A Philosophical Debate

Me and my friend somehow got into this huge philosophical debate over conflicts within society over chat. It was so epic that I've archived it and posted its here. Its not as long of a read as your scroll bar indicates (ok maybe it is). Take some time to read it if you will.

 10:44pm
James: k + evin = kevin 

 10:44pm
Me: ok 

 10:44pm
James: guess wot 

 10:44pm
Me: wat 

 10:44pm
James: look on my wall 

 10:44pm
Me: u joined the navy? 

 10:45pm
James: read the bottom part of the seal... 

 10:45pm
Me: Marines 

 10:45pm
James: yep 

 10:46pm
Me: you dont seem like the type to join the military. Unless its the cyber defense branch of the air force 

 10:46pm
James: I'm sure that branch is laughable
and any high ranking officer that walked into that room would have it shut down immediately
air force is no place for shit like that 

 10:54pm
James: wow kevin
i could vanish from the internet for like half a year
and you say *nothing* 

 10:54pm
Me: what was I supposed to respond to? 

 10:55pm
James: i was responding to your comment on the AF 

 10:55pm
Me: you think they're useless? Bomb Pakistani's. Fly away. Mission Accomplished 

 10:56pm
James: i was talking about the cyber warfare part
not the remote control drones 

 10:56pm
Me: who else will defend us from chinese hackers? 

 10:56pm
James: the NSA?
maybe they could do their fucking job
instead of spying on us 

 10:57pm
Me: yes!
whats you view on occupy wall st? 

 10:57pm
James: i don't like what i see 

 10:58pm
Me: too many vendetta masks? 

 10:58pm
James: not enough guy Fawkes masks 

 10:58pm
Me: aren't they the same? 

 10:58pm
James: i was just saying
u can never have too many
but what i see is basically a dystopia
it's a whole bunch of people who are pissed off about something they don't know what it is
and they're pretending to be doing something about it
by pissing all over the place
to make it all even worse
ACORN is now trying to organize the whole thing 

 11:00pm
Me: isn't ACORN dead? 

 11:00pm
James: not at all
it's reorganized
same people
same goals 

 11:00pm
Me: we need a communist revolution 

 11:00pm
James: no communist revolution ever went well
I'm sorry no socialist revolution
the communist parts worked pretty well
but no one wants communism, they want socialism 

 11:01pm
Me: who will be our lenin? 

 11:01pm
James: read 1984 

 11:01pm
Me: I plan to
Did you read Jobs' biography? 

 11:02pm
James: not yet
if you read 1984
you'll start to understand everything 

 11:02pm
Me: I have the e-book on my kindle 

 11:02pm
James: i have it on iBooks
it will tell you why the masses are so stupid 

 11:03pm
Me: so true 

 11:03pm
James: they're called proles in 1984
short for proletariat 

 11:04pm
Me: did you see the film the End of America? It shows how 1984 is slowly unfolding into reality 

 11:04pm
James: oh my what we are turning into will be much worse
it's not solid yet
but we have a merger of government and enterprise 

 11:04pm
Me: fascism? 

 11:04pm
James: exactly
the NSA is our Gestapo
"thought police" 

 11:05pm
Me: and the TSA 

 11:05pm
James: they're kiddies compared to NSA
a key tenant of fascism is that the interests of the state are #1 

 11:06pm
Me: where should we seek asylum? Iceland looks very nice 

 11:06pm
James: impossible
read 1984 

 11:06pm
Me: what about russia or China? 

 11:06pm
James: globalization is a corner stone of the final stages of control
russia and china are probably closer than we are to total control
golden shield gets stronger and strong
stronger*
we still have freedom, which is worth fighting for 

 11:07pm
Me: a bunker in Svalbard? Switzerland? 

 11:08pm
James: running won't hel
help* 

 11:08pm
Me: the moon 

 11:08pm
James: it's up to us, the people who understand, to correct the problems
the masses will do nothing but occupy wall st. and march with funny revolutionary era outfits 

 11:09pm
Me: so what do we do? does 1984 have the answer? 

 11:09pm
James: no
1984 is more like a guide to total control
but in that
we can understand how to avoid it 

 11:10pm
Me: how can we avoid a fate that the government controls? 

 11:11pm
James: it's not the government we need to be worried about
not so much as the corporate powers
a point orwell makes is that
in every revolution that ever occured
the middle enlisted the low to overthrow the high
the middle become the new high and the low are kept low
then the new middle just forms
thus, revolution is not the answer 

 11:12pm
Me: But what if you were to create a classless society? 

 11:12pm
James: joseph stalin once said that society cannot ever be classless 

 11:13pm
Me: Sweden does it pretty well 

 11:13pm
James: sweden is no example
no european country is
the eurozone is completely fucked up 

 11:13pm
Me: sweden doesn't use the euro 

 11:14pm
James: it's still affected by the european economy
it may use its own currency
but the EU is intertwined 

 11:15pm
Me: Norway? 

 11:15pm
James: human nature makes anything impossible
if you apply socialism to a society
people will just stop working and collect money
like they do now
welfare is a blessing for lazy people 

 11:16pm
Me: so there is no answer? 

 11:16pm
James: unless there is a way to control human thought 

 11:16pm
Me: thinkpol 

 11:16pm
James: thought police maintains order
Oceania in 1984 would last forever because it's an ordered society 

 11:17pm
Me: there is no chance of an uprising? 

 11:17pm
James: who would uprise? 

 11:17pm
Me: the proles? 

 11:18pm
James: they are too stupid to do it properly
revolution is not the answer 

 11:18pm
Me: back to square 1 

 11:18pm
James: think about it 

 11:18pm
Me: so basically, we need to go back to a tribal, nomadic society? 

 11:18pm
James: by some magical circumstance somehow a whole bunch of people manage to overthrow our federal government
the next thing they will do is sit at the desks they just cleared
no
the masses need to wake up
the federal government is out of options 

 11:19pm
Me: but revolution isn't the answer? 

 11:19pm
James: our federal government does want to help, but is unable to because of corporate interests
not at all
you push a king off his throne
then sit it in and realize how comfortable it is
our federal government is slave to corporate interests 

 11:20pm
Me: So Anarchy is the answer? 

 11:20pm
James: no
by law, a corporation must do all it can to maximize its profits
a corporation's share holders will throw out anyone who doesn't agree to this 

 11:21pm
Me: Anarchy=No law 

 11:21pm
James: we need law
our economy is weak because no corporation wants to manufacture products here it's too expensive
the world's economy is based on material gods
goods* 

 11:22pm
Me: so how do you ultimately limit corporate power? 

 11:22pm
James: there is no answer to that
it's not possible 

 11:23pm
Me: my brain is full of fuck. Im archiving this conversation 

 11:23pm
James: lol
a corporation MUST do all it can to make the most money for its shareholders 

 11:23pm
Me: what if everyone was a shareholder? 

 11:24pm
James: who's everyone? 

 11:24pm
Me: all people 

 11:24pm
James: that goes back to the proles being fucking idiots
a prole would never show its face at a stockholders meeting
a prole wouldn't care. it just wants its money
employee owned companies are slightly different but they don't have the power that regular corporations have 

 11:25pm
Me: If you eliminate capitalism, then corporations cant exist? 

 11:25pm
James: we need capitalism
we would not be communicating if it weren't for capitalism 

 11:26pm
Me: id never thought Id hear you say that lol 

 11:26pm
James: we would have never reached the stars...
it's true 

 11:26pm
Me: the USSR reached the stars 

 11:26pm
James: why? because we were doing it
competition = capitalism
the telephone network inspired the creation of the ARPANET
the telephone was invented because Bell had an idea and people were able to capitalize on it 

 11:27pm
Me: so Biological Evolution = Capitalism too? 

 11:27pm
James: survival of the fittest
except biological creatures can't buy god 

 11:28pm
Me: we can 

 11:28pm
James: we're getting very close to dangerous research
you don't fuck with the human genome 

 11:28pm
Me: by playing god? 

 11:28pm
James: E=mc^2 

 11:28pm
Me: mutants everywhere! Resident evil IRL 

 11:28pm
James: you know what that means right? 

 11:29pm
Me: didn't they disprove that with CERN? 

 11:29pm
James: no
neutrinos don't have mass 

 11:29pm
Me: neither does light 

 11:29pm
James: yes it does. sort of...
electrons have a very very minuscule mass
but back to my point
E=mc^2 

 11:30pm
Me: light is waves 

 11:30pm
James: WANT TO ARGUE QUANTUM PHYSICS WAVES VS PHOTONS??? 

 11:30pm
Me: I dont understand such things 

 11:30pm
James: light is waves until it interacts with matter
quantum physics
but that's not why i brought up that formula 

 11:31pm
Me: how does E=mc^2 equate to 1984? 

 11:31pm
James: it doesn't
it equates to playing god 

 11:31pm
Me: how? its just a law 

 11:32pm
James: 1984 advocates stopping all meaningful scientific research 

 11:32pm
Me: well dont spoil it 

 11:32pm
James: Oceania no longer had a need to study science
back to E=mc^2
every piece of matter can be converted to energy 

 11:32pm
Me: true 

 11:32pm
James: once we figure out how to do that to any matter, the world will be destroyed 

 11:33pm
Me: we destroy our own universe? we couldn't possibly become that stupid 

 11:33pm
James: the cold war was SO close to destroying earth 

 11:33pm
Me: with nukes, not super science 

 11:33pm
James: you can see an image of two tanks in berlin facing off. american and soviet. one shot and the world would not exist right now 

 11:34pm
Me: nukes can only do so much damage 

 11:34pm
James: a nuke is just a creative way to convert mass into energy
a very very small amount of mass 

 11:35pm
Me: we'd wipe ourselves out before we could launch enough nukes to destroy the universe 

 11:35pm
James: if we ever unlocked the secrets of matter
the prospect of gaining infinite power would make anyone want to get that knowledge
threaten the world to surrender or that person would destroy it 

 11:36pm
Me: wait, can energy exist if there is no matter? 

 11:36pm
James: energy is energy
somehow the universe is supposed to balance matter and energy 

 11:37pm
Me: they only way you can truly destory matter/energy is with anti-matter 

 11:38pm
James: that's debatable
but in theory, there is no way to anihillate anything
a positron and an electron annihilate into a photon
but that photon will turn back into a positron and an electron 

 11:39pm
Me: this has drifted off topic 

 11:40pm
James: yes but it's cool
photon = light btw 

 11:40pm
Me: i know 

 11:40pm
James: the point is
power 

 11:40pm
Me: my brother wants to study physics, he might like this stuff 

 11:41pm
James: this topic was brought up because of capitalism's connection to science
science is derived from ambition with is encouraged by capitalism regulated by democracy which is supposed to be powered by the masses 

 11:41pm
Me: /thread 

 11:42pm
James: just in case the NSA is reading this
im not against the feds at all :D 

 11:42pm
Me: WE KNOW TOO MUCH!!! DBAN YOUR HARD DRIVE! 

 11:42pm
James: rm -rf / 

 11:42pm
Me: that works too 

 11:42pm
James: sudo rm -rf / 

 11:43pm
Me: I have a paper to write. Good talk.

5-hour Energy Review

Most people hate Mondays. For me Tuesdays are brutal. I have 8 hours of classes, including a 3 hour art class. I often fall half asleep during the day. So I decided to try this 5 hour energy thing I see everywhere to get me through the day.

Long story short, it doesn't work. I drank the whole bottle and I felt no spike in energy the entire day. It's basically an expensive vitamin supplement.

Strait up caffeine works much better. Eat some candy or drink some strong coffee. It keeps me alert for a good 4-5 hours and the "crash" wasn't very hard or sudden, but maybe its just me.

A Royal Wedding and Gross National Happiness

There was a royal wedding today. There was no media hype or widespread international coverage, there was no fancy cars or super tight security, there were no foreign heads of state or celebrities. Just the King, his bride and the people of Bhutan.

Today was the marriage of commoner Jetsun Pema and Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck (often called the prince charming of Asia), the King of Bhutan. A tiny Himalayan kingdom that probably almost no one has heard of. Known as the land of the thunder dragon, it remains one of the most secluded and peaceful nations on earth.

King Wangchuck wanted a simple, traditional wedding where anyone could attend, not just the press and celebrities. People from across the country flocked to the capital to see the King's wedding.

Since he became King in 2006, Wangchuck's biggest focus was to ensure Bhutan remained the happiest place on Earth, as part of the Gross National Happiness Index. He even gave up is power as an absolute monarch in 2008 and voluntarily established a constitutional monarchy and a democratically elected parliament.

"Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross National Product" - King Jigme Khesar

For years, Bhutan and its people, while not very wealthy, have been considered the happiest people on earth. The video explains it all.



When you see that there is a nation out there who's basis is peace, humility and happiness rather than growth, power and wealth; you have to wonder how backward much of the world really is.

So hear me when I say, God bless Bhutan!

How to Stop facebook Tracking

Article

It seems like everyday I hear another story on how facebook is finding new ways to track you even when off facebook. The primary way sites can track you is through cookies, little files that store information such as site preferences or cart contents. Facebook uses two cookies on you:

• Session cookies are set when you log into Facebook and they include data like your unique Facebook user ID. They are directly associated with your Facebook account. When you log out of Facebook, the session cookies are supposed to be deleted.

• Tracking cookies - also known as persistent cookies - don’t expire when you leave your Facebook account. Facebook sets one tracking cookie known as 'datr' when you visit Facebook.com, regardless of whether or not you actually have an account. This cookie sends data back to Facebook every time you make a request of Facebook.com, such as when you load a page with an embedded Facebook 'like' button. This tracking takes place regardless of whether you ever interact with a Facebook 'like' button. In effect, Facebook is getting details of where you go on the Internet

Now, you can set your browser to block cookies, but then you may lose some functionality on other sites. There may be a browser extension out there that lets you blacklist certain sties like facebook, but I am unable to find one. That would be ideal.

You will need two tools to ensure facebook can no longer track you outside of facebook; Ghostery and Mozilla Prism.

Mozilla Prism is a site-specific-browser application. It lets you run specific websites strait from your desktop like an application. You can use it for any site. Download it here. Type in facebook.com in the top box and "facebook" for its name in the bottom. Check the three boxes, then specify if you want it in on your desktop/start menu/dock etc. Launch it and your done. Note that Prism is no longer in development, so as an alternative you can just download a different browser and use it only for facebook. Cookies are specific to each browser, so since you won't be going on facebook on the same browser as the rest of your browsing, the cookies can't track you.

Secondly, you will need to stop the facebook "like" button and other widgets from loading on other sites, because even if you don't have a facebook account, those widgets will still load the facebook tracking cookies. To block these widgets, use a browser extension called Ghostery. Ive written about Ghostery before, it's my favorite browser extension. It blocks bugs like the facebook button. Download it here. It works best for Firefox and Safari, it may not work as well for other browsers.

Beware of the risks facebook poses to your privacy. Never post something you will regret.

Here's to 100 Years!

UPDATE: Epic failure on my part. I erroneously posted this on new years last year. Last year was the 99th birthday of the ROC, not the 100th. Also, although the Republic of China was officially founded on New Years Day 1912, but its birthday is celebrated on October 10th, the day of the Wuchang uprising and the beginning of the Xinhai Revolution. Today, October 10th, 2011 marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of China. Our friends at NMA can give us a little history lesson.



Today marks a very special day. Because today marks a great anniversary. Today marks the 100th Anniversary of the founding of the Republic of China. 100 years ago today, Sun Yi Xian and Kuomintang Nationalists overthrew the Qing Empire and established the Chinese Republic. In the face of three bloody wars, Japanese Imperialists and Communist threats, the Republic of China has come out strong; as a new democracy and one of the Asian Tigers. Here's to 100 more years!

The Hong Kong World Financial Center totally stole the idea of launching fireworks from a building. Above is Taipei 101, the second tallest building in the world (taller than any in Mainland China), and the worlds first skyscraper fireworks display. Enjoy and Happy New Year (until February)!

The End of America

The idea that history repeats itself in one form or another has been proven time and time again. Empires fall, people revolt, man-made disasters occur. This is what makes the future seem scary, its uncertainty. But there are always signs of the path that lies ahead, and with the state of the world as it is right now, the future looks grim, especially for someone like me with his whole life ahead of him. A faltering economy, environmental degradation, political corruption, and increasing poverty only appear to getting worse.

I have recently watched the film "The End of America" (curdiousy of the Rambling Taoist) based on the book by Naomi Wolf. It breaks down the steps a state typically takes on its way to becoming oppressive and autocratic society, particularly those of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and the Soviet Union. In the early 1930s, Germany was a functioning republic, but Hitler was able to take power by slowly implementing these steps. What is frightening is that many of these steps have already been implemented in some form right here in America. The steps are:

1) Invoke an internal and external threat to create a state of fear - Thanks to 9/11, the Bush administration used the treat of "Terrorism" to scare people into doing anything he wanted.

2) Establish secret prisons where torture can take place - Case in point, Guantanamo Bay.

3) Develop a paramilitary force that can't be democratically accounted for - The increasing use of Blackwater and other private military contractors allows the military to subvert accountability by Congress (or anyone else).

4) Surveil ordinary citizens - The state of fear created by 9/11 allowed Bush to ram the PATRIOT Act through Congress, which allows for mass surveillance of innocent people.

5) Infiltrate citizen’s groups - For years, the government has had moles infiltrate activist groups, even those completely unrelated to political issues.

6) Detain and release ordinary citizens - People (like James Yee) have often been detained without being charged with a crime because they speak out against government policy. Selective detention is used to intimidate key people.

7) Target key Individuals - Intimidating prominent people who speak out against the government in order keep the masses in fear.

8) Restrict the Press - The press' job is to investigate and report. If government wants to be secretive, they must surpress the distribution of information. The Pentagon Papers are a good example.

9) Recast criticism as espionage and dissent as treason - Label anyone who opposes government policy as treasonous and use it as an excuse to silence them (or in our case a "Terrorist").

10) Subvert the rule of law - Remove checks and balances to increase government control.

In a nutshel

The film shows how these steps are currently being implemented and how America is slowly becoming a closed society. This film may scare you, but we should heed its warning. Don't submit to fear. Stand up for what is right.

Here is the trailer:

And of course the film itself:



The morel of the story? Get out while you can. Also: