WendyMcElroy.com: No natural harmony of interest in society
Well I’m sure not every single one of us is lee=ss free than our grandparents (or great grandparents), but this short blog post from Wendy McElroy brings up the point that human civilization has tended toward more freedom, and the guarantee of our basic equal human rights, throughout history–until the 20th century, where rights are no longer guaranteed, but legal walls have been put up to separate classes of people–by race sex, what have you–and rights have been replace by state-imposed privilege, and entitlement.
I think that we’re definitely in Heinlein’s “Crazy Years”, he nailed that one just about right.
Category Archives: Politics
Algae Power
A different approach to powering your home, than my previous nuclear battery one, over at Geoff Manaugh’sBLDGBLOG. Growing algae in balloons, in a way that makes it produce mucho H2. Some beautiful renderings of the project (it’s an urban design project in Iceland), and some commentary from Geoff about how depressing it is that we go to these lengths to, basically, just keep on doing what we’re already doing, instead of trying to change the fundamentals of our society.
Growing algae to produce power is an interesting concept, but really it’s useless without designing communities that use less energy. People just don’t seem to believe in frugality any more, and that’s what we need to return to.
And, no I’m not a hippy, preaching back to the land, and such, because, damnit, I love my tech, and my Schtufff, but with 6 billion people (is that right) on this planet, we really need to figure something out, don’t we?
This Revolution Could Be Televised On Fox
This Revolution Could Be Televised On Fox
What amazes amuses me is that, even with the lack of balls the Democrats are showing, people still think we live in a two-party system, and that voting works. Or that the Democrats (or Republicans) actually care about what the people think.
Rhizomatic #1
Rhizomatic#1 is about a squatted art and community space that took place in Brighton in January 2001. It was organised by an anarchist … all » collective called SPOR, which developed from the original Spiral Tribe founders with a focus of providing active spaces of freedom within local communities, based on the thought that “without somewhere to be free then freedom is nothing more than an abstract idea”. They base their activities on a method of action that draws inspiration from Hakim Bey’s concept of ‘temporary autonomous zones’ and from a Deleuzian notion of the rhizome which they put into action. They consciously organise a network that does not attempt to maintain a permanent political presence but which rather appears at indeterminate intervals, inspired by the mushroom which fruits intermittently on the basis on an ongoing mycelium. Their experiments inspire and spread this network of ideas, people, connections and actions.
Directed by Matt Lee the film was made by Indifference Productions and Weigh In, Way Out Productions, independent film-makers active in Brighton, UK.
About 23 minutes long. Enjoy
Not enough time in the day–or the real reason no one’s buying CDs nowadays
Music CD, I’m just not that into you
In the four years from 2001 to 2005, overall time spent on these pursuits rose to 3,482 hours per person from 3,356 hours, about a 4% increase. But that didn’t benefit all forms of entertainment equally. Here’s a table I’ve created from the MPAA report showing the change in hours per person spent by activity:
Cable and satellite TV +125
Consumer Internet +52
Home video +29
Broadcast and satellite radio +26
Wireless content +15
Video games +12Consumer books 0
Movies (at the theater) -1
Consumer magazines -3
Daily newspapers -14
Recorded music -50
Broadcast TV -65
There’s more, but the idea is that, since we only have so much money, and/or time, we spend both on what gives us more pleasure per unit.
I’m glad to see that book reading hasn’t declined (although it would be nice if it had increased), which puts a lie to the idea that we are less literate the more we’re online.
Politics as Usual
I guess voters didn’t speak loudly enough last fall, and the Democrats are just as ball-less as ever.
Dems abandon war authority provision .
Guess it doesn’t really matter when we pull out of Iraq, because we’ll just be moving the troops to Iran. It’s so much fun having such imperialistic leaders
As an aside, our military strategy, and budget are now dependent on how it affects Israel? Nice.
Boston[“PD”] = key.stone.kops
Maine Rejects NationalReal ID
Hurray!
This is probably the best overview: http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/01/maine_says_will.html
(at least that I’ve seen)
Maine’s motto is Dirigo which means “I Lead” , it used to be said “As Maine goes, so goes the Nation”, I hope that is what will happen here.
Andy Griffith Explains the Laws of Evidence
Make it Two
One Citizen’s Bill of Impeachment
by STUART MARKOFF
A DECLARATION OF DIVORCE FROM, AND IMPEACHMENT OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THESE UNITED STATES CURRENTLY IN POWER AS OF THIS OCTOBER, 2006 IN THE TWO HUNDREDTH AND TWENTY FIFTH YEAR OF THE PROMULGATION OF THE CONSTITUTION.
When in the course of the history of this Republic, survivor of Rebellion, of the Great Depression, and of many wars, an Executive violates its contract with its citizens to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America, and fails to so uphold and defend its basic principles, putting the nation itself in jeopardy, and subverting its very purposes, then the citizens must exercise their right to reject such governance not only by the power of the vote but by petitioning the Legislative to institute proceedings of Impeachment against the Executive to reclaim the balance of the three branches as invisioned by the Authors and enshrined in the words of the Constitution itself.
To that end, We draw up this bill of high crimes and misdemeanors not only multitimes manifest but continuing, to the great harm, and maiming of this Republic, whereby we urge that the current President, Vice-President, Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, and Secretary of the Interior be impeached, removed from office, and rendered subject to prosecution for crimes against both the domestic and international order at trials by a jury of their peers, the ordinary citizens of the United States of America.
Wherefore, we list the wrongs inflicted upon us:
- Waging war by lies, distortions, and a secret agenda;
- Basing domestic policy on various grandiose usurpations of both the Legislative and Judicial functions;
- Suspending basic rights as enumerated in the Bill of Rights and in Common Law;
- Refusing to carry out the express intent of legislation by invoking the expediency of sign-off statements;
- Misusing the Armed Forces, and subjecting troops to retaliatory punishment by an Enemy;
- Creating new enemies, and destroying American prestige with aggressive, hegemonic, and destabilizing policies;
- Subverting the freedom of the press with paid propaganda disguised as open journalism;
- And in general, exercising an Incompetence so willful that its consequences may take generations to repair.
THEREFORE DO WE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES SEPARATE OURSELVES FROM OBEDIENCE TO SUCH UNLAWFUL AUTHORITY, EXCEPT AS CONTINGENT UPON SUCH TIME AS THEIR IMPEACHMENT, REMOVAL, AND TRIAL, in the trust we still have in the wisdom of the Founders and in the courage of the Legislative and the Judiciary to document and to pass judgment, and to rectify the CRIMINAL wrongs enumerated.
Herewith we pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor:
Stuart L. Markoff, Baltimore, MD
Keith Perkins, Bucksport, ME