The Problem with Reading

I think if you get all your news from TV, you probably are very patriotic, quite content with the way things are, and most likely a Republican (since the owners of all the major networks are Republican and push that agenda in both obvious and subtle ways). If you delve a little deeper, you probably think the Democrats could do a better job. However, the more you read, the more you see that there isn't a great deal of difference and both worship at the money trough. That is why things continue pretty much the same, no matter who is elected. The democrats were even too chickenshit to let Stephen Colbert run in an inconsequential state because they knew it would be embarrassing. So much for what they teach in school - that in America, anyone can be President.

Anyone (and it will never be a Republican) who actually comes up with the obvious - that the system needs reform - is GOING TO FACE RIDICULE or worse. All the well reasoned, intelligent things Kucinich has said in the past (and there is plenty) have not been publicised, but now that he has said he has seen a UFO, he is done for (even though he really never stood a snowballs chance). Because Howard Dean got carried away with enthusiasm, he was branded unstable. That is why Wellstone had to go.

My favorite cousin, who used to talk about politics all the time, has given up and is just trying to have fun by playing his music and teaching math creatively. I think I want to give up too as it is hopeless. There comes a time when you have to quit trying to fix an old car.

So let me tell you about my new toy. I once saw a program about how Google designed a game to make their picture tags more precise. People were shown a picture and given points if their terms matched another player and some people were so addicted to it, they did a ton of work for Google for free. Stumble Upon (and del.icio.us to a lesser degree) works by the same principle and categorizes stuff on the net. In a way, it is just an echo chamber. When you choose your preferences, you can watch videos and read articles that just mirror your prejudices, but isn't that what we all do anyway? When you find things on your own that are good, you indicate that you like it and review it. It is a way to separate the wheat from the chaff, although like wikipedia, there are jerks who try and ruin it. When you google a topic, you can see the ones that other stumble uponers have liked and in general, I think their choices are good. The problem with the internet is that there is TOO MUCH information and this addresses that in a small way. Anyway, I give it my endorsement.

For instance, I watched a program with some famous physics guy talking about creating ideas. 90% was lost on me because I didn't know what the hell he was talking about even though I strained to understand. What I did get though, was that school teaches by presenting a problem and asking you to solve it, but in real life you first have to identify the problem or even recognize that there is a problem. Cool, huh?