Bhopal

In 1984 DOW Chemical created a major disaster in Bhopal, affecting thousands. Lawsuits have continued for decades and many of those affected were not properly compensated. To celebrate the anniversary of this disaster, a group of folks created a spoof website and emailed thousands in protest; this action was severely censored. At the same time, many of the women survivors did a silent protest of DOW Chemical in India to object to their treatment of this; DOW Chemical is suing these peaceful protestors for costing them money because their employees were distracted. This situation is a reminder of why it is so problematic that our society and governments are controlled by corporations with greedy motives and minimal social responsibility.

forced sterilization

Against Their Wills is a magnificant (yet terrifying) article about the forced sterilization that has occurred in North Carolina and why it lasted so much longer than in other states. Aside from being an amazing article, the stylization of the article is fabulous.

identity theft

Over the holidays, “thieves nabbed personal information of 500,000 members of military and families.” Scarily enough, this data was nabbed because all medical records of the military members have been systematized and therefore are aggegatable. I wonder who will have to experience identity theft before the practice of collecting data is questioned. Often data is collected for a very different purpose than it is used. What happens when someone else believes that they have a right to this data? Or when data is sold (liquidization of a business) or when it is outright stolen? I really do hope someone tries to steal John Poindexter’s identity… i think that would be a hoot.

consumerism

Here’s a preacher i could follow: Preaching Against the ‘Evil’ of Consumerism

Don’t you love how evil is encapsulated with quotes, as though a newspaper can’t actually admit that there’s an evil element in consumerism without quoting it? I mean, could be preaching against the “evil of consumerism” which sounds awefully different than the “evil” of consumerism. But don’t forget: orange is the new pink (why couldn’t that have been a good movie???)

drug use mandatory in air force

Ah yes, another one of those articles that reminds me of how screwy the drug war is… It seems as though Air Force pilots are required to take speed when in a battle situation. And of course, i’m absolutely convinced that most truck drivers are on amphetamines when driving cross country (either illegal ones or those ones sold in every truck stop). It seems as though speed is required, condoned or at least tolerated for certain professions. And you wonder why we have a country who abuses amphetamines?

fighting for the letter i

internet or Internet? It seems as though i’m not the only one fighting for the role of the letter ‘i’ in our society.. and hell, i know that i’m not the only one who is grumpy about the different spellings/positionings of digital technology

web site vs. website
e-mail vs. E-mail vs. email

(i, of course, prefer website and email.. let them be their own unique words without having to be a descriptive of an old word.. they’ve matured to that level at least!)