I really hope this can be stopped. It would suck if one company ruins it for the rest of us.
Is it The End for Bitcoin
20 Friday Jun 2014
Posted Politcal, Technology
in20 Friday Jun 2014
Posted Politcal, Technology
in04 Wednesday Jun 2014
Tags
Amazing story, Rebecca Vitsmun when asked by Wolf Blitzer on CNN if she thanked God she survived a tornado tells wolf that she can’t because she is an atheist. What’s more, she has not told her own parents she was an atheist. Can you imagine how hard that might be for the parents? I was personally blown away. If you interested in the whole story you can find it, here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iUcD86YvlE&list=PL1DA0C8985FAE1C22.
18 Sunday May 2014
Posted Politcal, Technology
inTags
Comcast, economic, FCC, Freedom, Gilens, internet, ISPs, Net Neutrality, Netflix, oligarchy, open, savetheinternet
PC Magazine has an excellent article on how to submit comments to the FCC. You can do that here How Do I Submit Net Neutrality Comments to the FCC? So why am I making such a big deal about all of this all this? The reason is that I am extremely concerned about where our country is heading; some people are already saying the U.S is no longer a Democracy, but an Oligarchy. This whole issue of Net Neutrality directly bears on that. They’re taking away our rights to be heard and compete on an equal playing field for such things as free speech, starting a new business, and having a chance to compete against big business. A Princeton Study by Martin Gilens and Benjamin recently claimed that the US is no longer an actual democracy. Glen’s was interviewed by TM and claimed that U.S is becoming a system of “Economic Elite Domination,” and “Biased Pluralism” instead of a democracy run by the people and for the people. I find this very alarming; Gilens and Page write “the preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.” In other words, their statistics say your opinion does not matter. If the FCC, Comcast, and other big ISPs get their way, it would just be another nail in the coffin of democracy. I think that when Martin Gilens say “Economic Elite Domination,” that applies to Net Neutrality as well. It reminds me of Demolition Man, Rollerball, Freejack, Gattaca, The Running Man, and Elysium, where corporations control everything. Is this really the world we want to be living in? If this country isn’t already an oligarchy, it sure looks like one. (See graphic below)
Imagine the internet looks like a road system, where we could only drive down certain roads if we paid a fee, for example, only rich people and big companies could drive down interstate highways, while the rest of us would have to go down slower roads. With Net Neutrality in place we can all use the interstate. What Comcast and other big ISPs want to do metaphorically speaking, is to make us pay to use the Interstate Highway system, but only companies like Netflix can afford to drive on the Interstate, so have a huge advantage in doing business, while startup companies don’t even stand a chance. We would have a two tiered internet. Do you think that is fair?
What should we do about it? We need to classify ISPs as common carriers. What does that mean? Legalistically it refers to a person or entity in the business of transporting goods or people for hire, as a public service. A private carrier, in contrast, is employed to transport good for people for specific needs on an individual case basis. For example, city buses are a common carrier, as opposed to a private carrier such as a moving company which is hired on a one-time basis. A common carrier runs according to a regular schedule on a designated route. Under common law rules, a common carrier is generally liable for all losses which may occur to property entrusted to his charge in the course of business, unless he can prove the loss happened in consequence of the act of God, or of the enemies of the United States, or by the act of the owner of the property.
To sum up this post I leave you with a wonderful graphic representation of why net neutrality is so import, and why we want to keep an open internet for all, not just big corporations. I encourage you go to the first link and make a comment to the FCC.
13 Tuesday May 2014
Posted Politcal
inLink Is Ignorance an Excuse for the Desecration of Native American History?
Cliven Bundy is a rancher embroiled in a land dispute that has been going on for the past 20 days. In these last 20 days Cliven Bundy, who has gone from a little know Nevada cattle rancher to a conservative folk hero. Bundy is a 67-year old Mormon patriarch with over fifty grandchildren; who has become the center of attention in a dispute with the federal government. It began when the federal government started impounding 900 heads of Bundy’s cattle in early April. This dispute goes back 20 years over cattle grazing on federal-lands. The federal government claims that Bundy owes them over a million dollars in unpaid grazing fees and penalties.
This April this confrontation turned potentially deadly as an armed militia gathered on Bundy’s cattle farm, aiming semi-automatic weapons at armed BLM officials from a bridge overpass. Some protesters were tasered by authorities and others arrested and later released, including one of Bundy’s 14 adult children. The problem with this is that Cliven and the people supporting him are ignorant of what is really going on. Bundy like a lot of conservatives see this as another big government intrusion into local affairs. This has created a public uproar among right-wing Utahans’. This sort of unruly behavior often results from ignorance, in this case ignorance of history. A lot of social conservatives think teaching history in schools is a waste of time and taxpayer money. Conservatives might say this is another instance of big government, or pork barrel spending, an irony considering that conservatives and tea baggers alike are always sounding off about big government spending.
What really is at stake is history and regard for other civilizations. There are important Pueblo Indians artifacts on this land that need federal protection from people riding around on ATV’s, and other potentially dangerous activities that could destroy irreplaceable artifacts and pictographs. The article above makes the comparison of the Taliban, whom blew up and destroyed up the Buddha’s of Bamiyan, two massive, 6th century statues of the Buddha. These are the same Taliban terrorists these conservatives where condemning after 9/11. A lot of people see things through their own biases and lack of understanding and don’t realize there more at stake than they might realize. Once again this is a case of ignorance, not being bliss. The link above gives many examples and explains why our cultural inheritance is significant. What is really sad about this ignorance is potentially putting people’s life’s in peril. If that weren’t enough, some of these protesters are irresponsible enough to bring their children along to protest big government, risking the lives of their children. By bringing their children along with them to protest big government and putting their children at risk, a perfect example of ignorance over bliss. The link above talks more about what is involves, only if these dimwits would take the time to read articles like this, maybe they might at least get an understanding of what is really at stake. Below is a video from ABC giving you an idea of what Bundy thinks is going on, which makes a great contrast to the link above?
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