08.15.06
Too much Web-surfing…
“God is dead.” — Nietzsche
“Nietzsche is dead.” — God Death
“Death is God.” — Some Goths and Death Metallers
“Death is dead.” — Cthullhu
And still, life goes on.
The Right of Privacy
From Congress.org:
Weekly Update August 14, 2006: Your Ideas: Constitutional Amendment: Right to Privacy. As part of our focus on activists and their ideas, we present this proposed idea for legislation from Bonita Springs, Fl. A “Privacy Amendment” to state and the U.S. Constitutions that guarantees a right to privacy in all areas of our lives. This would impact things such as telemarketeing calls, medical records access, gun registration, abortion, gay rights and many other areas of personal behavior and activity. Most of these issues were impacted by courts’ interpretations of a right to privacy and the debate as to whether the U.S. Constitution has an implied right to privacy as was decided for example in Roe v. Wade. By passing an amendment, this issue and others would be decided once and for all. Should your elected officials support or introduce a constitutional amendment that guarantees a right to privacy? Write to President Bush, Congress and your governor and state legislature to let them know your views on this idea.
This is my response:
Honorable Sirs and Mesdames, the Right of Privacy is something that needs to be specifically addressed by the Government of the United States in our Constitution, such that present and future generations shall have a protected right with regard to their personal lives, information, and individual doings (where these may not be legitimately and reasonably construed as supporting the breaking of the already esablished and accepted laws of the country). There is no reason for not ensuring the Right of Privacy, and many reasons to do so.
The 9th, 3rd, 4th, and 5th amendments are not fully adequate to the task, and it seems plain that this is so by reason of the matter being unsettled in the courts (including the court of public opinion). An amendment to the Constitution would settle this by clearly stating what the inherent right of every citizen is in regard to privacy.
Hon. Sirs and Mesdames, the government exists as an extension of both the will of the people of the United States and the wisdom of the country’s founders. To an extent it is clear that the Constitution supercedes the fashions of the day; its core values are effectively immutable. But it is equally clear that its design enjoys the ability to adapt as society changes generationally, indeed it must do so. As Jefferson pointed out, every generation needs a new revolution. Privacy ought to be a protected right, lest some in power divine in the sea change an end to their power (which they were elected to and not given in perpetuity) and seek to throw down the tide. Every wave thrown back to the sea lends itself to the creation of an unconquerable tsunami or to the making of a dead sea. Neither end ought to be thought desireable.
However clear it is to some member of our esteemed government that his or her personal opinion on some important matter is pure and true for all, it is never in his or her purview to surpass the granted authority of the country’s laws or the wise discourse of its founders with regard to the liberty of the country’s citizens.
Privacy is an essential component of liberty, being a support beam in the right of autonomy and self-rule promoted by the founders of our country and sketched out in its Constitution. We are a nation of individuals who — in order to maintain life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness — require that our personal lives remain free from trespass. American citizens are not children in need of parenting. American citizents should enjoy the greatest privilege of self-rule and autonomy, free from the untried dictates of those in positions of power who would claim the right to make them.
I hope that you will consider the desire of our nation’s founders, as well as the content and spirit of this humble letter, in supporting an amendment that will make clear the right of privacy for all citizens as part of the nation’s Constitution.
Thank you.
This letter was sent to:
- George W. Bush (R)
- Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
- Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
- Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA)
- Representative Hilda L. Solis (D-CA 32nd)
- Gloria Romero (D-CA 24th)
- Carol Liu (D-CA 44th)
08.13.06
The Web and Education: Access for All is a Necessity
![[image]](http://verywide.net/blog/wp-content/images/graphic_art/web-use2.jpg "Using the Web")
It seems a bit strange to me that, in this age of computers and their ubiquitous presence, especially in relation to the Web, my coworkers generally don’t surf the Web or use computers outside of work. They are, or so I have found, only dimly aware of what goes on online; their opinions about the Web — about a lot of things, really — seem to come mainly from the television news. None of them, so far as I know, have a blog or a MySpace page. It almost flies in the face of reason that, out of about a dozen coworkers, none of them seem to use the Internet beyond what one would call a minimal amount.
According to the Internet World Stats page for North America, Internet usage has a population penetration of 68.6 percent in this part of the world (Pew puts it, based on a more recent poll, at 73 percent in America). What’s the likelihood of so many of my coworkers being Web ignorant? And what does it mean that they are?
Two of my coworkers have asked me (at least one of them sincerely) if I thought that we, humanity, are living in the “End Times” described in the Bible and, I inferred, in the so-called prophecies of Nostrodamus. I have overheard a few discussions about this — on the surface ridiculous — topic. These are two people I know to be generally ignorant about current world events beyond what they see occasionally on whatever news network happens to be playing on the television in the break room at work. I also know that they do not understand how one would go about keeping up with current events and news online. Another coworker recently asked me, apropos of the weather, if Ohio is located near Texas. This coworker has no computer at home and does not really want one.
I bring this up because it seems to me that the less educated one is (and the less one cares about education), the less interest in or use of the Internet will be demonstrated. It would seem that the Pew Internet and American Life Project (using data gathered in 2002) found this to be true; the vast majority of Internet users in America, 83.7 percent, have a “post-graduate” level of education. Pew also found that
Over time, internet users have become more likely to note big improvements in their ability to shop and the way they pursue their hobbies and interests. A majority of internet users also consistently report that the internet helps them to do their job and improves the way the get information about health care.
A number of my coworkers have children or will likely have children, and I wonder how their children will fare. If these current and future parents have no interest in the Internet or information technology, and if their kids are not taught how to effectively utilize computers and information technology, what will become of them? Are these coworkers, themselves condemned to the wrong side of the digital divide, — are they condemning their kids to the same end?
Although it is clear that more children are now being educated in computer-equipped classrooms, it is just as clear that underfunded schools in low-income districts need help if their kids are to access the computers they need in modern America. It doesn’t take a Bill Gates to notice that American schools desperately need computers and higher technology in their classrooms if students are ever going to compete in the world marketplace. It does take, perhaps, Bill Gates to bring it to the attention of governors:
When [Melinda and I] looked at the millions of students that our high schools are not preparing for higher education – and we looked at the damaging impact that has on their lives – we came to a painful conclusion: America’s high schools are obsolete. By obsolete, I don’t just mean that our high schools are broken, flawed, and under-funded – though a case could be made for every one of those points. By obsolete, I mean that our high schools – even when they’re working exactly as designed – cannot teach our kids what they need to know today.
My daily life is inextricably tied to my access to the Web. What’s on my mind, what predominates and prevails in my consciousness, leads me to the Web like thirst leads a horse to water; I need the Web to slake my thirst for expansion, — the expansion of my knowlege, my understanding, my comprehension. I would go so far as to posit that this thirst, and this desire to quench or assuage this thirst, is necessary for any human being who would thrive as fully as she or he is capable. That we have the Web is not accidental, not dislodged from cause and effect. It is a manifestation of that thirst and desire, and it is an example — the marketplace aside — of our minds continuing to evolve and struggle to survive.
Therefore, it falls on us, each of us, to promote the Web and to do our best to ensure that it is available to all, regardless of any societal divisions. We can do that by obtaining/maintaining access to a computer for our kids and encouraging them to learn how to use the Web effectively, by fighting for the rights of all to have such access, and by supporting organizations like the Community Technology Centers’ Network. If you are reading this, then you have that responsibility to a greater or lesser degree, because you are positioned to do something to help. Even if all you do is advocate computer and Web use to your peers, friends and family, you are doing something good for society as a whole. The goal is, ultimately, to push people toward a necessary paradigm shift that considers the Web to be an everyday utility like electricity or the phone. In other words, the Web must become transparent in society, something really thought about only when it’s not working right.
Then again, it may be that what I’m really arguing for is the promotion of education and the love of education generally. And that I am, certainly. But it’s guaranteed access to and effective use of the Web that levels the playing field presently. Though the Web is not perfect, and though it has its pitfalls and dangers, it is still the most important tool in one’s toolbox, a Swiss Army knife for education, news, general information, mind expansion, entertainment, and many other things. It is a Swiss Army knife with a passkey to the world’s ongoing life told in first, second and third person (limited and omniscient). Used intelligently and effectively, there are very few limitations to what a person can learn or discover on the Web. Such a tool should not be denied to anyone.
08.09.06
Meet me at…
![[image]](http://verywide.net/blog/wp-content/images/misc_others/stumbleupon_logo.png "StumbleUpon"){kind=logo}
My StumbleUpon page. I spend a lot of time there lately, as StumbleUpon one-ups del.icio.us in a number of ways (not that the folks behind the latter site aren’t beginning to catch on). It offers the user a chance to “journal” as well as tag and review links stumbled upon. It offers many views of a user’s list of sites (”Tag Cloud”, “Pages I Like”, “Discoveries”, and more). It allows you to add (and drop, of course) friends, leave comments or reviews, and so on. You can even write a little bio for yourself and have a user pic. There’s also the nifty toolbar extension for users of Firefox/Mozilla (both of which you should have). With the toolbar extension, you can cruise about the Web seeing sites you may not have ever run across otherwise, and of course you can tailor your stumbling to suit you.
Anyway, I hope to stumble into you there.
![[image]](http://verywide.net/blog/wp-content/images/graphic_art/poem_untitled.jpg "Thoughts...")
08.01.06
A Frank and Open Statement
It is something of a truism, that when confronted by that which challenges convictions — most people turn and flee or attack in classic fight-or-flight syndrome style. Being a bi-sexual male in today’s American culture teaches that. Being pro-abortion rights teaches that. Being against a state controlled institution of marriage teaches that. Being polyamorous teaches that. Being in a bi-racial relationship teaches that. Being (effectively; in the eyes of others) an atheist teaches that. Being a supporter of the fact of evolution and a proponent of Darwin’s theory of evolution teaches that. Being politically and socially on the left teaches that.
![[image]](http://verywide.net/blog/wp-content/images/graphic_art/thoughts1.jpg "Thoughts...")
Daily, I deal with people for whom the ideas I have come to hold are treated as unacceptable, anathema, skunk-like, odious, perverse, gross, etc., etc., ad nauseam. You’d think that I stood against all that was “good” and “right” in the world, even when that’s what I’m fighting for, as I see it, even when I support others’ right to be in disagreement with me, to argue with me, to state their cases and make their points. People put their hands up, turn their heads, and basically say, “Oh, no. No way I’m getting into this with you! You’re just wrong”. I’ve had people even tell me that they especially don’t want to argue with me because they “know” I’ll trick them, beat them with logic or cleverness! I scratch my head over that one. How can it be that anyone would deny me based on the belief that I’d somehow outperform or deceive them as they stood for what must to them make sense? I mean, how could I beat them, why would I deceive them? Do they really think that I would?
But that’s just it, isn’t it? The truth has to be in their response, right? Do they really feel that they cannot defend their assertions against me? If so — and I remain somewhat doubtful — then what does that say about their assertions? Everywhere I go it’s the same: I say “I think x” and they respond that “Well, x isn’t true!” and run before I can demonstrate why it is I think x. Hrm… eh… uh… er… meh. Maybe I’m too unyielding, too passionate, too headstrong? Maybe I don’t come across as fair? Maybe I’m a black sheep following the evil shepherd of my dark heart, plotting in the infernal shadows of my wickedness? Maybe I’m just a bad seed come to sprout in the fertile ground of American/Western decadence? Maybe I’m simply that unnatural, that uncouth. But, you know, somehow I doubt it.
Thing is, I’ve thought a lot about why I am as I am, and I’ve thought about what it means that I am, and what I think about how I feel about it. I don’t tend to leave any stone unturned. I don’t tend to pass by any nook or cranny of my psyche without examining it. My identity has been hard won. Hell, I’m still winning it one day at a time, year after year. I’m forty years into learning who I am, now, and I know now that I’ll never see an end to the discovery and self-revelation. To which I say, “Great!” and “Hooray!” — because that’s my life and I’m aware of it and it seems good to me… overall. But what’s up with these issues I keep finding snapping at my heels? I mean, what the hell?
I’m the guy who holds the door open for anyone approaching it with me, stranger or not. I’m the guy who always says “please” and “thank you”. I’m the guy who smiles at you and wishes you a good day, whoever you are. If you’re rude, I’m neutral. If you’re kind, I match you. If you’re sad, I attempt to comfort you. If you’re short a bit at the check out, I’ll pay what’s left if I’ve the cash. So what is it about me, that when you learn some personal trait of mine you suddenly decide I’m horrible or unpleasant? What does it matter to you — especially when it’s something that has nothing whatsoever to do with you and harms nobody?
