|
I thought I'd update anyone who was interested on my activities, of late. I've been working rather hard at wrapping up the final drafts of a book. Hopefully, by the end of the week, I'll be finished and it'll be off to the pub. Then it's the long wait until it finally makes it through the printing process.
The book is "Oblivion & Glory", and it's a 21st Century retreatment of the philosophy of Gustav Le Bon. If you've never read any of his work, I highly highly recommend 'The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind." It's available for free on Kindle, so you don't have an excuse. Modern works based on his philosophy have all been directed at denigrating a particular group or industry. I got tired of reading misrepresentations of his philosophy, and decided to update it without bias towards or against any particular creed or ideology (although I kept in his distaste for socialism). His work was written in 1895, so if you read it be ready for misanthropy and passive-agressive racism.
Why should you read it? Well, how about understanding the forces behind the rise of the Nazi party (who studied his work), Mussolini (who studied his work), Chairman Mao (who studied his work), FDR (who studied his work), Madison Avenue (who studied his work) or just about any successful politician (who most likely studied his work)? Yeah. It's that special. |
|
Is just about ready for a grand appearance. 1991 Jaguar XJ6 Sovereign Vanden Plas, with the 4.0L straight 6, picked up for $1100.00. Then another $1100 to replace the differential. Other than that, the interior is nearly mint, and the exterior has almost no cancer.
The radio was customized for XM at some point, so it is no longer connected to speakers. I would post a pic right now, but the ElJay app doesn't seem to support that. But there will be pics. Oh yes, there will be pics.
|
|
Yes, the obligatory 9/11 post. I know that many saw the occurence on that fateful day as a transformational moment, one which altered their lives and caused them to rethink their priorities. Some gathered in churches. Some hugged their children. Some cried, and some became determined for justice.
I realized that there are some people who just deserve to be shat upon.
Let me explain. It's not that I'm an uncaring, unfeeling ass. It's that there were so many uncaring, unfeeling asses on that day who desperately needed a foot to the face, that there's no way karmic justice could get to them all.
My day started with my wife waking me from the couch upon which I had been dozing for two or three hours. She said, "Honey, will you look at this?" and directed my attention to the news. I, like so many others, watched plane #2 hit the twin towers. I said, "this is a declaration of war. This is our pearl harbor." She wasn't so sure, and we decided to let the subject alone while we watched things play out. An hour or two later, I left for work at Mindspring.
Mindspring was hectic. We had quickly become the #2 internet provider in the nation, and we had a huge number of customers in NYC. Additionally, nearly all the routing for DSL lines ran--you guessed it--right through the basement of the twin towers. I was a new supervisor, at that point, generally the piss-boy for anyone who had a question that no-one else wanted to answer. I was good with that though, because it made me feel necessary in an otherwise largely unneccessary position. Plus, I was good at fixing problems. So when Customer Service came over to my Tech Support area with a problem, I didn't mind pitching in. It was the first of many that day.
An agent came to me, nearly in tears. She didn't know how to deal with a customer on the line, but had recorded the conversation. So I listened. It went something like this:
HE: "Yeah, I'm glad they blew up the f*cking country. I hope they bomb some more of the b*stards."
SHE: "That's not a very nice thing to say."
HE: "Well I got freedom of speech, and I say bring on the bombs!"
I didn't listen to any more. I queued up SUPERFLY (our billing platform) and cancelled his account. Then I told her to take ten minutes, walked to her desk, and took the bastard off hold.
ME: "Hello sir?"
HE: "Yeah. Who are you?"
ME: "I'm the agent who just cancelled your account. You are no longer welcome with our service, and we no longer want your money. Your service will not be restored, and your account has been credited for a month's service. If you call in again, I've left instructions attached to your account that you are not to be offered service for any reason."
HE: "LET ME TALK TO YOUR SUPERVISOR!"
ME: "I am a supervisor sir, and that privelege is only afforded to customers, which you are not. Have a nice day, and don't ever ever EVER call here again."
I remember the sputtering. I remember the swearing. I remember the self-assured smugness that his right to entertainment trumped anyone else's right to anything. And I remember that I didn't feel much better afterward. I was pretty sure I'd get fired for this, but I couldn't see any way to live with myself if I didn't actually stand for something.
So the next time, I stood by those principles. In for a penny, in for a pound.
And the next time.
And the next time.
And the next time.
I cancelled 5 accounts that way, that day. I documented the what and when and why of all of it, right down the line. I didn't care. The assholes crossed a line with me, and I was physically unable to move my level of tolerance. Screw the ramifications. Those assholes would know, if only for a short time, that you just didn't fuck with people because you thought you could get away with it.
I never heard anything from anyone about it. I got a thank-you from a couple of agents, but that was it. CS had the worst of the calls that day. TS's line was, generally, "your DSL is routed through the main switching station in NY. That station is currently under 300 tons of rubble and dead bodies. As soon as your DSL takes priority over the dead bodies, it'll be worked on and restored." CS had to listen to customers vent their frustration that they couldn't cyber with their virtual girlfriends, or had to download their porn over dialup.
So, no, I didn't get a transformational moment out of the attacks. I got reassurance that assholes are everywhere, and deserve to have their faces kicked now and then.
My mind hasn't been changed, much. It's a dead feeling when you realize that you're surrounded by asses who, by anyone's standards, deserve to be victims instead of the victimizers. And it colors everything else in your life from then on.
|
|
Yeah yeah, I don't post here much. Well, I've been studying what turns out to be one of the most influential works in the 20th and 21st century. Like, responsible for WWI, WWII, and everything that followed, pretty much. Responsible for the rise of Hitler, the rise of Chairman Mao, responsible for the rise of nearly every notable president (and a few un-notable ones), and responsible for our current state of political discourse.
Have you ever noticed that the pundits and, for that matter, our politicians, seem unable to string two thoughts together which are not self-contradictory? On both sides of the aisle, that is (don't start spewing that 'it's all conservatives/liberals/teabaggers bullshit at me, or you'll be nothing but a fool in the eyes of everyone with a brain). Well, it's pretty much by design. It turns out that the human mind is designed for short-hand communication, which correlates to emotions rather than to logic. And because of this, we are able to come to conclusions which defy the laws of physics, logic, and man.
So, I'm considering writing an update to the work. The original was published in 1894, in France. If you'd like to read the original, the title is, 'The Crowd' by Gustav Le Bon. |
|
Hey, all. I know I don't post here much but well, I've been busy of late. And I'd like to share.
Many in this discussion group will likely not remember much about the Trucker protest of 2008. At the time, fuel was climbing toward $4/gallon, and owner/operators were dropping like flies because of rampant profit-taking in the industry--mostly by uncapitalized brokers. Between that and the never-ending rise in cost-of-business, it was a pretty tough time to make one's living on the road.
In March of '08, a group of truckers convened a convoy on Harrisburg, PA. There were 50 there, including me. A rally followed, and it was decided that in late April of the same year the convoy would roll on Washington, DC. In the month of time between Harrisburg and DC, the group expanded to over 40,000 members, from 22 states stretching from Maine to Florida and west to Kentucky and Indiana.
We were called fools. We were called white trash (ok, maybe in many cases that's true). We were ridiculed tirelessly by just about everyone. To make things worse, the roll on DC went as far from plan as possible without actually failing to occur. To make matters worse, almost all the expense came out of the truckers' pockets... many of whom (including me) later lost their livelihoods for their troubles. However... It worked.
In about 2 months, the price of fuel dropped to $1.44/gallon. The reason for this was the target of our pressure: commodities brokers. Speculation in the commodities markets by uncapitalized and undercapitalized hedge funds, brokers, and flat-out gambling enthusiasts accounted for more than 50% of the price--well beyond our estimations. So we figured we had won, we accepted a pat on the head and a few back-pocket promises, and went back to work.
The point of this post is, the price of fuel is back where it was. Conditions are the same. And we're mobilizing again. I'm in the lead, currently, for this particular effort. We're on hold until our web-guru pokes his head out to bring up our site. However, you can find videos of us on youtube by searching for "DC fuel protest"
So, anyone wanna be a pirate?Current Mood:  determined |
| » Abortion: a legal argument |
|---|
I've been having one of those long, drawn-out arguments with myself... the sort that begin, "well, what if..." and end up with "shit, I have to look up precedent on this one." So I did, and here I am. Yes, I've been gone for a while. I may be gone again, for a while. But for now, consider me a cheerful bundle of joyful pot-stirring. Anyhow, on to the argument.
I am opposed to abortion. Unlike many of my other liberal friends, I do not believe that it is anyone's inalienable right to terminate the life of another human being based on convenience. There are arguments in favor of abortion, yet they are the same arguments which were used by the eugenicists decades ago when abortion was still illegal and a horrific thought. They are the same arguments which were used to justify the hate-crimes and mass-murders of the '30's, as well. This does not necessarily invalidate the arguments, but one should proceed with caution when using anything from eugenics as a basis. I will neither oppose nor support those arguments in this post, however. Instead, I will approach this from a different direction.
The main question, in my mind, occurs when the child gains sentience. A sentient being is not a tumor or a mere extension of the body. A sentient being cannot be relegated to the status of a hemorrhoid or appendix. As such, a sentient being has certain rights simply by virtue of their existence. One can no more drown a puppy than they can drown a baby. The penalties for such conduct might be different, but the result is the same: it is wrong to kill a sentient being without due process of law. So the question this raises is, "is a fetus sentient?"
A good treatment of this subject, without bias can be found at http://www.christiananswers.net/q-sum/q-life021.html. Yes, it's a Christian website. All the same, it makes no judgment on the subject of abortion, but instead focuses on the subject of sentience in law.
Let us assume that sentience begins somewhere near the end of the second trimester. Studies differ on the timing, but most agree that learning can begin at this point, as well as the ability to feel pain. Certainly there is mobility, and a sense of self-direction (as any mother of a pre-natal soccer star should be able to attest). Add to this that the earliest known (to me at least) birth which has been survived by a child was at 28 weeks, and there appears to be some level of standard for the argument. No, I don't have a citation for that one. Look it up, if you must. I recall being astounded at the level of medical science when I heard about it, which is why I recall it now.
If that were the standard, then pregnancies before 28 weeks would be both morally and legally acceptable. However, that is not the standard. The standard has already been set. And it's not "life begins at birth" as one might assume from the argument on the topic, but rather, "a baby which is wanted is human."
Consider this: if a pregnant woman is mugged, and the mugger kills her, he is guilty of two counts of murder--one for the mother, and one for the baby. This presupposes that killing the baby was murder. Yet if the mother kills the baby with the help of a doctor, it is not considered murder. One occurs by virtue of the mother's decision, and the other is forced on the mother. The nature of the decision is the only difference. Does the mother have the sole right to make that decision because it is her body? Again, no. Because at the point when she becomes pregnant, she shares the body with another living being.
This line of thought took me to research, of all things, law as it applies to conjoined twins. Here is the argument: suppose a set of conjoined twins share a uterus. One wishes to become married, yet does not want her twin to commit adultery. What is the twin to do? In a fit of jealous rage, she shoots her other twin in the head. Was it murder, or not?
In the eyes of the law, the twins are separate individuals. Though rare, there have been cases where one of a set of conjoined twins committed a crime, yet was exonerated because conviction would result in the unfair incarceration of the other twin, which is a human-rights violation. Likewise, a recent heartbreaking case in London involved two six-week-old girls who shared an aorta. At question was the right of one twin to live while the other would certainly die. The parents did not want them separated, yet the doctors did. In the end, three judges concluded that the right of the stronger child to live outweighed the right of the weaker twin to certify both their deaths (they were expected to survive no longer than 3 months in their joined condition).
If the child has a right to live, then that right cannot be taken from him/her without due process of law. If the taking of that life (under any circumstance) represents murder, then it is a violation of the child's right to live--again, without due process of law. Under current law (with which I disagree) the simple status of 'wanted' grants a child the right to live. The status should be, IMHO, likely sentience (again, because a baby maintains neither the verbal accuity nor the strength to scream "no, don't kill me!")
That's the argument. I'm sure there are holes, and I'm even more sure that someone will take up the banner to attack those holes. Abortion advocates claim, on occasion, that it is doubtful that a child is sentient until birth occurs. I won't argue that point, because at present it cannot be argued in either direction on the basis of fact. Certainly, the sentience must be of a different order than we as natural-born humans find familiar. Instead, I propose that it should be as illegal to kill a child who might be sentient, but who has not had the opportunity to choose death, as to terminate the life of a comatose patient who did not prepare a living will. A comatose patient is not sentient. Yet they have the right to live, just as a child does. The supposed quality of their future life is not an argument either for or against the procedure, as no one currently maintains the infallible capacity to certify the future value of any given life.
I conclude that abortion is premeditated murder, and should be treated as such. Inasmuch as an abortion cannot be conducted without the explicit choice of at least one party other than the fetus in question, it can only be otherwise if the aborter were the aforementioned mugger, who did not know the condition of the victim.
Flame on. (Edit: made a stupid grammatical error in the second paragraph... edited for clarity)
May. 10th, 2011 @ 11:54 pm
|
| » Westboro Baptist, part II |
|---|
The Mennonite Church has organized an event to shield the family from WBC. Anything I might be able to organize would pale in comparison to what they would be able to pull off.
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=170816896302956
Good for them. And good for you, if you choose to show your support for the family or your distaste for all things WBC.
Mar. 11th, 2011 @ 11:48 pm
|
| » Westboro Baptist chooses the WRONG venue. |
|---|
This is a repost from my facebook.
Please up the bandwidth on this one. Westboro Baptist plans to demonstrate at the funeral for the 7 children who were killed in Perry County. Viewing is at 9am, funeral at 12 noon, at
Perry Mennonite Reception Center in Elliottsburg
350 Green Park Road
Elliottsburg, PA
Tues, March 11th.
...
Trying to organize a 'surround and drown' peaceful blockade. In order to effectively nullify the morally reprehensible activities of a group of mindless demophiles, we need a good crowd. Enough that simply singing Ray Steven's 'Everything is Beautiful' would be enough to eliminate any impact they might have. There may very likely be vehicles which inexplicably break-down between Westboro and the mourners. It's funny how things happen like that, huh? God sure works in strange ways, but it's effective nonetheless.
Anyhow, please up the bandwidth. And if you're within travel distance, and it's not worth your time to attend, then shame on you.
Mar. 11th, 2011 @ 09:46 pm
|
| » just a quickie |
|---|
|
It's snowing to beat the band up here in Buffalo, right now. I'm debating whether to grab some sleep (if possible), grab a bite to eat, log onto WoW, or just stare blankly at the... um... blanket of snow. Instead, I decided to post something with a blog-entry-poster which comes standard with linux/ubunu.
Feb. 5th, 2011 @ 05:02 pm
|
| » Game changer |
|---|
I am typing this from my new Galaxy tab, and I have to tell you, I am impressed as hell. This is not just a new toy, but rather the device gou will soon be unable to live without. And before you start saying, "yeah, it's juzt the ipad only smaller, let me tell you the difference is like night and day.
Let's start with the basic ethos. You can't get an app on an ipad without apple's approval. This keeps malicious code off the device, but also limits what you can really get for it. Not so with the Gpad. The ipad is based on the apple operating system... it assumes you need to be protected from yourself. The Gpad (Samsung Galaxy Tab) appears to be based on linux, and has linux geeks coding apps for it. This means that yes you need to watch out for yourself sometimes, but otherwise the device gets pushed to its limits. And that is a very good thing.
Can you call on it? Officially no. unofficially, yes, if you are not on Verizon. A app coder named xeudoxus hacked the Skype install, so that it operated for domestic calls over 3G. Then, for $9 per month you can have a phone number through Skype and get unlimited call time.
Ijust finished logging into WoW by vpn-ing to my home pc. I chatted with my wife on her cell using Skype. I noticed I got email and checked it. Then I set the navigation for my next stop tomorrow, dialed up some alternative rock on an Australian radio station, set the alarm clock, and browsed the web a bit before starting to compose this. And I have not begun to push the limits of what it can do.
On the down side, it doesn't handle java very well. Yet. Javascript works like a champ, tbough. Hulu does not allow connection over 3G. But you tube works fine. Got something you want to do? There's an app for that.
Finally, who you use as a provider makes all the difference. I am with tmobile, and love it. $40/mo. data, no charge for tethering--to share the inet connection--and top of the line customer service. With the others, you must pay to tether, and there is no unlimited data plan. So if you are concerned about monthly cost, tmobile is the way to go.
So how does this change things? In 2 years video phone will be commonplace, making all of us citizen reporters. Per-minute plans will be phasing out as a business model, and cell companies will begin transitioning to being solely data providers. We wont be able to call this the information age any more, because that doesn't do the situation justice. Call it the age of awareness instead, as we will all get to see everything in near-real-time.
If you program, program for this. If you are an end-user, you want this. This is like sex, without the wet spot.
Posted via LjBeetle
Jan. 2nd, 2011 @ 12:01 am
|
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1){kind=small}
herrw's journal