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Roy Christopher started making beats and mixes when "pause tapes" were the shit. He has written about music, technology, and culture for over twenty years for everything from regional newspapers and homegrown 'zines to books and national glossy magazines. He was recently assistant editor of Paul D. Miller a.k.a. DJ Spooky's edited collection on Hip-hop and sampling, Sound Unbound: Sampling Digital Culture and Music (MIT Press, 2008). His first book was an anthology of interviews entitled Follow for Now: Interviews with Friends and Heroes (Well-Red Bear, 2007). Erik Davis called thebook "a crisp and substantial remix of the major memes of the last decade or so." Christopher is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Communication Studies at The University of Texas at Austin, as well as working on a book called The Medium Picture (Zer0 Books) about how technological mediation has changed and continues to change our relationships with each other, our information, time, space, and ourselves.
What follows is a remix of some of the material from his other book-in-progress, Hip-hop Theory: The Blueprint to 21st Century Culture.
Use Your Allusion: Culture in the Age of Digital Remix
In his 1999 book Culture Jam, Adbusters Magazine founder Kalle Lasn describes a scene in which two people are embarking on a road trip and speak to each other along the way using only quotations from movies. Based on this idea and the rampant branding and advertising covering any surface upon which an eye may light, he argues that our culture has inducted us into a cult. "By consensus, cult members speak a kind of corporate Esperanto: words and ideas sucked up from TV and advertising" (p. 53). Indeed, we quote television shows, allude to fictional characters and situations, and repeat slogans in everyday conversations. Lasn (1999) argues, "We have been recruited into roles and behavior patterns we did not consciously choose" (p. 53).
Lasn writes about this scenario as if it is a nightmare, but to many of us, this sounds not only familiar but also fun. Allusions invoke a game of sorts. They create a situation that one gets or one doesn't. To get it is to be in on the gag. Our media is so saturated with allusions that we scarcely think about them as such. Samples, quotations, paraphrasings, remixes, mash-ups, rip-offs—these are the products of our culture; all made from pieces of the past.
Fruit of the Loop
The classic essay, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" by Walter Benjamin (1936) still provides a stable touchstone for what culture is and means in the twenty-first century. Benjamin argued that technological reproduction of cultural artifacts removed their aura. That is, he thought the fetishization of the original work of art would be lost as its image became infinitely repeatable via technological means. Scannell (2003) interprets Benjamin as seeing, "the technologies of mass cultural production as having an intrinsic emancipatory potential. By transforming the scale of cultural production and distribution to the millions and shattering the aura of culture as something for 'the happy few'" (p. 81). The turn of the nineteenth century saw the mass reproduction of cultural artifacts, specifically musical recordings (Lessig, 2008). "For the first time in human history…" he writes, "ordinary citizens could access a wide range of music on demand" (p. 23). At the turn of the next century, the turntable and computer were widespread enough that the average citizen could make their own compositions out of other compositions (Lessig, 2001; 2008; Sinnreich, 2010; Vaidhyanathan, 2001). The ability appropriate pieces of texts and create new cultural artifacts represents the mass democratization of the means of cultural creation.
So, to ignore technology's role in culture, culture creation, and cultural appropriation is to miss a large piece of the cultural picture. William Gibson (2001) states that, "all cultural change is essentially technology-driven" (p. 117), and Chambers (1994) describes the view of some critics of technologically enabled mass culture as, "an ideological façade masking the cynical logic of capital" (p. 96). Rem Koolhaas (Koolhaas & Mau, 1995) goes so far as to claim that,
Culture is a decaying myth, an ideology superimposed on technology. To the intensive consumption of technological tokens we may now add the highly consumable commodity: aestheticism or words describing art and aesthetics. Technicality decked with aestheticism and lacking any specific artistic mediation or culture is one of the more obvious justifications for the term technological society (p. 210).
Technology curates culture. From cave paintings, stone tablets, and printing presses to televisions, computers, and iPhones, technology enables some cultural acts while restricting others (McLuhan, 1964). It is the "middle layer in any communication" (Shirky, 2010, p. 26) and is thereby embedded inextricably in the center of our culture.
Perhaps the two – culture and technology – are better thought of in terms of what Wittgenstein (1973) called "family resemblances": "a complicated network of similarities overlapping and criss-crossing: sometimes overall similarities, sometimes similarities of detail" (p. 32). As much as it does to facilitate and limit culture and communication, technology also carries symbolic meanings itself (Tenner, 2003). For example, cars mean as much to us as cultural symbols (e.g., as indicators of status or wealth) as they do as means of transportation. The same can be said of haircuts, clothes, entertainment choices, and houses and the neighborhoods that encompass them, as well as the many products used to clean and maintain them (Debord, 1993; i.e., last week's guest Tweeter). Our cultural artifacts and the allusions they exact are the words in the language we speak, so to speak. The symbolic meaning of our contrivances is one of the ways in which culture and technology overlap.
Viewed through the lens of allusion, culture and technology overlap in their development and spread as well. Technology not only curates culture, but it is itself allusive in nature. Our clothes allude to our skin, electronic media alludes to our nervous system (McLuhan, 1964). The automobile (née "horseless carriage") alludes to its predecessor the wagon, and its wheels allude to our feet (McLuhan, 1964). The paper that carries these words on the screen and the computer desktop on which this paper rests are digital allusions to the actual desktop on which the physical objects that make up the computer sits as well as this paper, were one to print it out. The very structure of the graphical user interface is an allusion to physical objects: desktop, documents, files, trashcan, etc. (Johnson, 1997; Stephenson, 1999). The internet-enabled personal computer now emulates numerous previous technologies: typewriter, postal service, filing cabinet, telephone, radio, television, etc. Remediating all prior media technology (Bolter & Grusin, 1999; Johnson, 1997; Manovich, 2001), it's the ultimate allusion machine.
Benjamin (1936) argued that mechanical reproduction makes the reproduced work of art more autonomous and able to influence contexts unavailable to the original, and Fiske (1989) described popular texts as "to be used, consumed, and discarded, for they function only as agents in the social circulation of meaning and pleasure" (p. 123). Like the media technology that carries them, popular texts are commodities. Even if we don't go as far as Koolhaas, and even if we assume Urban's simplistic definition of culture, technology is still integral to its existence, transmission, and evolution.
Meaning to the Side
Meaning is intrinsic to culture. That is, our cultural practices are our meaning-making processes. Culture is what allows us to make sense of our world (du Gay, Hall, Janes, Mackay, & Negus, 1997). In this meaning-making practice, culture acts as a language. Language in this sense refers to
any system of representation – photography, painting, speech, writing, imaging through technology, drawing – which allow use to use signs and symbols to represent or re-present whatever exists in the world in terms of a meaningful concept, image or idea (du Gay, et al, 1997, p. 13).
The oft-quoted line from Bobby Quine in William Gibson's 1982 short story "Burning Chrome," "The street finds its own use for things" illustrates how we appropriate cultural artifacts. When commodities become what Marx called "social hieroglyphs" (quoted in Hebdige, 1979), and their meanings muted, manipulated, or mangled by cultural contexts, then culture begins to behave as a language. The use of allusions highlights what Chambers (1986) expressed as "connection and difference" (p. 193).
For example, picture me wearing a Run-DMC T-shirt. Now, if I were to do so (as I sometimes do), my intention would be to pay tribute to one of the original iconic groups of true-school Hip-hop, alluding to the roots of a now global cultural phenomenon. As it turns out, most people think of Run-DMC as a relic of the culture of the 1980s, a piece of the detritus of a long-passed era. One of my old roommates thought my wearing said shirt was "hilarious."
If I were to wear such a T-shirt to a Hip-hop outing, say a Wu-Tang Clan show, the people in attendance would "get" it. They would know I was paying homage to one of the pioneers of modern Hip-hop culture. If one of the dedicated fans there had brought along a non-fan or a new one (or perhaps a younger one), the reference might be misplaced or lost on them. The allusions in cultural artifacts as such are contextually modal. That is, they mean different things in different contexts. The contextual mode of any artifact or rule can be interpreted from within or without its intended mode. The same that can be said for a Run-DMC t-shirt can be said for a movie reference, a conversational allusion, or a word used as such. They are all intertextual. That is, we read them across texts, just as we do other figures of speech. Bhabha (1994) wrote:
The complementarity of language as communication must be understood as emerging from the constant state of contestation and flux caused by the differential systems of social and cultural signification. This process of complementarity as the agnostic supplement is the seed of the 'intranslatable' – the foreign element in the midst of the performance of cultural translation (p. 325).
To the extreme ends of the intertextuality of modern culture, McKenzie Wark (2002) went so far as to say that there no longer is a text, only context.
Textually Ambiguous
As first posited by Julia Kristeva (1980), intertextuality was originally concerned with the influences of prior texts within a text under analysis (Allen, 2000; Linde, 2009; Orr, 2003). It has since come to apply to the interplay of texts and the inability of any one text to definitely stand on its own without the influence of other texts (Allen, 2000; Fiske, 1989; Linde, 2009; Orr, 2003). Genette (1997a) defines intertextuality as " a relationship of copresence between two texts or among several texts" (p. 1), and Fiske (1987) calls it "the understanding of a media text by bringing to bear understandings of other media texts" (p. 108). To understand culture today as an amalgam of texts from the past is to see it as inherently intertextual. In artistic practices such as those in Hip-hop culture (e.g., sampling pre-recorded sounds, interpolating lyrics of previous songs, etc.), the last major movement in modern music, allusion to previous forms – within or without Hip-hop – is the norm rather than the new (Omoniyi, 2009). It is expected.
Each new literary work alluded to prior works or pieces thereof, though they are not all allusions, the nature of their use is allusive. The same can be said of scholarly work, wherein we reference, quote, paraphrase, cite, and allude to previous literature: The expressions are not all allusions pre se, but the practices associated with them are allusive. Although allusions are not formally called such in his own work, Ong (1971) wrote that we cannot understand literary structures without a knowledge of past ones. As Leppihalme (1997) put it, a reader or listener
who recognizes a creative allusion achieves a deeper understanding of a passage or text, which means that he or she is somehow participating in the creation of the text and may consequently be rewarded by a sense of achievement and self-congratulation (p. 32).
In general, allusion has been defined as reference to another literary work, to another piece of art, to a historical event, to contemporary figures, or the like (Preminger, 1965). Also, a reference, explicit or indirect, to a person, place, or event or to another literary work or passage (Abrams, 1984), or a figure of speech that compares aspects or qualities of counterparts in history, mythology, scripture, literature, popular or contemporary culture (Lass, Kiremidjian, & Goldstein, 1987). Authors (1997) distinguishes media allusions in particular, calling them, "adaptations of or reference to a scripted line from the popular media" (p. 1), and referring to them as "cultural handshakes." The limited empirical research in the area of allusion has focused on users' reasons for and use of media allusions (Gorham & Gilligan, 2006) and reader responses to the translation of unfamiliar allusions (Lippehalme, 1997). Allusions that go unnoticed and untranslated are ineffective and do not function as allusions.
Allusions create "a new entity greater than any of its constituent parts" (Kellett, 1933, p. 13-14). Contrasting allusion with general intertextuality, Orr (2003) writes that the use of allusion is "about the dynamic reconcentration of cultural meaningfulness," adding, "[a]s non-identical twins, they filter and infiltrate more complex cultural patterns to recirculate ideas" (p. 139). Writing about European novels, Meyer (1968) stated that the "charm" of an allusive quotation lies "in a unique tension between assimilation and dissimilation: it links itself closely to its new environment, but at the same time detaches itself from it, thus permitting another world to radiate into the self-contained world" of the piece (p. 6). Allusive utterances quite often literally mean what they mean but also convey an added layer of meaning via their nonliteral references (Glucksberg, 1991).
Pasco (1994) distinguishes allusion as one of three categories of intertextuality (i.e., imitation, opposition, and allusion). He wrote,
In imitation, the author fits his [sic] text into a tradition and willingly attempts to use its means – whether styles, forms, lexicon, or devices – and its values to echo previous success. In opposition – whether irony or satire or even negative commentary and comparison – the signified images resist integration and emphasize disparateness. In allusion, different texts – both the one in hand and those that are external – are integrated metaphorically into something new (p. 5).
In contrast, Pasco (1994) notes that plagiarism is nonmetaphorical in form: It does not indicate another source, and to do so is to fail as plagiarism. Allusion must indicate another source, and its indication must be recognized for it to enrich the story. Pasco (1994) states flatly, "Allusion that is not recognized does not function" (p. 18).
Liminal Minded
Allusion use always creates a third entity outside of the texts (i.e., the text in which it manifests and the text to which it alludes). Pasco continues, "In an ideal environment, the two texts… bond to make a new creation, different from either of the component texts, quite different from what the text would have been without the external material, and, in addition, distinct from what exists outside the work at hand" (p. 6). Allusion is metatextual in that it creates a third text above and beyond its referent texts (Gennette, 1997; Pasco, 1994). The use of allusion is traditionally thought of as adding a layer of richness to a piece of art or literature; the same can be said for media of all kinds.
For example, here are two lines from Talib Kweli's verse from the group Black Star's 1998 song "Respiration":
Killers Born Naturally like Mickey and Mallory
Not knowing the ways'll get you capped like an NBA salary
The first line references the title of Oliver Stone's 1994 film Natural Born Killers, as well as the names of its main characters, and the second line alludes to both getting shot ("capped") and the National Basketball Association's salary limits that were in debate at the time of the song's release. Kweli is commenting on the rough behavior that is a product of the streets of New York City, and how the way of life learned there can lead to early death. In doing so, Kweli chose references his audience is likely to catch (e.g., a popular motion picture, contemporary slang, and a major current issue in professional sports). This example illustrates how disparate allusions and their source material can be, how their juxtaposition makes meaning, and how the community surrounding the artifact is active in that meaning. The allusions also need not be intentional (Lee, 1971). As for the listeners, Leppihalme (1997) writes, "A reader who recognizes a creative allusion achieves a deeper understanding of a passage or text, which means that he or she is somehow participating in the creation of the text and may consequently be rewarded by a sense of achievement and self-congratulation" (p. 32). Allusions to texts from our pasts seep into our conversations, creations, clothing styles, and other communication.
One need not intend to allude to a text in order for an allusion to exist (Fiske, 1989). Indeed, allusion often comes from inattention rather than intention (Lee, 1971). That is not to say that allusions are "selfish" and replicate for their own sakes, as some describe memes behaving (Blackmore, 1999; Distin, 2005), but to say as Steinberg (1978) put it, "there is as much unpredictable originality in quoting, imitating, transposing, and echoing, as there is in inventing" (p. 25). Indeed, pieces of the past make up nearly everything we say, think, do, and make. Allusions make up the media-saturated language we all now speak.
Culture as meaning-making requires participation. In addition to the communication processes of encoding and decoding (Hall, 1980), we now participate in recoding culture. Using allusions in our conversation, writing, and other practices engages us in culture creation as well as consumption (Jenkins, 1992; 2006). The sampling and remixing practices of Hip-hop exemplify this idea more explicitly than any other activity. Chambers (1986) wrote, "In readily accessed electronic archives, in the magnetic memory banks of records, films, tapes and videos, different cultures can be revisited, re-vived, re-cycled, re-presented" (p. 193). Current culture is a mix of media and speech, alluded to, appropriated from, and mixed with archival artifacts and acts. As Lidchi (1997) puts it,
If, unlike historical events, artefacts [sic] can survive relatively intact as authentic primary material from the past, this does not mean that they have kept their primary or 'original' meaning intact, since the specifics of these can rarely be recaptured or replayed (p. 163).
The youth of today have unparalleled access to the past via the Internet as well as cable and satellite television, yet so often lack the historical context for the artifacts they unearth. Their culture is a language of reference and remix. The sacred status of artifacts is not a part of their cultural vocabulary. Everything recorded, on the air, or online is fodder for future reconfiguration. Genette (1997b) himself alludes, "So far critics have only interpreted literature; it is now a question of transforming it" (p. xxii). The next generation isn't passing the torch, they're torching the past.
On the Shoulders of Clients
We use numerous allusions to pop culture texts in everyday discourse, what Roth-Gordon (2009) calls "conversational sampling" (p. 66). Allusions, even as direct samples or quotations, create new meanings (Schloss, 2004). Each form is a variation of the one that came before (Vaidhyanathan, 2001). Lidchi (1997) wrote, "Viewing objects as palimpsests of meaning allows one to incorporate a rich and complex social history into the contemporary analysis of the object" (p. 167). It is through use that we come to know them (du Gay, et al, 1997; Golinski, 1998; Heidegger, 1996; Rouse, 1987). Technology is not likely to slow its expanse into every aspect of our lives and culture, and with it, the reconfiguration of cultural artifacts is also not likely to stem. Allusions – in the many forms discussed above and many more yet to come – are going to become a larger and larger part of our cultural vocabulary. Seeing them as such is the first step in understanding where we are headed.
Rasmussen (2000) wrote, "there is no 'correct' way to categorise [sic] the increasing diversity of communication modes inscribed by the media technologies. Categories depend on the nature of the cultural phenomena one wants to investigate" (p. 99). Quotation, appropriation, reference, and remix comprise twenty first century culture. From our technology and media to our clothes and conversations, ours is now a culture of allusion. Seeing culture as allusion and remix helps restore the freedom of choice that Lasn (1999) seems so concerned about us losing. As Schwartz (1996) so poetically put it: "Whatever artists do, they are held in the loose but loving embrace of artists past" (p. 309). Would that it were so.
Sample Clearance:
Allen, G. (2000). Intertextuality: The new critical idiom. New York: Routledge. Authors. (1997, May). And now for something completely different: Media allusions, language, and the practice of everyday life. A paper presented to the Language and Social Interaction division, ICA, Montreal.
Benjamin, W. (1969). Illuminations: Essays and reflections. New York: Schocken Books, pp. 217-51.
Bhabha, H. K. (1994). The location of culture. New York: Routledge.
Bolter, J. D. & Grusin, R. (1999). Remediation: Understanding new media. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Chambers, I. (1986). Popular culture: The metropolitan experience. New York: Routledge.
Chambers. I. (1994). Migrancy, culture, identity. New York: Routledge.
Debord, G. (1993). The society of the spectacle. Detroit, MI: Black & Red.
Def, M. & Kweli, T. (1998). Respiration [Recorded by Black Star]. On Mos Def and Talkib Kweli are Black Star [CD]. New York: Rawkus Records.
Distin, K. (2005). The selfish meme. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Du Gay, P., Hall, S., Janes, L., & Negus, K. (1997). Doing cultural studies: The story of the Sony Walkman. London: Sage.
Fiske, J. (1987). Televison culture. New York: Routledge.
Fiske, J. (1989). Understanding popular culture. Cambridge, MA: Unwin Hyman.
Genette, G. (1997a). Palimpsests: Literature in the second degree. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
Genette, G. (1997b). Paratexts: Thresholds of interpretation. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Gibson, W. (1982, July). "Burning Chrome" Omni Magazine.
Gibson, W. (2001, September). My Own Private Tokyo. WIRED, 9.09, 117-119.
Golinski, J. (1998). Making natural knowledge: Constructivism and the history of science. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Gorham, B. W. & Gilligan, E. N. (2006, June). Are you talkin' to ME? The reasons for and use of media allusions. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Dresden International Congress Centre, Dresden, Germany. Retrieved April 7, 2009, from http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p93164_index.html
Hall, S. (1980). Encoding/Decoding. In S. Hall, D. Hobson, A Lowe, & P. Willis (Eds.), Culture, media, language (pp. 107-116). London: Hutchinson.
Hebdige, D. (1979). Subculture: The meaning of style. New York: Routledge.
Heidegger, M. (1996). Being and time. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
Jenkins, H. (1992). Textual poachers: Television fans & participatory culture. New York: Routledge.
Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence culture: Where old and new media collide. New York: New York University Press.
Kellette, E. E. (1933). Literary quotation and allusion. Cambridge: Heffer.
Koolhaas, R. & Mau, B. (1995). S, M, L, XL. New York: Monacelli Press.
Kristeva, J. (1980). Desire in language: A semiotic approach to literature and art. New York: Columbia University Press.
Lasn, K. (1999). Culture jam: The uncooling of America. New York: William Morrow & Co.
Lass, A. H., Kiremidjian, D. & Goldstein, R. M. (1987). The Facts on File dictionary of classical, biblical and literary allusions. New York: Facts on File Publications.
Lee, G. (1971). Allusion, parody, and imitation. Willerby, Hull, England: University of Hull.
Leppihalme, R. (1997). Culture bumps: An empirical approach to the translation of allusions. Bristol, PA: Multilingual Matters.
Lessig, L. (2001). The future of ideas: The fate of the commons in a connected world. New York: Random House.
Lessig, L. (2008). Remix: Making art and commerce thrive in the hybrid economy. New York: Penguin.
Lidchi, H. (1997). The poetics and politics of exhibiting other cultures. In S. Hall (Ed.), Representation: Cultural representations and signifying practices (pp. 151-222). London: Sage.
McLuhan, M. (1964). Understanding media: The extensions of man. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Manovich, L. (2001). The language of new media. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Meyer, H. (1968). The poetics of quotation in the European novel. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Omoniyi, T. (2009). "So I choose to do Am Naija style" Hip-hop, language, and postcolonial identities. In H. S. Alim, A. Ibrahim, & A. Pennycook (Eds.), Global linguistic flows: Hip-hop cultures, youth identities, and the politics of language (pp. 113-138). New York: Routledge.
Ong, W. J. (1971). Rhetoric, romance, and technology: Studies in the interaction of expression and culture. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Orr, M. (2003) Intertextuality: Debates and contexts. Cambrdge: Polity Press.
Pasco, A. H. (1994). Allusion: A literary graft. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press.
Preminger, A. (Ed.) (1965). Encyclopedia of poetry and poetics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Rasmussen, T. (2000). Social theory and communication technology. Aldershot, Hampshire, England: Ashgate.
Roth-Gordon, J. (2009). Conversational sampling, race trafficking, and the invocation of the gueto in Brazilian hip hop. In H. S. Alim, A. Ibrahim, & A, Pennycook (Eds.), Global linguistic flows: Hip hop cultures, youth identities, and the politics of language (pp. 63-77). New York: Routledge.
Rouse, J. (1987). Knowledge and power: Toward a political philosophy of science. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Scannell, P. (2003). Benjamin contextualized: On "The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction." In E. Katz, J. D. Peters, T. Liebes, & A. Orlaff (Eds.), Canonic texts in media research (pp. 74-89). Cambridge: Polity Press.
Schloss, J. G. (2004). Making beats: The art of sample-based hip-hop. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.
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Sinnreich, A. (2010). Mashed up: Music, technology, and the rise of configurable culture. Boston: University of Massachusetts Press.
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Vaidhyanathan, S. (2001). Copyrights and copywrongs: The rise of intellectual property and how it threatens creativity. New York: New York University Press.
Wark, M. (2002). Dispositions. Cambridge, UK: Salt Publishing.
Wittgenstein, L. (1973). Philosophical investigations. New York: Prentice Hall.


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Mercury-free flu shots
Some flu shots contain mercury, which, despite controversy, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials still say are safe.
Critics disagree saying mercury in vaccines is linked to autism.
Sanofi Pasteur plans to make 6 million doses of the mercury-free version of its Fluzone vaccine for this flu season, The Kansas City Star reports.
The CDC estimates it would take about 12 million doses to vaccinate all children ages 6 months to 23 months.
In 1999, the U.S. government recommended removing mercury from other childhood vaccines. But mercury-free flu vaccine is more expensive than those with mercury, because mercury-free vaccine must be made in single-dose packages, the newspaper reports.
CDC officials recommend parents who want a mercury-free shot for their children, but cannot find any, should still get them vaccinated.
Cancer fund-raising campaign
Memorial Health has an "Excellence Through Discovery'' campaign to raise $15.7 million to help fund the $20.5 million William and Iffath Hoskins Center for Biomedical Research.
So far, $10 million has been donated including $6.5 million from Curtis and Elizabeth Anderson, the primary benefactors for the Anderson Cancer Institute.
To learn about the campaign, call the Memorial Health Foundation at 350-6370.
'Shhhh, you're just in labor'
Tom Cruise's pregnant fiancée, Katie Holmes, is considering a silent birth, as in, no screams or painkillers, Chicago Tribune reports,
But the paper reports silent birth is not a requirement of the Church of Scientology, of which Cruise is a member, but rather an option.
Greg LaClaire, vice president of the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre in Los Angeles told Chicago Tribune the church recognizes "absolute silence is not obtainable.''
Babies are supposed to be born without even the slightest groan from Mom because Scientologists believe words heard during traumatic experiences can later prompt unwanted emotions. And that painkillers also may make people deal with trauma in an unhealthy way.
But LaClaire said the decision is up to the mother and her doctor.
Not just L. Ron Hubbard.
Speaking of pain
When it comes to exercise, it's the quantity, not the quality, that's important, according to a study in Chest.
Duke University scientists reported that walking a fast paced 12 miles a week benefits the heart as much as jogging 12 miles a week.
But joggers do have one benefit over walkers: they lose weight. Walkers who trekked 12 miles a week did not.
Compiled by Anne Hart
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subset: commoncrawl


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TAG | comedy
Funny vs. Mean
1 Comment · Posted by Barbara Grassey in Copywriting, Marketing
My friend Bob Burg has a post on his blog (burg.com)that got me thinking (as he usually does) on using foul language and mean humor in speaking, blog posts, on social media sites, etc. My language is not pure so I can't comment on that.... (my mother did teach me better, I just didn't listen). I did have some thoughts on using humor. I worked (briefly) as a stand up comic and I can tell you a lot of stuff that DOESN'T work when it comes to humor. But I'll save that for a longer post. These are just some quick thoughts:
Humor is very tricky -- it's not only extremely subjective but if your timing is off, it just doesn't work. What makes something funny is the revealed truth within the statement -- that's why the half-apology "just kidding" after a stinging remark doesn't begin to mitigate what was said.
You can poke fun at yourself, but as a speaker you have to be careful not to undermine your standing as an expert. You can also poke fun at a situation. This is about the safest way to go, since the revealed truth doesn't "hurt" anyone. The beautiful thing about humor is that it can reveal a shared experience (we all know what it's like to ALWAYS choose the slowest checkout line) that helps the audience bond with you as the speaker and with each other.
There's a huge difference between club humor and humor intended for general audiences. There's also a matter of how you want to be known or your "brand". I don't work with people if I need to walk on eggshells around them. Part of my "brand" is that I tell it like it is. (I had to make it part of my brand -- I don't have enough filters between my brain and my mouth.) Can you use strong language and weird humor? Yes. Just know that it will affect who you work with and therefore your earning power.


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Shillong/Kohima: An earthquake of moderate intensity shook the north eastern states in the early hours on Sunday but there were no casualties or damage to property. Latest News from India News Desk
The regional seismological centre in Shillong told that the quake measured 5.5 on the Richter scale and took place around 1.25 am.
The quake was also felt in Itanagar, Guwahati and Agartala, besides Nagaland, the sources said.
The tremor epicentre was latitude 25.5 degrees north and longitude 94.2 degrees east in Kohima area of Nagaland.
It originated 35 km below the surface, India Meteorological Department sources said in Kohima.
Today's quake follows the one on July 1 which measured 5.4 on the Richter scale and its epicentre was located in Phek region of Nagaland.
Official sources said there was no report of any casualty or damage to property either in Meghalaya or Nagaland.
A general alert was sounded on Sunday on National Highway 44 in Jaintia Hills district of Meghalaya, linking southern Assam Mizoram, Tripura and parts of Manipur, as incessant rainfall and a moderate intensity quake early on Sunday had triggered landslides in some parts of the area.
"We have sounded a general alert that NH 44 is unsafe for road users as loose earth could cause landslide and endanger the lives of road users," Khliehriat Sub Divisional Officer, S
C Laloo, told.
While traffic was closed during the night, more than 250 vehicles were stranded on both sides of the NH 44 in Jaintia Hills district since morning but were later cleared after the debris was taken care of by personnel of the Public Works Department, he said.
Traffic was opened only in the afternoon till 6 PM on Sunday and police were instructed not to allow heavy passenger vehicles to use the road especially at night, he added.
The moderate intensity earthquake and heavy rain in the area is said have resulted in a massive landslide touching Tongseng and Sonapur villages under Khliehriat Sub-Division, officials said, adding that no casualty was reported.
Shillong/Kohima: An earthquake of moderate intensity shook the north eastern states in the early hours on Sunday but there were no casualties or damage to property.
Latest News from India News Desk


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Wearing a Hat, Using Sunscreen Essential in Summer
LITTLE ROCK – You've got a chance to do some fishing, go camping or just roam around in the outdoors. You've got the necessary gear together. What's next?
Be sure you take along a hat and adequate sunscreen, advise the personnel of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, who spend much time outside in summer.
Arkansas's summer sun can be brutal right along with benefiting crops, encouraging swimming outings and warming tired bones. The hot sun brings dangers in the form of potential skin cancer and heat exhaustion – two situations no one wants to encourage.
Young, old and in-between Arkansans do not need to risk so much activity in the sun that they become exhausted. Slow down and drink water.
Virtually any liquid can fill the need, but plain, clean water is at the top of the list. Physical activity raises the need for replacing fluids in the body, so don't be stingy with drinking water and other beverages when the weather is hot. Whether your refreshment is iced or cool or even tepid is much a matter of choice, although most medical authorities don't recommend downing large amounts of icy cold beverages when you are extremely hot.
Protection against the sun begins with wearing a hat. This is a vital first step in keeping healthy, as it guards against overheating and overexposure to the sun. The preferred head covering is a hat, not a cap. Although the popular and seen-everywhere ball caps help some, a hat with a full brim will protect the head, face, neck and ears.
Aside from bringing on heat exhaustion, sun on skin can lead to cancer. It can happen to anyone, but dermatologists and scientists can point to groups in our population who are more susceptible than others to skin cancer. Whether you are in a high-risk group or a low-risk category, the potential danger is there, and it's not worth taking a chance.
If you are going to be outside in the prime sunburn hours of 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., wear a hat. It will fend off harmful ultraviolet rays and keep you a little cooler.
Liberal use of a good sunscreen on skin is a partner to wearing a head covering. Most medical authorities say that a sun protection f actor (SPF) of at least 15 is needed. Most go on to recommend SPF 30. A wide variety of creams, lotions, oils and gels meeting this requirement are available at drug stores, grocery stores, sporting goods outlets and boat docks.
Take care of kids in your group, keeping in mind that water washes off sun protection. Apply more after you and the kids come out of a swimming spot.
Also keep in mind that water reflects sun. It intensifies the effect of the rays and even brings them up from the water surface to your face that is under a hat.
The essential Arkansas summer precaution strategy is three-phased – drink liquids, cover heads, use sunscreen.


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Ecologically Sustainable
Humane animal husbandry and earth-friendly production practices ensure ecologically sustainable farms. As owners, we are proud that Berkwood Farms is one of the most economically and environmentally sustainable food companies.
Sustainable Pig Farming Practices
Our farmers understand that in order to provide you with the best-quality pork for years to come, it is absolutely imperative that we care for our livestock and the environment. Sustainable farming, however, isn't a new concept for our pig farmers; we've been practicing eco-friendly farming practices for decades.
In 2012, the National Pork Board conducted a study comparing the farming practices between the years 1959 and 2009. While pork production nearly doubled in the last 50 years, farmers have reduced their environmental impact by almost half across the board. With a 35% decrease in the overall carbon footprint, a 41% reduction in water usage, and 78% decrease in land affected, our farmers will continue to demonstrate a commitment to sustainable farming as research and technology continues to advance.
Farms—Where We Live and Work
Apart from being good stewards to the environment for the sake of conserving the earth's resources, our farmers have a personal interest in practicing sustainability. We share the land, water, air, and resources with our livestock; we work, breathe, and live right alongside our pigs. It's important for us to feed our pigs efficiently, fertilize the land responsibly, protect the air quality by planting trees and shrubs, and ensure the water is safe for our families and livestock to drink. With our family-owned farms, we want to guarantee a safe, healthy place to live and work for generations to come.
Learn more about the Berkshire pork difference and what makes our pork so delicious.


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Above: The new Imam for the area Indonesian community meets other local leaders like Al-Huda School principal Haroon Baqai.
TML: Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from, and your educational background?
Ustadh Fahmi: Alhamdu lillah I went to an Islamic boarding school in Indonesia called "Pesantren Persatuan Islam". Usually in Islamic boarding schools like this we have to do both the mandatory K-12 curriculum and the Islamic studies curriculum in tandem. So I did my K-12 education this way. Then I did my associate degree in foreign language studies at Borobodur University, Jakarta. Then I continued my education in Al-Azhar University in Egypt and got my bachelor's degree in Usooluddin, with a major in Aqidah. After I graduated from Al-Azhar, I applied in a master's program in "Jami'ah American Maftuhah" in Egypt, or what was known as "Open American University". Unfortunately due to administrative reason, I had to leave the program and return to Indonesia. I resided in Aceh, a province in the Sumatran Island, and finally got my master's degree in educational management from Syiah Kuala University in Aceh. Before coming to the U.S., I taught as an adjunct professor in the same university, teaching Introductory Islamic Studies for undergraduates.
TML: What about your family? How many children, how old, and what grades are they?
Ustadh Fahmi: I have four children, three of them were born in Cairo and the little one was born in Aceh. The eldest is now in the 11th grade, the second in 9th grade, the third in 5th grade, and the fourth one is now 5 years old. Alhamdu lillah the eldest three are now studying in different Islamic boarding schools and currently memorizing the Qur'an (7, 11, 6, juuz respectively).
TML: What's your favorite past time?
Ustadh Fahmi: I really enjoy traveling. It started as a job, really, but as I travelled to different places I really began to enjoy the journey. When I lived in Aceh, I was often invited to give talks and trainings to different communities across the province. In Indonesia, we have this national initiative called "Da'i Saudi" -a program sponsored by the Saudi Arabian government- where 100 or so imaams travel to remote areas and small villages in Indonesia to invite the local communities to islam and create local programs and training for the communities. I was part of this initiative and was so privileged to share the beauty of our deen to these communities. In the process I began to enjoy the traveling aspect of it because I think there is so much to learn from this experience. It enriches you as a person and opens your horizons, to appreciate different people and different communities.
TML: What's your favorite food?
Ustadh Fahmi: Anything that has coconut milk in it, and of course Rendang -the staple dish of West Sumatra, since I am originally from there. Alhamdu lillah the good thing is I don't have miss any of these foods here. We have a very generous Indonesian community who would happily send me good Indonesian food. Something to be thankful for. The caring of the Muslim community here and the sense of "ukhuwwah" (brotherhood/community) far away from home.
TML: Tell us about your journey to America. How did you find out about the IMAAM Community and Rockville?
Ustadh Fahmi: I actually found out about the opportunity from a friend of mine who forwarded the information that an Indonesian Muslim community in Washington DC area was looking for an imaam. I studied the requirements (job description) and decided to apply for the position. After a formal application and a Skype interview with their search committee, I was formally invited to work here for 6 months beginning in this past Ramadan. Because I wasn't teaching this semester in the university, I accepted the offer. The administrative process was a bit long due to the visa screening process in the U.S. embassy in Indonesia, but alhamdu lillah it went through and so here I am.
TML: What do you see as the role of imaams in American Muslim communities?
Ustadh Fahmi: One of my roles I think is to continue to nurture/strengthen the sense of "ukhuwwah" (brotherhood and community) among ourselves as Muslim. I believe that with this sense of "ukhuwwah" our hearts will be connected, our relationships are renewed, and our acceptance of and love for the teachings of Islam will be strengthened. But of course this is not an instant process. At least from my experience, we have to first get to know each other -or what we call the process of "ta'aruf". From knowing comes understanding, or "tafahum." In shaa Allah, and bi idhnilLlah, with this deeper understanding of each other there will be "takaful", or the act of helping each other in goodness. It is my belief that through this step-by-step approach, not only we -as community- will be able to give and take good advice from the teachings of our beloved Prophet Muhammad, sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam, but also to find sweetness in following it. Our hearts will become alive. So to come back to your question, the role of the imaams here is to be the driving force for this change.
TML: What are the biggest challenge facing Muslim communities in America?
Ustadh Fahmi: The challenge of the youth - In terms of the youth, I think one of the biggest challenges is to bridge the intergenerational/intercultural gap between the youth and their communities in general, and more specifically between the youth and their nuclear family -which is supposed to be their their primary source of "tarbiyyah" (education). I am really interested in getting to know more about how the local leadership here have dealt with this challenge. As we know the Muslim youth here are facing an unprecedented challenge to construct and negotiate their identities as Muslim as well as American. The society in which they live is without question very diverse, with different -and often time conflicting- values. Yet we also know that the youth is our asset, our future bearers of Islam. Therefore as a community we really need to invest our effort and energy to help our youth grow and embody their deen in their everyday lives, to be comfortable with it, and to help educate others about Islam. I think we need more initiatives on youth teaching/mentoring other youth to bridge this intergenerational/ intercultural gap that we have.
TML: What are the main differences between Muslim communities in America and Muslim communities in Indonesia?
Ustadh Fahmi: The similarity I think is very encouraging. I mean, it gives me a certain level of comfort knowing that no matter where you are, whether you are in Indonesia or America, you will find the eagerness of your Muslim brothers and sisters to help out each other. Again, this "ukhuwwah" is very important.
Above: Al-Huda School students greet the imam after he delievered a talk at the school.
In terms of the differences, one of the major differences I think is the rhythm of life here. I understand that our lives nowadays are generally fast-paced, regardless of whether you are in Indonesia or in America. We somehow are expected to work long hours, which sometimes lead to the difficulty on our part to find the work-life balance. I see this -at least as I observe it firsthand now- as a challenge for the communities here.
Another difference is the physical proximity to the masaajid. Like other Muslim countries, in Indonesia we are blessed with the opportunity to hear the adhan being called five times a day from almost every corner of the streets. We have many masaajid (though not all are big), but I think this physical closeness to the masjid may serve as an advantage for those of us who live in a Muslim country because we feel more attached to it. There's always a place to go to to revive our imaan, and a comfort zone, whenever we face challenges in our lives. Here, some -if not many- of us have to travel far to have this safe haven. But alhamdu lillah, here we have the alternative of building this outside of the masaajid. For example in our Indonesian Muslim community, we try to do regular halaqah from home to home for the community, so the people will in shaa Allah feel their imaan revived after meeting their brothers and sisters in Islam; and after hearing words of admonitions/glad tidings from Allah and His Prophet, sallAllahu alayhi wa salaam.
TML: You visited the Darussalaam community last week, tell us a little bit about this visit. What was your impression?
Ustadh Fahmi: My visit to Darussalaam and Al-Huda school was motivated first by the desire to get to know more about this community and to map out possible joint activities between IMAAM and Darussalaam/Al-Huda, in shaa Allah. Some of our Indonesian community members here also put their children in Al-Huda school, so it makes sense to get to know more about their programs. Mashaa Allah after the visit, I was very impressed with what the school and the community has accomplished in the last 15 years. I was especially inspired by the level of engagement of the youth in this community, and was thinking about possibility of having some members of Al-Huda youth to come to the IMAAM community; to share ideas/experiences and collaborate with the youth in IMAAM community. Again, this goes back to what I was saying before about the vision for our youth. We need more youth to participate in our community, and to lead our community.


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Obviously there is a difference between voluntary and involuntary solutions to diseases and mental illnesses - Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes spoke for America's highest court that a rape victim should be sterilized because he believed she was a whore and she would be the "probable potential parent of socially inadequate offspring, likewise afflicted". It's not very tolerant, but progressives never claimed to be liberals, they were social authoritarians then just like they are now. It isn't liberals claiming you are too stupid to be able to buy a Big Gulp, it is elite progressives.
Yet while progressive eugenicists got it all wrong by using legislative and judicial fiat to create their leftist Utopia, a voluntary genetic test for genetic issues is a good thing - we are just on the razor's edge culturally and therefore ethically. If we turn over more and more choice to government, like in health care, the potential for social authoritarianism similar to a century ago creeps back in. If we all have to pay for your medical care, maybe you shouldn't be allowed to smoke or eat Happy Meals or get vaccines - the majority can become tyrannical toward minorities, as witches in Salem and Republicans in the humanities surely learned when they were driven to extinction.
Social authoritarianism under the guise of compassion already happens. For my last two children the hospital ran tests to see if the babies had Down's Syndrome, the obvious reason being to tell you to abort the child if it was there. Yet since society will pay for medical care in 2014, what if parents chose not to have an abortion if the potential - or reality - of a serious illness were there? Would that be child abuse? Irresponsible? Could society, with the full, unstoppable might of law, force an abortion or sterilization?
Don't count on ethicists to get us out of this issue intact. Modern ethicists don't subscribe to any notion of morality or even logical formalism. If you can abort a baby before birth, they contend, you can abort them after too. Modern ethics is more like ancient sophistry so they are no help.
As odd as it sounds, society may have to fall back on religion to help figure out where the line is. The NHS kills off 130,000 people a year, a doctor there claims, so even doctors, traditionally the last line of defense, are being trained to obey protocols and government rules in defiance of their instincts and oaths.
The advantage we have regarding genetic testing today is a historical one; we have seen the horrors of eugenics and people are more skeptical of 'experts' than they were in the past as a result. A hundred years ago if H.G. Wells or John Maynard Keynes endorsed a policy that led to 60,000 forced sterilizations, their popularity meant something to the public. They were experts, even though out of their fields. People are a lot less trusting of expertise today because of past mistakes.
In the "I, human" session at the Euroscience Open Forum 2012, Professor Armand Leroi of Imperial College London said 21st century eugenics is already here. Genetic testing is cheap and partners will request scans of each other, the way they hopefully get HIV tests now(1). And aborting over Down's syndrome is just eugenics framed in a nicer way, further proof that framing is an intellectual cesspool that needs to be banished where it belongs, in the muck of the early 2000s. Eugenics will increase, even if it is under the guise of positive improvements.
Religious people are the ones resisting this creepy "Gattaca" future. "Our priorities should be to develop treatments and supportive measures for those with genetic disease; not to search them out," said Philippa Taylor of the Christian Medical Fellowship to the Daily Mail.
It would be wonderfully idealistic to believe eugenics will be used to just wipe out diseases, but as we have seen in the countries with the least freedom and most social authoritarianism, it is routinely used to select for genders and various other factors.
You can't have both government control and freedom, though it would be nice to have been able to select kids that would be both prettier and smarter than me. I love the mystery too much to have ever gone through with that, though.
(1) It will even change romantic comedies. Here is "Gattaca", except about love, in a 2010 movie called "TiMER":
It would be wonderfully idealistic to believe eugenics will be used to just wipe out diseases ...Even at that, we would likely experience unintended consequences.
For example if one would eliminate embryos with sickle cell alleles, one would not only reduce the frequency of disease-causing genes, it would also lower the percentage of people with protection against malaria.
And who knows how many other favorable characteristics are associated with the genetic susceptibility of other diseases?
Exactly - widespread eugenics would result in the the human gene pool becoming like that of the cheetah. The cheetah is very beautiful and very capable, but if its environment changes or if a new disease comes along for which the current cheetah gene pool isn't adapted, we can probably say goodbye to that species.
ur a moron: genetic testing would have led ur parents aborting u, if they weren't so emotionally retarded.
...a voluntary genetic test for genetic issues is a good thing - we are just on the razor's edge culturally and therefore ethically...No, it's NOT a good thing and can never be a good thing, because such "voluntary" actions will be used as information by others against those that don't volunteer such information. It becomes the de facto standard, after which it becomes mandatory. The driving force will be corporations. Specifically it will be insurance companies that lead the way, because they can always rationalize such "voluntary" measures as being necessary to save/make money. As a result, they will be able to couch in terms of being "voluntary" and only necessary if you actually expect to get insured. After all, when it comes to business, blackmail and extortion is legal. After all ... no one is forcing you to get insurance.
If we all have to pay for your medical care, maybe you shouldn't be allowed to smoke or eat Happy Meals or get vaccines - the majority can become tyrannical toward minoritiesYour argument is flawed since you're arguing about everyone paying for your medical care, yet you're failing to take into account that all these arguments have already been made and in some cases enforced. So what is clear, is that the insurance concept isn't any less tyrannical. Smoking isn't scheduled to be banned in 2014, it largely is today and it is occurring precisely because of the tyranny of insurance companies.
Yet since society will pay for medical care in 2014, what if parents chose not to have an abortion if the potential - or reality - of a serious illness were there? Would that be child abuse? Irresponsible?What do you think happens today? Do you think people are paying their own medical bills? Do you think that Octo-mom had IVF and eight kids because she was independently wealthy? I know you aren't really making the argument that somehow all these diseases are being paid for by people personally.
As long as there is some intermediate third party, then we are ALL paying the bills. It doesn't matter whether its a corporate entity or the government. Health is inherently not insurable, so as long as we insist that it can somehow be contrived to become a valid economic model, we will have this fiasco. The argument that young people should be allowed to be exempt is simply wrong, just as the basic notion that somehow we should expend all available resources simply to allow someone to live one day longer.
If we aren't prepared to make the hard decisions, then perhaps we should stop pursuing the science that forces us to be mature enough to handle it properly.
No, it's NOT a good thing and can never be a good thing, because such "voluntary" actions will be used as information by others against those that don't volunteer such information. It becomes the de facto standard, after which it becomes mandatory. The driving force will be corporations. Specifically it will be insurance companies that lead the wayA parent choosing to not have a child with a crippling, incurable disease that has a genetic marker well before it is viable human life is a platform for going off on corporations and insurance companies?
BTW, you know that I'm not just going off on corporations and insurance companies. You know that such information would be abused. You know it would be a violation of people's civil rights, and you also know that it would become the de facto standard by which policies would be set.
This isn't some radical notion, it is already common practice for life insurance companies, so you really mean to tell me that they wouldn't use such data if it were available? Perhaps they don't find a debilitating disease, but instead find a propensity for heart disease? You really mean to tell me that no one is going to use that information?
You may think I'm simply being rabidly anti-corporation, but my real concern is that if we aren't carefully paying attention, corporations will begin to exert even greater policy influence than they currently do. Once that occurs, we can kiss any concept of government good-bye, because it will be a return to the aristocracy, except instead of royalty it will simply be corporate officers.
This isn't exactly rocket science, if economists knew anything about economics.
You may think I'm simply being rabidly anti-corporation
I don't mean to offend, but yeah, in fact the tone reminds me of many of the creationist that show up. I can tell you're passionate about it, in fact it seems personal, but it comes across many times as irrational.
I'm not trying to poke the bear, but provide some feedback.
However, I'm concerned over our own sense that "if a little is good, then a lot must be great". Nothing works that way, and infinite growth isn't possible. With corporations I see the first problem is that they tend to consolidate power and influence. Instead of promoting diversity and increasing the competition in the marketplace, they stifle it and strive for control. The last thing a corporation needs/wants is competition.
By consolidating the control of wealth and influence they become the "elephant in the room" that reduces the numbers of jobs, creates a kind of artificial competition [usually within its own ranks] and prevents anything that might be disruptive from occurring.
We need innovation and solutions, while corporations are the completely wrong vehicle for achieving such objectives.
In addition, we already know that any organization will have it's primary "mission" be its own survival, so again, we are stuck with a situation of where we have people being arbitrarily placed in a role of preserving the corporation and not necessarily doing what is right for the society they live in, or even as individuals. This is also readily seen when we view large governmental organizations. It isn't that people are evil, it is that they are placed into an organizational structure that forces them to compromise themselves in order to fulfill their obligations to the organization.
Do I believe corporations pollute or often behave in an anti-social manner because the people running them are evil? Absolutely not. But as I just mentioned, we have encouraged such behaviors because we have created this artificial construct and made people responsible for its survival. That isn't how businesses should ever operate. Corporations do not have an intrinsic right to survive.
From this we also can see that the notion of an "economy of scale" reaches a maximum point before it becomes impossible for an organization to get larger and yet supposedly become more efficient. Again, because there is little or no competition, we don't see the ability for the market to act.
Does anyone truly expect me to believe that oil companies compete with one another? Power companies [i.e. energy producers]. Do we really believe that retailers are competing with one another? Name the industry, and I will show you a uniformity of behavior, pricing, products, etc. that clearly indicates that competition is the first casualty of such an organization.
I also recognize that there are some instances where certainly types of business may be impossible for single individuals to operate and so I do recognize the need to consolidate resources, etc. However, that should also be done as a business, not merely as a vehicle for investors [i.e. the stock market] to dictate arbitrary requirements for returns regardless of whether it is in the long term interest of the business or society.
Those are my issues. Certainly, any one of them could be expanded upon, but in general, just as there are size limits to biological organisms, such that it simply isn't feasible for something to become infinitely large. I'm also convinced the same holds true for such human inventions as corporations. I would love to see them dismantled and give rise to more discrete, competitive businesses that are accountable to the market and their customers.
Basically I view corporations as being an economic problem, not some arbitrarily "evil" entity. Everyone recognizes that corporations are not engines of job growth. They are not competitive. Yet, we do little to support entrepreneurs or small businesses. Instead I would argue that if you looked over all the laws and governmental intervention pertaining to business, you would find a disproportionate amount of it relates specifically to corporations [i.e. protecting them]. It is appealing to see how much money/power they control and imagine that they are powerful engines of economies, but they aren't. They are resource sinks. They suck all the life and innovation out of an economy and consolidate it for their own protection.
It is very easy to restrict the influence of life insurance companies. Make a simply law, something like "hey, you are not allowed to ask a client for its DNA code or if your clients unborn son will have Down Syndrome". Its common practice in Europe and it works great.
America should learn to learn from others. To have more government is not always a disadvantage. The health care system in France, Germany or Sweden is far superior to the US system and most importantly, their systems work very well (not perfect of course, as this is not achieveable). It is a shame for the US to still have a health care system at a level of a third world country. A health care system has to be there for all members of the society, also for the ones that have no money - even the ones that live unhealthy. That is what insurances are for. The insure the unpredictable. At least the information on individuals where they have no impact (e.g. their genetic predisposition to disease) has to be a black box for the health insurances.
The health care system in France, Germany or Sweden is far superior to the US system and most importantly, their systems work very well (not perfect of course, as this is not achieveable). It is a shame for the US to still have a health care system at a level of a third world country.
I have very good healthcare, and all of the anecdotal evidence I've read on national heathcare systems leave me feeling that the average person doesn't get high quality prompt care in them.
As for third world, it's my opinion most of the advanced methods of care and technology are developed in the US, and when the very rich around the world need the best care they come here.
Second, toward Mike's comment, it's great to personally have terrific health care but could you afford it if your company did not pay for it? We have great health care - at the high end - and that is why very rich people travel here from other countries. What we lack is a reasonable way for poor people to have access to that same quality health care. That isn't a great model to me. "Get rich" is not really a social policy. We spend far more per capita than anyone else but if we did not include a lot of poor people who don't have any health care in that average, our cost is astronomical per person. Obamacare is not the solution, obviously, but there has to be something better.
My recommendation was to make health insurance interstate and make it a tax write off for individuals the same way it is for companies. 'Benefits' are a holdover from World War II-era wage controls, when benefits were the only way to compete for new employees, since they could not offer a higher salary. It is a very high amount of medical bills before an individual can write health care off their taxes but companies get to write it off from dollar one.
I recognize there are issues, but I think to offer no preexisting conditions insurance, everyone has to buy insurance, the individual mandate. But I think it should have been put on the ballot, and let the chips fall where they may.
And yes I also agree about competition across state lines and tort reform.
But, I'm also not so happy that as Obamacare becomes the norm, unless I can pay for concierge doctors retainers, my access to quality care becomes less likely.
Yes, the US has very advanced methods of care and technology; the problem is that it is not accessible for all the poor individuals. Of course, if you have a good paying job, everything is fine. (Some of my relatives travelles regularly to Germany to get treatment, because its faster and cheaper with good quality treatment).
Let me give an example: From a good healthcare system I would expect that a workless person who finds blood after going to the toilet, has the possibility to go to the hospital and gets a colonoscopy, for free, the same day and - if something serious is discovered, e.g. a cancer, that a high-quality treatment, again- the same day- can commence. For free.
Can the US healthcare system provide that?
But as I said, on those serious issues, the US is far better. For the bulk of people, whose kids get a broken arm or something minor, Europe is better because the costs do not drive families to bankruptcy.
Hi Hank,
I have to disagree with you.
I lived in Germany and Sweden and I and my friends and family always could get immeadiate help in the hospital when it was needed. Just last week, a friend of mine, who is currently without a job, had exactly that problem that I described (well, thats the reason I described it ;-). He went to the hospital in the evening (about 10pm), 15 minutes later he got a first examination of some world class experts in the field; after some preparations (emptying of the bowels), about 4am in the night, he got a colonoscopy. During this colonoscopy they removed several benign polyps they found. The same morning he could leave the hospital in healthy conditions. It did not cost him a cent.
Try to get that in the US.
My mother in law had a similar problem and they told her to wait 3 month for her colonoscopy !! (you could be dead by then).
Try to get that in the US.
My mother in law had a similar problem and they told her to wait 3 month for her colonoscopy !! (you could be dead by then).
The Cleveland Clinic advertises on the radio that you can call and get an appointment the same day, including a colonosopy. And the Clinic is one of the best hospitals in the world.
I'm afraid that our new healthcare is going to be more like what your MiL recieved, and less like what you can get today at some places.
For that reason, I hope the health care taxes - and there really are 21 of them, that is not hype - are repealed. While I agree the current system is flawed, there are no instances where a bad change has been improved by government later. People get entrenched.
*lol*!! don't you love it how we've gotten social discrimination down to a science? :)


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A friend, and customer at LibLime, brought my attention to a post that seeks to bash my character. I have been advised by some to stay quiet and by others to respond immediately. I have decided to respond purely by setting the facts straight.
Nicole Engard recently prevented the Special Libraries Association (SLA) Illinois Chapter from receiving sponsorship funds when she threatened to withdraw from a speaking engagement unless the Chapter removed the event's only sponsor. Just days before the Chapter's monthly Webinar presentation, Ms. Engard contacted the leadership of the Chapter and left them with no choice but to censor out the only sponsor.
A few months ago I was asked by the Illinois chapter of the SLA to speak on open source for them, as a SLA member and a contract library trainer I agreed. A few days before the talk was to take place I saw a reminder email for the event that mentioned the sponsor. I contacted the sponsors and notified them of a potential conflict of interest. I mentioned that while I was giving this talk as an independent contractor I would not be able to keep my talk company agnostic if a company was speaking before me. If the talk would no longer be given in the independent contractor role then I would waive my fees as my company ByWater Solutions would be paying me to talk about our Koha services.
When Dianna Wiggins, president of the SLA-IL chapter read the post by LibLime, she submitted the following comment (which hasn't been approved yet):
Hello John,
These are fairly strong words that are not necessarily an accurate representation of what occurred. Ms. Engard never said that she would not speak to our chapter, she merely indicated that there was a conflict of interest in her mind, and since we had made the arrangements and had not been aware of the situation, and in the interest of time, we chose to eliminate the conflict. As you know, we have also offered you the opportunity to partner with our chapter in the future, so I hope that you will once again accept our apologies for the confusion and continue to stay in touch.
Kind Regards,
Dianna Wiggins
SLA Illinois Chapter President
As Dianna states, I never threatened to withdraw, I merely mentioned the possible conflict.
Ms. Engard is an employee of ByWater, a for-profit company that provides services around Koha. ByWater is in direct competition with the sponsoring company that Ms. Engard sought to silence.
I do work for ByWater Solutions, but as stated earlier I was working as an independent contractor in this role originally.
This behavior represents a pattern. This behavior is eerily reminiscent of Spring 2009, when Ms. Engard teamed up with Josh Ferraro to force out competing vendors from speaking engagements and sponsorship opportunities at KohaCon 2009.
Ms. Engard was an employee of LibLime in 2009, preventing PTFS from sponsoring the KohaCon conference. In 2010, Ms. Engard is an employee of ByWater preventing Liblime/PTFS from sponsoring the Illinois Webinar.
This is kind of funny actually, as anyone who knows me knows that I didn't side with my previous employer much at all during that last six months of employment (in fact, it was the month after that conference that I started talks with my current employer because of the behavior of my previous company). That said I had no say in the matters discussed above – what maybe is being referred to here was me passing on comments from my then employer to the committee, in an attempt to keep the pay check coming for a few more months. I did however say that PTFS should sponsor a conference lunch when asked by a librarian at the conference if it was okay for them to do so (although I doubt my opinion solely is why that sponsorship was approved).
Do Ms. Engard's actions align with the material in her presentation – "Open Source in Libraries: Freedom and Community"?
My actions align with everything I've been saying for the last few months. Open source is about community and I have yet to see community members in PTFS, only a scared group of individuals hoping to silence one of the louder voices in the community by using un-cited statements to distort the truth.
[update] A trusted colleague and friend told me that many of my readers may not know a lot about Koha and may be confused by the above. For more info on Koha visit the official site. For more info on my writing about Koha you can browse my Koha category here on this site. And of course you're always welcome to comment here or contact me via email, Twitter, Facebook, wherever. [/update]