leslie dean brown

The most powerful people in the world are not who you think.

March 1, 2016 — leslie dean brown

I type “most powerful people” into today’s most powerful internet search engine, google. Seven of the top ten references are made to Forbes’ annual rich list, ranking people according to their estimated net worth. But are rich people really as powerful as they claim to be?

YES they say that money talks. Money can buy people’s opinions. Money can corrupt. Money can certainly get people to do things they wouldn’t otherwise do. In that way, money can definitely change people’s behaviour. But why have we come to regard money as synonymous with power?

For sure, the more you own, the more you have to lose. The more you can be manipulated and blackmailed. But there’s much more to it that that… [Read more…]

MPG vs total fuel consumption, carbon emmissions.

February 27, 2016 — leslie dean brown

In today’s conversation, I went straight for the jugular.

I’ll admit I stopped before posting the last reply. So I’m posting that here instead.

Mark Frank: S2000’s are great, a lot more fun then that Prius you have parked in the back.

leslie dean brown: Yeah. I agree with that. Although you know what is not ‘fun’? Living on the greenhouse planet herself, Venus. Never mind. *sometimes* I drive an RX8. Just… not much. Because it uses WAY too much fuel. :(

Tom Hanover: What does Venus have to do with anything? I guess you’re worried about fuel consumption, but then again maybe you aren’t since you drive an RX-8 that gets 16/23 MPG while the S2000 gets 18/25.

leslie dean brown: MPG not the only thing to consider. The main thing to consider… is how much you spend on fuel every week. Or every year. Or in total. A prius driver that drives 1 million km is not anywhere near as ‘eco’ as a ferrari driver that only drives 10k km. ;-) “What does Venus have to do with anything?” Well, just that… we don’t want our planet turning into that one. It is the mother of all global warming planets. And yes, we are at that time, where this should be discussed. By everyone. And unfortunately, it’s not being discussed. Hardly ever.

Tom Hanover: Earth can’t turn into Venus. Global Warming is over hyped just like the Prius.

leslie dean brown: Tom Hanover Yes. And your qualifications are? A degree in business. That’s like me saying “your business plan isn’t worth the paper it’s written on” or “you can’t subtract two numbers from one another, that’s impossible”.

There. Now what people are saying will be recorded throughout history.

You say you want a revolution. Well, you know, we all want to change the world.

February 24, 2016 — leslie dean brown

As I sit and write this, Forbes magazine talks about who they think the next trillionaire is going to be. I should probably stop visiting the Forbes website. But you know what they say. Know your enemy…

BUT it’s not just them. There are all kind of predictions going on. The Global Wealth Report from Credit Suisse reckons there will be 11 trillionaires within the next two decades¹.

They have the nerve to say it’s not a ‘prediction’, they make one, and then call it their best estimate. Nice.

Two generations ahead, future extrapolation of current wealth growth rates yields almost a billion millionaires, equivalent to 20% of the total adult population. If this scenario unfolds, then billionaires will be commonplace, and there is likely to be a few trillionaires too – eleven according to our best estimate. [source]

So. What do I think about that annual report? Firstly, as far as annual reports go, I think it has a beautiful design. I used to look at the numbers first, now I look at the design.

Getting back on track, the trouble with traditional economics is that “shit happens”. If shit didn’t happen, dinosaurs would still be roaming this Earth. Even they weren’t so bold as to make predictions.

You know the thing about predictions? Predictions are unpredictable.

I think it’s more than a little naïve to think that [Read more…]

GoDaddy’s official reponse about hosting trophy-hunting websites!

February 23, 2016 — leslie dean brown

Leslie Dean Brown
Oh I see you have deleted my previous post. How about answering me? I already sent a message to Blake Irving. No response.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/en-gb/203/757/597/demand-that-internet-service-providers-boycott-all-trophy-hunting-websites/

GoDaddy “1/2 Hey Leslie, We deleted your previous posts because it was spammed across several of our postings and not just one. GoDaddy’s goal is the keep the Internet safe, while enabling the exchanging of thoughts and ideas, even if we disagree with their views. While this can be tough sometimes, we think it is overall the best possible experience. If something does violate our terms of service, such as Promotes, encourages or engages in child pornography or the exploitation of children, Infringes on the intellectual property rights of another User or any other person or entity & Contains false or deceptive language, or unsubstantiated or comparative claims, regarding GoDaddy or GoDaddy’s Services.”

GoDaddy “2/2 We take action &, when appropriate, alert the local authorities. Just as you are entitled to voice your opinion on a specific topic, we believe the other side has a right to voice theirs, as long as they stay within the rules. On another note, if a website is registered here but not hosted on our service, there is a not a lot we can do. I noticed the list you sent over had several examples that were just like this. The way the Internet works, the domain name is only the pointer to the hosting server, we have no control over the content. If you feel that this site does violate our terms then feel free to submit your request to abuse@GoDaddy.com and it will be reviewed, by that team.”

Leslie Dean Brown

“1. I had to spam you because you didn’t respond through the official channels. I emailed no less than TEN other very important people besides Blake. No reply from any of them. Hopeless! Absolutely hopeless!!

2. It’s not “overall the best possible experience” for the tigers, lions, leopards, rhinos, hippos, giraffes and zebras that are shot dead by poachers, is it? What you have written is by far the lamest thing I have read so far this year.

3. Yes, you have made it perfectly clear where GoDaddy stand with respect to trophy hunting. Don’t worry, 20,000+ people are now going to get CC’ed your “official” (and quite lousy) response.

4. I’ll actually be hosting this transcript.”

Letter to GoDaddy regarding hosting trophy hunting websites.

February 19, 2016 — leslie dean brown

Hi there,

I’ll get straight to it: I have started a petition against GoDaddy and other ISPs. Why?

Well, you’re hosting half a dozen trophy hunting websites and millions of people around the world don’t like that. Actually, it’s really the lions, tigers, leopards, hippos, giraffes, elephants and other endangered animals that are mainly the ones that don’t like it, but they can’t start petitions, write letters, or speak for themselves, can they? So I’m doing it for them!

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/en-gb/203/757/597/demand-that-internet-service-providers-boycott-all-trophy-hunting-websites/

So far some 16,745 supporters have signed this one petition and it is growing by the minute. I’m sure you don’t want to lose any potential customers. Does *anyone* living in the year 2016 with a conscience want to make it any easier for poachers? I certainly hope not!

It’s not the first time GoDaddy has been in the news with respect to hunting; former GoDaddy CEO Bob Parsons previously admitted to hunting elephants and showed zero remorse afterwards!

So it would be really nice to get some positive news from you about GoDaddy’s real intentions on their hosting of unethical content… that way, I can update my signatories and the world can be a much better, nicer place to live in.

Talk to you soon,
Sincerely
Dr. Leslie Dean Brown