Archive for April, 2011
If Society is the Disease, is Cannabis the Cure?
Cannabis gets a lot of bad press, but perhaps it is undeserved. While alcohol, cocaine, heroin, and even tobacco are known to be highly addictive and damaging to the physical body and brain, there’s not a lot of negative research on cannabis. In fact, quite the opposite. More and more research is finding medicinal properties. From anti-depressent and anti-anxiety effects to its ability to help generate new pathways in the brain, is cannabis and its effects on psychology, health, and our social fabric worth having a closer look at?
Are you my “friend?”
Is it really possible to have 800 “friends.” Does connecting through FaceBook really mean you’re connected in life? Or does the proliferation of one-click social media really represent the emasculation OF human social contact? Like the reduction of human marriage to the consumerist frenzy of the marriage ceremony, new technologies do not necessarily mean a better life, better friends, or deeper connection. In fact, perhaps exactly the opposite. New social media elevate superficial social display to epic proportions and neuter the supportive and transformative potential of authentic human relations. Viva la revolution… NOT!
Civil Society in times of crisis
21st century global society is undergoing a period of profound economic crisis and transition. During the past twenty years or so, especially after the fall of eastern bloc regimes and their subsequent incorporation into the world economic system, there was a brief moment of optimism about the future. The basic idea was related to the [...]
Nuclear Nightmares: Damned Lies about the World’s “Safest” Energy Source
Implausible as it may seem, as the Fukushima Daiichi disaster has grown ever more cataclysmic, nuclear energy advocates have come out of the woodwork to tout the virtues of nuclear as a “safe” form of energy. Safe? Are you kidding me? Last night, rain containing measurable levels of radiation from Fukushima Daiichi fell on the [...]
Where No One Has Gone Before: Renewable Energy Frontiers and Obama’s Sputnik Moment
A sociologist looks at energy. Not oil, not nuclear, but renewable. Solar panels, wind, geothermal, these are all part of a decentralization of power generation. When every home has its own energy generating power plant we won’t be dependent on big power producers. This may mean less mega profits for a few, but the decentralization and democratization of energy needs to happen.
It Couldn’t Happen to a Nicer Guy: The Final Days of the Gadhafi Regime in Libya
Colonel Muammar Gadhafi’s days as Libya’s overlord are fast coming to a close. For an astonishing 41 years the people of Libya have been subjected Gadhafi’s abusive reign. However, seizing upon the revolutionary fervor that is sweeping through North Africa, the Libyan people have surged into the streets to demand an immediate end to the Gadhafi regime. Three cheers for the good people of Libya!
Opening your eyes to the new Surveillance Networks
Now here’s a kick in the head. They know where you are. And by “they” I mean everybody. Anybody with even a minimum online presence in today’s surveillance/social networks leaves a global footprint that anybody can trace. Sounds reasonable if you are thinking about the police I suppose. Why worry if you don’t have anything to hide right? But what about organized criminals? Far more useful it is for them to know when you are out on your own, away from home, vulnerable, and alone. Don’t have any enemies? No exes looking to beat you down? Don’t know anybody that wants to take things from you? Then you have nothing to fear! Tweet away but just be aware, “they” are watching you.
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