Author: Gil

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Free Speech is a Choice

Tom Stoppard on the subject of the “inalienable right” of free speech:

A “human right” is, by definition, timeless. It cannot adhere to some societies and not others, at some times and not at other times. But the whole parcel of liberties into which free expression fits has a history. To St Augustine, religious tolerance would have been an oxymoron. The concept of pluralism as a virtue is a thousand years more modern than St Augustine. To say, therefore, that the right of free speech was always a human right which in unenlightened societies was suspended from the year dot until our enlightened times is surely beyond even our capacity for condescension.

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Delusions

Back to semi-real-world stuff. I just read an article in Foreign Affairs, about how absolutely misguided and deluded Hussein’s regime was before the invasion. It’s long (12 pages), but you oughtta give it a read, if only to get a greater understanding of what may have been going on at the upper levels of the government.

It made me wonder what we’ll find out when North Korea collapses. I think we’ll discover that there were some absolutely insane management choices, similar to some of the appointments made in Iraq, but I really wonder what we’ll find out about the “limits of dissension” in the military and inner circle. Will it turn out to have been even more restrictive than Iraq under Saddam?

I also wonder about Iran’s “management”, but at least there we know that there’s dissension (and its quashing). I don’t know if there’s a North Korean analog to, say, my buddy the Brooding Persian. Can anyone clue me in on such a blogger? And if one doesn’t exist, is that a sign of North Korea’s ruthless control over external displays of dissension (even anonymous ones), or is it even worse: a level of repression that bans even the thought of dissension?

Just wondering. I promise to get back to posting wedding pictures soon.

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Always with the pictures

Just downloaded the pix from my digital camera!

Snaps from our stay in Healdsburg, CA (near Sonoma)

We drove through Monterey and the 17-Mile Drive in Pebble Beach.

Then we spent two nights in Big Sur.

I’ll write all about it soon. We’re still cleaning up the house, getting food-shopping done, writing thank-you cards, and all that post-wedding/post-trip stuff. And gazing blissfully into each other’s eyes, which makes it tough to type.

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Home!

Just got back from our California honeymoon! I’ve got plenty of stories and pix to share, but not tonight; we drove from Big Sur to San Francisco International, starting around 6am this morning, so we’re pretty tired.