Trump Can't Play the Victim Card When He's Been Encouraging Political Violence All Along.

 

Let's NOT forget HOW we got to this point, while condemning the assassination attempt.

Political violence as an acceptable means has been repeatedly endorsed by Trump and many of his cohorts and supporters. Let's see if prez Biden says he loves the shooter, that there are "good people on both sides." Or whether the president can order to take Trump out..... Of course, this will be an "official act" as per SCOTUS. He can also pardon anyone, and can free the "hostages" ....those who may be arrested in taking Trump out.

 

Obviously, I am NOT serious about any official or unofficial act that uses violence to achieve a political goal. But those on the fascist right who have been using dehumanizing language and threats for revenge, and hunt Dems, and, and... must be held accountable. We, on the progressive side, would strike anyone off any list of potential leaders if they bragged about shooting someone on Fifth Avenue and be proud that they'd not lose any support... Tsk.

 

Actually I want Trump to be alive to experience another humiliating defeat [if the Dems get their act together and choose another prez candidate] in this election. I'm looking forward to enjoying watching Trump face justice in the months after the election. I'm enjoying how Trump's lawyer and buddy, Giuliani is going down.

Ricky Gervais: Beliefs Don't Change the Facts, Facts Should Change Beliefs. Happy Festivus!

I've been caught up with lots of work as this year is coming to an end, or as some of us are looking for a new light on December 21st when the winter solstice takes place and the days begin to get longer.

New York is bracing for a big snow storm over the weekend, so we will, most likely, have white xmas. Over at Faux News they're obsessed with white Jesus and white Santa, because, hey, you've got to respect the facts and history as we like it. Megyn Kelly is another conservative ignorant puppet. When she took Hannity's slot some said she was not as rabid. Yes, amid the nonsense, the willful distortions, and cranking of the propaganda megaphone, she had acknowledged a few facts here and there. Like when she called Ohio for Obama in 2012 after everyone else had done except Karl Rove. Wow. Maybe she should be given some kind of award for this!

The documentary, The Unbelievers, opens in NYC on Friday, on a very limited schedule in a few cities. I've seen bits of the Dawkins-Krauss tour around the world promoting the scientific view and pounding ignorance & prejudice. "Beliefs don't change the facts, facts should change beliefs," as Ricky Gervais is quoted.

Of course you've heard of the newest fake holiday, Festivus, but like xmas, Santa and his elves, Kwanza, Saturnalia, etc, people should be free to celebrate, create meaningful events and ceremonies without the state (government) discriminating or favoring one over the other. In the rotunda of the Florida state capitol--where the legislature designated it as a public space--now stands a Festivus pole made out of pvc plastic and empty beer cans!  I love it. [Here's the NPR story] Oh, and there's a pending application from a Satanic cult to put up something next to the nativity scene!  The Wicka should also be represented. I think the Greeks in Florida should set up shop there too. Zeus has been so maligned and ignored. It's a shame that the god of gods who presided over the birth of western civilization not be part of every public worship display.

Christopher Hitchens is Up in Heaven Now **

 "Great voice against cant, against hypocrisy, against obscurantism and pretension, against all tyrants including God." Richard Dawkins

I don't know if it's bravery or simply intellectual honesty, but when a person is confronted with his own immediate destruction and doesn't seek false comfort, I think there's something to be admired. Christopher Hitchens eventually succumbed to cancer last Thursday, and our community is grieving the loss of a brilliant fighter against bigotry, intolerance, indoctrination, stupidity, and totalitarianism. But, he had a life of wonder, and I think he fully enjoyed it, as he put it, he burned the candle at both ends.

Hitch was not timid in attacking the fake, the unreasonable, and even the popular. What I like the most was his sharp wit, great reasoning and the knowledge on the subjects he talked about. I read his books, and watched his many debates and interviews, and read faithfully his essays. That's his legacy, though it would have been nice to have had him around for a while longer.

When once was asked why he was so forceful against religion and many popular icons, he responded by saying he does it for love! He said he loved freedom, the individual, education, a civil life, but there are those who hate what he loved so he had no choice but to fight back. So do we!

Incredulity and fear are promoted by the elites and those who want to maintain their special status. Especially fear--everybody feels and knows fear--because it motivates people while altering their reality. But, the teaching of ignorance by all religions is what needs to be addressed, and a voice like Hitchens' had one of the best polemical voices.

A Matter of Faith

In the US democracy today, no one can run for an important position without professing their strong faith--even if such faith holds truly crazy stuff, as in the case of Mormon, Scientology, etc.. In other words, leaders find it politically advantageous to proudly declare that they can suspend reason and discard evidence! 

If a belief is part of a person's identity, then it's very hard to even critically evaluate it--it becomes faith. Confirmation bias is the method by which someone accepts ideas and images in their heads if they're not interested in amendments. Society and culture play an important role in enforcing norms and beliefs as well. Strong challenges aren't welcomed, since they question the validity of fundamental beliefs.

Here's a sample of Hitchens' argument against religion as he debates Chris Hedges:

 

Which knowledge is more reliable?

Of course, the answer should be obvious, yet it isn't to everyone. Soothing, comforting, and easily-understood beliefs may be preferable to uncertainty or to a reality that's harsher than a person can accept. But, we must keep the dialog, and, yes, polemical debates going.  Through thoughtful discussions, exchange of ideas, and the scientific method we can understand more about ourselves and the universe. Even morality should be based on a thought out process, free from the tribal superstitions of the writers of the "holy" books.

Religion, its manifestations, and its privileged status was a target of Hitchens. He was an important figure among those who questioned revealed knowledge. I often point out that fear should not be the cause for accepting something or even acting morally. A person's own volition, a thoughtful act, kindness, charity, compassion, and morality shouldn't be based on the altar of bargaining, punishment, and terror.

Just in Time for the Holidays

I watched the following video a few days ago, and I've been pondering how to present it here as it's extremely disturbing. It's a demonstration of mindless belief and how religion (faith) can make good people do horrible things to others, including children. Belief without evidence and reason is extremely dangerous, especially when it involves how others are treated. 


A totalitarian, absolute ruler of the universe, who created all the heavens and earth, and humans, and viruses, and diseases, and natural catastrophes, who cares how we think (yes, there's ..thought crime), how we dress, what we eat, how we have sex, and tells us to kill (obviously the followers of the wrong gods), this supernatural entity must be given credit for everything--the good and the bad.

Of course, I've heard about "free will" and the (bad) choices humans make, but assuming bad things happen to people who deserve it, why do bad things happen to babies, or little children who haven't had the chance to exercise their free will? Hitchens spent his last days in a hospital part of a medical center whose tallest tower was a reminder of, at the very least, a God who doesn't care. It's a hospital for children with cancer!

David Hume [The Problem of Evil] put it succinctly : Is God able but not willing? Then he's no moral. Is God willing but not able? Then he's no god. Why God is so apocryphal? Like Hitch put it, millions of humans for thousands of years died in pain, agony, fear, ignorance, etc. Everywhere, from the Americas to Australia. Then the Heavens decide to intervene by telling a few Bronze-age tribal people living in obscurity that there's a true God.  And, for hundreds of years no one else on Earth knew about it. So, people kept dying in ignorance.

I don't know, an infinite entity with all the wisdom would at least have told the tribes to wash their hands. Or, at the very least, not have created the germs, viruses, diseases, etc, to torture the humans he made out of his own image. There's a water-born worm in Africa that's responsible for blinding millions of children (and adults) in the continent. It enters the eyeball of the victim and eats it from the inside out. But, for the rest, we have butterflies and rainbows to marvel at, praise God.

**(From the title of this post). This is the explanation, and it's based on Kurt Vonnegut's joke.

Those Who Prefer Pretending & Wilful Ignorance Are Doing a Disservice to Our Country

So, I had my suspicions before but didn't want to know that my girlfriend was cheating on me. However, the love letters now came out and, yes, she was cheating on me. I'm very upset about this. I really didn't want to know and didn't want to confront reality. I preferred to keep my innocence and willful ignorance. I'm also very embarrassed, because the world knows about the violation of my trust. How can I face the world today? At least up to now I could pretend everything was fine and deny the rumors!....

Anyway, in the news these days, the proof about torture is indisputable. Yet, the problem conservatives see is the telling not the crime! Horrors! It's not about the torture it's about being told our government lied to us regarding torture. Conservatives see this revelation as embarrassing and another proof that Obama is weaking American standing the world. Wait! This is bizarro world. It's not about the actual violation of human rights, the law of the land, and ethics, it's about being told about the cheating, er, the crime? Wow!

They knew and approved of torture!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
We Don't Torture
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Torture is delivering punishment before someone is found guilty in a court of law! What does it say about the country of laws? Obama wrong when he says there will be no punishment for those who violated the law, ethics, and human decency. We should make an example of those who broke the law. Following orders isn't a good defense when it comes to human rights violations. How about those who authorized torture? How about those, like former AG Alberto Gonzales and John Yoo, both of whom tried to re-define non-torture as anything that doesn't kill or destroys a major body organ! Pulling fingernails out or cutting off fingers woud not be torture according to these criminals.

Torture doesn't work, our experts know this; but even if it worked occasionally, we can't make a practice out of an exception! Our legal principle is to safeguard the innocent even if this means some guilty persons will go free. We don't admit confessions from torture in a court of law. Surely, if we put every arrested person under torture, we could obtaim more confessions... good or bad, real or imaginary facts.

I hear those who say waterboarding isn't torture, but this is not a very good defense since we prosecuted and executed Japanese soldiers & officers because they had waterboarded our own POWs.


At least, Congress hopefully can impeach a federal judge, Jay Bybee, who in the Bush administration authorized torture. Last week, President Obama released four Bush-era legal memos authorizing torture. The earliest one, from 2002, was signed by Jay Bybee, then an Assistant Attorney General and now a federal judge on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. In the memo, Bybee authorized CIA interrogators to, among other techniques:

• --Slam a detainee's head against a wall: "any pain experienced is not of the intensity associated with serious physical injury."
• -- Slap a detainee's face: "The facial slap does not produce pain that is difficult to endure."
• -- Place a detainee into stress positions: "They simply involve forcing the subject to remain in uncomfortable positions."
• -- Waterboard a detainee: "The waterboard...inflicts no pain or actual harm whatsoever."

These techniques are illegal by U.S. statute and international treaty to which the U.S. is a signatory. Bybee attempted to give legal cover to illegal acts, and thus broke the ethical, professional, and legal standards that should govern lawyers.
And, if you care to see a demonstration--under controlled circumstances where the subject has control as to when to stop this procedure--watch this video:

UPDATE 5/22

I see that some are trying to make the argument for torture on the grounds that is effective and it has kept the country safe since 9-11. Great! Why don't we turn this country into a big holding cell whereas Big Brother will keep us safe no matter what it takes... Tsk.

Dying for Love.... Victims of Barbaric Customs [an update]

This is the update on the earlier (May 12, 2008) post here, Dying for Love.. There's a new tragic development.

The mother who defied the killers of her 17-year old daughter is herself murdered.

According to The Guardian: Five weeks ago Leila Hussein told The Observer the chilling story of how her husband had killed their 17-year-old daughter over her friendship with a British soldier in Basra. Now Leila, who had been in hiding, has been murdered - gunned down in cold blood. [click on the links for more info].

Women Should be Honored & Celebrated Every Day of the Year--With EQUAL RIGHTS--in a Humane & Free World

Domestic violence kills and injures more people in the developing world than war, cancer or traffic accidents

By looking at the condition of women in a given country, you can tell a great deal about that country--its economy, politics, and culture. On March 8th, some people observed the international Women's Day, I didn't, sort of. Any instance that brings attention to an important issue, I welcome, though I wonder if, on that day, there were any specific actions that may result in some positive change in the condition of women. I hope there were such actions, though I'm not sure. I have a problem when people become romantic just because it's Valentine's Day, or remember their mother because it's Mother's Day. I believe it has to be a way of life, an attitude to behave nicely, to be an enlightened person, to treat other human beings with respect and afford them dignity. Unfortunately, not every country is a liberal democracy [the only truly free society we know today], and many haven't arrived at the 21st century yet...

Even in the United States there are problems, not always limited to domestic violence against women, or job discrimination. There's human trafficking here too! Hard to believe, but it's true. [read more about it in this post on Pace Polity by Elizabeth]

UK's The Independent has a great article about the condition of women in the world today. The British government in cooperation with human rights groups have found some very disturbing facts:

• Two-thirds of the world's 800 million illiterate adults are women as girls are not seen as worth the investment, or are busy collecting water or firewood or doing other domestic chores.


• Two million girls aged from five to 15 join the commercial sex market every year.


• Domestic violence kills and injures more people in the developing world than war, cancer or traffic accidents.


• Seventy per cent of the world's poorest people are women.


• Violence against women causes more deaths and disabilities among women aged 15 to 44 than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents or war.


• Women produce half the world's food, but own less than two per cent of the land.


• Of the more than one billion people living in extreme poverty, 70 per cent are women.


• Almost a third of the world's women are homeless or live in inadequate housing.


• Half of all murdered women are killed by their current or former husbands or partners.


• Every minute a woman dies as a result of pregnancy complications.


• Women work two-thirds of the world's working hours, yet earn only a tenth of its income.


• One woman in three will be raped, beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime.


• 43 million girls are not able to go to school.


• Last year, one million HIV-positive women died of AIDS-related illnesses because they could not get the drugs they needed.


• Human Rights Watch, in reports on 15 countries including Afghanistan, Brazil, Morocco, Papua New Guinea, Togo and South Africa, has identified violence against schoolgirls, child domestic workers and those in conflict with the law as on the rise.


• Women across the developing world are the victims of systematic abuse.

I know that, in my lifetime, I won't see a world where true humanism and enlightenment are universally practiced, but for every life we change today, we can affect thousands in the future. Yes, every person can make a positive difference, big or small. Oscar Schindler saved about 1,200 human beings, who went on to have families, children, grandchildren, and so forth, for generations. I think it's rather basic, it's respect for human life, in the here & now, when it actually matters!

Women are our mothers. They deserve everything, and more, than we--the children, the men--enjoy today. It makes sense, it's good for the world, it's humane!

New Jersey Takes a Progressive Step in Legalizing Same-sex Unions

Marriage Meant Different Things in the Good Ol' Days--when Women were Considered Chattel

As expected, Gov. Corzine signed a law legalizing civil unions. New Jersey now joins Connecticut and Vermont as states that provide equal treatment for all of their citizens under the law. This is a great step forward, even though it shies away from calling a civil union by its true name, marriage! Of course, language is important, so I hope that the commission--which will be formed to study the effects & application of the new law--will find that the the words marriage, spouse, parents, should be extended to same-sex couples as well, and that the NJ Legislature will follow suit.

Several years ago when this issue first surfaced, I was of the opinion that winning the actual rights of marriage should be the primary aim; the language would follow as a de facto once full, equal rights were won. This is a socially conservative country, more so than other advanced countries. Even very Catholic Spain, for example, has recognized same-sex marriage. But, in the US, there's a totally different story. This is a very emotional issue for many Americans, so no argument solely based on reason can win the day. Yet, if certain language were to be put on hold until specific legal rights were to be won, I'd say this would be the way to go. Language would be easier to adjust once there would be a legal basis for it. I understand that the wrong language may create confusion and a re-creation of the "seperate but equal" status, but I believe it's easier to push for the same legal rights first without being distracted or delayed because of language. I don't see it as an "either-or" issue, I'm just thinking how to best achieve the same goal of total equality. Obtaining equal rights is essential and the strong foundation on which to built a greater understanding and acceptance by the community at large.

During a course I taught last semester, some of my students conducted interviews--primarily in Westchester, NY--about this issue, and a pattern emerged: the word marriage triggered emotional responses in rejecting it as an option for homosexual couples, while the civil unions term was more acceptable. "My marriage will be worthless if gays are allowed to marry," was a response shared by many older interviewees. This emotional response is not ..rational. Others' actions shouldn't invalidate what you do, but that's beside the point. Popular support is important in moving the country forward. Although most Americans oppose giving the full benefits of marriage to same-sex couples, the good news is that those under 30 are overwhelmingly in favor! Westchester County, for those of you not familiar with it, is a northern suburb of New York City, very affluent and treads Republican, but most conservatives in the Northeast would be considered very moderate (and unacceptable) in the very conservative states where Republicans rule today.

In the US there are several states that have passed or are in the process of passing constitutional amendments explicitly prohibiting marriage, civil unions, and spousal benefits for same-sex couples. Unless the (conservative) Supreme Court finds otherwise (very doubtful), marriage will remain in the realm of the states. I hope that more states join Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Vermont in giving long-awaited and rightful legal recognition to all citizens. This will demonstrate that doing so is not a threat to society. As a matter of fact, marriage has fared better in Massachusetts where there are fewer out-of-wedlock births, lower teenage abortion rates, and the lowest divorce rate in the country!


Now that the veep's daughter, Mary Cheney, is pregnant, will the socially conservatives realize that love is a good thing? Gays and lesbians are capable of loving just like anybody else. Mary Cheney has been with her lesbian partner for 15 years--much longer than many heterosexual couples--and their child will benefit from a loving relationship between his/her parents! I can't think of a good reason why Mary's partner shouldn't be recognized as a parent, and a legal spouse with all the rights and benefits the rest of us enjoy.

Darfur: The New Century's First Genocide. More to Come on October 1, Unless...

The Culture of Life Should be Universal

400,000 dead, 2.5 million displaced, 10,000 dying every month. Yes, I'm talking about human beings. Not much more to add. Just click on the links to learn all there's to know about this first genocide of the 21st century. Then do whatever you can to help, but at least add your voice to the cries for immediate help. And, take notes on who's listening so you can hold accountable the powers that be.

[A couple pictures I took at the rally to Save Darfur in NYC, 9/17/06]

Watch George Clooney's poignant testimony on the urgency of the Darfur situation. Also, this Clooney & Power interview.

Go to SaveDarfur.org to find out how you can help.

Be aware of the world around you. Many of the worst crimes take place because of people's apathy--that's why the government of Sudan & its allies have been killing with impunity.

A Darfur victim pictured (left). Unless the US, the UN, and the whole international community step in with peace-keeping forces by the end of this month, then, for those who care to watch, we'll witness wholesale murder, again. Read more on the Human Rights Watch site.

PS. Is this a reflection of our collective priorities? Media coverage of the ongoing genocide in Darfur has been woefully inadequate. The Center for American Progress found that during June 2005, CNN, FOX News, NBC/MSNBC, ABC, and CBS ran 50 times as many stories about Michael Jackson and 12 times as many stories about Tom Cruise as they did about the genocide in Darfur.

UPDATE, 9/19/06: I suppose it's good that President Bush appointed a special envoy to coordinate our response to this crisis. Except, the incompetence and patronage--two main characteristics of BushCo--are into play, again, despite the huge costs in human lives a possible failure in management may bring. Andrew Natsios is going to be this person to manage the Darfur situation. But, Natsios has proven himself as incompetent and corrupt. He "managed" the Big Dig in Boston--the most mismanaged public works project in US history! Yeah, he's the same person who told us that the Iraq reconstruction costs would be no more than $1.6 billion. Ignorance & incompetence are bad but applied ignorance & incompetence are worse because of the effect! I hope Natsios won't add to the series of deadly mistakes of BushCo regarding Darfur, but, sadly, I'm pessimistic.