Do technology advances actually promote collectivism or liberty?

Yes, that's an "either/or" question in this context; any other construct would be an oxymoron.

I tend to think that the advances we see in technology, particularly in communication media devices, that I'll admit I enjoy and use (nowhere near) as much and fervently as the aggregate of Mundanes, are nevertheless a curse more than a blessing. This is true not only because of the power of the devices themselves, but also (perhaps mostly) because of the rapid media presentation and convenience that today's highly-peddled so-called public "cloud" helps them to enable and provide, respectively. It sure sounds attractive and juicy.

Yes, it's a potential blessing to be able to have a mobile phone/cam handy to catch the state's minions in the act and stream it out in real time, easily take and store pics, etc. in the "cloud" somewhere and so on and so forth. That only lasts until the next wire-tapping dictate comes down the pike and/or the multinational corporation that owns your particular slice of the "cloud" shuts you down.

Meanwhile, on the cursed side, however, these same communication media technology advances are making it trivial to conduct national espionage, individual snooping, statist propaganda dissemination, statist indoctrination of every kind, not to mention ever increasing centralization and control of commoner data. This is all now done with ease by way of the vast majority of commoners enthusiastically and brainlessly tossing their stuff up into a public "cloud." The commoners irrational attraction to convenience, at any cost other than merely to their personal funds, never ceases to amaze me.

The data centers, full of racks of storage devices, that collectively make up this "cloud" of deceptive convenience are, of course, controlled by just a few multinational corporations who work hand in hand with a given country's Leviathan(s), in which they do business. Simply connect-the-dots. In fact, thanks to the "freedom-enhancing" Internet and advanced communication storage devices and the glorious "cloud" it's actually MUCH easier today for a Leviathan to find, track, and cull a profile of a given Mundane with a full compliment of pics, addresses, associates, mindset, and just about everything else, given how carelessly the commoners utilize their laptops, mobile phone/cams, and the immense assistance of Leviathan's own inner sanctum, or uh the "cloud," to post their whole life story and accompanying pics, videos, etc. online (that is, on a stranger's machine outside of his immediate or an immediate trusted subordinate's control).

It's true that trust is only an ideal, tentative at best in the humanoid world, in any case as there doesn't exist a no-risk existence or situation in this life; ergo, spare me the "That's life!" platitude if you were one who felt the urge to utter such. The critical point I'm attempting to pound home here is that blindly trusting and relegating oversight and control of your pertinent, critical, and/or intimate data (or any other property for that matter) to outright strangers - whether they be individuals, groups, or corporations (by extension -> Leviathan) carries orders of magnitude higher risk of compromise, betrayal, and ultimately repression.

So, in the grand scheme of contemporary online life, are we really gaining overall momentum for the freedom train to accelerate away from the garrisoned station as many seem to suggest, or are we instead unwittingly accelerating towards it by actually allowing the state through its corporatist tentacles to herd, corral, control, and ultimately repress us?

Something to ponder...'til next year's post ;).

America the Ugly

O ugly are its towers kissing the skies,
For crimson waves of pain,
For red mountain oligarchies
Above the barren plain!
Amerika! Amerika!
God lift his grace from thee
And judge thy evil with wormwood
From sea to darkened sea!

O ugly for Leviathan's feet
Whose serpent's guile enslaves the aimless
A thoroughfare of tyranny beat
Across the ghetto wilderness!
Amerika! Amerika!
God pour salt in every orifice,
Yank its soul for it has no self-control,
Its tyranny in lawlessness!

O ugly for despots at whom they marvel
In kindling aimless worship and hopeless strife.
Who rather than look to Providence for Leviathan they grovel
And love death more than mercy!
Amerika! Amerika!
May God thy mammon make worthless
Till all be rubbish
And every gain made vain!

O ugly for nationalist dream
That sees nothing beyond the usury
Thine Babel cities steam
Spreading worldwide human misery!
Amerika! Amerika!
God lift his grace from thee
And judge thy evil with wormwood
From sea to darkened sea!

O ugly for its war machines,
For crimson waves of pain,
For imperial mountain travesties
Above the forsaken plain!
Amerika! Amerika!
God lift his grace from thee
As its souls wax reprobate and full o' hate
And may its jungle noise drown in the sea!

O ugly for Leviathan's feet
Whose serpent's guile enslaves the aimless
A thoroughfare of tyranny beat
Across the ghetto wilderness!
Amerika! Amerika!
God lift his grace from thee
Till fires be wrought through wilds of thought
By mundane foot and knee!

O ugly for for its gory-tale
In kindling aimless worship and hopeless strife.
When once and thrice,
To the common man's ignorant wail
Men hated liberty and even life
Amerika! Amerika!
God lift his grace from thee
Till selfish gain can no longer sustain
The vainglorious and greedy mundane!

O ugly for nationalist dream
That sees nothing beyond the usury
Thine Babel cities steam
Spreading worldwide human misery!
Amerika! Amerika!
God lift his grace from thee
And judge thoroughly this crud country
Awaitin' your justice with glee!

"Cloud" computing a.k.a. Centralized control

Being the radical cynic and skeptic that I am these days, I see nothing but mass data centralization from the move towards "cloud" computing for the inert masses being driven by such multinational corporate engines as Microsoft, among others (Hi, Google!). Doesn't it sound so warm and fuzzy to say "My stuff is out there in the cloud...wee! I can access it everywhere! Yahoo!" as opposed to saying "My stuff is completely outside my domain of control and resides on some server somewhere in the world that a multinational corporation, and also by implicit extension government, controls and can do with what they wish."

I don't think the common folk realize just how much of a paradigm shift this will become over time in regards to who REALLY will control virtually ALL of your personal data!

If/when we finally reach a stage where virtually every piece of data -- photos, e-mail, app data, and even apps themselves -- reside in "the cloud" (not your machine) and are accessed and, in the case of apps themselves, run only from "the cloud" (not your machine) the individual has lost the control of their data, privacy, and many aspects of freedom in general.

I really believe the aim here is to go retrograde, in a sense, to a time when there were only mainframes or minicomputers (yesterday's "cloud") where all apps, resources, and data resided and only a "dumb" terminal was available for the hapless peon to use in order to access his data and run apps. In other words, the home computer will simply become for all intents and purposes, a resurrected dumb terminal.

And privacy? What privacy? Anyone or any entity (not mutually exclusive, of course) who controls the server(s) in question in some data center can copy, view, steal, expropriate your valuable data. It's as simple as that. How will there be real privacy? Trust? Faith? Other than Jesus Christ Himself, I trust no one, especially in this haughty and reprobate day and age, except close associates and some family members. Obviously, there isn't and won't be any privacy, the corporate legalspeak that states otherwise notwithstanding. Needless to say, I don't plan to play in that sandbox.

Yes, everyone has had some personal data exposure on the Internet since the beginning, but not to this degree where folk seem eager and willing to entrust virtually all of their data to the whims of strangers in the "cloud." Your data will live on a remote box under some stranger's control, not your own box under your control. Ergo, unlike the commoner mass majority, I can't stomach the thought of exposing literally my entire life to the entire world! And I won't. I'll simply disengage from the "grid" if the only choice becomes to put my stuff in the hands and total control of another entity to be able to access it from anywhere through the Internet.

That's simply not how I play nor will ever play. For many years already, I've kept my most critical, valuable, personal data and apps within MY domain and under MY personal control. I either SSH into my box through an encrypted connection to access my data, and sometimes to even run X apps, remotely or I surf to my SSL-enabled website to retrieve my encrypted data. And, yes, I am my own CA ;), naturally. Speaking of being my own CA, it's amusing to observe a given browser have a conniption fit when it first hits my local web page. It'll display a message akin to "Get me out of here!" as well as stating that this website's certificate is not trusted (by whom? The powers that be?) and signed by a "trusted" Certificate Authority. Once again...naturally!

The bottom line is that I will continue to run my apps from my personal machine, not being spoon-fed to me in a browser window from a stranger's box out there in the ethereal somewhere.

Games, in various degrees, have already been gradually migrating to "the cloud" with such "cloudy" contraptions as Steam. "Install once, and play anywhere!" or something sounding similarly innocuous and convenient will become the mantra of the Age of the Cloud. Forget it, I'll pass.

Remember this well: Corporations and governments are married to each other; that's especially true with regards to multinational corporations. You'll pay to play, and not just in money.

Is America dying?

I don't often completely agree with Janet Folger on her commentaries, although she's definitely a passionate defender of the faith, since she always seems to imply, in so many words and perhaps in ignorance, in her pieces that the State should somehow "protect" and provide the bulwark against evil and tyranny. No! Not in a constitutional republic anyway. Instead, the people themselves exercise their due diligence, vigilance, and responsibility in keeping government at bay and thereby, by default, protect liberty. The people no longer care for that level of responsibility anymore and instead plead for government involvement in their lives. After all, when you're a dependent, what else could one expect to be the case?

However, after reading her latest commentary, My 'mission trip' to the left coast, I think she finally has seen the light. That would be that it's the individual people within a nation rather than the "nation" itself that constitute the moral rudder, the character, the laws, the order, the culture, the very makeup of that nation. I've said this myself over and over again in various forums online and when speaking with folk generally. The people, after all, are the key ingredients that determine a nation's government (it reflects the people!) and its overall destiny, subject to and bound by the Laws of God, of course.

This simple concept apparently seems to glide right over people's heads and they only can see on one side "the government," "the State," "Leviathan..." and on the other, "the people" as if they're unconnected and even hostile entities. Bullsense! Regardless of what folk say online in forums or in public, they instead are privately more likely to be petitioning government for services, subsidies, new laws (actually more restrictions on responsible freedom),....the list is endless.

Anyway, not to tangent off-topic too far, I think Folger's last few paragraphs of that piece sum up the problem quite succinctly:

We talk a lot about national repentance, but that begins with personal repentance. That's where we take a break from worrying about our nation's sins, and start with our own. 2 Chronicles 7:14 isn't just for a nation. It is for us to humble ourselves, pray, to seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways.

It was suggested to me to turn off the news and just "sit in the presence of God." And I challenge you to do that with me for the rest of the week. I want the strategy that will put the enemies of life, liberty and the family on the run for a change. And I'm praying for it. But, instead of just seeking answers, and strategy, and all the stuff we want, I was advised to seek Him first. A novel idea; that's when "all theses things" are added, after all.

National revival is preceded by personal revival – and humility, repentance and prayer is what paves the way. The key to victory is "'not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the Lord." So, if you're empty like I was after my "missions trip" and a glance at the headlines, there's one place to go to be filled, and it's not Fox News. We need the Spirit of God, His wisdom, His power and His knowledge in order to win.

Only then will we find the strength to debate the obvious that the environmentalist and Obama supporters miss: babies matter more than beavers. I don't know the strategy that will advance the cause of righteousness, but I'm asking. And I'm seeking. I hope you'll join me in seeking God, and then obeying Him. Because one thing's for sure: If we sit on the sidelines, it won't be long before we become "a criminal" for speaking out against the next court ruling that expands "marriage" licenses beyond "Party A" and "Party B" to include also "Party C," "Party D" and "Party F."

I would also like to mention and comment on Dennis Prager's latest WND piece as well, When I was a boy, America was a better place.

Even though I'm approximately ⅙ of a century younger than Mr. Prager, America was still a MUCH better place when I was a boy than it is now. In fact, most of the heavy-handed restrictions on liberty and freedom we witness so commonly today didn't materialize on a grand scale until I was long out of high school. For instance, when I was a kid, most 8ft deep and deeper swimming pools still had diving boards in the 1970s. A kid could walk around with an air gun in public and adults could do the same with real guns. Pickup trucks often had gun racks mounted on their back windshields with guns planted in them. Not a big deal. The hysterical fear phobias folk suffer from today and the litigation frenzy coupled with the heavy hand of government regulation had yet to materialize in these matters. By the way, do 8ft deep public swimming pools even exist today? Perhaps, there are some, somewhere, but I've yet to see any since I was a kid. However, I did find deep public swimming pools (complete with diving boards) while stationed in Germany in the latter 80s.

America as it used to be is already dead, obviously, but even the vestiges of freedom that people have become accustomed to enjoying, as if what exists NOW has always been the totality of freedom America possessed throughout its existence, are also deathly ill and on life-support. The prognosis doesn't look good.

YouTube stats, a panorama of the cultural landscape?

I believe it could be viewed as such. I've been thinking about this for some time and, after examining it in some detail, I've come to the conclusion that one can gauge the culture of America by examining YouTube and observing certain statistics provided by it. Yes, I know folk from all over the world can view these videos, but I think that simply means that America's overall cultural landscape is increasingly mirroring that of the rest of the world, i.e. more decadent, debauched, and corrupted. So, yes, take it as the world's cultural pulse if you like.

For instance, the most viewed video of all time is not anything pertaining to science, geopolitics, philosophy, or religion, but something "intellectually stimulating" called the Evolution of Dance with over 75 million viewers! Before anyone asks, no, I haven't viewed it as I have a near zero interest in the evolution of dance. If folk do have such interest, more power to 'em. I'm just pointing out the most viewed video of all time.

In fact, one can cycle through from the most viewed on down the list and the top contenders are nearly all celebrity-centric videos concerning hip-snot bongo-bangin' noise some call "music", movies, or about sex.

I've said many times on various blog comment forums over the last few years that the core problem with America is not the government bureaucrats, the police, or the politicians, but rather it's the regular folk themselves. The commoners, as I like to call us ;). After all, a given government is merely a reflection of the society at large, the aggregate people. However much government is involved or entangled into economics, education, philosophy, religion, etc. is a clear sign of the overall prevailing societal and cultural mindset concerning the same - economics, education, philosophy, religion, etc.

In short, the cultural landscape doesn't look pretty; in fact, it looks downright rotten to the core.

Ron Paul at Value Voters Debate

Ron Paul is making sound points in his closing statement at the Values Voters Debate held in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Monday night:



You know, it's quite telling to me that we can really only count on a 72-year old candidate with a spine of steel, among even the lot that showed (nevermind the "front-runners"), ALL of whom are Ron Paul's junior, to spell out the truth so eloquently. Yet, even at a debate sponsored by so-called "Values Voters" Huckabee wins their straw poll among this group of citizens and voters.

I say, espousing my usual negativity when it concerns America as a whole, this is a sign of America's ultimate decline culturally and politically that many, if not most, of the folk who make up this country today are sadly not cut from the same hardy cloth as the folk who made up this country 230 odd years ago. Not at all.

Motherboard joys

On July 4th I ordered a Foxconn 6150K8MA-8EKRS Socket 939 mobo and an Opteron 165 1.8GHz dual-core processor in order to upgrade my grayin' FreeBSD 5.4 box from the 32-bit to the 64-bit version (amd64) of the latest 6.2 stable release. The parts were ordered from Newegg, one of the best web retailers for electronics purchases, IMHO. I've purchased several items from them over the years and ne'er a problem.

Anyway, I received the parts and slapped the system together with two 512MB DDR333 sticks I had lying around, then added the old FreeBSD box's 40GB Seagate ST340014A hard drive, its CDRW drive, and its 1.44MB floppy. Yes, I still use floppy drives ;). Fired it up and everything worked great and my private DNS, web, and mysql servers I had been running on the old FreeBSD box ran fine on the new Opteron box. No problems at all.

I decided to update the P28 BIOS (circa 11/2005) to the latest P40 (6/2006) before migrating to FreeBSD 6.2 (amd64) on the new box and that's when the fun began. I downloaded the latest 54AW1P40 BIOS and attempted to flash from floppy. In hindsight, I should of simply booted the machine and flashed it from a USB flash drive rather than the dusty floppy drive, but gee-whiz I've flashed BIOSes countless times over the years and never had an issue. This time, however, the floppy drive LED remained on for an inordinate period of time and I, naturally, suspected that the flash update was likely unsuccessful and the BIOS was now corrupted.

Nevertheless, in the vain hope that it might have flashed successfully, I commenced a hard-reset, thinking the floppy might have merely got stuck after the flashing process for some unknown reason. Nope, upon reboot the screen remained blank and no POST at all. Well, needless to say, I was a bit perturbed to say the least at that point since I needed this system up and running ASAP since it was running the aformentioned services.

I knew when it wouldn't boot and didn't POST that the BIOS was trashed. So, I ordered another PLCC BIOS chip from BIOSMAN, Inc. this past Thursday and received the new chip Saturday via mail. Now, that's fast for mail delivery ;). Plopped it in and now I gots a working board. Yay!

So if you have a "bad flash day" or need a Phoenix, Award, or AMI BIOS for any reason I highly recommend ordering one from BIOSMAN, Inc. Although my issue was concerning a newly purchased mobo, any old mobo you may be thinkin' of trashin' because of a bad BIOS may still have some useful life left in it with a replaced BIOS chip.