One of my least favorite aspects of politics is the tendency of politicians (and worse, pundits) to see everything in terms of political gain or loss. I think some things are too important to be a political footballs. I think dissent is always okay—if you have something to dissent about. But at some point, if you don’t a real alternative proposal, it’s time to either shut up or offer something constructive.
This, friends, is a 3.5 inch floppy disk. We used to use them all the time. Then writable CDs and the Internet came along and suddenly they weren’t so useful anymore. (Around that time, coincidentally, fewer people lost critical files due to inexplicable disk failure). About eight years back when I wanted to install a floppy drive in my computer, Marco told me it wasn’t worth the effort. I insisted. Marco relented. Well, mostly. He put it in—but upside down. I noticed a few years later, when I finally had an excuse to use it. Of course, I mentioned it—just to gloat. “See? I knew it would be useful. By the way, did you know it was upside down?”
“You just noticed that?”
Okay. So maybe it wasn’t that useful.
But what do you do when your harddrive dies and the old operating system you’re installing on it can’t recognize your ethernet card? You have a laptop—but the laptop can’t burn a CD. Also, you don’t own a flashdrive because they used to be expensive and you still think of them as too costly to buy? How can you get that ethernet driver from Internet to the desktop, presumably via the laptop? It’s easy if you have a USB floppy drive. (On a side note, a USB floppy drive with a disk in it functions much like a memory stick—except that it sucks.)
Excluding showing off to your grandchildren, when is the last time you used a floppy disk?
This pipe is in my basement. From what I can tell, it’s primary purpose is to spew water into the basement when there is a record storm fall. Were basement flooding pipes were fashionable in the sixties?
Prioritizing Politics
Turning the Sky Green
The protests in Iran have changed. As far as I can tell, the increased violence by and against protestors have decreased those willing to protest on the street. The protestors are looking for safer ways to keep their message alive.
Today’s method involved releasing green balloons at 1:00 over Tehran, hoping to turn the sky green. It can be done quickly and anonymously—but it’s highly visible.
[T]he majority of Americans have no reason to be familiar with the armed forces…. While there are downsides to this, it seems as if it - not having to constantly display your power over your own citizens - is one of the signs of success of a nation.
Injustice and Civil War
Civil war is an awful thing. Whether it’s our civil war, with the Battle of Cold Harbor and Sherman’s March to the Sea or a civil war in Somalia or the Congo, the consequences can be devastating. President Lincoln’s first priority, as passionately as he hated slavery, was avoiding civil war. Casualties are measured in millions. A country is torn asunder, and it could take decades or centuries to mend it back together. How bad must an injustice be before we consider a civil war a preferrable outcome?
I ask this in the context of Iran. As open and peaceful demonstrations are near impossible, should the reformists continue resisting? How far should they take things?
