tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76986162685184602272024-03-06T01:53:29.945-05:00Tortured Illogic"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
- William Pitt, the YoungerSeth Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12206653100499935990noreply@blogger.comBlogger519125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698616268518460227.post-10201683048156069952010-12-14T20:24:00.001-05:002010-12-14T20:24:50.230-05:00A link to WikiLeaksThe <a href="http://www.wikileaks.ch/">home page</a>Seth Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12206653100499935990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698616268518460227.post-92043027059189819552010-05-18T22:10:00.004-04:002010-05-18T22:22:08.725-04:00North Koreans to be blamed for sinking South Korean warship<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/19/world/asia/19korea.html?hpw">This </a>bears watching. If it turns out to be from a NK sub, this will be just the third sinking of a warship by a submarine since World War II. The others were an Indian frigate in 1971 and an Argentine cruiser in 1982.Seth Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12206653100499935990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698616268518460227.post-80040532396138396412010-05-04T13:53:00.005-04:002010-05-04T14:10:07.856-04:00The only thing wrong was that more of them weren't shot<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3G9mHDc9Hhs8_Fo9nwqUM9B71gdyFIpszLNNDtLnPXK65VngktnoUhOB18bsn0xWh-TWCgnQhxVLaudhfwbvrOyrONCS74bwPSjGU0XdrFNsv5ChgMzxpLPcGO0qTNtidh-Mh9iava68/s1600/Boston+Massacre.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 280px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3G9mHDc9Hhs8_Fo9nwqUM9B71gdyFIpszLNNDtLnPXK65VngktnoUhOB18bsn0xWh-TWCgnQhxVLaudhfwbvrOyrONCS74bwPSjGU0XdrFNsv5ChgMzxpLPcGO0qTNtidh-Mh9iava68/s320/Boston+Massacre.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467474793585255490" border="0" /></a><br />"The only thing that went wrong ... is that so many of the weren't shot"<br /><br />A quote by a British loyalist about the Boston Massacre? No, not quite. Actually a partial quote by an American commenter on<a href="http://bigjournalism.com/mwalsh/2010/05/04/forty-years-later-fresh-revelations-about-what-really-happened-at-kent-state/"> this</a> site.<br /><br /><br />The full quote:<br />"The only thing that went wrong at Kent is that so many of them WEREN'T shot. "<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6A3d0ofik0nDIwk3n6tOZducLiGTI8kxMTkMa722LxrWERAZ4-bowBNoIdCvCeqR5n3AQ6CbUbWTB9IuVmWXS-iapBR8oSTetoBMqbJcw8QINjMg6euRvr1Z-6eDVG_fyP7r3Qrn4D5s/s1600/kent_state_guardsmen.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 245px; height: 218px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6A3d0ofik0nDIwk3n6tOZducLiGTI8kxMTkMa722LxrWERAZ4-bowBNoIdCvCeqR5n3AQ6CbUbWTB9IuVmWXS-iapBR8oSTetoBMqbJcw8QINjMg6euRvr1Z-6eDVG_fyP7r3Qrn4D5s/s320/kent_state_guardsmen.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467478097018625074" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Yep, the only thing wrong is that more U.S. citizens exersing their First Amendment rights were not shot. Oh, and I suppose that extended to the bystanders such as ROTC student William Schoeder who was walking to class. It's a pity more people like him were not shot too, according to these people. Or so they say.<br /><br />There's an amazing number of people who will hold these two thoughts in their minds at the same time: The government will have to pry my weapons from my cold dead hand AND it's OK for the government to shoot down unarmed protesters because they were DFH and deserved it.Seth Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12206653100499935990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698616268518460227.post-627028278139280392010-04-29T17:54:00.002-04:002010-04-29T17:56:29.945-04:00Racial profilingA Native American professor recounts an unpleasant encounter with a police officer while driving.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2009/06/home-for-awhile-racial-profiling.html">http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2009/06/home-for-awhile-racial-profiling.html</a>Seth Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12206653100499935990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698616268518460227.post-33162176476691060452010-03-22T16:57:00.002-04:002010-03-22T16:58:16.032-04:00A simple and powerful reminder of what war costsIf you have a moment and some tissues nearby, check <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/03/21/magazine/20100321-soliders-bedrooms-slideshow.html">this</a> out.Seth Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12206653100499935990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698616268518460227.post-7894847902989041402010-03-20T22:00:00.002-04:002010-03-20T22:03:12.581-04:00The Great War of Yankee Aggression"The Great War of Yankee Aggression."<br /><br />How, exactly, is someone supposed to interpret this. The congressmen let slip a slight smirk, so perhaps he was making a joke -- but it really makes you wonder what sort of philosophy is behind this.<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXT9ZDAbK_oSeth Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12206653100499935990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698616268518460227.post-1036784901925146812010-03-17T17:48:00.003-04:002010-03-17T17:56:20.087-04:00Ballon Juice makes this excellent point while discussing the controversy over a French TV show where ordinary people are induced to torture people to death. Some foolish people on Fox News and elsewhere are apparently under the impression that Americans would never do such a thing (despite ample evidence to the contrary).<br /><br />It's pointed out that American story-telling in movies and TV likes to reduce everything to simple good vs evil story lines.<br /><br />"The problem is that this attitude of good-self versus bad-other is not just a great opiate for those nagging feelings of doubt, it’s also an essential prerequisite for acts of incredible evil."<br /><br />This is, of course, the <em>point</em> of the argument against torture, at the end of the day. We shouldn't torture people not merely because of what it does to them, but ultimately what it will do to us.<br /><br />A similar dynamic was at work with slavery. Many contemporary and subsequent observers were of the opinion that slavery, while obviously detrimental to the slaves, was also detrimental to the slave owner over the long term. Indeed, I think one could make an argument that the persistent, nearly intractable social and economic laggardness of most of the Old South is a legacy of the "peculair institution."Seth Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12206653100499935990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698616268518460227.post-26096164167156300112010-03-09T17:44:00.003-05:002010-03-09T17:46:10.955-05:00The McCain-Lieberman Constitution Annulment Act of 2010This would be a far more accurate title for this <a href="http://assets.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/politics/ARM10090.pdf">thing</a>.Seth Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12206653100499935990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698616268518460227.post-86803148766713972232010-03-09T12:23:00.003-05:002010-03-09T12:28:09.355-05:00Nazis, Imperial Japanese, Khmer Rouge and USSalon <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2010/03/09/waterboarding_for_dummies/index.html">summarizes</a> the disturbing details of CIA torture.<br /><br />If you can stand it, read the whole thing, but how this treatment doesn't eventually result in war crimes prosecutions for someone is hard to see.<br /><br />If no one is ever held accountable for this torture program then Nuremburg will be proven to have been nothing more than victor's justice and that our claims to the contrary were a lie.<br /><br />Also under threat are the ethics of entire professions. Medical, mental health and legal professionals took part in all of this and their ethical failures here were monumental.Seth Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12206653100499935990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698616268518460227.post-6788539820954975452010-03-08T19:01:00.002-05:002010-03-08T19:03:30.598-05:00Palin in 2012!A great comment from commenter Blackton on<a href="http://www.tnr.com/blog/jonathan-chait/health-care-reform-and-our-myopic-polity"> Chait's column</a> on the Health Care Debate:<br /><br />"I don't mean to be too glum." Glum? Hell, you would make Gandhi suicidal. Democrats are one vote away from the most meaningful reform in most of my lifetime, the only thing greater being the Civil rights acts in the 60's. One vote. If the Democrats can't hold together for one lousy vote, then screw it all. Americans can frankly f themselves. They will deserve their misery. I say vote for Palin in 2012, we are all supposed to die that year anyway, might as well guarantee it."Seth Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12206653100499935990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698616268518460227.post-14544859088159706942010-03-03T12:14:00.002-05:002010-03-03T12:27:42.251-05:00The damage they did was a lot deeper than two towers and sveral thousand livesAs time goes on, it appears that the terror war hawks may be right, the War on Terror <span style="font-style: italic;">does</span> represent an existential threat to America in away that the Nazis or Communists never did -- although not in the way that the terror war hawks may mean.<br /><br />As this recent<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/24/us/24scotus.html"> discussion </a>before the Supreme Court illustrates, certain basic liberties are under assault -- even from those we might hope would know better. Obama administartion lawyers argued that the government could criminalize filing "friend of the court briefs" in support of an oragnization that the government has deemed "terrorist. Even those with dim imaginations should have little trouble imaging the likely consequences of this sort of power.<br /><br />Bin Laden's attack on New York on 9/11 was a stunning success from his point of view -- and not merely because of the immediate damage and loss of life. No, the real fruits of his strategy ripened later courtesy of our own reactions to his attack. The economic damage alone of our security measures and wars dwarfs the damage done to New York. And even more important over the long term, we did grievous damage to our liberty and our moral authority with torture, our detention policy, the PATRIOT (sic) Act, warrantless wiretapping and the eorion of principl and rule of law needed to enact and implement all of that. <br /><br />Osama Bin Laden and AlQaeda have done more real, lasting damage to us than Hitler and Tojo did.Seth Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12206653100499935990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698616268518460227.post-33449488500276065422010-03-01T19:44:00.002-05:002010-03-01T19:58:36.227-05:00The OPR reportThe <a href="http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/pdf/OPRFinalReport090729.pdf"><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">OPR</span> report </a>on the 'Torture memos" is remarkably disheartening and hopeful at the same time.<br /><br />It's fate is disheartening because its quashing by <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">Margolis</span> is one more example of shielding the big fish while small fry get served up for dinner. It really is a scandal that the likes of <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">Lynndie</span> England are prosecuted while senior officials get a pass.<br /><br />I agree that the CIA operatives who may have tortured or abused someone in custody based on the shoddy legal framework provided should not be prosecuted -- so long as the high <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">muckety</span>-mucks that authorized it are held accountable. Of course, that is not happening nor does it seem to be in prospect. Instead there's mumblings about holding people responsible who may have "exceeded" the guidelines, which sounds a lot like deciding to scapegoat some small fry again.<br /><br />It's a hopeful development in another sense, because it's one more brick in what will obviously be a very long process of bringing people to justice. No one should forget that there is no statute of limitations on war crimes. Many years, even decades later crimes committed by the Nazis, by the Khmer Rouge, by South American death squads have been successfully prosecuted. Dick Cheney's ticker may give out before he faces a serious consequence but <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">Yoo</span> is a young man and will have to spend many more years looking over his shoulder. It's already dangerous for him to travel outside the U.S.<br /><br />Speaking of Dick Cheney, his recent mild heart attack has prompted some comment about karma but I, for one, hope he sticks around for a long time. Should he die soon there is no doubt in my mind that there will be a rush, a freaking deluge, of people blaming him for what happened. The only defender he'll have left will be his daughter, but every partner in crime will suddenly coke clean about how "Dick made me do it."<br /><br />Cheney, in my view, certainly does bear<em> a lot</em> of culpability, but he was just one man and he had plenty of help in dishonoring America. It would be a shame for those fellow criminals to get <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">away</span> with their crimes by burying their sins in Cheney's grave.Seth Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12206653100499935990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698616268518460227.post-61616291129925791782010-02-19T20:58:00.004-05:002010-02-19T21:18:45.560-05:00Thinly veiled racism at the Drudge ReportMatt Drudge rarely passes up an opportunity to smear Muslims. On his site he trumpets that Five Muslim soldiers were "arrested" on allegations they Poisoned fellow soldiers at Ft. Jackson. Yet e<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">ven</span> the <a href="http://blogs.cbn.com/stakelbeckonterror/archive/2010/02/18/update-five-muslim-soldiers-arrested-at-fort-jackson-in.aspx">story</a> he links to does not actually say anyone was arrested and other <a href="http://www.thestate.com/local/story/1164648.html">reporting</a> says that <em>nothing</em> was substantiated. So much for "<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">presumption</span> of innocence."<br /><br />It's this mindset that led to so much abuse during the Bush administration. It's the mindset that turns <em>accused</em> or even merely<em> suspected</em> detainees into "<strong>Terrorists"</strong> who can and should be tortured because they might know something. It's the mindset that leads to profiling that gets any Muslim or anyone some ignorant fool thinks may be Muslim (like a Sikh) targeted. Meanwhile we're somehow supposed to win the hearts and minds of Muslims while treating them as enemies without distinction.<br /><br />Meanwhile, hours after contrary reports emerge that don't fit his narrative, Drudge leaves up his accusatory headline. A quick Google search shows it's already going viral on various right-wing blogs and sites even though it's already been debunked. As is so often the case, the truth will have a hard time <em>ever</em> catching up to the lie, which is the insidious thing about the way Drudge operates whenever he's dealing with one of his favorite themes (climate change, Sarah Palin, Obama approval ratings, corrupt Democrats, among others).Seth Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12206653100499935990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698616268518460227.post-76004037007092523532010-02-04T16:51:00.006-05:002010-02-04T16:59:19.275-05:00A cool ad<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/h-8PBx7isoM&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/h-8PBx7isoM&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Seth Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12206653100499935990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698616268518460227.post-50557617996132616932010-02-03T18:15:00.002-05:002010-02-03T18:18:03.910-05:00No torture and he talksExcellent summary of the facts at <a href="http://obsidianwings.blogs.com/obsidian_wings/2010/02/between-the-pride-and-the-misery-with-an-infinite-supply-of-sympathy.html">Obsidian Wings</a> but the bottom line is that reading the terror suspect his rights, treating him humanely and observing due process not only upholds our honor but actually results in more intelligence than harsh "Jack Bauer" style acts.Seth Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12206653100499935990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698616268518460227.post-38974633388723736352010-01-14T17:47:00.002-05:002010-01-14T17:51:29.416-05:00Quote if the dayQuote of the day on listening to Sarah Pailn from <a href="http://www.balloon-juice.com/">www.balloon-juice.com</a><br /><br /> "Listening to her speak is like Free Republic Mad Libs."Seth Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12206653100499935990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698616268518460227.post-50822781831089406062010-01-12T02:05:00.003-05:002010-01-12T02:12:14.999-05:00List of US forces used abroad 1798-1993This is an interesting <a href="http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/foabroad.htm">list</a> useful for putting some things into perspective. Some points I took away from it are these:<br /><br />1) American armed intervention abroad is nothing new. This list shows about 234 instances between 1798 and 1993, or on average more than one per year.<br /><br />2) There's been little real controversy over the president using military forces abroad, even in some fairly significant ways, without specific Congressional authorization. Indeed, only five of the 234 instances were <span style="font-style: italic;">declared </span>wars.<br /><br />3) That said, the vast majority of the instances were very limited in scope, casualties and duration.<br /><br />4) The typical distance from the US had tended to increase as the country became more powerful, but even in the early 1800s there were interventions in the Arab world and even in the 1990s there were interventions in the Caribbean and Latin America, so there's no hard-and-fast rule on where the next intervention might be.Seth Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12206653100499935990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698616268518460227.post-87361977237903853702010-01-02T11:10:00.002-05:002010-01-02T11:11:40.571-05:00Down the slippery slope<a href="http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/01/how-cheney-made-america-a-torture-nation.html">Sullivan:</a><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Notice again how far down the slippery slope we have gone. Krauthammer's first position was that torture should be restricted solely to ticking time bomb cases in which we knew that a terror suspect could prevent an imminent detonation of a WMD. His position a few years later is that torture should be the first resort for any terror suspect who could tell us anything about future plots. Those of us who warned that torture, once admitted into the mainstream, will metastasize beyond anyone's control now have the example of Charles Krauthammer's arguments to back us up. Stephen Hayes, Cheney's stenographer along with Mike Allen, even argued on Fox News that Cheney's assault on the president as an alien threat to the American people was too soft and wanted to "squeeze" the pantie-bomber for more info. These are neo-fascist sentiments, empowering lawless violence by the government, justified solely by fear of terror incidents. Whatever else junking the entire history of Western jurisprudence and the laws of war is, it is not in any way conservative. It is a radical assault on one of the central pillars of our civilization.</span>Seth Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12206653100499935990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698616268518460227.post-25611513395759846842009-12-16T00:05:00.003-05:002009-12-16T00:08:09.499-05:00Illinois GitmoLoks like the Gitmo detainees will end up in Illinois. One thing I haven't heard mentioned is that this may be a tiny bit of presidential pork heading for his home state. No matter what else you mau say about it, the plan will send some cool cash to a depressed little corner of Obama's adopted state.Seth Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12206653100499935990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698616268518460227.post-85477733827381881902009-12-07T20:03:00.002-05:002009-12-07T20:06:35.491-05:00More disturbing evidence of possible crimes at GitmoThis <a href="http://law.shu.edu/programscenters/publicintgovserv/policyresearch/upload/gtmo_death_camp_delta.pdf">Seton Hall report</a>, based on public records, by the way, points to some disturbing evidence that the trio of so-called "suicides" at <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Gitmo</span> that the military called <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">asymmetrical</span> warfare by detainees may have been something else. At a minimum, it appears that there was a cover-up of the real circumstances.<br /><br />The shame continues.Seth Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12206653100499935990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698616268518460227.post-80981607852261195852009-12-02T16:21:00.003-05:002009-12-02T16:31:33.909-05:00Getting Bin LadenAndrew Sullivan makes an excellent <a href="http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/12/the-morning-after.html">point</a><a href="http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451c45669e20120a6fdf7bd970b"> </a><br /><br />Personally, the one thing that sticks in my craw the most about the Bush era was how much he too his eye off the ball by not making sure he "got" <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Osama</span>.<br /><br />I am not arguing that getting <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Osama</span> bin Laden would have solved all our problems, made the Afghan War a success or won the War on Terror. It doesn't matter. Simple <span style="font-weight: bold;">justice</span> demands that the man responsible for 9/11 should not die in his sleep of old age. No, that will not do.<br /><br />Can <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Obama's</span> Afghan surge net <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Osama</span> in the bargain? Impossible to say. Clearly the trail is cold. It's possible Bin Laden may already be dead. But Bush let 8 years go by without a serious effort mounted to bring Bin Laden to justice. If Obama succeeds in capturing or killing Bin Laden it would be the final repudiation of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Bushism</span>.Seth Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12206653100499935990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698616268518460227.post-17568883547961024102009-11-23T20:38:00.004-05:002009-11-23T20:51:43.895-05:00Citing Psalm 109 to curse ObamaThe Old Testament is a minefield for the unwary who would cite it for authority on action. A lot of bad conduct can be sanctioned by selective quotation, for, as Shakespeare notes, the devil can cite scripture for his purposes. The Old Testament language and style are quite alien to modern usage and exacerbated by the fact that many Bible-quoters like to use the King James version, which is also quite alien to modern ears.<br /><br />The latest misappropriation of the Bible by people professing to be Christians is quoting a passage from Psalm 109, which I have highlighted below, in the context of the whole, which is the proper way to consider all Bible passages.<br /><br />the KGV version:<br /><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">The Psalms </span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">109</span><br /><a name="S109">A Cry for Vengeance</a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.<br /></span><a name="1">1</a><br />Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise;<br /><a name="2">2</a><br />for the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue.<br /><a name="3">3</a><br />They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause.<br /><a name="4">4</a><br />For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer.<br /><a name="5">5</a><br />And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.<br /><a name="6">6</a><br />Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand.<br /><a name="7">7</a><br />When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin.<br /><a name="8">8</a><br /><strong>Let his days be few; and let another take his office. </strong></div><div align="center"><a name="9"><strong>9</strong></a><strong><br />Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.<br /></strong><a name="10">10</a><br />Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places.<br /><a name="11">11</a><br />Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the strangers spoil his labor.<br /><a name="12">12</a><br />Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favor his fatherless children.<br /><a name="13">13</a><br />Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out.<br /><a name="14">14</a><br />Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the LORD; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.<br /><a name="15">15</a><br />Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.<br /><a name="16">16</a><br />Because that he remembered not to show mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man,<br />that he might even slay the broken in heart.<br /><a name="17">17</a><br />As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing,<br />so let it be far from him.<br /><a name="18">18</a><br />As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones.<br /><a name="19">19</a><br />Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him, and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually.<br /><a name="20">20</a><br />Let this be the reward of mine adversaries from the LORD, and of them that speak evil against my soul.<br /><a name="21">21</a><br />But do thou for me, O GOD the Lord, for thy name's sake: because thy mercy is good, deliver thou me.<br /><a name="22">22</a><br />For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.<br /><a name="23">23</a><br />I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust.<br /><a name="24">24</a><br />My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness.<br /><a name="25">25</a><br />I became also a reproach unto them: when they looked upon me they shook their heads. </div><div align="center"><a name="26">26</a><br />Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to thy mercy:<br /><a name="27">27</a><br />that they may know that this is thy hand; that thou, LORD, hast done it.<br /><a name="28">28</a><br />Let them curse, but bless thou: when they arise, let them be ashamed;<br />but let thy servant rejoice.<br /><a name="29">29</a><br />Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame; and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle.<br /><a name="30">30</a><br />I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude.<br /><a name="31">31</a><br />For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that condemn his soul.</div><div align="center"> </div><div align="left">They are happy to quote verses 8 and 9, but I think other verses such as 2-5, 17 and 18, 28 and 31 might be more appropriate.</div>Seth Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12206653100499935990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698616268518460227.post-4943971079677670172009-10-31T20:26:00.003-04:002009-10-31T20:30:53.610-04:00I don't like Halloween<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyu9E4Jw9F9joy4ecbpbsSsTzXlIBWDi9JDoNFc6x9gTOX35_v-v9VASjebm8Nlmx6nvRvmz0DgbUaR_gGLTvM5ZkyrjoOUs9L6Ce3y90MktNmXHRIX-sC99PyAI0FcCCXJ353mSpEWjE/s1600-h/free-clipart-pumpkins-stencils.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398925460842988898" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyu9E4Jw9F9joy4ecbpbsSsTzXlIBWDi9JDoNFc6x9gTOX35_v-v9VASjebm8Nlmx6nvRvmz0DgbUaR_gGLTvM5ZkyrjoOUs9L6Ce3y90MktNmXHRIX-sC99PyAI0FcCCXJ353mSpEWjE/s400/free-clipart-pumpkins-stencils.jpg" border="0" /></a> I'll wish everyone a Happy Halloween, although I'm no big fan of the holiday. It's <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">usually</span> harmless enough, but I don't think it celebrates anything <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">particularly</span> positive -- unlike Christmas, Thanksgiving, July 4<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">th</span>, Veterans Day, etc.<br />And some folks always manage to use it for an excuse to be asses.<br />Does this make me a Grinch? Nah, he hated Christmas!Seth Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12206653100499935990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698616268518460227.post-63649613083188926332009-10-13T19:46:00.002-04:002009-10-13T20:07:33.738-04:00Death of the death penaltyI think Texas Gov. Perry's <a href="http://obsidianwings.blogs.com/obsidian_wings/2009/10/perrys-saturday-night-massacre-continues.html">antics</a> to avoid moral accountability for the execution of a probably innocent man will do little to save his <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">reputation</span> and may in the long run prove to be as important to the eventual abolition of the death penalty in the United States as the Illinois moratorium was.<br /><br />I think that, in the abstract, the state does have the <em>right</em> to execute certain individuals whose crimes are so heinous or who represent such a danger to society that they simply can't be allowed to live. This is why I am <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">hesitant</span> to <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">condemn</span> earlier societies that resorted to the measure, modern societies still <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">undergoing</span> development and groups that may have to resort to the measure <em>in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">extremis</span></em> such as military forces locked in mortal combat.<br /><br />This theoretical acceptance does not, however, lead to acceptance of the death penalty in America. America is a society rich enough and robust enough to incarcerate people indefinitely and shows no compunction about doing so in shocking numbers, so there's no emergency need to do it. And the system has been demonstrated to be riddled with bias and outright errors.<br /><br />As a matter of fact, the errors which have come to light have, frankly, shaken my confidence in the criminal justice system to the core. One doesn't expect perfection in any human system, but the error rate that is being revealed is unacceptable. It is, absolutely, a horrific thing when innocent people are deprived of their liberty (often for decades) let alone their lives. But law-and-order types should consider the collateral damage of wrongful convictions. Every innocent man rotting in jail means that a real criminal is free to keep preying on the community. And if errors are substantial and common enough it will <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">destroy</span> the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">public's</span> confidence in the system. There are already substantial communities who do not trust the police and the courts and their distrust is provably rational.<br /><br />Perry's actions, however, point to the corrupt nature of the system and its <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">inability</span> to police itself. Allowing the commission to finish its work would have been evidence that the system could recognize error and begin reforms to reduce error. Instead it provides evidence that the state cannot be trusted with this power. It not only makes mistakes, but it refuses to identify and correct those mistakes, therefore <em>ensuring </em>that more mistakes will inevitably occur.<br /><br />Perry has provided opponents with a powerful example of why the death penalty should go.Seth Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12206653100499935990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698616268518460227.post-12931250841231432282009-10-06T00:09:00.002-04:002009-10-06T00:19:30.248-04:00End of empire?A Daily <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Kos</span> diary about the <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/10/5/790065/-Breaking:-US-$-being-replaced-as-oil-currency-(Updated)">plan for a new oil currency to replace the $US </a>is interesting and not a little scary.<br /><br />Americans have little aptitude for the lessons of history, but there's reason to worry that our Washington elite is not handling our imperial moment very well at all.<br /><br />People forget that almost exactly 100 years ago the British Empire lorded over the Earth nearly as completely as the US does now. While the seeds for future problems were germinating, there's no doubt that every Briton and most everyone else in the world had no inkling that Britain's superpower status would <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">disappear</span> within the next two generations.<br /><br />After a period of decline, Great Britain has recovered somewhat to be a respectable second-rank power, which isn't that uncommon, Spain <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">has</span> also managed to claw its way back into the ranks of substance, although it had a much longer time it the geopolitical wilderness. Being a continental power, the US has resources enough to avoid complete collapse if it plays its cards right, but history <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">certainly</span> has examples of Great Powers that did lose it all.<br /><br />I don't think a US decline is inevitable in the near term (over the long term we're all dead and nothing is permanent) but we need to act soon. If the US <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">dollar</span> loses its status as the world currency we're going to have a damned hard time paying for this massive military establishment, for example. It might be wise to look for ways to cut back now, especially if those cutbacks can be tied to arms reduction treaties and other means to keep the numbers of weapons in <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">foreign</span> hands low.Seth Owenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12206653100499935990noreply@blogger.com0