Jai Baba

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Why is it that great works of art seem to have a universal appeal, transcending cultural and geographic boundaries? Vilayanur S. Ramachandran, MD, PhD, director of UCSD’s Center for Brain and Cognition has studied how the brain perceives works of art and thinks he may know the answer to this intriguing question. Series: “40/40 Vision Lectures (UCSD Faculty Lecture Series)” [11/2000]

In this July 20, 1969 file photo, Astronaut Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin Jr. poses for a photograph beside the U.S. flag deployed on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. (AP Photo/Neil Armstrong, NASA, file)

40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing

Walter Cronkite

In this Sept. 30, 1971 file photo, Walter Cronkite testifies before a Senate sub-committee on freedom of the press in Washington. Cronkite said government control over broadcasting is like a threatening axe hanging over the industry. Famed CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite, known as the ‘most trusted man in America’ has died, Friday, July 17, 2009. He was 92. (AP Photo/File)

And that’s the way it is.

Meher Baba, Avatar

I have come not to teach but to awaken. Understand therefore that I lay down no precepts.

Throughout eternity I have laid down principles and precepts, but mankind has ignored them. Man’s inability to live God’s words makes the Avatar’s teaching a mockery. Instead of practicing the compassion He taught, man has waged crusades in His name. Instead of living the humility, purity and truth of his words, man has given way to hatred, greed and violence.

Because man has been deaf to the principles and precepts laid down by God in the past, in this present Avataric form I observe Silence. You have asked for and been given enough words-it is now time to live them. To get nearer and nearer to God you have to get further and further away from “I”, “my”, “me”, and “mine”. You have not to renounce anything but your own self. It is as simple as that, though found to be almost impossible. It is possible for you to renounce your limited self by my Grace. I have come to release that Grace.

I repeat, I lay down no precepts. When I release the tide of Truth which I have come to give, men’s daily lives will be the living precept. The words I have not spoken will come to life in them.

I veil myself from man by his own curtain of ignorance, and manifest my Glory to a few. My present Avataric Form is the last Incarnation of this cycle of time, hence my Manifestation will be the greatest. When I break my Silence, the impact of my Love will be universal and all life in creation will know, feel and receive of it. It will help every individual to break himself free from his own bondage in his own way. I am the Divine Beloved who loves you more than you can ever love yourself. The breaking of my Silence will help you to help yourself in knowing your real Self.

All this world confusion and chaos was inevitable and no one is to blame. What had to happen has happened; and what has to happen will happen. There was and is no way out except through my coming in your midst. I had to come, and I have come. I am the Ancient One.

— Meher Baba

On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights the full text of which appears in the following pages. Following this historic act the Assembly called upon all Member countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and “to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories.”

PREAMBLE

Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,

Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,

Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,

Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,

Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,

Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,

Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.

Article 1.

• All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2.

• Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Article 3.

• Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 4.

• No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Article 5.

• No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 6.

• Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 7.

• All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

Article 8.

• Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

Article 9.

• No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Article 10.

• Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

Article 11.

• (1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
• (2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.

Article 12.

• No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Article 13.

• (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
• (2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

Article 14.

• (1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
• (2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 15.

• (1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.
• (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

Article 16.

• (1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
• (2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
• (3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

Article 17.

• (1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
• (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

Article 18.

• Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 19.

• Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Article 20.

• (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
• (2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

Article 21.

• (1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
• (2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.
• (3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.

Article 22.

• Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.

Article 23.

• (1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
• (2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
• (3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
• (4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

Article 24.

• Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

Article 25.

• (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
• (2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

Article 26.

• (1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
• (2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
• (3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Article 27.

• (1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
• (2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

Article 28.

• Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.

Article 29.

• (1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
• (2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
• (3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 30.

• Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.

Hundred and eighty-third plenary meeting
Resolution 217(A)(III) of the United Nations General Assembly,
December 10, 1948

(This material is in the public domain and may be reprinted without permission.)

Noam Chomsky, the MIT professor, author and dissident intellectual, just turned eighty years old this past December. He has written over 100 books, but despite being called “the most important intellectual alive” by the New York Times, he is rarely heard in the corporate media. We spend the hour with Noam Chomsky. He spoke recently here in New York at an event sponsored by the Brecht Forum. More than 2,000 people packed into Riverside Church in Harlem to hear his address, titled “Crisis and Hope: Theirs and Ours.” In his talk, Chomsky discussed the global economic crisis, the environment, wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, resistance to American empire and much more. [includes rush transcript]

Tune into LinkTV this weekend to watch Rachel Maddow in “Blueprint for Accountability,” and the historic discourse that took place. The show airs:

Friday, June 26 (5pm PT/8 pm ET)
Saturday, June 27 (1pm PT/4pm ET)
Sunday, June 28 (8pm PT/11pm ET)

The program is available via satellite on Direct TV channel 375 and Dish Network channel 9410. A special version will stream online at www.linktv.org/blueprint

15 June 2009 : Guest Howard Dean

Religious scholar and Daily Beast columnist Reza Aslan talks to Jon about the War on Terror.

“In a parallel universe, Al Gore is the greatest U.S. president of all time.”

(AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)

(AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)

(AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)

Here are a few pointers that may help make your online debating experience a bit more enjoyable for both you and your reading audience.

1. Proofread your argument.

Check for grammar, spelling, and punctuation mistakes. Nothing makes an argument weaker than a bunch of sentence fragments, misspelled words, and grammatical errors. (*”Argument” in the sense of like a courtroom argument… your debate’s main points.) Use the Spell Check feature if you are at all unsure of the spelling of a word. Google’s search box also allows you to look up the definitions of words by using this format:

define:democracy

Note that there are no spaces in that search query.

When you’re trying to have a serious discussion about something important, especially online where replies aren’t necessarily immediate, go the extra inch and use real English. Shortened words, acronyms, lack of punctuation or capital letters, excessive use of all caps, excessive use of italics or bold text, text messaging shortcuts, swearing, and slang can all be very annoying to read and, quite frankly, they make you seem less intelligent. It’s not fair, but it’s true.

Reread your writing before you click the Publish / Comment button. Review for errors or possible holes in your argument. Find additional sources to cite if one of your points seems a little weak. While you review what you have written, imagine that someone else is saying this to you… would it feel insulting or offensive to you then?

2. Add Research and References to the Debate.

Do you have any proof or evidence that what you’re writing is true? Back up your argument by citing reputable sources. Be sure to include a link to the source so others can view the entire text (in context) that you’re referencing. This will not only help to make your debate look more professional, but it will also allow others to have quick links to the background information of your debate.

Cited / linked sources give credence to whatever point you’re trying to make, and help to educate others not only about the topic at hand, but also by showing whether you have done your homework and whether you know where to find expertise and reputable sources of information. These are important traits in any good journalist or competitive debate participant.

If you can’t support your argument, you don’t have an argument and you’ve already lost the debate. If you’re going to cite studies or statistics or anything of that nature, ideally you should have more than one example from (relatively) unbiased reputable sources because studies and statistics are only as good as the methodology used and speak to the veracity of the source and who funded the study.

By a similar token, if someone points out an unsupported claim in your writing and you can’t back it up, don’t just ignore it or pretend they didn’t call you out. Chances are that other people noticed, too, and this will affect your credibility. Either find some cited support for your claim, or publicly concede the point. Using fake or made-up data destroys your credibility and gives your opponent ammunition and an easy target in later rounds of debate.

3. Passion is Good, Emotion is Bad: Beware of Making Emotional Arguments.

When you are debating try to keep emotion out of your arguments. Losing your head during a crucial moment in an argument can lose the debate for you and weaken your side of any future debates. However tempting it may be, always refrain from using personal or general insults. It is not only rude, but is generally against the rules, user agreement, or terms of service of the forum, and it can get your account terminated.

At Newsvine, you must comply with the Code of Honor and the Newsvine User Agreement, because you agreed to do so when registering for your account.

If your idea of an argument is to sling zingers at your opponent, you’ve already lost the debate. I’m not saying you can’t slide a few in every now and then, but there should be more substance than zingers.

For more information about different styles of debate, check out this Wikipedia article on Debate.

4. Remember to Have Fun.

When talking to people you don’t know personally or well, be on the safe side and keep it serious, or else find a way to make it very obvious that you’re just kidding around (use smilies or say outright that you’re just kidding). Newsvine and other discussion forums are here online to harbor a fun, free, and interesting peer-to-peer discussion atmosphere for anyone who wishes to participate and follow the rules. It is up to the users to help maintain this atmosphere. As a member, you are responsible for the success of the site, so try to create a fun atmosphere that you enjoy being a part of.

Click here to view the embedded video.