by cameron | Nov 19, 2009 | Uncategorized
… these are an entire philosophy.
For my money, The Wire was the most intelligent television show ever made. I wasn’t just the depth of the analysis of what’s wrong with America, it was also the brilliant dialogue (as the below video demonstrates) and amazing cast of many young, black actors portraying the kids on the corners. If you haven’t seen it, make it a priority. Warning: it’s probably unlike any show you’ve ever seen in that it doesn’t really succumb to typical 40 minute story arcs. I watched the first episode and went “meh”. It was only through the recommendations of people like Ben Barren that I persisted through the first season. By the end of season one, my mind was blown.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Sgj78QG9Bg&hl=en_US&fs=1&]
by cameron | Nov 19, 2009 | Uncategorized
If you don’t find this whole thing totally ridiculous and abhorrent, then I suggest you need to wake the hell up. It’s 2009 and you people still allow this kind of nonsense? Listen – the whole idea that some people are born “royal” and superior to everyone else should have died about centuries ago. I know, I know – most people still believe in the sky daddy, too. But come on, UK. We really can’t take you seriously while you still pander to some old bint dressing up in a crown and sitting on a golden throne. It’s not only foolish, it’s abhorrent.
by cameron | Nov 13, 2009 | Uncategorized
In 1949, 16 years after he migrated to the USA, Albert Einstein, probably the most brilliant mind the human race developed in the 20th century if not of all time, wrote a pamphlet endorsing socialism.
The economic anarchy of capitalist society as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of the evil.
I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals. In such an economy, the means of production are owned by society itself and are utilized in a planned fashion. A planned economy, which adjusts production to the needs of the community, would distribute the work to be done among all those able to work and would guarantee a livelihood to every man, woman, and child. The education of the individual, in addition to promoting his own innate abilities, would attempt to develop in him a sense of responsibility for his fellow men in place of the glorification of power and success in our present society.
Read the rest of his pamphlet here.
Those people who think socialism is bad, need to put together a better case against socialism than Einstein put forward FOR it. Who are the leading intellectuals that have spoken out against socialism and what were their arguments?
Instead of these simplistic rants that I’m seeing bandied about, I’d love to see some intelligent discussion, IF you’re all capable of it.
by cameron | Nov 13, 2009 | capitalism, Uncategorized
Another criticism I have of Michael Moore’s “Capitalism” is that nowhere in the film did he discuss the alternatives to capitalism. There is one very short segment that discusses the attitudes of Americans about socialism in the lead up to the 2008 election, but there was no detail on what socialism is.
This morning I read this rant about the evils of socialism on “American Thinker” which claims:
“…the Achilles heel of collectivist dogma: for a planned economy to succeed, there must be central planners, who by necessity will insist on universal commitment to their plan.
How do you attain total commitment to a goal from a free people? Well, you don’t. Some percentage will always disagree, even if only for the sake of being contrary or out of a desire to be left alone. When considering a program as comprehensive as a government-planned economy, there are undoubtedly countless points of contention, such as how we will choose the planners, how we will order our priorities when assigning them importance within the plan, how we will allocate resources when competing interests have legitimate claims, who will make these decisions, and perhaps more pertinent to our discussion, how those decisions will be enforced. A rift forming on even one of these issues is enough to bring the gears of this progressive endeavor grinding to a halt. This fatal flaw in the collectivist design cannot be reengineered. It is an error so critical that the entire ideology must be scrapped.”
This guy obviously doesn’t realize that capitalism also requires a “total commitment to a goal from a free people”. We have laws in a capitalist society, just as they do in a socialist society. We even have laws (a LOT of them) that dictate how we operate economically. For example – try setting up a bank in your town without getting a banking licence from some government authority. Watch how long you last.
If the so-called “Achilles heel” or “fatal flaw” of socialism is that they have laws then capitalism has the same fatal flaw.
We have “central planners” in capitalist countries as well. They are called “government departments”.
This kind of stupid argument demonstrates how blinded many Americans are by the ideological programming they have been receiving for the last century.
by cameron | Oct 20, 2009 | climate change, Uncategorized
A lesson in the power of having a network for those people who still snort when you mention Twitter (who are, I’m sure, the same people who still snort when you mention climate change).
About a year ago, I dropped my Macbook Pro – twice. Both times I was traveling and the shoulder bag I had it in slipped off of my shoulder while I was wheeling several suitcases around France. The result of the drops was pretty severe damage to the case of the Macbook. It still worked fine, it was just dinged up pretty badly. Until recently. A few weeks ago, I stopped being able to shut the case properly and then the piece of plastic that holds the screen in the lid cracked and broke.
I knew it was time for a new Macbook case.
So, I emailed photos to a couple of local Macbook repair places.
The folks at Next Byte were completely useless. All they could tell me was “you’ll have to bring it in for us to look at it”. If I had time to bring it in, I wouldnt have bothered sending photos, you useless morons.
The folks at The Mac Doctors in Annerley, were, as always, very polite, friendly and helpful. They emailed me back a quote – $2500 – and explained why it would cost so much (the screen comes with the case, no way around it) and suggested I’d probably be better off buying a new Macbook.
Instead, I posted a question on Twitter: “Does anyone have a dead Macbook Pro 17″ they’d be willing to sell me?”
Within an hour I had three “yes” replies. Adrian Lynch was the first and after a quick phone call, we’d negotiated a deal. I put the money in his account and had a courier pick up his dead machine (he’d drown his keyboard in wine).
Yesterday, when his dead unit turned up at my place, I took it into The Mac Doctors and today I picked up my perfectly good Macbook Pro – my drive and motherboard stuffed into Adrian’s old case and screen.
Total cost, including his unit, the courier and the hatchet job?
A little less than $500.
The power of Twitter.
by cameron | Oct 9, 2009 | Uncategorized
Will people change their behaviour if you make it fun?
A great concept and great social media by Volkswagen.
Check out TheFunTheory.com for more. Those clever Germans.
