There are many people who believe that neutrality doesn’t exist now, but who, like Jaelithe, support legislation to create an online environment where the free exchange of ideas does not ebb and flow according the pocket depth. Jason Butler, also a St. Louis blogger and a professional Web Producer, said,
“It’s been like that since the internets began, but as more people use bandwidth, telecom is concerned and wants to throttle it.”
Melody Cissel asked me if I could be quoted in an upcoming post at
St. Louis Bloggers Guild. Had I but known which of my quotes would have been used, I would have left my out the ironic “s” on internet but I’ll stand by my statement as is!
Also, there’s much more to the entire
net neutrality issue than can really be encapsulated in a brief direct message on twitter. The public is woefully unprepared for the future debates surrounding bandwidth throttling, packet sniffing, and all the other issues of a
free (as in speech) and open internet(s).
Update: Edited because I suck at putting in blockquotes
Everyone has been talking about the “Quake of ‘08″ so I won’t rehash my personal details of waking up in the early morning hours. But what’s been on my mind has been summed up by Bill McClellen in a
fictional account from the future. I’ve been worried that the New Madrid fault would be jostled loose by the quake from the Wabash valley fault and we’re not far away from another tremendous quake like the one in 1812 that
changed the course of the Mississippi river. I’ve been trying not to fear working on the 9th floor of a building in an area chock full of dense bedrock (apparently the looser ground in California makes the quakes there appear less potent). Unlike my previous obsession with pandemic flu and disaster preparedness, there really isn’t anything I can do to prepare for my building to collapse.
So if this post turns out to be some prescient forecast, I want my family to know I love them all. I always have and I always will.
Walking past the ubiquitous feed from CNN on our department television, I caught a glimpse of Hillary Clinton speaking somewhere and was struck by a strange familiarity. If she wins the election, I can only think of one actor to portray her on Saturday Night Live. You be the judge:
Amidst a deep conversation regarding civil right, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and defining government the following dialog took place:
“So Emily, did you know we are having an election this year to pick the next President?”
“Yes! And I hope the girl wins!”
Not having expected my six year old to know anything about civics, much less the sex of the candidates, I was taken aback and pleasantly surprised - my tax dollars at work!
“Why do you want the girl to win?”
Then came the dreaded response, “Because my teacher told me - this would be the first time a girl was president! That would be awesome!” Dreaded because it’s the first time Emily has come home having been taught a viewpoint counter to that which her mother and I would prefer her to hold.
“Emily,” I said, “we don’t pick someone to be president because they are a boy or a girl. That would be like picking someone because they are tall or because they can cook. We pick someone because they will do the best job.”
“But I want the girl to win!”
“Will the girl do the best job?”
“I don’t know… will she?” – throwing the argument back into my court.
“I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter if the President is a boy or a girl. We pick the person who will do the best job.”
In the end she was disappointed, but she eventually understood that we need to pick a President based on merit, not skin color or sex – both of which will obviously be played up in this year’s election. What makes me mad is that I have to be the one to correct her teacher’s feminist viewpoint. I thought teachers were supposed to teach things like critical thinking and objectivity. Maybe I just truly underestimated the “girlpower” that Clinton brings. Makes me shudder to think that many people in this country will be placing their fate in the hands of someone based on gender. I wish teachers do more educating and leave the indoctrinating to the parents.
I was reading through some recent posts of
Susan Isk. I’ve been
following her and several other local bloggers on Twitter for awhile now, but haven’t read many of their personal blogs. I found
this entry that led to
this article about how the millennial generation needs more work experience. I was reminded of the
Navy’s study regarding this generation and also of how I could never really identify wholly with either Gen-X or with the Millennials. Having been born in 1980 I find myself without a generational tribe to identify. I carry some of the angst and self reliance of the older Gen X, but I also understand the need to be connected 24/7. I don’t get MySpace at all though.
What I do get is papercraft. I’ll be making
Ceiling Cat in papercraft form very soon, if for no other reason that to freak my kids out. Found via
Papercraft World. What’s even weirder is that my boss walked over while I was looking at it and laughing. He was like, “Yeah, I saw that a couple of days ago.” Pretty sure that my boss isn’t a papercraft guy, I deduced that this must have hit BoingBoing recently. I was
totally right. I’ll have to squeeze this in between
Volume 1 (finished) and
Volume 2 (printed but not started) of Yamaha’s “
Ultra-Realistic MT-01” (”…so real that nobody has ever seen anything like it!”)
Here’s an excellent summary of what
Twitter is and why it works. I’ve been using Twitter since
April 11, 2007. It’s been life changing. I’ve made new connections and began feeling like part of a community. Most of the people I follow are in and around St. Louis with a few exceptions (like
Wil Wheaton). This video from
Common Craft succinctly explains tweeting far better than I have ever been able to.
It’s been said that we are now in the end of prehistory. I know I don’t remember stuff the way I used to. Who am I kidding? I never remembered stuff before. But now you can search through all your old communications and find dates and names and places. It’s the future - and we’re living in it now!If you haven’t signed up for Twitter, give it a shot. You can follow me at
twitter.com/jasonbutler42.
Big thanks to
Mindy from
Crafty and crap for pointing out that my comments weren’t working - you’d click on the comment link and it went dead. Not cool at all. However, it seems to be working now through no intervention of mine. I guess it healed. Please try posting some type of comment and
let me know if it doesn’t work.
Yes, it’s true. After 21 years as owner of the legendary restaurant, Kathy Sellenriek is ready to pass the torch.
So if you or someone you know is a die-hard calfburger fan that might be interested in taking over the tradition, please contact Kathy at 314-726-1141.
My sister has finally found a place to live! i mean, a place that isn’t my house! Alice is with her and her son right now at
Our Lady’s Inn.
This is a huge step for my sister, and it’s exactly what she needs. Hopefully she will come out of this adventure with the life skills necessary to make it on her own (and not need to live with me any more!).
I proud of her for getting this far, and good luck to her in starting the rest of her life.
