Streamlining the Online Presence

Dang, that's an annoying idea, isn't it, the "online presence"? I'm so self-important I have an online presence!

"Digital self" sounds even more pretentious, though, and would probably trigger a lawsuit from someone representing the Wachowski Brothers.

Anyhow, I've deactivated and scheduled my Facebook account for deletion. I'll keep LinkedIn for now, since it doesn't annoy me. I've also deleted my old LiveJournal because LJ annoyed me one too many times and it's been over a year since I last posted, so anyone who wants to keep up with me from there has either come to terms with my absence or is following me on Dreamwidth. I'll keep the Dreamwidth account, because I love Dreamwidth in an intellectual way if not in a regular-posting kind of way. More properly, I love my current default icon, which I think sums up my attitude toward life pretty succinctly, pictures being worth a thousand words, at least, being the picture of a goblin in a hat. (see here)

Note that "annoying" v. not-annoying seems to be a primary consideration in deciding what to shitcan and what not. That'd be accurate, friends and neighbors, that'd be accurate. Sure, there's a lot of water under the bridge and I'm likely to be less annoyed by trivialities, precocious children (terrible hypocrisy on my part to begin with given that I was one), traffic, drunk people on the T, but there are still a great host of forever-renewing things that manage to chafe my proverbial buns.

As always, this blog remains hanging on by its teeth. It doesn't whine when I ignore it, so.... low annoyance quotient.

3 Links Makes a Post: Various Offenses Against Human Decency

In Russia, St. Petersburg passes homophobic law to silence LGBT people

Two regions of Russia — Arkhangelsk and Ryazan — have previously passed the same law, which have been deemed constitutional by Russian courts despite the chilling of free speech and the attack on LGBT organizing and ability to protest that they represent.

Oil Drilling Threatens Indigenous Mapuche In Argentina

Fracking uses millions of gallons of water mixed with chemicals and sand at high pressure, to break through rock like shale to free natural gas and oil.

“There is no policy in place to measure the impact of this new technology,” said Nahuel. “That is what the communities are reacting to, in Loma de la Lata and in the central part of the province.”

Oil and gas exploration began 60 years ago, and indigenous residents estimate that there are 200 wells there and they have been demanding an end to the activity in the area for the last decade.

Mapuche community authority Cristina Lincopán of the village, said the government brings water each month in trucks to the area from Zapala, a city 60 kilometers (38 miles), because the water is so contaminated from the oil industry.

Mining Debate in Guatemala Rages On

"We know it will cause a great deal of pollution, which is why we are opposed to this project. The only one here benefiting from this is the mayor," she told IPS.

Anti-mining sentiments flared up again in Guatemala after the new right-wing president, retired General Otto Pérez Molina, signed a "voluntary agreement" on Jan. 27 with the extractive industries business association, to increase royalties paid by the companies. The deal will be in effect until an amended mining law is passed by Congress.

3 Things Make a Blog Post

Quebec Police Dismantle Innu Blockade Against Controversial Hydro Complex

Quebec provincial police went on the march last Friday to dismantle a blockade that a group of Innu citizens erected to protest the construction of hydro transmission lines through their traditional territory.

The blockade/checkpoint went up went up on March 5 after Innu representatives walked away from negotiations with Hydro-Québec over the proposed La Romaine Hydroelectric Complex.

Catholic Church Puts Legal Pressure On Survivor's Network (may be behind pay wall)

Way to go, Catholic Church. Just keep digging that hole deeper.

The group, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP, is neither a plaintiff nor a defendant in the litigation. But the group has been subpoenaed five times in recent months in Kansas City and St. Louis, and its national director, David Clohessy, was questioned by a battery of lawyers for more than six hours this year. A judge in Kansas City ruled that the network must comply because it “almost certainly” had information relevant to the case.

Mr. Clohessy was deposed in January by lawyers for five accused priests and the diocese. In the 215-page transcript, made public on March 2, most of the questions were not about the case but about the network — its budget, board of directors, staff members, donors and operating procedures.

Tsunami Flotsam hitting U.S. Shores? (another possibly behind pay wall)

Despite a rise in interest and reported sightings, officials have not confirmed that any of the items found along the West Coast originated in Japan. “There is debris from Asia that comes to shore all the time, and it’s not necessary tsunami-related,” [Director of NOAA’s Marine Debris Program, Nancy] Wallace said.

Thus far, only two tsunami debris clusters have been confirmed, a wrecked Japanese fishing boat spotted by a Russian ship that was en route from Honolulu to Vladivostok, Russia, and another vessel located by the United States Coast Guard nearer to Japan.

Finding flotsam over some 5,000 miles of open ocean is not easy. A month after the disaster, the debris was no longer visible in NOAA’s satellite images. To assist in the search, officials have requested higher-resolution satellite images from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which runs satellite-based mapping and monitoring for the Defense Department. In recent months, NOAA reached out to the commercial shipping and fishing groups, asking boats to report any large debris sightings in the water.

NOAA asks beachcombers to keep a lookout.

I Have Little To Say, Apparently

I guess I have everything-fatigue with cynical symptoms.

Presidential elections? Yawn.
Health Care Reform? Too cynical today, sorry.
Lies in the media remaining unchecked and liars remaining unfettered? OK, yeah, pissed off about that, but not enough to link to anything or write a cogent post.

So....how've you all been?