confusionAlways loved a good quote
beggs
Auntie Shrew: “What did I tell you? Moving day.”
Mrs. Brisby: “It can’t be.”
Auntie Shrew: “It certainly can. I don’t supposed you’ve packed.”
The Secret of Nimh
Yea, it’s moving day… 2:30 AM and I am still packing. :) Movers should be here at 8:30… So, back to packing.
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
Arthur C. Clarke
Arthur C. Clarke [wikipedia.org] died today at 90. A long and productive career, as a Sci-Fi author and contributions to science and science literacy, come to an end.
Having killed for religious beliefs and then political beliefs, I believe we are now on the threshold of killing for economic beliefs.
Dr. J.W. Spellman, quoted from 1971 Winter Soldier Hearings: “What are we Doing to Vietnam?” [alternet.org]
That’s a fairly prophetic statement… in fact you should read the rest (the quote is on page two of the cited article) which follows that morsel:
It takes no prophet to predict that there will be destruction and riots and killings in the name of economic creeds in the future. And that these will seem just as valid as religion and politics have seemed to our predecessors historically.
It’s interesting that this was said by a college professor ten years before Reagan [wikipedia.org] and Thatcher [wikipedia.org] politicized the IMF and World Bank and used them to push the Washington Consensus [wikipedia.org]. The tactics, if not the basic ideas, that the IMF and World Bank pushed onto developing countries are a source of anger for many people in developing countries. Many people have linked these policies and their implementation to the Anti-American and Anti-western attitudes that have increased since the 1980s. It’s not a stretch to suggest that the current situation in Iraq is seen by many — even the majority of — people in the world as ‘killing for economic benefits.’ The Neo-con [newamericancentury.org] agenda and the many links between high level members of the Bush administration and American big-business (especially the Chaney-Halliburton situation) lend credence to this belief. True or not, it looks like we are killing for economic beliefs.
“The 20th century was about sorting out supply… [t]he 21st is going to be about sorting out demand.”
Gavin Potter, quoted in This Psychologist Might Outsmart the Math Brains Competing for the Netflix Prize [wired.com]
Won’t it be great when the computers are figuring out both the supply and the demand? The computer in my TV can decide I want to watch Gilligan’s Island reruns 24 hours a day and the networks computer can decide that Gilligan’s Island is the only TV show worth showing. Everyone will be happy!
The only kinds of fights worth having are those you’re going to lose, because somebody has to fight them and lose and lose and lose until someday, somebody who believes as you do wins. In order for somebody to win an important, major fight 100 years hence, a lot of other people have got to be willing—for the sheer fun and joy of it—to go right ahead and fight, knowing you’re going to lose. You mustn’t feel like a martyr. You’ve got to enjoy it.
I.F. Stone [wikipedia.org]