confusionRandom thoughts, frustrations, ideas and opinions. Quality not guaranteed, consume only under adult supervision
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.
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!
“It was a small amount. Back home I would not even get prosecuted.”
DJ Grooverider, Radio 1 Presenter, quoted in Radio 1 DJ jailed on drug charge [bbc.co.uk]
But your not back home. And ignorance if the law is not a defense. Even if I agree that Marijuana should be legal to posses and smoke, I still have to abide by the laws. I have to accept that if I am caught in violation of those laws I will be punished. This is especially important to remember when traveling as you are subject to the laws and punishment of the land. You don’t take your laws with you. As my passport says:
6. Familiarize yourself with local laws and customs of the countries to which you are traveling. While in a foreign country, you are subject to it’s laws.
Yea; while in a foreign country, you are subject to it’s laws. I think most Americans should remember the case of Michael Fay [wikipedia.org] the American teenager who got caned in Singapore for theft and vandalism. I think Singapore made a mistake in reducing Fay’s sentence from 6 strokes to 4 when Clinton requested clemency, it sets a bad precedent. While citizens may protest the actions of other countries, governments need to uphold a higher principle. Governments can make statements and in some cases are right in seeking diplomatic action to prevent or to stop actions being taken by another government but the situation needs to pass a basic level to warrant the attention of an entire government. The caning of a single teenager who willfully broke the law and was sentenced under due course of the law should in no way be an issue for an entire government.
The case of DJ Grooverider falls below the threshold for government action in my opinion. The crime committed was illegal in both countries and while the British penal system may have regarded the crime as a minor offense not worth of jail time the crime was not committed in Brittan.
I don’t have any pity for DJ Grooverider. You do the crime, you do the time. Even if both the crime and time are dependent on where you are.
This [openphotovr.org] is cool. An open source project written by Vladimir Slepnev [livejournal.com] that is similar to Microsoft Photosynth [wikipedia.org]. The photo of Notre Dame linked above is from my Flickr [flickr.com] photostream [flickr.com].
2021.08.01: Photosynth is discontinued, so linking to the Wikipedia page for it. The original link was labs.live.com/photosynth/