Glimpses from the China Cave

One of the cool bits about China sometimes is that I can choose to live under the proverbial rock if I want to, as far as overhyped Western media events are concerned. For example, wasn't there some sort of wedding going on in England recently? I've posted about the tempest in a teacup effect before - how living in another country makes all of these so-called "major news stories" seem like so much nightclub smoke, and so many disco lasers bouncing off so many mirrors.

Another advantage is that, even if you haven't been swept away by the hype in the first place, you do get to sometimes read some pretty enlightening comments as the thing is winding down. An example from Scott Adams, writing about a recent bruhaha over a ... birth certificate? (Have I got that right? And is Donald Trump seriously a political contender?) Anyway, his point, albeit sarcastic, is that such media nonevents are actually good for our democracy. Read the article as well, but here are some good quotes to get you started...

It's healthy that we average citizens have some sort of topic in the political realm that will keep us engaged while also siphoning off some of our activist energy. It reminds us that we have a role in government. It reminds us that we have a constitution. It reminds us that we're in charge, sort of. And it gives the news media something to talk about on slow news days, which is important for keeping that vital institution in business.

And furthermore...

The birther issue is sort of like letting your toddler have a toy steering wheel in his car seat. He feels as if he's doing something useful and you don't have to rely on him to keep you out of the ravine.

More teapots, more tempests

Viewing the American news cycle from afar over the internet has been very illuminating. Suddenly, a HUGE POLARIZING ISSUE appears! It came from nowhere, but all of a sudden, this HUGE POLARIZING ISSUE is of vital importance, and how you stand on this HUGE POLARIZING ISSUE represents your outlook on (choose one) freedom, security, totalitarianism, or even The Continued Survival of America Itself! It is, of course, vitally important never to rationally discuss the HUGE POLARIZING ISSUE in any public forum, because to do so will cause your ratings to drop and your voter approval to plummet. (And discussion is for wimps, anyway, right?) Better to shoot off a rant or two, and then hope that the next HUGE POLARIZING ISSUE will further confirm your polarized world view.

Oh, whoops, was I off on a sarcastic rant of my own there? Whoops, my bad. (Or actually, good for me, right? I mean, I'm just following the rules myself, aren't I?) Anyway, far be it from me to imply that I'm away from all this - I read way too many articles on HUGE POLARIZING ISSUEs myself, and of course, get all armchair quarterback-y forming elaborate personal opinions about them. Sigh. Going through my links, however, I have found what I believe to be a few clear well-reasoned voices (okay, clear well-reasoned voices that I also happen to agree with) that I'm reposting below, if only for a sense of perspective the next time one of these HUGE, um... thingamajigs, comes around again on the news cycle.

Here then, some perspectives, starting at the present and working my way back:

• Some excellent questions for all parties involved in the latest Wikileaks scandal.
• Two interesting views of the whole TSA bodyscanning security theater bruhaha, one from a pilot, and one from a guy with several pounds' worth of titanium inside him.
• And, from back in prehistoric last summer, a good postmortem on the whole Ground Zero Mosque thingie, that I may or may not have posted already.

There, that's out of my system. Now, stop paying attention to things and get back to work, already!

Body scans, freedom, risk, and innocence

I've been following the latest tempest-in-a-teapot body scanning controversy from afar, and, while I've got my own opinions about our poor ability to evaluate risk and the current state of fearmongering in the States, this post offers the clearest (and most chilling) take on the issue that I've seen so far:

Things we do to innocent people to prevent terrorism