Getting Back in the Game
Surprisingly enough, the outside world has not stopped and held its collective breath while I recuperate. Rather, it has gone on headlong and pell-mell into the void, and here are a few links to some events and commentary that I might have noted earlier had I not been so preoccupied with my own misery.
From my brother, M Otis (My Main Man in China, the Hoodoo of Chengdu), comes this now rather old-ish link to an excellent piece by one Bruce Schneier regarding the NSA wiretapping scandal. Though this was written nearly a month ago, the issues are still very much alive. The article itself is quite thought-provoking, and there are a ton of links within it. (Related -- as noted in the indispensable Dr. Laniac's Newsletter today -- is this current article in the NY Times revealing that virtually all the information gathered by the NSA -- all the leads, the phone calls, the computer links, the email addresses, everything -- since Septemeber 11 has led to zip, zilch, nothing, nada, dead ends all. Sure makes me feel safe and secure.)
AMERICAblog has a couple of very good posts up (do they ever put up a bad post?) about the ongoing conflict between theWeaselpenis Bush maladministration vs. the military, here and here, for instance. Tell me again, someone, anyone, why any member of the military with two brain cells to rub together -- or his or her family -- would support Preznit Chickenhawk and I Had Other Priorities Dick? It remains a pure mystery to me, given that they are doing everything in their power to reduce veterans' pay and benefits and get them killed in record numbers for nothing but the most transparent of lies.
Rapidly becoming a major player in the blogosphere, Glenn Greenwald writes today about the difference between corporate journalists and bloggers, and why there is so much enmity between them (especially from the journos' quarters). Not everyone agress with Glenn -- Ezra Klein, for instance, disputes his theories -- but I think he's pretty close to being right on the money.
Also from Dr. Laniac comes this account on the Carpetbagger Report of Al Gore's fabulous speech from yesterday (the text of which you can find here), and if you haven't heard at least a few of the more incendiary clips from it yet, I really don't know where you've been or how you found your way onto this site in the first place. Here's the money quote, if you did happen to miss it: "At present, we still have much to learn about the NSA's domestic surveillance. What we do know about this pervasive wiretapping virtually compels the conclusion that the President of the United States has been breaking the law repeatedly and insistently." Breaking the law. Repeatedly and insistently. You tell it, Al.
The Supreme Court gets one right, affirming Oregon's assisted suicide law 6-3 and giving the smackdown to thewingnut religious zealots Bush and Ashcroft argument that the feds should be allowed to impose their will on the people in that state who voted for it. Too bad they didn't follow this same line of reasoning when it came to medical marijuana. The one telling point of this decision was who the dissenting three were -- Scalia and Thomas, predictably, but more importantly, new Chief Justice John Roberts as well. Guess now we know what side of the fence he'll be falling in future decisions (as if there was ever any doubt).
The Poor Man has more new tales of right-wing wankery up, enough to make you laugh and cry in the same breath. Go, vote, sob and guffaw!
Finally, from my pal Dean in Connecticut comes this comparison/contrast of Aldous Huxley and George Orwell by Neil Postman that I found rather interesting:
What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy. As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny "failed to take into account man's almost infinite appetite for distractions." In 1984, Huxley added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us.
~Neil Postman
From my brother, M Otis (My Main Man in China, the Hoodoo of Chengdu), comes this now rather old-ish link to an excellent piece by one Bruce Schneier regarding the NSA wiretapping scandal. Though this was written nearly a month ago, the issues are still very much alive. The article itself is quite thought-provoking, and there are a ton of links within it. (Related -- as noted in the indispensable Dr. Laniac's Newsletter today -- is this current article in the NY Times revealing that virtually all the information gathered by the NSA -- all the leads, the phone calls, the computer links, the email addresses, everything -- since Septemeber 11 has led to zip, zilch, nothing, nada, dead ends all. Sure makes me feel safe and secure.)
AMERICAblog has a couple of very good posts up (do they ever put up a bad post?) about the ongoing conflict between the
Rapidly becoming a major player in the blogosphere, Glenn Greenwald writes today about the difference between corporate journalists and bloggers, and why there is so much enmity between them (especially from the journos' quarters). Not everyone agress with Glenn -- Ezra Klein, for instance, disputes his theories -- but I think he's pretty close to being right on the money.
Also from Dr. Laniac comes this account on the Carpetbagger Report of Al Gore's fabulous speech from yesterday (the text of which you can find here), and if you haven't heard at least a few of the more incendiary clips from it yet, I really don't know where you've been or how you found your way onto this site in the first place. Here's the money quote, if you did happen to miss it: "At present, we still have much to learn about the NSA's domestic surveillance. What we do know about this pervasive wiretapping virtually compels the conclusion that the President of the United States has been breaking the law repeatedly and insistently." Breaking the law. Repeatedly and insistently. You tell it, Al.
The Supreme Court gets one right, affirming Oregon's assisted suicide law 6-3 and giving the smackdown to the
The Poor Man has more new tales of right-wing wankery up, enough to make you laugh and cry in the same breath. Go, vote, sob and guffaw!
Finally, from my pal Dean in Connecticut comes this comparison/contrast of Aldous Huxley and George Orwell by Neil Postman that I found rather interesting:
What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy. As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny "failed to take into account man's almost infinite appetite for distractions." In 1984, Huxley added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us.
~Neil Postman
posted by Generik at 11:49 AM
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