The Logic League!

Seriously, Korea

2006-06-17T00:28:00.000-04:00

North Korea seems to have dedicated itself to pushing that NWI rating up a few hundredths of a point. Let’s break it down.

1. North Korea is preparing to test a long-range missile with the potential to reach the United States, which will violate a 1999 agreement to avoid such testing. Of course, the United States, South Korea, and Japan aren’t exactly thrilled. You’ve just earned +0.01, North Korea. Keep it up.

2. Come on. I didn’t really want you to keep it up. That was sarcasm. I guess you didn’t get it…

In addition to the above missile-testing, North Korea has demanded that the United States ease up on several sanctions. Of course, a nuclear-capable country making demands is only going to raise paranoia here in the States, warranting a second NWI increase of 0.01.

As the rating stands right now, the Logic League, in all its unqualified brashness, thinks there might be a 59% chance of nuclear war some time in the near future. Probably not the case, but it’s something to think about.

Blogging is a Lonely Road

2006-06-11T18:48:00.000-04:00

At the 2006 YearlyKos blogging convention – which ends today, if I’m not mistaken – Senator Harry Reid called upon weblog writers to mobilize into a driving force of the Democratic Party.

Now, this might sound nice, especially considering that some Republicans think of bloggers as “squeaky wheels,” but give the issue a bit of thought before you decide to point your weblog in a partisan direction. You’re more than welcome to be a Democrat or a Republican or a communist or an anarchist, for all I care, but if you devote your online writings to a specific group, you run a fairly high risk of alienating anyone who isn’t a part of that group. You certainly aren’t doing much good if you’re simply preaching to the converted.

We of the Logic League follow one simple rule: write what makes sense. We’re not trying to push an agenda, unless common sense counts as an agenda. We just want people to see things in the most logical way possible. If you find some flaw in our logic, we welcome you to point it out; we’d rather be corrected than advocate something due to poor reasoning.

I would suggest that avoiding strong party affiliations is the best way to run a weblog. Draw readers into your way of thinking as an individual, not as a minor appendage of an opinion group. Do as we are trying to do; make everyone feel welcome to read your material. We Logic Leaguers have our opinions, and we don’t attempt to hide them, but you can rest assured that we would never compromise our values for the sake of any party. It is my sincere hope that more than a few people attempt to do the same.

Did Someone Say a Success in Iraq?

2006-06-09T01:30:00.000-04:00

As I was going to bed last night I happened to turn on CNN and do you know what I saw? I saw breaking news that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had been slain. Now, we all know what comes next. We get to hear the government boast and brag about taking out one of the most dangerous men in the world via an air strike. Don’t forget about the possible boost in the polls for the President and Republicans as well… although I don’t think they’re merited.

Now what makes me madder is the fact that American forces knew where Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was and that his position was not time sensitive; this is why the pilots in the area didn’t rush to bomb him. So if they knew where he was and knew he would be there for a while, then why didn’t they capture him? Abu Musab al-Zarqawi would be more valuable alive for his intelligence about the insurgency than dead. So now, instead of having an enemy combatant (because we all know that’s what the U.S. would call him), we have a martyr in the eyes of the Iraqi insurgency, which in turn will probably mean more attacks in Iraq and possibly abroad resulting in more and more dead Iraqis and American troops. This is simply not acceptable in my view.

The smarter thing to do would have been to capture the top al Qaeda leader in Iraq for information about future attacks, al Qaeda members in Iraq and around the world, and to get useful information to help dismantle the infrastructure of the insurgency in Iraq. Does the U.S. think before it blows stuff up? Apparently not, as is evident by the fact that there is an insurgency.

So what is to happen now? Well, we have already seen the immergence of al Qaeda supporters on the internet claiming that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s death will give them strength in their battle against the American forces. We have also seen that there are still terrorist attacks occurring in Iraq. Last I heard, there were over 39 Iraqis killed today, and I hope the number doesn’t climb. The press has already gone gaga over this story and will ride it until it dies a slow painful death.

Now this is where I ask the question of the day… What good will Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s death actually bring? My answer is not much. It has taken out a prominent leader in the insurgency, as well as disrupts the infrastructure of the insurgency. But my problem with this is that had American forces captured him, he would have proved to be more valuable alive than dead, as I said before. The fact that this attack is going to possibly cause the terror in Iraq to increase is even worse. Plus it is only a matter of time until somebody takes Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s place anyway.

I think that the United States needs to start putting more thought into their actions. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying the United States completely screwed up. I’m saying that the United States could have done better in capturing Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, along with his deputies, instead of killing them all. When is the U.S. going to learn that shooting then asking questions later never ends up solving anything?

This video is an example of how America decided to go in bombs blazing. The collateral damage involved in blowing up this building is simply ghastly, and as a result an innocent woman and child died along with al-Zarqawi and his two deputies. Massive firepower is never the answer, and the video proves it. But apparently the United States believed that civilian casualties were worth al-Zarqawi’s life. I disagree. Civilian casualties should never be worth the death of one man, and he should have never died in the first place. Now all the intelligence he could have given us dies along with him in a massive explosion.

Way to Plan

2006-06-08T23:49:00.000-04:00

Has anyone heard about Robert F. Weiler Jr., the somewhat unstable guy from Maryland who nearly bombed a Virginia abortion clinic? If not, check out this article. In short, he planned on destroying the Greenbelt, Virginia clinic with a pipe bomb after killing “doctors who provided abortions” with a .40-caliber pistol. Nice guy, right?

I suppose you could argue that he just wanted to prevent what he saw as an atrocity, but I don’t think the families of those doctors would have forgiven him on the basis of his subjective motives. Fortunately, Weiler was forced to turn himself in, and his pipe bomb ended up destroying his friend’s house with no resultant injury or loss of life.

Let’s break this down. In order to stop the deaths of unborn children, Weiler planned to kill the doctors who would abort them. This is a perfect example of why violence is practically never the answer to anything.

Consider the consequences if Weiler had succeeded in killing, say, two doctors, and had also managed to bomb enough of the clinic that operations had to shut down for a while. The mothers seeking abortion would have made their decisions in advance, and, as such, would most likely not have been swayed by the deaths of doctors who probably weren’t even assigned to them yet, as far as anyone knew. Of course, a fair number of appointments would have been cancelled due to the bombing, but there’s more than one abortion clinic in Virginia, and if you’re willing to do something as serious as abortion, you’re probably willing to drive a little farther than was previously necessary to do it. The point is this: since Weiler failed, business at the Greenbelt abortion clinic will carry on as usual. If he had succeeded, he wouldn’t have prevented any deaths in the long run, but his scheme certainly would have caused a few. Whatever his motives were, it’s for the best that he failed, since the present state of affairs is that which resulted in the fewest lives lost.

Whatever you believe, nothing will come out of fanaticism and violence. Clearly, Weiler would have had much more of an impact if he had simply exercised his right to demonstrate his views near the clinic, in which case he would still be free to fight for his beliefs. As it is, he’ll probably languish in jail, doing no good for anyone.

I, for one, sincerely hope that Weiler’s utter lack of sense serves as an example to anyone who has ever contemplated violence in response to unpleasantness.

Iran into Some Options

2006-06-08T04:10:00.000-04:00

First of all, please forgive the pun. I am the Punctuator, after all.

The prospects of global nuclear war have inched downward over the past few days due to a new incentives package offered to Iran by the United States, the United Kingdom, China, France, Russia, and Germany. Essentially, the negotiating nations will provide Iran with a small nuclear reactor if all of the country’s controversial uranium enrichment projects cease. The likelihood of Iran immediately accepting the end of all such projects is questionable, but, at the very least, Iranian officials are responding favorably to this most recent development in an ongoing push to end the possibility of Iran as a nuclear power.

Though certain parties describe the United Nations proceedings as impolite (see the article linked above), present efforts are certainly an improvement over the negotiations of the past. As such, the NWI has been modified by -0.01.

The NWI Explained

2006-06-05T04:45:00.000-04:00

With all sorts of uranium enrichment projects carrying on in countries such as Iran and North Korea, it's difficult to keep from wondering how likely it is that the world will descend into a state of all-out nuclear war. The Doc and I think about these things as much as anyone...well, actually, probably more than most people, as evidenced by our unique Nuclear War Index:

The NWI is a measure of the likelihood of nuclear war that ranges from 0.00 to 1.00, with 0 requiring the elimination of every nuclear weapon on Earth and 1 indicating the present existence of nuclear war. Based on historical events relating to the United Nations non-proliferation policy and the influence of more contemporary occurrences, we began the index at 0.58, and have since modified the ratio based on news reports relating to nuclear capability and activity. We tend to add or subtract anywhere between 0.01 and 0.03 per relevant event, but dire circumstances would certainly warrant more significant changes to the ratio.

Why create such a depressing site feature? Well, for one thing, the threat of human xenocide certainly grabs the attention, does it not? We're obviously not experts on the subject of nuclear war, so this index shouldn't be taken seriously or used as evidence in an argument. It's just a thought-provoking little sidebar filler that we're making available to any webmaster who wants it. Just copy and paste the following code into your site:


<a href="http://logicleague.blogspot.com/2006/06/nwi-explained.html">
<img src="http://www.zjwoods.com/nwi.jpg" border=0 alt="The Logic League's Nuclear War Index">
</a>


We urge all our readers to remember that the likelihood of nuclear war depends entirely on you. The governments of the world can ignore one of you, but they could never ignore you all.

Logic League, Assemble!

2006-06-05T00:51:00.000-04:00

Are CNN and Fox News not satisfying your cravings for the truth? You’re in luck, because The Punctuator and Doc Logic Ph.D. are here to fulfill your lust for sensibility. The Punctuator and Doc Logic Ph.D., collectively known as the Logic League, aim to navigate through the rhetorical maze the media has strewn and arrive at the cold hard facts hidden within. The media has been allowed to confuse and misguide the public for too long. The Logic League will end this corruption and shine the light of knowledge onto the peoples of the United States.

The Punctuator and Doc Logic Ph.D. are both American denizens who are tired of the jargon that the media continues to perpetuate. Combining our areas of expertise, we unravel the intricate web of fact and fiction that obscures the truth behind public propaganda. Neither threat nor bribe nor Patriot Act will sway us from our noble quest for published enlightenment.

That said, who are we who claim to comprise a league of logic, we who stand for the free exchange of ideas and the ideal of an open compilation of human knowledge, who tolerate no censor and punish the misleaders without a qualm?

The Punctuator, more frequently known as Z. J. Woods, enjoys romantic dinners by candlelight, watching the sun rise over the ocean, and ridding the English language of those who seek to butcher its clandestine tenets beyond all recognition. As a student of English, Punctuator approaches current events from a linguistic perspective. You may doubt the credibility of such a tactic, but be warned; language defines thought, and, thus, free thought is threatened when words are used as a self-serving political tool.

Co-logician Doc Logic’s government name is Jason Van Natta. The Doc enjoys writing heartfelt poetry, listening to soulful R&B ballads, and obliterating logical fallacies with the highest degree of truth. As a scholar of contemporary and historical political philosophy, Doc Logic Ph.D. brings an understanding of the core of American discourse to the duo. Without strong roots, the tree of free thought can bear no fruit.

Fear not, good citizens, for the Logic League has arrived!