A Week of Kindness Blog: Laura K. Krishna is a Plagiarist.

A compelling tale of plagiarism...

A Week of Kindness Blog: Laura K. Krishna is a Plagiarist.

Religion and Terri Shiavo

NPR: Religion and the End of Life


What role do you think religion plays in this event? Should it affect the outcome?

Michael Moore Hates America - A Film by Michael Wilson

Andrew Leigh on Michael Moore Hates America on National Review Online: "Okay, so what's with that title, then?

Wilson said it's meant to be both ironic and provocative. Whenever he read a polemic attacking Moore's movies, he noticed that the author would invariably end with something like, 'The truth is, Michael Moore hates America.'

Even though Wilson agreed with the specific criticisms of Moore's films, he was turned off by the venomous, ad hominem tone that permeated many anti-Moore rants.

'How does that advance the dialogue?' Wilson said. 'People end up just talking past each other.'"

Michael Moore Hates America - A Film by Michael Wilson

kamera.co.uk - feature article - Feature Item - Making Money: Profits & Ethics in Documentary Filmmaking by Beth Gilligan

Reality film - Film - www.theage.com.au

Fahrenheit 9/11

First, the basic background of 9/11

September 11, 2001 attacks - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Second, this website contains an exhaustive timeline record of 9-11. From media reports, established fact, and testimony to the seeds of the 9-11 conspriracy theories. It's all here:

9/11 Timeline

Thirdly, here's a brief sampling of some of the discussion surrounding Moore's last film.

Here is are the references and footnotes Moore offers to support the movie:
Welcome to MichaelMoore.com : Books Films : Fahrenheit 9/11 Reader: "Factual Back-Up For Fahrenheit 9/11: Section One"

Then this is a rebuttal by Dave Koppel, as part of the Independence Institute, a Colorado Thinktank:
Fifty-nine Deceits in Fahrenheit 911, Dave Kopel, Independence Institute: "...I was struck by the sheer cunningness of Moore's film. When you read Kopel, try to detach yourself from any revulsion you may feel at a work of literal propaganda receiving such wide-spread accolades from mainstream politicos, as well as attendance by your friends and neighbors.

Instead, notice the film's meticulousness in saying only (or mostly) 'true' or defensible things in support of a completely misleading impression. In this way, Kopel's care in describing Moore's 'deceits' is much more interesting than other critiques I have read, including that of Christopher Hitchens. Kopel's lawyerly description of Moore's claims shows the film to be a genuinely impressive accomplishment in a perverse sort of way (the way an ingenious crime is impressive)--a case study in how to convert elements that are mainly true into an impression that is entirely false--and this leads in turn to another thought.

If this much cleverness was required to create the inchoate 'conspiracy' (whatever it may be, as it is never really specified by Moore), it suggests there was no such conspiracy. With this much care and effort invested in uncovering and massaging the data, if there really was a conspiracy of the kind Moore suggests, the evidence would line up more neatly behind it, rather than being made to do cartwheels so as to be 'true' but oh-so-misleading. If the facts don't fit, shouldn't we acquit?"

Is F9/11 propaganda?
Propaganda and Fahrenheit 9/11

Kopel posts some emails he got in response to his criticism of F9/11.
They're not all Moore-ons, Dave Kopel, Independence Institute

Here is some criticism of the criticism. (We could go on and on.)
Deception; Desperate Right Wing Attacks on Fahrenheit 9/11;

Educated or Indoctrinated?

Yahoo! News - Frazz

High Court Debates Commandments Displays

Freedom OF religion or Freedom FROM religion?

Are our ethics and our morality derived from religion? If so, does it matter which religion? If not, where ARE they derived from?

My Way News

"David Friedman, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union who is challenging courthouse displays in Kentucky countered: "An assertion that the Ten Commandments is THE source, THE foundation of our legal system ... that is simply wrapping the Ten Commandments in the flag, and that's endorsement."

"Justice Antonin Scalia noted that legislative proclamations and prayer invoking God's name are permissible. "I don't see why the one is good and the other is bad," he said."

Not Your Parents Encyclopedia

Here's a little something on the Wikipedia, the next generation of encyclopedia:

Wired 13.03: The Book Stops Here

Study: Instant Messaging is Surprisingly Formal :-)

Some interesting observations concerning the use of IM.

Study: Instant Messaging is Surprisingly Formal :-)

Ann Coulter calls Alan Colmes a "Liar"

How many fallacies can you count in this exchange? They come fast and furious. You might have to watch several times to catch them all.

Crooks and Liars:

Extraordinary Rendition

What is "Extraordinary Rendition"? Does exist? Is it happening? And if so, is it ethical with regard to the "War on Terror"? What value conflicts are at issue here?

(Note: Get out your fallacy detector, kids. We're goin' huntin'!)

Extraordinary Rendition
"The administration is trying to have it both ways in its so-called war on terror. It claims to be fighting for freedom, democracy and the rule of law, and it condemns barbaric behavior whenever it is committed by someone else. At the same time, it is engaged in its own barbaric behavior, while going out of its way to keep that behavior concealed from the American public and the world at large."

The New Yorker
"The Bush Administration, however, has argued that the threat posed by stateless terrorists who draw no distinction between military and civilian targets is so dire that it requires tough new rules of engagement. This shift in perspective, labeled the New Paradigm in a memo written by Alberto Gonzales, then the White House counsel, “places a high premium on . . . the ability to quickly obtain information from captured terrorists and their sponsors in order to avoid further atrocities against American civilians,” giving less weight to the rights of suspects. It also questions many international laws of war. Five days after Al Qaeda’s attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Vice-President Dick Cheney, reflecting the new outlook, argued, on “Meet the Press,” that the government needed to “work through, sort of, the dark side.” Cheney went on, “A lot of what needs to be done here will have to be done quietly, without any discussion, using sources and methods that are available to our intelligence agencies, if we’re going to be successful. That’s the world these folks operate in. And so it’s going to be vital for us to use any means at our disposal, basically, to achieve our objective.”"

MSNBC - Aboard Air CIA

Thinking Right � This Is What He Thinks Of Us
"According to Herbert and Mayer “Extraordinary rendition” is a program where suspected terrorists are sent to countries that have no qualms about torture to be…. well…. questioned. This program has supposedly been named “extraordinary rendition” by the CIA. Of course, as far as I can tell, there is no concrete proof that this program exists. I googled “extraordinary rendition” and all mentions of the program were by either left of center journalists or un named sources inside the justice department or CIA. Call me skeptical, but I don’t trust un named sources as concrete proof that a program that makes no sense exists."