Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Rational Ideas

Rational ideas only provide useful models for systems that can be broken.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Interchangeable

An authoritarian may always be spotted by looking for interchangeable opinions.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Secrecy

Secrecy should only be sought for those things that really need to remain so.

Friday, November 26, 2010

Writing about Propaganda (Advertising)

As I've stated before, it's pretty much impossible to wrote about propaganda (or in this case advertising) without writing propaganda.  An example of this observation is given in Bombing the Senses:
The right wing mouthpieces for the “business community” that fired these once industrious workers now labels them lazy welfare cheats while marketers still try to figure out how to sell them the latest sugar-coated turds — excuse me, vital products with healthy chemical preservatives and taste additives.
After all, Americans, conditioned through decades of sensory bombardment, expect buying new products will bring happiness on earth. They can also purchase salvation in the hereafter
My wife’s grandmother donated money to a TV preacher – dressed in a garish pimp-like suit. Elmer Gantry of the tube assured Granny God would reward her contribution to His cause.
Secular pitchers entice us: buy this IPhone; enrich your life. Focus groups and consumer surveys marketers once tested merchandise, to discover what colored dye made toothpaste most palatable, or the proper wording to transform Ex-Lax into something soft and cozy. As if!
Companies like Google, GM, CBS and Campbell Soups biw invest in science and technology that manipulate brains to send messages to hands -- to sign credit card slips.
Sounds like Pavlov's Dog.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Memory

i. The past is memory.
ii. Memory fades.
iii. Does the past fade as well?

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

US Politics

Ignoring something doesn't make it go away, but you would sure think so looking at US politics.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Deflation

Deflation is akin to a popped ego.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Medocrity

Mediocrity is the life blood of American economics.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Paper

Paper is only worth what's printed on it.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Is it bad?

On Paving:

Is it a bad thing when the vibratory compactor can be felt in the building you are sitting in 300 yards away?

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Up is Down

For someone on the other side of the globe, your up is his down.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Buying Crap

The difference between advertising and propaganda: Advertising sells you something you don't need; Propaganda sells you something you don't want.  See 5 Ways Stores Use Science to Trick You Into Buying Crap.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Flaws

When flaws become virtues, we all lose.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Cowardice

Cowardice is a way of life for many stuck in their own feedback loops.

(Just read the comments section of MSM and other sites.)

Monday, November 08, 2010

Fine Minds Wallowing

i. "Being an expert in one's field does not necessarily mean said expertise is transferable."
- attributed to A Real Windbag

ii. Obsession is boring.

iii. Fine minds are perfectly capable of wallowing in pedantic philosophy.

Saturday, November 06, 2010

Wallow

Those doomed to follow need not wallow.

Friday, November 05, 2010

Economics

The Marxist economic block failed.  Now capitalism is in crisis.  Elections cannot change the historical momentum.  Things won't be the same.  Only mitigation is possible, but products are generally poor at such approaches.  For them, the system must be preserved.  No alternative is possible.  Desperation sets in.  They will try anything.  Quantitative easements have no utility.  Something cannot come from nothing.  Who would trade concrete for worthless paper?  It amazing that one could think otherwise.

See Also.

Hype

Hype creates meaning out of nothingness.