![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Another possibility - 8-9 May 02011
May. 10th, 2011 10:58 amGreetings. We begin today with letters to the chilren of Troy from famous persons and authors congratulating them on their public library. There are several very big names in those letters, so be sure to read them all. (And speaking of books, an attempted timeline of when inventions appeared in various fictional works, and when some of those inventions have actually appeared in reality.)
Elsewhere, the idea of the commons is one that needs to return to our minds, and the actual commons themselves need a large amount of strengthening for society to thrive.
And finally, a letter from the head of Green Day indicating he doesn't really care about any THINK OF THE CHILDRENS arguments. Of course, Green Day is a successful musical act, so they have some ability to tell people to get frakked ant it won't affect their bottom line that much.
The problem is when a well-liked and very competent elementary school teacher with publishing credits on her research was dismissed from a school because the New York Post committed actions just on the legal side of libel and character defmation about what the teacher did before she taught and what her research was about. This is why teachers (and other professions that work with children) are deathly afraid of anything personal of theirs being exposed to the open internet - one wrong word in the right ears and they're out of a job and given a scarlet letter to boot. It shouldn't matter what their personal opinions or past history is, unless it can be constructed as being a danger to the children - a convicted child molestor-as-an-adult's past is important, because they might re-offend. What this teacher was doing? Utterly irrelevant to her teaching job. Then again, this is the country where a cheerleader who stood up for herself in refusing to cheer for her rapist was dismissed from the cheer team, then had her free speech case dismissed because she speaks for The Company when she's a cheerleader and is ordered to pay $45,000 in court costs for filing a "frivolous" lawsuit. This is the country that was more interested in Presidential infidelity than in what the President was doing at his job. Where THINK OF THE CHILDRENS brings angry hordes of people to school boards and libraries, demanding books they've never read be taken out of classrooms and libraries because they might have sexual language,
Out in the world today, al-Qaida releases a statement on the death of Osama bin Laden. Said death did not stop mililtary action by the United States, with drone strikes attacking Pakistan and Yemen.
And now we get to endure bin Laden's home video collection, calls for photos to be released so that everyone can have proof, rather than letting any conspiracy theories live that bin Laden is still alive, and insistence that the war on terror was a good thing.
Back at home, the clacking keyboards insist the mission has changed - it's not about stopping terrorist organizations any more, it's about stopping The Bloodthirsty Religion from becoming politically powerful and creating "a caliphate" that terror groups are the vanguard for. Mission creep, much? Well, either that, or they're trying to tap into the fear already put in place by the domino scare from Communism, with the serial numbers filed off. Which means we'll see lots of coverage given to people memorializing bin Laden, and a big swing up in attacks and violence in areas occupied by U.S. troops.
If we really wanted to beat the Terrorists, we'd start rolling back the paranoia and the stupid rules and the things that are fear for fear's sake.
Elsewhere, a rift between the President and the Supreme Leader of Iran?
Domestically, the secret court set up to approve domestic surveillance of foreign agents approved all of its requests last year - 1506 of them.
Despite their promises to become more green, Coke wants you to know they'll continue using potentially toxic substances in their cola cans because it's more profitable to do so.
An appeals court in the United States rules that exposure to porn on your work computer is grounds for dismissal, regardless of the size of the image or if it appears in search results. And the contentious dispute between the union head, who was fired, and the school that employed him had nothing at all to do with it. 67 seconds, one google search and a couple clicks is all it apparently took.
A member of the group Anonymous responds to the accusation leveled against them by Sony, pointing out all the reasons why it would be convenient but wrong to believe Anonymous had a hand in the Sony privacy breach. Elsewhere, the Mozilla corporation asks why it should have to remove an add-on that redirects browsers to sites that have had their domains seized by the U.S. government.
While we're still on the government kick, regardless of who is in charge, it will always be the poor, minorities, and the Others who will be asked for their papers and sent away on the flimsiest of excuses, either to prison to be deported. And think about just how much the Racism That Won't Die, Birtherism, has affected even the President, with the howls that he can't possibly be One Of Us.
Alabama's GOP delegation, among others, cast their votes against fundint the early-warning systems for tornadoes and other major storms. Despite having had several twisters touch down or move into the state. Government bad. Natural disasters...less bad?
Elsewhere, bison are coming back to Montana's First Nations lands, a reintroduction long overdue.
Finally, the National Guard bolstering of the southern border of the United States is coming to a close. Those convinced of the program's effectiveness are asking for additional time and personnel.
In technology, Stolen Camera Finder, which searches the Internet for photos with metadata matching the serial number of your camera, so that you might be able to track where it is and who has it.
Also, The FBI would like to be able to access your GPS tracker data without requiring a warrant to do so, and to be able to plant such a tracker on your car without needing that pesky warrant, either.
Finally, by removing a computer's ability to forget and filter information, scientists have generated a machine condition similar to the human condition of schizophrenia.
In opinions, how relationships are stories between people, and that the telling of those stories is what is important, not necessarily the grammar or the tools used for writing. Between storytellers and listeners, what works for one may not work for another, but a good story is the goal. Which means the story evolves as the characters do.
Mr. Barnes accuses the administration and the Democrats of not wanting to cut any spending at all when Everyone Knows the right solution to the deficit crisis is to cut spending, cut taxes, and hope the corporations take pity on us all.
We end with looking at politics and seeing that the answers to "why" are often indecipherable when you're on the outside looking in.
And as a postscript, the girl in the window - a feral child, neglected, who is slowly learning, with an adopted family, the skills her mother never taught her.
Elsewhere, the idea of the commons is one that needs to return to our minds, and the actual commons themselves need a large amount of strengthening for society to thrive.
And finally, a letter from the head of Green Day indicating he doesn't really care about any THINK OF THE CHILDRENS arguments. Of course, Green Day is a successful musical act, so they have some ability to tell people to get frakked ant it won't affect their bottom line that much.
The problem is when a well-liked and very competent elementary school teacher with publishing credits on her research was dismissed from a school because the New York Post committed actions just on the legal side of libel and character defmation about what the teacher did before she taught and what her research was about. This is why teachers (and other professions that work with children) are deathly afraid of anything personal of theirs being exposed to the open internet - one wrong word in the right ears and they're out of a job and given a scarlet letter to boot. It shouldn't matter what their personal opinions or past history is, unless it can be constructed as being a danger to the children - a convicted child molestor-as-an-adult's past is important, because they might re-offend. What this teacher was doing? Utterly irrelevant to her teaching job. Then again, this is the country where a cheerleader who stood up for herself in refusing to cheer for her rapist was dismissed from the cheer team, then had her free speech case dismissed because she speaks for The Company when she's a cheerleader and is ordered to pay $45,000 in court costs for filing a "frivolous" lawsuit. This is the country that was more interested in Presidential infidelity than in what the President was doing at his job. Where THINK OF THE CHILDRENS brings angry hordes of people to school boards and libraries, demanding books they've never read be taken out of classrooms and libraries because they might have sexual language,
Out in the world today, al-Qaida releases a statement on the death of Osama bin Laden. Said death did not stop mililtary action by the United States, with drone strikes attacking Pakistan and Yemen.
And now we get to endure bin Laden's home video collection, calls for photos to be released so that everyone can have proof, rather than letting any conspiracy theories live that bin Laden is still alive, and insistence that the war on terror was a good thing.
Back at home, the clacking keyboards insist the mission has changed - it's not about stopping terrorist organizations any more, it's about stopping The Bloodthirsty Religion from becoming politically powerful and creating "a caliphate" that terror groups are the vanguard for. Mission creep, much? Well, either that, or they're trying to tap into the fear already put in place by the domino scare from Communism, with the serial numbers filed off. Which means we'll see lots of coverage given to people memorializing bin Laden, and a big swing up in attacks and violence in areas occupied by U.S. troops.
If we really wanted to beat the Terrorists, we'd start rolling back the paranoia and the stupid rules and the things that are fear for fear's sake.
Elsewhere, a rift between the President and the Supreme Leader of Iran?
Domestically, the secret court set up to approve domestic surveillance of foreign agents approved all of its requests last year - 1506 of them.
Despite their promises to become more green, Coke wants you to know they'll continue using potentially toxic substances in their cola cans because it's more profitable to do so.
An appeals court in the United States rules that exposure to porn on your work computer is grounds for dismissal, regardless of the size of the image or if it appears in search results. And the contentious dispute between the union head, who was fired, and the school that employed him had nothing at all to do with it. 67 seconds, one google search and a couple clicks is all it apparently took.
A member of the group Anonymous responds to the accusation leveled against them by Sony, pointing out all the reasons why it would be convenient but wrong to believe Anonymous had a hand in the Sony privacy breach. Elsewhere, the Mozilla corporation asks why it should have to remove an add-on that redirects browsers to sites that have had their domains seized by the U.S. government.
While we're still on the government kick, regardless of who is in charge, it will always be the poor, minorities, and the Others who will be asked for their papers and sent away on the flimsiest of excuses, either to prison to be deported. And think about just how much the Racism That Won't Die, Birtherism, has affected even the President, with the howls that he can't possibly be One Of Us.
Alabama's GOP delegation, among others, cast their votes against fundint the early-warning systems for tornadoes and other major storms. Despite having had several twisters touch down or move into the state. Government bad. Natural disasters...less bad?
Elsewhere, bison are coming back to Montana's First Nations lands, a reintroduction long overdue.
Finally, the National Guard bolstering of the southern border of the United States is coming to a close. Those convinced of the program's effectiveness are asking for additional time and personnel.
In technology, Stolen Camera Finder, which searches the Internet for photos with metadata matching the serial number of your camera, so that you might be able to track where it is and who has it.
Also, The FBI would like to be able to access your GPS tracker data without requiring a warrant to do so, and to be able to plant such a tracker on your car without needing that pesky warrant, either.
Finally, by removing a computer's ability to forget and filter information, scientists have generated a machine condition similar to the human condition of schizophrenia.
In opinions, how relationships are stories between people, and that the telling of those stories is what is important, not necessarily the grammar or the tools used for writing. Between storytellers and listeners, what works for one may not work for another, but a good story is the goal. Which means the story evolves as the characters do.
Mr. Barnes accuses the administration and the Democrats of not wanting to cut any spending at all when Everyone Knows the right solution to the deficit crisis is to cut spending, cut taxes, and hope the corporations take pity on us all.
We end with looking at politics and seeing that the answers to "why" are often indecipherable when you're on the outside looking in.
And as a postscript, the girl in the window - a feral child, neglected, who is slowly learning, with an adopted family, the skills her mother never taught her.
