The title has nothing to do with this post. It is a quotation from Jeopardy tonight that I found hilarious. Alex Trebek said this after one of the players went down to only $401 in the Final Jeopardy round.
But what this post is really about is... slippery slopes.
This is a term that pisses me off and I've been hearing a lot about it recently. The last time I heard it was about the new Scientology scandal with Wikipedia. Apparently the Church of Scientology has been editing some articles to show themselves in a kinder light, breaching the neutrality of the Wikipedia. So Wikipedia is banning the Church from editing the site, by following IP addresses and the rest of that stuff I don't understand.
I say this is a good step, it's a step towards Wikipedia banning all organizations from editing their own articles. THIS CANNOT BE A BAD THING. But apparently it's a slippery slope, because if we ban Scientologists from expressing their views, then where will we draw the line? Pretty soon the Muslims won't be able to talk about their prayers, and it's all downhill from there, because we cannot anger the Muslims.
I'm sorry, but this type of thinking pisses me off. From what I understand, Wikipedia has a policy, these people are breaking that policy, so they're banned. And they're not banning individuals, from what I understand, they're banning the computers in Churches of Scientology. If they really care enough to change the article, they could find a way.
But more than that, I'm so fuckin' sick of people using the slippery slope as an excuse. Yes, there's a fine line, and if you stumble, you'll fall. BUT THAT'S NOT AN EXCUSE NOT TO DO IT. People who say that it is don't have strong enough ideals, they don't know where their own line is. Because, really, if teaching Neo-National Socialism to a 7 year old girl falls on the acceptable side of that line, then what progress have we made? Have people really forgotten Nazis? Have we forgotten how evil they were? Have we forgotten the Holocaust, where 6 million Jews and at least 5 million gypsies, poles, soviets, radicals and homosexuals were starved, beaten, gassed, shot, burnt and killed as a "purging of society"?
We cannot forget about this, and we cannot allow it to happen again. 11 to 17 million people died as a result of that hatred, and each of those people was a person, who loved and sinned and lived. They lived until they died because of this intolerance. And what really gets me is that this happened because of conformity, because the common German citizen wanted to be like everyone else.
And we have people in our society teaching the same values and intolerance that killed 11 million people.
11. Million.
And there are people who do not want to take this child out of this house because it's a slippery slope from there.
Pardon my French, but what the fuck?
If, at the dawn of the 21st century, there are people repeating the sins of the 20th, then we've obviously gone nowhere. We should just pack our bags, turn in our two weeks notice, hail a cab, and tell it to take us to an empty field. And we'll sit there, looking at the grass and the flowers and the clouds passing by and wonder how, with all this beauty in the world, we can still hate, we can still question, we can still settle for anything less than total happiness and recklessness.
Because we can make a difference, we can say no to this intolerance, to teaching children evil. Because I remember the Holocaust, and I remember the White Rose.
-Lee
(Next time should be happier, I'm planning on talking about The Incredible Hulk)
I've been trying so hard
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
So, I've been trying this thing where I keep my promises.
Which is why I'm actually posting again today.
I made you a promise, internet, and I don't plan on going back on it.
So, as promised, Larry O'Brien rant.
Larry O'Brien is the mayor-dude of the fair city of Ottawa. Also a douche, but that's neither here nor there. Wait, yes it is.
Anyways, he's on trial right now for something I don't entirely understand, but I'm pretty sure it has something to do from obstructing the democratic process.
Basically, from my limited understanding, he promised someone else running for mayor a high-up job if they pulled out. I have been told this is what always happens with politicians. I think that's a terrible thing.
It seems undemocratic, to me at least. It is one man limiting the options of the people. And it involves one job high up going to someone who might not have the necessary skills for the job. That is pretty fuckin' irresponsible, in my opinion.
But the democracy thing grinds my gears even more. In my opinion, democracy's the shit, it's the bomb, it's all that and a bag of potato chips. The democratic process is basically anarchy, and I'm no anarchist, but I recognize how the mob can the right sometimes. The mob is only an idiot if an idiot leads them, but if the mob is given it's own power, if every member of the mob is allowed a completely free and open voice to say who they want to be their leader, then that's the only way society could possibly work.
Which is why this Larry O'Brien thing pisses me off. Larry O'Brien, and the other guy for accepting his deal, basically made the mob unable to say one thing. It took away an option, and democracy is at it's purest when there's many options on the table. Of course, the other dude couldn't've been too focussed on the mayorship, or else he wouldn't've fallen back, but still, he was an option, and he would've done a better job, I'd bet.
And I am completely in favour of the trial here. If this sort of thing happens all the time, then it's great that it's getting coverage, it's getting taken out of dark corners and back alleys. If this trial goes sour for Larry O'Brien, then it'll show all the other bullshit politicians, "Yeah, keep doing what you're doing, but we can't guarantee you won't get caught." And it'll make them that much more on edge about things, maybe even make a few not bother, the risk is too great, the mob would care too much.
And if things go good for Mr. O'Brien, then at least the mob would realize a little bit more about the corruption within politics, realize it affects them on a very real level. And knowledge like this can only lead to good things.
However, talking about a horse of a completely different colour, I had an amazingly good day today. Something in the water, I guess. I might've even had been served gelato by someone who was in a documentary I once saw. Polly Leger, if you happen to read this, could you possibly confirm whether or not you served banana chocko-chunk and banana strawberry gelato to a kid with brown hair wearing a corduroy suit jacket on May 12, 2009?
Which is why I'm actually posting again today.
I made you a promise, internet, and I don't plan on going back on it.
So, as promised, Larry O'Brien rant.
Larry O'Brien is the mayor-dude of the fair city of Ottawa. Also a douche, but that's neither here nor there. Wait, yes it is.
Anyways, he's on trial right now for something I don't entirely understand, but I'm pretty sure it has something to do from obstructing the democratic process.
Basically, from my limited understanding, he promised someone else running for mayor a high-up job if they pulled out. I have been told this is what always happens with politicians. I think that's a terrible thing.
It seems undemocratic, to me at least. It is one man limiting the options of the people. And it involves one job high up going to someone who might not have the necessary skills for the job. That is pretty fuckin' irresponsible, in my opinion.
But the democracy thing grinds my gears even more. In my opinion, democracy's the shit, it's the bomb, it's all that and a bag of potato chips. The democratic process is basically anarchy, and I'm no anarchist, but I recognize how the mob can the right sometimes. The mob is only an idiot if an idiot leads them, but if the mob is given it's own power, if every member of the mob is allowed a completely free and open voice to say who they want to be their leader, then that's the only way society could possibly work.
Which is why this Larry O'Brien thing pisses me off. Larry O'Brien, and the other guy for accepting his deal, basically made the mob unable to say one thing. It took away an option, and democracy is at it's purest when there's many options on the table. Of course, the other dude couldn't've been too focussed on the mayorship, or else he wouldn't've fallen back, but still, he was an option, and he would've done a better job, I'd bet.
And I am completely in favour of the trial here. If this sort of thing happens all the time, then it's great that it's getting coverage, it's getting taken out of dark corners and back alleys. If this trial goes sour for Larry O'Brien, then it'll show all the other bullshit politicians, "Yeah, keep doing what you're doing, but we can't guarantee you won't get caught." And it'll make them that much more on edge about things, maybe even make a few not bother, the risk is too great, the mob would care too much.
And if things go good for Mr. O'Brien, then at least the mob would realize a little bit more about the corruption within politics, realize it affects them on a very real level. And knowledge like this can only lead to good things.
However, talking about a horse of a completely different colour, I had an amazingly good day today. Something in the water, I guess. I might've even had been served gelato by someone who was in a documentary I once saw. Polly Leger, if you happen to read this, could you possibly confirm whether or not you served banana chocko-chunk and banana strawberry gelato to a kid with brown hair wearing a corduroy suit jacket on May 12, 2009?
Man, I suck
Monday, May 11, 2009
I really, really suck.
Seriously, it's been, like, 3 months. I got two posts in and I quit.
I suck so bad.
But back into the swing of things.
I've been debating truth with myself, trying to figure out what it is, how to find it, et cetera.
Yeah, I'm pretty pretentious.
Anyways, today at school we had a guest speaker. A journalist, I should know his name, but I don't, because I'm a terrible person. So, he was talking about how he's always censored for sources and such who don't want their names to be in the news, and that really got me thinking.
These newspapers claim to say the irrevocable truth, the pure stories, just the facts, ma'am. They claim to have no outside influence, to say what is happening and nothing more.
But that is never the whole story, because how people react to it is a huge part of it. And journalists are our ties to the story. Sure, they have interviews and everything, but most people aren't willing to say how they really feel to a complete stranger. The journalist should have the balls to say how they feel about a story.
Which is why I really respect the real bloggers. The dudes and ladies on the internet who say real stuff and tell real stories with their names and opinions hanging out for all to see. I'm starting to think that these bloggers are the closest incarnate to truth that we have. Because they tell the stories, the good ones tell the whole story, with just the facts, and then say how they feel. Human emotion will always be part of the truth, no matter what.
Someone in my class asked if truth is a human construct, and I'm not entirely sure how to respond to that. Mostly because I'm not entirely sure what truth is. Like all ideals, we can't really understand it. To me, truth is a matter of perception. If you're completely honest about what you perceive, and how you feel about that, then you're being truthful. The problem there is that perception is a matter of bias. The act of looking at something is also the act of not looking at everything else. This makes the truth kind of a problem to figure out.
So what is truth, dog?
I don't know, I just know that if we have it, completely, then the earth would be a chiller place to live. Not that it isn't now, but y'know, parts of it suck.
Like Larry O'Brien, who I will rant about tomorrow.
On a lighter note, thisiswhyyourefat.com is a hilarious website.
-Peace
Lee
Seriously, it's been, like, 3 months. I got two posts in and I quit.
I suck so bad.
But back into the swing of things.
I've been debating truth with myself, trying to figure out what it is, how to find it, et cetera.
Yeah, I'm pretty pretentious.
Anyways, today at school we had a guest speaker. A journalist, I should know his name, but I don't, because I'm a terrible person. So, he was talking about how he's always censored for sources and such who don't want their names to be in the news, and that really got me thinking.
These newspapers claim to say the irrevocable truth, the pure stories, just the facts, ma'am. They claim to have no outside influence, to say what is happening and nothing more.
But that is never the whole story, because how people react to it is a huge part of it. And journalists are our ties to the story. Sure, they have interviews and everything, but most people aren't willing to say how they really feel to a complete stranger. The journalist should have the balls to say how they feel about a story.
Which is why I really respect the real bloggers. The dudes and ladies on the internet who say real stuff and tell real stories with their names and opinions hanging out for all to see. I'm starting to think that these bloggers are the closest incarnate to truth that we have. Because they tell the stories, the good ones tell the whole story, with just the facts, and then say how they feel. Human emotion will always be part of the truth, no matter what.
Someone in my class asked if truth is a human construct, and I'm not entirely sure how to respond to that. Mostly because I'm not entirely sure what truth is. Like all ideals, we can't really understand it. To me, truth is a matter of perception. If you're completely honest about what you perceive, and how you feel about that, then you're being truthful. The problem there is that perception is a matter of bias. The act of looking at something is also the act of not looking at everything else. This makes the truth kind of a problem to figure out.
So what is truth, dog?
I don't know, I just know that if we have it, completely, then the earth would be a chiller place to live. Not that it isn't now, but y'know, parts of it suck.
Like Larry O'Brien, who I will rant about tomorrow.
On a lighter note, thisiswhyyourefat.com is a hilarious website.
-Peace
Lee
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