I tried to post the news article on Emilio Gutierrez in El Pais on Digg but it got rejected because it was "widely reported".
I felt I had to inform them:
Hello! This case is the other way around!
I tried to submit
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/maza/silencio/elpepuesp/20090228elpepunac_3/Tes
But I am told by your system that the article has been banned because: "This URL has been widely reported by users....."
This article is from the main Spanish newspaper "El Pais" and reports about a Emilio Gutiérrez who suffered a terrorist attack on his house in the Basque Country (as you may know the last and only place where there is still terrorism going on in Europe).
This obviously is not spam or off-topic (unless you consider european news as such).
The only "users" that would be interested in banning such an article are the terrorists themselves and their followers. They are extremists and fanatics and an absolute minority, but most probably ALL of them have been instructed to scam the web for any publication on Emilio Gutiérrez. That is the only reason why this article is "widely reported".
If in any way you want to help reduce terrorism, you should not ban the article, you should ban those users instead.
For further reference you can check the amount of supporting groups in favor of Emilio Gutiérrez at facebook, doing a search for his name. The biggest one has reached close to 20.000 supporters in just a few days:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=53107989311
Even voluntary fundraising has started up for Emilio in several places in Spain.
I am an expat from Holland, living in Spain (fortunately not the Basque Country), I am just an occasional user of Digg and have nothing to do either with Emilio or the Basque country, but as most ordinary world citizens I want justice to prevail and feel that the least I can do is to inform you that most surely your system has been misused by terrorists and their followers.
Thank you and warm regards from Seville, Spain.
Unfortunately is seems hard to find info on the whole story in english, just one for the moment
http://lippincott.wordpress.com/tag/emilio-gutierrez/
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Monday, December 29, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Religion
In my opinion religion has been one of the mayor setbacks in human progress along history.
Religion kept Europe in the middle ages. Religion is most surely the most frequently used excuse for war in human history. And for torture. And for child abuse. And for corruption. And retracted morals...
I do not believe in god, in a god whatever name is used for him/her/it (what if it turns out to be a dolphin?).
I do not have a problem with people believing in some superior being, as long as they keep it to themselves. As long as they do not use it as an excuse like mentioned above. As long as they do not want to impose this belief on me or anyone else.
How come most religions seem to want to impose themselves upon others?
How come people can do harm in name of religion?
I believe in observation and measurable causes and effects.
I believe in science.
I don't know of any war that has ever been fought in the name of science...
Scientist do normally want to convince others, but not impose.
... it's late, but I'm not done!
Goodnight.
link to remember: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=darwin-on-the-right
Religion kept Europe in the middle ages. Religion is most surely the most frequently used excuse for war in human history. And for torture. And for child abuse. And for corruption. And retracted morals...
I do not believe in god, in a god whatever name is used for him/her/it (what if it turns out to be a dolphin?).
I do not have a problem with people believing in some superior being, as long as they keep it to themselves. As long as they do not use it as an excuse like mentioned above. As long as they do not want to impose this belief on me or anyone else.
How come most religions seem to want to impose themselves upon others?
How come people can do harm in name of religion?
I believe in observation and measurable causes and effects.
I believe in science.
I don't know of any war that has ever been fought in the name of science...
Scientist do normally want to convince others, but not impose.
... it's late, but I'm not done!
Goodnight.
link to remember: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=darwin-on-the-right
Human priorities
Another sketch...
Priorities to solve to maintain and stimulate human progress:
Priorities to solve to maintain and stimulate human progress:
- Stop war and hunger (= end large scale, collective suffering)
- Human rights
Freedom of speech (internet!) and freedom to act (respecting others of course) - Sustainable development politics
- Fair trade
- Educate for harmony, not only to earn money or be productive
- De-comercialize and improve Health care (= end small scale, individual suffering)
- Living standard
- Crime (the 3 former ones are a help in this)
Up to here and further
This is just a sketch get to it out of my head. I might do something with it later
Main processes in the history of human evolution
Main processes in the history of human evolution
- Big Bang
- Forming of galaxies and planetary systems (our solar system is just one of x00.000.000)
- Life appears on earth
- Evolution leads to homo sapiens
- Homo sapiens progresses from small unorganized tribes to organized societies and politics
- Society and politics develop, between drawbacks and small steps forward, to democracy
- Arts & science advance and knowledge spreads thanks to the invention of print
- Increased democracy and science lead to the industrial revolution
- WO II definitely initiates large scale awareness of errors of the past - war - and the conscience of one human race - the declaration of human rights
- Industry leads to the free market mechanism
- Free market mechanism stimulates technological development and pushes consumerism in ever faster cycles
- Technology delivers internet
- Internet grows to the global storeroom and exchange of human knowledge, thoughts and visions.
- The cash-crash, the credit-crunch and the threat of global warming definitely start to grow large scale awareness of errors in the free market mechanism and politics in a collective sense - unlimited speculating/capitalism - and in an individual sense - greed/selfishness
---present time ------------------------------------------------------- - Exchange of knowledge and visions lead to accelerated progress in science (technological and social)
- Progress in science leads to better understanding of oneself, each other and the world and universe that surround us
- Better understanding lessens conflicts on an individual and collective scale and leads to higher living standards for more people
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Good causes
Google is now allowing its users to create themes that showcase the change they are helping to create with an application called iGoogle for Causes.
This is a good initiative, but even if the intention is fantastic, it worries me is that most causes, unfortunately, are not really a solution to the fundamental problem but a soothing of the symptoms.
I understand that the fundamental problems of war, hunger, underdevelopment, endangering nature and the planet are all direct or indirect results of western modern society's (individuals, multinationals and governments) greed and need for an ever growing production with cheap resources.
I wonder if there isn't any "cause" that addresses this directly?
As long as the fundamental problem does not disappear, a small bunch of good intentioned people will always need to reforest on one hand, while some industrial giant deforests at 10 times the speed on the other hand. That's a hard battle.
But of course, as long as we don't know how to tackle the fundamental problem, it's worth the effort to at least diminish the effects by sending money, food, medicines, doctors, teachers and scientists through all kinds of causes and networks, and hope that the global public opinion and awareness ends up overthrowing or restructuring the established system that caused the need for causes in the first place.
This is a good initiative, but even if the intention is fantastic, it worries me is that most causes, unfortunately, are not really a solution to the fundamental problem but a soothing of the symptoms.
I understand that the fundamental problems of war, hunger, underdevelopment, endangering nature and the planet are all direct or indirect results of western modern society's (individuals, multinationals and governments) greed and need for an ever growing production with cheap resources.
I wonder if there isn't any "cause" that addresses this directly?
As long as the fundamental problem does not disappear, a small bunch of good intentioned people will always need to reforest on one hand, while some industrial giant deforests at 10 times the speed on the other hand. That's a hard battle.
But of course, as long as we don't know how to tackle the fundamental problem, it's worth the effort to at least diminish the effects by sending money, food, medicines, doctors, teachers and scientists through all kinds of causes and networks, and hope that the global public opinion and awareness ends up overthrowing or restructuring the established system that caused the need for causes in the first place.
The "crisis", the greatest cut on oil production ever and climate change....
Doesn't it feel like some circle is closed, or that a certain balance is being re-established in some way?
In the last years an ever stronger growing voice can be heard the world around that climate change is the mayor threat to our planet. I think so too. And even if it's not, I still think we should not make such a mess of our collective home, exploiting and (ab)using up all it's natural resources, chopping forests, leading to extinction of a great number of species and producing more waist per person each day than a Neanderthal in his whole life-time!
It's like we are consuming up all our resources, littering and shitting in our own house. A house we can't get out of you know! So, first we shit in our backyard where we don't come to often (Africa and the third world in general), but if we feel a great sudden need we don't mind doing it under the couch (the shit we keep in our own 'developed' countries) . If we continue like this we'll end up shitting where we don't want to anyway: the kitchen sink and our dinner table (Fifth Avenue?).
For hundreds of millions of years the earth has been working as a self regulating closed circuit that was able to balance itself. But then we showed up, broke the circuit it and got it out of balance (basically in the last hundred years..). The climate is just one of several elements in this circuit and, at present, the most threatened and threatening for our survival, due to Global Warming. This is caused by the CO2 emissions as a result of using fossil fuels - coal, fuel oil and natural gas - for industry and transportation.
However, after building up gradually, my feeling that somehow some balance is in the process of being restored climaxed today!
First there were some significant drops in the stock market. Then came the Credit Crunch. This caused a drop in the construction industry, followed by a drop in the automotive industry, airlines and industry in general. Maybe I don't have the order correctly, but that's not the point, all of this happened.
And today the OPEC announced the greatest cut in oil production ever!
Isn't that amazing???
Right when we're somewhere close to the point of no return regarding Climate Change, due to global warming caused by unlimited CO2 emission through burning fossil fuels for cars and industries, the whole system collapses and, all of a sudden, industries and oil production drop like never before. Precisely those mechanisms that the mayor causes of Global Warming. Most surely this has a higher impact than the public opinion or Kyoto ever could have achieved. And in a shorter time...
Most mayor industries have dropped their production in several dozens of percents.
Doesn't it look like this fits too well to be a coincidence? Doesn't it look like we reached some invisible limit and we have been pushed back hard? Like a warning that says we cannot continue this way?
It really makes me wonder if there isn't some cosmic force or law behind it. Others may think of it as something divine. And even if it's just a coincidence, in any case, we should take advantage of the situation to rebuild things in a more responsible way.
Of course it's sad for all the individual little people that suffer from the situation, but let's hope the few big individual people and collectives (industries, companies and governments) that manage us all have learned and draw wise conclusions from it. For example avoid overspeculation that needs overproduction that forces overconsumption which generates overpolution.
It seems that most governments actually think in that direction. Everybody should, we all can do with a little less.
In the last years an ever stronger growing voice can be heard the world around that climate change is the mayor threat to our planet. I think so too. And even if it's not, I still think we should not make such a mess of our collective home, exploiting and (ab)using up all it's natural resources, chopping forests, leading to extinction of a great number of species and producing more waist per person each day than a Neanderthal in his whole life-time!
It's like we are consuming up all our resources, littering and shitting in our own house. A house we can't get out of you know! So, first we shit in our backyard where we don't come to often (Africa and the third world in general), but if we feel a great sudden need we don't mind doing it under the couch (the shit we keep in our own 'developed' countries) . If we continue like this we'll end up shitting where we don't want to anyway: the kitchen sink and our dinner table (Fifth Avenue?).
For hundreds of millions of years the earth has been working as a self regulating closed circuit that was able to balance itself. But then we showed up, broke the circuit it and got it out of balance (basically in the last hundred years..). The climate is just one of several elements in this circuit and, at present, the most threatened and threatening for our survival, due to Global Warming. This is caused by the CO2 emissions as a result of using fossil fuels - coal, fuel oil and natural gas - for industry and transportation.
However, after building up gradually, my feeling that somehow some balance is in the process of being restored climaxed today!
First there were some significant drops in the stock market. Then came the Credit Crunch. This caused a drop in the construction industry, followed by a drop in the automotive industry, airlines and industry in general. Maybe I don't have the order correctly, but that's not the point, all of this happened.
And today the OPEC announced the greatest cut in oil production ever!
Isn't that amazing???
Right when we're somewhere close to the point of no return regarding Climate Change, due to global warming caused by unlimited CO2 emission through burning fossil fuels for cars and industries, the whole system collapses and, all of a sudden, industries and oil production drop like never before. Precisely those mechanisms that the mayor causes of Global Warming. Most surely this has a higher impact than the public opinion or Kyoto ever could have achieved. And in a shorter time...
Most mayor industries have dropped their production in several dozens of percents.
Doesn't it look like this fits too well to be a coincidence? Doesn't it look like we reached some invisible limit and we have been pushed back hard? Like a warning that says we cannot continue this way?
It really makes me wonder if there isn't some cosmic force or law behind it. Others may think of it as something divine. And even if it's just a coincidence, in any case, we should take advantage of the situation to rebuild things in a more responsible way.
Of course it's sad for all the individual little people that suffer from the situation, but let's hope the few big individual people and collectives (industries, companies and governments) that manage us all have learned and draw wise conclusions from it. For example avoid overspeculation that needs overproduction that forces overconsumption which generates overpolution.
It seems that most governments actually think in that direction. Everybody should, we all can do with a little less.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
