Thomas Bloggs

US Uncut crashes Bank of America Conference

2011-03-14T01:05:00.001-04:00

The video is here. It doesn't allow embedding.

p.s. No more phantom comments please. If this doesn't sound familiar, no worries.

Laertes, Mon Valley, Bugs?

2011-03-01T12:24:00.002-05:00

We are on ohmpark.

We are gonna rawk.

Bugs? and Laertes are gonna tear it up.

It is Saturday, March 5th.

Good Thoughts on the Wikileaks Disclosure.

2010-11-29T11:25:00.001-05:00

John Cole notes an added irony of the furor over this latest disclosure: "I have a hard time getting worked up about it - a government that views none of my personal correspondence as confidential really can’t bitch when this sort of thing happens." Note how quickly the "if-you've-done-nothing-wrong-then-you-have-nothing-to-hide" mentality disappears when it's their privacy and communications being invaded rather than yours.

- From Glenn Greenwald

I read depressing stuff.

2010-11-21T19:48:00.001-05:00

"Since Barack Obama became president, the debate over torture in America has taken a morally corrupt turn. Defenders of the old regime continue to defend the use of torture as essential to the nation’s defense. Their claims are contradicted by the facts: torture was used to extract false confessions that fueled, among other things, the invasion of Iraq on false pretenses. The fact that America tortured is still a principal recruiting tool for radical Islamists. But Obama has kept silent in the face of all of this, not wishing to engage torture apologists in debate. More significantly, he has apparently encouraged his Justice Department to squelch any meaningful investigation of torture, in violation of the clear requirements of law. A policy that says “don’t look back” means the triumph of torture: while we may not be captives of our past, we are the captives of our perception of the past. When one side offers an airbrushed version of the past and the other is silent, then, in the binary world of Washington, victory goes to the falsifiers."

Awesome Antiwar Radio Quote - Part 1

2010-06-25T02:48:00.003-04:00

In his interview with Nick Baumann pertaining to human experimentation of pain levels on detainees in our possession, Scott Horton forcefully uttered this gem:

"There is no scale of 1 to 10. And pain is not a quantity. It's a quality, and tying somebody up, and then beating them up is torture, and it's as simple as that."

Letters: A growing part of the Obama legacy - Salon

2010-06-09T01:36:00.000-04:00

Letters: A growing part of the Obama legacy - Salon: "It's long past time to stop hoping that Obama will prosecute Bush and start hoping that someday Bush and Obama might both be prosecuted."

This Happens All The Time.

2010-04-26T09:49:00.002-04:00

From "Photography is Not a Crime":

"And The Lies Continue in the Maryland Police Beating Case."

As we’ve seen happen so many times before in police brutality cases, evidence against the Prince George’s County police officers who beat up a University of Maryland student has gone missing.

ABC 7 News is calling it a “bizarre coincidence.”

University of Maryland police called it a “technical error.”

Let’s just call it what it really is: a flagrant cover-up.

Although the citizen video that the world has already seen should be enough to convict those cops of felonious crimes, the attorney for student Jack McKenna subpoenaed video from 20 surveillance cameras in the area to strengthen his client’s case.

And he received all the videos except the one from the camera that was pointing in the direction of the beating that left McKenna unconscious with a concussion.

When the media inquired as to why that particular video was missing, University of Maryland cops blamed it on a technical error.

“The server that manages those cameras automatically overwrites at a certain point, and it just overwrote and it didn’t give us a opportunity to copy this particular piece,” Williams said.

But then the video miraculously appeared. Only for it to be missing two minutes of crucial footage.

This time, campus police had no explanation.

Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that the campus cop in charge of the video surveillance system is married to one of the cops on horseback that McKenna supposedly assaulted before he was assaulted himself.

So now the Maryland State Police Department is investigating whether University of Maryland Police Lt. Joanne Ardovini deliberately deleted the footage to help her husband, National Capital Park Officer John Ardovini, who is named in McKenna’s suit.

Or was it, as the article asks, “merely coincidential”?

I think we already know the answer to that question.

But let’s not hold our breath for the Maryland State Police Department to conduct an honest investigation considering they are the ones that retaliated against a 24-year-old motorcyclist who uploaded a video of one of their officers recklessly pulling a gun on him.

Lifelong Question of the Day: 1

2010-04-08T00:39:00.001-04:00

Is there such thing as a just war?

Guess What.

2010-04-05T21:51:00.006-04:00

There is something I don't understand:

-What makes the lives of the human beings over there worth less than those over here? Is it the color? Because they are brown, it's okay to slaughter them? To leave children orphaned and parents screaming at the sides of the mangled corpses of their children?

-Or it it the distance? Does the ocean between us excuse this behavior? We can't hear the cries, so it isn't happening?

I detest the propaganda.

My Favorite Song of the Moment.

2010-03-28T14:06:00.001-04:00

This song is all about the unceasing flow of life. It keeps changing , and often, there is nothing you can do.

This life is yours to live. "What can we do? Try."

The vid.

Minor Threat - Look Back and Laugh

I want to tell you a little story
'Cause it makes me warm inside
It's about some friends growing up
And all the things they tried
I'm not talking about staple shit
They went for something more
I guess it was too much dreaming
Too much to hope for

One day something funny happened
But it scared the shit out of me
Their heads went in different directions
And their friendship ceased to be

Someday, look back and laugh...

I'm telling you I want it to work!
I don't like being hurt!
Something's not right inside!
And I can't always put it aside...
What can we do, what can we do?

Try!

Fuck it man!

I guess I make too much shit
Someday we'll look back and laugh

I'm telling you I want it to work!
I don't like being hurt!
Something's not right inside!
And I can't always put it aside...
What can we do, what can we do?

Try!

Fuck it man!

I guess I make too much shit
Someday we'll look back and laugh

Mr. Present, go away
Come back and fuck with us some other day
Mr. Feelings, run and hide
You have no right to what you feel inside
Motherfuckers, quick to kiss
Talk your shit, but don't fuck with this
All I want to know...
All I want to know is
Am I holding on? Am I moving on?
What can we do, what can we do?

Try!

Offensive? I think not.

2010-03-28T00:09:00.000-04:00

"How dare the Northeast Florida CoR put up such an evil sign!

I am totally unsurprised that half the people so far find it offensive. We wouldn't want unbelievers to be anything but alone, after all.

Are you offended by the message in this atheist billboard?
Yes (54.1%)
No (45.9%)

Hmm. Those numbers might change soon. Look quick!"

*Stolen from Pharyngula*

Something I try to keep in mind

2009-12-05T03:01:00.000-05:00

"Well I awoke in relief
My sheets and tubes were all tangled
Weak from whiskey and pills
In a Chicago hospital

And my father was there
In a chair by the window
Starin' so far away
I tried talking just whispered
So sorry so selfish
He stopped me and said
Child, I love you regardless
There nothing you could do
That would ever change this
I'm not angry, it happens
But you just can't do it again"

Art?

2009-11-15T23:00:00.000-05:00

Take the image above. Those two humanoid figures are very intriguing to me, especially since one is very feminine and on is very masculine. The problem? It was painted by a two-year old who is just playing. Many people think this example of "modern art" just proves that whole style is a sham, and these criticisms take multiple forms. Here's a "SRSLY?" one:

"I'm sorry to have to ask this, but what is wrong with you people? That mother and son have just proven that it takes the skill of a two year old to produce what is called "modern art". A child of two who sings like a pordigy is something extraordinary; such is an actual skill to be applauded. The fact that 'great' artists are still painting with similar ability to a child with a 40 word vocabulary is entirely disappointing, not to mention that other people actually pay large amounts of money."

This commenter takes the intellectual approach:

"Art is a method of representing man's interpretation of his environment and communicating that interpretation to others. As such, all art has to be intelligible. It's freedom of stylization is limited by the requirement of intelligibility; if it does not present an intelligible subject, it ceases to be art.

These wild daubs by a two year old child are no more or less artistic than any other works of, so called, "modern art" and merely highlight the fraud of the modern art community."

How would this apply to music and other outlets of creativity? There are two implications to this theory. "Intelligibility" must have an extremely broad meaning (But not for painting, for some reason), or the domain of "Art" is drastically reduced.

While I don't agree with this guy's theory and I haven't given a full opinion, the purpose of this post is to find out your thoughts on the matter, brief or not. So, what are they?

Article.

Listen to this number.

2009-11-12T03:17:00.000-05:00

Imagine it on a sheet of paper. Then fold it up and put it in your pocket.

170,000 Vietnam vets have killed themselves. 170,000...

18 Vets (of any war) kill themselves a day.

I'm pretty sure I heard him right.

[Dahr Jamail]

Catching My Ear...

2009-11-12T02:29:00.000-05:00

"If we walk away, they'll walk away"

This documentary is interesting if you watch all three parts. (And if you are interested in how America got to the present.)

They are only words. Only letters on a page.

2009-10-20T16:13:00.000-04:00

I keep death at my heels

Like a basset hound

If i go to heaven,

I'll be bored as hell,

Like a crying baby at the bottom of a well.

Saturday Update

2009-08-30T02:35:00.000-04:00

Song of the Day:

Conor Oberst - I Don't Want To Die In The Hospital

"Is there still a world at my windowsill
All there ever was I remember still
I don’t wanna die in the hospital
You gotta take me back outside"

Song

Or.

The new Emery album.

"Esta Noche Sera Mía"

Other Things:

- It is extremely gratifying to feel something long forgotten or completely new. Even a certain restlessness may be welcomed with open arms. How long will anything that lasts, last?

- I will find some way to mess this up. I'm starting to think I still might try regardless.

Quiz.

2009-08-13T01:22:00.000-04:00

Which denomination is the one, true form of Christianity?

If you said, "Mine", then you are Correct!!

Evidence

2009-07-30T12:59:00.001-04:00

Is that too much to ask for?

Dancing

2009-07-29T10:19:00.000-04:00

is fun. I want to get better at it.

Peace.

2009-07-23T20:28:00.000-04:00

Though we can't always help what other people do, we can always control what we do and how we react to the world around us.

peace.

"Haven't they suffered enough? They Witnessed Torture."

2009-07-23T10:42:00.000-04:00

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

The Word - A Perfect World

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

Mark Sanford

I feel like no comment I make can add to what has already been said, but Glenn Greenwald has the uncanny ability to do just that.

Me (Minus 45 Years)

2009-07-22T13:36:00.000-04:00

Moi!

He seems like a cool dude. He was a drummer in a band with a #28 single. He was charitable. He was from Tennessee.

What a baller.

Is

2009-07-15T13:04:00.001-04:00

The text too small?

Winning a War

2009-07-15T12:59:00.000-04:00

Isn't all it's cracked up to be. The promotions and contracts stop. When you are paid to do something, it is in your interest not to finish doing it.

Worst Person in the World?

2009-07-15T11:24:00.000-04:00

Uzi Arad

"In the interview, Uzi Arad is described as a short-tempered man and an advocate of the use of "brute force." In response to this description, Arad smiled and explained that he "prefer[s] to direct the brute-force energies within [him] at the goyim [non-Jews]." Expounding on his penchant for the use of force and his lifelong dedication to the feasibility of nuclear warfare, Arad implied that he would not hesitate to "punish" those who attacked Israel with a devastating nuclear assault. He insanely described this nuclear revenge as a type of Jewish charitable act (tikkun olam), which would serve as a deterrence to future aggression against Israel..."

Source

Probably not, But he is a candidate. My biggest concern about him is his love of nuclear war.

"During the interview, Arad advocated a maritime blockade against Iran that would cut off its oil supply. If Iran were to challenge the blockade, Arad menacingly threatened, "from here the road to escalation is short.""

So his plan is to start a war with Iran, and nuke them when they defend themselves? He has got his head on straight.

p.s. I like the "spooky" picture I found of him. Very fitting.

53 days.

2009-07-14T09:43:00.001-04:00

Oh yeah. We are getting closer with each passing moment.

(I need help.)

54 Days....

2009-07-13T11:25:00.001-04:00

I remember this. I was there. I was behind him in the endzone seats. I saw this. Somebody I know Called it.

Michael Johnson BLOCKED the field goal with his ELBOWS.

The New, Secular Ten Commandments

2009-07-13T10:42:00.001-04:00

All quoted from this website, though I have "shortened" it for quicker reading.

The first four of them are purely religious in nature and intent, serving no purpose other than to show how a primitive tribal culture felt their deity should be worshipped, and the remaining six are simply general moral principles, some of which our society abides by, some of which it does not, and most of which are obvious, common-sense ethical directives that every society in history that did not ultimately destroy itself figured out. It certainly took no special insight or wisdom to produce them.

Can we do better?

Can we come up with a new decalogue that would be more relevant and useful for the world today? The old ten are showing their age and provincial origin by now; we need an updated set. But by the same token, the laws we come up with should be genuinely universal, applicable to all human beings at all times and places, past, present and future, no matter how society or culture may change. Laws must address pressing concerns to be relevant, but they must be enduring and all-encompassing to be just.

Therefore, it seems clear that what we must do to produce a new ten commandments is to consider all of human history up to this point and abstract from it those principles of human behavior that span the ages - the moral lessons that apply across space and time, regardless of society or circumstance. From these general universal maxims we can distill the rules that will become a true decalogue for the modern world.

First Commandment: Do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you.

The new ten commandments are divided into two equally important major categories, the "moral five" and the "intellectual five". To use an ancient metaphor, the first five deal with the heart, and the second five with the brain. The former category, and the list itself, begins with the single greatest, simplest, and most important moral axiom humanity has ever invented, one which reappears in the writings of almost every culture and religion throughout history, the one we know as the Golden Rule.

Moral directives do not need to be complex or obscure to be worthwhile, and in fact, it is precisely this rule's simplicity which makes it great. It is easy to come up with, easy to understand, and easy to apply, and these three things are the hallmarks of a strong and healthy moral system. The idea behind it is readily graspable: before performing an action which might harm another person, try to imagine yourself in their position, and consider whether you would want to be the recipient of that action. If you would not want to be in such a position, the other person probably would not either, and so you should not do it. It is the basic and fundamental human trait of empathy, the ability to vicariously experience how another is feeling, that makes this possible, and it is the principle of empathy by which we should live our lives.

The intent of this commandment is not to forbid the administration of justice, however. Those who freely violate it themselves, who do not let empathy deter them from harming others, may be punished in turn without having their own feelings taken into account. A judge about to sentence a convicted criminal to prison is not expected to empathize with the fear and distress experienced by the criminal upon hearing the sentence pronounced. At its best, the Golden Rule can build a humanistic society based upon compassion and mutual respect. But in circumstances such as the one just described, there is a cold reciprocity to it. Those who would be shown compassion must also show it to others.

Second Commandment: In all things, strive to cause no harm.

Any immoral actions that slip through the net of the first commandment will hopefully be caught by this one. Its intent is to encourage people to live their lives causing as little suffering as they possibly can, weighing the likely consequences of each of their actions and choosing a course to follow based on that evaluation. Actions that cause pain and harm to other beings should always be avoided, unless there is no other choice or unless an even greater evil would ensue if such an action were not performed. Again, this is a simple, obvious rule that virtually all religions and cultures have independently invented, even if most fall regrettably far short of abiding by it.

The intent of this rule is truly all-encompassing, encouraging people to choose an action based not only on what actual pain and suffering may occur as a result, but what potential pain and suffering may also be produced down the line. Eastern mystics who believe in the principle of karma often view it metaphorically as a wheel, a turning circle that returns the consequences of an action to the initiator of that action. While I do not believe in such a force, I do feel that the concept of karma is a helpful guide for choosing a course; however, I believe that a more appropriate and relevant metaphor for karma would be a tree, rooted at the point of action, branching off endlessly into the future. By our actions, we can choose to plant either a tree of good or one of evil, and our smallest decision may have consequences we cannot begin to guess. Therefore, the new second commandment instructs, strive always to take actions that bear good consequences, in order that the net amount of good in the world may be increased, and that evil in the form of pain and suffering may be decreased as much as possible.

Third Commandment: Treat your fellow human beings, your fellow living things, and the world in general with love, honesty, faithfulness and respect.

Where the first two commandments instruct actions, this one instructs an attitude. The two are not truly separable, however - the empathy required to imagine yourself in the position of another, and the desire to avoid causing harm based on that understanding, can come only from a mind that views the world as made up of equals deserving of the four qualities outlined in this commandment.

This commandment also extends the reach of the new decalogue, making it clear that the intended target of the first and second commandments is not just one's fellow human beings. Our fellow living things that share this planet with us, many of which can feel pain and suffering just as we can, are equally worthy of our empathy and our compassion. Even the planet itself - especially the planet itself, that precious and irreplaceable world where we came into being and still the only place in the cosmos where we can survive - is deserving of our respect and our protection, and should not be seen as useful only insofar as it assists the designs of people.

The qualities demanded by this commandment deserve some further explanation. "Love" in this context does not mean romantic love or affection, but an appreciation for the unique qualities a thing possesses, and a recognition of its inherent value based on those qualities. "Honesty" means being truthful and open, refraining from falsehoods or misleading statements. (Honesty is a high moral value, but not supreme, and may be supervened by other, more important considerations; for example, dishonesty may be required to keep an innocent person from harm, or to avoid needlessly hurting the feelings of another.) "Faithfulness" is similar to honesty and implies an ethic of consistency, of keeping one's promises and being ready and willing to help those who require it. "Respect" mandates treating others as inherently valuable, not using them as tools or means to an end that may be cast aside and discarded once they have made their contribution. Together, these four qualities are the watchwords of ethical behavior as laid out by the first five of the new ten commandments, and complex moral decisions may be resolved by using whichever potential solution combines them in the highest overall measure.

Note that this commandment does not prevent us from punishing the evil, the malicious and those who cause suffering. Loving and respecting those who do wrong - which we should do - does not mean passively standing aside, but rather stopping them from committing such deeds, in the hope that they may be rehabilitated and become fully functioning, ethical human beings. For more on this issue, see the next commandment.

Fourth Commandment: Do not overlook evil or shrink from administering justice, but always be ready to forgive wrongdoing freely admitted and honestly regretted.

This commandment, by contrast, recognizes that there will always be those who will not respect the rights of others, and states that it is the responsibility of ethical individuals to stand up to such people, to oppose them firmly and steadfastly, and to prevent them from causing harm to others. If the potential harm is imminent and great, then it is moral to use all necessary force - but no more - to prevent it from coming to pass. Once the immediate danger has passed, the wrongdoer should be made to give restitution for whatever harm he has done, and should be punished, to discourage him from transgressing again - not cruelly or excessively, but by using the minimum possible amount of force consonant with this goal. Justice requires no more and no less.

It should always be kept in mind that the purpose of punishment is not simply to make the offender suffer, but to bring him to an appreciation of the wrongness of his deed, and this is where the second half of this commandment enters. It says that, if the offender recognizes that what he did was wrong, offers his sincere apologies and vows not to repeat his act, then his transgression should not be held against him in the future. Of course, the offender's contrition must be sincere, and we are perfectly justified in asking for further evidence of such sincerity if an apology is suspected to be less than heartfelt or the person is a known recidivist. Nor is an apology, however sincere, any reason to skip punishment altogether - misdeeds should not go unpunished, and to do otherwise sends the wrong message to both the offender and society at large.

Fifth Commandment: Live life with a sense of joy and wonder.

The first four of the five morality commandments apply to one's behavior toward one's fellow human beings and the world at large. The final morality commandment addresses a subject that is very different, but at least as important: one's behavior toward oneself.

The greatest and most wonderful mystery of the universe is that it exists at all. But no less a wonder is that we are alive in this universe, that we are conscious of it, and more, that we can understand it. If a humanist can believe in anything that might be called a miracle, these things surely qualify. Even the fact that you, personally, exist is a rare chance. Out of all the countless googolplexes of ways that human DNA can align - out of all the countless trillions of ways to mix characteristics, all the immense multitudes of people who could potentially have existed - the one that did come into existence was you. Each human being currently alive on this planet embodies a mix of qualities that has never come into existence before and will never come into existence again. We are, every one of us, more unique and therefore more precious than the finest diamonds, more diverse than the stars that glitter in the night sky. These things are gifts whose value is beyond all measure.

What is the appropriate attitude in recognition of such awe-inspiring truths? Humility, to be sure, but it goes beyond that. To squander this unparalleled chance, to fail to recognize the awesomeness of what we possess, is a senseless and tragic waste of a thing priceless beyond priceless. We have a responsibility - almost an obligation - to live our lives in consciousness of what we have been given, and the only response such recognition can possibly provoke is joy and wonder, just as a man might be joyful and wonder-struck upon discovering a trove of buried treasure.

This commandment does not demand that everyone be happy all the time, for life is a journey through realms of great darkness as well as times and places of light. Instead, it confronts people with the truth that, except in cases of severe and incessant agony, merely being alive is such a joy in and of itself that it outweighs all the lesser suffering that accompanies it. It challenges people to use that knowledge to pull themselves through such difficult times, and denies that depression or hopeless pessimism can ever be the right way to view the world, as appropriate as they may sometimes seem. Life is something to be cherished, not spurned, and gladness is the proper response to each new day and the chances it offers.

Sixth Commandment: Always seek to be learning something new.

Of all the threats to morality and incentives to evil, perhaps the greatest is dogmatism, the invincible certainty that you are right and that the opinion of anyone who disagrees with you is worthless and can be rejected out of hand. The greatest crimes in history have been committed by those who possessed such certainty, whether it appears in the context of religious belief or not. From the belief that a person's opinion is worthless, it is only a small leap to the conclusion that the person themself is as well.

Likewise, the belief that any one person is fallible and the weight of the evidence must always be the ultimate arbiter of what is true - something known in its institutionalized form as the scientific method - has driven the greatest and most rapid progress humanity has ever known. Therefore, the second five of the new ten commandments are designed to counter the threat of dogmatism and encourage continued human progress by training people to use their intellect in the best way and to the fullest extent.

This commandment has two purposes. First, in teaching that one should always seek to be learning, it promotes full use of the human capabilities to learn and understand - and why are we here if not to fulfill our potential? (It also makes it easier to fulfill the fifth commandment - the joy of understanding is always more sublime than the bliss of ignorance, and knowledge can only enhance one's appreciation for the wonders of the cosmos.) Second, in teaching that one should always seek to learn something new, it teaches that there always is something new to learn - which is the case. The world we live in is a vast and beautifully complex place, one whose smallest facet holds enough detail for a lifetime of study. Existence is far too grand for any single mind to comprehend all of it in depth. The spirit of intellectual humility engendered by this realization is a powerful antidote to zealous dogmatism.

Seventh Commandment: Test all things; always check your ideas against the facts, and be ready to discard even a cherished belief if it does not conform to them.

Nature is not malicious, but it is subtle, and in the process of intellectual inquiry errors are virtually inevitable. Just about everyone will, at some point in their life, believe something which turns out to be false. This is regrettable, but no blame attaches to it; we are all human, and we are all fallible. However, what is blameworthy is when a person zealously guards an erroneous belief - perhaps because they find its consequences comforting, or because they have an emotional investment in the idea of being right - by refusing to test it to see if it is borne out by the facts, or by refusing to expose it to evidence that could prove its downfall. This path leads only to self-delusion and dogmatism. Truth can only be discovered through careful scrutiny and thorough fact-checking, carried out in a spirit of honesty and intellectual objectivity that divorces the consequences of a proposition's being right or wrong from the question of whether it is supported by the evidence. That is what this part of the decalogue commands.

Eighth Commandment: Never seek to censor or cut yourself off from dissent; always respect the right of others to disagree with you.

This commandment continues in the vein of the previous one. It is desirable to live our lives and conduct ourselves according to what is true, and therefore we should seek to discover truth. But often, due to our own expectations or the idiosyncrasies of our thinking, we may fail to perceive a flaw in our reasoning that is obvious to others; other times, we may make decisions based on faulty or incomplete evidence, when someone more knowledgeable would have been able to guide us to the correct path. (As the sixth commandment points out, no one person can know everything.) Therefore, if we are to discover what is true, it is far better to seek the advice and counsel of others than to toil in isolation - to work in a climate of free speech, mutual correction and open debate, where fellow thinkers can scrutinize and correct each other's work, and where any individual mistakes or biases can therefore be canceled out to produce a whole greater than the sum of its parts. It is the mark of dogmatic belief and prejudice that it cannot abide such correction and instead seeks to stifle and condemn those who disagree with the prevailing wisdom. In reality, such heavy-handed protectionism is never justifiable. The truth will survive honest inquiry, but falsehood - never. And if a belief is false, should it not be discarded?

Ninth Commandment: Form independent opinions on the basis of your own reason and experience; do not allow yourself to be led blindly by others.

Though dogmatism and prejudice may arise, they can cause no harm if they are not widely shared. Hence, the ninth commandment of the decalogue seeks to halt the spread of such errors by exhorting people never to accept the claims of another without sufficient proof. As well, this commandment is meant to counteract another human failing - the tendency of the governed to unquestioningly accept the pronouncements of their government. In all cases, we are told to be critical thinkers, sifting the words of others for truth, accepting their statements only after rigorous skeptical examination. If anything, it is even more vital to do this in times of crisis than in times of peace, because the decisions made in times of crisis have more potential to cause harm if mislaid and so must be studied all the more carefully.

This commandment does not call on us to ignore the research or the conclusions of those who have delved more deeply or studied more widely in a particular field than we have, however. On the contrary, one lifetime is not enough to learn everything, and for humanity as a whole to advance we must have specialists who can devote their time to investigating specific subjects. Instead, what this commandment instructs us to do is to accept the conclusions of these experts to the degree that they can marshal evidence to support them, not simply because they are the experts. Their function is to provide the facts to convince us, not to flatly state that some proposition is true and expect us to take their word for it, and we should not be shy in demanding that the evidence be strong enough to shore up any proposition in whose support it is deployed.

Tenth Commandment: Question everything.

Nothing is so sacred that it is beyond questioning, no belief so well-supported that it does not need any more reexamination. That is the thrust of the tenth and final commandment. Truth emerges from scrutiny unscathed; only error shows itself in need of correction. And since human history bears witness to the fact that even beliefs thought true for hundreds of years can be overturned by new discoveries, the older and apparently more solid bricks in the structure of our understanding need continual recertification just as the newer ones do.

This commandment does not call for an epistemologically hopeless solipsism or a nihilistic skepticism where all knowledge dissolves into a fog of uncertainty. On the contrary, we should recognize that there are some truths that, while they cannot be proven, are so basic and important to our knowledge of the world (for example, the efficacy of induction) that it would be futility itself to discard them. Instead, this commandment calls for the questioning of everything that can be profitably questioned, every proposition that has the potential to be replaced with something better. Indeed, this includes these commandments themselves. Any set of rules that is never questioned can only stultify into tyranny, but rules that are continually reevaluated will remain living and vibrant. Likewise, since the new ten commandments are simply general principles that do not prescribe specific actions, questioning will always be required to figure out exactly how they should be applied. No set of rules can ever remove the need for a rational and moral person to think for himself and make decisions using his own best judgment.

The Overall Message

There is an incident in the New Testament where Jesus is asked to distill the Ten Commandments down to their essence, and he replies that the two greatest commandments are for people to love God and love their neighbor. Likewise, the new ten commandments can be condensed into one single dictum, one universal and overarching maxim: Be human. For, indeed, this is all that morality consists of or needs. Morality is not complicated, nor does it need to be supported by dense philosophical arguments. We, as human beings, are intelligent, social primates who inherently possess the theory of mind that allows us to understand the feelings and thoughts of others and the inquisitiveness that gives us the drive to understand the world we live in. Compassion, empathy, curiosity, intellectual inquiry - these things come naturally to us. They are part of our nature and of our heritage. To be human is simply to exemplify these qualities that all of us at least potentially possess. The new ten commandments are not meant to be bars laid across our behavior, but rather signposts that guide us to this understanding which lies at the heart of morality. We are not innately evil or misguided, the new ten commandments tell us - we are human beings, with the potential to do good as well as the potential to do evil, and we have the power to make this a better world if only we choose to use it.

End Quoting.

These are not perfect, they aren't supposed to be. Improvement is a theme of this list and it should be applied to the list itself. While I do not agree with every point made in the commentary, it is with the goal and effort that I side.

If you have criticisms...

2009-07-10T11:28:00.000-04:00

Post them. Even if you feel the need to be anonymous.

This blog is not to reinforce my own views, it is to actually discover what I do believe, either through deeper though or being convinced otherwise.

57 days till the fun begins...

Update: Anonymous commenting now turned on.

Cutting Through the "Fog" of Terror Prosecutions

2009-07-09T11:26:00.001-04:00

The Article

"We don’t ask DoJ to fight wars. We shouldn’t ask DoD to prosecute terrorists."

"You can’t have a legitimate court unless you are willing to risk an acquittal. If you aren’t willing to accept the possibility that a jury will acquit the accused based on the evidence fairly presented, then it isn’t really a court. It’s a charade."

"The whole purpose of setting up Guantánamo Bay is for torture. Why do this? Because you want to escape the rule of law. There is only one thing that you want to escape the rule of law to do, and that is to question people coercively — what some people call torture. Guantánamo and the military commissions are implements for breaking the law."

"I urge you to express this body’s preference to prosecute alleged terrorists in federal court and thereby demonstrate to the world, friend and foe alike, what kind of Justice the United States wishes to export. "

Hello, World

2009-06-18T11:10:00.000-04:00

Hey All,

I got a name all figured out and whatnot! Now that the hard work is out of the way, I can move on to monotonous things like posting. Here's a little bit of information about what this blog will be about:

Let's be honest with each other here, I post a LOT of things on Facebook. Articles about foreign policy, domestic policy, politics, and nerdy stuff comprise most of my spam. This, however, shall change with the inception of this blog. My goal is to have more room to develop my thoughts on many a subject without clogging mini-feeds. Part of meeting this goal is having any and all readers please comment and thoughts. They don't even have to be your own! If I'm wrong, let me know, and more! (For instance: "You're wrong, and a Damn Fool!!" or "Hey, quit being simple.") A main priority is to ensure that this website does not stray into the abyss that is a livejournal. This website will be about my interests, not my life, and though the two are certainly intertwined, they are not equivalent.

[Blog Manifesto Pt 1: Completed]