The Myth of Net Neutrality

"Network neutrality (also net neutrality, Internet neutrality) is a principle proposed for user access networks participating in the Internet that advocates no restrictions by internet service providers and governments on content, sites, platforms, the kinds of equipment that may be attached, and the modes of communication. The principle states that if a given user pays for a certain level of Internet access, and another user pays for the same level of access, then the two users should be able to connect to each other at the subscribed level of access. 

Ah, the old equal access argument. Where have I heard that before (only all outcome based programs managed by government to produce equality). The threat to access is not from the private sector but the public and the allowance of the collection of power in the hands of FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. Recently Mr. Genachowski has changed his rhetoric from harsher control of the airwaves to setting moderate goals (for now) as listed in an article by Erik Sherman called, 'Net Neutrality Faces a Political Gauntlet, and the Fall-Out Will Hit Tech Firms' in the article he gives this list of Genachowski's 'wish list':

"Broadband providers would have to tell consumers and businesses how they manage their networks. Consumers and businesses have a right to send and receive lawful traffic, so broadband providers could not block content, apps, services, or the connection of devices. No public or private entity could unreasonably discriminate in transmitting traffic so as not to effectively decide which businesses would win or lose. Broadband providers would have flexibility to manage their networks and to implement usage-based pricing, something that they've wanted for years. For now, it would be hands off wireless broadband other than requirements for transparency and a no-traffic-blocking rule."

In an article/video from Reason Magazine, "Net Neutrality' raises some suspicion regarding the pro-NN people and put up the 'caution lights' when finding out that Al Gore is a major supporter. Peter Suderman, Associate Editor, Reason, also points out from data, that there is no current suppression of content and that this is more about potentiality rather than current reality:

"Al Gore says that legislation ensuring "net neutrality" is "needed for the revitalization of American democracy." Techno-vegan Moby (music artist) says without it, the "egalitarian" Internet would disappear. Even Mallory from Family Ties, Justine Bateman, thinks "the freedom to access the site of any organization from Planned Parenthood to the Christian Coalition is going to end."

"But just what the hell is net neutrality-and is all that is good and holy about the Internet really imperiled if legislation guaranteeing it isn't passed? Network neutrality is necessary, say its supporters, to make certain that all data on the Internet is treated equally and to protect users from information discrimination on the part of Internet service providers who will slow down or even block access to certain sites."

The flag being waved in the Net Neutrality debate is the same one that has been waved around all social issues: Equality, Justice, Opportunity and Fairness. Those who favor big government solutions believe that the government through regulation and arbitrary laws can manage toward equality, justice, etc; while those who oppose big government solutions believe that freer markets with less government regulation provide a vibrant market for both

consumers and businesses.

What those who look for government solutions don't like is that resources (private capital) moves toward successful ventures and away from unsucessful ones, and through market dynamics it picks true 'winners and losers', which appears cruel. They would rather do that themselves through public policies. Neutrality just like Justice and Equality are arbitrary targets when taken collectively and 'winners and losers' are at the discretion of rulers (men and women in power) rather than markets.

Unfortunately history is replete with the best intentions (and worst) of government intervention for the greater good. In the Net Neutrality debate, open access is best defended through freer association and exchange which works best in markets rather than planned and managed by governments.

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The Shakespeare Authorship Conspiracy - Part 1 of 4

If you tap 'Shakespeare' into Google's internet search box, you get an estimated 28 million possible hits connected to this world famous English poet and playwright.

With so much information available to us to research this globally recognised icon, it would probably amaze you to know that there is very little actually known about the man from Stratford-upon-Avon beyond the play's and sonnets that he supposedly left behind.

The fact of the matter is that beyond the world recognised Martin Droeshout engraved picture of Shakespeare, there is nothing that conclusively connects the man from Stratford-upon-Avon to the play's and sonnets ascribed to him...in fact, the portrait only complicates the authorship issue more!

What authorship issue you may say? Where oh where have you been hiding?

Let's recap.

For the last few hundred years, a growing number of historians have begun to question the facts that identify the man from Stratford-upon-Avon as being the true author of the works attributed to him, and over the years, a raft of prominent Elizabethan candidates have been suggested at one time or another as the possible true author of one or more of the Shakespeare's plays, such as Ben Jonson, Christopher Marlowe, Edward De Vere, the Earl of Rutland, the Earl of Southampton, the Earl of Essex, Sir Walter Raleigh and of course, Sir Francis Bacon.

The real truth though, is that the authorship question was being raised during the Elizabethan era at the time when the plays were being written and performed!

For example, between 1597 and 1598, two poets, John Marston and Joseph Hall, in an exchange of satires, alluded to the real author of the Shakespeare plays. In his first book of Satires (published in 1597), Joseph Hall criticises a poet he calls 'Labeo' (the name of a famous Roman lawyer), who had written erotic poetry anonymously. In his book Pygmalion's Image (published in 1598) John Marston refers to 'Labeo' as the writer of Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis.

In his second book of Satires (published in 1598) Joseph Hall infers that 'Labeo' has used another person's name to hide his authorship and thus be immune to satire. In Certain Satires John Marston identifies 'Labeo' with the motto Mediocra firma, and in context with the Shakespeare poems, Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece - this motto is part of the Bacon family coat of arms, used by Francis Bacon and his brother Anthony Bacon.

As the analogy with 'Labeo' fits Francis Bacon rather than Anthony, then the identification is absolutely clear - Francis Bacon, according to these two men, wrote 'Venus and Adonis' and 'The Rape of Lucrece' under the pseudonym of 'William Shakespeare'.

In Part II, I will explain the evidence that links the Shakespeare plays to Sir Francis Bacon.

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Sociology of Reality TV

You know something has permeated a culture when American colleges and universities are charging big money to teach classes about the sociology and psychology of reality TV.

Aside from the more traditional subjects like calculus and European History, college students are paying several grand a semester to collectively watch and discuss Big Brother, American Idol or MTV's The Real World. Students debate questions like "Why is reality TV so popular?" or "Why do people want to be broadcast while using the toilet or failing to discipline their wild children?" I am sure the founders of the great American institutions of learning are backflipping in their graves knowing that students are writing papers about Flavor Flav, but many academics argue that reality TV actually provides a new lens through which to view and interpret our culture. The question remains: Could reality TV actually be teaching us anything, or are these classes just dangling carrots to get more students to pay $30,000 tuition bills?

No matter what, popular culture has arguably been taken over by television's version of reality. Though these shows are not something many of us wish to put into a time capsule to reflect the condition of American media in the 21st century, most of us cannot get enough of them. There are just as many closet watchers of reality TV as there are self-proclaimed reality addicts. And, it doesn't even seem like the story-line or topic matters anymore - it's the format that grabs us. The same person might watch Project Runway, Making the Band and Flip that House. So perhaps it's just exciting to peer into the minds, emotions and lives of others. The popularity of blogs would certainly affirm that. In a time when we know less and less about what goes on behind the doors of the Oval Office or the gilded lobbies of American's largest corporations, it seems we all just want a little bit of truth, or else a whole lot of candor.

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The Sociology of Human Behavior - External Influences on Perception of Others

This evening I decided that I would try a small experiment to test the theory that we all tend to "judge" others based on appearnace and come to some conclusions about the way that person is from those perceptions.

For the past 6 months I have been network marketing and have had a rather conservative picture on my Facebook profile. Tonight I changed that to a photo that was of me 3 years ago when I had my Wiccan shop running full time. The Witches Haven in Cedar City Utah.

I was not so surprised to see what the result was. The immediate result was that I received comments of shock...one even saying...WOW! Others were less "shocked" and ranged from a thumbs up to "I didn't have any clue". This is not a negative thing and my theory was not to show negativity versus positive resulting reactions but to see raw reaction...period.

I placed a status statement shortly after placing the picture on my profile that stated, "I changed my profile picture here to make a point. Whether you call your clergy Bishop, Father, Rabbi, or High Priest,etc...never judge by the cover as we are peaceful and only wish to assist our fellow man."

I am happy to state that while my theory was proven that we all make judgments or we tend to have pre-conceived ideas of one another we also have the intelligence to think about these ideas and notions and make informed decisions about our final judgment.

I hope that we all will take the time to think about how we are judging others based on appearances only and that we will stop and think about all of the reasoning and conditions that played into the way they appear. I may have looked like a "hippy" to some. A "satanic" person to others...neither of which would have been any where near accurate.

This article will be appearing in a post on my blog and by the time this is posted the picture on my FB profile will have been changed back. I neglected to mention that apparently it did have the affect that people were no longer friend requesting me and some chose to leave and that was also expected. I have left it on my blog as it portrays who I truly am...away from the politics...and out of the "lime light" as it were.

May we all be cautious about the way we are treating one another because of the language we may speak, the clothing we may wear, the creed we may hold ourselves to, and just treat one another with the respect that deep down we all deserve. In the end nothing else matters but the fact that we are all here on earth and we are all human and have feelings, emotions and frailties.

Until next time take care of yourselves and each other. Brightest blessings.

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Safety Culture - Six Basic Safety Program Elements

If you run a small business, sometimes it is hard to keep up with all the rules and regulations. However, there are some very basic elements that must be implemented into a management system. One example is Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA's) Proposed 'I2P2' Rule.According to OSHA, the proposed rule will "require employers to develop and implement a program that minimizes worker exposure to safety and health hazards."

No one really knows what the proposed rule will look like, but we can usually make a good guess. So, to help with some these Safety program elements, OSHA's "Safety and Health Program Management Guidelines", published on January 26, 1989 provides some limited guidance that you can follow.

In many of the voluntary programs, OSHA outlines five elements that will help you to create a successful management system. From my standpoint, although management and employee participation is complementary and forms the core of an effective safety and health program, I want to make sure that there is a clear and distinct difference between management of the operation and employee participation. It will be easier to implement a management system if you understand what OSHA is considering a model system and then expand on the model to fit the organization. The following are the core elements of an effective management system:

    * Management leadership
    * Employee participation
    * Hazard identification and assessment
    * Hazard prevention and control
    * Information and training
    * Evaluation of program effectiveness

An effective management system addresses work-related hazards, including those potential hazards that could result from a change in workplace conditions or practices. In addition, it addresses hazards that are not regulatory driven by nature. The best advice is to not wait for an inspection or a workplace injury to occur before workplace hazards are addressed. If you do not already have a plan in place, then you should immediately create a plan for identifying and correcting hazards, and then implement the elements of the plan. The key is to have employees participate in the development and implementation of the plan.

It is a good practice to implement and maintain a management system that provides systematic policies, procedures, and practices that are adequate to protect employees from safety hazards. In other words, an effective system identifies provisions for the systematic identification, evaluation, and prevention or control of workplace hazards, specific job hazards, and potential hazards that may arise from foreseeable conditions.

No matter if a safety program is in writing or not is less important than how effective it is implemented, managed, and practiced. It should be obvious that as the size of the workplace, the number of employees, or the complexity of an operation increases, the need for written guidance will increase. The program should help to make sure that there is clear communication to all employees with consistent application of policies and procedures.

Management Leadership

Management leadership from the top down is the most important part of any process. "Lip service", is not going to work and does not demonstrate commitment. Management demonstrates this commitment by providing the motivating force and the needed resources by including at least the following:

· Establishing the roles and responsibilities for managers, supervisors, and employees at all levels of the organization and holding each level accountable for carrying out their assigned responsibilities.

· Providing managers, supervisors, and employees with the authority, access to relevant information, training, and resources needed to carry out their responsibilities.

· Identifying at least one manager, supervisor, or employee to receive and respond to reports about safety conditions and, where appropriate, to initiate corrective action.

Just to make it clear, demonstration means "do as I do" and not "do as I say." This is an important concept, no matter what you are tying to accomplish, always "walk-the-walk, and talk-the-talk". If you say that you are going to do something, do it!

Employee participation

Employee participation provides the means for employees to develop and/or express their commitment to themselves and/or their fellow employees. Therefore, in any successful system, employees should be provided an opportunity to participate in establishing, implementing, and evaluating the safety system. To fulfill and enhance employee participation, management should implement some form of the following elements:

    * Regularly communicating with all employees concerning safety matters.
    * Providing employees with access to information relevant to the safety system.
    * Providing ways for employees to become involved in hazard identification and assessment, prioritizing hazards, safety training, and management system evaluation.
    * Establishing procedures where employees can report work-related hazards promptly and ways they can make recommendations about appropriate solutions to control the hazards identified.
    * Providing prompt responses to reports and recommendations.

It is important to remember that under an effective safety system, management encourages and supports employees to report safety hazards and making recommendations about associated hazard, or participating in the corrective actions for hazard as noted.

Hazard Identification and Assessment

A practical hazard analysis of the work environment involves a variety of elements to identify existing hazards and conditions as well as areas subject to change that might create new hazards. Using management techniques coupled with employee participation and continually analyzing the work environment to anticipate and develop programs to help prevent harmful occurrences will help to identify hazards. The following elements are recommended to help identify existing and potential hazards:

    * Conducting a baseline workplace assessment, updating assessments periodically, and allowing employees to participate in the assessments.
    * Analyzing planned and/or new facilities, process materials, and equipment.
    * Developing routine job hazards analyses and training employees on the hazards noted.
    * Assessing risk factors of ergonomics applications to employee's tasks.
    * Conducting regular site safety inspections so that new or previously missed hazards are identified and corrected.
    * Providing a reliable system for employees to notify management about conditions that appear hazardous and to receive timely and appropriate responses. This system utilizes employee insight and experience in safety and allows employee concerns to be addressed. And the most important, the employee should be encouraged to use this system without fear of reprisal.
    * Investigating injuries, "near misses," and loss producing events so that their causes and means of prevention can be identified.
    * Analyzing injury trends to identify patterns with common causes so that they can be reviewed and prevented

Hazards that employees are exposed should systematically be identified and evaluated. This evaluation can be accomplished by assessing compliance with the following activities and reviewing safety information for example:

    * The establishment's injury experience.
    * The OSHA 300 logs
    * Workers' compensation claims (Employers First Report of Injury)
    * Nurse and/or first aid logs
    * Results of any medical screening/surveillance
    * Employee safety complaints and reports
    * Environmental and biological exposure data
    * Information from prior workplace safety inspections
    * Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS's)
    * Results of employee safety perception surveys
    * Safety manuals
    * Safety warnings provided by equipment manufacturers and chemical supplier
    * Information about safety provided by trade associations or professional safety organizations
    * Results of prior incidents and investigations
    * Evaluating new equipment, materials, and processes for hazards before they are introduced into the workplace
    * Assessing the severity of identified hazards and ranking those that cannot be corrected immediately according to their severity

It is also important to evaluate other regulatory requirements that may impose additional and specific requirements for hazard identification and assessment.

Hazard Prevention and Control

Effective planning and design of the workplace or job task can help to prevent hazards. Where it is not feasible to eliminate hazards, action plans should be implemented that can help to control unsafe conditions.

Elimination or control should be accomplished in a timely manner once a hazard or potential hazards are identified. The following are some suggested measures:

    * Using engineering techniques where feasible and appropriate
    * Establishing safe work practices and procedures that could be understood and followed by all affected employees
    * Providing personal protective equipment (PPE) when engineering controls are not feasible
    * Using administrative controls. For example, reducing the duration of exposure
    * Maintaining the facility and equipment to prevent equipment breakdowns
    * Planning and preparing for emergencies and conducting training including emergency drills, as needed, ensuring that proper responses to emergencies will be "second nature" for all employees involved
    * Establishing a medical surveillance program that includes handling first aid cases onsite and off-site at a nearby physician and/or emergency medical care to help reduce the risk of any injury that may occur

Once identified, an action plan should be developed to help solve the issues or can be used to come into compliance with applicable requirements. These plans can include setting priorities and deadlines and tracking progress in controlling hazards.

Information and Training

Training is an important part of any program to ensure that all employees understand the requirements of the safety programs and potential hazards of the operation. This training should address the roles and responsibilities of both the management and the employees. It will be most effective when combined with other training about performance requirements and/or job practices. The complexity depends on the size and the nature of the hazards and potential hazards present. The following information and training should be provided to all levels:

    * The nature of the hazards and how to recognize them
    * The means to control these hazards
    * The protective measures that can be used to prevent and/or minimize exposure to hazards
    * The provisions of applicable requirements

Anyone who has responsibilities for the information and training should be provided the level of training necessary to carry out their safety responsibilities.

The following provides a brief explanation for some specific-level training. You should review your operation and expand on the brief summary.

Employee Training

Employee training programs should be designed to ensure that all employees understand and are aware of the hazards that they may be exposed and the proper methods for avoiding such hazards.

Management Training

Management must be trained to understand the key role they play in safety and to enable them to carry out their job duties effectively as follows:

    * Analyzing of the work under their supervision to anticipate and identify potential hazards
    * Maintaining physical protection in their work areas
    * Reinforcing employee training on the nature of potential hazards associated with their work and on protective measures. The reinforcement is done through continual performance feedback and, as necessary, through enforcement of safe work practices
    * Understanding their roles and responsibilities

Note that some compliance standards impose additional, more specific requirements for information, training, and education. Make sure that you read specific training requirements.

Evaluation of Program Effectiveness

The management system should be evaluated to ensure that it is effective and appropriate to specific workplace conditions. The system should be revised in a timely manner to correct any deficiencies as identified by any program evaluation. It is important that system elements be reviewed at least annually to evaluate their success in meeting the goals and objectives so that deficiencies can be identified and the program and/or the objectives can be revised when they do not meet the goal of an effective safety process.

The key to developing a management system is to provide visible top management involvement in implementing and sustaining the management system so that all employees understand that management's commitment is serious.

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