Privacy Declared Obsolete

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Just because you think you're being watched, that doesn't mean you're paranoid. Not these days. Or at least, not if you use the internet.

Internet browsers (e.g., Internet Explorer; Firefox; Chrome) need to be revamped to allow us a modicum of privacy and to allow what's done in the seclusion of our own homes and on our own computers, to stay in our own homes and on our own computers. Not to be collected as part of a monumental database to be used for whatever nefarious purposes the government/business/hacker has in its convoluted mind.

Or is personal privacy a concept belonging to a bygone era? Go to the website mentioned below and you'll have an inkling of what I'm talking about. . . and make sure to click on About, and then on some of the items in the column on the left. 

We already know that the American government is working at making it ever easier to spy on whatever citizen it may even suspect of terrorist tendencies. If such techniques as these (but much more advanced, of course!) provide it with incomplete and misleading results, or if it decides to alter the actual results to support its unfounded suspicions, Heaven help the innocents. And that could be you or me. 

Now put that sort of spy technology also into the hands of the best and brightest intellects who are employed by big corporations, or who are going solo in pursuit of power and monstrous bank accounts, and we have a vastly greater number of eyes upon us. Not to mention the occasional insane extremist out there.

Oh, but I forgot! We have more pressing problems to worry about, right? The economy, health care, insurance, etc. . . They are of the utmost importance, yes. Yet without freedom, and privacy, we have nothing.

Let's hope that privacy isn't truly obsolete, and that it isn't too late.

(See: What the Internet Knows About YOU.)

Self: Only the Slender Are Worthy‏

Self Magazine recently incensed a great many of its female readers when it chose singer Kelly Clarkson of American Idol fame to grace its cover -- and then apparently chose to Photoshop her picture to make her appear considerably thinner. Self features "fitness, nutrition, health, and beauty advice," and this August issue touts on its cover, "Total Body Confidence," with Kelly saying, "Stay true to you. . ."

Yet given this admittedly Photoshopped (i.e., digitally enhanced or modified) cover, Self is saying that Clarkson wasn't good enough as she appeared in real life, and the editor's blog post on their website, try as it might, did not convince me otherwise. Why didn't the magazine just choose another of the cookie-cutter beauties we usually see on covers emphasizing flawless looks, sex appeal, and youth? (Although I understand even these models are Photoshopped as well, to make them seem perfect.)

I suppose the aim was to celebrate Clarkson for her talent, drive, and confidence, not to mention making a profit off her ardent fans. At any rate, Self has severely undercut its credibility, if it ever had any, by claiming to preach to girls and women, Be the best that you can be, and now revealing its credo as, Only the slender are worthy.

Men may snicker, along with those lucky females who stay forever thin without trying, but an endless deluge of this dogma in its myriad forms is very effective brainwashing. And it does not serve to convert us into dainty eaters with petite figures, but instead drums into us the damaging lesson that we will be judged and found wanting, because extra weight makes us inferior human beings.

Don't Say That! (On Talk Radio)

I listen to "talk radio" (no, not Dr. Laura and not Rush Limbaugh!), and after years of simply rolling my eyes, grimacing, and shaking my head at the opening words of the average caller, I now present examples of What Not to Say:

Hello, thank you for taking my call! Long time listener, first time caller! Oh, I need to turn my radio off? Hold on for just a minute then; sorry! I'm back now. You don't want me on speakerphone? Okay; there. Can you hear me? Hello, how are you? Beautiful weather here; yesterday it was spitting rain and grey, and my weatherman Carl on Channel 4 says tomorrow it will be 90 degrees and humid -- it's not the heat, it's the humidity! I was telling the girl who answers your phone -- she's really very sweet, you should pay her more! -- how much I love your show! You are my favorite host since Merv Griffin! Remember that show you did two and a half years ago on another subject? By the way, are you related to the Smithtown Joneses by any chance? Well, my mother said to say hi and that she just loves you! I know I'm supposed to make this brief, so I just have three quick questions, and then after that I'll have a little followup. I forget your guest's name -- what was her name again? No, that other lady! How do you spell that? Is that a Russian name? Small world, my neighbors down the block came from Russia! Anyway, first I have to give you a bit of background information. Back in 1982 -- or was it '83? I know it was the year of the awful flood in the dinky town to the south. . . What? You have to move on? But I didn't get to ask my questions!

Bear in mind that on radio talk shows you may be allowed only a few seconds to voice your question or comment. But at least that means less time for all this inanity!

Burqas Not Welcome in France

President Sarkozy of France addressed Parliament on June 22nd and spoke out boldly in favor of banning the burqa there. The black or blue, tent-like garment is frequently worn by Muslim women in Islamic countries to maintain modesty and prevent triggering sexual desire in men.

The burqa covers the wearer so completely that surely she is unrecognizable. With the most extreme forms of this attire only the woman's eyes and the bridge of her nose may be visible, as well as her hands and shoes. Such a covering can be hazardous when crossing a busy street because it restricts the field of vision. All individuality is forfeited, and the women so dressed put me in mind of the unfortunate "Elephant Man," the Englishman Joseph Merrick, who sometimes resorted to covering his face in public to avoid frightening or offending others during the latter 1800s.

I agree with Sarkozy that the burqa is not religious expression, it is the subjugation of women who should be liberated from this ugly imposition that can't help but erode their spirits and sense of worth.

Here are some of President Sarkozy's words --

It is a question of freedom and of women’s dignity.

We cannot accept in our country women imprisoned behind bars, cut off from social life, deprived of identity.

The burqa is not a religious sign, it's a sign of subservience, a sign of debasement -- I want to say it solemnly. It will not be welcome on the territory of the French Republic.

Chicago Radio Host Waterboarded

Americans are still arguing over whether "waterboarding" is torture. We have been using this technique to obtain information from our captive terrorist suspects -- anything to obtain a confession, it seems. And it seems, understandably, that the victims of this and other brutalities we have inflicted will say anything to make the torture stop. So what is the information worth that we have acquired in this way?

"Waterboarding" doesn't seem to be a fitting term. "Forced drowning" is more accurate.

The outrageous radio show host, Erich "Mancow" Muller of WLS in Chicago, a right-winger, volunteered to be waterboarded, after having expressed his opinion that it was not torture. Take a look at how that went!



More on the topic here.

Atheist Dawkins' Five Minute Interview

Richard Dawkins, author of the bestselling book on atheism called The God Delusion, is an acclaimed British evolutionary biologist. Last year I received in the mail an ad for the magazine Free Inquiry, published by the Council for Secular Humanism. Included was a note from Richard Dawkins encouraging me to subscribe. His opening paragraph:

If you live in America, the chances are good that your next door neighbours believe the following: the Inventor of the laws of physics and Programmer of the DNA code decided to enter the uterus of a Jewish virgin, got himself born, then deliberately had himself tortured and executed because he couldn't think of a better way to forgive the theft of an apple, committed at the instigation of a talking snake. As Creator of the majestically expanding universe, he not only understands relativistic gravity and quantum mechanics but actually designed them. Yet what he really cares about is "sin," abortion, how often you go to church, and whether gay people should marry. Statistically, the chances are that your neighbours believe all that -- and they can vote.

I think that sums up Christianity rather nicely!

Below is a quickie interview of Dawkins from BBC News online:

Celebrities and news-makers get grilled in exactly five minutes by Matthew Stadlen in a series for the BBC News website.

RichardDawkins.net is "The Official Richard Dawkins Website."

A Skeptical Look at Passover

Since I'm not religious, I had to look this up. Jews observe Passover this year beginning yesterday, Wednesday the 8th, at sunset. According to Wikipedia:

Passover. . . is a Jewish and Samaritan holy day and festival commemorating God sparing the Hebrews when he killed the first born of Egypt, and is the seven day Feast of the Unleavened Bread (it lasts eight days in the diaspora) commemorating the Exodus from Egypt and the liberation of the Israelites from slavery.

My knowledge of Passover comes almost entirely from the classic 1956 movie The Ten Commandments, starring Charlton Heston as Moses. I view religion of any stripe as being on a par with ancient Greek and Roman mythology. In the video below, comic and political pundit Marc Maron of the internet show Break Room Live gives us his thoughts on our present version of "The Ten Plagues" of the Old Testament:



Also see the article posted on the e-zine Slate which is called, A Skeptic's Guide to Passover: Scientific explanations for the parting of the Red Sea, the 10 plagues, and the burning bush. It's worth a read.

Depressant Drug for the Annoyingly Cheerful

A news video about a prescription drug just approved by the FDA, from The Onion. Because we're all imperfect, and we all need Big Pharma to make us into better people, right?

I'm as Mad as Hell!

A timely and relevant rant from the satirical 1976 movie, Network. The senior news anchor Howard Beale vents his outrage on live TV in this now classic speech, hitting a nerve with the people, while his cynical network can only see ratings and dollar signs --

I don't have to tell you things are bad; everybody knows things are bad. It's a depression. Everybody's out of work, or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel's worth, banks are going bust, shop-keepers keep a gun under the counter, punks are running wild in the street, and there's nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there's no end to it.

We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat. And we sit watching our TVs while some local newscaster tells us that today we had fifteen homicides and sixty-three violent crimes, as if that's the way it's supposed to be!

We know things are bad, worse than bad -- they're crazy.

It's like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don't go out anymore. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we're living in is getting smaller, and all we say is, "Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials, and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone." Well, I'm not going to leave you alone.

I want you to get mad!

I don't want you to protest, I don't want you to riot, I don't want you to write to your Congressman, because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street. All I know is that first, you've got to get mad. You've gotta say, "I'm a human being, god damn it! My life has value!"

So, I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now, and go to the window, open it, and stick your head out and yell, "I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!"

Songs for a Broken Heart, Part 2

(In no particular order, with links to YouTube videos -- I'm not necessarily recommending the videos, just the songs. Also, although I found all these songs on YouTube, many may soon be pulled down due to copyright infringement. If that happens, you may only find this statement, or something similar: "This video has been removed due to terms of use violation.")

1. Nobody Knows, The Tony Rich Project
2. The End of the World, The Carpenters
3. Baby Grand, Billy Joel & Ray Charles
4. Just When I Needed You Most, Randy VanWarmer
5. How Am I Supposed to Live Without You, Michael Bolton
6. How Do I Live, Trisha Yearwood
7. Alone Again, Gilbert O'Sullivan
8. Without You, Mariah Carey
9. Since I Don't Have You, The Skyliners
10. Love Has No Pride, Linda Ronstadt
11. Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain, Willie Nelson
12. Since I Fell for You, Dusty Springfield
13. Am I That Easy to Forget, Jim Reeves
14. Long Long Time, Linda Ronstadt
15. Are You Lonesome Tonight, Elvis Presley
16. My Strongest Weakness, Wynonna Judd
17. I Can't Stop Loving You, Jim Reeves
18. Stand Tall, Burton Cummings
19. Only the Lonely, Roy Orbison
20. All Out of Love, Air Supply
21. Nights in White Satin, The Moody Blues
22. In Dreams, Roy Orbison
23. Against All Odds, Phil Collins
24. Send in the Clowns, Judy Collins
25. (In the Arms of the) Angel, Sarah McLachlan

Songs for a Broken Heart, Part 1

(In no particular order, with links to YouTube videos -- I'm not necessarily recommending the videos, just the songs. Also, although I found all these songs on YouTube, many may soon be pulled down due to copyright infringement. If that happens, you may only find this statement, or something similar: "This video has been removed due to terms of use violation.")

1. Can't Cry Hard Enough, The Williams Brothers
2. It's a Heartache, Bonnie Tyler
3. Unbreak My Heart, Toni Braxton
4. What's Forever For, Michael Martin Murphy
5. At This Moment, Billy Vera & the Beaters
6. Crying, Roy Orbison & k.d. lang
7. I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry, Hank Williams
8. All By Myself, Eric Carmen
9. Nothing Compares to You, Sinead O'Connor
10. Water From the Moon, Celine Dion
11. Yesterday, The Beatles
12. Broken Hearted Me, Anne Murray
13. Only Women Bleed, Alice Cooper
14. Love Hurts, Nazareth
15. Insensitive, Jann Arden
16. You Don't Bring Me Flowers, Barbra Streisand & Neil Diamond
17. Never Gonna Fall in Love Again, Eric Carmen
18. I'll Never Fall in Love Again, Tom Jones
19. I've Done Enough Dyin' Today, Larry Gatlin
20. Starry Starry Night, Don McLean
21. How Much I Feel, Ambrosia
22. I Go Crazy, Paul Davis
23. How Can You Mend a Broken Heart, Bee Gees
24. I Can't Make You Love Me, Bonnie Raitt
25. MacArthur Park, Richard Harris