Slashdot Mirror
Broadband Bits
rtphokie writes "In an article covering bringing wireless and high speed internet connectivity several rural counties near Fredericksburg, VA, a county commissioner comments that transportation issues were once considered the top issue in economic development discussion, now it's the lack of high-speed Internet." Reader Darmok0685 writes "UGO has an interesting feature that explores the future of broadband, with in-depth sections that explore such technologies as Broadband Over Power Lines, WiMax, Fiber to the Home, Stratellite, and ADSL2/ADSL2+. It delves into the pros and cons, as well as giving backgrounds on each."
As someone whose political views seem to definitively prove that consciousness may exist in a non-Euclidean space (I'm somewhere to the right of Alexander Cockburn and a little to the left of Alex Jones) I regret to inform the world of the following fact:
I'm voting for John Kerry.
Let me start a few steps from "relevancy" and attempt to explain this astonishing decision.
There have always been those who would just as soon destroy everything, hoping that a New World Will Arise From The Flames Of The Old. Examples that come to mind include Souvarine, the Russian anarchist in Emile Zola's novel Germinal. More obscure examples come in the form of Nazi occultists such as Miguel Serrano and Savitri Devi, both of who believed that Adolf Hitler was the "last avatar", or "Kalki", who marked the beginning and the ending of a cycle in traditional Hindu cosmology.
Needless to say, right now there are a lot of "undecided but leaning towards Poli-Sci" types who are carelessly throwing around comparisons to George Bush and Adolf Hitler. This, in my opinion, does Hitler a great disservice. No matter what you don't like about the guy, no one can call him uninteresting. And while America is undoubtedly on the cusp of terminal Spenglerian decline, as of yet I just can't buy into the notion that American embargoes are the equivalent of concentration camps or that FOX News is somehow the equivalent of "Jud Suess." Again, this isn't to say that I am not concerned - deeply so, in fact - but I would much rather save the "Nazi" pejorative for the day when the UN jackboots are beating down our doors and confiscating our firearms.
Sorry guys, but Dubya just doesn't even come anywhere near to making the "Tenth Avatar" cut. The fact is that he's a third-rate frat boy who gets by on his appeal to the lowest-common denominator in Middle America (or is that the "norm" in Middle America?) He's plays the Big Strong Leader role for all of those cubicle drones who are susceptible to Authoritarian Personality Disorder. He throws a few bones to the socially conservative demographic in order to secure votes in the heartland, but his real loyalty is to Wall Street. If you want to get down to the nitty-gritty of the demographic that supports him - our beloved financial oligarchy - you will find that most of these people aren't particularly interested in outlawing abortion. They're much more interested in ensuring that they have a plentiful supply of cheap brown-skinned labor and keeping their income taxes low. None of these things are endearing, but I just can't buy into the notion that Bush is the epitome of a "right-wing threat." He's just not interesting enough.
Don't get me wrong. Personally, I can't stand the man. I hate his smug little mannerisms that appear on cue in a Pavlovian manner when his grinning Army of the Undead cheers him every time he uses the word "freedom" or "liberty." But however intellectually uncurious and prone to bullying he might be, he's really quite banal at the end of the day - not Evil Incarnate. Now, this personal dislike of him would be enough for me to vote against him. However, that is not the point of this post.
It's easy to see how Kerry and Bush are more the less interchangeable. Despite a few differences, it's going to be Business as Usual for the New World Order in Washington if Kerry gets elected. You can expect to see a continuation of the war in Iraq, a further perpetuation of the military-industrial complex, more offshoring, more of the War on Drugs, and no end to federal deficit spending. But there is one very important reason that you should carefully consider before you cast your vote in November.
When I was watching Errol Morris' excellent documentary The Fog Of War last week, Robert McNamara detailed some information regarding the Cuban Missile Crisis that I had not known before. Not being even close to conception during this time, this event obviously didn't make that much of an impression upon me - however, McNamara said one thing really stuck ou