One of the biggest things I'm sick of these days is the fact that we cannot really trust anything that is labeled either news or journalism to actually be accurate or to have checked their facts before being published. WHY IS THIS?
Being a journalist is meaningless these days. Yes some do the job people used to think they all did but with things like Fox News for example, and even with places like CNN just parroting statements from other "news" sources, we can't really trust any of it to really be accurate. There used to be a thing known as yellow journalism. This was thought to be the exception to the rule. Any source practiced this was not to be trusted and was obviously slanted in someway from jusst trying to publish the "truth". Well these days it seems like yellow is the norm, not the exception.
What happened to libel laws? What happened slander suits? We have polititicians no longer trying to win on their merits, we have them trying to win on their opponents flaws only. Its insane that we no longer try to pick the best candidate. Instead we now just try to pick the least of all evils. And how is it that they can get away with such distorted attacks? Such slander? See there's that word. Didn't slander used to mean that the person was lying and so they would actually get in trouble for it?
*sigh* I'm going in a couple of directions with this post today. My original idea was to basically argue that we need to have something that is "news" actually mean something. Say for example, have "news"papers lose the right to call themselves newspaper and just have to settle with the title tabloid instead. Forget letting someone call themselves "the press" if they aren't going to do their due dilligence in trying to verify the veracity of what they are reporting. Yes people can make mistakes, but the least they can do is make an effort to check their story out first. I think part of the issue today is that sadly there are no longer any real consequences to misleading us all. (btw that's a whole other subject right there... the lack of consequences to ones actions) The New York Times having to call itself a tabloid paper instead of a newspaper? Or just having to state they what they write could all just be fiction? How about the Fox Tabloid channel. That's really what it is, but yet there is nothing that prevents them from claiming to be purely about news and thus wrapping all that they say in the cloak of credibility that the title of NEWS implies.
Or maybe that's it. We now let people get away with total disingenuous arguments like "Is your mother a whore?" See its a question, not a state, so its not insulting. (stole from the Daily Show btw)
How about "Is Bush really the antichrist trying to lead us all to hell?" "Is O'reilly a paranoid schitzophrenic child molester?" And just because we asked the questions doesn't mean we have actually answer it. We can just leave it hanging for people to chew on...
The fact is, once the question has been posed it starts to lend a little credence to the idea, especially when it comes from a source that claims to be news."
Ok back to having meaning to the label "news". Some might argue against making it have a more legal meaning. For example why really bother? .. damn I can't come up with a good counter to part of my support, so I'll just toss it out there. If the label "news" weren't supposed to mean something, the there really shouldn't be any distinction between the evening news and one of the dramas that come on after it. The fact is they shows are clearly delineated as being factual and being different from fiction.
Oh well, I've lost my focus a little on this so I'll end it here. |
How much is enough???
This is a question this whole country has to start asking itself in all aspects of American life.
How much corruption in politics?
How much corporate abuse?
How much poverty?
How much pollution?
How much crime?
How much death?
How much intolerance?
How much killing?
How much war?
How many people have to be enough for us to feel "safe"?
How much profit is enough?
How much money is enough?
And for each of these they are questions we need to be asking ourselves and of our leaders and of the people that impact our lives and the lives of our fellow Americans and our fellow mankind?
The last 2 questions I think are of special importance to our country these days. |
Sadly this is because of watching a movie, which a one point was depicting scenes of someone who was arrested at night by some sort of not so secret police and then held without rights and was tortured repeatedly.
But it struck home that this was something I thought was so wrong, and yet we have all allowed parts of our own government to order people put through this sort of thing, and yet not a damned thing has happened other than maybe some embarrasment, and one location at which this was happening has been shut down. And sadly they could just as easily have opened a new location for the same and most likely have done so.
How is it that this has happened and continued to happen? How is it that there does not seem to be a damned thing we can really do to stop this injustice and punish the people that ordered it to happen, and those that seemed to think that orders were good enough reason to do this sort of thing?
Its not like there is even any doubt that this was happening, yet nothing has really been done about it?
Have we gotten to a point already where we are so helpless to do anything to stop this sort of thing almost as soon as it has happened? In many way it seems so. I had thought that if the president ordered this sort of injustice that the congress and the judiciary were there to stop him. But it seems like they are not going to do anything so then what? Do we have to wait at least 2 years for elections to occur to stop this? If enough people even decided to vote for people that might do something. If that doesn't happen, then what? Does it mean we tacitly approve? By our very inactivity does it mean we have essentially condoned this?
What is next? What can we do then? Is this what the German's felt during WWII? They thought they had an elected body, at least for awhile. They had to have known something, had some sort of clue that something they themselves would have felt was seriously wrong was going on. But what could the individuals actually do at that point? What can we do? At least was can speak out, but what good does that even really seem to do anymore?
Dammit, what can we do to actually make a change? |
There might be a little light at the end of the tunnel yet.
I have a job interview in a week, and Monday I should find out if I have another interview on the same day as this first one.
I wonder if I might hear from some of the UT positions too in a few days, or maybe IBM and Dell managers will suddenly get off their asses and call me.. and maybe pigs will be seen swooping graceful loops outside my 3rd story windowCurrent Mood: better... better get a bucket!! Current Music: http://www.airtimestream.be/live/tdp1.asx |
I hate job hunting, but at least its starting to feel like I'm making some kind of progress. Also I feel like I've "gotten the hang" of this whole cover letter thing and that my resume finally looks semi-decent.
And I even have 2 possible interviews a week from this friday. Also a friend is pulling for me at another austin company for some jobs I'm totally qualified for. And I have a few UT job apps in the works now too. Plus the slew of jobs at IBM I've applied for and the same with Dell.
Today I Christine got me personal contact for a job possiblity in Seattle, though I'm not sure if I'm qualified yet, since well I don't know the real details.
The other bit of pressure now is that my lease is up in a bit over a month and I'm jobless - aka no appearant source of income. I might look at roommate wanted postings and skip all the lease signing stuff if possible, just because I don't feel like dealing with that junk/set of doubts for the moment. Besides I really should get a roommate and save some money, and it'll force me not to hide away for long stretches of time. =P
Of course if I sign a lease here, and then get a job elsewhere... grrr
Well I've got my fingers crossed for one of the jobs in the works right now. UT job means I stay in touch with campus and will be nearby if I want to take classes. And I won't have to work over 40 hours/week without some extra compensation. =) But the money is less, but still it definitely sounds appealing.
Then again longer hours at a job I like for more money isn't so bad either.
*shrug* nuff for nowCurrent Mood:  tired Current Music: some trance stuff |
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Jun. 21st, 2005 @ 07:56 am
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Ok take 2 on this entry... it seems I managed to hit tab once while typing this into semagic and accidently select the UT Austin journal as the target for this, rather than my own journal...
I got a couple of replies telling me I probably put it in the wrong place. Well here it goes again, a little later, and in the right place
I guess I'm going to start updating this again with bits again. Though since I do have the urge to keep privacy about something from people I don't know well or don't feel that trusting of, some stuff might be made more private. Running out of money is not a lot of fun, especially when no one seems to want to respond to the many resumes I've been sending out. There's lots of jobs I'm qualifiied for that have even posted for awhile, but still no follow. So it sounds like the usual case where the manager is too busy helping their overworked team to actually hire those people they hav reqs for, which would then help team catch up.*sigh* IBM, HomeDepot corporate center IS, Dell, all are showing this trait right now. As are some others too. *sigh* And if I can't get a job, I can't stop using up my money... the end is nigh... so I've been getting bunged up worrying about this mess in circles. So you could say my mood has been less than good for awhile there. And is sometime when I make the mistake of trying to "see some possible futures" which tends to be more like "envision how then might fail, and cascade into worse failures" Now those are the run things to do to yourself. In psych terms this worry is an external locus control, which is why I'm stresssing. So one thing I need to do figure out how to view this/deal with this so I treat this is an internal locus of control. Basically external loci that cause bad things lead to stress. However I can change an internal locus if it goes bad. I guess in part I need to feel confident in my ability to do the things I need to do to treat this as an internal locus. Well I guess I need to also figure how this is framed. I need to start getting out more again, but then there's the fun money issue. I guess $2 a day for coffee to sit out at a coffee shop for 6-10 hours isn't too bad. if I just eat at home during breaks. But I need to get out because I will be far more productive about looking for jobs, and posting resumes in a more work conducive environment.s Oh well nuff of this for now. Quotes:
"the power of Christ compels you bitch!"
- Family Guy Season 4 Ep 6 said by Darren to his wifes witch mother as he sprays holy water on her.
Example of Dragonish logic:
"Somehow it reminds me of a tale one of my aunts used to tell about how she encountred a human in a faraway land and inquired if he were a native. "I ain't no native!" she was told. "I was born right here!" I quite agree with her that the only proper response when confronted by such logic was to eat him."
- Gleep the Dragon -
Robert Asprin's MYTH series
Current Mood: tired and embarassed Current Music: trance |
Hmmm now I'm trying to remember just what it was that I was writing, about what it was like trying to type under the effect of that sleep medicine. My memories of that or a little hazy. But dammit, I couldn't fall asleep!!! So here it is almost 8am and I'm still up, even though the doc said this stuff would "put him down" in 30 minutes. *sigh* I've never had much luck with sleep aids of any sort.
Lol, oh yeah I upgraded my livejournal client too. I forgot about that as well.
Oh and last thing, why the hell do people think its appropriate to play their stereos with the bass way up at 7am and at Midnight???
I guess its the thin sound transparent walls that fool them into thinking its ok.Current Mood: tired Current Music: more trance + some idiots bass line |
For the Futurama fans...
I just received an order of bulk protien shake mix. (Overall its much cheaper to order this in bulk. $40 for 10lbs vs $30 for 5lbs and so on).
Well it came in a big bag. Not a jar or box or bottle, but a big ole bag.
Think "Bachelor Chow" ala Futurama.
All these guys bulking up in the gyms living on diets of protien shakes ... from a bag.Current Mood:  amused |
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Here's a random thought, a cynic is just an idealist in denial.
Current Mood: amused |
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Mar. 7th, 2005 @ 09:31 am
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What a crappy looking day.... cloudy and gray...
About done with all the of the eps of One Piece that's I've downloaded so far.
You have to love a villian that is a transvestite ballerina with hairy legs, that goes on about loving the word "ambiguous"
Oh well, off to studying for me. That's pretty much all I plan on doing today.
Darn I wanted to post some pithy or funny quote, but just can't find anything I like right nowCurrent Mood: sleepy |
| » getting back into things |
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Well hopefully this is the start of really getting into the swing of things. Went to sleep by 12:30 and got up around 5:30. Sounds not so good, but it means I can get to sleep more easily tonight as well. And hopefully be rested enough for tomorrow.
Just sitting down to some hot food, and my special coffee drink =)
And maybe a few episodes of One Piece.
Where are we in One Piece...
Oh yeah our hero Luffy (pronounced pretty much Roofy) almost died in a battle with Crocidile. But he did survive and maybe found Croc's weakness. Get him wet and it seems he can't turn into sand properly. Ha ha. Unfortunately Luffy's pirate crew were not able to stop the rebel army from attacking and entering the capital city. So what willl happen next?
lol to sound like a real dork
gomu gomu no "suspense"
Oh yeah, I found a great solution to re-encoding all my audiobooks into much smaller but decent sounding .ogg files. Plus its easy to speed up the audio as well for those lecture series where......the.......speaker........likes..........to..........speak..........slowly
I've found out that there more about the subject. DSP filters that do what I want are refered to as stretch filters, or time stretch usually. And you can change the tempo or you can adjust the "rate" and "pitch" seperately. Tempo is all in one though, speed change with the appropriate pitch change so it doesn't sound like a rabid chipmunk. Otherwise it would up the rate, an down the pitch.
I'm using this audio player called foobar2000 to do it, along with an external encoder for ogg files, and some DSP plugins for foobar2k. Its working really well. Much better than doing it via winamp. And I couldn't find a single batch converter that also would apply dsp effects.
Oh well, breakfast is cooling off... more later maybe.
Hmm you know as much as I like sleeping in, and staying up late, getting up early really seems to bouy me up for the day.
Mar. 7th, 2005 @ 06:36 am
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| » wow a sleeping pill that works |
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trying to get the last bit6 of off to run overnight to I get the the lecture stuff on my new play, I'm convertinng to a better and much smaller format so I can have and am speeding them up 10%
typing isn't so easy now that the thing is working, I going to have to get into be soo or I may end up in this chair or something
Must get up early tomorrowe and get work done.Mostly studying for a test thrusdayu, and doing homework and catchup homework.
And working out. Also I may apply for a UT job, full time if I can get it. Doing IT stuff. I would love to get this job actually and I'm qualified. the money is less than I have made but then at other times. Plus it won't be a sweat shop.
Just need a lettert of intent, 3 reff (got) a 3-5 page sample project or code documentation I've written.
working at UT means I caan take a class everysememster for free I thinik,. And that might make have student status, so I could fence on one of the teams seriesously =)
Mar. 7th, 2005 @ 12:04 am
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| » *sigh* insomnia =P |
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Yep, been up all night, but that is about to change.
Been watching One Piece
http://animenfo.com/animetitle,731,cdbxop,one_piece.html
Its an anime series about ... um.. well it sounds weird but it turns out I find it funny. Then again I enjoy the absurd series alot. I guess the only type I tend not too like are the ones where they seem to take themselves too seriously.
Oh, and I'm finishing getting my new "toy" ready for use. Its a shame, because I didn't want to spend money on an mp3 player but I use mine too much and my old one finally bit the big one.
http://www.iriveramerica.com/prod/hd/h320.aspx
Pretty sweet. With this firmware upgrade it will even play video now. Though its not the best quality in the world. And well honestly I don't care about that aspect. The nice thing is that it plays more than just MP3. It plays wma (M$ stuff, avoiding it) and OGG =)
I like the idea of a good and open source audio format. Now if only it would support one of the dedicate voice codecs for all the audiobooks.
Oh it also records, and is just about the same size as the ipod. It has a mic in it and a line in that can be used with an external mic as well. So I can tape class lectures on it as well.
Now if only they had a tempo adjustment as well, so I could speed up voice recordings... well eventaully maybe.
Now back to some cheesy but fun anime.
btw don't you hate staying up all night to hear that one loud bird start up in the morning. As soon as you hear it you know... oh crap, I really need some sleep.
Mar. 5th, 2005 @ 05:57 am
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| » and to be a dork |
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The previous post makes me wonder if this is what some EQ person had in mind when they wrote the emote for thje clarity line of spells =)
Yes. It is definite. I am a dork =)
However the sensation really is so nice.
But it only really feels good if I'm too warm the rest of the time. No pleasure without pain?
Feb. 22nd, 2005 @ 04:38 pm
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| » ahhh one of life's simple pleasures |
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Sitting here at JP's getting work done. Its just a little too warm for my tastes, BUT
every now and then a nice cool breezes blows in,
and each time I feel the coolness blow over me
I just want lie back and bask in the feeling.
Feb. 22nd, 2005 @ 04:35 pm
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| » question for possible ponderment on communications being mostly non-verbal |
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Based on various bits from sociology studies, here's any interesting fact:
Somewhere between 90-95% of face to face communication is is non-verbal.
So thinking about this, just how do you judge what is communicated during say a conversation... So how did they arrive at this figure I wonder. In one class I think they said 93%...
Oh well that isn't the real question.
The question is how often do people end up ignoring what was verbally said and just keep the non-verbal stuff?
Well that's not exactly the question, I realized I don't have an exact question really. Well actually after working thru what I was thinking about it, that is the initial question after all.
Its more so I remembered a situation awhile back where I freaked someone out (no its no grumpy) and what ...hmmm ok so maybe I can't really say that this person freaked out over the non-verbal what it really was was they were already being weird, and then I said something that they somehow interpreted what I said in a very very different way from the literal meaning. Actually it sounds like they just heard a small piece of what I said and drew some massively wrong conclusion from just hearing just just that bit. The conclusion had very little to do with what I said. However this does make me wonder then:
How often do people get into a state where they really do quit hearing what one says literally and just start catching keywords or phrases and make all sorts of conclusions based on this?
So I guess the link to the little fact is that I was wondering sometimes people start just tuning into perceived non-verbal info and stop listening to the verbal other than when say a key word or phrase comes up.
BTW what I said was something like "if I had done that for real, I would have expected you to smack me too" in reference to jokingly hitting someone because they had teasing feinted doing something wrong or bad to the first person. However this person's interpretation I guess was something along the lines of thinking I had been trying to get them into some sort of S&M act.
How common is it for people to do this in face to face conversations? Or maybe most only do it under serious stress or perceived stress.
As I ask that one, I'm wondering if I've ever done this, and if so under what circumstances.
I can't think of anytime, except maybe if I was feeling really insecure or so uncomfortable that I couldn't really focus on most of what was going on. That or maybe when I was really upset with someone. But I can't think of when else I might have done that and actually took the interpretation seriously without first confirming what I thought I heard.
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And now the follow up is how much more or less often do men do such a thing vs women?
So is either gender more likely to form a conclusion using mostly non-verbal impressions when the verbal component is ambiguous or more particularly incomprehensible other than a key word or two.
Also I wonder if there are certain obvious traits in people that would indicate that they do this more or less than normal.
I can see a couple of traits off hand.
How used to dealing with people from cultures that are even just a little different from their own and the how much variation in the cultures of the other people. People with less exposure might tend to think that the non-verbal things couldn't be different enough to make it worth asking for someone to clarify.
Another is patience or tolerance in dealing with unclear communication. This could be either with not hearing, or not understanding the usage of the what is said.
Another might also be how well can the person hear. If they don't hear well they might get tired of asking people to repeat themselves, and just start guessing.
This does bring up something related to me though too. And that is to make sure I'm speaking clearly enough so at least people can always understand what I've said. That reminds me, I meant to dig up a book on this subject actually. Especially since enough people have commented that I don't always speak very clearly.
Ok enough procrastination =P That is all I'm doing right now I guess.
Feb. 21st, 2005 @ 10:04 pm
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| » Bill Hicks quote for the moment |
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Fundamentalist Christianity - fascinating. These people actually believe that the the world is 12,000 years old. Swear to God. Based on what? I asked them. "Well we looked at all the people in the Bible and we added 'em up all the way back to Adam and Eve, their ages: 12,000 years." Well how fucking scientific, okay. I didn't know that you'd gone to so much trouble. That's good. You believe the world's 12,000 years old? "That's right." Okay, I got one word to ask you, a one word question, ready? "Uh-huh." Dinosaurs. You know the world is 12,000 years old and dinosaurs existed, they existed in that time, you'd think it would have been mentioned in the fucking Bible at some point. "And lo Jesus and the disciples walked to Nazareth. But the trail was blocked by a giant brontosaurus... with a splinter in his paw. And O the disciples did run a shriekin': 'What a big fucking lizard, Lord!' But Jesus was unafraid and he took the splinter from the brontosaurus's paw and the big lizard became his friend. "And Jesus sent him to Scotland where he lived in a loch for O so many years inviting thousands of American tourists to bring their fat fucking families and their fat dollar bills. "And oh Scotland did praise the Lord. Thank you Lord, thank you Lord. Thank you Lord."
http://www.konformist.com/2001/hicks.htm
Feb. 16th, 2005 @ 01:31 pm
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| » I'm a fan |
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Well I found someone else that I am now a fan of. Too bad he is dead. It is the comedian Bill Hicks. Liberal, insightful, and even a bit of a conspiracy theorist. He died in 1994 of pancreatic cancer at the age of 32. For being a conteporary of Sam Kinison, a smoker, and a comedian that made fun of all the people that hated smoking, its
Here's a great bit of commentary from one of his routines:"I'm so sick of arming the world, then sending troops over to destroy the fucking arms, you know what I mean? We keep arming these little countries, then we go and blow the shit out of them. We're like the bullies of the world, y'know. We're like Jack Palance in the movie Shane, throwing the pistol at the sheepherder's feet. "Pick it up." "I don't wanna pick it up, Mister, you'll shoot me." "Pick up the gun." "Mister, I don't want no trouble. I just came downtown here to get some hard rock candy for my kids, some gingham for my wife. I don't even know what gingham is, but she goes through about ten rolls a week of that stuff. I ain't looking for no trouble, Mister." "Pick up the gun." (He picks it up. Three shots ring out.) "You all saw him - he had a gun."
Oh and here's another bit
We gotta come to some new ideas about life folks ok? I'm not being blase about abortion, it might be a real issue, it might not, doesn't matter to me. What matters is that if you believe in the sanctity of life then you believe it for life of all ages. That's what I hate about this child-worship syndrome going on. "Save the children! They're killing children! How many children were at Waco? They're killing children!" What does that mean? They reach a certain age and they're off your fucking love-list? Fuck your children, if that's the way you think then fuck you too. You either love all people of all ages or you shut the fuck up.
And another:
A lot of Christians wear crosses around their necks. You think when Jesus comes back he ever wants to see a fucking cross? It's like going up to Jackie Onassis wearing a rifle pendant.
And another:
Supreme Court says pornography is anything without artistic merit that causes sexual thoughts, that's their definition, essentially. No artistic merit, causes sexual thoughts. Hmm... Sounds like...every commercial on television, doesn't it? You know, when I see those two twins on that Doublemint commercial? I'm not thinking of gum. I am thinking of chewing, so maybe that's the connection they're trying to make.
And another
Christianity has a built-in defense system: anything that questions a belief, no matter how logical the argument is, is the work of Satan by the very fact that it makes you question a belief. It's a very interesting defense mechanism and the only way to get by it -- and believe me, I was raised Southern Baptist -- is to take massive amounts of mushrooms, sit in a field, and just go, "Show me."
And another really good one:
The world is like a ride in an amusement park. And when you choose to go on it you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and round and round. It has thrills and chills and it's very brightly coloured and it's very loud and it's fun, for a while. Some people have been on the ride for a long time and they begin to question: "Is this real, or is this just a ride?" And other people have remembered, and they come back to us, they say, "Hey, don't worry, don't be afraid, ever, because this is just a ride." And we kill those people.
And another
The worst kind of non-smokers are the ones that come up to you and cough. That's pretty fucking cruel isn't it? Do you go up to cripples and dance too?
I could add more but here is a website with some quotes
http://www.konformist.com/2001/hicks.htm
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bill_Hicks
If you do a search for "bill hicks quotes" you can find a lot of similar sites
Feb. 9th, 2005 @ 03:51 pm
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| » Douglas Adams |
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Well over the weekend I listened to the book "The Salmon of Doubt." I highly recommend that people listen to the audio version. It is very poignant to hear these people read their own writings in homage to Douglas Adams. And makes a good counter point to his humor in the rest of the book.
I can't sleep tonight and I'm listening to his book "Last Chance to See", and all I can say is I never realized that he was quite so cynical about humanity. Not that I blame him, I pretty much agree actually.
Here is a great quote from the book:
The great thing about being the only species that makes a distinction between right and wrong
is that we can make up the rules for ourselves as we go along.
- Douglas Adams -
However, this doesn't seem so cynical unless you hear it in context of the chapter. It follows reason #8 for human behaviour in the situation he had just described.
Reason 8: "We were a bunch lily livered rationalizing turds."
I highly recommend reading this book as well. Even better would be to buy a copy for a friend who doesn't believe in the need for wildlife and other natural conservation.
Oh and in the Salmon of Doubt, he also has a great essay on aetheism, that I think makes some really good points about views on religion, and how western society treats it.
However that is really the only such thing in Salmon, the rest of his included writing are well up to his usual genius.
Feb. 1st, 2005 @ 04:01 am
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| » oh yeah, China funded about a third of the US deficit last year |
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http://news.ft.com/cms/s/bd52ee06-6dad-11d9-ae0d-00000e2511c8.html
Man so what happens if we both keep doing this for another year or two, and then China decides it wants to cash in its bonds early, and all at once. The US has the much cash on hand right? right?
Jan. 25th, 2005 @ 11:47 am
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