Ken MacLeod's comments.
The title comes from two quotes:
“Work as if you lived in the early days of a better nation.”—Alasdair Gray.
“If these are the early days of a better nation, there must be hope, and a hope of peace is as good as any, and far better than a hollow hoarding greed or the dry lies of an aweless god.”—Graydon Saunders
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Tuesday, November 24, 2009
"It’s like Sputnik went up and we think it’s just a shooting star."
Sputnik happened. The Soviets counted down 3 .. 2 .. 1 and bam into orbit she went. A green China is a decision that was made: the liftoff hasn't happened yet.
As any engineer can tell you, the devil is in the details: can China provide the power her citizens and industry need from Green sources? Can they make the light-speed jump into a knowledge-based economy? What do the hordes of people who won't or can't be 'knowledge-based' workers do when the forges shut down?
He may well like the stopped clock be right re the above article which I have now gotten around to reading. Wouldn't be worst thing if this was one of those times.
Lol the answer is no, one doesn't ignore the article though it is treated with some degree of scepticism and if things like integrity are superficial where do we find substance?
Thanks for the link Ken. Regardless of controversy regarding the source, I found it to be a worth-while little read.
As for the "stopped clock" analogy, I think it's about as appropriate as the other obvious cliche about babies and bathwater. No one source is ever going to be infallible. Doesn't hurt to keep checking in on what folks are saying, regardless of what they've said in the past. People change. The sources on which they base their opinions change. A breath of wind might dislodge the speck of dust hindering the clockworks, and then again, who knows... there may never have even been a baby in the bath. But hell... why not give an article a quick glance before immediately attacking its author.
I just found it amusing that one of the major plutogogues (to use a useful coinage of Daniel De Leon's) and talkers of globollocks (to use a useful coinage of someone else) was suddenly saying that socialism was about to steal a march on capitalism, in one rather significant field. That's all. No deep significance, no free pass for Friedman.
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Thomas Friedman? You're linking to Thomas Friedman? And using the term 'Red China'?
ReplyDeleteSweet Jesus.
What's the problem?
ReplyDeleteIt is a cute analogy, but flawed.
ReplyDeleteSputnik happened. The Soviets counted down 3 .. 2 .. 1 and bam into orbit she went. A green China is a decision that was made: the liftoff hasn't happened yet.
As any engineer can tell you, the devil is in the details: can China provide the power her citizens and industry need from Green sources? Can they make the light-speed jump into a knowledge-based economy? What do the hordes of people who won't or can't be 'knowledge-based' workers do when the forges shut down?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIt might be because Thomas Friedman is a [expletive deleted]?
ReplyDeleteIf he told me the date I'd pick up a copy of a paper not the NY Times to check it was indeed thus!
So not actually having read the linked piece as yet I'm guessing it is the source that is being highlighted as questionable?
*Also above deleted comment was mine which I removed as I garbled a sentence beyond what even I consider acceptable.
I've never read Friedman, and Matt Taibbi's book reviews doesn't make me tempted.
ReplyDeleteDo you guys _always_ attack the author for superficial reaons and ignore the actual article?
ReplyDeleteOr is this just something science fiction geeks do?
That's a rhetorical question of course. I've been to cons, I know the answer.
Do you guys _always_ attack the author for superficial reaons and ignore the actual article?
ReplyDeleteIf I know the clock is broken, I don't bother looking at it to check the time, even if happens to be right twice a day.
I don't think integrity is a superficial reason.
ReplyDeleteHe may well like the stopped clock be right re the above article which I have now gotten around to reading. Wouldn't be worst thing if this was one of those times.
So, that is 'yes'.
ReplyDeleteStopped clocks are thrown in the trash. People change.
Try not to be so stereotypically stereotypical fellas.
Lol the answer is no, one doesn't ignore the article though it is treated with some degree of scepticism and if things like integrity are superficial where do we find substance?
ReplyDelete> Stopped clocks are thrown in the trash
ReplyDeleteBzzt, wrong. There's one in my kitchen that's been stopped for over two years. I really must get round to putting a new battery in :-)
Thanks for the link Ken. Regardless of controversy regarding the source, I found it to be a worth-while little read.
ReplyDeleteAs for the "stopped clock" analogy, I think it's about as appropriate as the other obvious cliche about babies and bathwater. No one source is ever going to be infallible. Doesn't hurt to keep checking in on what folks are saying, regardless of what they've said in the past. People change. The sources on which they base their opinions change. A breath of wind might dislodge the speck of dust hindering the clockworks, and then again, who knows... there may never have even been a baby in the bath. But hell... why not give an article a quick glance before immediately attacking its author.
Cheers.
Here's what the problem with Friedman is:
ReplyDeletehttp://feeds.salon.com/~r/salon/greenwald/~3/8wLux7xxPuU/index.html
(Also, see the book "Kicking Away the Ladder," which deconstructs his economic worldview.)
I just found it amusing that one of the major plutogogues (to use a useful coinage of Daniel De Leon's) and talkers of globollocks (to use a useful coinage of someone else) was suddenly saying that socialism was about to steal a march on capitalism, in one rather significant field. That's all. No deep significance, no free pass for Friedman.
ReplyDeleteNo need to apologise, Brian! It was more some of the stuff upthread I was responding to anyway.
ReplyDeleteWith Coach bags
ReplyDeletebeing so popular. With all those Coach Wristlet
out there these days with the information you need to know if you have a Coach Ergo
. I'll show you a few really good ways to know if you have a Coach Gallery