SOPA

This is a really good video about SOPA, but some facts are slightly missing.

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

The US would seek extradition to prosecute breakers of SOPA abroad like they do with existing copyright laws.

The US currently controls domain name registration so would use that as a weapon against governments, people or organisations that didn't comply with their domestic SOPA laws.

And SOPA contains a section whereby anyone discussing or educating people about circumventing SOPA would fall under SOPA's restrictions. In the case of the video I have posted above that would mean VIMEO could be taken down and without due process or representation.

The Pledge Of Allegiance Is Brainwashing

Ever since I discovered the American Pledge Of Allegiance I have been bothered by the idea of very young kids daily oathing themselves to their flag, when they are too young to understand what they are doing. In recent years I have seen The Pledge, in my view, as more of a brain washing mechanism. The Whitest Kids U' Know, a show on IFC, demonstrates this.



In 1892 when The Pledge was first used in schools it was accompanied with a Bellamy Salute named after the writer of The Pledge. Most people seeing this today would describe it as a Nazi Salute. And so while at war with Germany the salute for The Pledge was changed to a hand over heart gesture. I find this interesting because the parallels of blind nationalism is still there, even with the adapted salute.

The pledge was originally designed to promote national equality for immigrants so everybody saying The Pledge could be seen as American. However I don't see The Pledge as symbolizing national pride, but an attempt to hold onto national pride in an age where America is a declining superpower.

How The US Health System Is Wasting Money On Treatment

I blogged recently about how Higher Incentives Lead To Worse Performance, and a very good example of that is the US Health Care system.



Medical professionals in the US earn money by treating patients, not by keeping them healthy.

[Source]

I Won't Miss Bush

In one week Obama takes up the United States Presidency from Bush. Many commentators on the news will probably talk about Bush's legacy, but I don't think anybody, now or in the distant future will anybody call Bush a good president. His legacy is one of death and greed. So Goodbye Bush I am glad to see the back of you.

Random Fact
Bush is responsible for adding more new words to our language than any US president before him.

Republican Space Rangers

In GTA4 there are many TV shows to watch and on of them is called Republican Space Rangers. Next to Team America World Police it is one of the best US Foreign Policy parodies I have seen. If you want to see it in the game just watch Weasel (the one with those two guys on) for long enough and it will come around.

Why A Good Specification Is Important

The US Militery hired a few companies to help them complete the invasion of Iraq. To do this they setup service agreements with those companies so the Military became a paying customer to those companies, but it looks like they forgot to agree any levels of quality. The US Militery wanted warter, they got warter, but it wasn't safe to drink. Let this be a lessen to you if you ever setup a SLA (Service Level Agreement) with anybody because unless you specify what quality standard you need the work doing too, it won't be done to any quality standard.

And on the video they mention Cost-Plus, which is effectively the government telling the contractor to just bill them whatever the cost is. This is common is situations where price comparison or price negotiation isn't worth doing, but silly things happen when you give someone your credit card and tell them to buy whatever they want.

American Freedom

America does a lot of things in the name of freedom, the Iraq War is a current example of that. Nobody seems to be able to explain how the Iraq War is necessary to preserve American Freedom, but the war still continues in Freedom's name.

As a free country it surprised me earlier to learn that in January they forfeited the right to Habeas corpus. Which is the right to not be held in incarceration without reason. Seems to me like the current administration has done more to harm American freedom than any terrorist. And the ruling in January applies to everybody in America including citizens. So although I don't hate America I do think they are hipocritical B.O.B.s sometimes.