Tag: society

Survival of the unfit

Remember accidents? We had fights and punched each other and got black and blue and learned to get over it. We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out any eyes. We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s home and knocked on the door, or rang the bell or just walked in and talked to them.

Will we become feeble before we become bionic?

Complementary currencies

There are now more than 4000 communities around the world that have started their own currency for social purposes as well. For example, there are 400 private currency systems in Japan to pay for any care for the elderly that isn’t covered by the national health insurance. They are called fureai kippu (caring relationship tickets). Here’s how they work: On my street lives an elderly gentleman who is handicapped and cannot go shopping for himself. I do the shopping for him. I help him with food preparation. I help him with the ritual bath, which is very important in Japan. For this help, I get credits. I put those credits in a savings account, and when I’m sick, I can have other people provide such services for me. Or I can electronically send my credits to my mother, who lives on the other side of the country, and somebody takes care of her. Here is an agreement within a community to use as medium of payment something other than national currencies, to solve a social problem. And it makes it possible for 100Ks of people to stay in their homes much longer than they otherwise could. Otherwise, you’d have to put most of these people into a home for seniors, which costs an arm and a leg to society, and they’re unhappy there. So nobody’s winning. In contrast, Japan has created a currency for elderly care.

if you want to invest into an alternative currency, try etoy.SHARES.

idiot gallery @ interpol

this interpol query shows some 96 idiots who are currently wanted by interpol for terrorism. not a whole lot you would think, considering that there must be 1000s of terrorist around the world. note how they are all male and ugly. there may be something to the theory that terrorists are promised virgins in the afterworld as they won’t get laid in this world.. what a bunch of losers.

Against censorship overreach

fundamentalist groups that want to curb freedom of speech are having a field day. do not give 1 cm. instead, consider the following quote from a hollywood producer:

What’s even more ominous is that CNN is currently running a poll on their website: “Would you accept more government involvement in your life if it meant more security against terrorism?” That’s really an are-you-still-beating-your-wife kind of pseudo-question, since whether you answer YES or NO doesn’t matter – it stinks either way. It is, in its own way, a kind of terrorist question. (Everybody stop now and go look up “terrorism” in the dictionary. Don’t accept what media tools say; just go look it up for yourself. We’ll wait.) What it doesn’t address is the bald reality that “security from terrorism” is impossible, due to the nature of terrorist acts. “Security from terrorism” is practically an oxymoron. Security is a comforting illusion, not an absolute. But if you answer NO to the CNN question, the perception is that one “supports terrorism.” The Spanish Inquisition couldn’t have twisted language any better.

another great quote:

Look, there are people in the USA today in 2001 who still want HUCKLEBERRY FINN out of libraries. Addressing the lunatic, repressive fringe only gives them legitimacy. If you don’t like a film, don’t give it 2 hours of your life. Period. Then shut up.