| Tonight, I would like to pay tribute to Steve Irwin, who died
Sunday night of a stingray barb to the heart. I really had no
idea of his widespread popularity until the news got out about
his diving incident. I used to watch his show with my little
brother and admire his courage in the face of self-perpetrated
danger.
Here in the autumn of my undergraduate career, the Crocodile
Hunter has inspired me to take measures to avenge his untimely
death. In an expedition that will be no less extravagant than
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, I will take my English degree
and hunt down that very stingray that so unjustly murdered Steve
Irwin.
So I will go, on a yacht, and find that evil creature. I will
spend the rest of my life hunting this mystical, deadly stingray,
likely acquiring a wooden leg in the process.
Herman Melville will be proud. Rest in peace, Crocodile hunter.
We hardly knew ye.
The meeting was called to order, and there were 4 first time
guests and 10 returners. We gained a new member, Alison Youngblood,
who gave her maiden address on the conflict between law and
religious practices. She was quite enthusiastically welcomed
to the society.
In committee reports, Miss Servidio announced an unaffiliated
party at my place, Mr. Williamson explained the membership process,
and Miss Keyes Blumer endorsed purchasing a speakers key and
gave us dates for upcoming events, the most important being
the Toombs trip on September 30th. Mr. Darsie threatened us
with catastrophic fines and the fury of Mr. Broach if we do
not pay our dues, which are due this week. Mr. Dowell announced
an unaffiliated tailgate, Miss Wilkinson announced a tournament
committee meeting, Mr. Ballard announced the appearance of a
former president, Mr. Hansen showed us the jump drive of scanned
minutes that he has toiled over for hours, and Miss Johnson
announced a Shabbat dinner.
In new business, Mr. Addison presented
BIR: Israel should continue to pursue terrorists
using military means.
RS Matt Addison
Mr. Addison spoke about how widespread the violence in Israel
is, and how they need to know that they have a right to exist
using whatever means that they can. If they are unable to actively
pursue terrorists, then they will cease to exist.
Miss Keyes Blumer rose and spoke about the founding of Israel.
Just because they do have the right to defend themselves does
not rationalize the destruction that is going on. We give unconditional
funding to Israel, but conditional funding to Arabs.
Mr. Darsie commented that any country should be able to expand
itself. Israel set themselves back by going into Lebanon, and
disagrees with the resolution because of a UN resolution.
Miss Servidio stated that Israel has killed more Lebanese citizens
than vise versa, and if you want to be a sovereign nation, you
must fight for yourself.
A guest rose and stated their version of how the West Bank
was formed, then stated that Hezbollah gains followers because
they provide Lebanon with resources.
Mr. Ballard pointed out that Israel has made progression in
the conflict, and that we should continue to pursue terrorists.
If we want to get rid of terrorism, we should go through Iran.
Miss Meek informed us that Lebanon is forming a more stable
government, and that the United States is committed to supporting
burgeoning governments. We should have helped them before so
they would not have had to turn to Hezbollah.
Mr. Williamson rose in support of the resolution. He said that
sovereign nations have the right to defend themselves. Israel
should use military force because it is what we would do.
Mr. Richards pointed out that the resolution presents a false
dilemma. It paints all enemies of Israel as terrorists.
Mr. Pearl related his version of the history of Israel. He
also said that terrorism is the use of force against civilians
to bring out fear.
Mr. Broach addressed the issue of Muslims versus Jews. We haven’t
seen a real jihad yet, and if we did, it would involve grandmas
with M60s.
Mr. Cheigo said that we are all opponents of Hezbollah because
we are proponents of peaces that don’t last, like the 6 day
war.
Mr. Hansen delighted us by comparing the conflict to babies
cut up in a jar with a man who has to eat his way out of the
mess that he made. We are spending more money on Israel per
person than we do on our own citizens, and thus invalidated
conventional warfare.
A guest rose in support of the resolution. Anything short of
destroying Hezbollah will not work.
The debate was called to question and failed 5-11 among members,
but passed 6-3 among guests.
It was noted that all of the conservatives sat together on
what they thought was the left side. Mr. Richards does not oppose
the right. It was also noted that the members in support of
the resolution were white Anglo-Saxon protestants, except Matt
Pearl.
Mr. McGuire rose and presented
BIR, Torture is justified in modern warfare
RS Brian McGuire.
He detailed how Collateral damage is inevitable and if we all
went the way of Ghandi, thugs would inherit the earth. Torture
need not inflict permanent damage, and is better than terrorism.
Mr. Williamson stated that torture is not necessarily effect
from a human rights standpoint. To pass this would be to defeat
our ethical framework.
Miss Smith rose and related the story of a Clockwork Orange
to the effectiveness of torture. She questioned if it was worth
the cost of human sanity to get information which may be expressed
in desperation.
Miss Koval said that countries have been torturing others for
years, why stop them now?
Mr. Ballard told another family story in which his uncle gave
him a gun at the age of three. It is wrong to rough people up
to get information, but the rules of warfare have changed. We
can not abide by the Geneva Convention when dealing with Al
Qaeda. Torture should be one tool in a variety of options.
Mr. Darsie said that like Jack Bauer, we should make hard but
necessary choices. We should not ourselves inflict torture,
but there’s nothing we can do about other countries doing it.
Hypocrisy is another great American value.
Miss Keyes Blumer indicated that people in captivity gloat
about what they have done without torture. In Things Fall Apart,
was Okonkwo better or worse than those he was up against? If
the government is above the law, how can we forbid the people
as a whole from doing something?
Mr Steinberg addressed the possibility of torturing an innocent
man. He also praised officially institutionalized hypocrisy.
Mr. Hansen rose to say that torture is bad bad bad. It is against
our values and every entity must be free to decide based on
previously established information.
Miss Johnson reminded us that Jack Bauer is fictional. We have
the law to go on, and we can not ignore it at will.
A guest stated that if torture will get us information, than
it is worth it. But, as most of those who are tortured are not
honest, then it does not solve issues. We should use other means
to get information.
Mr. P. Weiss handed his American Express card to the bench
and indicated that we really do what we want despite international
law, and by torturing other people we would get information
that we would not otherwise have. We torture because we care.
A guest rose and said that torture is not in accordance with
international law, which is objectively moral. We have the right
to live without coercion.
Miss McFarland pointed out that we’re waiting for her and Addison
to fight. Torture is unacceptable, but we would see it as OK
if it had prevented 9/11.
Mr. Addison rose and talked about how dehumanizing torture
is. The individual being tortured is viewed as a source of information.
If torture is successful, then we praise it, if it is not, then
it’s not fair.
The debate was called to question and tied among members and
lost 4-2 among guests.
Joshua p. Weiss’ Credit Card number is ************1003, expiration
09-08.
It was noted Addison is the biggest square ever.
We then assaulted President Weiss with a firestorm of motions
that I’m not even going to get into. Mr. Addison was ejected,
which Mr. Broach thought was sexy. Miss Meyers noted that she
loves Robert’s Rules among drawings of oddly prophetic stingrays.
The meeting was adjourned subject to Mr. Richards’ critic’s
report.
Respectfully Submitted,
Kathryn E. Smith
|
University of Georgia 