One important factor to consider in a Think Tank is what is happening in the present and the present perception of such events in the media. Often we hear people state as fact something they heard or saw in the news media. Yet, folks so far removed from the situation have no real clue as to what actually happened in real life. They often assume that what's reported is the reality without questions.
To fully understand the impact it is often necessary to sift thru events and news to find out what is real. Let's take a recent article in the Christian Science Monitor "Iraq's Maliki inks Syrian border pact - The prime minister is under growing pressure from the US to show some progress in Baghdad" by Hugh Naylor; and dissect it. First, off peace between neighbors is important and yet can anyone really trust Syria to uphold an agreement?
During the same week Saudi Arabia blamed Syria for allowing weapons and insurgents into Iraq from their country and other intelligence has reported that Syrian guards had assisted in getting insurgents into Iraq to destabilize and kill US Troops. Iran although full of denials is training insurgents, arming them and members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard is playing a big role in it all both in Afghanistan and Iraq - Isn't this all a bunch of déjà poo? Haven't we all stepped in this Bull before, as one of these nations has promised during negotiation something that they do not honor and actually go and do the opposite with?
Just because the rhetoric changes or even the buzz words that are used, we still have the basic predicament. For instance let's discuss some of the latest newly invented words that were recently listed in the Associated Press:
Blamestorming: A group process where participants analyze a failed project and look for scapegoats other than themselves. (new word, same human primate politics games which have been going on for 10,000 years - heck, even chimpanzees do this.)
BMWs: Bitchers, Moaners and Whiners. (Some folks specialize in complaining and no matter how great something is, they will find or invent some problem with it.)
Clockroaches: Employees who spend most of their day watching the clock -- instead of doing their jobs. (Sound familiar - perhaps the reason we have unions - to justify this activity.)
Plutoed: To be unceremoniously dumped or relegated to a lower position without an adequate reason or explanation. (After Pluto was dumped, as it did not fit the new definition of a Planet - Convenient indeed, although not so great for the odd man out.)
Adminisphere: The upper levels of management where big, impractical, and counterproductive decisions are made. (The definition of a committee or what happens when lawyers spend their time coming up with new definitions. Ivory Tower syndrome has now been redefined).
Ringtone rage: The violent response by cube mates after hearing your annoying cell phone ringtone for the 15th time. (Disruptive bells and whistles, are making us nuts and destroying the peace, as if it ever really existed at all?).
Still in all these new ways to describe the same old thing in the fog of the mass media hysteria, inciting the populous of the world to take a stand against this thing or that other thing, one has to ask, hell - I have to ask; is it really doing any good? Speaking of good, just because you think you are doing good does not necessarily mean the "Ends" will be good for all concerned? For instance consider this article in the Associated Press: "Is the Western World's gifts to Africa helping poverty?"
Good question because if you bring in food shipments, which are hijacked prior to delivery then, the guerillas sell the food to the intended recipients, steal the truck and then use the money and the truck to assist in buying weapons and transporting 10-year old soldiers to kill innocent civilians with AK-47s. In that case are we really helping anyone with all our money - how can you have liberty, democracy and freedom with that going on and what about smaller issues and freedom? For instance this article by Anita Chang:
BEIJING — Blog service providers in China are "encouraged" to register users with their real names and contact information, according to a new government document that tones down an earlier proposal banning anonymous online blogging. At least 10 major Chinese blog service providers have agreed to sign the "self-discipline pledge" issued by the Internet Society of China, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported Tuesday.
Online bulletin boards and blogs are the only forum for most Chinese to express opinions before a large audience in a society where all media are state-controlled.
China has the world's second-biggest population of Internet users after the United States, with 137 million people online. It also has 30 million registered bloggers, and more than 100 million Chinese Internet users visit blogs regularly, according to the ISC. The group is under the Ministry of Information Industry.
The guidelines, issued Tuesday and effective immediately, "encouraged" real-name registration of users, according to a copy posted on the Internet group's website.
Are these policies to make Blogs more polite or to quell opinion against the Chinese Government so they can crack down on free-speech and make some Bloggers disappear? We know that China is very worried about the Internet and their control over their huge population base. If the citizens there do not have a clear view of the real world, then they are denied information, which might allow them to reach their full potential and to demand honesty and integrity from their government.
Do you have a clear view of the World, do you ever wonder how clear it really could be? Well how about the New Visualization System at UC San Diego? Source: KurzweilAI.net August 23, 2007.
Engineers at the University of California, San Diego have constructed the highest-resolution computer display in the world -- with a screen resolution up to 220 million pixels.
