This is great!
The Streisand Effect and"banned" material
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Monday, March 3, 2008
Scary
Check this one out...
What is the possibility of the Republicans winning, yet again?
Vote fraud?
Want my opinion on this sort of thing?
As we sit back and allow ourselves to be lulled and anesthetized by engineered "reality" on television, convince ourselves that we are "informed" by mass media, watch in fascination the pointless lives of "celebrities," and congratulate ourselves for being "eco-conscious," those that are supposed to be our leaders are stealing this country, dismantling remaining bastions of freedom, abolishing the cherished liberties that generations have lived and died to protect.
Where is the discourse? Where is the outrage? Who will stand for individual responsibility, freedom, justice, when those that would speak have been muzzled? Who will protect our final right of appeal? A judicial branch that has been rubber-stamped? A legislative branch consisting almost entirely of professional politicians? An executive branch firmly in the pocket of mega-corporations and moneyed interests?A federal bureaucracy so deep and complex that it's edicts, rulings and regulations are well-nigh incomprehensible?
We need protection from those who supposedly are protecting us.
We need to think.
We need to speak.
We need to open our eyes and look at what has happened, and is continuing to happen, to our country.
We must do this before the men in black suits show up on our doorsteps and we will no longer have the opportunity to speak.
What is the possibility of the Republicans winning, yet again?
Vote fraud?
Want my opinion on this sort of thing?
As we sit back and allow ourselves to be lulled and anesthetized by engineered "reality" on television, convince ourselves that we are "informed" by mass media, watch in fascination the pointless lives of "celebrities," and congratulate ourselves for being "eco-conscious," those that are supposed to be our leaders are stealing this country, dismantling remaining bastions of freedom, abolishing the cherished liberties that generations have lived and died to protect.
Where is the discourse? Where is the outrage? Who will stand for individual responsibility, freedom, justice, when those that would speak have been muzzled? Who will protect our final right of appeal? A judicial branch that has been rubber-stamped? A legislative branch consisting almost entirely of professional politicians? An executive branch firmly in the pocket of mega-corporations and moneyed interests?A federal bureaucracy so deep and complex that it's edicts, rulings and regulations are well-nigh incomprehensible?
We need protection from those who supposedly are protecting us.
We need to think.
We need to speak.
We need to open our eyes and look at what has happened, and is continuing to happen, to our country.
We must do this before the men in black suits show up on our doorsteps and we will no longer have the opportunity to speak.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Invention of the "Medical Consumer"
Long article but thought provoking
This article is from the archives of the Public Library of Science, an open-source publication that does not accept money from corporations. For this reason, it is possible to find information at the site that is not colored by donations and support from big business or industry.
This particular article gives background on the invention of the "medical consumer." That would be us, folks... Did you ever think of yourself in those terms? I didn't until I read through the article. What else would we be considered to be?
Consider the nigh-on endless pharmaceutical ads on television. I have considered totting all the ads in an hour's programming, noting what they are selling and to whom they are flogging.
If I get around to doing this some day, I'll post my findings. Won't be a scientific study but might be interesting.
Are all those "male enhancement" and ED ads on-air at times when more males will be watching? Do those products work for gay men, too? What is the demographic for cardiac and cholesterol products? How about those osteoporosis products?
I also find it interesting that the side-effects of many of those products are worse than the disease they claim to treat.* Would a person rather die than have psoriasis? Does Enzyte turn you into a nerdy jerk? What male in his right mind would want to go around like that "Smiling Bob" creature? The smarmy dudes on the other prescription ED ads are bad enough, but that guy?
Be that as it may, the article makes the point that the pharmaceutical companies are the "snake-oil salesmen" of our time. Flacking suspect products to people who want to stay young forever. People who, because of poor health, poor lifestyle choices, or a host of other causes, can't "get it up" like they could when they were 17. Women who are scared half out of their wits of "bone or breast health" issues. What was that percentage? Less than 50%? How much less than 50% of the female population is "likely to have...?" Allergy sufferers who are now looking forward to being "*******-clear." (I wonder how many of our allergy problems are due to the amount of environmental poisons our bodies are trying to deal with? Then add pharmaceuticals to that chemical load... ) Sleeplessness is miserable but why take a drug that "helps you sleep" but you're still tired the next day? Isn't that why you took the drug in the first place, so you wouldn't be tired the next day? I am curious to know if tired from lack of sleep and tired from side effects of a drug are the same kind of tired?
How close can the flawed human body come to perfect health? Do we think that if we exercise enough, take enough drugs, do this or that or the other, we will live forever? Do we believe as Lord Henry Wotton, a character in Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray**," that beauty and the fulfillment of the senses are the only things worth pursuing in life?
(will get back to this later....)
*I will note down some of the side effects and comment further on them.
** The Picture of Dorian Gray
This article is from the archives of the Public Library of Science, an open-source publication that does not accept money from corporations. For this reason, it is possible to find information at the site that is not colored by donations and support from big business or industry.
This particular article gives background on the invention of the "medical consumer." That would be us, folks... Did you ever think of yourself in those terms? I didn't until I read through the article. What else would we be considered to be?
Consider the nigh-on endless pharmaceutical ads on television. I have considered totting all the ads in an hour's programming, noting what they are selling and to whom they are flogging.
If I get around to doing this some day, I'll post my findings. Won't be a scientific study but might be interesting.
Are all those "male enhancement" and ED ads on-air at times when more males will be watching? Do those products work for gay men, too? What is the demographic for cardiac and cholesterol products? How about those osteoporosis products?
I also find it interesting that the side-effects of many of those products are worse than the disease they claim to treat.* Would a person rather die than have psoriasis? Does Enzyte turn you into a nerdy jerk? What male in his right mind would want to go around like that "Smiling Bob" creature? The smarmy dudes on the other prescription ED ads are bad enough, but that guy?
Be that as it may, the article makes the point that the pharmaceutical companies are the "snake-oil salesmen" of our time. Flacking suspect products to people who want to stay young forever. People who, because of poor health, poor lifestyle choices, or a host of other causes, can't "get it up" like they could when they were 17. Women who are scared half out of their wits of "bone or breast health" issues. What was that percentage? Less than 50%? How much less than 50% of the female population is "likely to have...?" Allergy sufferers who are now looking forward to being "*******-clear." (I wonder how many of our allergy problems are due to the amount of environmental poisons our bodies are trying to deal with? Then add pharmaceuticals to that chemical load... ) Sleeplessness is miserable but why take a drug that "helps you sleep" but you're still tired the next day? Isn't that why you took the drug in the first place, so you wouldn't be tired the next day? I am curious to know if tired from lack of sleep and tired from side effects of a drug are the same kind of tired?
How close can the flawed human body come to perfect health? Do we think that if we exercise enough, take enough drugs, do this or that or the other, we will live forever? Do we believe as Lord Henry Wotton, a character in Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray**," that beauty and the fulfillment of the senses are the only things worth pursuing in life?
(will get back to this later....)
*I will note down some of the side effects and comment further on them.
** The Picture of Dorian Gray
Friday, February 22, 2008
Bank Julius Baer screwed up. Bigtime....
Bank that censored WikiLeaks was preparing for IPO by ZDNet's Richard Koman -- Correction: This post previously reported that there was a press statement from WikiLeaks, but that’s incorrect. In fact, it was a posting by Animats on Slashdot. The point is still obviously worth noting. We regret the error. Here’s the text: Wikileaks has discovered Bank Julius Baer was preparing to take their US operation public via an [...]
A seemingly knee-jerk, paranoid reaction on the part of the Swiss bank may have led to them shooting themselves in the foot. Mr. Koman makes a valid point in his piece, with a now-public record of money-laundering, there will be serious scrutiny of their IPO.
Good luck, BJB. You're gonna need it.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Wikileaks & Viral Accountability
Check out this article, please:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_10372.cfm
Then this for further information:
http://wikileaks.be/wiki/Wikileaks:About
"Today, with authoritarian governments in power around much of the world, increasing authoritarian tendencies in democratic governments, and increasing amounts of power vested in unaccountable corporations, the need for openness and transparency is greater than ever."
An uninformed populace is an enslaved populace.
Very interesting, indeed.
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_10372.cfm
Then this for further information:
http://wikileaks.be/wiki/Wikileaks:About
"Today, with authoritarian governments in power around much of the world, increasing authoritarian tendencies in democratic governments, and increasing amounts of power vested in unaccountable corporations, the need for openness and transparency is greater than ever."
An uninformed populace is an enslaved populace.
Very interesting, indeed.
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