Ennui, I hardly knew thee.

Ennui

It can be a difficult word. No, really. You know hard it can be to work out how to spell it? It sounds like it starts with an “o”…at least to me. I spent far too long trying to figure out how to spell it. First, I didn't have the right first letter, making the search frustrating. Then...How the hell do you explain ennui if you want to look it up?

It’s a “je ne se quoi” of words, so to speak. So, thank you voice recognition tech. And thank you people that put it on phones. And screw you to the people who “improved” the voice recognition tech when I tried to relook up the word as I started to write this. You, the last set, gave me a headache.

So, what about ennui? I often feel like I slide into a state of ennui. I have good times…or times. Then you slide into the funk, and you are useless to everyone around you. You're aware you aren't functioning, but disconnected from it all.

But before going on, maybe it’s worth being sure we know what we are talking about. Ennui is defined as a feeling of deep weariness and discontent resulting from having your desires satisfied or from lack of interest, or being bored…What? Wait am I subconsciously mocking myself?

…Most likely.

Still, it also seems valid. Not along the lines of having all my desires fulfilled. Rather, it’s the disinterest side.

I am disconnected. I always feel some distance or barrier with everyone and everything around me. I have to work at engaging. Though, thanks to my time online, I've seen enough to assume that the last part is more a matter of being an introvert, and not an extrovert.

But the disconnect. The disconnect lends to a weariness. Pessimism builds up and just shuts me down. Apathy grows. Hope dwindles. And I just stop caring. It's just...ennui. It makes me a pain for those close to be around. But their aren't that many around.

Yet the modern world does offer alternatives. It is a wonderful result of this age. While some complain people are more disconnected than ever in history, humans are able to connect in so many new ways. And through these paths we all can connect more frequently with far more people, in particular people more like ourselves (in interests, experiences, etc.).

So, while one can become disconnected, and grow silent, you can still have a community, you can listen to and learn from. You don’t have to become utterly lost and adrift. And you can reach out when you are ready.

It’s a good thing. Comforting. Never should it be forgotten.

Also, something to never lose sight of when you are in the doldrums is that you always have time to change things (Or, if your problems are a bit too much for you on your own, never too late to seek help.). It’s not too late to talk to someone, to make amends, to seek another career, or just be a better person. We always have the initiative to do something. We can't let ourselves lose sight of this.

Sadly I never listen to me. I find me unbearable, even with my sage wisdom.

Giving up on hope should be unacceptable. We are aspirational being. Call it greed, ambition, hunger, or horniness, we live to strive. We may find a need to retool our hopes and aspirations, but we need those stars to help us move and navigate through our lives.

So it’s important to embrace them and see where they can take us.

WARNING to Conservatives, this video may cause you to learn - Plan B pills

Came across this video. It gives a simple explanation of what the Plan B pill does and doesn't do. Let's get passed the misinformation.


It is not an abortion (Not that abortion should be an anathema.). And when people want to tell you, or someone you know, it is, correct them.

People shouldn't be shamed, or lied, away from their valid medical choices.

National Poetry Month...has passed

So it is probably time for me to mention it. Ugh.

I had hoped to talk sooner, but perhaps it's better. I am not really the greatest of connoisseurs of poetry. As a kid I was asked to bring in my favorite poem. Ended up bringing in Trees ("I think I shall never see..."). Honestly I think I picked it because it was in a movie, or just because it does get tossed around so much (at least when I was kid). So, yeah.

Still, I hope I've improved some as I've gotten older. I like a good poem, even when it doesn't rhyme! (And I could claim to have tried to write a poem, here and there. But I won't admit to that.) Yet still, I feel the philistine.

Still it is good to take on and experience poetry from time to time, or much of the time; and do it even at times other than April. It is part of literature, which like all the rest, one should partake of.

So let me point you to someone who was properly celebrating this year's National Poetry Month.

Gibbons has been sharing her own work over the last month. I'll link to the National Poetry Month tag so you can enjoy some of her lovely work, and some others she points to.

And then here's something I do enjoy. I am a fan of the work of Elizabeth Barrett Browning (not exactly an unknown). I enjoy listening and reading to her sonnets. So here's one. Go From Me (As opposed to How Do I Love Thee, which everyone seems to do a rendition of. -- Not that that's a bad thing.).




And, fine. How about something a little less serious. Some Captain Jean-Luc Picard, with poetry.

Did I miss the prom again? Eh. *UPDATED*

Seems I took a day off to recharge, or I was just being lazy...I could also may have fashioned a life, then lost it at the mall...Eh. So let's do some Tumbling and FaceBooking, and see what's up. What has happen this night? Nerdprom? Ah. White House Correspondence Dinner. Let's see if I can gripe about that.


I truly don't get it anymore. It's an event that was meant to celebrate and maintain the healthy relationship between government and media. A chance to break away from the necessarily adversarial nature of their roles. A chance for the press to stop holding government's feet to the fire, and just be whined, dined, and given a laugh.

You enjoy the humor of that last paragraph? That is the problem. It's just an old tradition. The press is regularly being wined, dined, and charmed by the powers that be. The media has a very friendly relationship, a very close one. Everyone is there because, it's expected. And it's important, because everyone says it is. An event Rich Little can MC is not that important.

Of course, some people enjoy watching the spectacle. That's fine. Many people do. But it doesn't take away from my own dissatisfaction and the apparent silliness of it all.

For instance, there is this star watching aspect that feels somewhat new to it, but it could be my faulty memory. It's supposed to be thrilling to see Scarlett Johansson meet John Boehner...Why? Movie stars and politicians...together! Listen. I'm already not watching the Oscars/Emmys/Grammys/Tonys, okay? I'd be more interested more interested if they were meeting in a committee hearing, discussing some national issue of personal importance to them. Instead we get this quasi red carpet deal. It feels so silly.

Yes. The White House Correspondence Dinner has a long a storied past. But that doesn't keep it from feeling like an awards show in the midst of awards show season. And I am talking Cable Ace Awards Show.


If having people like Stephen Colbert hosting was the norm, not an anomaly, the dinner would take on a new modern role. It would be a smart and sharp roast. A roasting of Washington. (Not to be confused with 1814 variation on the theme.) Then it would be a matter of Washington seeing if it can laugh at itself and it's faults.

But it's not about that. It's about laughing at safe jokes, jokes the Washington beltway approves. Jokes meant to steer you away from any serious thoughts about what the elected folk are doing the rest of the year. Jokes meant more to be a pat on the back. Jokes that make light of serious policy questions. Policy like drones and missing WMD's. Maybe when you see that the magic dies.

Watching Bush jokes his way through his failures should shake you.


Of course, I no doubt will eventually watch some of it. Best of clips will be all over tomorrow and at the start of the week. And, if anything good came of tonight it will be nigh impossible to avoid seeing it. It's hard to avoid the grand spectacle.


Wait! One more thing. It's called nerdprom by some the past few years? I think nerds everywhere should be insulted. I think any of us could pick out a better and less exclusive annual event to stand as a prom of sorts (Comic-Con, DragonCon, SXSW, etc.)....Just saying.

__________
UPDATED:

Charlie Pierce wrote a good piece excoriating the dinner. It just does get to feel sillier and sillier an event. It has because the overt  presentation of what's going on behind the scenes in DC.

Also he notes what I came across in another piece. Thousands of dollars are being spent by news orgs and corporations to wine. dine, and impress, before and after the dinner. Celebrities are being paid to come to Washington and hang around and smile. All this as so many are getting laid off to save on costs.

The dinners are promotional events. It hits me as I see photos of Rachel Maddow (a long time journalistic favorite of mine) at these events playing bartender/mixologist. It's become part of the package. While she is skilled at it and may love it, it's a selling point, come to the party and get Maddow to mix you a drink.

But it helps get corporate advertisers to the event to get schmoozed. It gets the execs to come by. And it offers some glamour and entertainment. But is that what the DC correspondence offices are there for? ...Maybe that is all it really is about. Maybe it is.

CISPA: Bad law on bad.

In considering CISPA in the last piece I mentioned SOPA, the last iteration of these efforts to broaden government access and control of personal information. It managed to scare and anger many. And with numerous powerful online and tech interest opposed, it was given a lot of unwanted attention that helped lead to its demise in Congress. 

It was overly broad law. It was bad law. It was unpopular law, with the industrial deep pockets elected figures like to please.

So the lesson the lobbyist and Congressional supporters took away from that fight was to make it more palatable to industry. Nothing else really changed. Bad bill language stayed. Broad powers stayed. It just shows an interesting level of cluelessness.

Now, it was politician smart. They don't want to have to get yelled at by the businesses they rely on for fundraising. So it's a no lose fight to their reelection campaigns.

But this cluelessness does have impact. SOPA would have been bad law, like CISPA before it, and now. But other like law are already on the books. Like CFAA, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. This law is outdated 80's law against computer hacking (Hey. Remember all those bad 80's hacking movies? It's that old a law.). But it is badly worded and outdated law. This is the law that was used all too recently to hound a rather young and brilliant civil liberties advocate (and vocal opponent of SOPA) Aaron Schwartz for relatively benign activity. But under this law the DA was trying to put him in prison for decades (Because it was the law...kinda.). (And those efforts sadly led to his suicide.) It was punitive action through bad law.

CFAA is exactly an example about why we do need legislation, new legislation, for cybersecurity. Things do need to change. And PIPA, SOPA, and CISPA are examples of why it has to be GOOD law, SOUND law, and INTELLIGENT law; all things these bills are not. We need change, but these laws based more on paranoia and control will not do the job. Our law crafters have to do better.

CISPA is just too vague in how it will be applied, much like CFAA. It will inevitably be used poorly and people will be made to unfairly suffer. And now before it is law is the time to act. Congress needs to do a better job. Looking at CFAA, even many changes suggested for it focus more on increasing punishments and making the violations of the act a more vague and unclear matter. The legislators making the decisions here are not doing a good. job. They have to do better. We have to make them do better, particularly as all the loud voices with the deep pockets are walking away from the fray. It is up to us.

Get informed. Get involved.

I also wanted to note that in passing CISPA through the House of Representatives, even some good Democratic representatives supported it (like Duckworth). The backers of CISPA are spending a lot and schmoozing a lot to ensure it gets supported. This includes overselling it's national security value. So, I think, it would be a good idea to reach out to your representative in Congress (and contact your senators to) and let them know what you think about CISPA and why you don't want it to pass. We to can make them informed voters (in Congress).

It is likely it won't pass the senate. And the president has said he would veto it. But, as I've pointed out, it will be back. And our representatives need to be ready and understand our concerns when it does. They may even, if informed, be able to amend it to be good law. But it starts with us.

CISPA, And Why People Are Pissed and Scared

CISPA, or Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, is a bill that broadly expands the power government and business to share and use information, your information. It is an annoying bill, to say the least. Not in particular because it is one that refuses to stay down. A number of attempts have been made to pass it or similar bill in the last few years. Remember SOPA and PIPA? It's proving worse than a bad movie slasher. Not even a Son of CISPA. (But it is a curse.)

So. It is back, like a bad slasher movie remake (Don't worry. I'm killing these comparisons now.). And like before the idea is to sell it as a beneficent new law meant to help us, and keep us safe. Trouble comes in how it opens up the citizenry to new levels of privacy invasions. If the government says the words "national security", POP!, you're privacy rights and agreements online are no longer valid. (Lifehacker, Verge, and here look some more at the  CISPA bill and it's troubles.)

Here's the bill language.

 What this means is that when the government sees a threat, or deems one is rising, it can request an online provider hand over certain persons data. The provider can then just hand over all of the persons information. And under the new law the provider is protected from any lawsuits for violating promises about protecting personal data. It is all a quick and legal transaction between business and government.

And that is the key to CISPA now. SOPA got industrial opposition (the major business interests) because they were stuck in the middle and open to being held accountable. But now they will be made immune, while the law will still be able to screw the users over. But Twitter, Facebook  etc. will be fine (Phew!). The key thing is that this means these players aren't backing us now. For instance, AT&T and Verizon, along with the Telecom lobbyists, have come out in eager support now of CISPA.

And this is troubling. Troubling for peoples ability to speak freely. Troubling for privacy. Troubling for being able to feel confident in out constitutional rights.

CISPA is a very broadly defined law. It will make it extremely easy to bypass your legal rights. In my previous post I mentioned the Public Safety exemption to the Miranda rights. That currently just bends your constitutional rights. But it creates a future risk. With CISPA, as it is right now, it sets out a way to just disregard parts of the constitution, a constitutional bypass.

No warrants. No courts. No oversight. The American Library Association noted with the last attempt to pass this:

... 

The ALA is concerned that all private electronic communications could be obtained by the government and used for many purposes–and not just for cybersecurity activities. H.R. 3523 would permit, and sometimes even require, Internet service providers and other entities to monitor all electronic communications and share personal information with the government without effective oversight by claiming the sharing is for “cybersecurity purposes.” 

...

It isn't directly meant to be a new spy tool. But it is built so it can be instantly re-purposed as one. And when government is given a tool like this, it tends to find a reason to make use of it, like with the RICO law.

Now we should remember that laws need to be changed and updated. And cyber laws do need to move with the times. But their is a difference between what we need on the books to reasonably protect and serve society and what is just a means to easily control. When is it overreach? Miranda is an inconvenience to law enforcement. But it is a good one. It helps some people get the aid they need to not be abused. The need to get warrants before scouring your personal data is another important protection. This law leaves us vulnerable, while doing to little to actual protect us.


More from the Electronic Frontier Foundation on this.

Fight for the Future - CISPA is Back


Right now. Many people are planning to use today as a CISPA blackout, where they will have no presence online, in protest to the effect this law could have on online activity. I am still deciding whether to do this to (Yes. Based on my clock, I am over the deadline a little already. But time is relative, and it's still Sunday in some of the US still.) I am tempted to. But I am also tempted to see if I can write anything of use tomorrow, focused o this. We'll see.

Still, whether blacked out or not, CISPA is back. And it's passed the House of Representatives. President Obama has indicated he'd VETO it's current form if it passed the Senate. But if he's pressured to do otherwise... Or, if enough support is bought in the Senate, how close would they be to being able to override a veto?


As EFF above asks. Contact your senator now. Be sure they know where you stand, and why you stand there.

Be informed. Be involved. These are your rights.

Learning after last week.

This last week has been an intense news week in the United States. It quickly got to the point that we largely became oblivious to what was happening elsewhere in the world (Yes, and the obvious joke is, "And that's new?" ha ha). So, logically I would talk about what we've been missing (bombings in Iraq, Chinese earthquake, etc.). But no, I want to address what the US has been through this week.

So, Boston. Patriots Day turned terrifying in Boston. The two bombs placed near the finish lines, thankfully, did not kill more, but more than a hundred were cruelly injured; some lost limbs, and three died. As with any terror act, fear flittered through the city and on the news. And some news resources were eager to get out information, real, confirmed, or not. I have not seen a clear indication yet how many additional people spreading bad information or rumors endangered this week.

Then, slowly information, streamed out, the police and FBI narrowed down the threat, and the media was still too eager. Worse though pundits and talking heads couldn't resist starting fights and finding ways to push nonsensical agenda bullet-points.

• We shouldn't put in background checks on guns, because of this.
• We have to close our borders, because...foreigners.

Then we learned who the bombers were. Young men, two brothers, who immigrated from Chechnya and Russia with their families, who were also Muslim. And it ramps up.

• We need guns!
• See! We let these immigrants in and they are all terrorists!
• We need to catch them and hand them over to the military!

And finally they were caught up to. One brother dead, the other fled. Finally the other was found and captured. Injured, he was taken to hospital. The decision, as of now, is to not mirandize him...yet.

• He's an enemy combatant!
• People "like this" should never be mirandized.
• Muslims shouldn't be allowed to immigrate.

Now this is a complicated question to me, rights vs public safety. We have had a "public safety" rule for awhile now in the US. It allows for Miranda reading to be delayed, and extend holding people. What do I think of that?

Sigh...Miranda rights are important. And it was a hard right to get police to guarantee. Before it, many people had their constitutional rights abused. Many police abused the accused. And, many like the idea of rolling back Miranda, and have wanted to since it was established.

BUT. Public safety. The idea that law enforcement would delay the evidence taking process to determine risks seems acceptable; it depends though on if the fact it is pre-Miranda is respected. Sometimes their are abducted people to recover, a possible bomb threat, or shooter to find. If we are going to separate what is admissible in court from the public safety work, it makes sense. Public safety should trump a conviction.

BUT. But if the information being taken will be used as evidence, that is wrong. We need to respect out law and process; why else have them? As well, it does worry we a little. It's an exception to Miranda. Creating exceptions to basic critical legal rights is worrisome. Once you say their is a space where you can just hold people indefinitely, and can classify for the greater good, you have to be vigilant for abuse, or expansion of uses. We citizens need to be cognizant of what is going on and hold criminals and the systems accountable. It is one of our basic duties.

I hope we will soon see this guy mirandized, and then we can get to arraigning him. (At present, he is apparently awake and communicating. So we'll see.)

But it is curious this week how eager conservatives are to fight hard for the 2nd Amendment, while not particularly caring for the 5th. But I've seen a lot of contempt for plenty of the amendments (15th, 19th).

Veering over to immigration...I just wish it was surprising to see conservatives take any opportunity to demonize immigrants. Really digging deep into that dark place of human fear. I expect better, and seldom get it.

But there has been the good to. In the wake of those explosions, people were there for each other. Stopping bleeding, getting people to help, reaching out with compassion. It was heartening to see. It is a reminder of what we can and do do.

And the emergency services worked just as they are meant to. As one person put it, they are the people that run towards the screaming and explosions as a daily function. We out it to appreciate just what these government workers do and endure. Better than allowing them to be lambasted and belittled as unnecessary and wasteful. It is in times of disaster that we remember just why we rely on all of these people, and why people take these jobs, even when the pay isn't the best.

It was a very sad and painful week in Boston. But in the midst of it, we were shown some of the light that exists within our society.

And then their was Texas. A fertilizer plant exploding in West, Texas is...terrifying. The fact it was surrounded by a nursing home, school, park, housing, etc; that is something all the more shocking following the actual failure of the safety measures at the facility. Thankfully the worst case scenario did not play out and the deaths (known so far) are not as large as I could have imagined (See the before and after images.).

But what we've seen since is that inspections of this facility haven't been done in some time. But inspection and regulation are such a burden and such a hindrance to...eh...something...guess I'm being distracted from hating regulation and inspection at the moment. If Texas wants to draw in new business and people, it might want to care about the safety of Texans and business not literally detonating on them.

And in the wake of this, we've seen Republicans, who have denounced federal funds, and others that have blocked federal aid to disasters make an about face. Gov. Perry now is eager to receive funds. And Sen. Cruz, who opposed aid to New York and New Jersey post-Hurricane sees a need to expedite aid to his state. It's funny. No, it isn't. It's predicable.

But this tragedy also was a moment where people around West were there to help people escape the damage, rest, and begin recovering.

To the people in Massachusetts and Texas who acted to help those in need. Thanks. To those struck by these tragedies. My sympathies. Plenty of lessons to take away from this week, as we mourn, heal, rebuild, and make tomorrow a better place.