Friday, November 14, 2008

A new breed of editors - sign me up

In the early 90's, before the Internet came online with AOL, I worked at Prodigy, which was an attempt to create what would have been a centralized Internet using IBM computers. The "news" content of the service was to be provided by mainstream players, but there would be many bulletin boards for 'members' as well.

I took issue with how mainstream "news" was going to be center stage and theorized/prophesied the emergence of a new breed of editors who would bring us the "news" from an entirely different perspective, without the biased control of the media barons. I argued that over time, people would gravitate to editors of their choice, based on their own interests and concerns, that is a propaganda-free news service.

I also imaged that each article published should contain a tiny red dot which members could click to go behind the scenes of the article, reply to the author, discuss the article with others, find related articles, etc.

This line of thinking became a popular subject on the employee bulletin board, and eventually management and the President of the company took interest.

As it happened, AOL and the Internet emerged, and the Prodigy approach was essentially overrun by AOL and the Internet approach. IBM and Sears tried to catchup, but it was too late. So they sold Prodigy and we were given generous packages.

I've since passed the time doing contract work and building my own software product. I understand that what's left of Prodigy has merged with Yahoo.

Over these years, I had joined and participated with an email based programmer's support group. The group has an OT posting section where "off topic" subjects are discussed. After 9/11 the war became the big, most talked about subject. Perhaps I'll post an account of my experience and the more profound lessons learned in this regard, but for now I'll just say that it moved me from that world into blogging, albeit at a snail's pace because I have much to do with my business.

It's going to be hard to find the time to do this, but I am motivated because I strongly believe that we-the-people have no choice but to stand up the tyranny that has been feeding on our government for so long and is becoming more dangerous by the day. We must stop them, and that means you and I have to get our acts together. The Internet is what (all) we have - so let's use it.

Starting this blog, I initially thought to use it to write opinions. Having spent countless hours doing so already for the email list, I have a pile of prepared material.

But then I thought that maybe a better way to do this is to become one of the new breed of editors myself. I had never thought about it this way, but every day I do read websites that I've culled on the Internet over the years, and I do come across articles that I very strongly agree with, none of which find their way into the mainstream media. Since my blog can be used to post links to these articles, and maybe with some comments, I'm thinking to draw synergy from others and also help others by saving them the time to do the research themselves (the point of the new breed of editor).

As should be very evident, I am totally against the military invasion of the Middle East. I sincerely believe that invasion was the worst foreign policy disaster America has ever been suckered into, and I am determined to do my role to stop it.

I have ideas on how to do that, but I've discovered others are thinking along the same lines.

So, without further ado, let the synergy begin!

The Vietnam Exposé That Wasn't

The point of this article is that we killed civilians indiscriminately and en masse. I know this to be true, because for months I lived with the Vietnamese in an area deemed a 'free fire zone', with the obvious implication and result.

An added comment is to point to the ignoble role played by the media, as described in this article.


Bill

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Obama and the Neocons

On Obama's foreign policy, here are two articles that everyone should read, but I fear too few will: Obama's Neocon in Residence and Conned Again?

In the 1st article, Philip Giraldi provides facts that can be checked, notably some names of people in positions of power and their connections and common interest. More importantly, for the curious, an article like this is actually a thread that can be followed to the other pieces of the puzzle.

When the haze clears from the smoke surrounding the Obama ascendancy, we will notice that the drive for military authority in the ME has advanced, not abated. People are voting for what they want Obama to be, not what he actually is. While this charade is going on, our real rulers, the Neocons, the gang who sets American foreign policy and therefore the stage our world operates on, don't give a hoot what color or background the President comes from. What matters to them is that he bows to their power.

For the researcher, much has been said about the Neocon gang's members and objectives. What seems to have escaped deserved notice is the depth of their commitment. Many members of this gang are "soldiers of Israel", whose primary mission is to nullify whatever they perceive to be "existential threats" to their beloved Israel. They reason that since they cannot live under any other authority, they must be the authority. And whatever the price, the American people will pay it.

Their mission is all or nothing, a bet our farm enterprise. Details like letting genies, such as the concept of pre-emptive war, out of bottle are part of an acceptable price, as is garnishing nukes and even using them as they deem necessary. It's good for Israel to have nukes, but it's neighbors cannot, and we Americans are guaranteeing this.

I fear that by the time enough people come to realize our duping is into an advanced stage, we may not have a chance to do anything about it. How's that? Another terrorist attack on America and we'll have martial law of some degree. Likely this will mean sedition laws and a clamping down on the Internet. Enemies of the state will be purged, and the Internet cleared of their writing.

The tools to control the internet are being tested in China now. Once tested, the same programming can be re-used. Consolidation and editorial control of TV, print and Hollywood media has wiped out any hope for uncontrolled speech in our information supply. This leaves the Internet as our only real hope, but a clampdown will snuff its flame as fast as we can say "what happened?"

What we need are new and better inventions to use the power of the Internet to construct an opposing force able to stand up to this gang. Any ideas?