Remembering PRESTAGS

The Triumph of Logic

Readers of this blog have witnessed the torture of logic over the years, so it might be time to revisit its basics, which I think we all agree is vital for a good argument. I believe we have all studied logic, but let's review the basics of Aristotelian logic:

In summary, from those whose youth was a long time ago, you start with your observations to derive facts. You can then deduce new facts to build theorems. However, you must always beware of any regress of reasons, where your beliefs interfere with your ability to follow the track of reason.

Thus, if you have discovered that A => B, and B => C, then you can be certain that A => C. I prefer the mathematical notation as it reveals the basics: You can write A => B as ~A v B: "not A or B". That shows that they only false statement is B is false and A is true. Every other state of A and B returns a true statement. In particular, if B is true, there is no way to predict whether A is true or false.

The famous test is "If the bird is a swan, the bird is coloured white". Thanks to the age of exploration that followed the age of reason, we know this deduction to be false. Yet, every European would have suspected it as true for thousands of years until the eighteenth century. The statement did not become false at that time; it was always false. What changed was that more facts became available. So except in the field of Pure Mathematics, every belief is one piece of evidence away from becoming false.

Einstein spoke with clever irony when he quipped:

So let us revisit some past statements and test their logic.

I would struggle to support anything coming out of the Russian government right now

Can this statement be true? Members of the Russian army has been charged with committing brutal acts during their illegal invasion of the Ukraine. These charges include rape, murder, robbery, targeting of civilians and indiscriminate use of long range munitions. If proven, the Russian army will have demonstrated themselves to be evil, by the Judeo-Christian definition. Does this mean that all Russians are evi?. No. In fact, many Russians have protested again the inhumanity of the invasion, and have been punished. Does this mean that all members of the Russian army are evil? No. In fact, many Russian prisoners of war in the Ukraine have openly spoken of their confusion as to why they were even attacking, and their relief at surrendering. (Of course, you must assume they are trying to paint themselves as less culpable of crimes than their commanders, but the consistency of that message suggests that it may be true. Again, it is not proven true.)

Who murdered all these civilians in Bucha?

However, the evidence of rape, murder of looting is inescapable. Python had the experience of being part of a murder conviction a decade ago: five men ran up a street, four walked back and those four were found guilty of murder via a mechanism called Joint Criminal Enterprise, even though we never worked out which one stabbed the victim.

In the Ukraine, a poorly led army charged in and hideous crimes happened. An Australian court would have no trouble reaching a Joint Criminal Enterprise.

Hang on Python; gotcha; how do you reach the assertion that the Russian Army was poorly led? Fair cop - that is an inference not a deduction

• the Russian army is ten times the size of the Ukrainian army
• the Russian military equipment was modern, which the Ukrainians were equipped with Soviet-era arms
• the Russian army had numerical and qualitative superiority in every type of munition, plane and tank
• the Russian army had the benefit of surprise

and yet within a couple of weeks, before significant Western munitions could arrive and certainly before the Ukrainian militia could be trained in its use, the Russian offenses were blunted. I can see no other cause. Perhaps the better motivation of the Ukrainian patriot, but again that is a matter of leadership. Somewhat like Putin, I struggle to see the difference between a Russian and a Ukrainian; it is not like one is flesh and blood and the other are alien lizards from the inside of our moon.

I close this section to note that despite the bodies, despite the evidence of violated women, despite the destroyed apartment blocks and power stations, the Russian government has not just denied that their army is culpable, but has defending their actions. If the crimes are established, this government has made itself complicit by covering up the criminality of their agents.

So, can I claim that the statement "I would struggle to support anything coming out of the Russian government right now" is logical. Yes, absolutely I can. I think it is very likely that:

• The Russian Army is committing war crimes
• The Russian government is aware of these crimes
• The Russian government is trying to obfuscate to distract world opinion from their behaviour

It is implausible, but entirely possible that there are no war crimes and I am wrong in my suspicions. However, it is also possible that I am completely correct and am justly calling out evil when I see it. While evidence is being gathered, I have to act on what I know: crimes are happening and the Russian army is the most likely suspect. While I struggle to support anything coming out of the Russian government right now, it does not mean I would reject everything. If the Russian government were to made a statement that their invasion of Ukraine was illegal, that they shall leave  by the end of the year and pay from the reconstruction of damaged Ukrainian infrastructure, I would warmly welcome such a statement and openly congratulate them. In summary:

• I suspect the Russian government is still continuing down the path of evil,
• I will continue to listen to their statements
• Should they acknowledge their error and seek to do good, I will applaud them.

Finally, let's deal with the dead cat.

It is a common rhetorical technique when an argument is going against you, to "throw a dead cat on the table and say 'Look!'". Everyone runs around trying to get rid of it and forgets the topic. So, is it logical for Python to discuss his views about the evils being wrought in Ukraine when there are evil pedophiles grooming children? Yes it is. All evils should be condemned. However, humans should only be condemned when the evidence has been fairly tested. Just as I cannot assert at this time that the Russian Army is guilty of war crimes, neither can I assert that any individual is a pedophile until it is proven, no matter how much I might suspect them. Some agnostic friends have asked me how I can remain in the Catholic Church when so many priests have been found guilty of pedophilia or covering it up. I accept the criticism, but using logic, I can deduce that just because many Catholics are guilty of this crime, it is not a Catholic behaviour, and I can support the Church in eliminating the scourge.

Logic can triumph!

Where Are Our Shepherds?

A computer error brings the future 20 years closer

I have seen many computer errors in my life, and been responsible for most of the ones I have seen, but this one is astonishing.

0.712 x $3.50 = $29.90

Or $10 per apple; the price in Anno Domino 2038. I am off to Woolies this morning with a "please explain". I am glad I didn't buy this from Coles: http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-19/coles-stores-nationwide-shutdown/10137418

Of course, there is another explanation. Prior to executing his coup d'etat, has he colluded with Russia to hack our supermarkets?

Tristan The Turnip

This is my friend Tristan the Turnip.

On the basis that we are all healthy enough to attend the Boys Weekend, I hope to bring Tristan.

Very special things will be done with Tristan if Thygo does not say "no" at least five times every hour.

Lent is upon us

 The blessed palms from last year's Palm Sunday are burned on Shrove Tuesday to make the ashes.

 

 

The Putting on of Ashes From the Initial "M" in the Introit of the Mass of Ashes on Ash Wednesday From the Missal à l'usage de Saint-Didier d'Avignon  c. 1370  

 

 

           

 

For many centuries, the Roman Liturgy on Ash Wednesday took as the Gospel reading Mk 6:1-6, 16-18, which presents Jesus’ teaching on the inseparable elements of  almsgiving (mercy), prayer and fasting

 

In one of his Discourses, Saint Peter Chrysologus wrote:

""These three things, prayer, fasting and mercy, are a single thing, each drawing life from the others. Fasting is the soul of prayer and mercy the life of fasting. Let no one divide them, because alone they do not survive" (Saint Peter Chrysologus, Discourse 43: PL 52, 320).

some text and missal image borrowed from http://idlespeculations-terryprest.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/memento-homo-quia-pulvis-es-et-in.html 

Just one more turn. Game or addiction?

So, Thygo is sitting here, checking his email, and checking it again, and again, and again.

"There are no new emails"

Now he's checking Steam to see if Python is online ...  'Offline for 12 hours'

Yes, Thygo is addicted to the internet, and PBEM games in particular.

And this is obviously not a unique situation judging by the number of images that came up on a search for 'just one more turn'.

There is Still Trust in This World

I'm glad there is still some trust in this world.

A bit down my street is an Italian Deli, and every morning the bread and milk is delivered a couple of hours before the store opens. It is safe enough to leave the deliveries outside the door and nobody steals them.

Something nice for a change.

Brilliant

This is so true. Especially for Python.

 

Retaliation demo ...

Hi baby, want to play a wargame with me?

Why am I angry? - Is Toxoplasma gondii - things to me?

So there is an article in today's Australian and on New Scientist

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2082105-explosive-road-rage-like-anger-linked-to-parasite-spread-by-cats/

I learned about this parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, at uni. It's life cycle is in the guts of cats (or other predators I guess) and the brains of prey (mice). Guess what? People get it too - in the brain.

It was well known that mice infected with it were risk takers, and the evolutionary explanation is that it makes them more likely to get predated.
So this is interesting research. I wonder if I have T. gondii sitting in my amygdala (bottom reptilian fight/flight brain)?

I have lived with cats on and off for many years, including cleaning up their messes.

Maybe I am the mouse that roars? Or am I just a viking trapped in the 21st century?

 

The sometime beserker in Eric the Viking

T. gondii life cycle

cyst full of T. gondii - who needs science fiction?

Brain scan - not mine, but is it the same?

 

Saint Athanasius - saint for our times

St Athanasius 'contra mundum'

"Saint Athanasius lived in the fourth century during the time of what used to be considered the greatest crisis of faith ever to befall the Catholic Church, the Arian Heresy. (The Arians denied the Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ). The vast majority of Churchmen fell into this heresy, so much so that Saint Jerome wrote of the period, "The whole world groaned and was amazed to find itself Arian"."

Today we might say: "The whole Church groaned and was amazed to find itself Bergoglian Protestant" One might go even further to ask whether "it is amazed to find itself non-christian"

 

Left Man, Right Man

Both men used the understanding of warfare as a key part of their income earning. The man on the left, John Michael Young,  expressed his knowledge in terms of great wargames that leaves you with an understanding of the challenges and surprises you can face in battle. The awesome PRESTAGS series shows many battles where the mighty have offered battle full of confidence that it will be their crowning achievement, only to see their dreams fade in a field of other people's blood.

The man on the right has initiated two wars with the same confidence as the past and largely forgotten commanders. His limited wars (unlike my failed Outreach strategy), brought more territory into Russia, but has not yet solved any real problems.

Its the old trick to winning a few wars to keep the malcontents quiet and the focus of the needs of the people. As Churchill quipped in his 1938 book "While England Slept", "Dictators ride to and fro on tigers from which they dare not dismount. And the tigers are getting hungry."

Do not get me wrong, I am not saying Putin is much worse than the US or European foreign policy...

... but that the focus on limited war to achieve political goals is morally unacceptable, and ultimately will fail, because limited war is very expensive and doesn't really change anything.

Ultimately, the piper must be paid!

Awesome Wedding Anniversary

Congratulations to the Python who has reached 30 years of marriage.

I have consulted the different gifts that go with each anniversary and 30 years is definitely the big one.

A momentous anniversary like this deserves a special wedding anniversary cake. Something like this would be brilliant:

Food - 2 for the price of 1

Should a criminal be allowed to enter Australia to attend the G20?

This is not my question, mind you. Paul and I watched a movie last week. We shared a taxi home. After I dropped Paul off, the taxi driver asked me this question. (Paul and I must have been discussing international affairs on the trip home.)

I started with my standard, infuriating platitude "Better to talk with your enemy than enjoy some sense of moral  superiority but have no idea about their motivations or intentions". I think he found my views unpalatable and was silent, so I asked who he thought was the criminal, expecting it to be an ex-KGB officer. I was astonished when he mentioned the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. (How can anyone who loves cricket be evil?) l leaned forward to get a better look at the speaker and spotted a Sikh's turban. Fortunately I had read about the assault on the Golden temple only a few months ago in an S&T magazine.

I managed to politely enquire if he was referring to the Indian overreaction to the occupation of the temple. Instead his issue was with the persecution of the Sikhs after the murder of Indira Ghandi by her Sikh bodyguards. The driver was of the view that the current Prime minister was involved directly. His friends and neighbours were assaulted and killed, so he fled and Australia took him as a refugee. These events happened in the early 1990s, but he still wants justice.

He then wandered into what must be a conspiracy theory about the accused assassins being blackmailed into confessing and Sanja Ghandi wearing a bullet proof rest on the day of the assassination (showing foreknowledge suggesting conspiracy). He pointed out that the Indian government had been uninterested in the prosecution of the Hindus who assaulted the Sikhs and that no prosecutions had succeeded.

I hear enough conspiracy theories to have lost interest in checking them (but if you are interested), but I do not deny that there is a long list of crimes performed by the living that have not been prosecuted and will never be prosecuted. It does make it hard to have faith in international relations when actual perpetrators are feted as dignitaries. But I do believe the point is not to have faith in international relations, but to still perform them with compuction. I am reminded of this parable:

 “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’

“‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Is there anything more depressing than a bowl of salad. It is green. Everything is green. This is rabbit food, not man food.

Luckily salad is a side dish, and bearable if it is accompanied by a Thai Chicken Curry Pie. Yum.

 

 

Californian Drought

In 2011 I visited California, and I remember the scenery was beautiful and there were many areas of luscious forestation and agriculture. I took this photo of San Francisco bay:

Over the last year there has been a terrible drought, and the State and its economy have been devastated (even more than the general devastation of the US economy as the Federal Reserve prints money and sets up the entire nation for an apocalyptic crash). I saw these photos today that compare the 2011 that I remember with the situation today:

What has caused this drought?

The Python would say it is global warming, but he has a tendency to look at selective data, and ignore other parts of the United States where there has been increased rainfall over the same period.

ThygoCanberra would say it is a punishment for evil. A valid hypothesis, but if correct why not other equally evil areas of America. Washington DC comes to mind.

I prefer conspiracy theories. Perhaps the US government used its weather control technology to cause rainfall in the Western Pacific and to prevent rainfall on the West Coast. Why? Because the rain carried radioactivity from Fukushima. Maybe. At least this theory does not involve any aliens.

Corporate Persons Can Be Evil Too

There are a couple of reasons why I posted this image, but I doubt the Python will be able to guess either of them.

EDEE in the Retirement Home

What will EDEE look like when we are in the retirement home?

According to Python it will look like this:

According to Paul it will look like this:

And, according to Thygo it will look like this:

 

One of Those Days

Today I had one of those days. Tomorrow a member of my staff is going to have one of those days.

A few weeks ago I instructed the office manager to pay the car rego and CTP insurance for my car. These days the rego is done online and you don't get a rego sticker on the car, which is a shame because the sticker was a good reminder of the date. Anyway, said task was apparently not done.

Today with the family in our Sunday best, and driving to Mass, we were stopped by the police. I was cited for driving an unregistered vehicle (unregistered for less than a week). The cops have a scanner in their car which reads all the passing number plates and gives them instant access to registration irregularities. Big fine for me. No car until Monday when I can attend to things. Nice citation on my driving record for life. I am extraordinarily unimpressed.

 

The Battle of Bastille Island is over

It was meant to start on Christmas morning, but was delayed by a few days due to the enemy forces withholding turns for operational reasons. (Did you know we can set a time limit in this game. I wonder what emailing turns to the wrong address would do for that?) It ending this morning with the final forces of Lemongrass being driven off, and the last labour camp closed. The people held spontaneous celebrations on all three liberated islands.

The cries of the enslaved on Isle de la Paix have now reached the ears of the Bam Bang Boys central command. It has been scheduled for liberation by Australia Day. Very soon the slavers on that island shall be Bantha Fodder.

Related articles

The battle for Liberty Island begins

Great battle between the Bam Bang Boys and the Lemongrass

Awesome turn!

The Abuse crisis, and the Ostrich land of the Australian episcopate and its lay apparatchiks

Was this read out to you last Sunday? :

http://cathnews.com/images/documents/media/131112%20TJH%20Council%20Statement%20of%20Commitment.pdf

better than this arrogant statement of a year ago: http://www.sydneycatholic.org/justice/royalcommission/Royal%20Commission%20Bishops%27%20Response%20November%202012.pdf

The priest who read it where I went to Mass, who I consider to be a very saintly man, was obviously very pained by it and his distress at the monstrosity of the crimes and the poor response, and the damage to the mission of the Church were palpable. More so than for any bishop I have heard speak of it in this country I have to say.

And still what seems lacking is an owning of this by those who are actually in ‘leadership’ – quickly the statement slips to ‘the Church’ as if we were all party to these decisions and actions.

And still no material sign of repentance – bishops and priests should do public penance, and if the laity choose to follow their ‘leading from the front’ well and good but enough of this Black Adderish – “behind the front, 40 miles behind the front”

And then this from Francis Sullivan:

http://www.tjhcouncil.org.au/media/42843/131120-Media-Release-TJHC-calls-on-all-Catholics-to-take-responsibility-for-Church-response-to-sex-abuse.pdf

as Australia Incognita has said many times “they just don’t get it”

http://australiaincognita.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/breaking-up-club-can-we-really-do.html

 

 

Tom Tripp, Nobel Peace Prize Winner and member of the IPCC since 2004

Tom Tripp is quoted in July 2009 of the Salt Lake Tribune as saying "The atmospheric data is not overwhelming and even with increased levels of carbon dioxide it is still only a miniscule portion of the atmosphere. If there are warming trends today, man may not be the prime suspect. For instance, 700 years ago global warming halted the Ancestral Pueblo civilization and it probably wasn't caused by SUVs,"

He is the Technical Services Manager at US Magnesium (or was - I am not sure if he keeps his Linked in profile up to date). It appears he was invited to present to the IPCC on the carbon footprint of magnesium mining.

Tom does seem to a US Magnesium PR person; In May 2005 Tom Tripp stated "Our emissions are mainly water." when US Magnesium was charged with polluting the Great Salt Lake. US Magnesium lost this case and the subsequent appeal. When queried on why the clean up was not proceeding, he is quoted as saying "Obviously, one of our jobs during the cleanup is to keep our business going, to keep our people employed."

While Mr. Tom Tripp is technically an "IPCC author", he is not to be found in any of the contributor listings of the Work Groups WG I, WG II and WG III, whose reports are the core of the current IPCC Assessment Report AR4. Instead he is lead author of subsection 4.5 in Volume 3 (Industrial Processes and Product Use) of the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. While these guidelines are used in compiling emission data for the IPCC they are not part of AR4, the report that is cited in the news as the IPCC report on climate change.

Is he a Nobel Peace Prize winner? According to Utah Farm Bureau CEO Randy Parker he is: "He is. The prize was given to Al Gore and 2,000 IPCC members."

Summary
A peace prize winner - only by association. A lead author - I think not. An expert in his field - perhaps, but his field is not climate science. Truthful - only as long as it does not conflict with the financial interests of US Magnesium.

 

 

Ubuntu as a force for good!

I had a hair cut today. The barber told me he was surfing the web two days ago when Microsoft called and told him he had a virus on his computer. "I am not computer literate, I did not know. I use it because I like to look at pictures of my grand daughter on facebook." The guy on the phone had him "type in a number of commands" at which point they asked for $10 that he needed to transfer electronically. Fortunately, at this point he balked and offered $20 any other way. They threatened him and said they would take control of his computer until he paid. Then "sudden everything disappeared off my screen". He hung up at this point but now has a "dead PC".

THE BASTARDS! Paul, I wish to alter my previous statements on evil.

He has agreed to bring his laptop into the barber shop tomorrow. I have a Ubuntu bootable disk that I will use to find out if they left anything on his laptop. (I am expecting to find an encypted archive file somewhere.) If I can recover anything, I will. Then I will give him a Ubuntu system (just like Paul's, except on more modest hardware) that should be immune to further acts of evil.

I have also have suggested that he call the police, but I don't think he will.

September 11, Unanswered Questions

As a lawyer I hate unanswered questions, especially when an event is used to justify dramatic actions. I will never give blind obedience to the "state", and especially to wars and attacks on individual liberty, without asking a lot of questions. And if the questions are not answered, I will be suspicious.

There are so many questions about 11 September 2001 that it is ridiculous. To identify only a small number of questions:

[1] WHY was the debris from the Pentagon and the World Trade Center destroyed immediately after 9-11? Normally forensic teams examine all evidence from a crime scene. Yet the steel from the collapsed WTC was immediately shipped to Korea and China, where it was melted down within days. That steel would've indicated whether the buildings collapsed due to fire, something that has never happened and that would mandate drastic redesign of tall buildings. That steel also would've told the tale if the buildings had collapsed, instead, due to another cause – like an explosive demolition. It was the same at the Pentagon: the surprisingly small amount of debris was swiftly whisked away to an undisclosed location. WHY does an horrendous mass murder get a less thorough investigation than an ordinary murder? WHY does one of the biggest crimes of the century not involve preservation of evidence like an ordinary crime?

[2] WHY did the towers collapse? No steel skyscraper had ever collapsed because of fire. Repeat: In the 100 year history of steel skyscrapers, none had ever collapsed because of fire. The steel used in skyscrapers doesn't melt at temperatures that fire can attain when burning in open air. Jet fuel is essentially refined kerosene, which burns at around 700 C in optimal, perfectly-aerated conditions. Even if the fires did get this hot, it's not nearly hot enough to melt (or even significantly weaken) structural steel, which melts around 1,535 C. Also, given the shocking speed and neatness with which both towers fell, and the seismic evidence of small earthquakes moments before they fell, and the fact the buildings were pulverized instead of falling in chunks, it appears that the towers actually fell due to a controlled demolition rather than fire. WHY do some photographs appear to show a row of 'smoke' clouds from cutter charges in a row around the building taking out the support columns for an entire floor? The upper unsupported section then hammers the tower to the ground. WHY is the unsettling possibility of a controlled demolition dismissed out of hand and without proper enquiry? WHY have members of the FDNY (Fire Department of New York) provided oral testimonies shortly after 9/11 in which one fourth of them testified to having witnessed explosions in the Twin Towers?

[3] WHY did WTC 7 collapse? Don't forget about this building. Yet another steel skyscraper collapsed from fire that day. None ever, and then three, all in one day. WTC 7 was another building in the World Trade Center complex, but it was the furthest of the buildings from the Twin Towers. It was located on the next block. Little debris struck it, and there were no large fires burning inside of it. Yet, as that horrendous day was ending, at 5:20 pm, WTC 7 collapsed in a remarkable 7 seconds. Nearly the speed of freefall. It fell in what appeared to be a perfect implosion-style demolition. Yet the official story is that it collapsed because a diesel generator located in its basement exploded, causing the whole building to 'pancake' neatly, floor by floor, to the ground. This seems impossible both because an explosion in the basement wouldn't cause a neat implosion – but rather a toppling – and because the 57 floors of the building couldn't have 'pancaked' individually and still reached the ground at freefall speed. WHY has NIST classified the data that they used to make their computer animation of the WTC7 collapse? WOULD knowledge of how NIST believes the building collapsed challenge the official story?  WHY did the BBC and CNN announce in the afternoon of September 11, that WTC Building 7 had collapsed before this building had collapsed? The BBC report went live at 5.00pm, 21 minutes before the actual occurrence of the collapse, indelibly pointing to foreknowledge of the collapse of WTC 7.  CNN anchor Aaron Brown announced that the building “has either collapsed or is collapsing” about an hour before the event.

[4] WHY won't the Pentagon release their video footage of the attack on the Pentagon ? The event was perhaps the most bizarre of all. The plane that supposedly struck the Pentagon was known to have been hijacked for 45 minutes – after two other planes had already been hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center. Yet this plane supposedly flew unchallenged over the most protected airspace in the world, and then crashed into the headquarters of America's trillion-dollar military. While footage of both WTC crashes has surfaced and been shown ad infinitum on television, no footage of the Pentagon explosion has ever been released. The Pentagon oddly chose only to release five still-frames from their security cameras' footage. One of these five frames shows something that might be a plane or a missile or a gray smear. The other four show an exploding fireball on the side of the Pentagon. WHY was there barely any debris from whatever caused the explosion, and yet supposedly the remains of the passengers were all physically identified by the FBI? So the explosion completely vaporized tons of steel, yet didn't destroy human remains? WHY is there a lack of even so much as a skid mark on a pristine, putting green lawn? WHY were no wings ever recovered from the lawn, the building, or the inner ring. WHERE are they? WHY is the total debris gathered  but a small fraction of the total debris that would have been left by an airliner? 

[5] WHY was the debris from the fourth plane that crashed in Pennylvania spread out over eight miles? The official story is that the plane crashed after the passengers stormed the cockpit. But normally when planes crash into the ground the debris ends up in a relatively small area. Often the fuselage and wings remain near each other. The debris scattering over eight miles is very odd. Is the official story believable? Numerous eyewitness accounts suggest the plane was shot down by another, unmarked plane.

[6] WHERE are the black boxes? Central to all aircraft crashes are analysis of the black boxes. Each plane is equipped with two black boxes: the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and the Flight Data Recorder (FDR). Of the four plane crashes on September 11, six of the total eight boxes were allegedly destroyed. Black boxes are nearly indestructible. They have an impact tolerance of 3400 times gravity and can burn at 1100 degrees C for 30 minutes. Only the black boxes of flight 93 which crashed in Pennyslvania were recovered. WHY has the content of these two black boxes not been released to the public?

[7] WHAT is the background to there being at least four training exercises  in operation in the days leading up to and on the morning of 9/11? (Operation Northern Vigilance, Biowarfare Exercise Tripod, Operation Vigilant Guardian - which simulated hijacked planes - and Operation Vigilant Warrior). This meant that NORAD radar screens showed as many as 22 hijacked airliners at the same time. NORAD had been briefed that this was part of the exercise drill and therefore normal reactive procedure was forestalled and delayed. NORAD were confused, delayed and distracted by the numerous wargames. WHO if anyone was aware of which planes were 'real world' and which planes were 'exercise'? IS THIS really the most incredible coincidence in history?

[8] WHO benefitted from the suspiciously high numbers of put options purchased prior to September 11 for shares in companies whose stock prices subsequently plummeted? WHO were the big investors who knew 9-11 was about to happen? Although the stock trading on American and United Airlines was up by 1200% the day before 9-11, no public investigations into who profited were undertaken. Hundreds of Arab-looking Americans were rounded up and interrogated for little apparent reason, but neither the SEC nor the FBI arrested any of those who made millions from uncanny 9-11 stock trading. The FBI's reason? They say they know who made those trades, and the traders "had no conceivable connection to Al Qaeda." And especially, WHY did the SEC destroy their records on the 9/11 insider trading question, presumably the most important investigation in the agency’s history?

[9] WHY did Donald Rumsfeld announce a new “war on bureaucracy" September 10, 2001? WHAT was the reason for the 2.3 trillion missing dollars ($2,300,000,000,000) which the Pentagon had lost up until that point, and WHERE is this 2.3 trillion missing dollars? HOW was the “war on bureaucracy” hindered when the budget analyst office in the Pentagon was destroyed the following morning, and WHERE are the public records into this accounting scandal? WHO benefited when the greatest financial scandal in the US Defence Department's history disappeared overnight with the events of September 11?

[10] WHY did the alleged “mastermind” of 9/11, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, confess not only to plotting 9/11 “from A to Z” but also confess to masterminding numerous crimes that he could not have committed? And WHY did Osama bin Laden repeatedly deny any involvement in the attacks until a series of mistranslated and otherwise manipulated videos came along appearing to portray him as taking credit for those attacks? WASN'T Osama Bin Laden the same Osama Bin Laden that the US government trained, armed, funded and supported in Afghanistan during the cold war? With a huge investment of three billion US dollars, DIDN'T the CIA effectively create and nurture Bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist network using American tax-payers money?

[11] WHY did Bush block the formation of the 9-11 Commission? WHY did it take 411 days to finally form the commission, when other commissions have been formed in less than a week? It took six days to form the Warren Commission, which investigated the assassination of John F. Kennedy. If it hadn't been for the insistent demands of the widows of 9-11 (and just four of them led the way), there never would have been any 9-11 Commission at all. When the 9-11 Commission was finally formed, WHY did Bush withhold funding from it? The commission to investigate the crash of the Space Shuttle Columbia, which killed seven people, received $50 million. Bush only allocated $3 million to the 9-11 Commission. He later, after much prodding, acceded to $11 million. Opposing and resisting an investigation of 9-11 looks ridiculously bad from a political standpoint, so why has Bush done it? Perhaps most damning of all is that the 9-11 Commission's chairman and director were both selected by the Bush Administration. Six of the commission's other nine members also had deep, longstanding ties to the administration and to the intelligence, petroleum, and military industrial complexes they were charged with investigating. Normally, a suspect does not get to select his judge or jury, even if he's innocent. While we consider independence to be a hallmark of the American judicial system, unfortunately nothing about the 9-11 Commission was independent. WHY did the 9/11 commission rely so heavily on the confessions extracted through torture which even the Senate’s Armed Services committee points out is specifically used to extract false confessions? WHY did the CIA destroy 92 videotapes of their illegal torture sessions after being specifically ordered by a court not to do so? WHY did the courts eventually absolve the CIA of any culpability for this crime?

[12] WHY does the corporate media apparently have no desire to investigate the events of September 11? WHY do all the major US media continue to act as if none of these questions is legitimate or relevant?

All of the questions above are serious and genuine questions. Even a few of these questions are a matter of importance and real concern. The fact that there are so many concerning September 11 is staggering.

I am prepared to answer one question: why is there a natural resistance to anybody who continues to question the US government’s version of what happened on September 11, 2001?

I believe this resistance is because most people are fundamentally decent. The resistance is rooted in our tendency toward the inability to conceive of real evil, or of people we know being evil. Instead evil ones must be others, very unlike ourselves and far away.

However we all owe it to the victims and to our society to find out what really happenned on this day twelve years ago.

If anybody doesn't like this post I challenge you: do not talk about conspiracy theories, just answer the damn questions.

 

New Categories for Thygocanberra

I have created twelve (yes 12!) new formal categories especially for Thygocanberra:

1. The Moon
2. Ducks
3. Hockey Sticks
4. Heresy
5. Apostasy
6. Schismatics
7. ACT (Grand Duchy)
8. Crime & Punishment
9. Elephants
10. Liturgical Music
11. Men in White Coats
12. Little House on the Prairie

Steak Knives? Yes, THERE IS MORE. I will undertake to write a post in each of these twelve categories within three months if PythonMagus does the same!

What role do guns have in a modern democracy?

Let's say hi to the elephant in the room.

There have been two great democratic surges in the Western World: the period of city state democracies in classical Greece and Rome, and the rise of democracies in the "Age of Reason". I believe it is no conincidence that these democracies emerged because states with the most motivated foot soldiers prevailed, and at those times the military technology ensured those citizens were effective on the battlefield.

However, those days are not now. We live in a renaissance of the armoured knight where high cost, highly armoured, highly trained, quite small forces can prevail against armed insurgents for as long as the national budget holds.

So I argue there is no point in citizens having guns - they are ineffective in altering government policy and they just end up killing and maiming citizens.

Bad guys are not intimidated by gun toting citizens. Let's not confuse Hollywood with reality. Bad guys are either too stupid to avoid normal arrest by the police, or too smart to let it come down to a spectacular Bruce Willis style shootout. If anything, gun toting citizens let bad guy this justify their own behaviour. (Not that I believe that there are bad guys per se; but that can be a separate blog.)

I'll cut my rant short here, but look for me making retorts in the comments.