Help Me, I’m ODin Off Life
Posted on April 1, 2012 in Videos
“High Off Life,” a track from Kid Cudi’s new project, WZRD.
Lies Versus Lulz: Anonymous Loves It
Posted on April 1, 2012 in Political Cartoons
Politicians today should be careful in their dissemination of lies.
Religion’s Demand For Obedience Keeps Us In The Dark Ages
Posted on April 1, 2012 in Articles
The Article: How Religion’s Demand for Obedience Keeps Us in the Dark Ages by Adam Lee in AlterNet.
The Text: For the vast majority of human history, the only form of government was the few ruling over the many. As human societies became settled and stratified, tribal chiefs and conquering warlords rose to become kings, pharaohs and emperors, all ruling with absolute power and passing on their thrones to their children. To justify this obvious inequality and explain why they should reign over everyone else, most of these ancient rulers claimed that the gods had chosen them, and priesthoods and holy books obligingly came on the scene to promote and defend the theory of divine right.
It’s true that religion has often served to unite people against tyranny, as well as to justify it. But in many cases, when a religious rebellion overcame a tyrant, it was only to install a different tyrant whose beliefs matched those of the revolutionaries. Christians were at first ruthlessly persecuted by the Roman Empire, but when they ascended to power, they in turn banned all the pagan religions that had previously persecuted them. Protestant reformers like John Calvin broke away from the decrees of the Pope, but Calvinists created their own theocratic city-states where their will would reign supreme.
Similarly, when King Henry VIII split England away from the Catholic church, it wasn’t so he could create a utopia of religious liberty; it was so he could create a theocracy where his preferred beliefs, rather than the Vatican’s, would be the law of the land. And in just the same way, when the Puritans fled England and migrated to the New World, it wasn’t to uphold religious tolerance; it was to impose their beliefs, rather than the Church of England’s.
I Was Meant To Rise Six Feet Above My Bed
Posted on March 31, 2012 in Videos
Y La Bamba’s Juniper off the album Lupon.
When Doing Good Is Actually Bad
Posted on March 31, 2012 in Articles
The Article: Syria: The evil results of doing good by Robert Grenier in Al-Jazeera.
The Text: Kofi Annan is a good man. We know that. We have all watched him for years. Where there is conflict and misunderstanding, whether among individuals, groups, or nations, he seeks conciliation. When two parties are in armed conflict, he does not take sides; instead, he tries to make peace.
But we also know that his instincts, however noble, have sometimes served him badly. That was true in Rwanda, when Annan’s forbearance provided evil men with an opportunity they should not have had. It was also occasionally true at the UN, where the corrupt and the abusive sometimes found sanctuary in the nurturing environment of the then-Secretary General’s tolerant understanding. And now, once again, we see Kofi Annan on a world stage, following, as usual, his noble instincts.
