Alarming News: I like Morgan Freeberg. A lot.
American Digest: And I like this from "The Blog That Nobody Reads", because it is -- mostly -- about me. What can I say? I'm on an ego trip today. It won't last.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: We were following a trackback and thinking "hmmm... this is a bloody excellent post!", and then we realized that it was just part III of, well, three...Damn. I wish I'd written those.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: ...I just remembered that I found a new blog a short while ago, House of Eratosthenes, that I really like. I like his common sense approach and his curiosity when it comes to why people believe what they believe rather than just what they believe.
Brutally Honest: Morgan Freeberg is brilliant.
Dr. Melissa Clouthier: Morgan Freeberg at House of Eratosthenes (pftthats a mouthful) honors big boned women in skimpy clothing. The picture there is priceless--keep scrolling down.
Exile in Portales: Via Gerard: Morgan Freeberg, a guy with a lot to say. And he speaks The Truth...and it's fascinating stuff. Worth a read, or three. Or six.
Just Muttering: Two nice pieces at House of Eratosthenes, one about a perhaps unintended effect of the Enron mess, and one on the Gore-y environ-movie.
Mein Blogovault: Make "the Blog that No One Reads" one of your daily reads.
The Virginian: I know this post will offend some people, but the author makes some good points.
Poetic Justice: Cletus! Ah gots a laiv one fer yew...
Via Rottweiler, we find out Christopher Hitchens underwent waterboarding. Hitchens then decided waterboarding must be torture, because he doesn’t like it. He then seizes on an interesting argument against it:
It opens a door that cannot be closed. Once you have posed the notorious “ticking bomb” question, and once you assume that you are in the right, what will you not do? Waterboarding not getting results fast enough? The terrorist’s clock still ticking? Well, then, bring on the thumbscrews and the pincers and the electrodes and the rack.
That’s a great point, Hitch. Let’s turn it around. You aren’t willing to use thumbscrews and pincers and electrodes and rack because you don’t want to “open doors,” so you don’t waterboard either.
How bad does a looming disaster have to be, then, before you consider doing something?
Your rhetorical was good; mine was better. In fact, I have an even better one — your concern is opening the doors, who opened this one? Them, or us?
I notice something about these two words: “Torture,” and “Constitution.” These words do not seem to mean what people want me to think they mean, when they use them in my presence. By paying close attention to what’s going on as these words have popped up — and I’m not that bright about this stuff, so they’ve had to pop up a whole lot during that time, but don’t worry because they certainly have — I’ve finally figured out what’s happening here.
Me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me and me.
I, me, we, I, me.
“Torture” is torture when it’s something I don’t want to have done to me.
You have broken the “Constitution” when you do something I don’t think you should be doing.
Most of the people throwing around the T-word have no meaning in mind beyond the one above; most of the people throwing around the C-word have no meaning in mind beyond the one above. What is above, most of the time, is all there is. And that’s a fact.
These are children who grew up into adulthood, having never done anything they didn’t want to do. And now they’re re-defining our words for us, words that already have meaning…or are supposed to. But not to worry too much about Hitchens and the T-word; he ultimately redeemed himself by inspiring Stoaty to give it a new definition that was more to the Rottweiler’s liking, as well as my own. Torture is…
…any experience so horrible that no-one would consider trying it out simply for the purpose of writing a Vanity Fair article about what it’s like.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Ooooh. Ghee LIKE that definition of the “T” word.
Plus, as to the discussion of the “T” & “C” words — it brings to mind Inigo Montoya’s little expression:
- philmon | 07/03/2008 @ 13:07