Friday, January 31, 2003

Slavery and the Civil War A few weeks ago I got into a tussle with some folks who disagreed with my perspective on the Civil War. They took issue with my contention that those who try to say that the Civil War was about 'States Rights', and not about Slavery, are simply trying to avoid painful reality. The reality that in many cases our ancestors fought to protect Slavery. In my family I can trace back to people who fought on both sides of the war. It doesn't make them bad people, and it doesn't mean that I am ashamed of them. They were simply wrong. They were born into a different age, and brought up in a belief system that was wrong. The problem in the South is that they're only one generation removed from the Civil Rights movement. They're still trying to come grips with it's social impacts. Many; if not most, of the South's current white leaders were born into families that hated the North, and supported the segregation of the races. It was a part of everyday life, and people were killed over the efforts to change that. The fact that Trent Lott supported segregation in his youth is no surprise, but the fact that he made a statement that appeared to still support it, was what led to his downfall. I was surfing today and ran across two documents that I think pretty much sum up why I feel the way I do. Take a look at the Declaration of Causes - Georgia's Secession. Then go read the Confederate Constitution. As you read them, note the mention of Slavery. In Georgia's declaration, the issue of Slavery is everywhere. In fact, after the opening statement it is mentioned in the very next sentence. The words Slave and Slavery show up 37 times in what is a relatively short document. In the case of the Confederate Constitution is is the first item mentioned after the set up of the government is finished. Do you see it differently, let me know...mj 4:26:04 PM

Apple Shatters Competition For those of you who think Apple is always the most expensive, and you have to pay more for Apple quality and design, wrong! Check out this comparison of big LCDs. Note who has the least expensive big LCD, Apple in both cases...mj 3:55:06 PM

AOL couldn't get Broadband... I just read a piece on Dave Winer's blog about AOL. He asks the question, did AOL get the Internet? Doc has written a nice piece about the fall of AOL, and I disagree with them in a couple ways. I think AOL did get the Internet. They got it enough to start getting people on it back in 1995. They got it way, way before Microsoft did. They provided the training wheels for millions of new surfers, who pissed off the old guard because they weren't trained in the rules of Netiquette. My first trip onto the Internet was through AOL. I also left it rather quickly. The reason was, I didn't need the training wheels, and the content didn't interest me. I don't chat, and chat is one of the primary reasons for AOLs growth and survival. I can also tell you that; as an observer of a wife and two daughters who still do AOL, there's still a very strong place for someone like AOL, what we will get is MSN. AOL provides a secure comforting environment, that the non-technical find easy to use. The problem is, that it may not matter at all. The reason is simple, MSN has been able to tap into the broadband market better then AOL. AOL has fished for a Broadband strategy for the past four years with little or no success. Part of that was their failure to move on DSL, they could have been one of the few players in that market to succeed, They were also locked out of Cable, until the Time/Warner merger. Having Time/Warners Cable customers was not enough. If they had made AOL the default provider they would have had better traction. Traction is the key, and the early movers have all the advantages in the Traction game. AOL simply arrived too late and never got out of the gate. The key to survival for AOL is still a Broadband strategy. They are not too late, they have a huge installed base, but they need to find a solution fast. Outside of that, Doc is right, we will get to watch AOL die a slow agonizing death...mj 11:24:03 AM

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