Que sera, sera, whatever will be, will be, but first I need more coffee.

Month: April 2013

Stop CISPA

Blackout is over. Returning to our regularly scheduled website. Below is the blackout and Stop CISPA info.


STOP CISPA

You may remember the fight last year to stop SOPA/PIPA. Alas, it’s back but under a new name CISPA. A call has been put out for another blackout. I participated last year. I will participate this year.

The call for the blackout

http://pastebin.com/81HcZ3ug

CISPA, or the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, is a law that would allow the government to extract your private information from the internet without a warrant. It’s the online equivalent of allowing a police officer to enter your home and start rummaging through your personal files without the permission of a court. The politicians who introduced this law pretend it will protect you but what it really does is circumvent your Fourth Amendment rights. CISPA also prevents you from suing companies when they illegally use your information.

U.S. House of Representatives Shamefully Passes CISPA; Internet Freedom Advocates Prepare for a Battle in the Senate
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/04/us-house-representatives-shamefully-passes-cispa-internet-freedom-advocates

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The Squirrel/Eichhörnchen Divide

A few years ago with some German acquaintances we saw an Irish comedian at the Kansas City Irish Festival. I forget his name and I’m too lazy to look him up. Anyway he talked about an English word Germans had difficulty pronouncing. The comedian said the German word first, Eichhörnchen, correctly. Then asked a German in the audience to say the English translation, squirrel. And there was much laughter. It’s true Germans do have a difficult time saying the word squirrel, but you know what? Americans have a more difficult time saying the German word, Eichhörnchen.

Do I have a point? Nein.

Two Thumbs Up, Two Thumbs Down, and M-I-C-K-E-Y-M-O-U-S-E

Well this has been a week for celebrity deaths, Roger Ebert (beloved film critic), Margaret Thatcher (the other half of the evil duo with Ronald Reagan), and Annette Funicello (Disney discovered teen sex sells on TV).

I joked now that Roger is gone, Hollywood will now be able to make bad movies with abandon. Let a thousand Michael Bays bloom. Sadly, they’ve always made crappy movies. Roger was there to tell us what was worth watching. I didn’t always agree with his reviews but they were always well thought out. And I really liked that he joined Twitter and expressed many of his other views as well. The Internet became his voice when he’d lost his real one. May we all find our voice regardless of what format it’s heard in.

Pull My Finger

Where does the idea of the Holy Fool come from? Is it an ancient way of telling us not to judge a person by their appearance alone? That when you look deeper that what appears foolish is masking a hidden wisdom or a simplicity that is unappreciated? A self-defense mechanism perhaps? Of course then there are idiots that remain idiots no matter how you slice it.

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