Shkreli honed a version of real-world stoic philosophy while in prison. He makes practical observations about prison and the legal system in USA. It’s a good interview and worth viewing if time permits. ABN
Tag: morality ethics
Pro-Israel Propaganda: Lies vs Reality — Ron Unz
Another week has now passed since the Middle East and the entire world were suddenly upended by the huge raid into Israel by the Hamas militants of Gaza. But the new developments over the last seven days have merely continued and confirmed the situation I’d already described last Monday.
According to all news sources, some 1,400 Israeli soldiers and civilians died in the attack, most of them within the first 24 hours, probably making it the deadliest day in Israel’s entire history, amounting to more fatalities than the total for all of Israel’s wars during nearly the last fifty years combined.
Back in 2011, the Israeli government had freed over 1,000 imprisoned Palestinians in exchange for a single captured soldier. So a key goal of this Hamas attack had been gaining the freedom of the many thousands of captive Palestinians by seizing some Israelis as bargaining chips, and the effort succeeded beyond all expectations, with more than 200 Israeli soldiers and civilians taken back to Gaza as prisoners.
Israel had invested hundreds of millions of dollars in advanced technology to guard its Gaza border, but Hamas disabled those systems using inexpensive small drones and highly innovative tactics, thereby inflicting a hugely humiliating defeat upon the Jewish State.
Mossad was widely regarded as one of the world’s best intelligence services and the Israeli military had the same reputation for its prowess in combat. But despite a year of careful planning and preparation, Hamas seems to have achieved total tactical surprise while the local Israeli garrison bases were easily overrun, with none of their sentries on duty and alert. As a result, the IDF suffered up to 600 dead in a matter of hours at the hands of lightly-armed militants, probably the worst one-day combat losses in any of Israel’s many wars. Hundreds of thousands of Israeli civilians have now been evacuated both from the area around Gaza and from the northern parts of the country threatened by Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and given the scale of the recent disaster, it’s unclear how soon most of them would be willing to return to their former homes.
The moral agony of Israel and Gaza
The conflict is tribal, involving three Abrahamic religions, each of which claims exclusive knowledge of God’s will.
Human tribes + God’s will + conflicting human interpretations of God’s will based on ‘infallible’ scriptures = an agonizing moral conflict that cannot be resolved within the boundaries that delineate it. Reason has no place here save to figure out how to destroy the other tribe(s). All words are fighting words. All statements are inflammatory.
In Buddhism, these are glaring examples of the First & Second Noble Truths. These two truths describe the core mundane reality of the Human Realm. The Third & Fourth Noble Truths describe what we can do about it.
The strong Buddhist answer is the best thing you can do is become a monk; remove yourself from the insoluble moral agony of human greed, pride, anger, ignorance, and doubt (in a higher reality).
The less strong Buddhist answer is mostly remove yourself from the tribal fray but make an effort to raise public awareness of the depth of the predicament; share the Dharma. That’s what I am doing on this site. In that spirit I present the video below. It has been taken off Instagram after receiving some 12 million views. It does provide valid information but if the information inflames you, one way or the other, it will only contribute to the problem. I present it in the hope that more understanding leads to better understanding and eventually moral clarity, at least for people enlightened enough to see beyond the fray. ABN
‘I need to make some GOOD comments about men’ — Christie Laura Grace
Hey guys. I need to make some GOOD comments about men.
1. When I first started speaking out, I was anonymous on Twitter. I had just started my case with the federal government (2021). I was thrown under the bus–especially the first year by people who said they had my back–but it was not by men.
Men, great men, were my primary supporters during that time, and still are today. The bulk of them were, and have been, complete gentlemen to me–in every sense of the word. Famous or not, several men have been such a rock for me. I have mentioned them by name previously. They come from all walks of life–medical, academia, insurance industries, military, former hostage negotiator and lieutenant–these guys stood up for me, stood in front of me, protected me, gave me great advice, and helped keep me safe during some rough times when I was receiving serious harassment and threats, which a few came to my person in real life–especially last year.
In 2021, I was afraid to use my real name in public and speak out, and some of these guys had Zoom calls, phone calls, and met me to let me know they had my back, and they were not going anywhere. They are still here today. You know who you are. Thank you!
2. Men are receiving a lot of heat these days just for being men. They are not appreciated. I wish this was not the case. Many men, good men, are being treated poorly, and unfairly. I wish this was not happening. I know you could blame feminism or whatever it is, but I know this is happening at scale–even in politically conservative and religious areas, and I am oh so sorry for this. I know this is going to change at some point.
Continue reading “‘I need to make some GOOD comments about men’ — Christie Laura Grace”Jordan’s King Abdullah II condemns international community’s indifference to war crimes in Gaza
Israel’s Culture of Deceit — Chris Hedges
Washington DC — (Scheerpost) — Israel was founded on lies. The lie that Palestinian land was largely unoccupied. The lie that 750,000 Palestinians fled their homes and villages during their ethnic cleansing by Zionist militias in 1948 because they were told to do so by Arab leaders. The lie that it was Arab armies that started the 1948 war that saw Israel seize 78 percent of historic Palestine. The lie that Israel faced annihilation in 1967, forcing it to invade and occupy the remaining 22 percent of Palestine, as well as land belonging to Egypt and Syria.
Israel is sustained by lies. The lie that Israel wants a just and equitable peace and will support a Palestinian state. The lie that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East. The lie that Israel is an “outpost of Western civilization in a sea of barbarism.” The lie that Israel respects the rule of law and human rights.
Israel’s atrocities against the Palestinians are always greeted with lies. I heard them. I recorded them. I published them in my stories for The New York Times when I was the paper’s Middle East Bureau Chief.
I covered war for two decades, including seven years in the Middle East. I learned quite a bit about the size and lethality of explosive devices. There is nothing in the arsenal of Hamas or Islamic Jihad that could have replicated the massive explosive power of the missile that killed an estimated 500 civilians in the al-Ahli Arab Christian Hospital in Gaza. Nothing. If Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) had these kinds of missiles, huge buildings in Israel would be rubble with hundreds of dead. They don’t.
The whistling sound, audible on the video moments before the explosion, appears to come from the high velocity of a missile. This sound gives it away. No Palestinian rocket makes this noise. And then there is the speed of the missile. Palestinian rockets are slow and lumbering, clearly visible as they arch in the sky and then tumble in free fall toward their targets. They do not strike with precision or travel at close to supersonic speed. They are incapable of killing hundreds of people.
The Israeli military dropped “roof knocking” rockets with no warheads on the hospital in the days leading up to the Oct. 17 strike, the familiar warning given by Israel to evacuate buildings, according to al-Ahli hospital officials. Hospital officials also said they had received calls from Israel saying “we warned you to evacuate twice.” Israel has demanded that all hospitals in northern Gaza be evacuated.
Following the strike on the hospital, Hananya Naftali, a “digital aide” to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, posted on X, formerly Twitter: “Israeli Air Force struck a Hamas terrorist base inside a hospital in Gaza.” The post was quickly deleted.
Your claim to ‘the science’ does not afford you tacit permission to become a human rights monster
The Israel Attacks: Beyond the Obvious — Efrat Fenigson & Bret Weinstein
This is an excellent discussion, highly recommended. I will only add that I am delighted to learn Bret is a reader of ABN. ABN
The Biden Family Tree: How Investigations are Exposing the Bidens’ Influence-Peddling Dynasty
President Joe Biden once famously told a state official that “no one f—s with a Biden.” It was a statement that made more sense a few years ago than it does today.
These days, it seems like everyone is…well, messing with the Bidens. The president’s son, Hunter Biden, is facing federal charges on gun violations under a law that his father has heralded. He is also looking at possible additional charges on taxes.
Joe Biden’s brother James Biden was just subpoenaed alongside his nephew over millions of dollars sent by foreign figures as part of an influence-peddling operation.
Joe Biden is now formally under investigation for possible impeachment with at least four articles of impeachment under consideration.
Finally, a media that has long shielded the Bidens is now starting to acknowledge that Hunter and others were engaged in corrupt influence peddling.
All of this scrutiny is not simply threatening the Biden sense of invincibility. It is also revealing more about the Bidens behind the scenes in an unvarnished and unflattering light.
Potent illustration of mind-control debasement: No One Is Safe
Buddhist morality and signaling
The five precepts of Buddhism are no killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, or irresponsible use of alcohol.
These moral guidelines are for non-monastics.
I think most of us tend to think of the five precepts as being about the material world. After all, killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, and getting drunk are all rooted in actions of the material body. Even lying issues forth from the mouth of the body.
But what if we look at the precepts differently? What if we view them as fundamentally signals that issue forth from the mind?
If we look at them that way, then lying, which is often glossed as the least important of the five precepts, becomes the most important.
The reason is that lies send bad signals forth from the mind. And surely killing, stealing, misconduct, and getting drunk are the baddest of bad signals. Each one is a form of lying or deliberately disturbing the mind-stream and karma of self and others.
In a post I put up recently, Ethics, morality, I outlined a simple way to understand morality as that which reduces error and increases efficiency of mental signals, both internal and external (those exchanged with others).
In Buddhism, the great barrier to enlightenment is a confused, deluded mind. Anything that generates delusion or confusion, which lying surely does, is counterproductive. While anything that reduces delusion is good.
Buddhism, of course, recognizes the need for occasional lies—such as sanitizing the truth for children—but we really do not need to lie very often. We do not always have to say everything we think or tell anyone anything they want to know; we can easily and truthfully sidestep issues like that by simply saying we would rather not say.
In a very important way, clear signaling—honest signaling—is the foundation of all morality.
Is morality a fundamental part of nature?
Viewing nature as a signaling network shows its advantage with this question.
Instead of asking where our moral sense comes from, we ask instead what makes for a good signaling network?
The answer is “good organization.”
By “good,” I mean efficient, well-made, good use of resources, easy to maintain, rational, etc.
You are a signaling network.
A well-organized you will probably tend to be morally pretty good and wanting to get better at it, depending on your conditions.
Of course some people view “morality” as whatever is in their best interests. And that is a type of moral thinking. When it is found out, though, most other people, very reasonably, do not like it.
If we view nature as the evolution of signals and signaling networks rather than as the evolution of matter, we will see that changes in signal organization are fundamental to the evolutionary process.
In this sense, it is the most ordinary thing in the world that you, a complex signaling system that is conscious, would consciously seek good organization and/or want to adapt your organizing principles, both objective and subjective, to conditions that impact you.
Conditions that impact you are signals being perceived by the signaling network you think of as yourself.
Your adaptations, both small and large, will encompass many moral considerations and choices.
Morality can be viewed as a kind of organization. The networks that make up your being must organize their relations with the world around them and other sentient beings. We make many moral decisions when we do this. These decisions are an integral part of how we are organized.
Last night I heard a drunk swearing at his friend from the street. “You fucking bastard…” etc. Not well-organized, but still he was yelling a local version of morality and this was fundamental to his networks and behavior.
People Should be Talking About the ADL’s Support for Extremist Racialist Policies in Israel
Finally, the world is talking about the Jewish/Israeli lobbying group, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). This is a very good thing.
Regardless of my feelings on Elon Musk, I’m thankful he’s promoting this awareness campaign.
After Elon tweeted against the ADL, the group has been trending.
However, most of the discussion we’re seeing is around the idea that this is a “left-wing” advocacy group. This is untrue.
Jonathan Greenblatt, the head of the ADL, supports really hardcore right-wing policies in Israel.
Because the ADL is not a “left-wing” group. It is more accurate to call it a “Democrat” group, but it’s most accurate to call it a “Jewish” group. They support Jewish interests, and in America, Jewish interests primarily involve silencing freedom of speech as well as promoting mass immigration and child trannies.
The ADL says they want a racially pure Jewish state in Palestine.
Maine Hospital That Fired Unvaccinated Nurses Over Mills’ Mandate Is Begging Them to Return Two Years Later
Nurses and other health care workers at MaineGeneral Health, one of Maine’s largest healthcare providers, were unceremoniously fired two years ago if they refused to take the experimental mRNA injections touted as COVID-19 preventatives.
Some of those workers were even slapped with misconduct charges for refusing to comply with the mandate, many were later denied unemployment benefits, and no requests for religious exemptions were honored.
Now, one of the nonprofit hospitals that left some employees jobless and without recourse to Maine’s unemployment insurance benefits is sending text messages to the same employees it cast aside practically begging them to come back to work.
“You were once a proud member of the MaineGeneral team. Would you consider rejoining us? We would be pleased to discuss options with you,” the MaineGeneral Health Recruitment team said in a text message to former registered nurse Terry Poland.
“As you know, nearly 2 years ago MaineGeneral had to comply with a state mandate for COVID-19 vaccination. We lost a number of great employees as a result, including you,” MaineGeneral said.
American Buddhist Net 