Tag Archive for 'Politics'

It’s not like we are losing it…

Published by james on November 2, 2006 in Editorial. 2 Comments

…because very likely it has already been lost.

Either from ineptitude and ignorance,

No business in America would put someone with no computer expertise in charge of a multimillion dollar information technology (IT) purchase. However, this is precisely what we’ve done with our election officials. Good, well-meaning but technically naive bureaucrats all over the country have been sold huge, complex, untested computer systems that masquerade as simple “voting machines.” These officials have been put in charge of a massive IT procurement project, and they simply are not qualified.

Or plain old malfeasance,

e-Voting

I will be voting but with little faith that my vote cast will have any weight, meaning, or purpose. Rather, my vote will be like that futile attempt to change the traffic light cycle by franticly pressing the crosswalk button. It will amount to nothing.

File Under: Ha!

Published by james on October 4, 2006 in Random. Closed

I Can't Believe It's Not Torture!

Via the fine folks at Boing Boing

Demographics, Economics, Politics, and You

Published by james on June 5, 2006 in Editorial. Closed

Guy Kawasaki’s Ten Questions with Dr. Joseph Chamie, Demographer and it’s follow up made for an engaging albeit brief read. I was especially drawn to it because of my minor in Sociology with a concentration in Economics and Dr. Chamie offers some well thought out “napkin notes” about the trends we will be facing in terms of globalization and how migration, urbanization, and in a broader sense domestic politics will impact the individual and collective fortunes of nation states.

For me it was a refreshing read as I usually dwell on doom and gloom being very much a pessimist and a believer that if you give a person enough rope they will inevitably try to string someone up followed by themselves. File me under the school of thought that humankind is a greedy brutish lot. Dr. Chamie paints a picture of movement on a regional as well as global scale that will carry with it the usual disruptions but at least from his depiction I, as an individual, might just be able to weather it.

While he is discussing trends on a massive scale it did get me thinking about when I wind down my fiction reading project that the next task I wanted to undertake was an understanding with regards to the interplay between politics, geography, demographics, and migration. Last year I began researching the role of corporations play in sustaining or undermining local economic enclaves. The Blue Back Square project in West Hartford and Evergreen Terrace in South Windsor prompted me to consider how many of these development projects are often a Faustian deal where the town is lead to believe that a windfall in tax revenue will occur and that it will possess a near infinite viability. When in fact these developments lead to capital flight as the majority of each dollar spent leaves the town and or region.

Could this be the same bargain that some members of the European Union will experience? Dr. Chamie writes, “European Union, for example, national boundaries have been opened for free movement and trade with a common market for its members.” More importantly, as he discusses migratory patterns to come, what is the impact of the communities that have forsaken locally based economic endeavors for multinational ones? Corporations follow the smell of money and if your community is experiencing zero or negative growth it will be the first on the list for vacating. Just look to the exodus in the Great Plains states.

Reading Kawasaki’s interview invigorated me to pull out my reading list and take a look as to what I have down so far. Starting off are Thomas Sowell’s Migrations and Culture and Hannah Arendt’s The Human Condition both of which I read in undergrad but did not get the time to truly digest. Arendt’s work was read alongside works of Saul Alinsky which I found to be a nice pairing of thought and action. Following up are three books that I have read positive press on but have not gotten my hands on: William Bonner and Addison Wiggin’s Empire of Debt, L. Hunter Lovins, Amory Lovins, and Paul Hawken’s Natural Capitalism, Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, and Jeff Speck’s Suburban Nation. Providing the structure for this slightly disparate list would be Jane Jacob’s The Economy of Cities and Cities and the Wealth of Nations. To fill in the cracks, I’ve spent the better part of the year gathering white papers and journal articles on planning and zoning, local political communication and activism, and analysis of regional economic trends. Heavy reading list but I’m sure I can spin it into something productive here or elsewhere.

If only I were born a trust fund baby, I would spend my life in academia as I am full of questions that want for answers.


What I do with my time is political.

Published by james on May 31, 2006 in Editorial. Closed

The DVD War Against Consumers is why I am putting down the remote and picking up books more often.

Control is something that I continually whine about here: I want more of it and I think that all users are entitled to it. The trouble with the direction that IP law has been taking is that its aim is to strip users of that control. Whatever the media you might consume and the devices that you consume them on is increasingly being dictated by “rights holders” and in the coming years it is very likely that the TV or PC you purchase will be the sole domain of those very same “rights holders” and you the consumer will have little say over how those devices can cannot be used. Want to watch a home movie on your Blu-Ray player? Maybe, maybe not. Can you prove that content is yours? Want to do it on your Vista 2.0 PC? Same question. Want to change your TV or monitor? Better make sure that it is playback compliant with all the other devices in the chain.

My growing awareness with these issues is one of the reasons I moved over to Linux, not because I want the ability to modify the OS but because I want the ability to should the need arise. The trouble with that, however, is my decision will likely marginalize me from mainstream content. It is dissident behavior and if I am unwilling to play by Hollywood or Remond’s rules than I will invariably be locked out from their products so the choices that I make, with regards to entertainment and productivity, becoming increasingly political in nature. Do I support the current system? Do I lend credence to a system that waters down the concept and practice of Fair Use by purchasing products and content that diminish utility?

My thinking over the past couple of years is focused on shoring up and protecting the concept of Fair Use by careful consideration of what products I purchase as well as who I vote for–there are two fronts to this struggle. I purchase products and make use of services that do not treat me as a criminal, a fool, or worse, both. The result is that I find myself withdrawing from popular culture and mainstream society at an increasing rate which in turn likely marginalizes me further as I have less ground on which to relate the necessity for people to consider and protect their rights as a consumer.

So before my pessimism increases beyond my ability to communicate here’s a thought: rather than give your money to Sony, Microsoft, Toshiba, or Intel for one of their fabulous “content protection” devices and before you plunk down money on DRM encrusted content of your favorite movie, TV show, or album why not donate the money to RIF or your local library. At least with books, for the moment, you can read them when you want, take them where you wish, and even share them with friends and family.

Seriously, Senate, why do you hate America?

Published by james on April 24, 2006 in Editorial. Closed

Just adding to the pile of hate: Healthcare Bill Seeks to Preempt State Laws (Los Angeles Times). Feministe sums up the key points nicely:

— Eliminate state requirements for insurance coverage for breast, cervical, colorectal, and prostate cancer screenings; well-child care and immunizations; prescription contraception; emergency services; mental health care; diabetes supplies and education; and many other critical health services.

— Deny states the right to regulate the insurance industry to ensure that consumers’ needs are met.

— Put insurance companies, not health professionals, in charge of your health care.

— Raise insurance premiums, making health care unaffordable for those who need it most: women, the sick, and the elderly, whose health care costs are usually higher.

— Fail to address the problem of rising health care costs, which is what really plagues struggling employers.

Yet again I’m left asking myself why the fuck I keep voting. I believe in the notion that it is a privilege and a duty but for fuck’s sake it is NOT a representative system unless of course you are some bloated corporation looking to hoard even more resources for yourself.

Shitty Monday morning.

WTF, Congress, why do you hate America?

Published by james on April 24, 2006 in Editorial. Closed

If you thought the US was having some difficulty keeping up with the rapidly changing world it has just gotten worse. Congress is getting ready to pass the latest revisions to the DMCA which will make each and everyone of you reading this a terrorist in the eyes of the Justice Department. You read that right.

During a speech in November, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales endorsed the idea and said at the time that he would send Congress draft legislation. Such changes are necessary because new technology is “encouraging large-scale criminal enterprises to get involved in intellectual-property theft,” Gonzales said, adding that proceeds from the illicit businesses are used, “quite frankly, to fund terrorism activities.” (c|net)

Everything is about terrorism and and kiddie pr0n except for the terrorism and kiddie pr0n. Seriously. As if the nation was not struggling enough in the global marketplace we are going to pass laws like this and dismiss Internet neutrality measures so that economic power can continue to consolidate further into a select few corporate entities.

The simple fact of the matter is that the re-vamped DMCA will at once chill innovation–as the nation continues to slide backwards–and criminalize what used to be considered Fair Use. The new civil and criminal measures will be used by existing participants in the marketplace to bar any newcomers. In addition, it will be used to enforce commercial measure to ensure that consumers pay multiple times for the same content, because remember it is about the medium and not the content, as well as rest on the assurance that any attempt to shift content or share under the tenets of Fair Use will allow them to pursue both criminal and civil cases against individuals. As Gonzales states, you are a terrorist if you even believe in Fair Use.

To flip their meme back on them, why does Congress hate America so much?


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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States