"Today the tyrant rules not by club or fist, but, disguised as a market researcher, he shepherds his flocks in the ways of utility and comfort."
Marshall Mcluhan
One of the areas I have the most trouble with when I construct a project for my radio interests is the physical layout of the larger components. The big variable capacitors and switches and coils and the like. I usually look at how others have done this and sometimes use this as a guide. But I usually go with some current traditional method and am not always happy with the way it turns out. Oh it works OK but quite often it is larger than I want or not as elegant as I would like. This last time was no different.
I was discussing in chat the other night with a friend about congress and the Wall Street and how we could get real financial reform, among other things. One of the problems that I see with our current political mess is that the people on the left have a major communication problem.
We are seeing once aging what happens when the few elite at the top continue to repress and force those at the bottom to live lives of degradation and as virtual slaves. Their voices silenced. And how those at the top will go to any lengths to maintain this situation.
We - and by we I mean the Western world and most especially the USA - have a nasty habit of forgetting some of the past history that makes us uncomfortable. This is especially true when it comes to the Middle East. The current situation in Egypt can trace its roots back to just after WWII.
It has become fairly obvious right now that the people will not be satisfied until Mubarak is his entire government must abdicate. It is also pretty obvious to me as to where the world's governments (as opposed to the citizens) allegiance lies as well and it's not with the citizens.
This was going to be a blog about communication styles between the left and right and the common folk. But that will have to wait, I am afraid. With the protests in Tunisia and now Egypt it has become obvious to this blogger that our current methods of personal communication with cell phones and the Internet and social media will simply not cut the mustard when we need to get the messages out and among ourselves about what is happening in the streets, what we want and plan to do about it and what the world needs to know.
What would happen if you were put into a store that had everything you needed or wanted or could possibly use and were told just take what you need or want and the only thing you had to do was leave something of value there. Either something you made or grew or some service you can provide. No money or anything.
I am what one would call a liberal-libertarian. At least that's what the political compass says. I tend to be socially conservative and economically very left of center. I don't like the terms progressive or liberal since their means are too open to interpretation. I do favor more local control and implementation of various social and economic programs, and this piece by Sam Smith sums up my thoughts on this quite well. here are a few excerpts from it, with my thoughts as well.
A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent upon arriving. A good artist lets his intuition lead him wherever it wants. A good scientist has freed himself of concepts
I like to read what others are saying about events here. Other publications and sites from around the world. It gives one a better perspective or at least a different one. Here is something that has been put on the DW World site out of Germany. A review of some of the European Press.
The shooting of Democratic Representative Gabrielle Giffords has reignited a debate in the US over the dangers of extremist political rhetoric. The discussion is no less heated in the European press.
We constantly here from the government and the economic wizards how great it is for our economy to have growth. Not just ours, the the whole world as well. However we live on a finite planet. How then can we sustain growth forever ?
There is a lot of back and forth on the blogs these days about what should or should or be done about the economy, jobs, the financial industry and what not. Some pointing to the president others to congress but most to each other. The problem with all of this is that most of the arguments are based on a premise that assumes a few fundamental myths but ignores some basic facts.
The citizens of Mt. Shasta have developed an extraordinary ordinance, set to be voted on in the next special or general election, that would prohibit corporations such as Nestle and Coca-Cola from extracting water from the local aquifer. But this is only the beginning. The ordinance would also ban energy-giant PG&E, and any other corporation, from regional cloud seeding, a process that disrupts weather patterns through the use of toxic chemicals such as silver iodide.
