As machine intelligence rises, what human skills will become more valuable ?
▻http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/04/opinion/brooks-what-machines-cant-do.html
As machine intelligence rises, what human skills will become more valuable ?
▻http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/04/opinion/brooks-what-machines-cant-do.html
Karzai Arranged Secret Contacts With the Taliban
▻http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/04/world/asia/karzai-has-held-secret-contacts-with-the-taliban.html?hp&_r=0
KABUL, #Afghanistan — President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan has been engaged in secret contacts with the Taliban about reaching a peace agreement without the involvement of his American and Western allies, further corroding already strained relations with the United States.
The secret contacts appear to help explain a string of actions by Mr. Karzai that seem intended to antagonize his American backers, Western and Afghan officials said. In recent weeks, Mr. Karzai has continued to refuse to sign a long-term security agreement with Washington that he negotiated (...).
Secret Taliban Talks May Save Afghanistan
▻http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-04/secret-taliban-talks-may-save-afghanistan.html
The Barack Obama administration is shocked — shocked! — that Afghan President Hamid Karzai was secretly negotiating with the Taliban. The previously undisclosed negotiations certainly explain what White House adviser John Podesta recently called Karzai’s “erratic” behavior in refusing to negotiate an agreement to keep U.S. forces in the country after 2014.
But what, exactly, is so terrible about Karzai negotiating separately with the same Taliban that the U.S. has repeatedly tried and failed to engage? In fact, although the Taliban are very likely playing the outgoing president, he is exactly the person who should be trying to negotiate an entrance to Afghan politics for the Taliban that would not involve mass killings of people who sided with the U.S. No doubt Karzai is trying to save his own skin. But there is at least a chance he could save the lives of many other Afghans, too.