This entry is posted to the entry posted by GoDaddy Bob. He has updated his Entry On Gitmo to be a lot less inflammatory, and posted something of a retraction pseudo-retraction. He is no longer calling for... *ahem*... stronger interrogation techniques.

Which is annoying, because now suddenly, I look like a (bigger) nutjob, instead of just responding to one. This brings up the ethical question... how should one handle updates? BoingBoing handles them by strike-throughing the old-text, and putting the updated text in bold, and red. If I remember correctly, they had some pretty embarrassing moments, and said as much in their updates. However, the original text was viewable. Their mistakes are plainly visible for all to see.

Bob on the other hand keeps editing down his post until it looks nothing like the original. So the calls for torture are now missing, you can only view hints of it in the original title of the article: "Close Gitmo? No Way! Think our interrogation methods are tough? Prisoners in the Middle East talk quick. Here's why!" which you can see in the url: (split by dashes due to length) http://www.bobparsons.com/CloseGitmoNoway- Thinkourinterrogationmethodsaretough- PrisonersintheMiddleEasttalkquick- Hereswhyt.html.

So what should I do, should I edit down my post, so that I don't come off quite so crazy? Or should I post yet another entry explaining the first? Guess which path I chose. It's hard to admit mistakes. It's even harder to admit that you made a mistake or overreacted in a public forum. It's even harder still to admit all this, and keep a trail of what you said, how you said it, and when you said it, so that your mistakes and your unsanity is there for all too see. I choose the latter, because I feel that I become a better person when I am faced with my mistakes, and I can at them and say 'Oops, I goofed.' and hopefully learn and grow and change.

This really explains why point 4 of the blogger code of ethics is so important:

4. I will preserve the original post, using notations to show where I have made changes so as to maintain the integrity of my publishing.

In general If I have edited posts in the past, I stick to re-tagging/categorizing them, fixing image urls, and/or fixing gammer and spelling mistakes. I fully plan on continuing to mark content-based updates. I'll probably even do the strikethrough thing too.

Expect a personal blogging code of ethics in the future.

Update: He still condoes torture, but dresses it up in nicer language: "In my article I said that I thought that the interrogation techniques used at Gitmo were mild, that I did not consider them to be torture and that I supported their use." Mefite FlamingBore had the good sense to copy a previous version of the text, and posted it here.