Welcome to the Round-Up. Whenever I something interesting, funny, or unique online, I post it on DWG's Twitter feed, DownWithGT. Then, every weekend or so, generally on the weekend, I post a list of the 3(ish) most linkable pages and call it the Round-Up. Number seven after the jump.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Ah, I See That the World is a Mess
This post, about the Wikileaks revelations, is no longer timely and what follows is a polished version of an unfinished draft. However, I have a perfectly valid excuse for not finishing it (my computer crapped out and I only just got a new one) and a perfectly good post so screw it.
In America, we have been told many times the story of how the Watergate scandal and the Vietnam War created a new view of politics and an era of cynicism that stretches through the present day. It was these two events, we are often told, that proved to Americans that their leaders were not only fallible, but also sleazy, underhanded, and entirely untrustworthy.
However, we were still left with the idea that the world's leaders were at least usually intelligent and, in some way, usually capable. We may have been forced to recognize the unforgivable personal faults of leaders but we were at least left with the possibility that these leaders would not walk us off the edge of a cliff...not unknowingly, at least.
But this too is now a shattered illusion. Take a mental trip around the world as revealed by WikiLeaks and you find an international community of leaders populated by sycophants, evil and creepy manipulators, and generally inept leaders.
In America, we have been told many times the story of how the Watergate scandal and the Vietnam War created a new view of politics and an era of cynicism that stretches through the present day. It was these two events, we are often told, that proved to Americans that their leaders were not only fallible, but also sleazy, underhanded, and entirely untrustworthy.
However, we were still left with the idea that the world's leaders were at least usually intelligent and, in some way, usually capable. We may have been forced to recognize the unforgivable personal faults of leaders but we were at least left with the possibility that these leaders would not walk us off the edge of a cliff...not unknowingly, at least.
But this too is now a shattered illusion. Take a mental trip around the world as revealed by WikiLeaks and you find an international community of leaders populated by sycophants, evil and creepy manipulators, and generally inept leaders.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
The Round-Up #6
Note: Hopefully, non-Round-Up posts will resume this week. My old computer died about a month ago and I should get another soon.
Welcome to the Round-Up. Whenever I something interesting, funny, or unique online, I post it on DWG's Twitter feed, DownWithGT. Then, every week or so, generally on the weekend, I post a list of the 3(ish) most linkable pages and call it the Round-Up. Number six after the jump.
Welcome to the Round-Up. Whenever I something interesting, funny, or unique online, I post it on DWG's Twitter feed, DownWithGT. Then, every week or so, generally on the weekend, I post a list of the 3(ish) most linkable pages and call it the Round-Up. Number six after the jump.
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