Occasional musings on software development, tech, the Middle East, and anything else.
Bernie Sanders flip-flopped too, and that’s okay. People keep mentioning Hillary Clinton’s shifting on issues as a mark against her, but as she explains, this is only evidence that she is a person who responds to new information and develops their opinion, not a block of granite . Sanders, too, has shifted left on race issues and gun control in the past several months . This is a wonderful thing…
For liberal laypersons, our justification of progressive social policies, as well as our defense for social justice issues in general is often recursive . I discussed this previously, in “I am right, therefore…” —a common pattern of imposing our beliefs on others is often to presuppose that they are right ; an unconvincing argument to the other party, but often difficult to detect because the…
It is difficult to overcome the shock generated by the brutal assassination of Lt. Moath Kasasbeh . Indeed in many ways, I—and many like me—have yet to do so. Throughout the ordeal which was brought some closure by the awful news Tuesday, Jordanians, Arabs, and Muslims alike were of many minds. From anger towards ISIS to self-questioning of the country's role in in the anti-ISIS coalition; from a…
Imagine you are among the first settler colonial humans to discover extraterrestrial life. You have landed somewhere in a distant planet, disembarked, and were going about your daily tasks as you encounter the first signs. Some seemingly sentient, intelligent creature approaches you. It looks different, nothing like you or anyone you've seen, not even like a reptile or sea creature. It approaches…
Like many, I feel uncomfortable with much of the information revealed about the NSA's surveillance program. The reach and scale of the program are alarming at best, and for many of us, it demonstrates an unjustified attack on the right to privacy. Yet, as I read the arguments leveled against the NSA and other spy agencies for their surveillance programs, I find it hard to identify with or feel…
