Hey all,
So we do the best we can, but technology is a fickle pickle. We had a major server problem this morning, but if you’re reading this, it’s fixed. On behalf of all of us at FreeThought Blogs, I sincerely apologize for the downtime. To make recompense, here’s a silly comic:
In the future, if this kind of thing happens again, you should look to Twitter, as I usually lead the chorus of random cognitive utterances under the hashtag #FreeThoughts.
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Hey everyone,
I realize now that I made my announcement about putting the blog proceeds toward a Kiva loan went out at a funny time, and unless you’re an RSS subscriber or a particularly diligent reader, there’s a good chance you missed it. Anyway, still looking for your input about where the money should go. Lots of great ideas circulating through the comments so far. I’ll make a final decision next Friday and make an announcement.
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This post is meant to serve as a ‘heads-up’ for those of you who will be reading between now and the new year. Because I live in Vancouver but my parents do not, the time has come for me to make my annual pilgrimage to the Center of the Universe (Toronto) and see family and friends. During this time I tend to blog less because I am well outside my normal routine. It’s a holiday for me too, which means that I will be relaxing my “one thousand words a day or more” policy. I have a bunch of stuff still on file to talk about, so you can keep checking back from time to time for new stuff.
I will be back to my usual self the first week of January, so fear not.
Twitter isn’t censoring #GodisnotGreat. Gizmodo explains:
Twitter uses an algorithm to determine what’s trending. It’s not human-edited. It famouslyvalues novelty over popularity. That makes it really really hard for trends to stay alive, as they essentially have to keep snowballing in order to keep trending. That’s why it’s called a trend!
A Twitter spokesperson verified that the company still does not censor trends. Even if the trend was really, really offensive (see the #ReasonsToBeatYourGirlfriend trending topic above) the company would not intervene.
So, while your theory is nice, Internet, it’s also wrong. You’re not being censored, you’re just dull.
Not that I don’t enjoy watching my fellow atheists lose their shit, but c’mon folks you’re making us look ridiculous and petty here.
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The new banner is in place, and it looks splendid. Vacuumslayer was kind enough to do a couple of tweaks for me, and I am well pleased. A donation to Occupy Wall Street has been made in the artist’s name.
Thanks again to those who voted. To the artists responsible for the other finalists (T. Pilsner, Stephanie, Morby, and William), please do e-mail me with your addresses so I can send you a CD.
With my new (and certifiably badass) look, I have a renewed sense of purpose and drive that my bichromatic predecessor simply did not convey.
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A couple weeks ago, I reached out to the Freethoughtosphere to ask for a new banner for this blog. The design I had was pretty boring, and I know that people are talented. What I didn’t realize is how talented y’all were, and I want to take a moment to thank everyone who contributed a banner image to this contest. It was a lot of fun for me to see all the different ideas people had.
I also want to thank everyone who voted for an idea, taking the difficult decision out of my hands. Without any further ado, I will present the results of the vote below the fold.
This was a pretty crazy week for the Occupy Together movement – police beat and sprayed occupiers in New York, Seattle, Denver, and were going to descend on San Francisco as well before being scared off. That’s to say nothing of what happened to the students at Berkeley who were assaulted by police on the very steps where the free speech and anti-war movements of the mid-20th century were born.
I spent part of yesterday evening with Occupy Vancouver, on a march that went from Brookfield’s Vancouver office (the people who own Zuccotti Park and requested that the city tear down the OWS site) to a local branch of the Royal Bank, back to Brookfield, and returning ultimate to the foot of the Art Gallery. I was struck by the positive, upbeat attitude of the crowd and the (nearly) seamless communication of ideas.
What I was more struck by was the clear level of commitment, energy, and skill that had gone into making what was (when last I was there) a ramshackle affair into a cohesive, established site, that was offering a variety of services to the city of Vancouver.
I thought you might enjoy this video:
The Occupy movement, despite the idiotic, reactionary criticism it gets from people informed by a media that is not set up to understand a movement like this, is not a bunch of shiftless layabouts who would rather have a handout than push a broom. They are passionate, dedicated people who are willing to put themselves through quite a lot of suffering to make an important point about how our society is structured. In between making points, however, they’re also providing valuable services.
If I can speak as an economist for a moment, the video highlights something that doesn’t get spoken about much. I got into an absolutely one-sided “debate” with someone on Facebook who called the occupiers “losers”. Her position (rambling as it was) eventually settled on the fact that she didn’t want her hard-earned tax dollars paying for the electricity that Occupy Vancouver is getting from the city. The $0.00001 that she has contributed to the movement aside, that argument only works if you completely ignore the fact that Occupy Vancouver is housing and feeding people, providing medical care, and generating political advertising and awareness. Each of these things, provided without charge, is not only valuable, but takes pressure off of municipal services.
But again, this is the whole point of the Occupy movement: society is not living up to its promises to provide these services. If we want to see improvements, we have to become more proactive. What we should have is a system that places a greater emphasis on equality than quarter-to-quarter growth – the two are not independent entities. We should be using the wealth we generate to care for those who need help, so they can get up on their feet and begin generating wealth of their own. Instead, we reward a small number far beyond what their services are truly worth.
Anyway, if I’m not careful this will turn into a 2,000 word opinion piece on the philosophy of the occupiers. This is movie Friday – it’s supposed to be fun and relaxing. Here’s CROWN doing a Beatles tune:
Happy Friday!
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If you haven’t yet, don’t forget to include your vote for the new banner. Some people are ranking them, others are giving 1 or 2 favourites. Whichever design gets the most support will become the new banner for this site. FYI – to the best of my knowledge, I can’t use more than one (but if that ever changes then I will certainly do that).
Go vote!
There is a famous biblical passage that reads: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” Whether or not that’s true in general (spoilers: it isn’t), it is certainly true in the case of my request for a new banner for the blog. I have been overwhelmed with the level of creativity and generosity demonstrated by the readers here, and you have the most sincere thanks that I can muster from my godless, soulless core. I have boiled down the multitude of submissions to 5 of my favourites: … Continue Reading
Look up at the top of the page. Now back to me. Now back to the top of the page. What do you see? It’s a banner. It’s not a particularly nice banner (although made infinitely nicer thanks to the hard work of reader aspidoscelis, for which I am very grateful). I would very much like to have a spiffy banner. However, I have no graphic design skills to speak of. I am hoping I can prevail upon you, gentle readers, for some assistance in this regard.
I have no particular requests or ideas for what a banner would look like. I know that it must measure 300 cubits by 50 cubits by 30 cubits… wait no, that’s idiotic. It has to be 728 x 120, and it has to have the title of the blog in there somewhere. My old site had the black power fist:
And this quote from Christopher Hitchens: “The stubborn persistence of chauvinism in our life and letters is or ought to be the proper subject for critical study, not the occasion for displays of shock.”
Either or neither of those things could conceivably be worked in. I throw myself upon the mercy of the internet.
Wow, that sounds like a terrible idea…
The person with the design I like the most will be rewarded in some way that I have not figured out yet.
EDIT: Reader Zugswang has helpfully provided me with this most awesome tweak to the image above:
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Crommunist 