Not long ago I posted about the FCC's plan to take over control of local public easements. When I first read about it, I was ticked. Too much federal control already. If done properly it could be a good thing. If it were done through regional transportation authorities, it keeps control local; but, reduce costs, give lots of money to cities, reduce their costs and improve the roads, something no city has done.
Most importantly to me, it would give millions of people jobs. If the fed takes the control they have to hire millions to do the work. The roads will be better, the cities will be better and it will be cheaper. I don't like giving up local control of anything, I am possessive. The roads are in terrible condition and will fail in the next 30 years if we don't do something now.
I had expected the fed to take over control of roads for awhile; but, I didn't see them using the FCC, that was brilliant, nobody even noticed what is going on. If they do take the control it will be a year before the court cases settle it and the pricing. This is too funny, the time it takes to prepare.
I have an affinity for streets. It is on streets that we meet each other, it is where we have the opportunity to travel, to go as we please. Tree lined streets are the best even if trees hurt sidewalks. The modern street system is the single greatest construction of all times. The pyramids are a joke compared to the street systems, gigantic paperweights, a testament to engineering, not usefulness. The great wall of China couldn't even do it's job, another testament to engineering. The street systems are what gets you fed and delivers your toys.
What is unique about the street system is that it's maintenance is not coordinated. Its construction wasn't even coordinated, people built the roads they needed and eventually the systems all got connected. It is the single greatest construction project in history nothing else can even compete. Take the total number of roads worldwide, the amount of materials and labor that went into it and how it effects every part of your life. It has such a great effect that we don't even think about it.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Odd Odds and Ends
I thought I might post links to some of the odder things out there. Consider this a "did you know that people believe this" type of thing. I am not advocating any of it just documenting.
The Hollow Earth
The Reptilian Agenda
Fish falling from the sky alive in an Australian desert
Ann Coutler believes high doses of radiation are good for you (huh?)
Nibiru, the tenth planet
Thought you might enjoy these sites. Have a great night.
The Hollow Earth
The Reptilian Agenda
Fish falling from the sky alive in an Australian desert
Ann Coutler believes high doses of radiation are good for you (huh?)
Nibiru, the tenth planet
Thought you might enjoy these sites. Have a great night.
Lets talk about Pornography
No we are going to be filthy, I want to talk about porn in a different way and for a different reason. Get your minds out of the gutter, this is Pimpernel not Hugh Hefner.
ICANN is the organization that determines domain names. They are the ones who give you a way to find something on the internet. They are controlled and paid for by the federal government. They rarely come up in the news so when they did I thought I might point it out.
ICANN has given a new designation to sites that have porn, the designation is xxx. This means that sites which have porn will have a separate designation making them easier to find and easier to block. I am not necessarily against this. Question is how it will be used and whether or not it is a blueprint for designating other types of sites, for instance controversial sites or mean sites (like the Nazis).
Will the use of the xxx be mandatory for adult sites and how will what is porn be determined? I said was coming a couple of years ago and was told I was paranoid, I am paranoid and it did happen. I am paranoid because people do plan and do regulate and it follows a pattern. It starts vague, attempts to "protect" children and then regulates small. After that it just increases in the regulations.
So what is pornography? It is not naked people according to many, There are many painting and sculptures of naked people that are considered art. What is the difference between a painting of a naked women and a movie of naked women? One justice of the supreme court said that porn may not be definable but he knew it when he saw it.
Are stories pornography? What about how to books? Is a book about how to have sex pornography? There are people who like to dress up like cute animals and have sex, they are called furries, would their websites be porn or comedy (not making fun of them but it is sort of amusing)? If I take a picture of my naked baby, is that porn? What if I send it to someone who finds it sexually arousing, the picture didn't change?
Once I grew up a little, enough to understand that boys and girls were different, the first naked breast I saw was of an African tribes woman. I could see that in school; but, I couldn't see it an American woman's breast in school because that was deemed inappropriate.
Perhaps the base question is wrong. The question should not be what is pornography but what should children be exposed to. Seeing breasts doesn't seem to have hurt people in the Amazon or the tribes people of Africa. What is different here?
I don't want to see people go to the bathroom, I want to be able to avoid seeing that on the internet. Is it pornography, I am not convinced it is; but, I don't want to see it. I think the issue for me is how can avoid seeing it.
If you search for images of certain things you are bound to find porn even when you are not looking for it. I used Yahoo to search for "breast", it returned 405,000,000 hits. Some were on breast cancer, some were on breast feeding and some were just pictures of breasts. I assume that if there were a xxx designation for websites I could block the ones that are "porn"; but, who would decide which pictures were obscene and which were okay. I mean the breast is going to look the same.
How bout this. Are feet pornographic? What about a site about foot fetishes, the foot didn't change. It is still just a foot and we can show those in public. Not long ago, and I wrote about it at the time, a professor had two students perform a naked sex act in his college room. Was that right or wrong.
I haven't seen many porno films and I don't frequent strip joints. Not my thing. In college they showed "Deep Throat". I had never seen a porno film and went with some people I knew. I found it boring and stupid. It was hailed as the first mainstream porn film, I thought that was just an excuse and still do.
There was a video of a guy who was captured by terrorists and had his head cut off and filmed. It was all over the internet, I haven't and don't intend to watch it. I don't need to see that, I understood what happened. Reading about it was bad enough, I didn't need to see it. I found that to be pornography.
In general what is pornography seems to be linked to the society one is in. Each society finds something obscene and there is no agreement. It would be hard to define porn in America anymore with what is shown on television and at the movies. Children who watch MTV reality shows see endless images of people making out and having sex.
We have had "porn" for as long as there have been people. It must meet some need. I like looking at women, I find them attractive. I like women's legs. I wrote about one woman's legs. Women look different then men and we like the way they look. I don't want to see my daughters naked, no thank you very much, they are grown women. Is this inconsistent, not for me.
I have seen many babies naked, it is cute. Their little baby butts; but, I don't find it cute when they are older. I have changed many diapers, once they are out of diapers I believe they should learn to keep some things private. How can we promote this in our children if we are watching porn?
Lots of questions and few answers. These questions have been in and out of the supreme court and their answers keep changing. I don't think ICANN will find the answers any easier than the supreme court has.
ICANN is the organization that determines domain names. They are the ones who give you a way to find something on the internet. They are controlled and paid for by the federal government. They rarely come up in the news so when they did I thought I might point it out.
ICANN has given a new designation to sites that have porn, the designation is xxx. This means that sites which have porn will have a separate designation making them easier to find and easier to block. I am not necessarily against this. Question is how it will be used and whether or not it is a blueprint for designating other types of sites, for instance controversial sites or mean sites (like the Nazis).
Will the use of the xxx be mandatory for adult sites and how will what is porn be determined? I said was coming a couple of years ago and was told I was paranoid, I am paranoid and it did happen. I am paranoid because people do plan and do regulate and it follows a pattern. It starts vague, attempts to "protect" children and then regulates small. After that it just increases in the regulations.
So what is pornography? It is not naked people according to many, There are many painting and sculptures of naked people that are considered art. What is the difference between a painting of a naked women and a movie of naked women? One justice of the supreme court said that porn may not be definable but he knew it when he saw it.
Are stories pornography? What about how to books? Is a book about how to have sex pornography? There are people who like to dress up like cute animals and have sex, they are called furries, would their websites be porn or comedy (not making fun of them but it is sort of amusing)? If I take a picture of my naked baby, is that porn? What if I send it to someone who finds it sexually arousing, the picture didn't change?
Once I grew up a little, enough to understand that boys and girls were different, the first naked breast I saw was of an African tribes woman. I could see that in school; but, I couldn't see it an American woman's breast in school because that was deemed inappropriate.
Perhaps the base question is wrong. The question should not be what is pornography but what should children be exposed to. Seeing breasts doesn't seem to have hurt people in the Amazon or the tribes people of Africa. What is different here?
I don't want to see people go to the bathroom, I want to be able to avoid seeing that on the internet. Is it pornography, I am not convinced it is; but, I don't want to see it. I think the issue for me is how can avoid seeing it.
If you search for images of certain things you are bound to find porn even when you are not looking for it. I used Yahoo to search for "breast", it returned 405,000,000 hits. Some were on breast cancer, some were on breast feeding and some were just pictures of breasts. I assume that if there were a xxx designation for websites I could block the ones that are "porn"; but, who would decide which pictures were obscene and which were okay. I mean the breast is going to look the same.
How bout this. Are feet pornographic? What about a site about foot fetishes, the foot didn't change. It is still just a foot and we can show those in public. Not long ago, and I wrote about it at the time, a professor had two students perform a naked sex act in his college room. Was that right or wrong.
I haven't seen many porno films and I don't frequent strip joints. Not my thing. In college they showed "Deep Throat". I had never seen a porno film and went with some people I knew. I found it boring and stupid. It was hailed as the first mainstream porn film, I thought that was just an excuse and still do.
There was a video of a guy who was captured by terrorists and had his head cut off and filmed. It was all over the internet, I haven't and don't intend to watch it. I don't need to see that, I understood what happened. Reading about it was bad enough, I didn't need to see it. I found that to be pornography.
In general what is pornography seems to be linked to the society one is in. Each society finds something obscene and there is no agreement. It would be hard to define porn in America anymore with what is shown on television and at the movies. Children who watch MTV reality shows see endless images of people making out and having sex.
We have had "porn" for as long as there have been people. It must meet some need. I like looking at women, I find them attractive. I like women's legs. I wrote about one woman's legs. Women look different then men and we like the way they look. I don't want to see my daughters naked, no thank you very much, they are grown women. Is this inconsistent, not for me.
I have seen many babies naked, it is cute. Their little baby butts; but, I don't find it cute when they are older. I have changed many diapers, once they are out of diapers I believe they should learn to keep some things private. How can we promote this in our children if we are watching porn?
Lots of questions and few answers. These questions have been in and out of the supreme court and their answers keep changing. I don't think ICANN will find the answers any easier than the supreme court has.
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