HerMan's New Writeups

lethal injection (thing)

2006-02-25T21:35:51Z

The killing was the best part. It was the dying I couldn't take
-Craig Volk-

There has been a trend to 'medicalize' the capital punishment since the French Revolution according to Dr. Guillotin's proposal about decapitation should be carried out by a machine (the guillotine) as a more humane method of performing death penalty. Details concerning such a project were referred to a committee, conducted by the secretary to the Academy of Surgeons. Furthermore doctors got involved again in designing more state-of-the art methods like that of electrocution for the same reason in the United States: Harold P. Brown and his assistant Dr. Fred Peterson showed experimental results at Columbia University by administering a series of DC shocks to a dog. By 1,000 V DC, the dog agonized but not died. Eventually, Brown finished the dog off with an additional charge of 330 V AC. On…

The lost biomenace of Hussein (thing)

2004-04-30T01:04:17Z

It has been said the first known incident related to biological weaponry took place in the 14th century, when infected corpses were catapulted over the Kaffa walls (see the write-up Biological weapons by RubenAzarja.)

However recent discoveries challenge such a statement. They firmly suggest biological weapons root in a more remote past, which connects with the deposed Hussein's regime. The facts supporting this theory come from amazing news that can be summarized as follows.

The sadly infamous Chinese spy Yel-low Thi-ef stole a few days ago important documents hidden in an allegedly inaccessible drawer of the CIA Secret Papers Dpt. Since a widespread broadcasting of their contents could result, however, in improvement of the US President's popularity, the government resolved to clarify the worrying hearsay and reveal that a massive storehouse of spears and arrows of Iraqi origin had been found, buried deep on the slopes of…

What if my mother is a lesbian? (thing)

2004-04-16T21:54:22Z

Woman was God's second mistake
-Friedrich Nietzsche-

In spite of arguments opposing, gay marriage was declared a constitutional right by the Massachusetts Supreme Court. The debate is not ended though, as it is always possible to urge a constitutional amendment outlawing homosexual nuptials. For instance, the US Presidential contender John Kerry recently left open the possibility he could support a Massachusetts ban on gay marriage if it recognized civil unions and other protections as an alternative.

Irrespective the opponents' reasons are currently relevant or not, homosexual marriages are somewhere legal and can raise a baby: gays adopt in many states and lesbians give birth in all of them. Now the point is detecting potentially harmful effects of being raised by a homosexual parent (1).

…

The growth of Islamic terrorism (idea)

2004-04-05T01:49:04Z

The different religions are beautiful flowers from the same garden, or they are branches of the same majestic tree. Therefore, they are equally true, though being received and interpreted through human instruments equally imperfect.
--Mahatma Gandhi--

Probably 10 to 15% of the major terrorist organisations are Islamic in nature. On the other hand, it has been argued (see the above write-up by tusitala) that Islamic terrorists found their actions upon a relatively new interpretation of Islam, which is radically different from the interpretation which most Muslims grow up with.

If we accept the aforementioned statements, it results a link between Islam and terrorism, in which Islam could be a breeding ground for terrorism. However, this argument is not convincing. First, it is methodologically based on a small sample to verify a general hypothesis. Secondly, there are no new…

How to predict US vetoes (thing)

2004-01-18T19:30:16Z

The superior person understands rightness; the inferior person understands profit.
--Confucius--

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) consists of ten elected members and five permanent members (Russian Federation, China, France, United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, and the United States). An 'against' vote from a permanent member has the power of successfully vetoing a resolution. Throughout 31 years the UNSC put under voting the following resolutions, but they were vetoed by the US. Most of the vetoes were due to its only-against vote.

1) Condemns Israel for killing hundreds of people in Syria and Lebanon in air raids (1972) . 1 /206 total vetoed resolutions through a 31-years period (0.43%).

2) Afirms the rights of the Palestinians and calls on Israel to withdraw from…

silence (thing)

2003-12-20T07:57:13Z

I check when the sunrise occurs and try to be outside for this event. I notice the calmness of the earth. I see the sky preparing to shed its darkness when the sunlight begins to envelop it, painting colors and shapes. I look at the birds standing near, awakening to the new day. There is a silence here, and everything is emanating from the stillness. This is a rebirth which has occurred for eons.

Then simply I'm attentive to every sensation. Is there any difference between my perception of the morning stillness and that within my own heart? I feel where they merge. They do it in myself.

What I perceive is this moment and the evolving world. I feel I am all that I perceive, and there is no boundaries between me and it. Thus I am it and there is nothing else.

Hence I shall stop the seeking of one more moment. And so I accept the freedom I have always been, i.e. the pure silence of now from which the whole universe springs and eventually will return unto infinity.

The universe does not dream.