Up in the Clouds

The recent spate of celebrity hacking scandals shows the problem with "cloud based computing." Cloud computing, " sharing of resources to achieve coherence " is supposedly the big new thing in computing. What actually is happening is that big corporate interests, also known as the Enemies of Humanity, are forcing this on computer users. It's like a travel agency charging top dollar for a private suite, and then sticks you in a dorm where you have to share a bathroom with 50 other people. It's odd that techie libertarians who are so paranoid about government interference, are silent when corporate interests invade people's privacy.

Watching Ken Burns "The Roosevelts"

Last week PBS aired Ken Burns series "The Roosevelts" which was a revelation even to those who are knowledgeable about American History. It shows how the careers of Theodore, Franklin, and Eleanor Roosevelt were entwined with Progressivism, which a century ago was a bipartisan movement with adherents in both the Republican and Democratic Parties. The fortunes of the family were affected with the twists and turns of American politics in the early 20th century and the demise of Progressive Republicans after 1920. The Roosevelts were all complex and flawed people, to be sure, but overall they changed our lives for the better. The point is that history isn't made by "heroes" it is made by people. We must take charge of the situation ourselves and not keep waiting for someone to "make it right."

As Eleanor Roosevelt put it "You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”

From Hero to Zero

The conviction of Oscar Pitorius for the murder of his lover Reva Steenkamp is seeing as a turning point in public awareness for the problem of relationship violence. Of course the problem of domestic violence is often interconnected with the problem of gun violence, especially in countries with a permissive attitude toward gun ownership(like the US and South Africa.) Just a few months ago Ronald Lee Haskell killed his four children, his sister in law, and her husband. That shows the mentality of certain men, who are not only violent but anti-social and inhuman. We can see that in the gun nuts who say "Your dead kids don't come before my right to own guns." Considering that those kind of maniacs will probably kill even their own children, we can see how dangerous those kinds of people can be.

Time to Dump Gump

This is the twentieth anniversary of "Forrest Gump" and it's being treated like some kind of cinematic event. Personally I think "Gump" is one of the most detestable movies ever made. On the surface it's basically an excuse for the Great Baby Boomer Sell-Out; after that generation gave up on the dreams of "Changing the World" the only goals they had left were to make a pile of money and marry their High School crushes. But Gump had another purpose the slogan of "Stupid is as Stupid does" was a crucial point in the cultural dumbing down of America. How we went from "Stupidity is funny" to "stupidity is adorable" was largely due to what may be called "Gumpism." The Presidency of George W. Bush was based on him pretending to be Gump. The whole charade was a clever trick by the Big Media to pretend to love the ignorance and stupidity of the most backwards elements in the country (whom they actually despise, of course) while actually maintaining their sense of superiority. Now the same media is becoming infatuated Rick "shit for brains" Perry. Perry would make a worse President than GWB, but the only way that any President could be worse would be by destroying the country.

Maybe it's time that we remember to think with our brains.