“Why We Did It” – Oh Boy… Whether You Find It To Be Accurate Or Not It Will Probably Upset You…

You can click on this picture to watch their interview if you would like

Recently Rachel Maddow went on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and now that I have your attention here is some more information…

I considering myself a moderate, which more than anything means that new information can affect what I think. A while back Rachel Maddow produced a TV Documentary called “Hubris” which addressed the ‘so called” false pretenses that allowed our nation to go to war with Iraq – meaning that what was said about why we were going in was not in fact true. That documentary was posted on iTunes via the Rachel Maddow Show’s Podcast, and since she always asks people to post her show, and videos of it online I decided to post that entire documentary on my YouTube channel. It has since gotten about 100,000 views, and has filled my email with some incredibly angry YouTube comments from all kinds of people… I mean, angry stuff…

*By the way, I don’t just watch liberal stuff… I really can’t help but watch anything and everything I can get my hands/eyes on. I watch/listen to: The O’Reilly Factor, Meet the Press, Fox News Sunday, Real Time with Bill Maher, and others when I can. I like things other than politics, this is just part of my rhetorical diet to know what’s out there.

Anyway: I want to note that I am not a “Truther” (I don’t think that the United State Government was behind 9-11, so let’s just get that out of the way…), I do however think that this war was a war of choice, and that it was mismanaged, which I think is rather well voiced by documentaries like “No End In Sight” (posted at the bottom of this).

“Hubris” addresses the issue of WMD’s (weapons of mass destruction), and this new documentary goes into some of the reasons why the makers of the film believe our government wanted to go. I don’t can’t speak to it’s legitimacy, and I don’t think that Mrs. Maddow is unbiased. I do however really appreciate that she presents sources, and gives room for actual debate, rather than just pure ad hominem. If you’d like to give some feedback that would be great – but the reason why I decided to post this second video (Why We Did It) was to keep the videos tied together, and because it might help us hold a conversation about reasons why we might not want to be so quick to go to war again anytime soon without more checks and balances (i.e.: Iran, Syria, Ukraine). And if you’d like to check in on the conflict going on in Ukraine feel free to click anywhere on this sentence.

Part 2
“Why We Did It”

Part 1
“Hubris”

“No End In Sight”

“Honest Company Slogans” – What They Meant To Say…

Just scrolling through the internet today I noticed a link that said “Honest Company Slogans”. Obviously I had to click it…

“Honest Slogans” – Imgur

“Justice: The Moral Side of Murder” with Michael Sandel, Harvard University

Over the last few years of come in and out of playing around with iTunes U, the Apple based free classroom space, but I never seem to finish the classes. Well, recently I started a free class on iTunes U that I will absolutely be finishing. The course is called “Justice” and it’s taught by renouned philosopher, author, and professor Michael Sandel. Below I am including a link to this fascinating free course, and the first lecture, which I am watching for the 3rd time. I hope you enjoy it as much as I am enjoying it.

Justice by Harvard University

Kony, M23, and The Real Rebels of Congo: What Happened to Kony 2012, and What’s Next? – VICE

If you are reading this you are most likely on the internet, and thus have more likely than not heard of Joseph Kony, who is the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). The LRA is famous for recruiting young children, brainwashing them to kill without hesitation, and then putting weapons in their hands. A group called Invisible Children has pushed to put an end to this senselessness. In the last couple of year one of their main founders, Jason Russell, launched a campaign to make a real push to get the word out about Kony while people were paying a bit more attention in the Presidential election year. Well, the campaign became much bigger than he’d ever expected, and it ended with Mr. Russell having somewhat of a personal meltdown, which sadly enough was ridiculed heavily, and somehow made light of the tragedies that have taken place over the last several years, and the work that Jason had been putting into stopping them.

Well, the “Kony 2012” campaign seems to have died out quite a bit, but there are still plenty who are interested in the situation. However, VICE, my favorite investigative reporting organization, has some questions about Kony, and any other rebel groups in the region, in particular the constantly war torn Democratic People’s Republic of Congo.

“The Triangle Factory Fire” – A Labor History Lesson on Labor Day

Having grown up in a state where Unions seem virtually invisible I never really thought much about them in my youth. Even though I have tried to learn about them, and find that I have mixed feelings about them, I don’t find that I understand them now or their former roles all that well. I realized that a lot of people find unions to be bullish, and they think that they slow down and threaten business in general. However, while there do seem to be some drawbacks there is plenty to celebrate about workers uniting and harnessing a singular voice – this has helped shape our great nation.

Jeremy Scahill with Reihan Salam on “Dirty Wars” and U.S. National Security – VICE

This is a fascinating conversation. What we allow in the exchange between “safety” and “freedom” makes for quite an interesting debate.

This Is What Winning Looks Like (Full Length) – VICE

This film was made by Ben Anderson and produced by VICE. It is described as “A destructing new documentary about the ineptitude, drug abuse, sexual misconduct, and corruption of the Afghan security.”

I found this to be very fascinating, but it would be very interested to know if there are counter perspectives.

A Free Civics Lesson Everyone Needs to Hear!

I have never really done any physical protesting, but I’m pretty sure this is how it should be done…

Debate – William Lane Craig vs Christopher Hitchens – Does God Exist?

I love a good debate, and I love the topic of faith in a higher being. This is a long one, but enjoyable. I tend to find myself enjoying my ideas and faith more when I actually have to question them – therefore I can become more certain in what I find myself willing to defend. Have fun 🙂

“Brainwashed by Westboro Baptist Church” – VICE

 

There are multiple reasons why Westboro Baptist Church is disturbs me, but most of all because of the way that Children are bullied. I would actually love to sit down with these guys and see what all they think about the world, because I’ve had some ideas before that might be considered a little crazy. I used to find myself in hour long conversations with the people who came to our campus in college to tell everyone that they were going to hell. Usually the conversations would be pretty fun, and would end on a good note where I would tell them that I thought there were better and more articulate ways to get their point across.

Well anyway, I think that this video is fascinating. I still do not understand how they feel warranted to speak so hatefully, but they do seem to really mean it, so as long as they are being honest I want to hear what they have to say – which is how I ended up getting Mormon missionaries stopping by my house every week in the summer of 2010.