STP

Damn! That would make one hell of an elegy. Leave it to the poet to compose a meditation on death, that though the body perishes, the "essence" (or whatever the hell you want to call it) lives on in endless repetition of permutations. "If you should see a man walking down a crowded street talking aloud to himself, don't run in the opposite direction, but run towards him, because he's a poet. You have nothing to fear from the poet - but the truth." --Ted Joans, "Jazz Is My Religion"

Guy’s talking out his ass. Check out the Wikipedia entry for ThePirateBay to see info concerning funding. Also do a search on Slashdot and read the current stories regarding legal prosecution. The “protesters” probably bought ad space on the site so the assumption that it’s a front site has no merit. It’s interesting to see the blurb on Scientology. Critics of Scientology such as ‘Anonymous’( Anonymous_(group) have been targeted by Scientologists in their effort to shut down negative publicity. So, the Scientologists are against the use of anonymizing proxies to mask the IP address of critics. Interesting also that the German government dislikes Scientology due to the latter’s cult-like status and I believe the interior ministers of that government are moving to ban the ideology in Germany. As far as TOR (the onion router) as much of technology, yes it can be used for illegal purposes and yes it can be used to foster free flow of information to support noble causes. If TOR or other anonymizing programs were outlawed, it would have a chilling effect on the free flow of information over the Internet. You also might find this article provocative: High-Traffic Colluding Tor Routers in Washington, D.C., and the Ugly Truth About Online Anonymity

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Well, that’s just one statement by Ayers that, in principle, one could agree with although it does not justify his particular course of action of criminality. But the real question is what is more criminal? Now, I condemn violence as the solution because most commonly there is a corresponding backlash that does not address the aggrieving condition but instead serves to perpetuate it. Governments have been accused of actually inviting these actions as an excuse to clamp down; something called the “strategy of tension”. I do, however, question the assumption that only legal, non-violent means are necessary in all cases involving liberal societies where essential liberties are publicly proclaimed. Sometimes society requires a nudge in a particular direction. For instance, civil disobedience requires breaking the law to show others the injustice of a particular societal framework. Now also, what is violent depends to some extent on who is making that determination. If the authority structure is threatened by direct action then most likely that action will be defined as violent, therefore, it is aberrant and pathological. Paradoxically though, sickness can be a way to a higher health. But you’re right; the common man should stick to the tried and true ways of seeking and maintaining a virtuous society.

Regarding self-immolation, as Bill Ayers states in Fugitive Days, "You could not be a moral person with the means to act, and stand still. [...] To stand still was to choose indifference. Indifference was the opposite of moral."

linky Ya, didn't Hegel view Napoleon in the same light as being the representation of the "world-soul"?

Is this... similar to this? Pot-smoking teen says he lit up to make a point

A Plug: [video:youtube]vY82seEBw5w

What of Mikhail Bakunin's reversal of Voltaire's phrase? "...if Kevbone really existed, it would be necessary to abolish him."

So, the BBC banned three songs from the album citing drug references in each song. These songs are Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, A Day in the Life, and Being For the Benefit of Mr Kite. They didn't ban With a Little Help from my Friends ("I get high with a little help from my friends") or even Lovely Rita ("when are you free to take some T with me") though McCartney being British was most likely talking about drinking tea. Drug references? Judge for yourself: [video:youtube]A7F2X3rSSCU [video:youtube]vh8_l-5mAdg

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Most likely it's both. There is no question MANY are our enemies. Some are innocent and some are guilty. Sorting that out is a hard row to hoe no doubt. Assuming MOST of these yahoos are guilty and are our enemies, then what? Are they imprisoned for life with no trial? Are those who are innocent then also imprisoned for life? It ain't the American way. Should that question of innocence be couched in legal terms fit for a domestic courtroom where we speak of a crime committed and the weight of evidence against an alleged perpetrator? Are we not talking about someone plucked from a battlefield involved in an act of aggression or planned aggression? Now, what I do have reservations with is when that battlefield is not well-defined and when it merges into what we normally don't consider to be a war zone. Now, that disturbs my domestic tranquility. But to get back to that question of innocence, it may never be fully answered. So, what then? I suppose that in the search for solutions you have to strive to understand your cognitive biases. There’s an online book that outlines how to approach this and available here: ( Psychology of Intelligence Analysis by Richards J. Heuer, Jr. ). Concerning cognitive bias, it states “…one can only generalize about the tendencies of groups of people, not make statements about how any specific individual will think.” So I take that to mean that it is not a foregone conclusion that all of the former prisoners will become future insurgents regardless of whether any already were. One only need to research findings concerning the Stockholm syndrome to realize this. In all possibility, what appears to be an insurgent is something altogether different. Can you ever fully know the mind of a man?

Ya, that's that libertarian spirit embodied by John Perry Barlow (co-founder Electronic Frontier Foundation = acidhead) though Barlow doesn't seem as cavalier as Nothaus regarding drug use. Different drugs of course but to Barlow it's more like a sacrament ( Liberty & LSD). Then again, the irreverence beckons to the Discordian genius of Robert Anton Wilson. Hit it, again... [video:youtube]Ye3ecDYxOkg ( though I do prefer the Brewer & Shipley original.)