Gabriel's Homepage (Vague Incarnation III)
It comes with some words about the history of both sites, since I was feeling somewhat inspired in my half-daze.
What You Can't Say - (This essay is about heresy: how to think forbidden thoughts, and what to do with them. The latter was till recently something only a small elite had to think about. Now we all have to, because the Web has made us all publishers.) - I can't really say succinctly what this article is about, but I found it very enriching. Plus, there was a reply to He Who Must Not Be Named's accusation that altrusim is always a thin veneer disguising pure, unadulterated self-interest (since he always sees the worst in people and the human race to better vindicate his lambasting of everyone and anyone, while ensuring that he has already totally debased and degraded himself, all so no one can accuse him of hypocrisy, only of being ridiculous), as well a riposte to his extremely broad definition of hypocrisy which would make leading a normal life impossible.
I admit it seems cowardly to keep quiet. When I read about the harassment to which the Scientologists subject their critics, or that pro-Israel groups are "compiling dossiers" on those who speak out against Israeli human rights abuses, or about people being sued for violating the DMCA, part of me wants to say, "All right, you bastards, bring it on." The problem is, there are so many things you can't say. If you said them all you'd have no time left for your real work. You'd have to turn into Noam Chomsky.
Making the same point is this Zits comic:
(Image has been resized so it won't break the layout)
Ever since my brother in law finished his Masters in Management, he's read nothing but stupid management books which say nothing that's not new and commonsensical, and inflicting these theories on me daily. In other news, we ordered "Candian" 2 for 1 Pizza last night, and agreed that it sucks. Hell, even frozen pizza is better and cheaper.
My mother has some very weird ideas. She thinks that I thought a pair of pants she recently shortened for me are too short only because Screwed Up Girl said so. Huh?!
Pacman for Excel - The amazing things macros can do.
JD5000 Proxomitron Filters - Perhaps the most intricate filter set I've ever seen. Industrial strength filtering indeed, but I've yet to work out the bugs it causes with Hotmail.
Ban Comics Sans - Some people are obviously too free. But then, I have an abiding suspicion that this is a joke.
Garfield Sucks - I totally agree. It's seriously un-funny and lame.
A Woman's Guide to Peeing Standing Up
Smoke Kills - How smoking leads to the Apocalypse
Does it take less muscles to smile than it does to frown?
100 MOST OFTEN
Woman's Skin Falls Off, Miracuously Lives
Bush's Desolate Imperium - Though the author is a little alarmist and extremist, I largely agree with the points in this essay. Sadly, the USA has already swung too far to the right.
"The only unassailable arguments these days are materialism and pure philosophical agnosticism. If you are dealing with someone who believes that the material world exists, you can win every argument by having the position that all that exists are atoms and molecules bouncing randomly around and that there is no moral or philosophical principle that can be proven to be true, or even to have any meaning. Life is completely pointless on a philosophical level, but if you want to continue filling your belly just for the sheer bloody- mindedness of it, Darwin pointed out the basic game plan and Ayn Rand filled in the egotistical details. Have at it.
If you have someone who is more clever and knows to argue that the material world may not exist, then there are not only no moral or philosophical principles that can be proven to exist, but indeed, there are no scientific principles that can be proven to exist either. You have sunken into solipsism, which of course can't be proven either, leaving you with no provable statements whatsoever. As before of course, if you wish to continue filling your non-existent belly with insubstantial morsels, there are plenty of other non-existent people who will apparently play that game with what we will for argument's sake call you, so jolly good luck, if there were such a thing. "
Singapore assailed on 'hidden' death penalty toll
Singapore leads the world in executions, putting more people to death on a per capita basis than Saudi Arabia, China and Sierra Leone, the human rights group Amnesty International said Thursday.
In a report entitled "Singapore: The Death Penalty - A Hidden Toll of Executions," the organization described the city-state's execution rate as "shockingly high" and called on the government to impose a moratorium on all executions and commute all death sentences to prison terms.
"We are also calling on the authorities to end the secrecy about the use of the death penalty and encourage public debate," the rights group added.
About 400 people have been hanged in Singapore since 1991, mostly for drug-trafficking, Amnesty International said.
Singapore's drug laws are among the world's harshest. Anyone 18 or older who is convicted of carrying more than 15 grams, or half an ounce, of heroin faces mandatory execution by hanging.
But there was "no convincing evidence" that the tough penalties had curbed drug use, the organization said, citing Singapore Central Narcotics Bureau statistics. The figures showed that 3,393 people were arrested for drug offenses in 2002 and that the number of new drug abusers was up 16 percent from 2001.
From 1994 to 1999, an average of 13.57 executions were carried out per one million people, three times higher than the next country on the list, Saudi Arabia, Amnesty International said.
The Prisons Department said 400 executions since 1991 was a "fair estimation." The government does not usually publish statistics about death sentences or reveal the number of prisoners on death row.
I still support the abolition of the death penalty, especially since it doesn't seem to deter people