The Forbidden Library

I seriously detest book-banners. No, really. I seriously detest people who think a book should be banned because it runs counter to their viewpoint. Forcing one's ideas upon others and denying them the chance to form their own opinions, in my mind, is a crime of the highest magnitude. (And my stance on book burners would probably frighten most people... so let's not go there...)

For example: The DaVinci Code. It's a novel. It's a story. And yet, because it expresses some elements that runs counter to the world's predominant religion, many people are up in arms against the book.

I read a book review on it that wasn't really a "review" per se, but a four page long diatribe on how the elements of this work of fiction were... well... Untrue.

To which I would like to respond with a big ole Duh.

It's a book. It's a story. I personally think it's a good one, although I prefer the first book, Angels & Demons, to The DaVinci Code.

Don't even get me started on Harry Potter. I don't read them, but the Pope himself is condemning them as a corrupting influence. I would think the leader of the world's Catholics would have better things to do.

Moving along, my friend Nicole pointed out this website: The Forbidden Library. It contains a list of books that have been banned over the years. Some bans are old or foreign, but many were right here, recently, in the United States, by school and public libraries.

A selection:

George Orwell's 1984: One of the more insulting selections on this list, 1984 was challenged in 1981 in Jackson County, Florida, for being pro-communist... which it isn't. It's a book about the dangers of too much government influence. Of course, Big Brother would disapprove this book being read by the public at large!

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl: an important first hand book on the Holocaust was challenged in Wise County, Virginia in 1982 and by the Alabama State Textbook Committee in 1983. Too negative? A book concerning the Holocaust? Really? You think?!

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee was removed from the library in Wild Rose, Wisconsin in 1974 for being "slanted." Is that what they’re calling our past slaughters of Native Americans? "Slanted?" How novel.

In 1995, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales was removed from a senior literature course at Eureka High School in Eureka, Illinois. A CLASSIC literature text was removed from a LITERATURE course... Just… no comment…

In 1987, the science textbook Earth Science was challenged by the Plymouth-Canton school system in Canton, Michigan for "teaching Evolution exclusively", avoiding "any mention of Creationism", and "underminds {sic} the parental guidance and teaching the children receives at home and from the pulpit." Don't even get me started on this one.

Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 was heavily censored by the Venando Middle School in Irvine, California in 1992. How ironic... A book about censorship being censored...

And I'm not even that far into it, nor have I been using every example... Also on this list are Steinbeck, Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde, C.S. Lewis, and Roald Dahl. Shakespeare appears on this list more than once.

And for God's sake: Where's Waldo was challenged in 1989 by the public libraries of Saginaw, Michigan because there was a tiny drawing of a woman sunbathing without a top.

Censorship, especially at public libraries, is never a good thing.

Rock on.

"Censorship reflects a society's lack of confidence in itself. It is the hallmark of an authoritarian regime..."
-- Justice Potter Stewart, dissenting Ginzberg v. United States, 383 U.S. 463 (1966)

Morning Zombie

So I decided to take an after dinner nap, and ended up sleeping for four hours. My monday night just sorta vanished.

My sleep patterns haven't been "normal" since high school. This probably isn't healthy.

Insomnia sucks. It makes me very zombie-like in the morning. (Except I eat cereal instead of brains.) Zombies aren't cool.

So Tired...

"T'was a really damn long weekend, and all through the house...
Not a creature was stirring... Especially not me."


I got nuthin'. Go read a random page on Wikipedia It'll expand your horizons.

(Yes, the link will literally send you to a random page. Wikipedia is awesome like that. Just so you don't think I linked you to "Booger" or whereever you end up...)

Anyway, have fun with the Wiki... Me? I'm going to bed.

No Change Please, My Brain Can't Handle It

Read over this. It concerns the fact that the human brain sometimes refuses to believe what it sees, and how often we simply won't accept something in front of our eyes because it "shouldn't be there."

Most people like the gorilla example better, but I'm a bit fonder of the "door" example. A person would stop a college student (standing across a street, I hope...) and ask for directions:

In one experiment, people who were walking across a college campus were asked by a stranger for directions. During the resulting chat, two men carrying a wooden door passed between the stranger and the subjects. After the door went by, the subjects were asked if they had noticed anything change.

Half of those tested failed to notice that, as the door passed by, the stranger had been substituted with a man who was of different height, of different build and who sounded different. He was also wearing different clothes.

Despite the fact that the subjects had talked to the stranger for 10-15 seconds before the swap, half of them did not detect that, after the passing of the door, they had ended up speaking to a different person. This phenomenon, called change blindness, highlights how we see much less than we think we do.

I find that utterly facinating...

Ah well, rock on.

Stop Asking Me to Fix Your Computer!!!

Okay. So almost two years ago, I taught computer courses for about three months. So far so good.

Today, I got an e-mail from a former student saying, in a nutshell: "Hi! How are you? Find a job yet? My computer is broke. I deleted the printer and my digital camera software says there is a bad file. Can you fix it?"

I resisted temptation to write "Hi! Fine! Yep! No way!"

But I was kind enough to, from the really simplistic explanations ("Delete" a printer, eh?), give a hopefully functional rundown of the repairs she needed to perform.

Short of my standard fee, I'm not making a housecall.

So let me put it like this, for all the people who know a computer geek and only contact him when your computer is broke:

Uncool.

#1) Computer geeks are people too. They don't appreciate that kind of thing. At least be kind enough to only bug computer geeks you personally know. Not talking to you for two years and then getting asked to help fix a computer isn't nifty.

#2) Don't be too impatient or harsh. We do our best, but are oftentimes busy. Especially don't be impatient if we're fixing it for free; that's just mean.

#3) And if nothing else, if the geek goes out of his way to help you (and they likely will), offer some compensation. A couple of bucks is never unwelcome. I'm not asking to give him a month's worth of pay or your firstborn child; but is a few dollars (or some baked goods, if you're a good cook! :) ) really too much to ask?

But I'm off to bed. Rock on. And BE NICE to the GEEKS.

Biofuels: An End to OPEC!

Now this is what I'm talkin' 'bout!

Biodiesel and Ethanol! Fuels made from vegetables! These, my good friends, are the instrument of OPEC's demise... well, if we could get the politicks to stop pandering to those oily bastards, anyway.

We have the technology. We have the need. We still have the time and money to invest before we're all fucked over by the Oil Crash...

Now all we need to do is convince the 'Ticks and the Lemmings that believe them that their greed for oil money is against their long term interests as well...

Oh boy, is that going to take some doing...

Political Compass

Over at Cloudstrider, they're on a bit of a Quiz-Kick. So I offered up the Political Compass.

For those unfamiliar with it, the Political Compass adds an "Up Down" twist to the "Left-Right" scenario. While "Left" still denotes "Liberal" and "Right" still denotes "Conservative," it's more of an economic view. "Up" is Authoritarian, while "Down" is Libertarian. 10's are the limits of the scale in all points. My compass is -4.25, -4.21 (4.25 into the Left, and 4.21 into the Libertarian). So according to their celebrity graphs, I'm somewhere between Ghandi and the Dalai Lama. :)

It is interesting to note that I originally took this about a year and a half ago, and there has been a distinct shift in my views further left and down, by about 1 1/2 points each... hmm...

Just remember to try not to mold your answers by what you think you are, but just go with your gut. ;D Have fun.

Busy, busy, busy...

Ever have a weekend so busy you didn't have time to think? I did. It was busy. I don't like busy weekends, I like relaxing weekends.

Ah well, I reckon it was cool. I'll try to continue my moral outrage at American politics another time. :)

Ouch

Know what hurts? Split teeth.

It's Not News, Dammit! Part Deux

Okay everyone! Major announcement here!

Sean "P. Diddy" Combs figured the "P." was getting between him and his fans, so from now on you can just call him "Diddy!"

ARGH!

Why the hell is this NEWS?!

Did this really rate a spot on The Today Show?

Or a CNN Headline?!

GIVE ME A BREAK!

Combs has changed his moniker so much that I don't see how him changing it again can hold any fascination with people! And furthermore (to paraphrase Jon Stewart here), it is not the "P." coming between mister "Diddy" and his fans. That would be the fact he is an obnoxious celebrity with several bodyguards.

.XXXcapades

...A poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

-Shakespeare's MacBeth, Act V, Scene V


Today, after a few years and likely millions of dollars studying the situation, ICANN was about to approve a new Top-Level Domain (TLD) for adult websites: the ".xxx" suffix.

Now, I supported this measure. It warranted a greater level of control over a certain sector of the Internet that many find objectionable. While many pornography websites would not be using the .xxx, preferring to keep their .com; it did make it somewhat simpler: Block .xxx sites, and you're sure to block at least some pornography. It wasn't a cure all, but it was a step.

Of course, at the very last moment, suddenly people started to get up in arms. A virtual red-light district? A space exclusively for pornography? Heavens, no!

So, the governments of several countries, including my own beloved United States, plus at least one Christian group wasted a whole lot of people's time and money (and by people, i mean taxpayers), giving them a political circus and forcing a one month stop on ICANN's autonomy.

And to this, let me say "ARRRGH!!!"

Thank you, governments of United States, France, and Brazil! Thank you, Family Research Council! Thank you all! You have scored an utterly useless coup against pornography! Absolutely nothing will change in the online adult industry thanks to your heroic efforts! Plus, you've undermined the autonomy of ICANN, censoring the Internet and basically ruining the arguments I put forth to keep the Top Level Domains in the hands of the US and out of the international politics of the UN. Bravo! BRA-VO!


So let me see if I can boil this down enough for you folks as to why this was a bad idea:

1. The Internet will always have pornography. You may fear "legitimizing" it, but the truth is it's not going anywhere.
2. A virtual "Red-Light" district, while not a cure all, would have been helpful for programs that block adult content.
3. A .xxx domain name would have generated revenue for ICANN's coffers
4. By getting yourselves in a political tizzy and forcing ICANN to stand down, you've harmed the arguments for keeping the TLD's in US hands.
5. You wasted taxpayer time and money for a result that will ultimately have NO effect.

SO: Wasted time and money, destroyed potential revenue, no effect on porn, harmed Internet and ICANN freedom, harmed reasoning for keeping TLD's in US hands...

Wow, nice job. I'm off to bang my head off a wall!

Rock on, kids.

It's Not News, Dammit!

Been a long, crazy day. Just nuts. Plus I have a hole in one of my molars the size of the Grand Canyon and it hurts like fucking hell; it'll be at least a week before a Dentist gets around to seeing me. :(

Sucks.

To add some frustration to my toothy agony, I went to CNN and saw this as a front page headline:

Demi Moore: Ashton Kutcher is soul mate.

GAAAAAH!!!

That is not news, that is not news, that is NOT NEWS!!! It does not belong on the front page of CNN! It does not belong anywhere near a headline! If it is even bothered to be reported, it belongs buried in the Entertainment Section.

And therein lies the problem. The "Entertainment Section." The Lemmings need to know who's sleeping with whom, don't they? Else their little lives wouldn't be complete...

Bah. It's pitiful. It is NOT news, it is not helpful, and it is FAR from having any importance whatsoever!

I'm going to go swill some whiskey to numb my perforated molar now. You have fun with your entertainment.

Dweeb

Being the local computer dweeb is a blast. No, not really.

Basically, even the technologically inclined people tend to bug you. I don't usually mind, unless it takes a long time.

It gets fun, because the people who aren't technologically adept tend to make self-diagnoses of their computers. So I usually end up spending a lot of time confirming their diagnosis is incorrect, and then having to go back and figure it out.

And yes, solving another person's problem is why today's post is shoddy and irrelevant. :-P Have fun, folks.

Four Amendments and a Funeral

My friend Joe from over at Cloudstrider pointed out this story in Rolling Stone. It's an interesting look at the childish jackasses that run our country.

I recommend it, if you can handle a little unpleasant truth.

Runaway Bride and a Stupid Media

I can't believe they're still reporting on this woman.

I bother looking at the TV for the first time in a week, and I see that idiot "Runaway Bride" Jennifer Wilbanks.

They're reporting on her community service because, you know, apparently someone mowing a lawn is news.

This pointless reporting of stories about nonentities has never ceased to confuse me. It's not even a "Human Interest" story. The woman is not interesting. She's just a dumb rich woman who got cold feet and bolted on her wedding. That is the beginning, middle, and end of that story.

SHE. IS. NOT. NEWS.

Not even by the definition of the word "News." It is not "New" when you report on something constantly. That is called "Beating a dead horse."

It's time to give it up already, Mainstream Media people! Hey, I got an idea! How about you do your fucking job and report on the government? Believe it or not, that is WHY you have Freedom of the Press to begin with: to educate the public on the democratic processes and shine light where it needs to be shined. Not so you can chase around a woman with bad marital judgment.

Of course, you chase her around to avoid doing your real jobs, because most people in the "Mainstream Media" are just a bunch of corporate-political reprobates these days anyway.

Rubbish!

In light of recent court decisions saying Portland police were not violating the Fourth Amendment by swiping people's trash, the Willamette Week newspaper did something rather novel:

Since trash apparently became public property once it hit the curb, the intrepid reporters swiped the garbage of the Mayor, Police Chief, and a local District Attorney.

In the entertaining fiasco that resulted, only the DA seemed to manage a sense of humor about the situation.

Priceless, man. Priceless.

The Tale of the Ponderosa Princes

I've been reading about these guys for several years. The Ponderosa Princes of northern Victoria in Australia makes for an interesting story.

Long story short, back in 1994 Virgilio "Big Joe" Rigoli, a fruit farmer, got cheesed at the Australian government for bulldozing some of his orchards. So, he informed the government he was seceding from Australia! He formed the Principality of Ponderosa, put up a fence and moat around his 60 acre farm, and it stayed that way ever since.

Well, the story came to an end a couple of weeks back when the Aussie stormtroopers took the Rigolis into custody. Big Joe has been tossed in jail for thirty five months, and his sons for two years and twenty months respectively. They topped it off with a $25,000 fine.

Now, I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did. But I empathize with the self-styled "Princes." Who wouldn't? When you have what amounts to the following conversation with the government that supposedly represents you:

Government: You have to bulldoze your fruit trees.
Big Joe: But I don't want to bulldoze my fruit trees...
Government: Too God damn bad. We'll do it if you won't, because we say those trees need squished!

I mean, seriously...

Like all attempts to leave a modern nation, this one fell flat. Now, I don't support seceding from nations, but it is an interesting thing to think about: When governments become heavy-handed, what avenues are left for citizens?

Alas, the valid choices are shrinking, so some desperate (or deluded) individuals may go as far as secession. (It never works, though.)

For a funnier example of secession, read about the Conch Republic of the Florida Keys. Now that's good stuff. :)

Documentry Review: "Orwell Rolls in His Grave"

If you've read my blog further than my random ramblings and talking about attractive girls licking their handheld video game systems, you will know that I am a very political guy with a profound distrust in the Government, corporations, and media.

Of course, the reason I have a distrust in those three is because, in reality, they're all the same. Corporations own the media, and both influence politics through money and services, which in turn aid or hinder the other two with laws and regulations.

Now, there are tons and tons of documentaries on this. Most of them are crap, quite frankly.

"Orwell Rolls in His Grave" is not one of the crappy ones. This documentary on the corruption of the mainstream media in the United States and abroad is a well made, entertaining, and informative documentary. Quite frankly, it is so informative it is chilling. It is quite dense in terms of content, and I may have to watch it again one or two more times before everything sinks in because it was a lot to come to grips with. And that's coming from me... I'm afraid others might have aneurisms trying to absorb it all.

I really don't know how to put it, but I'll sum it up:

Everything you see via the mainstream media is politicized. It is approved, spun, and created by businessmen and politicians who want to control what you see, hear, and if they can manage, think. This is a terrifying march toward the total information control of Orwell's 1984.

I really can't do much more with it. It kind of blew my mind.

Buy it. Watch it. Talk about it with others, and have them watch it too. This film will not be seen on the media stations which it criticizes, so this is the only way to get it around.

"Orwell Rolls in His Grave" is an important political documentary for all people who consider themselves citizens of a democracy to see.

CNN Covers the Power of Blogs in Politics

An interesting editorial in CNN.Com about weblogs and politics.

Fire Water: A Bit Literally.

This is just too cool. Fire from Water.

The Aqueon fireplace uses electrolosys to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen. It then burns the hydrogen, and adds the oxygen to the flame to give it brightness and color.

Way too cool, man.

An Excerpt from the Daily Show, with Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart has to be the single most honest newsman on the face of the earth. It also happens he is the funniest, which makes sense considering his show is on Comedy Central. It's odd that the same license that gives him the ability to crack jokes, also ends up making him the most informative!

An excerpt from a recent show:


Jon Stewart:

"Oh, Oil! Giver of power, corrupter of governments, non-sticker of surfaces... Must you taunt us with your slick, non-renewable goodness?

"Yes, energy is clearly an important topic with Americans. That's why, before going on recess, Congress broke a 4-year impasse by approving a massive energy bill. And while it did nothing to address our dependence on foreign oil... or fuel efficiency... or in any way simplify the strategic nature of our relationship with the Middle East, it does give oil and gas industries 500 million dollars for research and 2.7 billion dollars in tax breaks, even though a company like Exxon-Mobil made 7.6 billion dollars in pure profit just this last quarter... And by quarter I mean three months.

"Now, you might find the idea of the government using billions of taxpayer dollars to subsidize the oil companies as the antithesis of private, free-market capitalism. You are wrong..."

CLIP: Representative Joe Barton, R-Texas:

"This bill is based on the premise that we believe in private, free-market capitalism to develop the resources of this land in a cost-efficient manner."

Jon Stewart:

"Oh my God we have a winner! Congratulations, Representative Joe Barton, you have achieved a lie-to-word ratio of one-to-one!"

In my opinion: Stewart needs a primetime show, cross-broadcasted on one of the major broadcast networks, in the EXACT same format it’s in now. It would go a long way toward restoring my faith in the media, having someone so honest (And funny!) as a centerpiece of the news.

It’ll never happen though, which is why I remain a cynic.

UN or ICANN?

Today, I'll be brief.

The UN continues to declare that it wants control over the Internet and its governing body, ICANN. I continue to say "Bad Idea! BAD IDEA!"

The UN, like the US, was founded on noble ideas. However, even more so than the US, the UN has become a top-heavy bureaucracy. When a bureaucracy starts to perceive itself as more important than what it was created to serve, this is problematic. The UN is a prime example of this.

In addition, such a move would give an uncomfortable amount of control over our online free speech to UN Member-nations such as China, who routinely crack down on their own citizens and censor their national servers.

Although I tend not to put a lot of faith in my government: I put even less stock in the UN. The Internet is too valuable to hand over the reigns to someone just because they threaten to take their ball and go home!

We need to keep the Internet in the hands of American nonprofit organizations... Currently, it is the best path out of the avalible options.

Rock on, kids.

Need a Nap

I'm trying to get worked up and get outraged on something. Like CAFTA, or the oil crisis... or Something...

But I feel kind of warn worn out. It's hard to keep up always being outraged. Very tiring.

I think I'll take a nap. :P

Outrage will continue tomorrow.

Now With 50% More Hurricanes!

Oh, here's some good news.

A new study has noted that, since 1970 Hurricanes in both the Atlantic and Pacific have increased in size, power, and duration by about 50%; and that global warming probably has a lot to do with it.

Now, some researchers disagree (When do researchers NOT disagree with each other?), but it seems our activities cause global warming, and global warming is going to really fuck us over hard. So (since if A=B and B=C then A=C), we're fucking ourselves. Great news, right?

Personally, I'm still kind of in awe that many people still think global warming is a hoax... These are probably the same people that think we'll never run out of oil, and that we can continue our current way of life indefinitely.

Ah well. Too late for me to really get into that.

Rock on, kids.