View Full Version : US - leaders or followers
I posted this as a comment below an article a few moments ago and realized that maybe a discussion post would be more appropriate.
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ORIGINAL POST
EMH and Birdie were asking me yesterday why the US was so far behind all of the other countries. They wanted to know why we were becoming a third world nation as well as a police state, where armed police smash down doors, arrest the homeless, and cut off benefits to the unemployed.
I guess the fact that our nation is also filled with sheepish behavior regarding the operating system just adds one more concern. All the while we hide behind a cloak of words; chanting capitalism is the best way of life. Well, my grandpa used to say that if you have money in your heart then you don't have room for anything else.
My grandpa was right.
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MORE THOUGHTS
Yesterday and the day before have been rather annoying. LAUSD claims that over 10,000 teachers are going to retire in CA and yet the student population continues to grow. They've intentionally crammed thousands of students into buildings designed for hundreds. As long as I can remember they've publically stated that something must be done.
I'm a high school teacher. Sometimes I even feel like one despite how LAUSD treats me. The reality is they stink as an employer. If focus remained on LAUSD then I'd have quit the first week of teaching. Hmm.. maybe never become one. However, when you look into the eyes of a 16 year old who cannot read and has chosen to pick up an attitude to protect himself or herself then you can only blame the ones who ignored it.
Well yesterday and the day prior I almost lost my job. CAL State LA refused to sign a form that is required for my teaching credential. A particular CAL state employee stated that the course numbers didn't match and therefore she wasn't going to sign the form. LAUSD immediately sent notice that I was to be out of the classroom.
Fortunately, three professors from CAL State came to my rescue. One chewed the rear of the woman who shall remain nameless, Sandy. Sandy just didn't understand the implications of her refusal to comprehend course numbers and descriptions. She also didn't understand that she was potentially causing harm. As some people were urging me yesterday - get a lawyer.
Well, I kept my smile and odd sense of humor. It kept disarming people around me enough to reinforce that behavior. Smile -- because you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar.
Carlos is a quiet man in the student services office. He quietly picked up the form, filled it out, tapped on someone's door, and collected a signature. Monday this goes to LAUSD where someone will have to stamp and approve it. Someone else will then have their say so.. and then someone else.. and finally someone will produce a contract ...
It's all rather silly. I can go to my computer, surf to the state credential site, and renew my 30 day emergency sub credential online. However, over 20 hours of nonsense was taken to do the same for my long term emergency credential.
And where was my employer? Stinking rats were hiding. Typical cubicle mentality - it's not my job. I'm too busy. I'm too important. Me me me me me me.
This small, insignificant event is exactly what is wrong with our society and why the US citizens would rather use MS products and other commercial products rather than GNU/Linux. They think it is easier and they are too dang lazy to try something different. Worse, those who use GNU/Linux develop a smashingly stupid and aggressive attitude toward those who don't use GNU/Linux. It's a terrible problem. The poor attitudes such as "RTFM" heavily protrude from the devil advocate's foreheads.
Grrr... learn to control yourselves and GNU/Linux might actually catch on as an OS. Learn to help people. Learn to respectfully post replies to new users. Be welcoming in your attitude and gracious in someone's inability to comprehend that there are a plethora of choices in applications -- choose one -- and master it.
Above all, know and accept that our society is only as strong as our weakest link. We are a weak nation because we have chosen to ignore our most precious resource - our minds. Commercials tell us to think about ourselves. Movies focus on the brats and reinforce childish and immature behavior. The internet allows people to not develop good strong social skills. Instead of being polite and respectful, we watch people in their cars flip each other off and mutter profanity about the other drivers abilities. We isolate ourselves in little boxes (houses, cars, cubicles). We even isolate our thoughts; afraid to tell the boss what we really think, afraid to tell our spouse, afraid to tell our children, afraid to tell our friends, but never afraid to tell a stranger our problems.
No, the US is not a world leader in the sense of it being sustainable. Fortunately, we have pockets of people on private missions. Missions that help propel us and leap frog our competitors. It's that spirit of competition that may help us overcome some of the most mundane and dry social issues. Can the US do better?
Well, let's start with the operating system !
GNU/Linux can operate as a desktop OS. The best applications do not exist on it. However, if all developers (from all countries) put their minds to it -- well -- they can be the best applications. GNU/Linux didn't have good browsers. Now there are a few good ones available. GNU/Linux didn't have office applications. OpenOffice.org to the rescue. KOffice is also improving. GNU/Linux doesn't have a WYSIWYG html editor -- projects are out there. Find them and support them.
As I say to my daughters, if you want something badly enough then work for it. You can do it.
Enough said. Your turn. :wink:
Birdie
11-23-2002, 09:43 AM
That was very true! I really agree with the post. The USA really is far behind. :cry:
robbie_n
11-23-2002, 10:37 AM
A very thought-provoking post, LPH. As an aside, have you ever noticed that educators are often liberals, whereas "tech" people, like scientists, mostly try to avoid politics altogether?
A few comments, if I may:
The US Government
In an eerily familiar echo of Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, governments have used the threat of terrorism to tip the balance in their own favour in the eternal conflict between the rights of the individual and the protection of the community and the State, passing draconian new anti-terrorism laws that do away with formerly inalienable rights. In an even more ridiculous twist of fate, regimes formerly heavily criticised for laws that allowed them to lock away dissidents without trial, such as Malaysia and Singapore, are now being hailed as nations that others should emulate because these same laws, while continuing to allow the convenient detention of inconvenient political opponents, give the said States the ability to detain potential terrorists as well, all without the bothersome burden of having to provide actual proof to anybody.
While many governments, including our own, have indulged themselves in this practice, it is, perhaps paradoxically, our own that has bludgeoned the greatest gains from the climate of fear that prevailed in the days after the attacks on New York and Washington. Under the new policies of the Bush Administration, hundreds of foreign nationals, and even two Americans, have been detained without charges or lawyers under interpretations of international law that are at best dubious and at worst flagrant violations. Old agencies designed to suppress opposition have resurfaced from the deep, dark past – most notably COINTELPRO, the Counter-Intelligence Program, which was first established to monitor the Anti-War movement in the late 1960s – while others have been re-fanged by the new Patriot Act.
This cannot be good for our democracy. All groups, no matter how marginal, are given the right to freedom of thought and expression under the First Amendment. The McCarthy witch-hunts proved how easily this can be pushed aside by irresponsible States - abbetted by judges fearful of their own futures - and we are beginning to move down this fateful road once more.
The Bureaucracy
The bureaucracies that you have the misfortune of having to deal with are only a small part of the massive machine of Government that pervades every part of our lives in the United States. Often more at one with corporate America than ordinary citizens, the bureaucracy is so large that it has little oversight from anyone - it hides behind a cloak of secrecy in many cases and sometimes verges on being almost independent of the state or federal administrations.
On a personal level, bureaucrats are very, very good at restricting themselves to the letter - rather than the spirit - of the rules they work under and the regulations they enforce; as your recent encounter proves. In many cases, unfortunately, the notion of "service" has yet to occur to either the workers or their managers.
As a whole, the bureaucracies are in desperate need of reform from without - as opposed to within, as these reforms never seem to work. However, I'm at a loss as to where the impetus for these reforms should come from. Big business is corrupt, political parties are in league with the corporations anyway, and there really is nobody else with the clout.
GNU/Linux
The community as it stands is extremely fragmented, and this needs to change before Linux can become a true force. At present, distributions are built from hundreds of contributed software products, each with its own peculiarities. The plethora of applications for any given task - web browsers, word processors, desktop environments, and even modified kernels - means that there is no single "Linux" for distributions to be based off. This is a major factor behind the astounding fact that companies such as Xandros burn through $32 million simply putting the finishing touches on the bundled software, while other companies simply release the stock software in a broken or woefully incomplete software.
Every developer has an ego, it seems, and thus they want their own product, rather than pitching in on an existing one. The pointless waste of resources that are sunk into the zillion web browsers, office suites, and so forth would be far better spent improving an agreed "standard". (Interestingly, Apache seems to be unchallanged.)
In terms of the end user support experience, I would argue that some web forums are already providing world-class free support. I'm thinking of the Lycoris Community web site, of course, but I understand that MandrakeUsers and the Gentoo forums are also moving towards this model. However, the vast majority of newbies still find that painful brick wall you described in your post, and this is very disappointing. At the Lycoris Community, we're hoping to improve our support experience even further in the new future, and I hope that other web sites will learn from our example.
Every developer has an ego, it seems, and thus they want their own product, rather than pitching in on an existing one. The pointless waste of resources that are sunk into the zillion web browsers, office suites, and so forth would be far better spent improving an agreed "standard". (Interestingly, Apache seems to be unchallanged.)
WOW. Couldn't have said it better myself. Our site places a note in the about tuxreports stating that people must leave their egos at the door. Maybe that's why the posts in the forum over the last few years has been so low :lol:
robbie_n
11-23-2002, 10:47 AM
In related news, my ego is fed by writing these essay-length posts that nobody reads anyway :-P ;-)
In related news, my ego is fed by writing these essay-length posts that nobody reads anyway :-P ;-)
I read them but don't speak up here :roll: very often :lol:
Sorry you are hitting some rough spots.
Hope things work out.
We are the frogs in the pot.
the water is being heated slowly so we do not jump out even as we are boiled
in the pot of Corruption. Or as Madge said, "Corruption ? You are soaking in it now."
Linux is indeed a ray of hope.
Just as those currently in charge of the system are under the cover of National Security
moving America closer to an Orwellian State, so too will the counterbalancing forces of openess,meritocracy,sharing, and that dangerous and currently unfashionable concept, practical altruism ( the ideal that dare not speak its name) shall by stealth enter into
world even if they are buried deep within in a Corporate offering of Linux.
Some say there are no truths. Just lies we accept as true, some beautiful, some otherwise. So find yourself a beautiful lie.
Linux is as good as any.
Kraig
11-23-2002, 05:51 PM
I've been to many countries and I wouldn't say that we were third world. I guess parts of LA county look that way but take a trip down to TJ and it will put things into perspective. I think its important to remind ourselves just how nice we have it. We are the freest country in the world and the freedoms need defended. I have the right to say what i want own a gun (a savage 308 rifle) and go where i like. All in all what a wonderful country we live in.
robbie_n
11-23-2002, 05:56 PM
My issue with the dictatorial leanings of the current Administration is that they want (and now have) the power to lock people away without proper due process.
Arbitrary arrests and imprisonment without trial smack of third world dictatorships such as Zimbabwe. Sure, we're not there yet, but the Government's attempts to take us down this road bring us closer than we realize.
I've been to many countries and I wouldn't say that we were third world. I guess parts of LA county look that way but take a trip down to TJ and it will put things into perspective. I think its important to remind ourselves just how nice we have it. We are the freest country in the world and the freedoms need defended. I have the right to say what i want own a gun (a savage 308 rifle) and go where i like. All in all what a wonderful country we live in.
I'm fine with the US as long as we build on our ideals and not rest on them. Too many people died defending our rights to just give them up because we are too lazy ourselves. Yes, put the shoes of the homeless onto your own feet and suddenly the US doesn't look so great. Try to walk in those shoes and you might find out just how difficult it is to accomplish anything.
But as robbie said - it seems that the educators are liberals and scientists are passive. Well, the US is great because we all have the duty and responsibility to openly discuss how to make things better. It's also why GNU/Linux discussions are important -- because it needs to be better -- and it too should be discussed in that context.
Kraig
11-23-2002, 06:19 PM
"dictatorial leanings" is a title better suited for the Clinton administration with Janet Reno at waco and Ruby ridge and SWAT teams busting in doors to return children to dictators. I have seen no "Arbitrary arrests" although i understand how one would come to that conclusion watching the liberal media such as CNN and ABC. I prefer Foxnews its more balanced.
robbie_n
11-23-2002, 06:29 PM
The Clinton Administration wasn't as bad as the Bush Administration (just). But whereas Reno "splashed out" every so often, Ashcroft & Co. seem to want to make a life's work of getting new ways to spy on and arrest people. Examples include the reinvention of COINTELPRO, the removal of US citizens to the military custody beyond the reach of the courts, and the flagrant violations of international law with this "unlawful combatants" rubbish.
WRT the news, I watch CBS :-)
Kraig
11-23-2002, 07:06 PM
I see where your going wrong. The civilians are not charged with Civil crimes. They didn't rob a bank or beat there wives they committed acts of war. They by there treachery and committing war on our country have put them into military jurisdiction. Its not a civil matter at all.
robbie_n
11-23-2002, 07:11 PM
I respectfully disagree. Citizens suspected of betraying our country should be tried for treason, if the evidence warrents it.
This satisfies the need for justice and our constitutional obligations to towards our legal system, with its inherent checks and balances.
In no circumstances should a citizen be tried by the Government in the same manner as a non-citizen in a closed court exempt from the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court (which declined to intervene in Cuba because it wasn't on US soil).
Kraig
11-23-2002, 07:22 PM
The bush administration is handling this war beautifully. Democrats have been crying fool but that's just for headlines. The realities all of ashcrofts tough new measures have held up in the liberal courts. As far as military tribunals that's always the way we have handled these kinds of problems. The US citizen Nazi traitor saboteurs in world war for for example. real life in america is not the Xfiles. I know i work in the field.
robbie_n
11-23-2002, 07:29 PM
The realities all of ashcrofts tough new measures have held up in the liberal courts.
I think you'll find that that's because the Republicans have been busy stacking the courts with conservatives for some time now.
As far as military tribunals that's always the way we have handled these kinds of problems. The US citizen Nazi traitor saboteurs in world war for for example. real life in america is not the Xfiles.
I don't watch the X-Files. I do believe in the adversarial system and in trial by peers. While I respect the fact that the Government has to beef up security, I think they've gone waaay too far, and have ridden a wave of hysteria smack bang into the Constitution of the United States of America. Even the myopic Supreme Court eventually struck down the last remnants of McCarthyism in the late 50s in favor of the First Amendment, and I think that it's only a matter of time until someone finds a way to force it to do so again in this latest round of authoritarianism.
The bush administration is handling this war beautifully. Democrats have been crying fool but that's just for headlines. The realities all of ashcrofts tough new measures have held up in the liberal courts. As far as military tribunals that's always the way we have handled these kinds of problems. The US citizen Nazi traitor saboteurs in world war for for example. real life in america is not the Xfiles. I know i work in the field.
One of the most important values of being a US citizen is to learn both sides of an argument and then choose one or the other. Thank you both for bringing the two polar views to the table. I'd like to offer another view.
From the begining, the US government was designed with checks and balances so that one person does not have all of the power. There were also designs to ensure that the citizens were able to help shape the direction of the country by electing officials who would choose certain things for us. If the elected official does not do as the majority wishes then we do not elect the individual again. However, many people do not vote and this tilts the balance of power to those who do vote. There are people who make the decision not to vote but there is a whole social class that is not allowed to vote because they have lost their provilidge. For example, people who used to fight against civil rights violations and were jailed are no longer eligible. Also, people who have been jailed because of our war on drugs.... in fact, we jail over 60% of our high school drop outs and then they become forbidden by law to vote.
robbie_n
11-23-2002, 08:25 PM
Goodness, this is one heavy thread!
However, many people do not vote and this tilts the balance of power to those who do vote.
This one's a double-edged sword. I think that we probably need a compulsorary voting system like the Australians have (at least in national and state elections). That way everyone counts. On the other hand, the First Amendment can be interpreted as disallowing this - it's your right not to vote, because the act is an expression, which, under said Amendment, must be allowed. However, even if it requires constitutional reform, I believe that compulsorary voting should be introduced.
There are people who make the decision not to vote but there is a whole social class that is not allowed to vote because they have lost their provilidge. For example, people who used to fight against civil rights violations and were jailed are no longer eligible. Also, people who have been jailed because of our war on drugs.... in fact, we jail over 60% of our high school drop outs and then they become forbidden by law to vote.
This is a disgrace. The concept of jail is designed around redemption: you do your time and pay your debts to society, and then rejoin the community as an equal once again. As you've said, this creates an underclass of sub-citizens who are no longer part of the democratic process.
Firstly, this is a disgrace because every citizen should be entitled to exercise their vote on election day. Secondly, however, it feeds social discontent, and may even cause such unfortunate people to move towards radical politics because it is only there that are they welcomed.
Lastly, I have a comment regarding elected officials. It is my opinion that we elect too many officials in our justice system. Every major player in our justice system (with the exception of the Supreme Court justices) are always faced with re-election, and this often shapes their handling of cases. This includes both District Attorneys and judges at most levels of the court system. This warps the entire justice system because the players cannot be independent of public opinion - it allows mob justice (fed by public opinion) to flourish unchecked.
There is very little separation of ideals between so-called liberal and conservative parties anymore. Statements like 'liberal media' and 'liberal courts' are completely deprecated. There are liberal republicans as well as conservative democrats, so both of those parties' previous definitions are deprecated as well. Traditionally republicans have been conservative but the wind has shifted greatly over the years.
To say Bush's administration is handling a war well is just ridiculous. He's not handling a war, he's creating one, because Israel doesn't feel safe. Saddam has zero intentions of sending missles overseas to America, and if he does, it's because we're the Iron Shield forever protecting Israel. You'd be surprised at just how many countries and terrorist organizations target us for that singular reason. The only true peace in the Middle East will come when Israel is obliterated and returned to the previous owners, the Palestinians.
Kraig sounds alot like someone who reads plenty of right-wing literature that creates an us vs. them mentality. Typically gun-nuts, NRA members, backwoods hillbillies, etc. are the first readership of such publications. Any moron with an agenda and a decent grasp of the English language can create a following among like-minded individuals. His argument about why he has a rifle is hilarious. The constitutional right to bear arms was outdated hundreds of years ago when it became impossible to obtain arms comparable to what the US government and the military has at their disposal. After all, the amendment was written in the spirit that, in the event that your country and government turned on you, you could reasonably defend yourself, and possibly succeed. While this was a good idea at the time, the complete lack of public access to serious military hardware instantly negates this amendment. The day I can buy a few M1-A1 Abrams tanks, a G36 assault rifle and a handful of HE grenades, the amendment will make sense. For now, it's just foolish. After all, who could defend themselves against a military raid? Branch Davidians? LOL
it is one of the freer countries in the World, but the freest ?
Canada, Australia,England, Scotland,Demmarkd,
Sweden,Norway etc. might disagree.
What America has more of than most countries is hubris and myopia.
That is why during the Clinton Impeachment hearings a Republican House member took to the floor and announced that "the real importance of these procedures is to ensure that the United States remain the only country in the World where the rule of Law matters."
I didn't know whether to snort or laugh or cry.
The rule of law doesn't matter in Sweden ?
How come they have lower crime rates?
As to Fox News, Rupert Murdoch whose News Corps owns Fox news wouldn't be shy
about saying that they give a more right of centre perspective..
True,O'Reilly has been showing eclectic tendencies lately but that is just on his show
and he has taken some heat from the wingnut peanut gallery because of it.
Don't get me wrong, USA is OK, and one should be proud of your country, but true wisdom lies in knowing your strengths _and_ your weaknesses.
And the usa has plenty of the latter.
be just as wongheaded as rightwingers.
guest wrote,
" and if he does, it's because we're the Iron Shield forever protecting Israel. You'd be surprised at just how many countries and terrorist organizations target us for that singular reason. The only true peace in the Middle East will come when Israel is obliterated and returned to the previous owners, the Palestinians. "
Wrong. Osama is on the record that what radicalized him against
America was when they sullied the Sacred Lands of Saudia Arabia
with the presence of American Troops . The troops were there
for the Gulf War which was mostly about protecting America's oil
supply.
That is why If Israel didn' t exist he would still have bombed the WTC.
And if Israel went away , radical Islam would still have a hate-on for
Uncle Sam.
Which isn't to say that Sadaam or Osam aren't above exploiting
hatred of Israel to further their goals. Or even that American support
for Israel doesn't exacerbate the situation. But is is not the main
reason radical Islam hates the West.
They hate us because they hate and fear freedom and openness.
they hate us because the Middle Ages hates the modern world.
And if you are a Westerner, like it or not they hate you regardless of
your thoughts on Israel.
Clipped from http://editorandpublisher.com/editorandpublisher/headlines/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1742957
There's no easy explanation as to why Spain has become such a popular breeding ground for next-generation systems. A small market even by European standards -- there are some 139 dailies (including sports and financial papers) with a combined daily circulation of about 4.3 million -- until now it has not been a major player in the systems market. Nevertheless, Spanish publishers have never shied away from trying out new technologies. In fact, Spain was home to the world's first all-digital-desktop newspaper, El Sol, launched back in 1991.
Kraig
11-24-2002, 09:39 AM
For the record I live in West Virginia (though no hill billy) and serve in the military and Read Plenty of everything. My favorite site for news is Free Republic (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/browse) a wonderful news and discussion site. I'm not a member of the NRA but i do think that it is a wonderful organization that helps protect our constitutional rights. Tomorrow's opening day of deer season here and hopefully i'm lucky enough to bring my family home some meat. We are blessed with an over abundance of deer here thanks to good game management. If you disagree with anything i've said please explain where you think i've gone wrong. Name calling is immature and does not enlighten anyone.
helios
11-24-2002, 09:52 AM
Name calling is immature and does not enlighten anyone.
All of us who read this site agree and besides let's get back onto the subject !
The GNU/Linux community needs to unite and not get too scattered. My motto is choose one project and support it.
I'm curious how many distros others have you tried?
Why isn't there a poll on this site?
I'm curious how many distros others have you tried?
Why isn't there a poll on this site?
There isn't a poll because most other sites offer them and this site doesn't try to be like other sites .... I've tried a few distros :-) And I like your motto.
Kraig
11-24-2002, 10:05 AM
Mandrake 6.0 up to 8.2 and Corel 1 and 1.2, Storm linux, Suse 6.2, Redhat 6 to 7.0, Lindows, tried to install debian :(, Lycoris L/X, BearOS, Xandros beta 1, and i'm sure there others i'm forgetting.
helios
11-24-2002, 10:06 AM
There isn't a poll because most other sites offer them and this site doesn't try to be like other sites .... I've tried a few distros :-) And I like your motto.
OK. Makes sense.
A few? I've only tried Mandrake and SuSE. Both seem good but I'm new to Linux and the community.
[quote="Anonymous"]be just as wongheaded as rightwingers.
guest wrote,
"Wrong. Osama is on the record that what radicalized him against
America was when they sullied the Sacred Lands of Saudia Arabia
with the presence of American Troops . The troops were there
for the Gulf War which was mostly about protecting America's oil
supply."
While I agree that the Gulf War was nothing more than protecting an oil supply, this new war is different. We are indeed protecting Israel, because they're practically the only nation being threatened by the presence of Saddam's weapon supply. Don't forget that Saddam has been paying up to $30k per person that successfully suicide bombs people in Israel. He supports the Palestinian movement and rejects Israel's sovereignity.
In a 1998 interview with ABC reporter John Miller, conducted in May, Osama Bin Laden had this to say.
"...So we tell the Americans as people, and we tell the mothers of soldiers and American mothers in general that if they value their lives and the lives of their children, to find a nationalistic government that will look after their interests and not the interests of the Jews.
The continuation of tyranny will bring the fight to America, as Ramzi Yousef and others did. This is my message to the American people: to look for a serious government that looks out for their interests and does not attack others, their lands, or their honor.
And my word to American journalists is not to ask why we did that but ask what their government has done that forced us to defend ourselves. It is our duty to lead people to the light."
Sounds to me like Osama attacked us for a number of reasons, one of which being our support of Israel. We really need to re-think our foreign relations in the Middle East. Giving Israel and Egypt 6 billion dollars in foreign aid, and earmarking 75% of that aid to be spent on American-made weapons...just isn't a good idea.
Kraig
11-24-2002, 11:35 AM
Isreal is the ONLY real democracy in the region and they need our support. I'm so thankful our nation has the courage and the streengh to stand up to the murderious thugs in the region.
It all depends on how we look at it. As a co-founder of a linux based company, I certainly think that we are not behind--assuming that we defined Americans as naturalized citizens as well.
Here in Boston/Cambridge, MA I see alot of life science, tech devleopment as well as open source. The adoption rate here is pretty good. To be sure, Cambridge, MA is not representative of US but neither is Hollywood , NYC or Silicon Valley. They are pockets of very dynamic industries.
Whether GNU/linux succeeds in the US remains to be seen but I believe Americans will rise to the occasion. We have, several times before.
I posted this as a comment below an article a few moments ago and realized that maybe a discussion post would be more appropriate.
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ORIGINAL POST
EMH and Birdie were asking me yesterday why the US was so far behind all of the other countries. They wanted to know why we were becoming a third world nation as well as a police state, where armed police smash down doors, arrest the homeless, and cut off benefits to the unemployed.
I guess the fact that our nation is also filled with sheepish behavior regarding the operating system just adds one more concern. All the while we hide behind a cloak of words; chanting capitalism is the best way of life. Well, my grandpa used to say that if you have money in your heart then you don't have room for anything else.
My grandpa was right.
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MORE THOUGHTS
Yesterday and the day before have been rather annoying. LAUSD claims that over 10,000 teachers are going to retire in CA and yet the student population continues to grow. They've intentionally crammed thousands of students into buildings designed for hundreds. As long as I can remember they've publically stated that something must be done.
I'm a high school teacher. Sometimes I even feel like one despite how LAUSD treats me. The reality is they stink as an employer. If focus remained on LAUSD then I'd have quit the first week of teaching. Hmm.. maybe never become one. However, when you look into the eyes of a 16 year old who cannot read and has chosen to pick up an attitude to protect himself or herself then you can only blame the ones who ignored it.
Well yesterday and the day prior I almost lost my job. CAL State LA refused to sign a form that is required for my teaching credential. A particular CAL state employee stated that the course numbers didn't match and therefore she wasn't going to sign the form. LAUSD immediately sent notice that I was to be out of the classroom.
Fortunately, three professors from CAL State came to my rescue. One chewed the rear of the woman who shall remain nameless, Sandy. Sandy just didn't understand the implications of her refusal to comprehend course numbers and descriptions. She also didn't understand that she was potentially causing harm. As some people were urging me yesterday - get a lawyer.
Well, I kept my smile and odd sense of humor. It kept disarming people around me enough to reinforce that behavior. Smile -- because you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar.
Carlos is a quiet man in the student services office. He quietly picked up the form, filled it out, tapped on someone's door, and collected a signature. Monday this goes to LAUSD where someone will have to stamp and approve it. Someone else will then have their say so.. and then someone else.. and finally someone will produce a contract ...
It's all rather silly. I can go to my computer, surf to the state credential site, and renew my 30 day emergency sub credential online. However, over 20 hours of nonsense was taken to do the same for my long term emergency credential.
And where was my employer? Stinking rats were hiding. Typical cubicle mentality - it's not my job. I'm too busy. I'm too important. Me me me me me me.
This small, insignificant event is exactly what is wrong with our society and why the US citizens would rather use MS products and other commercial products rather than GNU/Linux. They think it is easier and they are too dang lazy to try something different. Worse, those who use GNU/Linux develop a smashingly stupid and aggressive attitude toward those who don't use GNU/Linux. It's a terrible problem. The poor attitudes such as "RTFM" heavily protrude from the devil advocate's foreheads.
Grrr... learn to control yourselves and GNU/Linux might actually catch on as an OS. Learn to help people. Learn to respectfully post replies to new users. Be welcoming in your attitude and gracious in someone's inability to comprehend that there are a plethora of choices in applications -- choose one -- and master it.
Above all, know and accept that our society is only as strong as our weakest link. We are a weak nation because we have chosen to ignore our most precious resource - our minds. Commercials tell us to think about ourselves. Movies focus on the brats and reinforce childish and immature behavior. The internet allows people to not develop good strong social skills. Instead of being polite and respectful, we watch people in their cars flip each other off and mutter profanity about the other drivers abilities. We isolate ourselves in little boxes (houses, cars, cubicles). We even isolate our thoughts; afraid to tell the boss what we really think, afraid to tell our spouse, afraid to tell our children, afraid to tell our friends, but never afraid to tell a stranger our problems.
No, the US is not a world leader in the sense of it being sustainable. Fortunately, we have pockets of people on private missions. Missions that help propel us and leap frog our competitors. It's that spirit of competition that may help us overcome some of the most mundane and dry social issues. Can the US do better?
Well, let's start with the operating system !
GNU/Linux can operate as a desktop OS. The best applications do not exist on it. However, if all developers (from all countries) put their minds to it -- well -- they can be the best applications. GNU/Linux didn't have good browsers. Now there are a few good ones available. GNU/Linux didn't have office applications. OpenOffice.org to the rescue. KOffice is also improving. GNU/Linux doesn't have a WYSIWYG html editor -- projects are out there. Find them and support them.
As I say to my daughters, if you want something badly enough then work for it. You can do it.
Enough said. Your turn. :wink:
to guest who wrote
"While I agree that the Gulf War was nothing more than protecting an oil supply, this new war is different. We are indeed protecting Israel, because they're practically the only nation being threatened by the presence of Saddam's weapon supply. Don't forget that Saddam has been paying up to $30k per person that successfully suicide bombs people in Israel. He supports the Palestinian movement and rejects Israel's sovereignity. "
nope. It is still more about Oil than it is about Israel.Just because both
sides are invoking Israel does not mean that is what it really is about.
Saddam is agreed to be a meglomaniac. Not rthetorically. Literally.
This is opionion of psychitrists for various Govt agencies. He feels it his
destiny to unite and rule the Arab World. If the US hadn't intervened in
kuwait there was a very good chance he wold have marched on Saudia
Arabia. After Saudia Arabia helping US in Gulf War, Saddam defintely
has a score to settle with them. So it is not just Israel that the US is
worried Saddam will menace.
Israel is the cover to mask the real intentions of all the parties in
this region. The Americans, the Iraqis, Osama.
With all this talk about the potential Nuclear capability of Iraq, we
should all be thankful Israel took the initiative some 15 years ago and bombed a nascent
Iraqi nuclear reactor before it came online.
Who knows what Iraq would be up to if this hadn't happened.
So often people don't know who there real freinds are.
Sigh.
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