Thursday afternoon I was home in my apartment. I’m on the third floor at the back of a three story building. The sun had just gone down, though it wasn’t completely dark yet. It was a nice night so I had my back door wide open, there are balconies on both floors with stairs leading to a nice private yard. Great for the cats, great for me.

Well, I’m sitting in the kitchen when gunfire erupts out back, very close by, maybe even in the back yard. I knew instantly it was gunfire, and almost as quickly knew it wasn’t the occasional jerk popping off a few shots into the air. It was rapid and sustained gunfire by at least two shooters. I was on the floor in  seconds, and I stayed there. I did reach up and post on Facebook “gunfight in yard” as the shooting went on, figured capture the time the shooting started. Dozens of shots were fired in two prolonged bursts, followed by car tires squealing. I stayed right on the floor though, ready to make a quick exit if I heard someone running up the balcony stairs.

No more shooting, no running steps though, just my neighbour a few minutes later on the balcony wondering what the noise was. I didn’t have any doubts, I’ve been around guns many times. Everything looked fine from our vantage point, but soon enough police cars started arriving. All of them. And then an ambulance. I went down and started talking to people. I was still hoping that it was just some thugs shooting up a house, but no such luck. A man had been shot to death maybe 75 feet as the crow flies from my back door. He had left the barbershop where he worked, walked to a friend’s house next door to watch a  game, and was gunned down moments after he knocked on the door by two handgun wielding assailants.

His name was Kenneth Warren. He had worked in the barber shop for seven years, one of two jobs he held to support his five children. He was thirty five years old. He was friendly and well liked by everyone, and for reasons that remain unknown, two guys targeted him for death. Drugs or gangs are not suspected at this point, since Kenneth was involved with neither. Like the vast majority of America’s horrific murder rate among poor urban  people, this was more than likely just some stupid personal slight. The sort of thing that men used to settle with fistfights, now little boys settle with guns. I say little boys, because two armed guys gunning down a helpless unarmed man isn’t something men would do. Kenneth was a good man, his assailants are cowards without honour.

I’m pretty shaken up by this, as are my friends and neighbours. I can’t imagine what Kenneth’s friends and family are going through, this is about as senseless as it gets. It makes me angry. It makes me sad. It makes me confused. It makes me scared. It makes me want to do something, but there’s nothing I can do but try and find words to understand and explain this madness. I’ve spent my life trying to grasp how people can do things like this, and my horror and confusion has grown faster than my wisdom. This is why the aliens haven’t contacted us. This is why Jesus hasn’t come back. Any sane being witnessing Kenneth’s murder would say “What is wrong with these people, how can they do this to each other?” There’s no answers, just a house shot full of holes, children without a father, siblings without a brother, a world without Junior in it, for that’s what Kenneth was called.

I was going to write a polemic about guns and poverty and hopelessness and a culture of violence from top to bottom  that spawns acts like Kenneth’s murder like a copse spawns maggots. Yes, it’s that disgusting. Not now though, in some way that would seem petty and irrelevant. I still don’t know what to think of it all. I’m going to try and value my life and the people in it more. I’m going to try even more to be a voice of peace and madness in a world of mindless violence. Nothing can ever give a senseless death like this meaning, all we can do is try to make the world a better place. God speed Kenneth Warren. I never knew you, but I grieve your passing. Words fail me.

(The above image is released into the Public Domain by me, Doug Stych, the photographer. That’s the barber shop here he worked. Kenneth was killed about 20 feet to the left out of the picture.)

]]> http://unitedcats.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/death-in-berkeley/feed/ 6 unitedcats GE DIGITAL CAMERA http://unitedcats.wordpress.com/2012/01/27/newt-gingrich-proposes-colonizing-the-moon-and-making-it-the-51st-state-say-what/ http://unitedcats.wordpress.com/2012/01/27/newt-gingrich-proposes-colonizing-the-moon-and-making-it-the-51st-state-say-what/#comments Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:28:50 +0000 unitedcats http://unitedcats.wordpress.com/?p=7546 ]]>

Newt Gingrich, possible Republican Presidential candidate,  has proposed colonizing the Moon by 2020 and making it the 51st state. Reaction has been mixed, but mostly ranging from critical to ridicule. It’s certainly an ambitious idea, especially talking about 13,000 colonists. Is this idea totally out of this world, or does Mr. Gingrich have a point?

Let’s look at this logically. First off, is it legal? Can the USA legally colonize the Moon? Pause for laughter. The USA hasn’t given a  rat’s ass for decades about International Law, other than manipulating it for the USA’s benefit. So we can skip this step.

Is there any reason to go to the Moon? Well, there’s certainly sound scientific reasons to go to the Moon.  And ultimately science usually pays off, so while this may not be a good reason in and of itself, it would be a nice bonus. Secondly, there’s every reason to believe that all sorts of extremely rare and valuable metals can be found on the Moon, deposited by asteroid strikes. That’s a big plus. There’s potentially all sorts of industrial processes where the Moon’s vacuum and low gravity would be a big bonus. Lastly, and in some ways the most exciting way, the Moon is believed to have copious deposits of Helium 3. Perhaps as much as a million tons, rained down by millions of years of Solar Wind. What’s so cool abut Helium 3? It has fantastic promise as a fuel for nuclear fusion … 25 tons of Helium 3 could power the USA and the EU for a year. So yes, there’s sound reasons to colonize the Moon.

Is it feasible? Well, who knows. Water has been found in copious quantities on the Moon, and there are some lovely water filled (not literally of course) craters on one of the Moon’s poles in close proximity to mountain peaks that are always in sunlight. Water, which can be made into water and air, situated near continuous solar power. To put it mildly, sounds tailor made for a massively self sufficient colony. IE a colony that can provide its own air, water, and energy has a huge head start, and there’s no reason it couldn’t quickly start producing its own food as well. Yes, there are massive technological hurdles, but the concept sure seems viable. Technological hurdles didn’t stop us from sending men to the Moon in the first place.

Finally, how much will this cost? Well, using the same accounting firm that predicted the cost of the Iraq War, cost estimates for this run in the tens of billions of dollars. And if we use the same NASA accountants that predicted how cheap and economical the Space Shuttle was going to be, we can surely confirm these estimates. Yes, I’m being facetious, this would be an incredibly expensive undertaking. A hundred billion dollars a year, maybe more, for at least a decade.

Well, um, that’s what the War in Iraq cost us, and we don’t have diddly to show for it except war graves, an Iranian aligned Iraq, Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, and a huge pile of debt. Yeah, that was a good investment. No, the Project for an American Moon would employ huge numbers of people, almost immediately provide profitable technological spin offs, and ultimately pay for itself many times over. Cost alone is no reason to  write this idea off, the only question is where would this money come from? It’s not like these are flush times, and it’s a safe bet that the 1% aren’t going to voluntarily cough up a trillion dollars.

Well, I have an idea. Take the money from the military. Wait, hear me out, don’t target that drone at my apartment building just yet. Yes, use money from the military budget, but, and it’s a big but, give the military a reason to be happy with this, make them an integral part of the project. I am proposing nothing less than the creation of another branch of the military, a US Space Force to be exact. Done right this could be a very inspiring thing. They could be tasked with defending all of Earth from space based threats, starting with rogue asteroids. And protecting the rights of all nations to travel in space and exploit space. To infinity and beyond!

Just trying to think outside the lines, because staying in the lines got us where we are now. Have a great weekend everyone!

(The above image is claimed as Fair Use under US copyright law.  It’s not being used for profit, and, well, it’s all over the Internet. I don’t know the origin, it may actually have originally been Russian. If anyone knows I will properly attribute it. I was searching for a nice image to illustrate the US Space Force idea, stumbled on this, and decided it was too funny not to share. Look closely if you don’t get the joke at first glance. One final positive aspect to Newt’s Moon colony plan. He could be on the very first ship.)

Well, been steeling myself, but still haven’t read any comments to my more recent 9/11 Truthers posts. I’m just not nearly as inclined to argue with people any more. And I don’t want ugly Doug to come out ever again. Truthers are all good people working to fight evil in the world, and even if I don’t agree with them, at least they aren’t telling me that their imaginary friend is going to torture me forever after I die because I don’t believe he exists. Creepy frankly, like if Jimmy Stewart in Harvey was a serial killer.

I see Qaddafi loyalists captured a city in Libya. Someone asked me, why would they do this?  My response: It’s their country. That the question was even asked is a reflection of how steeped westerners are in cultural imperialism, the idea that some Libyans might not actually be happy with NATO bombing Libya back into the tribal warlord era apparently didn’t occur to him. I will be writing more on cultural imperialism, it’s really warped the world view of the west. It all ties into Christianity and the idea that Christians can “save” other peoples, but enough of that for now.

I mentioned this in the sidebar a few days ago, but for those who didn’t read it, astronomers are going to take a picture of the black hole at the centre of our galaxy. True, they can’t actually take a picture of the black hole itself, since once light crosses the event horizon, it dun come back. However, as stuff spirals into the black hole it emits all sorts of radiation near the end, and this, the “haze” around the black hole, they hope to photograph. This will require a telescope the size of the Earth, but they can fake that. Telescopes all over the world will be combined somehow (I don’t feel like looking up the details now,) essentially combining their images to make one huge telescope. If they get a good snap shot of the bad boy lurking at the centre of our galaxy, I will be sure to post it.

Obama gave his State of the Union Address. I couldn’t watch it. The man is such a talented liar, it pains me to see. When Bush spouted patriotic drivel, at least he meant it, even if he didn’t know what he was talking about. If I understood the gist of the address right, Obama has taken up the mantle of economic injustice, and is going to run with it. In English, this means he will promise to regulate Wall Street and tax the rich; then when he gets elected, he will do neither. Mark my words.

Today is the anniversary of the deaths of the Apollo One astronauts. I was ten when it happened, it was a big deal at the time. As a friend said: “There are certain risks to sitting atop a missile.” Especially one built by NASA was my response. Sadly, the Apollo One deaths, like all the astronauts who have died, were victims of American hubris, the idea that Americans can do anything from the ground up and don’t even need to look at what others have done before. “Gigantomania” a German friend called it. Again, a topic for a future post.

They passed a law in France making it a crime to deny the Armenian Holocaust. The Turkish government and many people in Turkey are really upset by this. I certainly have mixed feelings about it. Hate speech directed at Muslims = protected free speech. Hate speech directed at Armenians = go to jail. There’s something wrong with this picture, at least to my understanding so far. I’ve blogged about the Armenian genocide before, and frankly it’s not a topic I want to return to. It’s one of those topics where anything but an extremely partisan view will get one pilloried by all parties concerned. Yeah, that’s fun.

Speaking of fun, I’ll end this with a cute video. The ancient Romans loved these little guys, dessert or appetizer, didn’t matter.

 (The above painting is titled “fish.” It is so copyright protected the gentle reader shouldn’t even think about stealing it, the artist is just like the girl with the dragon tattoo, except prettier and meaner. Copyright © 1998 Christian Damian. All Rights Reserved. Kidding aside, she’s a fine artist, inquiries welcome, email Christian at: chessdryad@sbcglobal.net )

I see there have been a lot of comments on my previous two 9/11 Truther posts. I haven’t even been reading them to be honest, though I will at some point. Maybe. Primarily because I don’t want to get upset or cause hard feelings, people do seem to get emotional around 9/11 conspiracy theories. And since I am still experiencing blunted affect as a result of my stroke, anything involving emotion is a minefield for me. Also, I seriously doubt anyone is going to say anything I haven’t heard before. Lastly because I like to examine things from original principles, so I have been keeping my mind clear while I give 9/11 more thought. Or thoughts …

I’m still amazed at the conviction of 9/11 Truthers. Suspecting there is a conspiracy is one thing, being absolutely convinced that your explanation is the only possible explanation is something else entirely. This is another reason why I am not terribly inclined to debate with Truthers, debating with people who can’t imagine that they are wrong is generally not very productive, though sometimes it does lead to new lines of inquiry. I’ve made it very clear there is evidence that could convince me it was an inside job. Apparently, correct me if I’m wrong, there is no evidence that could convince a Truther that the buildings collapsed as a result of natural forces.

Speaking of natural forces, one of the arguments Truthers often make is that “it’s basic physics.” Um, no, it’s not. Not at all. These were very large buildings subject to unique events. Tons of structural details. All sorts of unknowns. It’s not like anyone has ever flown jet aircraft into buildings as part of any scientific study. This is not basic physics, it’s expert physics. Which means even the experts are going to have trouble parsing this event, and lay people have no chance. Even a cursory glance at any discussion between experts in the field bears this out. So, um, anyone who says that somehow “basic physics” proves their point in this debate is well, ignorant at best. Dishonest at worst.

Which, to be honest, I’ve been guilty of myself. For years Truthers have been telling me that the fact that these buildings “fell into their own footprints” is proof they were deliberately demolished. And I have rejoindered with some variation of  “basic physics says that is the only way these buildings could collapse.” Well, after reviewing the various collapse videos, I was wrong. These buildings, particularly the first tower that collapsed, most definitely did not collapse into their own footprints. The top part of it was almost perpendicular to the street when the rest of it started down. Yes, when the buildings ultimately completely failed, most of the motion was straight down as the huge masses involved would suggest, but all sorts of stuff happened first, and during. From some video angles, yes, the buildings came straight down. From others, all sorts of shit was going on. These collapses were much messier than the “collapsed into their own footprints” meme.

So, um, I’m less impressed by the Truther position than before I opened this can of worms. And eager to move along. Still, a commenter took the trouble to email me their answers to the questions I posed on my last 9/11 Truther post. I was hoping my skeptical commenters would field those, but alas I didn’t express that explicitly. So, gentle reader and commenter, I would be terribly remiss if I didn’t respond to your answers, and I will dedicate a post to that in the near future. Could be fun, and since I haven’t looked at your answers yet, maybe I will be blown away and have to review my thinking. It’s happened before.

(The above image of Tower Two “collapsing into its own footprint” speaks for itself.)

]]> http://unitedcats.wordpress.com/2012/01/25/911-truthers-ride-again/feed/ 12 unitedcats wtc2collapse http://unitedcats.wordpress.com/2012/01/20/the-first-armada-415-bc-the-great-athenian-expedition-to-syracuse/ http://unitedcats.wordpress.com/2012/01/20/the-first-armada-415-bc-the-great-athenian-expedition-to-syracuse/#comments Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:50:01 +0000 unitedcats http://unitedcats.wordpress.com/?p=7495 ]]>

Yes, it’s another fun history post. The usual caveats apply, while this is a post about a real event in history, I am telling a story, not writing a dissertation. And this is an especially complex story, so I am going to cut some corners. As always with my war  stories, I am both repeating a story that is interesting in and of itself, and at the same time the story has at least some lessons for the student of the human condition. And as is often the case with my history stories, there was someone standing around at the time muttering “This is a really bad idea.” In this story his name is Nicias.

OK, some background. It was 415 BC. Much of the Eastern Mediterranean was dominated by Greek city states, including southern Italy and the island of Sicily. Rome was but yet a promising upstart in central Italy. Athens,  the greatest Greek city state, was at war with Sparta.  This was the Peloponnesian war, one of the longest wars of Greek antiquity. And as in all wars, allies were crucial, so both sides tried to recruit other city states into their cause. As we start our story, a peace treaty had been signed, but Athens wanted an excuse to resume the war. They got their wish when an Athenian aligned city in Sicily, Segesta, went to war against another city, lost a battle, and asked Athens for help. And just to be sure, they sent along a huge pile of money and told the Athenians that they had even more money (they didn’t) if the Athenians sent a fleet to their aid. The Athenian Assembly (Athens’ ruling body) fell for it, and approved a modest fleet under the command of Nicias, Alcibiades, and Lamachus.

All good so far. Here’s where it gets interesting. Five days later the Assembly convened again to work out the logistics for the expedition, where Nicias passionately made the case that this expedition was very risky, based on questionable information, would make Athens new enemies, and that Alcibiades and his supporters were inexperienced young men promoting war for their own selfish ends. There’s no question Nicias’ plea moved the Assembly, just not the way he had intended. The Assembly decided to send a vastly larger force than originally decided, at fabulous expense. Athens bet the farm on the expedition, much to Nicias’ dismay. The expedition was prepared and set off under the original three commanders, each of whom had different ideas about what the expedition was about and how to achieve it. There was one last hitch, the night before the fleet set sail a number of the municipal good luck shrines around the city were defaced, much to the people’s dismay. Alcibiades and his supporters were blamed, but he sailed with the fleet anyhow.

In the fall of 415 BC the fleet arrived off southern Italy. To their dismay, they found that the city states in southern Italy were not nearly as welcoming as they had been led to believe. Worse, fast ships set ahead to Segesta returned with the news that the Segestan’s most definitely did not have the promised money to pay for the fleet. Much debate among the three commanders as to what to do, Nicias counselling against continuing the folly. He was overruled, and the fleet sailed on to Catania in Sicily. And was met by an Athenian ship there to arrest Alcibiades and return him to Athens for trial in the defacement of the shrines. Imagine Patton (though Alcibiades was no Patton) being sent back to Washington on the eve of D-Day to stand trial for vandalizing the Washington Monument. Alcibiades agreed to return, but escaped and defected to Sparta, giving them crucial information about the Athenian fleet and alliance.

Now until the arrival of the Athenian fleet, Syracuse had not taken the threat seriously. It really was a crazy idea. When the Athenians landed at Catania, they got serious, and marched out to do battle. Upon approaching Catania, they discovered that the Athenians had boarded their fleet and sailed south to attack Syracuse directly. Syracuse’s  army hot footed it back to Syracuse and did battle. The Athenians had the better trained force, and Syracuse’s army broke and fled. Syracuse had far more cavalry than the Athenians though, and they prevented the Athenians from pursuing and destroying the Syracusan army. Both armies then dug in for the winter, with the Athenians sending messages to Athens asking for reinforcements, while the Syracusans sent pleas for help to Sparta. 415 BC passed into history, and 414 BC began. Yes, calendars were  very confusing in those days.

Both these maps aren’t the best, but hey, I’m back in a “post five days a  week” mode, so time is short. The top one is in German, which should be easy enough to figure out, and the lower one has a lot of detail, but shows the city and its’ environs decently enough. The Athenians are blue. OK, spring, 414 BC. The Athenian reinforcements arrive and the Athenians start to build a wall to cut off Syracuse from the land side. The Syracusans tried to build counter walls and foil the Athenian’s plans. A number of minor battles were fought, in one of them, Lamachus, Nicias’ remaining co-commander, was killed. By mid summer the Athenians had prevailed, and encircled Syracuse by land. Then they moved their fleet into the Great Harbour, cutting off Syracuse by sea as well. The Syracusan’s, dismayed by this turn of events, sacked their army’s commanders and appointed new ones.  Nicias must have been feeling pretty relieved at this point, the Athenians had overcome many obstacles, and now had the great city of Syracuse surrounded, with a huge army and fleet at his disposal. And with Lamachus dead and Alcibiades disgraced, he, Nicias would get all the credit! Babes, gold, and talk show appearances, oh my.

Alas, as Nicias was looking out to sea and dreaming of his awaiting rewards, what should appear but a great fleet! More Athenian reinforcements! No, not at all. It was a Corinthian fleet flying a Spartan flag. History does not record Nicias’ reaction to this unforeseen development, but the gentle reader can no doubt make a discerning guess. And until tomorrow, the gentle reader will have to guess as to the outcome of this, well, epic struggle. No cheating!

(The images are from Wikipedia, basically free to use for non-commercial purposes, find them there for all the relevant details. And one last relevant detail, in ancient times virtually all cities, certainly a  great city like Syracuse, had imposing walls. This was why siege was often the best, or even only way, to get a city to surrender, a state of affairs that basically lasted until the introduction of gunpowder.)

]]> http://unitedcats.wordpress.com/2012/01/20/the-first-armada-415-bc-the-great-athenian-expedition-to-syracuse/feed/ 0 unitedcats syracuse Athenian_Siege_of_Syracuse http://unitedcats.wordpress.com/2012/01/19/911-conspiracy-theory-redux/ http://unitedcats.wordpress.com/2012/01/19/911-conspiracy-theory-redux/#comments Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:42:57 +0000 unitedcats http://unitedcats.wordpress.com/?p=7479 ]]>

OK, Wikipedia is down, so I can’t write the post I was planning on writing. Well, maybe I could, it’s not like the whole Internet is down yet. The SOPA thing is getting a lot of attention, so maybe it won’t come to pass after all. However, whatever excuse I may use, I decided the comments on my last 9/11 conspiracy post were … fascinating. I was going to write a comment in response, but realized I could squeeze a post out of it. And, well, people took the time to write a lot of long comments, the least I can do is respond.

Thank you for the comments. That being said, I don’t recall saying anything about my beliefs about what happened on 9/11, I was writing about my take on 9/11 demolition theories. And what people did write about my putative beliefs was wrong. However, that’s not the point. I also didn’t appreciate the few remarks casting doubt on my judgment etc, but, I won’t deny that on some levels I have poked fun at 9/11 Truthers, so, fair enough. And I’m sorry the comment thread devolved into endless listing of the various items 9/11 Truthers use to make their case. Seriously, did anyone think they were posting anything I hadn’t seen a before? I mean really.

So I stand by my original statement, all of the evidence submitted by 9/11 Truthers is interpretive, it’s only evidence because the Truthers say it is. None of it is hard evidence, none of it would stand up in court. I’m not saying it’s wrong, I’m saying if Truthers want their theory to be widely accepted, they need evidence that 90% of people are going to look at and say “Oh My God.” Evidence that actually is on point: Who’s idea was this conspiracy? Who were their co-conspirators? Who set the charges?

However, moving past all that, because there’s no profit to be had there, great, the Truthers think the evidence they have is convincing. I have no interesting in debating it, and I’m sorry if I gave that impression.  My point, that essentially every commenter seems to have missed: Convince me the 9/11 Truther Theory is a logical theory, defend it logically. Answer my questions:

1. Why 9/11, when a vastly simpler and far less risky false flag attack would have the same result?

2. Why WTC 7, a building no one had ever heard of.

3. How, exactly, did they recruit people into this conspiracy?

This is just a  logical exercise, right? My questions aren’t rhetorical questions, I don’t have preset answers. I do admit, my lifelong study of how and why humans commit terrible violence played a part in why I ask these questions. Mostly though, just as I said, logic. If 9/11 Truthers are proposing that the Bush Administration committed what would be one of the most heinous crimes in history, they should be able to defend their theory. All of it.

“On your way, Bud,” said Colonel Harper, “and good luck to you”

(The above image is of the US aircraft carrier Bunker Hill after being hit by two kamikaze aircraft off Okinawa in 1945. It’s a National Archive photo, so pretty much public domain under US copyright law. 400 people are dead or dying in this image. 402 counting the kamikaze pilots I suppose. Hell of a thing, suicide attacks.)

]]> http://unitedcats.wordpress.com/2012/01/19/911-conspiracy-theory-redux/feed/ 6 unitedcats Bunker_Hill http://unitedcats.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/a-short-story-about-god/ http://unitedcats.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/a-short-story-about-god/#comments Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:46:01 +0000 unitedcats http://unitedcats.wordpress.com/?p=7465 ]]>

God is in his corner office, sitting at his desk, creating new stars, galaxies, and forms of life … as he has done dutifully six days a week for billions of years. St Peter walks in.

St. Peter: “My Lord, I have a message from the Pope, supreme leader of one of your fan clubs on Earth.”
God: “The guys who think I sent my son on a suicide mission to show them I loved them, what is it this time?”
St. Peter: “They want to know your official position on the wearing of little rubber hats on their male reproductive organs while they have sex.”
God: “Peter, I’m really busy today, I don’t have time for jokes.”
St. Peter: “No, he is really serious. Apparently this is a matter of considerable importance to him.”
God: “He … really … thinks I care about how he decorates his dick during sex? What’s next, he’s going to want my opinion of what reproductive organ should be placed in what bodily orifice while they screw?”
St. Peter: “Well, now that you mention it, yes, he also has some questions along those lines.”
God: “I was joking!”
St. Peter: “I wasn’t my Lord, apparently him and many people on Earth are quite concerned about this issue, mating genders, orifices, they have even killed each other over it.”
God: “They’ve killed each other over disagreements about who and how people should have sex with?”
St. Peter: “Yes my Lord.”
God: “The fact that their entire planet is filled with animals and plants, including their near relatives, that are happily engaged in a vast array of consensual mating activities hasn’t suggested to them that sex is a good thing, and I couldn’t care less about them doing it however they please?”
St. Peter: “They seem to think they are a special case my Lord, and that you would have specific requirements for them in the realm of sexual activity.”
God: “Jesus Christ!”
Jesus (from next room): “Yo, dad?”
God: “Nothing, go back to your PS3.” (Sound of muffled explosions and gunfire resumes from the next room.)
God: “So this really isn’t some elaborate joke you and Satan cooked up on your rafting trip last week?”
St. Peter: “I wish it was my Lord.”
God (facepalms): “So do I Peter, so do I.”

(The above image is hundreds of years old and thus is no longer copyrighted. Well, at least until SOPA II is passed. If people like this, I may write more. There’s a lot of things that could go on in God’s office. Copyright © 2012 Doug Stych, All Rights Reserved.)

“The number of children who are born subsequent to a first abortion with handicaps has increased dramatically. Why? because when you abort the first born of any, nature takes its vengeance on the subsequent children, in the Old Testament, the first born of every being, animal and man, was dedicated to the Lord. There’s a special punishment Christians would suggest.”

Yes, this man’s Christian God cripples babies to teach their moms a lesson. Wow. I don’t recall Jesus ever saying anything along those lines, but I missed a lot of Sunday School as a kid. On the plus side, we can be thankful this guy’s a politician, not a judge. “The jury has found you guilty as charged. Bailiff, shoot the defendant’s baby.”

Well, recently I have had negative encounters with both 9/11 conspiracy believers, and 9/11 conspiracy skeptics. It’s kinda what I do I guess. By negative encounters, I mean encounters that frustrated and annoyed me, I’m not casting aspersions. Not yet at least. On the plus side, it cleared up my thinking on a number of issues, and inspired speculation along several lines. Even better, it engendered a lot of passionate discourse, so it’s a perfect blog topic.

OK, I will do this systematically. To start with, my current opinion on 9/11 conspiracy theories involving controlled demolition of the three  World Trade Center (WTC) buildings that collapsed on 9/11. Let us call them 9/11 Truthers, they are pretty much the mainstream 9/11 conspiracy movement now. To wit:

I am extremely skeptical for one general reason, and because of  a number of  “logical bottlenecks” that are difficult or impossible to explain. The general reason is that 9/11 conspiracy theories are based on zero evidence. By that I mean they are based entirely on interpretation of public records. More specifically there are as yet no computer files, memos, recordings, conspirators, etc. that have been found that directly speak of any sort of conspiracy to blow up these buildings. It’s a purely circumstantial case at this point, and hell, until there is real information, who are we going to indict?

Secondly, there are a number of questions raised by the controlled demolition hypothesis that are very hard to answer. Or the answers raise new questions, so they aren’t really answers at all. I won’t bother to list all of them, just some of what I think are the more salient ones:

1. Why? This is the question that would come up the first time the conspirators met. “Why, exactly, are we going to do this Mr Bush?” Bush looks blank. They were already in power, a few backpack bombs in subways would give them all the casus beli they needed for the War on Terror. Why such an elaborate complicated plot involving mass death and damage?

2. Why WTC 7? The plot already involves four hijacked airliners and blowing up two buildings, why complicate an already complicated plot by blowing up  a building that no one has ever heard of?

3. Lastly, and thanks to the keen human insight of my august father, how, exactly, would one recruit people into this plot? This isn’t like ordering cops and soldiers to attack rioters or demonstrators or other sub-groups that can be dehumanized. “Psst, want to get in on a plot two blow up some national landmarks and kill thousands of Americans?” I don’t think that would work very well.

So, moving right along, first my annoyance with the skeptics. I have always found skeptics somewhat annoying.  They often go beyond skepticism to outright disdain and ridicule. I’m sorry, but if you are claiming to be the voice of reason, then you should make your case with reason. I don’t see how it can be any other way, but I have been ridiculed and called names for even suggesting that.

In this specific recent case, it was very politic, I just got kind of bored with the group. I like to approach things from original principles. I’ve read all the evidence surrounding 9/11 conspiracies, I’m still a skeptic, but I enjoy attacking the problem logically. “If 9-11 Truthers are correct, does this lead us to any testable questions?” is a very interesting question to me. Alas, I’ve done a poor job of expressing it apparently.

On the plus side, I left the group without any snarkiness on my part, since none was warranted. I hope. The old Doug could never have done that. Heck, I really shouldn’t even have left the group, but that part of me is changing too. Still, as my friends know, under my charming exterior, I am more than part misanthrope. Since I see it’s now possible for me to find out how much Neanderthal DNA I have,  maybe I’ll get to the bottom of this.

Last but not least, the 9/11 Truthers. Well, they seems to have achieved almost a cult like status. I could be wrong, but it appears to me that many Truthers are absolutely convinced that their explanation of the events of 9/11 is the only possible explanation. And that anyone who disagrees is either deluded, or an agent of the government. They can’t seem to accept even the possibility that they might be wrong.

So debate is kind of pointless, and ends up being endless argument over interpretation of the data. The particular example that got my goat is the videos showing the collapse of WTC 7. In one video there is a piece of building facing apparently falling at free fall speed, as if there was nothing underneath it. Truthers insist that this means it must have been a controlled demolition. Um, yeah. I’m not an expert at building collapse. I do know that if a lay person tells me that this tiny fragment of debris in a videotape is proof positive of their theory, I say bullshit. If they claim an expert said it, I check with the other experts. And in this case I did, a few dizzying pages of math I didn’t understand and comments I could barely parse, and one thing was clear. The experts weren’t exactly sure what accounted for this piece of debris’ apparent motion for that second or so, but there are all sorts of possibilities. Which ends the probative value of this particular snippent of film in any rational sense.

This does highlight a feature that seems common to, well, cult like beliefs. They assiduously look for evidence that supports their theory. The problem with this what some would call a “logical” approach is that with sufficient enthusiasm it can be used to “prove” any theory. In the nineteen fifties Velikovsky “proved” that Mars and Venus were comets that sprung from Jupiter in historic times. Some people still believe him. Some people believe the Moon Landings were a hoax. Some people believe Nostradamus predicted the future. I’m sure others have said it before me, but they are all falling into the same logical trap. Confirmation bias is the bane of mankind. Science is looking at all the pieces and seeing how they best fit together to make a picture. Cultists, r whatever ne wants to call them, start with the picture … and find pieces that fit.

I will conclude with this though. Some of the above beliefs are lot crazier than others. Whatever people believe, they are all normal people. The 9/11 Truther I recently met is also a vegan activist. Vegan activists are trying to make the world a better place for people and animals, what’s not to admire? And I will gladly admit that I think it’s entirely possible, if extremely unlikely, that I will get a call at 5am from the East Coast tomorrow telling me to turn on my TV. And when I do, it will turn out that a 9/11 co-conspirator came forward, and had provided to wikileaks hundreds of audio and video recordings that incontrovertibly showed that the 9/11 attacks and the entire War on Terror had been plotted by a small cabal in the White House and the CIA. And that the other conspirators had already fled or had been captured and were frantically confessing, naming names, and begging for mercy and protection … because millions of Americans were gathering on the Washington Mall demanding their heads.

Wouldn’t that be something?

(The above image is claimed as Fair Use under US copyright law. It’s not being used for profit, it’s from Wired Magazine. It’s a cave man,  a Neanderthal man to be exact. I used it to illustrate my Neanderthal nature. So I don’t need to explain myself, since that explains it. Right?)

]]> http://unitedcats.wordpress.com/2012/01/16/911-truthers/feed/ 61 unitedcats Neanderthal Man http://unitedcats.wordpress.com/2012/01/11/technical-problems/ http://unitedcats.wordpress.com/2012/01/11/technical-problems/#comments Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:29:26 +0000 unitedcats http://unitedcats.wordpress.com/?p=7441 ]]>

OK, thought I’d get one last post in about Iran before the shooting war starts. Sigh. I know I’ve posted about this before, but the USA has really been upping the ante lately, and I can’t help but wonder if this time it really is the prelude to war. I’ll likely be repeating stuff I’ve said many times before, but once more with feeling.

The first and most depressing thing about this is that most Americans think Iran is a country run by evil crazy mullahs who are out to destroy the USA and Israel. They couldn’t find Iran on a map, couldn’t list even ten facts about Iran like it’s capital or president, know nothing about Iranian history other than the US embassy hostage crisis (US version only of course,) have never spoken to an Iranian in their life … yet consider themselves experts on Iran and its intentions and foreign policy. Yes, most Americans live in a Faux News comic book world.

Sigh. I doubt too many Faux News readers read my blog, so moving right along. The USA has really been ratcheting up the pressure on Iran lately, using for all practical purposes the same playbook they used to justify the invasion of Iraq. A combination of completely unsubstantiated charges about what Iran is doing and their intentions, combined with ultimatums that are tantamount to Iran giving up its status as a sovereign nation. And the way it works is simple, if Iran does accede to a demand, the USA just raises the bar. Iran did in fact back around 2000 agree to additional inspections of its nuclear facilities above and beyond what the NPT required. And what did it get for this? Nothing, the USA didn’t skip a beat and kept making demands.

So even if Iran did give up its nuclear program, thus crippling (for starters) its medical services, and killing many Iranian in the process, what would they get for it? Nothing, the USA would simply come up with some new threat the Iranians were posing and come up with new demands. And the western media just plays along with this and regurgitates Washington’s talking points. And it’s gotten worse since the run up to war with Iraq, at least then there was a semblance of public debate over the possible war, now, nothing but sheep listening to propaganda apparently. I know, it’s an election year and all, but dear God, our government is trying to start a  war and no one cares?

And if it’s not bad enough that Obama seems hell bent on stirring up trouble with Iran, the Iranians are rising to the bait. They have threatened to close the strait of Hormuz if the sanctions the USA are talking about are implemented against it. And when Iran makes a threat, the USA media dutifully hysterically reports it without any mention of the US threats the Iranians are responding to. I don’t know if the Iranians have just decided to stick to their guns, they aren’t actually doing anything wrong; or worse, they have had some very strong private assurances that Russia will stand by them.

It takes two fools to have fight in other words. I don’t really know what’s motivating the Iranians aside from national survival, but in some ways I’m even more baffled by the Obama administration. Why is the USA so hell bent on goading the Iranians into giving us a casus beli? I mean, God only knows the USA doesn’t  need much. Is Obama really trying to start a war with Iran?

Sure looks like it from my perspective. I can only speculate why. Today’s theory is that Iran is the most visible threat to the petrodollar. The American dollar is only worth something because it’s the world currency required to buy oil. Iran has made noise for along time about selling its oil for something other than dollars. Would the USA really go to war with a country to protect the petrodollar? The last (and only) two countries to start selling oil for other than dollars were Iraq and Libya. I rest my case.

Yes, there appears to be an excellent chance for a war with Iran soon. I mean, another Iranian scientist was just blown up. The USA and Israel are the obvious suspects. Imagine how Americans would react if some foreign entity was assassinating US scientists in America. Many Americans would go ape shit. Guess what, many Iranians will react the same. This isn’t going to end well.

The last points I want to make are that Iran is a nation of people, not monsters. Pretty much the same as people anywhere. And that war with them would be a really bad idea. All wars have unintended consequences. Sadly, risky wars are a hallmark of desperate regimes, and when it comes right down to it, the post World War Two American hegemony of the world is on the ropes, so all bets are off.

(The above image is public domain to the best of my knowledge. Because of my weird computer issues, I can’t preview or look at pages. If there is something wrong with how this page displays, please mention in  a comment.)

Have a good day everyone.

Doug