27 July 2010

Video of the week -- Alan Turing



"A hero betrayed by the country he helped defend."

Update: Check out other videos by ZJ here.

7 Comments:

Blogger mendip said...

Bravo!

27 July, 2010 06:26  
Blogger Infidel753 said...

[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.

28 July, 2010 04:48  
Blogger Leslie Parsley said...

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.

28 July, 2010 14:27  
Blogger Sabio Lantz said...

Excellent !!

28 July, 2010 23:48  
Blogger Ranch Chimp said...

I didnt know who this guy was, but what an important role and influence he played, so thanx.

29 July, 2010 05:05  
Blogger Shaw Kenawe said...

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.

29 July, 2010 05:22  
Blogger Infidel753 said...

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.

29 July, 2010 12:15  

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