Monday, July 11, 2011

Some Musical Thoughts

Bob Dylan - Knocking on Heavens Door

The Original Caste - One Tin Soldier

Linus - A Charlie Brown Christmas

Buffalo Springfield - For What its Worth


Joan Baez - Where have all the flowers gone

The Beatles - All You Need is Love

Linda Ronstadt - Your No Good (I forgave my ex-wife, would love her to know that). If you listen to the song then you will understand it is the cheating spouse apologizing to the other spouse.

Dido - White Flag

Dionne Warwick - I Say a Little Prayer

Jackie DeShannon - What the World Needs Now

The greatest human achievement is forgiveness. You cannot have love without forgiveness, not true love. True love is forgiveness and that breed affection. It does not work the other way around, you cannot earn grave, it is given by the one that you have harmed. We usually harm when we think we are in the right. We convince ourselves that we are in the right and the more it is a lie, the less forgiving we are. Be well, forgive and turn from hate.

Do Not Be Part of the Experiment

I have discussed what is called "crowd sourcing" before. It is the idea that the intelligence of the group can equal that of the "experts". I prefer to call it mob sourcing. Well your friends in the intelligence community want to create a social forum for predicting what threats the United State can expect from terrorists. Something is not as it appears here.

While the most current article regarding their efforts by Wired magazine claims it is about you becoming an intelligence officer, I am not convinced. A prior article states that the purpose of the exercise is really to look at how to pick the best intelligence analysts.

Now every web sleuth in the world will want to participate to prove how good they are; but, this is not how they will be evaluated as they will not have access to the information that real intelligence officers have. Crowd sourcing is merely crowd profiling. The purpose of the exercise is to profile how people of differing attitudes, intelligences and biases think and what they would do under different circumstances.

If we look at the program from the standpoint of a planner, we would seek to maximize the benefits. The first benefit would be to have a fairly reliable algorithm for predicting what Americans would do, given certain situations. The second benefit would be in choosing candidates for being recruited as analysts. The third benefit would be in determining how much reliance one can place on any particular analysts conclusions. Finally, it is hoped, by the creators, that they can get away from an over reliance on any one analyst.

An amusing hypocrisy of this type of approach is the internet group known as "anonymous". They claim that the sheep need to rise up as a group and stop being herded, huh??? I watched a video by "anonymous", it stated that they never forget and never forgive, I could never participate in such a thing. It's message is purely in line with Alister Crowley, "do as thou wilt" and no belief in forgiveness.

I see a lot of turmoil in the world, as does everyone else. My fear is mob rule, I can see that we have choices before us, that happened two hundred years ago. Consider my moniker on this site, it is Pimpernel from the Scarlet Pimpernel. The Scarlet Pimpernel did not believe in the terrible beheadings that were done in France at the close of the French revolution and neither do I.

It is popular to say that none is as enslaved as he who does not know it; but, this is not my belief. Slavery is in your head, I am always free. Freedom is a view of the world. I don't believe in direct democracy as such, I don't believe that everyone's opinion is equally valid, I don't decisions should be based on opinions or feelings. I don't believe that Marie Antoinette should have been beheaded for being a silly and vain girl.

The pie is getting smaller and we all have to adjust. I fear that the rich have forgotten that they are not entitled and I know the poor have forgotten it, heck, everyone feels entitled anymore. We fear what we may lose more than we worry about what we can do more.

There are many people who have taken to quoting Kennedy's quotes regarding secret societies and I agree with him, I don't like secret societies. I also agree with him when he said not to ask what the country could do for you; but, instead, what you could do for your country. That is what got us to the moon.

We should not hate the rich, we should seek justice. We should not hate foreigners, we all are in the most fundamental of ways. It does not matter who runs the mob or if we call the mob a government, the military, anonymous or anything else, it is still a mob that is harming others. We could call it a gang; but, when they all stomp on one person or a few because they have the power then they are no better than those they oppose.

The group "anonymous" practices something that I find incredibly distasteful, they do not allow the accused to speak for themselves. They are judge and jury and executioner. Behind their mask of anonymity they do not have to live with the consequences of their actions. This is the same reason that I am against using robots and drones in war, as I have previously discussed. I am not against people, I am against practices and I don't care who uses them.

I believe we need to return to a morality that makes those around us as important as ourselves and move away from one that is based on us first. I believe that power and authority should be earned and proven and that those to represented should choose who does lead them based on their morality and integrity rather than if you believe you will get more with them as your leader.

What type of world are we creating when we no longer believe in forgiveness or grace? What type of people are we becoming when we believe we should do whatever feels good to us, where everyone has to look out for themselves because all relationships are situational, even those with our spouses or parents or children?

The group "anonymous" claim that they want internet freedom and then close down sites that they don't agree with. How is this any different then when the government shuts down websites. I know, the difference is that we have specifically identifiable people involved in shutting down websites when it is done by the government.

I do hope people are not foolish enough to believe that intelligence people are not monitoring and directing "anonymous", of course they are. They are nothing more than an algorithm, those who join are profiled and their logic is recreated in an algorithm.

Anomalies will always exist; but, most seek to imitate and participate because they are afraid of truly standing up and being counted as yourself. Seek to be you.