civilisationReview

A court has banned sales of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in the US while it decides on the firm's patent dispute with Apple. Apple has claimed that Samsung infringed its design patent and copied the look of its popular device, the iPad. - bbc I find this, ‘who took whose ideas’ situation between Apple and Samsung quite the big joke.  Where do you think Apple and Samsung got these ideas from?  People known as ‘employees’.  And whilst these ‘employees’ can get sacked, retrenched, retired, etc, Apple and Samsung keep making money of their ideas don’t they.  And the exploiters controlling both companies make tons of money as well don’t they.  And let’s not forget that both companies, amongst all others, will be trawling the net looking for ideas in forums, design trends, beta testers, people suggesting new ideas, etc, etc, etc, and taking their ideas without paying them a cent either.  In other words, these exploitative corporations get 'their' ideas by out...

Younger people in the UK are losing out financially and politically to older generations, a report claims. "Whilst government borrowing and pension debt have increased steadily, there has also been an increased shift in favour of the older generation through higher charges for education, rising youth unemployment and high housing costs. "This index highlights... the increasing problem of poorer young people financing richer older people." - bbc This is a strange sort of way to look at things.  Well, it’s to be expected when one wants to leave the capitalist system untouched.  If we want to leave the main systemic cause untouched, we have to lay the blame on the consequences of the system.  The elderly have paid for their continuing upkeep in sufficient luxury from the amount of money that was extracted from them when they were working. It is very strange indeed.  In the pursuit of an egalitarian society, we identify all sorts of social divisions that exist, like ra...

Ever wonder how 'singlish' sounds so much like the way a chinese child speaks - like that child on the left?  Not like a malay child, not like an indian child.  The next time you speak 'singlish', just ask yourself how different it is from that little boy on the left. That indicates that 'singlish' is not actually 'singlish', but 'chinglish'.  And this further indicates that the formation of this so-called colloquial and unofficial ‘national’ language indicates that non-chinese differences were not considered in its formation, which, incidentally, parallels the chinese-determined criteria of what alright and not alright in all other arenas.   No wonder that the msn.com site for singapore is called ‘xin.msn.com’.  If it is representative of anything, it is only of post-80s chinese self-absorption.  Same goes for the ‘wit‘ which is typical of the wit in Chinese media and conversations.  Childish, and has no resemblance with the higher level...

The European Parliament will make its final decision on Acta in July. If it passes, work to bring the agreement into force across the EU will continue. For the agreement to be made EU law, all member states would need to give their backing. If the European Parliament votes to reject Acta, the treaty will be scrapped entirely. While the agreement covers the counterfeiting of physical items, such as pharmaceuticals, it is the measures relating to pirated material on the internet that have caused most concern among campaigners. The agreement suggests setting international standards over how copyright infringements are dealt with. Possible measures include possible imprisonment and fines. - bbc If you think about it, this is a battle between pirates and counterfeiters. Both the corporational and non-corporational pirates are attempting to protect their right to counterfeit for the sake of profit for themselves. If we don't begin to question after the justifiable amount that might be ...

Software piracy cost the industry a record $63.4 billion globally in 2011 with emerging economies listed as the main culprits, an annual study said Tuesday. This was up nearly 8% from the previous record of $58.8 billion in 2010, the Business Software Alliance (BSA) said in the study. In the Asia Pacific, which comprises several emerging economies including China, bootleg software usage also cost the industry an all-time high of $21 billion last year, up 12% from 2010, BSA said. - source I don't see what the fuss is about. Once the people are adequately skilled, the Corporation will be able to come in and quickly make money out of the people who have been educated and developed by means, piratical or otherwise. Software 'piracy', for instance, in the ‘3rd world’, is like charity - it prepares and develops the people there for later exploitation by the corporation.  Once the people are adequately skilled, and PC-literate, the Corporation will be able to come in and quickly...

"Hundreds of thousands of public sector workers are taking part in a 24-hour UK-wide strike in a dispute with the government over pension changes.  The government says current pension schemes are unfair - and unaffordable because people are living longer.But the unions say members are being "robbed" and will have to pay more and work longer for lower pensions." - bbc The elite can afford to let the people go on 24-hour strikes because the people can't afford, for whatever the reason, to do it for longer.  This is a clear message sent by strikers to the elite every time they decide to take a day off and don the regulation placard and constipated expressions.  Don't they realise that when their so-called 'strike' is short enough, the government will say, "well, it's your democratic right".  But when it is long enough to hurt them, they'll say, "well, you've made your point, now why don't you just...

An increasingly vocal men's movement argues that anti-male discrimination is rife. Who are the activists and what do they want? Feminists have spent decades trying to get equal pay and rights for women. But while, in the West at least, discrimination against women is rigorously challenged, a growing band of men's rights activists say no such protection is afforded to men. Many of these activists also believe that the media allow women to objectify and ridicule men in a way that would be unthinkable if the gender roles were reversed. - bbc When equality is sought within a system that thrives on inequality (capitalism), what this quest for equality evolves into is reverse domination, not equality.  The system does not enable the articulation of impulses for equality into equality itself as that contradicts the hierarchical and exploitative structure of said system.  Hence, the feminist movement, unwittingly, became a movement that ended up doing unto men that which men had done...

“As far back as the 1800s, single mothers were receiving benefits. At that time, they would be paid up front and in cash, but were they better off than today? It's a perennial issue every government has to grapple with, whatever its political persuasion. Is the welfare system too generous? The Welfare Reform Bill, currently going through parliament, is this government's attempt to introduce what it says is "a simpler and fairer" system. But proposed cuts will hit the poor hardest, argue opponents.” - bbc “Can a welfare system be too generous”?  Yes.  If the amount that is given out means that the amount that is held back isn’t enough to produce enough to satisfy the people’s needs. welfare = ‘far more than is required for sustenance, and enough to ensure that others are deprived, and enough to enable one to subjugate and exploit the rest.' But when the question is asked within a capitalist scheme of things, and especially when it is taken as a divinely mandated ...

"American parents looking to send their children to the world’s best schools might want to start looking East. And by that, we don’t mean the East Coast. East Asia is now home to the world’s best primary and secondary schools, producing students who are able to outperform their counterparts in the Western world, according to a recent report from the Grattan Institute, a think tank based in Australia. - Wall Street Journal " ed’s comment at WSJ: I come from singapore, and i can say that they are ‘superior’ in the sense of being able to learn formulae, memorise, and regurgitate. But as innovative, inventive, and out-of-the-box thinkers, from my experience, a mediocre student in the UK beats the ‘superior’ students of the east. It is the socio-cultural experience that enables one to make more of education as opposed to education serving as a ceiling. In that, the UK for example, beats the straight ‘As’ of the east. At the end of the day, it is the social curriculum that adds val...

Said Cameron, “Speaking before a trip to Edinburgh, the prime minister talked in passionate language about his desire to keep the union and insisted he wanted to make a positive case for keeping Scotland in the UK. However, his list of issues raised – including Scotland losing its seat (as part of the UK) on the United Nations security council – could be seen by opponents as an attempt to threaten voters into shunning independence in the planned referendum. He said: "We're stronger, because together we count for more in the world, with a permanent seat on the UN security council, real clout in Nato and Europe, and unique influence with allies all over the world.” - the guardian Scotland only needs the UK because the UK still includes the rest of non-England. Something like a skinny scrawny lad being only as strong as the toughies he is supported by. What i was wondering, when i came across this statement by Cameron is, is it that Scotland is stronger because, with Scotland b...