I will start this off simply enough with stating the fact that I read a lot. Not always actually picking up a book and physically going through it, but I also hit the occasional audio-book. My favorite topics are usually History and Science, though I have always had a great fondness for Science Fiction works as well. Mostly I will stay with the more realistic or truly philosophical stuff, but then there are the times that I like to read the things that are really out there. This brings me to the topic of this article.
Is there a real “Super Villain” in store for the world?
I know… when I say super villain, people automatically get mental pictures of Dr. Doom, Magneto or Lex Luthor. People that media has established as the archetypes for what is meant to be true evil. Villains that seem almost indestructible, except for that one little chink in the armor that only certain people know about and they never make any attempt to protect that spot. A good case in point is what I would like to think of as the “Death Star Flaw”. This is the process of building an almost impervious fortress or system that has only one weakness that is usually unprotected and poorly monitored.
In reality, I do have to wonder if there is a potential for someone to take the global stage as a world-wide threat to peace. Someone who, through the ability of either terror or power, can cause the powers of the world to stop and take notice. Not for the sake of awe, at least not awe in the good sense, bust because suddenly this person or group exposed a weakness that no one thought about and thus never thought about protecting. Something along those lines.
Personally I think that the potential for such a person does exist. It really would not be that hard when you think about it. All you would need is someone that would be able to start by befriending the powers of the world. A person or group that would start off by being trusted by everyone, at least all the law abiding people and leaders, of the world.  This would put him, her or them in a position to infiltrate the governments of those trusting countries.
Once that has been accomplished, it would simply be a matter of those key people to make a move to either topple those governements, their leaders or expose their weakness’ to the hostile group.
Oddly enough, this almost sounds familiar, does’nt it? Yeah… it’s called the United Nations.
Ok… I am not saying that the UN is going to become the next global villain, but if you think about it… REALLY think about it, is it really that hard of an idea to wrap your minds around?
In reality, I think that we are closer to something along the lines of a SUper Villain that you and I might think. These days we are so busy bickering and fighting with ourselves that I do not think we are paying close enough attention to the things that might be happening out there. People that are slowly and quietly gathering strength in the shadows and waiting for us to be completely unprepared.
I suspect that when and if this time comes, people like Osama Bin Laden and his ilk may be the least of our worries.
Then again… I tend to go off on these mental wanderings quite often. I would like to think of them as little philosophic field trips into my own thoughts. I will wonder around a while, take some notes, talk with some of the locals and then sit at the PC and write what I have found out.
Think about it though… just for a moment. If someone like me can sit here and think about things like this for the sake of mental excercizes, then there are many more out there that are perfectly capable of getting together the resources to eventually act on things like this.
I am not trying to make people paranoid, nor am I telling you to stop trusting anyone, just be “aware”. We all need to pay attention to what happens around us and in the world.
Thanks for taking a moment to listen to my prattle. Too much caffeine today.
Don’t Wiki me!
By Samuel Wright
On December 30, 2009
In Blogging, Commentary and Critique
I like Wikipedia. I really do.
There is something kind of neat about an encyclopedia that the “People” have some control over and can edit. You might call it a “Leuteenzyklopädie” of sorts, if you will.
This is a tool in which people from all over the world can create, edit or dispute articles and use the provided information in the same way that you would any other encyclopedia. There is a caveat, however, and that is what I have decided to write this piece about.
The problem lies in the fact that it IS a “open source” encyclopedia. As such, you should use the information that you get from Wikipedia with the understanding that you should accept it as information that you would want to double-check or verify before accepting it as the gospel truth.
Now… I say that with no malice towards those that run or administer Wiki or Wiki itself. I say that with the understanding that because of the nature of the system, it is possible for people to get in there and add information that is not quite correct or a flat out lie and this information being distributed before anyone has had the chance to edit, correct or delete it.
I will not go through and list all the examples that I found links to for the various errors that were posted to Wiki over the years. Most of them Wiki was already made aware of and have corrected. I will, however, direct you to the official Wikipedia links for how they approach that which I am discussing here. I will list them at the end of this article.
The main point here is that the old standard applies the same now as it always has. Verify your sources… do not just rely on one source, such as Wikipedia.
Use it, but do so with the understanding that people just like you and me have the access to go in and add and edit information on that service. People that may or may not know enough to intelligently write about the topic in question.
Just remember… “Caveat Lector”
Links to Wikipedia’s policies on Reliability and Criticism.