Politics

SOPA and PIPA: Just say no.

No, not Pippa, but PIPA, PROTECT IP Act.((Which itself is also an acronym: “Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property (PROTECT IP) Act.”)) You may have noticed (assuming you have actually come through to this page) that my site has an initial page today protesting SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act (once the blackout is over you can read about it at Wikipedia).¹ I encourage you to go ahead and click that Wiki link because there you can put in your zip code and get the names and email addresses for your representative and complain.

I am protesting SOPA and PIPA not because I think that information wants to be free (in fact, I spoke with Information and it hates being personified and has no volition or wishes) or that I think stealing others’ works is acceptable in any sense. Rather the acts as currently written are too vague, do not give opportunity for due process, and will do nothing to stop piracy, the intended goal of the acts. ~~Pirates~~ Thieves will find a way around the restrictions and the only ones affected will be the average user like you and me.

So if this sort of activism annoys you, relax. It will all be back to normal tomorrow and you can blissfully ignore the issue again. Until you can’t.

Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) | Protect IP Act (PIPA). [↩]

Cargill asks where is “Occupy” going?

Nov 6th, 2011

by Christian Brady.

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My friend and colleague has a very astute discussion of the OWS movement where and how it has lost its way in his view. Dr. Cargill is an archaeologist and biblical scholar who is also a technologist at the University of Iowa. He focuses in on the fact that the OWS has now moved away from its original anti-greed message to making demands for free education. I think the second image is particularly perceptive since it makes note of the fact that while the OWS protestors may be “the 99%” in the US, on the global scale they are the 1% most wealthy.

Rather than stick to the core message so well articulated in the cartoon to the right, this leaderless revolution has sprawled into lists of ridiculous demands to such an extent that now Stephen Colbert (a supporter of the original movement) is even poking fun at it. The movement seems to be spinning out of control and becoming the second chance for hippie high school seniors and college freshmen like the “elected spokespeople,” Justin Wedes and “Ketchup,” who appear to be bent on making up for the fact they weren’t elected Student Body President. Or to put it as my wife put it, the current wave of OWS protesters:

…are identifying themselves as the “99%”, but are not demanding that the “1%” end world hunger. They are asking for their college tuition to be paid. They are asking for their credit card debt to be forgiven. They are asking for privileges that only the world’s wealthiest 1% enjoy, and they want it for free.

By making demands of “free college education” (elite schools of course, not state schools), “open borders migration (anyone can travel anywhere to work and live),” and “Immediate across the board debt forgiveness for all (Debt forgiveness of sovereign debt, commercial loans, home mortgages, home equity loans, credit card debt, student loans and personal loans now! All debt must be stricken from the “Books”),” the OWS movement leaves itself open to ridicule and charges of naïveté, disorganization, idealism lacking practicality, and insensitivity to those who are trulysuffering around the world.

Praying in Public Banned in Paris

Sep 16th, 2011

by Christian Brady.

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This is cross posted from my PLA blog. This post is intended to spur on discussion. The blog posts that our students are required by assignment must be longer and contain their own argument and perspective.

The new law, reported by the Telegraph, is apparently being introduced because thousands of Muslims are praying in the streets, blocking traffic. A devout Muslim is required to pray five times a day. In the US where there is the founding principal of religious freedom such laws restricting religious practice is generally denounced (although remember the outcry about a mosque in NYC “near” Ground Zero?) but France, whose history included being effectively ruled by the Catholic church, maintaining a secular stance has been vigorously pursued by the government.

What do you think about such laws? How would you handle the challenges posed by the changes brought with a massive influx of immigrants with their own traditions, religious and otherwise?

Praying in Paris streets outlawed

Praying in the streets of Paris is against the law starting Friday, after the interior minister warned that police will use force if Muslims, and those of any other faith, disobey the new rule to keep the French capital’s public spaces secular.

By Henry Samuel, Paris
5:56PM BST 15 Sep 2011
Claude Guéant said that ban could later be extended to the rest ofFrance, in particular to the Mediterranean cities of Nice and Marseilles, where “the problem persists”.
He promised the new legislation would be followed to the letter as it “hurts the sensitivities of many of our fellow citizens”.
“My vigilance will be unflinching for the law to be applied. Praying in the street is not dignified for religious practice and violates the principles of secularism, the minister told Le Figaro newspaper.
“All Muslim leaders are in agreement,” he insisted.

Washington DC – How it all gets done

Aug 1st, 2011

by Christian Brady.

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I posted this to my blog for our Presidential Leadership Academy.

Sometimes we learn best through sight and song. The debt ceiling debate has brought renewed attention to how bills become laws. This fall we will be headed to DC and will get a tour of the Capital and some amazing speakers who will give us an inside look at how Washington works. Until then, enjoy this relic of my childhood.

The power of O at TED Conferences

Jul 15th, 2011

by Christian Brady.

3 comments

This is not about Oprah.

CHE has a very interesting little piece about presentations given at TED conferences. He contrasts two speakers, one who “got the whole nerdy hipster thing going” and another who wore a blazer (but cut brains into thin slices like deli meats. I was the MC for TEDxPSU last year at Penn State and I may offer a presentation this year, so I have been thinking about what makes a good presentation myself.

Part of the enthusiasm for these talks is the fervor of the moment, face it, TED is a geek rally, a sort of Burning Man for those who don’t want to get naked, paint themselves, and do pot (or at least none of those things while sitting in an auditorium). Still, there is great value in TED talks, they can be marvelous gems and I have found them very useful in classes. But should we go for the O or the HMMMM. I think I would rather make folks think, have them still sitting in their chairs saying to themselves, “wait a minute, he might have a point.”

Slavin [hipster] got a standing ovation, while Jones [brain butcher] received fairly enthusiastic but still-seated applause.

So what does that indicate? Well, here’s what a blog post on the TEDActive site has to say:

The standing ovation is the original test of crowd wisdom. The audience reaction (and soon the online reaction) seems like a good predictor for which ideas at TED will stick and have a lasting impact on large scale.

Really? I enjoyed Slavin’s presentation and thought it was entertaining and insightful. I enjoyed Jones’s presentation, too—though, to be honest, not as much because he’s stiffer on stage. But the dude is thin-slicing the brain, people. I’m going to argue that what he’s up to has the potential to have a more lasting impact on a larger scale than the clever stylings of an app maker.

The rise of TED in recent years is amazing. Asking smart people from diverse fields to present their most brilliant ideas in 18 minutes is, in itself, brilliant. It’s awesome that there can be viral videos, like this one, that are about education and creativity rather than overly dramatic chipmunks.

But I think whether TEDsters leap from their seats and slap their palms together says more about the polish of the performer than the staying power of a particular idea.