David Hillel Gelernter is a professor of computer science at Yale University. In the 1980s, he made seminal contributions to the field of parallel computation, specifically the tuple space coordination model, as embodied by the Linda programming system. Bill Joy attributes Linda as the inspiration for many elements of JavaSpaces and Jini.
In 1993, he was critically injured opening a mailbomb sent by Theodore Kaczynski, who at that time was an unidentified but violent opponent of technological progress, dubbed by the press as "the Unabomber." He recovered from his injuries, but sustained permanent damage to his right hand and eye;
He also happens to be one of my favorite op-ed commentators. In the July 25th Frontpagemag.com, he writes a piece on the current situation faced by Israel, its special relationship with America, why it’s so important, and the ambivalent attitude of liberal American Jews and their political brothers in the Democratic party. In the piece, he writes:
…The problem with the American Jewish left, from 1940 through 2006, is not malevolence but naiveté–naiveté so great, it is the next best thing to stupidity. Naiveté is an occupational hazard among all intellectuals. But American Jews at large respect their intellectuals as much as any group does, and more than most–and way too much for common sense.
-the origins of no two nations more resemble each other than Israel’s and America’s, both created by Europeans clutching Bibles, searching for freedom, prepared to fight for a room of their own. Both populated by human beings, a species not noted for perfection. Yet both strongholds of democracy, freedom, and tolerance nonetheless. Anyone who has decided that Israel is a mistake is likely to come around to the same view of the United States.
Click here to read the entire article- you’ll be better informed about what is most often a confusing situation at best. Living in the comfort of America, it’s hard to comprehend living with war- the real kind, with daily death and destruction…