sheer potentiality

A lot of people arguing to justify torture are arguing that torture is necessary in order to protect our civilization from a terrorist threat. What they are missing is something I consider a far more important point: why does our civilization deserve to survive? The greatest achievement of American civilization is, by far, individual rights. We are the first people to found a nation based upon ideals of democracy and individual freedom. Our civilization is at no greater risk from the terrorists than we were from the British at our outset, and yet we did not torture the British. Our civilization is at no greater risk from the terrorists than we were from the Nazis, yet we did not torture German troops. But even assuming we were facing a threat that absolutely necessitated torture, this still leaves an important question unanswered. To become a civilization that engages in torture, widescale espionage against our own people, and arbitrary imprisonments *without* the right for those imprisoned and tortured to contest their treatment in court would be a significant betrayal of the founding principles of our civilization. We are a nation of laws, checks, and balances, in which no group is given unchecked power and in which significant human rights are recognized. To betray these principles is treason. For years, our civilization placed itself at the peril of absolute destruction in order to prevail over fascism and communism simply because the fascists and communists engaged in the very tactics that we are now adopting. For those of you serving in the military: your predecessors fought and died on the shores of Normandy, the islands of the Pacific, the streets and fields of western Germany and France, the frozen wilderness of the Chosin Reservoir, and the jungles of Vietnam in order to preserve civilizations where people were not tortured or imprisoned at the whim of their leaders. How dare you betray them by allowing your own civilization to become the very evil they fought to destroy?

You also claim that torture is an effective means of interrogation—in other words, that torture elicits useful information. It is interesting, then, to note that coercive interrogation techniques are generally considered ineffective by almost everyone who’s seriously studied the question. For instance: Somebody placed under torture does not necessarily tell the truth; they tell you what you want to hear so you stop torturing them. If you capture and torture an innocent person by accident, they will confess to being a terrorist and invent whatever details they think will convince the interrogator. I think a lot of what motivates torture isn’t the belief or the hope that torture will be effective. Rather, the motivation appears to be a bit more primal than that. Simply put, “the terrorists” murdered 3,000 Americans five years ago, and you want revenge. I don’t blame anyone for feeling that way, but we are intelligent human beings, and one of our responsibilities as such is to recognize our primitive urges for what they are instead of trying to rationalize them. What in essence is happening in this country is that, out of fear, we are abandoning our principles in order to satisfy primal urges. We are abandoning our humanity.

On instant messenger today:

Philip Welch: I have a prediction.
Mike Klein: Predict on.
Philip Welch: The Democrats will win the 2006 elections and take control of the House and potentially the Senate.
Mike Klein: What effect will this have on my life?
Philip Welch: The news will become a more reliable source of entertainment.
Mike Klein: Good answer.

I’m starting a new political movement. It’s called “Prohibition is over, so give it up, you dorks!”Our goal is the privitization of liquor stores.

Sure, back when Prohibition was the status quo, it seemed like a good compromise. “OK, alcohol is legal, but you can only buy hard alcohol at state owned liquor stores.” I can easily see them doing the same thing now with marijuana—legalizing possession, but requiring you to buy it only from licensed locations or state-owned stores. But today, state liquor stores are just a strange historical artifact. I propose that we preserve one state liquor store in each state as a museum to Prohibition and its historical consequences, set up the rest to operate as private businesses, and allow others to compete with the newly-privatized liquor stores.

In the pluralistic society that is the United States, where people of differing cultures and religions can all celebrate—and share—their traditions, it is perhaps natural that specific references to any one religion are scaled back. My prospective employer, who I’m interviewing with in March, sent me a card wishing “every happiness this holiday season”. My view, for what it’s worth, is that this is natural and to be expected. Wishing someone “happy holidays” is not a threat to those person’s beliefs. For all they know, I’m Jewish—wishing me a “merry Christmas” might be a faux pas to avoid. Or perhaps I’m a practicing Muslim. As it stands, I’m an atheist, but I figure that Christmas is a secular holiday anyway. I treat Christmas as a celebration of capitalism, not a celebration of Christ. We buy gifts for one another to celebrate our ability, as people living in a wealthy capitalist society, to expend economic resources not only on unneeded items, but on unneeded items for other people.

But not everyone sees things as I do. An irritatingly large number of right-wing Christians—and make no mistake: the religious right, for all their ranting about “Judeo-Christian values”, have no concern for the Jews or their values—have decided that there is only room for one culture and one religious tradition in our society. This is the reason for all the whining about “happy holidays”. These people want to exterminate every competing holiday just so they can feel more comfortable wishing everyone a “merry Christmas”. And it’s not enough that it’s the happy secular Christmas that most of us celebrate. No, it has to be a consciously religious Christmas that’s focused not on our society’s prosperity, not on family and friends, not on bringing people together in celebration during the darkest days of winter, but rather on the birth of a mythical god-man who was not even born in late December to begin with. (As an aside: why celebrate it in late December then? The pagans always had celebrations in late December, so the Christians decided to co-opt these celebrations during their rise as the predominant religion in Europe, and in this fashion, they succeeded in destroying every other cultural and religious tradition.)

The most popular right-wing Christian tactic by far is to cloak their attempts at cultural domination in a flurry of complaints that they, themselves, are being persecuted. True, these people do control the entire federal government, a large number of mostly Southern states, and the Kansas State Board of Education, but let’s set that aside for now. I’m going to quote one of these simpletons so we can see who these paranoid schizophrenics think they’re being oppressed by. This is a quote by John Gibson, of Fox News Channel, in his book The War on Christmas: How the Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Christian Holiday Is Worse Than You Thought. Allow me to clarify this: this following quote is something that John Gibson didn’t just say off the cuff, he wrote it down, probably keeping it on his PC for weeks, even months, before submitting it to a publisher so hundreds of thousands of books could be printed with this statement. So let’s presume, for a moment, that the following exact quote expresses the genuine sentiments of John Gibson:

The wagers of this war on Christmas are a cabal of secularists, so-called humanists, trial lawyers, cultural relativists, and liberal, guilt-wracked Christians - not just Jewish people.

Source

Most of us can plainly see what’s wrong with this statement, but since it’s a well-established fact that right-wing Christians are idiots (exhibit A: “intelligent design”), let me point it more clearly. According to Gibson, it’s pretty well established that the Jews are after you, so you don’t even have to accuse them directly. To John Gibson, there is no honest disagreement or difference of opinion here. Contrary to popular belief, Jewish people don’t want you to wish them a “merry Christmas” because they don’t celebrate it—it’s because they’re just going out of their way to wage a war on it! This is a rather stunning claim, but the scary thing is that Gibson doesn’t just make this claim. He makes it as an aside, devoting the main thrust of his argument to attacking other groups. These groups, similarly, don’t have an honest difference of opinion about the issue. Nope, all these secularists and trial lawyers are in a “cabal” with the Jews to persecute the god-fearing Christians out there!

If it doesn’t scare the shit out of you that views like this are popular in this country, you need to read some more history.

I just had an interesting IM conversation regarding Guantanamo Bay, which on this date in 1903, was leased to the United States:

Mike Klein: On this date in 1903, Guantanamo Bay was “perpertually leased” to the US.
Mike Klein: Isn’t that just like buying?
Philip Welch: haha
Philip Welch: not quite
Philip Welch: Cuba retained ownership, but the US has everything else
Mike Klein: What does “ownership” mean, then?
Mike Klein: do we pay cuba?
Philip Welch: we might
Philip Welch: hey, you’re the lawyer here!
Philip Welch: I do have another question about that, though.
Mike Klein: go on…
Philip Welch: The terms of the agreement state that Guantanamo Bay can only be ceded back to Cuba by mutual agreement or by American abandonment
Philip Welch: Doesn’t that mean that Guantanamo Bay can only be ceded back to Cuba when the US says so?
Mike Klein: Yes, of course.
Philip Welch: I mean, it doesn’t matter what Cuba thinks.
Mike Klein: No, it doesn’t.
Mike Klein: Ingenious!
Philip Welch: The “mutual agreement” bit is pretty much redundant.
Philip Welch: with the Guantanamo Bay treaty
Mike Klein: what the US says goes
Philip Welch: the clause that it goes back to Cuba by mutual agrreement between Cuba and the US
Philip Welch: is redundant
Mike Klein: really, cuba doesn’t own it anymore.
Mike Klein: if the US pays rent, would failure to pay rent be “abandonment”?
Mike Klein: i don’t think so
Mike Klein: so if we pay rent, we shouldn’t be
Philip Welch: we pay 2,000 gold coins per year
Philip Welch: which is slightly more than $4,000
Mike Klein: but why?
Philip Welch: Fidel Castro refuses to cash the rent checks
Mike Klein: are you being serious?
Philip Welch: he views the base as illegitimate
Philip Welch: the US has “complete jurisdiction and control” while Cuba has “ultimate soveriegnty”
Mike Klein: What does “ultimate sovereignty” mean?
Philip Welch: is it just me, or does this sound like a pair of six year olds making up names for magic powers that are supposed to be more powerful than each other?
Philip Welch: “Yeah, well *I* have complete jurisdiction and control?”
Philip Welch: “Oh yeah? Well *I* have ULTIMATE SOVEREIGNTY!”
Mike Klein: No, it sounds like the US making some Cuban schmuck think he’s not giving away the farm
Philip Welch: haha
Philip Welch: actually, Guantanamo Bay has one unique advantage, since it isn’t US soil, hypothetically, the government could set up a concentration camp there and not be subject to US law
Philip Welch: oh, wait
Philip Welch: shit

I felt like making a political statement today:

Spread it around if you want, but link/credit me, please.

Many people, myself included, believed that the intelligence indicating that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and ties to al-Qaeda was simply made up, that there was no actual evidence and Bush lied us into war for whatever reason. It seems that we were wrong. Our Administration wasn’t lying, they were duped by Iran, according to the Guardian.

This is old news, but important news, because the US media hasn’t quite picked it up yet. In any case, for those of you unwilling to RTFA, a lot of the intelligence about Iraq that the Administration was acting upon came from the Iraqi National Congress, a group of expatriate Iraqis based in the UK.

It is increasingly becoming clear that the INC got the intelligence from none other than Iranian intelligence in a misinformation plot that managed to bring the United States at war with Iraq to satisfy Iranian foreign policy goals. Not only would Saddam Hussein, Iran’s old enemy, be out of power, but Iraq would be in a perfect situation for Shi’ite clerics to take over Iraq and establish a theocratic Shi’ite state. Being a theocratic Shi’ite state itself, Iran would undoubtedly view this as a positive outcome. In the meantime, American forces are stuck in Iraq, leading to an increasing discrediting of the United States in the Middle East.

Say what you will about Clinton, but he was never the dupe of foreign spies.

I would just like to note that June 4, which is this very day in most parts of the world, including China, is the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. On this day in 1989, up to 2,600 peaceful student protesters were murdered by the Chinese Red Army. It seems appropriate today to honor those who valued their freedom and the freedom of China as they valued their own lives.

Spring Semester Classes
I’m taking 19 credits this semester, down from the 22 I wanted to take, but up from the 15 I took last semester. I couldn’t take 22 because the generous financiers of my college education, i.e. my parents, refused to pay for the extra credits. Well, it is more economical to take less credits at once, at least if you believe, as my parents do, that time is not money. In any case, let me summarize my classes below.

GenEd 111: Many of you are aware of my bitching about GenEd last semester. So I switch professors. This one allows laptops in class. That is an improvement. Unfortunately, he’s the most irritating man I’ve ever meant. Please don’t take offense when I say this, because there’s no other way to say it: he acts in a sterotypically flamboyant homosexual manner, which is rather distracting and annoying. I don’t hold people’s lifestyle choices against them, let me remind you, but my god, is it an annoying mannerism. He also takes forever to explain simple points. I wish he would just shut up and lecture. World Civilizations is fascinating. The professors, at least so far, suck.
Math 202: The sequel to last semester’s class. Same professor. Awesome as usual.
Phil 101: Philosophy! Interesting class. We do a philosophical reading and discuss it in class, basically. Those of you who know me really really well know that this means I love this class.
B Law 210: Business Law. Dear GOD is it confusing! A hell of a lot to remember! Those of you aware of my flirtations with anarchist theories (I can’t help it! I just read Spooner and really got caught up in it!) will probably guess that the little anarchist in me is revolted by the whole thing, as if I was taking a class on…well, anything you find utterly reprehensible, I suppose. But I’m keeping the anarchist under control, and starting to take a genuine interest in the class.
Econ 102: Macroeconomics is nothing to get too excited about.
German 102: It’s a language class, what do you expect? I suppose it’s a bit stressful for me though, because I have to speak German! To other people! Anyone here who’s aware of how apprehensive I am about even speaking English to other people have some idea what it’s like.

Work
I got a job at Student Computing Services as a “Student Technology Consultant”. This is a fancy term they use for a lab monitor and tech support monkey. Please call technical support. It makes me feel important.

Other
I would like to take this opportunity to point out to everyone that Wesley Clark is the other war criminal wanting to be elected President in 2004.

Today, I think, was one of the greatest days in history. I was very happy, as I imagine most of us were, seeing Iraqis cheering in the streets of Baghdad. Whatever you may think of the war, the fact that millions of people who were once suffering under one of the most brutal regimes on earth will soon live free will be welcomed by almost everyone. Everyone, of course, except for Saddam and his family (if they are alive), Ba’ath party loyalists, and the Iraqi information minister. I will miss the Iraqi information minister. Anyone with the ability to insist, with a straight face, that the US military is trapped when they are delivering one of the greatest routs in history, is someone who will be sorely missed. He is like the man who builds a house, carpets the area outside the four walls and keeps the area inside grassy, and declares he has the rest of the world trapped inside his house.

In response to the comments some of you have posted, I like to keep my blog on a two-tiered level. If I start posting comments to comments, people will eventually post comments to comments to comments, and it would be an annoying message board, instead of a blog with comments. So, I’ll respond to your comments here in the main blog.

To unanymous: Okay, you were a bit harsh the first time, but with your second post, I’m starting to see what you were trying to say. I certainly agree people can change. I’ve changed quite a bit. I’m a high school senior right now. If you can’t stand me now, you wouldn’t want to meet the person I was freshman year, or even sophmore year. I wouldn’t want to meet those people either. I’m going to change my life. And you know what? When I go to college next year, I think that will be my best opportunity to do that.

And I totally know what you mean when you say, “The only ones I don’t accept are the ones that resemble whom I once was. I hated myself!”. I’ve been in the same situation, meeting people who resembled who I once was.

I’ve never posted this on here, but I was actually once treated and medicated for depression. I took Zoloft for a number of years. What happened? It destroyed my ability to concentrate. I could block out the entire world for hours and concentrate on one thing once. I can still do it, but it’s a lot harder now. And I was still depressed! Drugs, legal or not, do not help you.

Now I go back and forth between depression and happiness. I think I’m overall more emotional than normal, because I think all my emotions–happiness, anger, depression, even fear–are rather strong. However, oddly enough, I’m also a very logical person, and my emotions don’t cloud my judgment (usually).

And by the way, I love Star Trek too, even though Enterprise is a disaster. Kirk, Picard, Sisko, and Janeway all had an air of firm authority about them. Archer? Archer is who we’d end up with if we put a French diplomat as the first starship captain. And I’m not even going into continuity issues. But I still like the rest of Trek. You know you’re a Trekkie when you genuinely enjoy William Shatner’s acting :)

Thanks for the comments. Even if you can’t stand me, it’s good to know that my blog has some regular readers.