Blogging Notes -

I had a time-consuming weekend . . .

I was supposed to do some routine computer maintenance which I postponed. Consequently, it accumulated until it occupied a large chunk of my available time. Sometimes it's beneficial to be forced to take a pause. The pause can enable us to maintain or recover our sense of perspective.

I have to make some adjustments to my sidebar links. Among other things, the local Hog on Ice blog went dark. [RIP - loved the parrot.] I don't like messing with the sidebar, because they gave us a widget to use for that purpose with which I am not very comfortable.

Since the onset of the popular Internet Era, we have noted a number of anti-social phenomena. First, there was cyber-stalking, which involved an EDP developing an unhealthy obsession fixated on a blogger. Then, there was cyber-bullying, which involved a group of students at a school ganging up on a fellow student as their target to pick on and disparage.

The latest phenomenon being reported is:
treating other people online as if they were your toys.

Leonard Pitts discusses a form of this in his latest Sunday column, Technology has unleashed ugliness in us.

"And what is new is the cruelty, this willingness to casually destroy someone else with a few clicks of a mouse.

"It is as if we have forgotten or never knew: people are not objects. They have feelings. They have intrinsic dignity and worth. And each of us is bound to respect that."

I recall an Oscar Wilde Fairytale that had the punchline:

"For the future, let those who
come to play with me have no hearts."

It's from The Birthday of the Infanta.

South Florida is in especially serious turmoil this week. Currently, there are efforts being undertaken to recall the Mayor of Miami and five of that city's officials. Meanwhile, several Broward County officials have been apprehended for corruption. There is a voter issue on the upcoming ballot to restore local control over Development. And, because of the very high foreclosure rate, the population is being churned and is in extreme flux.

It feels like we are undergoing a severe meltdown accompanied by a wave of social entropy. Sometimes it seems like the old Wild West around here, featuring public shoot-outs, flamboyant robberies, and desperate brutalities.

Let's hope the situation improves soon.

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