Comments on: Should we kill off computers and the internet to save democracy?

By: CountSmackula

CountSmackula — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 02:08:25 +0000

#1 It is the same Dusty. Woo Hoo! Writer, attorney, Bill Clinton impersonator, singer, songwriter… and he like to shoot hoops too.

http://dustyhorwitt.com/
http://www.ewg.org/about/staff

Fucking nimrod, he is.

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:19:25 +0000

Truthfully, pulling useful information out of the blare that is the internet is like finding that one great novel under a pile of 60% off books in the middle of a bookstore chain.

We at least have the ability to weed out and filter information ourselves; if we didn’t we’d never get anything done during the day.

I think it would be very useful for schools and colleges to teach how to properly weed and filter out bad information from a mass. They concentrate mostly on limiting your intake to particular subjects and individual books. With all the information streaming at us daily it’s tough to limit yourself to one or two ideas.

Taxing everything to infinity for “social cause” doesn’t do much anyway, other than generate revenue and annoy people. If it was a solution, we’d have no smokers right now.

Plus we’d then have John complaining about the interwebitube taxes all day instead of how Microsoft is wasting its advertising money. *shudder*

By: GetSmart

GetSmart — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:43:33 +0000

#15 Good point. Echo chamber effect. I hear me talking and I agree with me! Shucks, with the voices in my head, I never needed the InterTubes for reinforcement anyway.

By: dusan maletic

dusan maletic — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:15:58 +0000

@#14: “And introducing quasi-science such as “Intelligent Design”.” … Don’t rush condemning teaching of any varied points of view, no matter how they appear to you. I think that great part of me being a scientist by profession was the fact that I was given resources about many different world views as a child (among many, I was given to read the Bible, Koran , Capital,… together with the popular science books as a school child). Presenting “Intel.Desig.” is an advantage as long as it is not the only viewpoint given…

Now to the insane article… This is the extreme Left view of the world… Elite knows best.

By: Sea Lawyer

Sea Lawyer — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:13:17 +0000

The only “problem” I see with the Internet is it is conducive to the formation of echo chambers.

By: Jägermeister

Jägermeister — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:45:09 +0000

#10 – GregAllen – …the Republicans have made sure Americans are stupid by de-funding education and trashing the teaching profession at every chance.

And introducing quasi-science such as “Intelligent Design”.

And then you’ve got CNN and Fox News who brings down the average IQ even further.

By: John C Dvorak

John C Dvorak — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:43:02 +0000

Brilliant.

By: FRAGaLOT

FRAGaLOT — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:38:55 +0000

Oh PDAs are such a source for information overload aren’t they? Back when people were using them they barely had internet access. No one uses PDAs anymore other than smart phones.

The problem with this guy is he thinks everyone is stupid, and we are just watching TV and using the internet like zombies just absorbing whatever appears on screen, and never questioning or forming our own opinions on whatever the story is about. His opinion of people at large must be very low.

By: GregAllen

GregAllen — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:29:00 +0000

That photo is a dead giveaway this is a farce.

By: GregAllen

GregAllen — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:26:35 +0000

We need a highly educated population to wisely interpret all this information.

Of course, the Republicans have made sure Americans are stupid by de-funding education and trashing the teaching profession at every chance.

By: Thomas

Thomas — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:37:53 +0000

Of course, this guy is right. Making informed choices and knowing more about the world around you is completely overrated. It would be far better to get all our information from a small number of sources as we had previous to the Internet which of course would never be corrupted, always balanced and always know what information we should have (and what we shouldn’t). ;->

By: roemun

roemun — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:27:09 +0000

It is an apt commentary on the loopy-left that this the intention of this OpEd cannot undoubtedly be seen as humorous, notwithstanding the fact that it is laughable.

By: GetSmart

GetSmart — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:00:03 +0000

The only corporations you can possibly trust are the ones that are bankrupt and have been non-existent for decades or longer. Maybe.

By: chris

chris — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:52:41 +0000

Great catch. Google this guy and it gets stranger and stranger.

Here is a sample

http://www.legalaffairs.org/issues/January-February-2004/scene_horwitt_janfeb04.msp

He is widely sourced as being who he says he is. There are articles on various environmental matters that he wrote or is quoted in. He also appears to have given testimony before congress. If the impersonator was a separate guy the real one has got to be mad.

Possibly he is a plant to make various legal and environmental publications look stupid. Or he is just a silly man.

By: MikeN

MikeN — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:16:02 +0000

Makes as much sense as taxing carbon energy to force people into preferred technologies and lifestyles.