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.

Seriously?

Hardcore dumbassity from the King of domain registrar GoDaddy.com. He wants to put up videos of people jumping out of the twin towers.

Its like 9/11 porn baby. "Oh good, see how the wonderful 'mericans are jumping out of the windows! It's so horrible! Lets kill a raghead for Jesus! They deserve every last piece of torture!"

Read this and be amazed. I mean, I thought Rush was being a complete fucktard when he was saying that the American Rape Rooms was just a case of 'boys will be boys'. But this guy is actually calling for more torture, as if it would work.

Seriously. I can picture this guy spewing his load all over the pictures of Abu Ghirab. If I watch enough 9/11 snuff pr0n, maybe I can justify torture!

I found this on Metafilter, it was just so awesome I had to share. It was in reference to a discussion about mroe torture allegations, where the Koran was apparently tossed down the latrine.

It's kind of amusing to imagine how this would play out if the US needed to torture / interrogate Zen Buddhist terrorists someday:

Investigator: "You're going to tell us what we want to know, or we burn your scriptures, shit on your teachings, and jerk off on a picture of the Buddha!"

Zen Guy: "Not bad! Are you sure you haven't practised Zen before?"

Investigator: "Fuck you! Why don't we just leave you sitting here in the dark for a few days and see how you like that?!"

Zen Guy: "That's what I was doing before you guys brought me in here."

Investigator: "Do you realize that we can take away everything you own? Everything you hold dear?!"

Zen Guy: "I've been working on that for awhile, but if you really think you can help, it's worth a shot."
posted by idontlikewords at 6:49 AM PST on May 20

I am so glad that people put things like Gulf War II, and the War on terror in the simplest terms possible..

An Iraq War Parable. Funny, they mention 'Oscar' (bin Ladin) once, and then get right into beating up Karl (Hussein) who has a knife (WMD). This is the best part:

So, Mike [USA], Billy[UK], and a few others [you forgot Poland!] got into a fight with Karl [Iraq]. They were much stronger than Karl, even though Karl had a knife, which he wasn't supposed to have.

Except, Mike has a VAST knife collection and Karl doesn't even have a knife.

This Manifesto By ESR has so many problems with it, I would spend hours pointing out all the flaws. The biggest one is that it was written by someone who is, by all accounts, intelligent enough to know better.

Just a few issues:

1. 9/11 - Iraq confusion. We all know Saddam had nothing to do with 9/11.
2. fear mongering, especially with 'trigger-words', (Islamo-fascists and Weapons of Mass Destruction)
3. buying Right wing propaganda by confusing honest looks at foreign policy with "blaming the victims of evil for the act of evil", "by apologizing for terrorist acts". Certainly there were those on the left that did participate in such actions, but they were few and far between.
4. "WE SHALL REMEMBER that the West's keenest weapons are reason and the truth; that we must shine a pitiless light on the lies from which terrorist hatred is built; and that we must also be vigilant against the expedient lie from our own side, lest our victories become tainted and hollow, sowing trouble for the future." Completely disqualified by the admission that there are no WMD in Iraq, and the obvious falsehoods in the manifesto.

Generally, Everyone on SorryEverybody.com look alot less like total fucking doofs then everyone on WereNotSorry.com.

It is a totally unfair generalization. But there ya go.

Oh hey, This guy has a Mensa Membership Card. So he must know what he Is talking about.

B-Movie by Gil Scott-Heron is particularly poignant in all sences (except perhaps the archaic). One the one hand, it is important to replace Regan with W. On the otherhand it is also important to leave it as stands, simply because of the insane amount of whitewashing that is going on. (The gipper was great... really). Anyway, B-Movie is an awesome track, and I get the impression that Gil doesn't make music for the terminally stupid. Check these lyrics.

What has happened is that in the last 20 years, America has changed from a producer to a consumer. And all consumers know that when the producer names the tune…the consumer has got to dance. That’s the way it is. We used to be a producer – very inflexible at that, and now we are consumers and, finding it difficult to understand. Natural resources and minerals will change your world. The Arabs used to be in the 3rd World. They have bought the 2nd World and put a firm down payment on the 1st one. Controlling your resources will control your world. This country has been surprised by the way the world looks now. They don’t know if they want to be Matt Dillon or Bob Dylan. They don’t know if they want to be diplomats or continue the same policy - of nuclear nightmare diplomacy. John Foster Dulles ain’t nothing but the name of an airport now.

Maybe Rummy isn't as power mad as I thought. Accoring to the register, it was just a parody news site that claimed Rumsfeld banned the use of camera phones.