JoT's Guest Book

Name:

Nathaniel Blair

Email:

nblair@nospam.com

Web Site:

http://N/A

Date:

Monday July 15, 2002 17:36:45 GMT

Comments:

Hi,

I had a look at your thoughts on Dennet. While this is by no means an answer to your question about the difference between "red" and "sweet", you may be interested in a book called "The Man Who Tasted Shapes" by Cytowic. It's about a fascinating condition called synesthesia, wherein someone mixes sensory modalities, thus experiencing (for example) the sensation of touching a shapes when they eat something. Or, theoretically, the sensation of tasting sweet when they see something red.

-Nate

Name:

Richard John Vales III

Email:

dhalgren@adelphia.net

Date:

Friday July 12, 2002 16:05:06 GMT

Comments:

I was just reading your Muslim poll bit. I laughed out loud. Heck I would even give Saddam a big thumbs up myself to roll the Republican Guard into Saudi - and I had a lot of friends who fought in the Gulf War.

Well time to go buy the Epic Level Handbook today. Keep up the great work.

Name:

Email:

mpsoftware80@hotmail.com

Date:

Friday July 12, 2002 09:18:27 GMT

Comments:

Anyway, to wrap this up, I will close by stating that if I ever tried to convince someone that I had a program that was generated from random opcodes and operands being sent to the CPU, and it was fully functional, stable, and useful, they would laugh me off of the net. As far as evolving, I do not see Windows operating system upgrading without significant man hours designing and implementing new features. Or you can leave it to chance and get the blue screen of death for the rest of your life. Just thought I would share a different type of "Science" with you...

Name:

Email:

mpsoftware80@hotmail.com

Date:

Friday July 12, 2002 09:13:37 GMT

Comments:

If I am designing a screen for an RPG game, and I opt to randomly "create" an image, I have 24-bit(16.7M colors) and 1024x768 resolution(786kB of pixels)What are the odds that I will create a useful image from these figures? Oddly enough, that is what evolution is in theory. Of all possibilities for land mass without life, or life without intelligent life, it is so widely accepted that randomity is the answer...(cont)

Name:

MP (computer scientist)

Email:

mpsoftware80@hotmail.com

Date:

Friday July 12, 2002 09:08:37 GMT

Comments:

I wanted to give a response to JOT'S denial of the existence of God, and theory of evolution...Computer scientist,unlike other scientist(which you are, i assume) leave nothing to chance. Everything must be intricately designed, implemented, tested for stability....(cont)

Name:

the_hag

Email:

email_at::::mcerame@twcny.rr.com

Date:

Wednesday June 26, 2002 00:30:09 GMT

Comments:

<<Israel distinguishes between civilians and combatants in order to target combatants>>

Who bears the brunt of Israeli occupation? Civilians. Israel is targetting civilians. Maybe they hope to stop bombs. Maybe it's genocide. Maybe it's unclear and both.

the_hag

Name:

mario "the hag"

Email:

Web Site:

Date:

Wednesday June 26, 2002 00:10:02 GMT

Comments:

p.s. oh yeah... and no biggie, but you seem to like that Yahweh a lot. Sometimes the deity is Elohim (Lord), sometimes the deity is Yahweh (God's name), and sometimes [rarely] Yahweh Elohim (Lord God). (This also supports the documentary hypothesis.) Some believe that "Yahweh" was written but not spoken, and "Elohim" was written above as a reminder of what to say, and eventually that became "Yahweh Elohim" in some documents that eventually were drawn together to make the Bible. Could also be tribal differences.

You may already know this, but just in case you didn't...

-the hag

Name:

mario "the hag"

Email:

Web Site:

Date:

Tuesday June 25, 2002 23:58:58 GMT

Comments:

[[drop down... written acroess a few posts]]

There are other theories, of course. Many, many lines in the bible allude or refer to other myths, or even whole texts and belief systems. For instance, "the Deep" in Genesis 1 suggests a certain Babalonian Goddess--(might have been Sumerian? my Talmud isn't handy). A whole code of belief is packed into a single thought. The story of Cain and Able may be doing something similar. In my opinion, based on the complexity and nuance in the Bible, especially in the OT, I can't see how this is not the case.

I would write more but this format is a bit frustrtating.

3rd ed is cool, but Ars was the best thing you ever wrote!!

The Hag

Name:

mario "the hag"

Email:

Web Site:

Date:

Tuesday June 25, 2002 23:58:36 GMT

Comments:

...Joseph, Jacob, Israel, all were wealthy herdsmen. NOT city dwelling farmer types. Also, there is this thing about the clever younger son of a favored wife being the hero. Joseph and Jacob spring to mind.

Name:

mario "the hag"

Email:

Web Site:

Date:

Tuesday June 25, 2002 23:57:21 GMT

Comments:

A very popular theory about the myth involves a mythologized confrontation between the City Dwellers and the Nomadic Heardsmen. Living in the City is bad news in the old testament, probably because it meant you revered a female fertility goddess with strongly sexual ceremonies, and you met and mated with non-Jews. On the flip side, being a heardsman is way cool. Most of the unmitigated heroes early in the OT (before the time when the OT was a historical chrinicle) are the kick ass, wealthy heardsmen. Some scholars have suggested the flood is an offshoot of this dichotemy between heardmen and city dwellers as well. Heardmen move away from the flood, the flood destroys the farmers etc etc....

Name:

mario "the hag"

Email:

Date:

Tuesday June 25, 2002 23:53:58 GMT

Comments:

Serious scholars (yes even religious ones) agree that the Bible is actually many books that have been assembled. It was only around the time of the Babylonian exile that the Pentateuch was codified and made "canonical," that is, excluding texts (lots of books are mentioned in the bible as if they assume the reader is familiar with them, yet they do not appear). So remember that just because there seems to be a linear narrative to the Bible does not mean the text was written from start to finish. Im simply saying that the text may not be refering to something 15,000 or 2 million years ago. For instance, Genesis 1 is almost certainly newer than Genesis 2-4--based on the style, the name of the deity, and other factors.

Name:

mario "the hag"

Date:

Tuesday June 25, 2002 23:53:43 GMT

Comments:

2 points:

I agree we are not in a postmodern era any more. If the postmodernism is typified by the splitting of an atom, where we are is typified by the splitting of a second--the nanosecond.

My other comment involves the Cain and Able business. I'm not religious--I study texts, the Bible being one I have spent some time with. There are many takes on the whole Cain and Able thing from a historical/close reading perspective.

Name:

Matthew Rossi

Email:

ezrael@onebox.com

Date:

Thursday June 20, 2002 09:25:47 GMT

Comments:

I just moved to Seattle and found a box set of the Everway game at a Barnes and Noble at University Center. Without resorting to hyperbole, it's one of the more interesting games I've ever come across, and I'm quite fascinated. Just thought I'd say that. I wish I'd heard about it when it was first out.

Name:

Jay Ferm

Email:

jferm@SPEDtdsFROGS.net

Date:

Tuesday June 18, 2002 04:08:48 GMT

Comments:

Part III (response to GMing Styles cont.)

2. Perverse valuing. Consumers don't value stuff given away for free. This is stupid but true. While a thing is best valued for what it can offer a person, the person capable of this self-aware act is rare. Better to cater to the far greater number of people who value things that cost money.

The first immediate effect of this would be a decline in demand for new adventures and new games, at least of the conventional sort. With their new GMing skills players will take the games they currently have farther. Because of this effect it is very unlikely an established game company will follow this strategy since it devalues their current product line. Consequently, this disruptive technology will have to come from a small company with not much to lose.

deltajay

Name:

Jay Ferm

Email:

jferm@SPEDtdsFROGS.net

Date:

Tuesday June 18, 2002 04:08:35 GMT

Comments:

Name:

Jay Ferm

Email:

jferm@XYLIStdsCRUSHER.net

Date:

Tuesday June 18, 2002 04:06:04 GMT

Comments:

Part II (response to GMing cont.)

So, the gaming world needs better GMs more than it needs new games. It's easy to sell new games. Ya'll have been doing that for more than two decades. I challenge you to sell better GMing. There are several reasons I think it's important to sell better GMing rather than just try to give it away.

1. Profit motive. If it can be sold there are people (merchants) that will be highly motivated to spread the message.

(continued above)

Name:

Jay Ferm

Email:

jferm@PLAYtdsDOUGH.net

Date:

Tuesday June 18, 2002 04:02:59 GMT

Comments:

Part I

Jonathan,

Just read your piece on GMing styles.

I think it reinforces the idea that a strong GM is the most important thing to a good gaming experience. The ideas you practice in your GMing make the experience. I haven't played AD&D III but I can't see how a set of rules, no matter how well conceived, without wise GMing can lead to a good gaming experience.

Having gamed with you during my formative years and gamed later with others I think the value of a good GM is highly underrated in general.

While the rules you write are sublime and evocative (Ars Magica, Over the Edge), they are nothing without the passion of a good storyteller to bring them to life.

Even when running games you didn't write (Call of Cthulhu), your native storytelling ability brings it to life.

(continued above)

Name:

Richard

Email:

eric_gen125@yahoo.com

Date:

Tuesday June 11, 2002 16:08:37 GMT

Comments:

Thanks for the GM-ing tips on the DERPG. Your recommendations are genuinely appreciated. I have yet to run, or even play, a game of DERPG, but I definitely wanna be ready. The day I'm with a group and they say, "You know -- I just don't feel like hacking and slashing today," I'll have an alternative waiting.

Name:

god

Email:

unknown@AOL.COM

Web Site:

http://JIHAD HUB

Date:

Saturday June 08, 2002 12:55:41 GMT

Comments:

kill all moslem extremists..wipe them off the face of the earth ..now NOW

Name:

Geoffrey T. Nelson

Email:

asfda@billabong.com

Date:

Wednesday June 05, 2002 16:04:54 GMT

Comments:

Good stuff, especially the race page. As a public school teacher, I appreciate any inforamation that helps me to understand my kids better. Thanks for the good work.

Name:

Kenneth New

Email:

new142@cox.net

Date:

Monday May 20, 2002 21:38:10 GMT

Comments:

Your thoughts on the conflict between the secularized west and the muslim world echo thoughts Ihave been expressing for years. The real conflict is between those who've been unable (or unwilling) to break out of the medieval mindset and those of us who've been educated in a post-modern, "liberal" tradition.

What we (as Americans) have to realize is that the dangers of the medieval mindset can be found close to home. Fundamentalist christianity is every bit as dangerous as fundamentalist islam. How many American militia members, or ku klux klan members believe that their opinions and hatreds are handed down from god?

Name:

Job ( the biblical name)

Email:

Job.winters @ Iscg.net

Web Site:

http://none

Date:

Sunday May 19, 2002 11:46:49 GMT

Comments:

I was fortune to be introduced to the Arduin world through
an exceptional Game Master named Mike. His method was exciting and expansive. He tryed everyway he could to kill the players. No holds barred. AS a result the game ran fast for the 8-10 hour sessions every sunday.
There was so much to do and to get done with all the monsters in the path of a quest that if you were not paying attention to him and what the other players were doing--well like I said, he liked to kill players. If you read this Mike, Thank you. Job

Name:

Tandra

Email:

nospam@nospam.com

Date:

Friday May 17, 2002 19:22:18 GMT

Comments:

On your site, I read an essay with this quote: "we can't say that an object is red if and only if it reflects light of a certain wavelength, for example". I don't know if you are the one who wrote that essay, but I would like more explanation on that quote. I thought we *could* define red as a certain portion of the spectrum! Perhaps the boundaries of that portion would be fuzzy, but more or less, it seems possible to define it this way....

Name:

wes

Email:

anoble_savage@yahoo.com

Date:

Monday May 13, 2002 06:32:14 GMT

Comments:

Love the section on Arduin Grimore. I personally collect all manor of RP Games and Aides and currently have 2 complete sets of not only every Arduin Grimore ever published but also the original game manual, complete ready to play game using scaled down information from the grimores.
By the way the original set of grimores was I-III. Followed by several others and several related books, printed in same style and size expanding on information.

Just wanted to share. Arduin always did have a warm place in my heart from back in the days of D&D and AD&D 1st edition.

Name:

Brad

Email:

jaerec3@yahoo.com

Date:

Saturday May 11, 2002 00:53:22 GMT

Comments:

I think my point about Thermodynamics has been missed. You said (magnet example) things LOOK more organized, but they aren't. That is as close to fact as theory will allow. But then, we need to ask one thing. Do human's just LOOK more organized, or are we? If we ARE more organized, then we violate that law. I just can't see a human, that requires constant energy to exist, as being in it's most efficient state.

Name:

Steve Peterson

Email:

sppeters@rci.rutgers.edu

Web Site:

http://www.Second-World-Simulations.com

Date:

Friday May 10, 2002 19:00:06 GMT

Comments:

And I guess I have to respond to the one comment about evolution violating the first law of thermodynamics. That_s not true; actually the first law of thermodynamics entails it. You shouldn_t look at entropy as a force driving things to more disorganized or chaotic states; instead entropy is the tendency for systems to move towards equilibrium states. For instance, if you take a bunch of small magnets, toss them in a box, and then shake it around eventually the magnets end up stuck to each other in long rows. It looks like it_s gotten more organized but in reality that_s just a more energy efficient configuration of the stuff in the box.

Name:

Steve Peterson

Email:

sppeters@rci.rutgers.edu

Web Site:

http://www.Second-World-Simulations.com

Date:

Friday May 10, 2002 18:59:30 GMT

Comments:

Misogyny stuff: This is pretty quibbly but I don_t think you need to dump universal or Platonic truth for this; what remains objectively true is something like the following:

_If presented in a culture with a history like ours, then woman as sexual predator (or as passive prey) is misogynistic._

That doesn_t feel any more subjective than the use of the word _larger_ in _my refrigerator is larger than my microwave oven._

Admittedly, there_s still an important difference between misogynistic statements and statements like _my microwave oven has a mass of 10 kg._

Name:

Steve Peterson

Email:

sppeters@rci.rutgers.edu

Web Site:

http://www.Second-World-Simulations.com

Date:

Friday May 10, 2002 18:58:14 GMT

Comments:

Just a couple comments here and I've got to spread them over a couple posts apparently...

Love the children's games; they sort of point to the evolutionary role game-playing serves in humans and other animals (and seem like a great way to get kids to start understanding the principles underlying math).

Name:

Brad

Email:

jaerec3@yahoo.com

Date:

Friday May 10, 2002 02:48:22 GMT

Comments:

Third part: If you use the very calculations that most macro-evolutionists use to figure out how long it takes for a change to occur and be assimilated as a dominant trate within a population it is not possible to have humans in even the billions and billions of years that we are said to evolve in. Maybe just another silly opinion, but from what I have found, it takes more faith to believe that we are an accident than that we were created with a purpose. Not that I mind if I were an accident, I could ignore my conscience and just do what I wanted for the benefit of me... but then again. Lots of people seem to have this needless trait of compassion... and I've been playing D&D for over 15 years myself so not all Fundamental Christians hate D&D. I agree that too many are a bit shallow minded. Thankfully they will not be condemned for that in the end.

Name:

Brad

Email:

jaerec3@yahoo.com

Date:

Friday May 10, 2002 02:48:03 GMT

Comments:

Second part: On another point, the Bible does say that Serpents once walked... hence, hip bones, but I realize that this is not a scientific explanation so here's one. I think it is pretty obvious that micro-evolution is evident daily. With every birth of an organism, things are different. No Christian can deny that, but what about Macro evolution. Study neuroscience, or genetic science and you have to ask yourself one question. Since the first law of thermodynamics works against the upward evolutionary scale, how is it that an organism as complex as the human being can even exist.

Name:

Brad

Email:

jaerec3@yahoo.com

Date:

Friday May 10, 2002 02:45:54 GMT

Comments:

Interesting points of view in the Creationism vs. Evolution.
A few points of my own as an interested reader amongst rational minds. :-)

To be fair, I am a fundamentalist Christian, and based on words in the very Bible that condemn their very natures, the Mormon religion, and the Catholic religion are not Christian religions. Why? Because both teach doctrines that are contradictory to the very Bible they claim is Holy. I don't say this to be what I call a "Cannibalistic Christian", notice that I have not condemned either Mormon people or Catholic people as I prefer to separate the misunderstanding from the one making the choice. What I state here is less of an opinion, and more of a point of fact "According to the very book they both claim is Holy."

Name:

Ken McKinney

Email:

kenmtraveller@nospam-yahoo.com

Web Site:

http://www.best.com/~kenm

Date:

Sunday April 21, 2002 21:25:19 GMT

Comments:

Hey, I enjoyed your website -- like you, I spend an awful lot of time trying to keep up with and analyze world events.

I have a question about an assertion you make:

"In Kuwait we put a king back on his throne, one who enjoys the custom by which families send their fourteen-year old daughters to him to be deflowered."

Do you have a source for this assertion? I haven't heard of this anywhere else, and it flies in the face of what I know about Islamic custom.

by the way, thanks again for DnD 3E! You've saved the game.

-Ken McKinney

Name:

Alan Kellogg

Email:

mythusmage@cts.com

Date:

Monday April 15, 2002 09:32:22 GMT

Comments:

Re Cardinal Law

Never ascribe to evil what can adequately be explained by blind adherence to tradition.

Alan

Name:

Wilfred Simms

Email:

simmsw@ntl-law.com

Date:

Thursday April 11, 2002 16:04:58 GMT

Comments:

I wonder sometimes what God conservatives serve? Is it the same JESUS of the Bible? If it is, why do they ignore God's instructions for reparations and how is it that they support the death penalty????? How is it that they are against reparations? Social programs??? All of these things are discussed in the Bible with strict instructions. Yet Conservatives refuse to yield to the word of the very same God they claim to obtain moral standards from.

Name:

John Tynes

Email:

john@tynes.com

Web Site:

http://www.johntynes.com/

Date:

Saturday April 06, 2002 08:17:52 GMT

Comments:

Really enjoyed your article on the connection between Jesus and equality.

Name:

jackson oconner

Email:

jxnoconner@yahoo.com

Date:

Friday March 22, 2002 08:05:17 GMT

Comments:

jot- reading your bit about consciousness, I wondered if the book mentions, or you have much knowledge of brain injury. Really, the fascinating issues in consciousness do not arise when looking at two basically normal people. It's when you throw in a little trauma that makes one person's brain operate totally different from other's. Minor issues like red-green color blind are nothing compared to afflictions like synaesthesia or an aphasia. Whether you and I see the exact same thing when we see a light of a particular wave-length, or taste a food with a molecule of a predominate shape is philosophical masturbation. Look at the differences in brain damage patients, or genetic tweeks.

Name:

Troy Kidder

Email:

tkidder@telusplanet.net

Date:

Sunday March 17, 2002 21:43:21 GMT

Comments:

I posted before both before I realized that HTML doesn't work here (or isn't necessary). Please read the post proceeding my last post (2 down) before the last one.

Thanks!
~Troy

Name:

Troy Kidder

Email:

tkidder@telusplanet.net

Web Site:

http://www.premierweb.com/jabber/

Date:

Sunday March 17, 2002 21:37:39 GMT

Comments:

Re: Cain's Sin
Because Jesus (the Holy "Lamb" of God) went to the cross and shed His blood, no one shall have to make blood sacrifices ever again. The story of Cain is just one of the many illustrations in the Bible that point us toward the truth: that there is only one method of receiving salvation, and that is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. 

I hope this clears up your question on Cain's sin.

Name:

Troy Kidder

Email:

tkidder@telusplanet.net

Web Site:

http://www.premierweb.com/jabber/

Date:

Sunday March 17, 2002 21:36:43 GMT

Comments:

Re: Cain's Sin 
Cain's sin was that he didn't do the required type of sacrifice. There is no such thing as "good enough" for a Holy God. You say that many people believe that blood sacrifice is repugnant, and most Christians will agree, but it is shown very plainly in the Bible that the only proper sacrifice is through the shedding of blood. In times past, the people had to sacrifice animals to be forgiven for sins. Our sins (and that includes everyone in the world) are STILL only forgiven by the shedding of blood. (See next Guest Book entry)

Name:

Matt Coughlan

Email:

concretebuddha@hotmail.com

Date:

Friday February 22, 2002 08:31:31 GMT

Comments:

Neat.

Name:

Mark Ashton

Email:

ashton@acm.org

Date:

Tuesday February 19, 2002 17:11:44 GMT

Comments:

Just read another article, this one about Dennett's _Consciousness Explained_. If you liked the idea of a conscious system being made up of simpler conscious sub-systems, you should read Marvin Minsky's _The Society of Mind_. It's a fantastic book that offers a fairly complete theory of consciousness, and how it could be artificially constructed.

Name:

Nick Simmonds

Email:

simmondsnick@hotmail.com

Web Site:

http://none

Date:

Friday February 15, 2002 15:06:48 GMT

Comments:

I don't have enough space to state this as I'd like.

One thing on your site struck me as having a surprising lack of supporting points. In you article on "Misogyny in gaming" you state:

"Since this hypothetical culture's interpretation is as valid as ours, we conclude that there's nothing inherently or essentially misogynistic about the two fictional monsters."

Without giving any reasons that this cultures interpretation *is* as valid as ours. I don't think that's necessarily something that can be taken as a
given. Culturally indoctrinated genocide, for example, is certainly not an equally
valid choice. Other examples are the genital mutilation espoused by several
cultures and the massive overconsumption of resources espoused by American
culture.

Name:

Mark Ashton

Email:

fake@fakeadoo.com

Date:

Thursday February 14, 2002 21:30:24 GMT

Comments:

I liked your article on gender profiling a lot. In fact, everything I've read here displays a rationality and intellectual honesty that is remarkable. However, aren't you concerned that if we institute a specific "profile" to find terrorists based on non-behavioral criteria, such as gender, then terrorist leaders will simply select operatives that do not fit the criteria?

For instance, Al-Qaeda operatives are told to shave and to dress like a Westerner.

I heard something on NPR the other day about how Palestinian women are starting to volunteer as suicide bombers.

It seems that profiling is a two-edged sword. By codifying what a terrorist looks like, you also codify what a terrorist does not look like, and therefore provide a recipe for avoiding detection.

Name:

Herman

Email:

HTMORE@skinner.net

Date:

Wednesday February 13, 2002 21:52:55 GMT

Comments:

About Cain's sin - I don't think the ancient writers of the book of Genesis necessarily sacrificed animals because they were herders rather than farmers. They probably did it just because everyone else did it, and came up with the story to explain why. It seems to me to be a 'just so' story.

Name:

Peter Donis

Email:

peterdonis@alum.mit.edu

Date:

Saturday February 09, 2002 20:16:08 GMT

Comments:

Re your discussion of Consciousness Explained, I can try to
offer a definition of what "red" is, but I don't think I
can do it within the size limitations of this guest book (I
tend to get a bit long-winded when discussing this stuff). :)
If you're interested, e-mail me off-line.

Pete Donis

Name:

Digital Papercut

Email:

rex_longtower@yahoo.com

Date:

Thursday January 31, 2002 00:59:14 GMT

Comments:

Nice design though a bit less than what i was expecting. Nice page on DMing styles... the idea of d20 Gamma World is very interesting. Is there any products planned?

Name:

Melanie

Email:

melaniecreel@NOSPAMhotmail.com

Date:

Thursday January 17, 2002 22:54:37 GMT

Comments:

Hi read your god-us/christ-others article and agreed with it, except I was dissapointed it stopped where it did.

You say "It's just a noteworthy phenomenon that marks the progress of post-modernism."

But post-modernism, as it is usually defined, would suggest the multi-culti all Gods' childern analogue. So wanna explain?

I guess that I could also point out that most culture gurus would also say that we are no longer in a post-modern age. That was more the 1930s-somewhere nebulously defined in the 50s/60s. Ushered in with Ezra Pound, ushered out with (according to Fredric Jameson) the building of the World Trade Center.

-Mel

Name:

Derik Malenda

Email:

fakeemail@nospam.com

Date:

Wednesday January 09, 2002 06:01:07 GMT

Comments:

Jon ! I had the wonderful distinction of meeting you and your fellows back at Origins a few years ago. Love the 3E system and everything. But after reading your "rants" you are my new personal hero ! Great stuff there ! Keep it coming, and I'll keep coming back (that applies to the D&D stuff too) !

Name:

Clinton R. Nixon

Email:

clinton@acid-reflex.com

Web Site:

http://www.acid-reflex.com

Date:

Monday December 17, 2001 17:55:14 GMT

Comments:

It's good to see your website back up and running. The @Home -> AT&T transition hit us all hard, and I'm glad your pages made it through.

I especially liked your new short article on Jesus versus Confucious. I think the lesson hidden in it is that maybe we shouldn't always "do unto others," or "do not unto others," but that true wisdom is knowing when to act and when not to act, always treating others as we would be treated.

Name:

Jay Ferm

Email:

jferm@NOmailSPAMbag.com

Date:

Monday December 17, 2001 03:21:07 GMT

Comments:

Response to JoT's "The terrorist attacks were acts of war, not criminal acts." (October 2001)
Part VIII
The threat of terrorism against the US is not that they will destroy us. Even if they had a handful of nukes or biologicals they could not destroy the US outright or even significantly harm the infrastructure of the country. The threat of terrorism is that in our reaction to it we forfeit the principles that make us great: tolerance, equality, civil liberties, due process, the rule of liberal law, belief in a better future. If we fail to follow our system of justice we act without integrity. This damages the character of our culture and leaves us less secure.
(end)

deltajay.
12/16/01

Name:

Jay Ferm

Email:

jferm@NOmailSPAMbag.com

Date:

Monday December 17, 2001 03:20:14 GMT

Comments:

Response to JoT's "The terrorist attacks were acts of war, not criminal acts." (October 2001)
Part VI
If they are not the right people, the terrorists are still operating freely. Given the utter failure of the US intelligence system to deal with these terrorists this is a valid concern. By following our rule of law in dealing with the terrorists we hold ourselves to a high standard of proof which will force our intelligence and military systems to get their shit together and provide greater security in the future. Letting them get away with a sloppy job now allows them to remain sloppy, making us less secure in the future.
(Cont)

Name:

Jay Ferm

Email:

jferm@NOmailSPAMbag.com

Date:

Monday December 17, 2001 03:19:25 GMT

Comments:

Response to JoT's "The terrorist attacks were acts of war, not criminal acts." (October 2001)
Part VI
To date, no evidence has been released to the public (to my knowledge, correct me if I'm wrong) implicating any particular group or individuals. How do we as a country know that we're going after the right people? How do we know the al Qaeda network is not a fabrication of our intelligence and military entities designed to go after whatever bad guys they want and look like they are actually making progress at the same time? It's possible the whole al Qaeda thing is itself a huge propaganda play by the US government. It had a Wag the Dog evolution in the weeks after 9/11.
(Cont)

Name:

Jay Ferm

Email:

jferm@NOmailSPAMbag.com

Date:

Monday December 17, 2001 03:18:04 GMT

Comments:

Response to JoT's "The terrorist attacks were acts of war, not criminal acts." (October 2001)
Part V
Why should we do this?
Who cares whether Bin Laden and his crew (if they are indeed the ones who committed 9/11) agree that they get a fair trial? The point is to act in a civilized manner as defined by our laws. To do otherwise is to behave as a terrorist, beyond law. We need to put the perpetrators on trial to be consistent with our methods to ascertain truth and administer justice and to satisfy our own justified skepticism of the federal government, military, and intelligence systems.
(Cont)

Name:

Jay Ferm

Email:

jferm@NOmailSPAMbag.com

Date:

Monday December 17, 2001 03:17:04 GMT

Comments:

Response to JoT's "The terrorist attacks were acts of war, not criminal acts." (October 2001)
Part IV
I suspect that a high proportion of convicted criminals consider their guilty verdict as unjust. Who cares what they think? Regardless of whether 9/11 was an act of war or just a crime the US needs to treat the perpetrators with the same rights we provide to US citizens.

What would this mean?
It means an open process of proving who committed these acts. It's means hunting them down mercilessly. It means putting whomever we accuse on trial by our laws or the laws of the World Court.
(Cont)

Name:

Jay Ferm

Email:

jferm@NOmailSPAMbag.com

Date:

Monday December 17, 2001 03:15:39 GMT

Comments:

Response to JoT's "The terrorist attacks were acts of war, not criminal acts." (October 2001)
Part III
JoT wrote:
"It is impossible practically by definition for a Western court to provide a fair trial to someone who doesn't believe in Western courts. In what sense would Osama bin Laden acknowledge a guilty verdict as just? He would not, and nor would those who adore him. It would be a travesty to put him on trial, a propaganda play.
Government gains its legitimacy from the consent of the governed. Bin Laden doesn't acknowledge the legitimacy of Western courts. It makes no sense to treat him as a member of the global community who has broken the community's laws"
(Cont)

Name:

Jay Ferm

Email:

jferm@NOmailSPAMbag.com

Date:

Monday December 17, 2001 03:14:02 GMT

Comments:

Response to JoT's "The terrorist attacks were acts of war, not criminal acts." (October 2001)
Part II
One could compare 9/11 to Pearl Harbor or the attacks by Germany on other European countries in WWII wherein we went in kicking ass and didn't stop to ascertain formal justice until after we were done dishing it out in real terms. It's interesting though that we used the Nuremberg trials to follow-up the justice by ass-kicking with the semblance of justice by law. We decided to treat war-acts as crimes against humanity. We transformed vigilantism into an international system of justice which the world is still in the process of adopting. It strikes me that you are advocating a return to pre-WWII vigilantism.
(cont)

Name:

Jay Ferm

Email:

jferm@NOmailbagSPAM.com

Date:

Monday December 17, 2001 03:12:05 GMT

Comments:

Response to JoT's "The terrorist attacks were acts of war, not criminal acts." (October 2001)
Part I
(The new guestbook has a size limit.)

JoT wrote:
"The terrorist attacks were an act of war. They were not a criminal act, and we shouldn't try to achieve justice through courts of law."

Hmmm... What functional difference is there between an "act of war" and a "criminal act"? How does this difference distinguish between how we deal with the terrorists? Regardless of whether these were criminal or war acts we should deal with them through the courts once they are apprehended. If we don't deal with it through a court of law, whether the US courts or the World Court, how do we deal with it?

Email:

jotwseb@attbi.com

Date:

Monday December 17, 2001 00:13:58 GMT

Comments:

Welcome to my new guestbook.

-JoT