Of course, we won't do that. There's too much blood and too much anger. We'll whip up more fear and suspicion again each other. One side of the partisan divide will rail against Muslims and immigrants and maybe even say that Mateen's actions show gay men are a danger, and the other will rail against gun owners and demand more censorship of "hate speech" and maybe even say that Mateen's actions show Islam is a danger. Read more
Circuit Judge Barry G. Williams seems to have been incredulous, repeatedly asking, "Every time there is an arrest without probable cause, it is a crime?" But the answer to this question is "Yes. Definitely. Unquestionably. When an armed person is detaining you under threat of violence without a damned good reason, that is assault." And the failure to acknowledge this is the rot at the heart of policing as we know it, a rot so pervasive that the only solution may be to eliminate the entire system. Read more
Thornley drew an interesting parallel between this power of the state and the mental and spiritual power of organized religion. One of my treasures is a signed copy of his book Zenarchy, which the author adorned with a sketch of a tiger and the words "Kill the Buddha! Smash the State!" I can't speak for Lord Omar, but it seems clear that he's drawing an analogy with the famous advice of the Zen master Linji: "If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him!" Read more
Every bit of land has its own spirit, its genius loci, its kami, call it what you will, but accidents of geography and history make it more palpable in some places than others. I can remember stopping to fill my gas tank one summer day, the most mundane of tasks, standing at the pumps at the High's store-cum-Shell station on Frederick road, with the steep rock face maybe fifty feet high behind it and the river itself winding through trees right across the street, and a moment of silence with no cars driving by, just the breeze rustling the trees, and feeling of welcome and belonging, as if the forest spirit had put a hand on my shoulder and given a friendly nod. Read more
Now, basic concern for others and a reluctance to use state force against them ought to be enough to make us respect the basic liberties of others, even people who are wrong. But there's also a very good self-centered practical reason: when we protect the rights of others, we protect our own. We give the Devil himself the benefit of the law so that the same protection cannot be taken from us Read more
Forget the lousy prequels and shun the "special editions" with their pointless effects and plot changes. (Han. Shot. First.) Let J.J. Abrams' fun but hollow fan fiction wash over you but don't take it seriously. Those few seconds of Return of the Jedi about the moral choice we face, about understanding how others can fail in making that choice, about finding compassion even for people who have done horrible things, about the ever-present possibility of redemption, justifies everything about the original trilogy. Read more
Not to sound like a stoned dorm room conversation, but the whole experience is a reminder to me of how connected our lives are, and how contingent they are, how anything can change in an instant. Ian's work has touched thousands of people, their lives would be different -- in ways subtle or large -- without him. On that April night there were other people there to help, but I think it would have taken longer for that to get organized if I wasn't there; so in an indirect but real way, my life has touched theirs. Read more
There are things that must always be taken as beyond the authority of kings and legislatures and the voting public. Even in the best possible utopian state, there are things that we deal with not as citizens but as seekers, shamans, kosmos and prophets en masse, priests unto ourselves. Some things are, in word, sacred. Read more
Horror might be defined as the subgenre of speculative fiction that sets out to disturb the emotions in order to investigate the boundaries of the human condition....In other words, you are supposed to be upset. Disturbed. Displaced and discomforted. Read more
Those who don't train or are new to the martial arts often think of a black belt as denoting mastery. But really it means only a competence in the basics. We call the first black belt rank "shodan", which means "beginner's rank." (The "sho" here is the same as "shoshin", "beginner's mind/heart".) It's an important milestone but traditional martial arts are a lifetime pursuit and one does not master them in the handful of years it takes to earn shodan ranking. Read more
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