curious if your experiences from: academia, the news media, or the internet has shaped your views on israel/palestine, and how?

from a peace rally in jerusalem
jewish women protesting the occupation in palestine

Sentience and Robots

So, over dinner last night Vince brought up a concept that he's planning to fill out into a concept album/EP. One which I fully support and will spend good chunks of time daydreaming about: Sentience in robots, and what that would sound like.

My post is brief because my question is thus: what are interesting nuances and themes Vince can use?

Such hits have included:

• At what point would robots be too similar to humans?


• Conscious "othering" of robots


• Anthropomorphizing robots


• What does switching on / shutting down feel like?


• How does a robot mature? Are there noticeable changes? And would the robot be aware of this?


• Given the sudden self-awareness of said robot, what kind of issues might it have?