The move.

We are in the Springs and will have interweb soon. Diatribes will then ensue! Ciao.

Lao Tzu Sunday.

The maniac GI who killed 16 Afghan women and children in their sleep makes my heart hurt, so here is one of my favorites from Lao Tzu to seek balance for that pained heart, ENJOY!

"Thirty spokes converge upon a single hub;

It is on the hole in the center that the use of the cart hinges.

We make a vessel from a lump of clay;

It is the empty space within the vessel that makes it useful.

We make doors and windows for a room;

But it is these empty spaces that make the room livable.

Thus, while the tangible has advantages,

It is the intangible that makes it useful."

#11

Viral.

Jason Russell's video about Joseph Kony is old news and I was going to stay away from it until I read this quote from Russell: "No one wants a boring documentary on Africa . . . Maybe we have to make it pop, and we have to make it cool. We view ourself as the Pixar of human rights stories . . ." That made me want to puke. I guess everything has been reduced to marketing and the fact that the video is a gross oversimplification that often bends the truth doesn't matter as long as it "pops." I think we are in grave danger of losing sight of meaning in this age of instant and omnipresent communication. If something doesn't go viral then it doesn't appear to have meaning or impact. When something does it becomes iconic regardless of its merits. This Kony video and the Occupy bullshit all signals a new phase in human communication and will eventually require a retooling of the definition of meaning. Perhaps there will need to be a new term for this kind of thing like "virtual meaning" where liking or sharing something on facebook is considered an act of courage or actually does something in the actual world. Where camping out in a park is considered a way to foment systemic transformation. It's crap and I am too tired to rant about it. As we are reduced to sound bytes and pseudo meaning our lot in the actual world run by the bad guys will keep getting worse. Ciao.

P.S. The move is underway so the diatribes will get shorter and fewer for a bit. NORAD awaits!