tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13085966805807978032024-02-06T18:25:48.892-08:00Forest for the treesJFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00062831312812705977noreply@blogger.comBlogger150125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308596680580797803.post-37108926369118550352023-12-11T05:37:00.000-08:002023-12-11T05:38:28.209-08:00The Face of God<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Quote from the article:</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">"Independent ratings suggest that, as predicted, perceptions of God’s face are shaped by egocentrism," the authors write in the study, published in PLOS One.</span><br /><br /><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">"Older participants saw an older God, more attractive participants saw a more attractive God, and African Americans saw a marginally more African American God."</span><br /><br /><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Just as the Bible says God created man in his own image, it turns out we make our gods in ours."</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Link to article: <a href="https://www.iflscience.com/this-is-what-americans-think-god-looks-like-according-to-a-new-study-48222?fbclid=IwAR0ITjj5Hra2lImo2cpiwuvRozs5W2C9Fp_3FQLzpXcpwFopizTHaTrf_b8">The Face of God</a><br /></span></p><p><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Put a check mark in the unsurprised column for me.</span><br /><br /><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Which is more illustrative of human hubris? Is it the idea we could, without evidence, conjure an image of a being who supposedly created a universe or, that the image is of ourselves?</span><br /><br /><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">The bit I find most intriguing is, we stumbled upon the correct answer but, true to form, we misinterpreted the answer. Which is to say, humans do create the universe moment-to-moment in our own minds. More correctly, we model a personal mental construct of the universe. The model is poor but compelling. However, as one might expect, we are quite impressed with our handiwork.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span></p><p><br /></p>JFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00062831312812705977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308596680580797803.post-72519552254506937642023-04-01T15:59:00.003-07:002023-09-15T09:06:17.348-07:00<p> From the <span style="font-size: medium;">WHATINTHECRISPYFRIEDFUCK department-</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">LINK:</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.wtnh.com/news/connecticut/litchfield/vatican-investigating-possible-miracle-at-thomaston-church/#:~:text=The%20possible%20miracle%20happened%20during,%2C%20in%20a%20mystical%20way.%E2%80%9D" target="_blank">Potential mini-miracle leaves gullible worshippers awestruck!</a><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Are these people truly this simple? It is one thing to believe a personal deity is taking an interest in and direct action for the benefit of certain humans. This alone (put mildly) strains credulity. However, to seriously imagine an omnipotent and benevolent god choosing to manifest his limitless power only rarely and in this trivial and pathetic way defies both expectations and rational thought. Let us compare/contrast two possible outcomes. First, a human being is forced to click a link to order a new tin of wafers ($14.00 per 1000. I checked) or everyone stands around wetting their pants until the almighty takes time out of his undoubtedly busy schedule to refresh the current batch. This micro-miracle leaves his followers gobsmacked. Acolytes begin pouring in from near and far to stand in the same spot where the blessed event took place. Not a single voice raised in anguish about the various and sundry horrors he could not be bothered lifting a single beatific finger to ameliorate. Thanks, Big Daddy, we sure were running low on crackers.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>JFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00062831312812705977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308596680580797803.post-8984751789756195002023-03-11T19:55:00.003-08:002023-11-16T06:48:59.772-08:00The Language of Separation<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">Quote Jane Elliott: "We have to get rid of the language of racism."</span></span></p><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">She is not referring to racial slurs, which are clearly offensive and disgusting. She is talking about ditching what I call the language of separation. This would include Race, racial, racism, mixed race, and so on. While bigotry, prejudice, and hatred are sad facts of life, the language we use when confronting our current social morass is based upon an incorrect assumption. </span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">According to Human Genomics a <span style="font-family: inherit;"><a style="color: #385898; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit;" tabindex="-1"></a></span>peer-reviewed, open access, online journal-</span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"There is no scientific evidence that the groups we traditionally call “races/ethnicities” have distinct, unifying biological or genetic basis."</span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Today, there’s a broad consensus among experts in human evolution that race is a social construct, not a biological category, and that it is extraordinarily difficult to link specific genes to complex human behaviors.</span></div></div><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/reel/744733113933332">https://www.facebook.com/reel/744733113933332</a></span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>JFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00062831312812705977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308596680580797803.post-64253270739365030252022-08-31T07:58:00.000-07:002022-08-31T07:58:03.462-07:00Referencing forty five<p> Attention legitimate news outlets:</p><br />*The disgraced, twice-impeached former president who knowingly and with malice of forethought inspired an armed insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in order to stop the peaceful transfer of power...<br /><br />*This, or some version of it, should henceforth preface any reference to forty five. No mention of his name is necessary as we all understand who is being referenced. This is not to cause the man embarrassment, it is intended to save decent people from hearing his name repeated. Also, as a narcissistic cult leader and proud sociopath, he is not capable of feeling shame or embarrassment.JFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00062831312812705977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308596680580797803.post-71457175283742454782022-05-09T08:43:00.003-07:002022-05-09T08:43:58.374-07:00<p> </p><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="61om3" data-offset-key="be6ru-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="be6ru-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="be6ru-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">These vile people have been emboldened to voice their hate/bigotry in the new MAGA/QAnon hellscape that is America.</span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="61om3" data-offset-key="7li6g-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7li6g-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="7li6g-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="61om3" data-offset-key="f46dn-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="f46dn-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="f46dn-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">Mark my words, they are coming, likely sooner than later. They will be wrapped in the flag and quoting bible verses. And they are coming for all those who refuse to accept their fascist, post-truth, anti-intellectual, vision of America. Roe v. Wade is just the beginning.</span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="f46dn-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="f46dn-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="f46dn-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBX1LkZ89l4KBN6Ngj7jW0vh0FYOh8tcgJM7B5k4dVyCZRKJ5zopqWkZsfFt-yAymE79fJfanMQ08KuL6ePLAoDpo1MlUIbIItx11LJ-jOGVq8DDLDMsmyKySUnRqLA9aAr-ywWfzee5OLLwF-OnygdjaZMFA95u24vXfCGBXjngefau2hmX5MA15Y/s1260/Screen%20Shot%202022-05-09%20at%2011.42.38%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" referrerpolicy="origin" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1164" data-original-width="1260" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBX1LkZ89l4KBN6Ngj7jW0vh0FYOh8tcgJM7B5k4dVyCZRKJ5zopqWkZsfFt-yAymE79fJfanMQ08KuL6ePLAoDpo1MlUIbIItx11LJ-jOGVq8DDLDMsmyKySUnRqLA9aAr-ywWfzee5OLLwF-OnygdjaZMFA95u24vXfCGBXjngefau2hmX5MA15Y/s320/Screen%20Shot%202022-05-09%20at%2011.42.38%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span data-offset-key="f46dn-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div></div>JFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00062831312812705977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308596680580797803.post-43067106214145592082022-05-06T08:01:00.001-07:002022-05-06T08:01:51.323-07:00<p> </p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Amnesia Atomica</span></p><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="5a3l5" data-offset-key="e1evn-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e1evn-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span data-offset-key="e1evn-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">I recently watched the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still. For those who aren't sci-fi fans, the premise of the film is an alien representing a galactic civilization comes to earth. His mission is to warn off humanity from its destructive path in </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">order</span><span data-offset-key="e1evn-2-0" style="font-family: inherit;"> to preserve Earth as one of the few habitable planets. Also, the aliens can't risk humans expanding their infantile behavior and petty aggressions beyond our planet. The carrot is humanity eventually becoming a partner in an advanced civilization of worlds. Peace, prosperity, good health and long life become the norms. The stick is the extermination of the problematic species- us. A handful of caring folks manage to convince the alien we've seen the error of our ways and we are on the precipice of sweeping positive change. It's uplifting for about two minutes. Then the flood of current events puts things in stark relief. </span></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="5a3l5" data-offset-key="bgmqd-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bgmqd-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="bgmqd-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><p></p><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="5a3l5" data-offset-key="7pafj-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"></div><p></p><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="5a3l5" data-offset-key="7kuif-0-0" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7kuif-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="7kuif-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It is now many decades after the "duck and cover" nuclear drills I remember from my elementary school days. And we still live with the looming danger. FYI, during the height of the cold war, the Doomsday Clock was further from midnight than it is right now.</span></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7kuif-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="7kuif-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7kuif-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="7kuif-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Link to event in New York City </span></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7kuif-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="7kuif-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7kuif-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="7kuif-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://thebulletin.org/amnesia-atomica-nyc/?utm_source=Announcement&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Announcement05062022&utm_content=Bulletin_AmnesiaAtomica_04282022" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">Amnesia Atomica</span></a><span style="font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></span></span></div></div>JFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00062831312812705977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308596680580797803.post-67652261436595719072022-03-03T08:19:00.002-08:002022-03-03T08:19:19.850-08:00Judgment (Good or Excessive)<p> </p><p></p><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="dl6f9" data-offset-key="fa85n-0-0" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></div><p></p><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="dl6f9" data-offset-key="fhkqq-0-0" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="fhkqq-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;">I often feel caught between the loonies on the far right (which now includes most of the Republican party and the rather more well-meaning but not always critical thinking folks on my team (re: the liberals/progressives).</div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="fhkqq-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="fhkqq-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="fhkqq-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-offset-key="fhkqq-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: inherit;">I know there are still sane conservatives in America but I have basically given up on deep conversation with most Republicans. They are just too far gone. So my comments are for whatever reasonable humans remain. I did not write the following but, had I sat down to do so, I doubt I'd have done better. I can't say whether or not the original author would have included things like "micro-aggressions" in the list, but I unabashedly do.</span></span></div></div><p><b style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 20px;"><br /></b></p><p><b style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 20px;">The obsessive judgment of virtue isn’t merely tiresome, it is intensely divisive. A world in which everyone is always suspected of being racist or sexist or whatever-it doesn’t lead to inclusivity. Instead it creates a cynical, dogged, frustrated, and jealously controlling society that pits all against all: men against women, poor against rich, natives agains immigrants, heterosexuals against homosexuals, and so on.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b></p>JFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00062831312812705977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308596680580797803.post-10518678330062946672022-02-24T18:30:00.003-08:002022-02-24T18:30:26.301-08:00Social Ills and Critical Thought<p>Link: </p><p><a href="https://www.iflscience.com/technology/these-dresses-record-groping-because-so-many-men-wont-believe-women/?fbclid=IwAR1Md9Gs77EA_IDfbym7L5Be6FHaOLwxb_iJhXJwO_ZtnT9wIP-bo8gYPdU" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16px;">groping and belief</a></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Of course, each incident is discrete and needs to be judged on the merits, but in a broad general way, I totally believe this happens. Both the more innocent examples and the more creepy/intrusive examples. That said, I do not accept the premise of male disbelief being the real problem here. In fact, I'd argue that type of thinking tends to alienate male allies. I wonder if any of my liberals can both accept the broad statement of belief in the existence of the problem and still bring critical thinking to the topic?</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I can think of multiple complicating factors. None of them have to do with belief. Also, I am pretty certain we don't want policies and social responses based solely on belief. Such ideas are appealing on a surface level because they are simple and black or white. In fact, how we interact physically in the same space includes a complex array of factors. Cultural norms, familiarity, changes in the nature of relationships from less intimate to more intimate or the reverse. The list goes on.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p><br /></p>JFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00062831312812705977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308596680580797803.post-45763666540541227232022-02-21T09:11:00.003-08:002022-02-22T07:05:15.341-08:00Bible Study<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiTWSBhJQx3ucPN3xK02Q8VnZojf436TmjjIsXJXA29OOYUY7cYfD_g_eN89k-HfcvfIsuruK7sD3co5a9jNJ2x89WkogVDHV0dvZT7VuM2o-eHtP9WkxoLcYsuf-2gy1ExNbJjtYRQsF_CR7wweTSRxBeg840Y3z7OiwuE10WBg2K4wEwTUD8XdtJQ=s720" referrerpolicy="origin" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="720" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiTWSBhJQx3ucPN3xK02Q8VnZojf436TmjjIsXJXA29OOYUY7cYfD_g_eN89k-HfcvfIsuruK7sD3co5a9jNJ2x89WkogVDHV0dvZT7VuM2o-eHtP9WkxoLcYsuf-2gy1ExNbJjtYRQsF_CR7wweTSRxBeg840Y3z7OiwuE10WBg2K4wEwTUD8XdtJQ=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It's funny, I only went for a couple of years but I don't remember these passages from my early childhood bible classes. On the other hand, our bible studies teacher might have considered the more overt deviant sexual references to be just a bit too much religion for six year olds. I do remember some of the demented murderous/war related passages but they were offered in such a wholesome positive way. Which is to say, the good guys were being oppressed by the bad guys and it was all part of God's plan to get those folks on the straight and narrow or the good guys were kicking some bad guy ass in righteous retribution which was, again, all part of God's plan. And, of course, the lessons were blunted by the fact that I had no clear idea of war and carnage either inspired entirely by human motivations or by heavenly design.</span></span><p></p><div data-block="true" data-editor="34pud" data-offset-key="10eom-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="10eom-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="10eom-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div></div><div data-block="true" data-editor="34pud" data-offset-key="1updf-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1updf-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="1updf-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">All this to say that I may have squeaked by the worst trauma one might have experienced from bible class by having half-ass non-committed Protestant parents who would rather have been golfing on a Sunday morning after they dropped the kids with the babysitter. Sure, it is speculation, but maybe the third year is when they did a deep dive into the really heinous material.</span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1updf-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="1updf-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1updf-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="1updf-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Whew!</span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1updf-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="1updf-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1updf-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="1updf-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1updf-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="1updf-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So, in the same way that I would not want to ban books (including religious texts) I would certainly not want my children reading them (especially unsupervised) while they were young. Neither would I want them reading Ken Kesey or Kurt Vonnegut or a host of others before they had a solid foundation in reason, critical thought, and the principles of human decency so they were ready to question and puzzle through such material.</span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1updf-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="1updf-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1updf-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="1updf-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div></div>JFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00062831312812705977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308596680580797803.post-50944088298021385772020-02-24T06:33:00.001-08:002023-11-16T07:05:38.703-08:00Democratic Socialist<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span face="system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-size: medium; white-space: pre-wrap;">When anybody (politician, pundit, journalist, etc.) hurls the word socialist as an epithet, it might be helpful to remember this. There are different flavors of socialism just as there are different flavors of capitalism. communism, and democracy. While no system is perfect and each country has its own set of problems, the moderate form of socialism called democratic socialism is capitalist friendly and works quite well in peaceful wealthy countries around the world. Germany, Holland, Denmark, and France to name a few. In these countries, despite what the haters say, there are wealthy people, thriving corporations, etc. What one does not see in such places, rampant homelessness and people declaring bankruptcy due to medical bills. Also, most of their cities are cleaner and safer. They often have quality education accessible to more people. They generally have less pollution, use more renewable energy and so on. One does not see as many people mistrustful of their government's motives. Why? It is largely because the government is organized around taking care of its citizens first. </span><br />
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JFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00062831312812705977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308596680580797803.post-76542623194668476792020-01-23T08:39:00.001-08:002023-11-16T07:21:05.724-08:00We might want to say our goodbyes now<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span data-offset-key="2ud8t-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">Anyone else hear that swishing sound? I sure hope I am wrong but, I strongly suspect it is caused by a great democratic republic swirling around the drainpipe of history. Sad times, but especially that it is being brought down from within. Adding insult to injury, it isn't the result of some fiendishly clever plan by a comicbook style arch-villian. All it took was for the foolish, the ignorant, and the deluded to rally around one of their own.</span></span></div>
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<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="cejql-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">It is also fair to say, the process of fucking us all was lubricated by the silence of those who knew better (senators, congresspersons, and others). Each, at some point, made a calculation. Each one decided that convicting the leader brought an unwelcome burden of personal guilt and blame. In the end, they stamped their feet to muddy the waters as they opted to further line their pockets and advance their own selfish agendas.</span>
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JFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00062831312812705977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308596680580797803.post-20314358814559060172020-01-14T11:55:00.001-08:002020-01-14T11:55:16.621-08:00Hate Crime/Thought Crime?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;">I feel most closely aligned with progressives/liberals. I suggest they have a pretty good eye for ferreting out the real problems. I empathize with their righteous indignation regarding the ills of the world. On the other hand, I am not always so thrilled regarding their solutions. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">One of the difficulties I keep running up against is the somewhat self-righteous assumption going in, we are smart, we have seen the problem, we will craft a policy to solve the problem. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">First, kudos for the positive attitude. Following closely on the heels of that sentiment, one is well-advised to avoid conflating a positive attitude with a positive delusion. The world is not a perfect place. Therefore problems are many and solutions are rarely, if ever, perfect. In addition, whatever potential solutions we might advance, we should, at minimum, avoid making things worse. I would assert that our less than careful lurching to fix things tends to do exactly that.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I suggest a more consider strategy that accounts for short term and long term goals. We certainly want to change what we reasonably can in the short term. In a long term situation, with positive efforts along the way, measures that more closely approach perfection may be achieved.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It would serve us well to remember that most of our social problems are a result of poor ideas. Following on from that, poor ideas are best addressed by supplanting poor ideas with superior ideas. And here is the sticky bit. Neither our outrage at the current injustices, nor our fervor or our cleverness will substitute for changing hearts and minds over time.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">One might reasonably look around and wonder, given the number and severity of our problems, is there a hopeful handle on which to cling? The good news is that we have systems/laws in place to deal with behavior. Furthermore we can do better at enforcing those laws. We can help insure justice is more efficient and meted out more fairly. Finally, with the right commitment over time, we can help lead more people to adopt superior ideas based upon cooperation and societal benefit. These efforts will be enhanced if we can grapple with resource inequality.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I post the following because I think it is worth considering. I do not necessarily subscribe to every word or thought.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">Hate Crime/Thought Crime
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "";">Jesse Larner </span><span style="font-family: ArialMT;">▪ </span><span style="font-family: "";">Spring 2010
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">Let’s not make this easy. Early in the morning of March 3, 1992, after a long
discussion of their racial resentments, John Ayers and Sean Riley set out from their
suburban neighborhood of Silver Spring, Maryland, looking for black people to
attack. They came upon two black women walking along Georgia Avenue; realizing
they were being followed, the women began to run, and split up. Riley chased Myrtle
Guillory, and Ayers chased Johnnie Mae McCrae. Guillory testified at trial that Riley
yelled repeatedly, “I’m going to kill you, you black bitch.” Guillory escaped when she
ran to the home of a friend, who protected her. McCrae found no refuge. Ayers
dragged her to a nearby woods, where he savagely beat her and told her that he was
going to kill her.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">Ayers was sentenced to ten years for assault with intent to maim, thirty years for
kidnapping, ten years for committing a racially motivated crime against McCrae, and
ten years for conspiracy to commit a racially motivated crime against Guillory; all
sentences to be served consecutively, a total of sixty years.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">Here’s the question before us. Does the hatred that motivated the crime—the
thoughts that we can deduce were in Ayers’s head, the racial epithets that Riley
spoke—make Ayers’s repulsive actions worse than they would be in the absence of
bigotry? We can, of course, rightly condemn them as morally worse. But legally
worse, subject to enhanced punishment? Ayers’s death threat can certainly be
counted as part of his physical crime. Threats are against the law. Racial animus and
racial epithets, however, are not in themselves illegal, and it was Riley, not Ayers,
who expressed them. Does the state have a legitimate interest in what Ayers was
thinking when he brutalized his victim?
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">The question touches on two very different ideas about the purpose of the criminal
law. Is it to keep antisocial conduct in check, thus making it possible for human
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<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">beings to live together and go about their business in reasonable comity, if not
amity? Or is it to make people better—to make society better?
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">For libertarians across the political spectrum, the idea that courts can weigh the
thought, belief, or emotional affect behind an act is chilling. Hate itself counts for
nothing in American law. Violence counts for a lot. Hate paired with violence, under
hate crimes laws, counts for even more: zero plus one is more than one. Like the
neutrino, hate has no mass, but it changes things. In a free society it should be
axiomatic that only action, never thought, can be subject to punishment.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">ON OCTOBER 28, 2009, President Barack Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and
James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. This law adds sexual orientation and
gender identity as protected categories in federally defined hate crimes, allows the
Department of Justice to aid in investigations and prosecutions of hate crimes if
local authorities request assistance or if they are unable or unwilling to properly
investigate and prosecute; and removes certain circumstances as necessary for
establishing a hate crime in federal law. The bill passed 68 to 29 in the Senate, 281
to 146 in the House. It was endorsed by a long list of human rights, civil rights, and
law-enforcement agencies, and officially opposed only by the conservative religious
group Focus on the Family.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">The law was named for the victims of two high-profile crimes. On October 6, 1998,
Matthew Shepard, a twenty-one-year-old gay man, met Aaron McKinney and Russell
Henderson in the Fireside Lounge in Laramie, Wyoming. McKinney and Henderson
apparently pretended to be gay in order to gain Shepard’s trust. They offered him a
ride, and took him to an isolated area, where they robbed him, beat him, tied him to
a fence in freezing weather, and left him to die. Shepard was discovered the next
morning by a bicyclist, who thought at first that he was a scarecrow. He died five
days later in the hospital at Fort Collins, Colorado.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">Just four months earlier, James Byrd Jr., a black man, was walking home along a
road in Jasper, Texas. Three white men in a pickup truck—John William King,
Lawrence Brewer, and Shawn Allen Berry—offered him a ride. The three men beat
Byrd, chained him to the truck, and dragged him to his death.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">These two horrifying cases did much to bring hate crimes to public attention, and to
communicate a sense of urgency about the need to use the law to fight hate.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">One would think, then, that the prosecutions of the Shepard and Byrd murderers
under existing laws were inadequate. But the prosecutions were exemplary.
Although Wyoming had no hate crimes statute, Henderson only avoided being
charged with a capital crime because he plea-bargained for two consecutive
natural-life terms, agreeing to testify against McKinney, who led the attack.
McKinney’s case went to trial. Convicted of felony murder, kidnapping, and
aggravated robbery, he also plea-bargained in the sentencing phase, agreeing never
to appeal, never to speak to the press, and never to profit from his crime in
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<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">exchange for not being put to death. He, too, was sentenced to two consecutive
natural-life terms. The Shepard family had to approve both plea-bargains.
Henderson and McKinney’s girlfriends were convicted of interfering with the
investigation, because they knew of the crime after the fact but did not report it.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">Texas also had no hate crimes statute, and the NAACP and other activist groups
gave then-governor George W. Bush a very hard time because he refused to endorse
one in the wake of the Byrd murder. But Bush was vindicated by the criminal justice
system. King and Brewer, who both had longstanding ties to white supremacist
groups, received the death penalty. Berry will be in prison for the rest of his natural
life. Apparently the jury concluded that Berry’s lack of white supremacist
associations made him less of a future danger to society, and future danger is a
requirement under Texas’s capital punishment law (in other words, it was not their
thoughts that counted against King and Brewer; it was a holistic assessment of the
actual danger they represented). One does not have to support the death penalty to
believe that the Shepard and Byrd murderers deserved the maximum available
punishment in law.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">Justice was served for both Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, even though the law
was not mandated to take account of the motivating beliefs of the perpetrators. As
Laramie prosecutor Cal Rerucha told potential jurors in the Matthew Shepard case,
“Whether black or white, rich or poor, Catholic or Protestant, whether we have
power or no power, whether we are straight or whether we are gay, we are equal
because the Wyoming constitution tells us we are equal.” The jury, and the court,
found accordingly.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">Do the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd prosecutions uphold or detract from the
argument for hate crimes laws?
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">IN THE UNITED STATES, hate crimes laws—laws that mandate extra penalties when
specific types of animosity are a part of criminal motivation—originate in a challenge
to the authority of the state itself, and date to Reconstruction, when Night Riders
and unrepentant rebels terrorized freed blacks. The first federal hate crimes laws
were promulgated in 1870. Sections 241 and 242, 18 United States Code, are
directed against conspiracies to deprive blacks of their rights to freedom and equal
protection of the law under the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments. Section
242 specifically constrains law enforcement officials, prohibiting them from acting
“under color of law” to target anyone on the basis of “being an alien, or by reason of
his color, or race.” But they differ from modern hate crimes legislation in their
primary focus on the deprivation of constitutional rights, rather than on the identity
of the victim. Attacks on blacks were seen as a conspiracy against the Constitution.
As indeed they were.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">Hate crimes laws in the civil rights era maintained this focus. The Civil Rights Act of
1968 (18 USC 245), was passed in a time of surging violence against blacks seeking
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<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">to exercise their constitutional rights, and against their white supporters. It
enhanced penalties for crimes targeting individuals on the basis of race, color,
religion, or national origin, but only if the crimes occurred in the context of the
victims’ engagement in six specified protected categories of activity. Broadly, these
categories embraced any pursuit provided, required, or supported by government;
any activity involving working; and traveling. The 2009 Hate Crimes Prevention Act
removes these protected categories, previously required to define hate crime in
federal law. This is something qualitatively new in federal jurisdiction.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">This change is part of a shift in the concept of hate crimes that began when state
laws began to address the issue. California was first, in 1978, with a law that
recognized protected status in isolation from any protected activity. A hate crime
was a crime on the basis of the victim’s identity, rather than on the victim’s equality
under the law. California’s protected categories, evoking those of the early federal
hate crimes statutes, were race, religion, color, and national origin. Subsequent laws
in other states expanded these categories to include things such as age, marital
status, and membership in certain types of organizations. While early state laws
limited the types of crime for which prosecutors could request enhanced charges,
there was a concurrent push to expand the categories of eligible crimes. By 1987,
California legislation allowed prosecutors to consider hate crimes enhancement in
charging any crime.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">Enhanced sentences for hate crimes vary by jurisdiction, but can be quite significant
under both state and federal law. The 1994 federal Violent Crime Control and Law
Enforcement Act mandated that U.S. sentencing guidelines raise the offense level
for the underlying crime by three levels when the victim is targeted on the basis of a
protected identity category. Vermont’s hate crimes law doubles the maximum prison
term for violent crime if bias is involved. Wisconsin’s can add five years to a
sentence.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">HATE CRIMES LAWS are one approach to a real problem, but there are many ways
that the law can respond to hate that manifests as violence without attempting to
regulate opinion. This issue was the focus of a 1992 Supreme Court decision, R.A.V.
v. City of St. Paul (initials were used to protect the identity of the defendant, because
Robert Viktora was a minor at the time). In 1990, Viktora burned a small cross in
front of the house of a black neighbor in his mostly white neighborhood of St. Paul.
He thereby violated a 1982 city ordinance that banned expressions of bias,
specifically mentioning cross burning and display of the swastika. Viktora’s
conviction was appealed on First Amendment grounds. The U.S. Supreme Court
ruled for Viktora, finding that the St. Paul statute was overly broad. The law, said the
majority opinion, cannot single out speech (including symbolic speech) that
lawmakers or the public find objectionable.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">Should Viktora’s black neighbor therefore have had to put up with an obvious threat
to and disturbance of his peace, to which he was entitled as a citizen and as a
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<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">human being? No; the lawmakers of the City of St. Paul could simply have banned
expressions conceived to threaten or intimidate, which are not protected speech,
without regard for the content of such expressions.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">Note, however, that if we take the First Amendment seriously, there ought to be
some sort of standard for a finding of intimidation. Simple display of a swastika
probably should not meet that standard. The display would have to be in the context
of a reasonably perceived physical threat, beyond the mere desire to cause offense.
The crime properly is found in Nazi acts, not Nazi beliefs, nor even the expression of
such beliefs.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">Existing content-neutral intimidation laws could also provide a basis for punishment
of what are now considered hate crimes against property—painting swastikas on a
synagogue, for example—without resorting to the concept of a hate crime. One
result of this might actually be a reduction in such crimes. A hate crime charge is,
after all, a mark of status in the social circles in which the perpetrators of such
crimes seek to rise and, in their own minds, a badge of political martyrdom. A
charge of “petty vandalism with intent to intimidate” is not so glamorous.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">The course suggested by R.A.V. was overtaken by Wisconsin v. Mitchell in 1993. Todd
Mitchell, a black teenager who had just seen the film Mississippi Burning, urged his
companions to assault a white teenager with the words “There goes a white boy; go
get him.” Gregory Reddick was beaten into a coma that lasted four days.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">Mitchell’s conviction on enhanced hate-crimes charges, under a statute that
criminalized bigoted speech leading to violence, was overturned by the Wisconsin
Supreme Court as violating the First Amendment. On appeal, the U.S. Supreme
Court might have found, consistent with R.A.V., that the law can punish speech when
there is a direct link between speech and action but must refrain from prohibiting
particular subjects of speech (as with incitement or conspiracy statutes, which
weigh the results of speech but are neutral as to its content.) The court did not do
this. Instead, it upheld Wisconsin’s claim to a compelling interest in the punishment
specifically of bigoted speech when it is linked to action. The effect on Mitchell’s
case was the same as that of an incitement conviction might have been. But the
implications for the First Amendment were quite different. We are living with them
now.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "";">CIVIL RIGHTS GROUPS that support hate crimes laws generally defend them with
the argument given by House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers: “These
crimes constitute an assault not against the victim, but against our communities
and against the very foundation of Democracy.” Illustrating this point, Cristina Finch,
of the Campaign for Human Rights, told me that vicious attacks on transsexuals
have implications beyond the immediate crime. “They’re shot. They’re stabbed.
They’re mutilated. It’s a disproportionate amount of violence for the injury that’s
inflicted</span><span style="font-family: ArialMT;">... </span><span style="font-family: "";">Why are hate crimes different? [The perpetrators] are trying to eradicate
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<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">this person’s identity, to send a message: ‘Your kind is not wanted here. I want to
wipe you off the face of the earth.’”
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">But absent specific acts of conspiracy, or conscious and active planning to target a
community, Conyers’s larger charge is an innovative interpretation of criminal
responsibility. It is a leap from a specific attack to a generalized accusation of
terrorism with no necessary evidentiary link and with no specific individuals as
objects of incitement or participants in conspiracy, nor specific individuals
victimized by incitement or conspiracy. It is charging a crime (that is, the theoretical
future violent acts inspired by the real, immediate attack) before it has occurred.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">We should know better by now. It is this kind of expansion of the concept of
conspiracy that has led to some of our most ill-conceived adventures in the
application of the law, from the Alien and Sedition Acts to the Palmer Raids, from
the McCarran-Walter Act to warrantless wiretaps. These were responses to the
reality that there are many people who despise our constitutional order—and among
the people whose lives were touched by these undertakings, there were undoubtedly
some who could have and would have done it harm. Yet as worthwhile as the goal
may be (preventing anticonstitutional subversion, catching terrorists, expressing
society’s disgust for bias) the damage done by such measures is always greater than
any benefit. See “Slope, slippery.”
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">Incitement is indeed a criminal act that can be charged separately from a physical
crime. But like any other charge, it must be proven by more than repugnance for the
accused. The wish that a hated group would disappear is not illegal, nor—short of
violence or incitement—is expressing it. As to the nature of the physical crime, the
extraordinary bias-induced mayhem that Finch described, the law certainly has an
interest in considering the intensity of violence. And it does consider it. Particularly
vicious murders and assaults (those that involve, for example, torture, multiple
victims, child victims, or sex crimes) are more heavily punished than other murders
and assaults. The viciousness of an attack on a transsexual may indeed be the
perpetrator’s response to the victim’s gender identity, a response expressing the
desire that all transsexuals be dead. But the law does not have to take account of the
attacker’s wishes or beliefs in sentencing—only of the level of violence employed.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">Supporters of hate crimes laws often point out that the law already makes
distinctions based on intent and state of mind. Intent makes the difference between
negligence and murder, and a husband who kills his wife in a fit of rage is charged
differently than a husband who carefully plans to murder his wife for her life
insurance. These kinds of considerations are distinct, however, from the motivating
idea or emotion. While it is hard to make generalizations about the law, when legal
culpability is tied to a perpetrator’s intention and awareness of wrongdoing, the
modern interpretation of mens rea recognizes four levels of such awareness:
negligent (conduct that does not meet a normative standard); reckless (acting in
conscious disregard that conduct is likely to be prohibited); knowing (when a
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<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">perpetrator knows that the conduct is illegal); and purposeful (when a perpetrator’s
actions demonstrate the desire or intention to break the law.) It is these categories—
and not the specific content of thought—that shade degrees of legal guilt.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">HOW DOES ONE determine the beliefs of an attacker, anyway? In the many cases in
which motivation is ambiguous and would require some effort to establish in order
to meet the statutory definition of a hate crime, prosecutors might look at a
defendant’s associates, institutional affiliations, magazine subscriptions, or library
records. As many legal scholars have pointed out, such investigations would raise
serious First Amendment issues. Hate crimes are also highly political, offering many
temptations to ambitious prosecutors, who may feel intense popular pressure to
charge (or not charge) a particular crime as a hate crime.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">Real life can be complicated. Most statutes define a hate crime as occurring when a
victim is targeted for belonging to a protected identity category. It doesn’t matter if
the motivation is actually hate. But even those who support the concept of hate
crimes legislation might have problems with this definition. Is someone who targets
old women for muggings in the belief that they will be easy to overpower really
committing an age- or gender-based hate crime, or just a particularly repugnant
ordinary crime? The motivational affect matters in hate crimes law only when it can
contribute to establishing hate (and enhancing punishment). When it does the
opposite, it is irrelevant.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">In a similar way, it is ironic that many of the advocacy groups that consult on hate
crimes laws have to argue that gender-as-a-protected-category should not mean
that rape can be prosecuted as a hate crime. On the face of it, why not? Rapists
certainly do almost universally target a particular gender. But the absurdity is too
evident: Rape is inherently a gendered crime. The underlying criminal act and the
basis for calling it a hate crime are the same. Yet if the underlying crime—the act
itself—must be accepted as the full basis for prosecution of rape, why should it not
be sufficient in the case of other crimes that target identity?I should note that the
prosecution of rape as a war crime, when it is organized and encouraged as a
weapon of ethnic intimidation (as it has been in Bosnia, Rwanda, Sudan, and many
other places), is certainly a legitimate and necessary use of the law. But that is a
different phenomenon than what we usually mean when we talk about the crime of
rape.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">There are, it is true, historical burdens. Paul LeGendre, of Human Rights First, told
me that the defining feature of a hate crime is that it targets a characteristic that has
historically defined a group subject to persecution and attack. Skin color, religion, or
ethnicity are therefore protected categories under hate crimes laws; social or
political affiliation are not.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">But the criminal law applies to individuals, not to the past behavior of dominant
groups. Suppose a victim is selected for a brutal assault because he or she is a
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<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">schoolteacher, a union member, a communist, a Republican. Is the crime less
serious than it would be if the attacker targeted a Mormon or a Hmong? Charging
these crimes differently arguably violates the Fourteenth Amendment, which is, after
all, one of the most powerful responses to historical injustice that American society
has ever devised.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">It may be (in some jurisdictions it must certainly be) that police and prosecutors are
not properly investigating or bringing serious-enough charges against those who
target victims based on hatred of a minority race, ethnicity, religion, gender-identity,
or sexual orientation. This failure may well reflect a conscious or unconscious bias
on the part of law enforcement. This is a problem that can be solved without
recourse to criminalizing a wish: Insist that crimes be charged consistently and
without bias. Spend the money currently allocated to enhanced hate crimes
prosecutions on rigorous statistical analyses of investigations, charges, and
sentences in problematic jurisdictions. Fire or indict police, prosecutors, and judges
who do not do their duty.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">MAKE NO MISTAKE: hate crimes laws do set us up for hate speech laws. At present
all of the model guides for hate crimes laws require an “underlying” crime—there is
no suggestion that speech or thought alone should create legal liability. But if
speech or thought produces extra liability when paired with an underlying violent
crime, it is but a small step to unpairing them, preserving the criminal liability of hate
alone. Couldn’t happen here? Canada, where I grew up, offers a very clear
demonstration of how it does happen. The issue of free speech has been finessed by
the Canadian Supreme Court ruling in R. v. Keegstra, which held that “harmful
expressive activity” damages individuals and communities sufficiently to be itself
considered a criminal action, thereby explicitly erasing the distinction between hate
speech and hate crime.“Parliament’s objective of preventing the harm caused by
hate propaganda is of sufficient importance to warrant overriding a constitutional
freedom.” Canadian Supreme Court, R. v. Keegstra, [1990] 3 S.C.R. 697. The
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms declares that speech is protected
“subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably
justified in a free and democratic society.” In practice and as shaped by case law and
the Supreme Court, American jurisprudence also recognizes such limits. But
perhaps having them embedded in the constitution tempts Canadian judges to
emphasize order over freedom. The American Bill of Rights, by contrast, is bracingly
unequivocal. In 1990 the Canadian constitution was still being substantially shaped
by decisions such as Keegstra—the modern constitution dates only to 1982, and
most precedents under the former constitution, the British North America Act, were
abandoned at that time.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">This spirit has been reflected in many Canadian laws and institutions, most notably
in the infamous federal and provincial Human Rights Tribunals, informal bodies
outside of the official courts systems, which nevertheless enforce laws against
exposing any group or individual to “hatred and contempt.” These tribunals can
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "";">impose heavy fines, and even require defendants to publicly retract statements
found to be offensive. Plaintiffs’ costs are borne by the public; defendants’ costs are
not, a model for censorship-by-bankruptcy. And truth is no defense. It would be
theoretically possible to convict a journalist for writing about the Armenian
genocide if a Turkish complainant took offense.“A person must not publish, issue or
display</span><span style="font-family: ArialMT;">... </span><span style="font-family: "";">any statement</span><span style="font-family: ArialMT;">... </span><span style="font-family: "";">that</span><span style="font-family: ArialMT;">... </span><span style="font-family: "";">is likely [emphasis added] to expose a person or a
group or class of persons to hatred or contempt</span><span style="font-family: ArialMT;">...</span><span style="font-family: "";">” British Columbia Human Rights
Code, Section 7(1). This is a broader version of Section 13 of the Canadian Human
Rights Act (which, oddly, applies only to statements made over the telephone and
the Internet.)
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">The institutions of a free country do not operate like this. Yet Canada is heir to the
same traditions of British common law and intellectual liberty that gave rise to our
First Amendment. The price that Canadians have been willing to pay for an enforced
and artificial sense of social harmony should be a warning to us.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">But don’t we want to outlaw hate? Wouldn’t we be a better society if we did? Well,
we could outlaw war, too, at the stroke of a pen.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">There is much that we can do, through individual, collective, and governmental
action, to heal the wounds of an unjust and hateful past. But the legitimacy of the
law rests, among other things, on its application to the specific case. Punishing a
bigot for hate, in historically determined categories, creates a scapegoat for our
society’s collective historical crimes. Perhaps that is why it makes us feel better.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "";"><span style="font-size: large;">If we are not concerned with policing a fraught relationship with the past, and if we
view thought as outside the purview of law or any other authority, we are yet able to
judge, punish, and prevent acts that cause harm. For this we do not need to
speculate as to the motivating beliefs of criminals. We need only to recognize and
appropriately punish their actual crimes. A self-confident, mature democracy that
trusts its own capacity for public debate can afford to leave the policing of mind and
tongue to the North Koreans. And, sadly, to the Canadians. </span></span><br />
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JFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00062831312812705977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308596680580797803.post-82116452845058814152019-12-30T11:50:00.001-08:002019-12-30T11:50:44.841-08:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span data-offset-key="763m5-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">Is it any wonder the rationalists/atheists/humanists are conflicted? On one hand, almost all of us have sane, reasonable believers in our lives to whom we feel strongly bonded/connected. At the same time, the people whom everyone is frightened of (and well should be) are, so often, religious extremists from the various religious traditions. Worse yet, our fellow citizens keep elevating people with similar views into more and more powerful positions in government. I call a "whattheflyingfiddlyfuck?" on this shit.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="c1nvd-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">**FYI, the answers to the question posed in the second image is: narrow-minded, judgmental, personal religious beliefs having nothing to do with the U. S. Constitution. </span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="c1nvd-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">And, as far ass Mr. Barr is concerned, He was born with native intelligence and given the priceless gift of a high quality American education. Therefore he should fuckin' aye know better. Apparently the money spent on that schooling went up in smoke. He should have stuck with bible school. </span></div>
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JFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00062831312812705977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308596680580797803.post-82422829099261256072019-12-20T11:09:00.002-08:002019-12-20T11:09:42.117-08:00Recent Headline re: Russia, Trump<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span data-offset-key="aeonp-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">Recent Headline:</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="aeonp-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">"RUSSIAN STATE MEDIA CALLS TRUMP A MOSCOW 'AGENT,' JOKINGLY SUGGESTS HE'LL NEED TO FLEE TO THEIR COUNTRY AFTER LEAVING OFFICE" </span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="aeonp-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">Nobody can know what will happen. However, this does not seem like a joke to me at all.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="aeonp-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">I suggest this is a disturbingly real possible outcome. Stop and think about it. This man has been privy to many of our most sensitive national secrets. Whether you are for him or against him, we all realize that once he leaves office, he will be under serious criminal exposure. Considering that he has never faced serious consequences for all his vile behavior, it is easy to imagine him feeling like a cornered animal (even more so than he does now).</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="aeonp-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">And how does a cornered animal act? It lashes out and looks for any way out. Is it so far-fetched to imagine a person in that position taking any life preserver that is thrown his way?</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="aeonp-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">Further, let's imagine the person in question is a classic narcissist, thinks of himself as above the law, and clearly lacks anything like normal human empathy.</span></div>
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Now, tell me how this is just a joke.</div>
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JFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00062831312812705977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308596680580797803.post-17644603599054831832019-11-04T05:57:00.000-08:002019-11-04T05:57:08.079-08:00Is there a Deep State?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Family_(miniseries" target="_blank">The Family Documentary</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Surprise! There is a deep state but it is not the one routinely referenced without supporting evidence on Fox News, Glenn Beck, Breitbart, Rush Limbaugh, Dennis Prager, et al.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I started watching this documentary on Netflix and soon had a pucker factor of about 9.8 on the ten point “USPS” (Universal Sphincter Pucker Scale). What I learned also provided evidence for my argument that wing-nut conspiracy theories cooked up by the Republicans often turn out to be mirrors of their own achievements. The so-called “deep state” being a prime example. In their fevered dreams (which is almost indistinguishable from their waking reality) a demon host of commie pinkos (known to us a dedicated government employees) work tirelessly to subvert our freedoms/democracy. It is patently obvious to everyone not wearing a conservative tin foil hat, that Republican-suits conflate laissez faire capitalism with our democratic republic. Boiling it down, it is soon obvious they fear they will be found out and judged too crass if they openly state their intentions to hoard all the resources along with the power to make policies about said resources, for themselves.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Happily, for self-righteous-righties, it is an elementary exercise to propagate the delusional notions out to the largely angry, unsophisticated, base voters who conveniently lack, or fail to employ, critical thinking skills. Such pursuits are greased by the copious injection of sophomoric religious tropes. In no time at all millions believe goofy conservative narratives their overlords have inextricably woven together with their own political objectives.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Were that not sufficient to raise ones eyebrows up beyond ones hairline, the unspoken religious-test of high government officials extends to many/most Democrats as well. That is to say, one must profess belief by continually inserting phrases into ones narrative such as: God Bless America/Americans, We pray for the victims and their families, and so on. It is also helpful to cast our enemies as either godless or disciples of a different deity.</span></div>
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JFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00062831312812705977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308596680580797803.post-90539729786359394102019-10-29T07:49:00.001-07:002019-10-29T07:49:25.928-07:00Stairway to Belief<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">One knows to begin with a disclaimer when challenging the deeply held beliefs of others. This is most especially true in these divisive times.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.npr.org/2014/03/23/291405829/with-sobering-science-doctor-debunks-12-step-recovery" target="_blank">12 Step programs, Largely ineffective</a></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">My disclaimer is as follows: For those who have been involved with one of the many twelve step programs and have found solace, companionship, a path out of addiction, or a pathway to a happier existence when a loved one struggles with addiction, I am truly glad for you. I have seen this happen with people in my own life and it seems wrong to dishonor any new found quality of life, however one achieves that goal. In short, if you feel good about your successes or perceived successes in a twelve step program and your judgment is to continue, by all means. I am satisfied that ones mental flexibility to listen to and/or absorb new ideas is the single most important bit.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">That said, if we “know” (as in; we have abundant evidence for a thing) that a given methodology/treatment is not truly effective, it is incumbent upon us to stand up straight and say this clearly. First, because it is true. Further, in the interest of compassion toward our fellow humans, we wish to both point the way toward superior methods/treatments of serious maladies and away from the inferior. As the psychiatrist in the report observes, even if we were not able to offer a clearly superior treatment for a given disease, our moral obligation to inform others of the failures of a system currently in use, still applies. We arrive at this inference based upon the idea that operating from facts and evidence is unarguably superior to acting from belief alone.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">—The fact that we have a very serious addiction problem in the United States and we have finite resources available for research/remediation and the diversion of precious resources to ineffective treatments is a shocking waste, well, that is another discussion.—</span></span></div>
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JFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00062831312812705977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308596680580797803.post-52342909450291239472019-10-22T08:33:00.001-07:002019-10-22T08:33:41.085-07:00I keep up with the news and I am well informed.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Let's examine that claim.<br />
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/humansofnewyork/photos/a.102107073196735/3535977839809624/?type=3&theater" target="_blank">Humans of New York article</a><br />
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Quote from the above article: "She volunteered to tutor us for free. Even though we only saw her two or three times a month, she gave me another perspective on life. I’d probably have five children by now if it wasn’t for her. She taught me to think critically about our traditions. She had empathy for our culture, but she also taught me that not all traditions are positive. Especially for women."</div>
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Heartwarming, isn't it? Well, on a personal level, sure. Any effort in the right dire<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;">ction is a good thing.</span></div>
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On the other hand, this isn't the second century BCE anymore. There are seven plus billion humans on this planet. Soon enough there will likely be eleven billion! And guess what most of them won't have and all of them will want? An American or Western European lifestyle. That would include an automobile, a home, a refrigerator, plenty of food, and the energy to manage all that.</div>
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For those of us concerned about climate change, guess what? Without concurrently working to slow population growth, almost all of our efforts will be in vain. In short, there are too many humans scrambling for a slice of a finite pie. Do you imagine you are getting the most informative and helpful news and information? Ask yourself, when was the last news story you heard about this topic?</div>
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JFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00062831312812705977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308596680580797803.post-84497912897262543152019-10-21T14:08:00.000-07:002019-10-21T14:08:59.822-07:00Fuck Bill Barr<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: small;">Click to see what the AG of the USA is saying these days.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/12/politics/william-barr-religious-values-moral-upheaval/index.html?fbclid=IwAR0IdFuYjho8ceBKHvKWUwEl61SYd_IFHi2EqCPH_JH4JxlZjJfmE2XSKNQ" target="_blank">CNN reports on Bill Barr speech</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Let me be clear and concise. Fuck Bill Barr.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">How does he have the nerve to label people on the left of the political spectrum as, essentially, demons bringing down society? How did he become so deluded as to conflate being America’s pastor with being America’s chief law enforcement officer? He is a living example that one can be an intelligent, and even well-educated, human being and be totally clueless.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">If Mr. Barr wishes to run things according to a religious dogma, let him go and become a deacon or pastor in his church.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Leave us out of it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I am good with religious folks who decide to live by a certain tradition from which they derive an inner peace, a sense of community, a strength to help them get along in a world that can be rather harsh. Bless their hearts, I know and have strong connections to many of them. Back in the day, I was one of them. But I will speak boldly and firmly in opposition to anyone of any religious tradition that brings those beliefs into the public square and tries to impose policies, particular to their traditions, on all of us in a pluralistic society. It is presumptuous at best. At worst it is a crass display of dominance. And, oh by the way, it is unconstitutional.</span></div>
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JFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00062831312812705977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308596680580797803.post-8835659286689177462019-09-11T15:43:00.003-07:002019-09-11T15:43:37.532-07:00Ghost in the machine<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 33, 41); color: #1d2129; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 33, 41); color: #1d2129; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 33, 41); color: #1d2129; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">I understand The manufacturer got a great deal on some ancient Windows Vista disks. So, expect to receive dubious responses regarding life-changing decisions and the constant threat of demon viruses. On the bright side, tech support calls will be answered by genuine American atheists in silicon valley. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 33, 41); color: #1d2129; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 33, 41); color: #1d2129; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">NOTE: All support personal are cross-trained. Whether you are simply having an issue with your android or a full-blown crisis of faith, you are covered.</span></span></div>
JFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00062831312812705977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308596680580797803.post-37271455128523434332019-09-05T10:30:00.000-07:002019-09-05T10:30:00.630-07:00Blessings<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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John Oliver is a British born naturalized American citizen. That is, he chose to be an American. Most American are only citizens by accident of birth. Though they may be delighted by the fact of their citizenship, it was a gift they had no hand in. While clearly displaying a great affinity for America by becoming a citizen, Mr. Oliver uses the platform of his television show to criticize various aspects of American life. And may the Flying Spaghetti Monster bless his acerbic heart.<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y1xJAVZxXg" target="_blank">Click here for a quick primer on the current scourge of televangelism</a><br />
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In any other venue or enterprise the cynical greed and villainy of such people would be a the subject of rightful public shaming and criminal prosecution. Sadly, these con-artists/scammers/sociopaths are able to veil their evil doings behind a cloak of religion. This get-out-of-jail-free-card, provided by religion, not only allows them to use the public airways to market their fraud, they do so tax free. In fact, whole television networks hide behind the religious tax dodge.<br />
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So, sure, my believers might wish to pop up and proclaim a personal distance from such practices. To the extent this is true in your particular case, Bravo! However, I would be interested to hear believers make a case for why all of you are allowed to hide among the folds of the same skirt? I am truly curious if a convincing case might be made to except religion from our basic societal contracts without imputing blame on one's own doctrine? Is it possible to carve out the worms from the apple while leaving the sweet bits intact? Could it be that, silence in the believer community suggests a nagging feeling that all are involved in marketing a defective product?<br />
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**Note**<br />
Proselytizing religions have a special responsibility in this arena. It is arguable that those who are not involved in marketing their views to non-members should not be held to the same standard. At least on this question.<br />
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For those who do not care for, or are not fulfilled by, the comedic approach employed by Mr. Oliver, I would offer the following.<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKdZT7r2-RY" target="_blank">For the eggheads and high brows...</a><br />
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JFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00062831312812705977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308596680580797803.post-20857702220290807482019-08-31T13:35:00.000-07:002019-08-31T13:35:26.029-07:00It rhymes!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: small;">Humpty-Trumpty sat on a big wall.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">There he’d scowl & do little else at all,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">He’d burnish his ego or watch his reflection</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">And hope to evade any criminal detection.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Or line his bottomless pockets with ill-gotten cash.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Or proclaim he cared for things other than his stash.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">He’d call on his posse to give him more strokes</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">While making shit up and fleecing the blokes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">He was supreme in his bloated self-confidence</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">As he’d never faced a day’s worth of consequence.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">They say he had more money than even the Gods</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">While most of his followers were simply poor sods.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">He might’ve kept on as a playboy & bunghole supreme</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">But the narcissistic twat had a crazy-ass dream.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">He got on the ticket for president (or, perhaps, a king)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">And that was the start of some very very bad things…</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Soon he was quite a big fish in quite a small bowl.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The negative attention took a most annoying toll.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">From the beginning, he had distain for the job.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Even with all the power, he was still such a knob.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Many hoped the office would round out the holder.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">But the weight only sloped his pampered shoulders.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">He walked with head held high, and right on cue</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">But he was just a loser with TP on his shoe.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Was Humpty-Trumpty an Adonis, an egg-head?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Or just a scammer who’d made his own bed?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">To his millions of supporters and me and you-</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">for Humpty-Trumpty, we were all the TP on his shoe.</span></div>
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JFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00062831312812705977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308596680580797803.post-40653252481087585232019-08-31T11:19:00.000-07:002019-08-31T11:26:32.841-07:00Feeling a bit nauseated lately?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Click for the story:<br />
<a href="https://www.businessinsider.my/spies-react-trump-g7-summit-russian-asset-2019-8/" target="_blank">Our own intelligence people are worried about Trump</a><br />
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Our country is swirling around the drain. Those who think America is somehow immune from the fate that has claimed many other great civilizations, should either read up on some history or ask an historian. You can take my word for it, with little prompting, historians and history buffs will happily tell you more than you wanted to know.<br />
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It is way past Trump now. Those who have enabled and/or aided this president's criminality (Republican Congress members and others) are now co-conspirators and they lack any plausible defense.<br />
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Congressional Republicans, and the wealthy cohorts who fund them, now comprise a lawless gang. They have sold out this country, whether by their actions or their silence.<br />
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JFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00062831312812705977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308596680580797803.post-77068534387803517172019-08-31T10:39:00.004-07:002019-08-31T11:44:31.151-07:00Demoralizing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I could not say it better.<br />
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<a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/08/demoralizing-reality-of-life-under-trump.html" target="_blank">Wounded psyche?</a><br />
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JFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00062831312812705977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308596680580797803.post-62652668148146487482019-08-02T09:24:00.000-07:002019-08-02T09:24:23.623-07:00What we believe<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;">***Catholics in specific and Christians in general you are hereby offered a trigger warning. I highly recommend you go find a cute cat video or football highlight video to watch. Seriously, you won't like it.***</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I had been thinking about the things we believe or profess to believe. We most certainly includes me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">While rolling ideas around the old brainpan, I suddenly had a mental picture which I wanted to share.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiSVPX0C0uzv5LgMvNFMk78OEkOnCIalyiqoU45iEIq0VvvR84qCT6vgivgt5quvUrYNqMHFlu5LuAva5JPbhT7bCK7cGexGRkeP0Qa-2ST8wfhJtrqssZT4LYWIEsiGusrxIzbjede0Y/s1600/original_mary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="426" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiSVPX0C0uzv5LgMvNFMk78OEkOnCIalyiqoU45iEIq0VvvR84qCT6vgivgt5quvUrYNqMHFlu5LuAva5JPbhT7bCK7cGexGRkeP0Qa-2ST8wfhJtrqssZT4LYWIEsiGusrxIzbjede0Y/s640/original_mary.jpg" width="425" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I assert that, if asked, almost every woman and most men (regardless of religious affiliation or lack thereof) would agree with the statement at the top of the image. However, when we are faced with the ultimate example of a power differential, what do we believe?</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Let's consider this. We have a young lady (we would likely consider her a girl by today's standards) who is living a very basic existence with little or no education at a time when the average person didn't understand the world was round and thought diseases were caused by demons or the displeasure of the gods. Thus, with all due respect to Mary, we can safely assume she was not a sophisticate or a scholar. In fact, if she'd been the most sophisticated educated woman in the world, how much would she have understood about the world at that time? </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now things get really dicey. A member of the 'holy trinity' visits her and tells her he will impregnate her and that her child will be special in all the world. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I suggest nobody in her right mind would argue that Mary had the ability to give informed consent. Well, except for those inculcated to believe in this particular canon.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Obviously, I understand that the believer will clap back with some version of, "it's God and he can do as he wishes" or "God works in mysterious ways" etc. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">And, no, I do not expect to change their minds. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">My intent is to challenge thoughts/beliefs. Why? Because challenging beliefs is how we evolve superior beliefs. Therefore, m</span><span style="font-size: large;">y retort is simple. Those who hold these beliefs are welcome to continue. That said, according to my calculation, they are holding their fellow humans to a higher standard than their deity. </span></div>
JFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00062831312812705977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1308596680580797803.post-51428915220278193892019-03-20T14:30:00.002-07:002019-03-20T14:36:46.051-07:00The Right Question<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: , , , ".sfnstext-regular" , sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">Most days my assumption is, we are not even asking the right questions. So, one reasonably wonders, what is the right question? The right question is WTF? On what do I base that seemingly cavalier assertion? I'm so glad you asked (click): <a href="http://www.ecology.com/population-estimates-year-2050/" target="_blank">Historical Population</a></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Is it any wonder that I claim Climate Change isn't at the bottom of the Modern Ills Pyramid. Oh sure, it is hugely important and anything we can do to blunt its effects is likely worth doing. That said, we are still whistling-past-the-graveyard unless we also confront the facts about over population. The same is true for many of our other problems. They all trace back to this basic fact; too many humans are vying for the same finite resources of this planet.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Concurrent with that sad fact, is the little situation we have with many our fellow humans failing to move forward out of their bronze age belief systems to face the reality of the twenty first century. I know, that sounded rather harsh. But keep in mind, if the predictions of our best minds are even close to accurate, the near future will be way harsher. So, by all means, (my beloved believers) keep the endearing traditions that warm the heart and bind people to their ancestors but, for the love of Cthulu, lose the other, less helpful, baggage. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">It is clear to any reasonable human willing to absorb the facts that we can not persist in procreating like the earth had infinite space and resources. </span></div>
JFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00062831312812705977noreply@blogger.com0