CBrajkovich Ramblings

You know how I’m always talking about the wonders of the universe. Well, NASA (along with JPL-Caltech and the Univ. of Arizona)  has managed to bring us another such wonder. Boy, the winds of Mars are devilish. This amazing image of a serpent dust devil on the surface of Mars in a location called the Amazonis Planitia. It’s amazing that this planet which has so many similarities to our own never fails to astonish us with familiar scenes on far away lands. It’s almost as though the spirit of Mars is taking a leisurely stroll on the red planet, and didn’t notice that someone out there was watching.

In this case, the someone was the HIRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Space exploration always manages to blow our minds, doesn’t it?

Ted2012 has just finished, but its conversations will live on like they always do. Whether you watched the optimistic Peter Diamandis speak about Abundance Is Our Future, or the realism of Paul Gilding letting us know that The Earth Is Full, you heard about not only the difficulties but also the opportunities for a better future that we have at the tips of our fingertips. The key is every one of us chipping in to make the required changes happen. Much of the population doesn’t seem ready to work for such a vision, but the Ted folks are not amongst this group.

Well, then I heard Bryan Stevenson give his talk on We Need To Talk About Injustice, and I knew that he was someone special. Bryan gives us details of the work that he does working with bias in our justice system. But his talk doesn’t just only go into stats (which are horrifying) on this prejudiced bias in our criminal justice system, but he speaks of how to re-frame our mindsets towards a fairer approach that doesn’t just focus on demonizing all errors, no matter their level of victimization, through unbalanced punishment.

The lives of minorities are never fully focused upon unless it is to focus on their burden. But what about their current and potential contributions. What if we raised our conscience so that we put the importance back onto each unique individual, no matter what their background? What if we all were given a fair shake? What if the negativism is finally responded to with a vision of what we can all do working together?

Wealth and status will no longer hold the same respect that it once did, because our current history shows that they no longer deserve the respect. But everyday, we see people who have potential, but not the resources to succeed, and they should be the ones who gain respect. Because everyday, someone out there is coming up with amazing solutions based upon their own tragic experiences that will give us a new way to look at things.

Listen to Bryan. He really is incredible! Absolutely INCREDIBLE!!! You’ll probably listen to this talk more than once. I already have. And I will listen some more because he speaks an important viewpoint that can help us all go far and with a huge amount of hope. Your identity can give us all hope, if you choose to make it so.

Keep your eyes on the prize. HOLD ON!

It seems like a good day to remember that important Internet manifesto of John Perry Barlow, the founder of the EFF. Here is a Declaration of Independence of Cyberspace:

Because it needs to be said, remembered, and respected by all – especially governments and corporations who are returning us all to the Dark Ages (just read anything from the mainstream news and current legislation that removes human rights piece-by-piece).

And follow this up with the manifesto, We, The Web Kids (originally written by Polish author, Piotr Czerski).

http://youtu.be/gzieTzart5s

I tried to follow the European Parliament’s open workshop on ACTA at their site, however I never managed to get their videos to work so I gave up trying to access the live stream. Fortunately, Cory Doctorow forwarded this talk by Michael Geist, a Canadian law professor with extensive expertise on IP, who was one of the experts called in for testimony.  Here’s a link to his site where you can read his entire testimony at your leisure, as he covered a ton of incredibly important factors that make ACTA dangerous.

“This report concludes that ACTA’s harm greatly exceeds its potential benefits. Given ACTA’s corrosive effect on transparency in international negotiations, the damage to international intellectual property institutions, the exclusion of the majority of the developing world from the ambit of the agreement, the potentially dangerous substantive provisions, and the uncertain benefits in countering counterfeiting, there are ample reasons for the public and politicians to reject the agreement in its current form.  In doing so, governments would help restore confidence in the global intellectual property system and open the door to a new round of negotiations premised on transparency, inclusion, and evidence-based policy-making.”

And read EDRI’s latest, The Plans To Bring ACTA Back To Life. It’s becoming glaringly clear that many of our international governments seem to have little intention of dealing with the public concerns in a legitimate manner. And once again, all for their tunnel-visioned focus is on flawed economics that have been so tainted by the IP industry, specifically the copyright segment (though patents are now also a legal fiasco).  The three steps are 1) Talking the momentum out of the ACTA protests, 2) Building towards “conditional consent”, and 3) Wait for the court, then vote. Our governments think that we’re not in this for the long hall. We need to show them that we’re not going anywhere, nor are we going to stay quiet.

p.s. Here’s some more from Techdirt and Senator Ron Wyden

Ok, I have to get this off of my chest because I just heard the most disturbing thing from one of the most important people in my life. I won’t go into the details, because I will just want to punch something…hard. But I will say this:

What we say to others affects them long after the words have disappeared. Especially when it’s just plain mean.

Whether you believe that someone isn’t as worthy as you feel you are, there is absolutely no reason to speak words that are only meant to hurt. If you can’t say anything nice, then now might be the time to shut the h*ll up. THINK. Would I want to hear that from someone else? Will it improve that other person’s life if it’s something beyond their control (especially when it can’t be separated from that person)? Am I being an assh*le because of what I said or did?

This has nothing to do with religion, though some of the people who did this claimed to be religious. This has nothing to do with prejudice, though some of those people clearly exhibited the superficiality that comes with prejudice.

But this has everything to do with being judgmental, because these people who were close to us clearly exhibited this sorry behavior to someone that I love very much. This also has everything to do with being human, and being empathetic. Because empathy is the basis for fixing all of the negativity that we visit on one another. Seriously, if we are truly the social people that we claim to be then we need to understand that what we say and do has impacts on others. To not realize this is simply just plain selfish.

Because I would not wish what happened to someone I love on my worst enemies. And that person still cared enough to try to protect me from experiencing the same pain.

Now excuse me while I go find my kicking bag…because I refuse to do what these people did to someone I care for deeply! No matter how tempted I am. After all, I’m still human and it’s not easy.