“Never underestimate the power of denial.” – American Beauty” Cowards can never be moral.” – Gandhi “The world is a dangerous place, not because evil people do terrible things, but because millions of people let them.” – Einstein “Just because you bury your head in the sand, doesn’t mean the
Continue readingTag: social networking
Writings of J. Todd Ring: Stressed? Read This. Amygdala Highjacking – A Few Brief Thoughts
When under great stress, or when in great fear, our biological fight or flight response is triggered strongly, the amygdala is highjacked, which then highjacks our frontal cortex and our brain, and destroys both our peace, and also our capacity for rational thought. Knowing how to respond to, or better,
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Big Exodus from Big Tech
Time for the exodus to begin in earnest from the now confirmed to be fascist and deeply Orwellian Big Tech giants. At the least, we need to begin the migration and the shift, by supporting and using the alternative social media, search engines, email, browsers, etc., which do not data
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: “Conspiracy Theory”
Remember what Chomsky said, summing it up perfectly: “The term “conspiracy theory” is used to poo-poo institutional analysis.” Exactly. And what does that mean? It means the phrase was coined by the FBI in the 1960’s to discredit the theory that the Deep State, the military industrial
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: This Is Great!
It is a strange online world we have created for ourselves, as this video amply demonstrates. Enjoy! Recommend this Post
Continue readingApril Reign: What Happens When You Just Don’t Clique?
April Reign The internet has been fantastically effective in allowing people to communicate. While post and phones and radios did allow communication across distances, they were not as easy and accessible as such things as Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Tumblr etc. are. Social networks have brought together political nations, self defined
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Reflections on tumblr, facebook and social media
Going from specifics to depth and breadth, and from particularities to universals, here are some thoughts for your consideration, for anyone who may be interested. I’ve come to love the social networking / blogging community / window onto the web which is called tumblr. That being said, tumblr is largely
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Christopher Ragan writes about the lessons we should be drawing from the 2008 financial meltdown – as well as so many similar bubbles before it: Contrary to what many people seem to believe, financial crises like the one that began five years
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Robert Reich discusses how we’d all better off if we acted in the public interest and insisted that our representatives did the same: A society — any society — is defined as a set of mutual benefits and duties embodied most visibly
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Jim Stanford discusses the OECD’s findings that job protection actually improves better employment outcomes – while “flexible” labour markets serve only to ensure less opportunity for workers. And Sid Ryan makes the case for premiers to reject a low-wage agenda. – Oil spills
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: You’re Toast. Raytheon’s RIOT Has Your Number
Leading U.S. defence contractor, Raytheon, has developed RIOT, the Rapid Overlay Information Technology software programme that can gather, sort, digest and analyze all your social media telltales. It can even predict where you’ll be and what you’ll be doing in the future. The Guardian recently got their hands on a
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – John Studzinski describes how a sense of social responsibility and a country-wide commitment to making jobs available have placed Germany in a better economic position than its European neighbours: Let me highlight some of the features unique to the Mittelstand model that
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading. – Michael Harris discusses the impending moment of truth for the Cons in owning up to their substantive failures toward Canada’s First Nations: Whether it’s Canada’s natives or its health ministers, Stephen Harper’s preferred place for his opponents is under his thumb. He has
Continue readingCanadian ProgressiveCanadian Progressive: The Best Reporting on Facebook and Your Privacy
by Theodoric Meyer | ProPublica Facebook hit the one-billion user mark last week, a little more than two years after it reached 500 million users. To mark the occasion, we’ve rounded up some of the best reads on Facebook and privacy. Facebook Raises Fears With Ad Tracking, The Financial Times, September 2012 Facebook has
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2013 – The Basics
Before I start taking an individual look at the candidates in Saskatchewan’s 2013 NDP leadership campaign, I’ll point out a few areas of discussion from past leadership races which don’t look to be matters of great distinction between the candidates this time out. Endorsements As I’ve noted before, I tend
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On open channels
Fern Hill is frustrated at how political reporters have tried to make a non-story out of the #denounceharper hashtag which trended globally yesterday as Twitter users took the opportunity to discuss what Canadians actually want for Canada Day. And I can certainly understand the concern at normally well-connected reporters choosing
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Martin Papillon offers up some lessons for the NDP in Francois Hollande’s French presidential victory: Being ideological does not have to mean being radical. It means anchoring your platform in a clear, coherent set of ideas that will resonate with the electorate, including
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Facebook is NOT The Internet – The Internet IS The (Social) Network
In the beginning there were BBSs (Bulletin Board Systems). In a foreshadowing of things to come, almost immediately following the invention of the Personal Computer (PC) they became communications devices as BBS systems were set up for hobbyists to use to share information and home-written programs. At this time PC
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: A friendly reminder
Some people who should know better are suggesting that universal media condemnation (as opposed to public involvement on social media) should be seen as the main factor in getting the Cons to climb back down on arbitrary online surveillance. So let’s take a ride in the wayback machine. It wasn’t
Continue reading