Video of the week -- Alan Turing
"A hero betrayed by the country he helped defend."
Update: Check out other videos by ZJ here.
posted by Infidel753 at 2:33 AM
27 July 2010
About Me
- Name: Infidel753
- Location: Portland, Oregon, United States
Individualist, pro-technology, pro-democracy, anti-religion. I speak only for myself and not for any ideology, movement, or party. It has been my great good fortune to live my whole life free of "spirituality" of any kind. I believe that evidence and reason are the keys to understanding reality; that technology rather than ideology or politics has been the great liberator of humanity; and that in the long run, human intelligence is the most powerful force in the universe.
Previous Posts
- Filibuster reform at last?
- Quote for the day
- Worst of times, best of times
- I'm not disappearing
- Link roundup for 24 July 2010
- Video of the week -- Arabian Knights
- Link roundup for 17 July 2010
- Video of the week -- Dancing on Hitler's grave
- Crackers and quakes and talking snakes!
- A monster escapes
God doesn't exist
Evolution happened
Global warming is real
Homosexuality is normal
Aging is a curable disease
The election was not stolen
Everything "spiritual" is a lie
US out of UN, UN out of US
Free speech is for everybody
Humans do not have "souls"
Men can't become women
Fetuses are not persons
Words are not violence
Taiwan is a nation
Pluto is a planet
7 Comments:
Bravo!
[This observation was e-mailed by a reader who prefers not to post comments in person:]
I enjoyed the posting/video on Turing. There’s an interesting little footnote to the whole “gays are a security risk” that no one’s noticed, and yet has adversely effected the American intelligence community for decades. As you probably know, the OSS/CIA was formed by and mostly composed of elites from the East Coast of the U.S.. Those elites have always had something of an inferiority complex when it comes to England, and tended to look up to our old cousins across the pond. Again, as you probably know, several of Britain’s spy scandals were of a sexual nature, either involving black mail, indiscretions, or seduction – and some of the most notorious ones were of a homosexual nature. The British reacted by branding all homosexuals as possible traitors/blackmail victims, (they couldn’t very well get away with including the heterosexuals too…). And the Americans followed suit. A great amount of time and energy has been spent making sure that no gays are to be found in American intelligence*. And I suspect they’ve succeeded pretty well. I’m unaware of any homosexual underpinnings to any spy scandal. On the other hand, the various security types seem to have ignored what motivates so many of our citizens – the acquiring of money. There is virtually no attention to the finances of our agents and bureaucrats, and almost all of our spy scandals are based on people selling information for cash (or diamonds). And some of the most notorious ones have gotten away with it for years and without serious attempts to hide their wealth. We were too busy checking their bedrooms to look at why mid-level analysts were living like millionaires!
*And yes, there’s a lovely irony in the case of good ol’ Gay Edgar Hoover running the FBI.
I vaguely remember hearing about Turing as a scientist but knew nothing about the despicable treatment he received at the hands of homophobes.
And yes, dear old "Gay Edgar" - a jerk no matter what his sexual proclivities were.
I enjoyed this sad video no matter what kind of accent the narrator had.
Excellent !!
I didnt know who this guy was, but what an important role and influence he played, so thanx.
Heartbreaking.
But I'm hopeful. We have openly gay legislators, teevee personalities, and pundits ,etc.
We're still a long way off. Once we get universal gay marriage rights, I'll feel more hopeful. Meanwhile we have to depend on the younger generation for helping us to wipe out the irrational hatred that Mr. Turing suffered.
TNLib: Most people don't know that part of the story, unfortunately. But it was par for the course for the bigoted mores of the time.
RC: One does wonder how much more he could have contributed, had he not died at 41.
SK: I also feel very hopeful about the energy and determination of the younger generation -- including ZJ, the guy who made this video.
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