OK, now I'm pissed.

According to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court, free market economy and personal freedom are incompatible.

"The Constitution does not guarantee the right to travel by any particular form of transportation."

The act of governing.

A new study shows that policy makers don't even use the logic centers of their brains when they govern; In fact, they tend to ignore the facts by default.

A speech.

Al Gore, former Congressman, Senator and Vice President, gave a speech on Martin Luther King day with regard to the current dispute over the Bush administration's policies toward wiretapping and eavesdropping through the National Security Agency.

Living in 1984.

Happy New Year. Welcome to 1984. Orwell's vision of language twisted to fit the ends of a power hungry social organization was far more prophetic than I realized initially.

Orwell made a point to underline the fact that the reigning powers of the day could not be labeled "governments" in the strictest sense of the word. His vision of an automated governing construct were dead on the money. This is the true face of modern planet Earth: A place where large, automated corporate institutions make decisions on behalf of the people. These semi-conscious entities have wormed their way across borders and entrenched themselves so deeply in our global political structure that it would be impossible to remove them without burning the host they feed from.

How do they achieve control over us? Through language. "Just do it", "Super-size it", and "Don't leave home without it" are commands sent directly to the subconscious mind. How do they control our government? Through language. By using teams of highly paid lawyers in court against any who threaten their interests. By making extensive use, both legal and illegal, of the lobbying system which is now in control of our House of Representatives. With control of two branches of our three tier government comes control over the third.

Orwell was right about everything, all the way down to the fact that the vast majority of the populace is completely unable to detect the lie.

On Free Will and Addiction.

My life is ruled by addiction. There is something in my brain which begs for self-satisfaction every minute of the day. I seek a state of constant euphoria. This has, I have come to realize, shaped the better portion of my world view, as well as the better portion of my day to day behavior over these last twenty nine years. My free will is not so free.

I have begun to detect that there are other ways in which to view the world, which are at least marginally different from my own: A world in which my priorities are not determined by my next fix, of television, of internet surf, of music, of nicotine, of alcohol, of caffeine, of limited social interaction. This is something which I have always been aware of academically, but now I think that I am aware of it emotionally as well.

The problem is that I don't know what such a state of being would look like. What does one replace addiction with? How do I get there?

I do not even know if it is possible to break out of this prison of limited perception. It is as though I have reasoned out the existence of a fourth spatial dimension, and know that I have not the faculties to sense it.

True artificial intelligence exists.

Consider these facts:

1. The term 'artificial intelligence' is comprised of two words: Artificial, and intelligence.
2. Artificial = Made by humans.
3. Intelligence = The capacity to acquire and apply knowledge, especially toward a purposeful goal.
4. Nowhere in the term 'artificial intelligence' is life implied.

Therefore, 'artificial intelligence' may refer to any man made organizational construct with the ability to think, and move toward a goal. A corporation fits this definition perfectly. It is constructed by humans, it acquires knowledge at a rate and level far higher than an individual human could concieve, and its goal is profitability. It is smarter than you. It is bigger than you. It does not care in the slightest for your well being, the well being of your nation, or the well being of the human race.

Microsoft is a multinational corporation. An artificial intelligence which exists spread across the boundaries of many nations. Here is what the Microsoft Artificial Intelligence is doing in China.

Sweden.

This is mildly interesting. I don't see it happening, but there is movement. These are the issues that will eventually be decided in unexpected ways. Makes me want to move to Sweden.

The digital revolution will be televised bloody.

As the borders of what we consider nations continue to become pliable in heretofore unseen ways, the old power base continues to retain its failing grasp by traditional methods: By keeping some people pacified, and others blind or powerless. This is how power is maintained. This historical pattern is invariably broken by revolution. There are no bloodless revolutions.

This time, the lines of old power vs. new power will not be decided specifically by race or by creed, but rather by technical proficiency. The new weapons of revolution will not come in the form of guns, nor in the form of economics. The new war will be fought with weapons of the mind itself: Innovation and implementation of technology, as well as mastery of our own mind and form. The new revolution will be formed and won by those most willing and able to transcend their own humanity.