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For the First Time, the TSA Meets Resistance:

marco:

(via John Gruber)

I asked him if he was looking forward to conducting the full-on pat-downs. “Nobody’s going to do it,” he said, “once they find out that we’re going to do.”

In other words, people, when faced with a choice, will inevitably choose the Dick-Measuring Device over molestation? “That’s what we’re hoping for. We’re trying to get everyone into the machine.” He called over a colleague. “Tell him what you call the back-scatter,” he said. “The Dick-Measuring Device,” I said. “That’s the truth,” the other officer responded.

So, to summarize: With no supporting evidence whatsoever that it will make anyone any safer, and in response to absolutely no credible threats, the TSA has decided to implement a policy, that nobody asked for, in which every passenger must allow TSA agents to either see or touch their genitals before boarding a plane.

And, of course, we’re all going to subject ourselves to it, because we have no recourse and no power, even though the creation and execution of this policy are likely violating a few laws or at least common-sense rights, because that doesn’t really matter.

I’m starting to understand some of the Tea Party anger. It’s grossly misdirected, but there are understandable reasons to look around at our country and wonder what the hell has gotten into everyone.

Personally, I believe in George Carlin’s American Dream: the most intelligent 3 minutes and 14 seconds of political commentary spoken in a generation.

Two lines from it have stuck with me and helped me mostly stop being scared or disappointed by everything that happens politically. “Be happy with what you got,” and “They’ll get it all from you, sooner or later.”

I know this sounds hopeless or jaded. But it’s the only way I can cope with American politics. Have you ever known someone who worried constantly and irrationally about all of the dangers that could happen to them (say, on planes) and could barely function in their lives? And you just want to tell them, “Stop worrying about everything! You’ll be fine!”

Well, believing those two simple lines from a remarkably insightful comedy writer helps me deal with the inevitable and increasing disappointment and disillusionment that I have with our great democracy.

I still vote and participate, but I no longer expect functional, sensible, honest, or just results. It’s easier to just sit back and laugh at how ridiculous it is, as I get on with my life and accept whatever new dysfunction or injustice has been added to our society. When the (usually half-assed) improvements happen — and they do — it’s a pleasant surprise, but I don’t expect anything.

With this philosophy, I’m much happier, with less stress.

Open Bookmarks:

Imagine a future where instead of lending someone a book, you lend them your bookmarks. Where your notes, annotations and references are synchronised across platforms and applications. Where your bookmarks belong to you, and a record of every book you read is saved and stored securely, no matter how or where you read it.
We’re nearly there, and that’s why we need Open Bookmarks.
Find out more on the blog and the Wiki.

mnmlist: minimalism vs. the corporation :

Every aspect of our lives have been pervaded by corporations. We eat not just fresh, simple food grown from local farms, but processed food (sometimes “organic” processed food) packaged by corporations, or fried up at chain restaurants. Coffee brewed by Starbucks. Computers made by Apple. Programs from Microsoft and Adobe. Shoes by Nike, clothes by Gap, homes by Crate & Barrel. We spend time at the malls, watch TV shows and movies made by major entertainment conglomerates, read books and magazines and newspapers by those same conglomerates, listen to our iPods, watch on the iPad, talk on the iPhone or Blackberry, get our email through Google or Apple, say hello on Facebook, get our news from CNN and The New York Times Company, do our workout at Gold’s, eat our Weight Watchers, connect via Verizon.

And yes, I’m part of this.

I am part too. Leo continues:

What part of our lives isn’t controlled by corporations? A tiny portion, one that’s shrinking rapidly.
Minimalism is a way to shake free of those shackles, slowly. It’s a way of saying, “I don’t need to buy more, to work more in order to get more of your products and services. In fact, I can be happy, content, joyful, creative without spending a single dime. All I need is the sun and the trees and the water and a good friend.”

Minimalism is finding ways to live that aren’t controlled by the corporations.

Minimalism isn’t just about having fewer possessions or developing a beautifully minimalist aesthetic. It’s a striking out against the corporations that are increasingly in control of our lives.

Every aspect of our lives have been pervaded by corporations. We eat not just fresh, simple food grown from local farms, but processed food (sometimes “organic” processed food) packaged by corporations, or fried up at chain restaurants. Coffee brewed by Starbucks. Computers made by Apple. Programs from Microsoft and Adobe. Shoes by Nike, clothes by Gap, homes by Crate & Barrel. We spend time at the malls, watch TV shows and movies made by major entertainment conglomerates, read books and magazines and newspapers by those same conglomerates, listen to our iPods, watch on the iPad, talk on the iPhone or Blackberry, get our email through Google or Apple, say hello on Facebook, get our news from CNN and The New York Times Company, do our workout at Gold’s, eat our Weight Watchers, connect via Verizon.

And yes, I’m a part of this.

What part of our lives isn’t controlled by corporations? A tiny portion, one that’s shrinking rapidly.

Minimalism is a way to shake free of those shackles, slowly. It’s a way of saying, “I don’t need to buy more, to work more in order to get more of your products and services. In fact, I can be happy, content, joyful, creative without spending a single dime. All I need is the sun and the trees and the water and a good friend.”

Minimalism is finding ways to live that aren’t controlled by the corporations.

A human being is a living, feeling complex organism whose single goal is the perpetuation of its genes through survival and reproduction. A corporation is a non-living, non-feeling complex organization whose single goal is earning more profits for its shareholders. And while I’m not against making money, I do think that the pure profit motive isn’t always compatible with our survival interests as human beings.

Consider: a corporation wants to maximize profits, and to do so it will often cut corners, endangering our health and the environment. It will deceive us so that we will spend our money on its products. It will treat its employees horribly, to cut costs and drive up production. It will treat living, feeling animals like objects to be manufactured, cut up, processed, fried and packaged, ignoring the suffering of those animals because profits matter, not compassion. It will happily make us fat, because it knows that selling fried food devoid of nutrition is good for profits, while we die from heart disease and diabetes and cancer. Our earth is being devastated, which is good for profits but not for us as humans.

It’s time to stop this madness. The corporation is a hungry beast, and we keep feeding it. Let’s walk away, and let it die from hunger. Let’s free ourselves, and create a world where living things are more important than profits.

Set in Sentosa cove, Singapore, Sandy Island is a rare collection of 18 waterfront villas nestled within a tropical island oasis of privacy and calm.

Designed by London and Milan based architect Claudio Silvestrin, these villas are built facing the Java sea. Each villa is 700 m2 large with it’s own swimming pool and double height living area. The 18 villas have four different design configurations and materials, mainly natural stones and timber.

I especially like the fluidity of spaces where one space flows into another with a minimal intrusion of doors and barriers. Starting at the front in a closed-off geometrical form to open up at the back with a dramatic double height frameless glass façade.

Sandy Island is due for completion in 2010.