Sr Tertius has left 1745 comments

Sr Tertius comments on The Carimagua Scandal

I'm just teasing, but you certainly don't help yourself. Or is it some other appliance that tells you about my preferences?

Sr Tertius comments on Information about 6th March Vigils in UK

I'm sure they'll be more tolerant that these "anti Farc" people in Paris.

Sr Tertius comments on Big Labor & The Truth About Colombia

I got completely thrown off by this ridiculous statement: "Colombia has a tragic history of violence dating back to 1948, when a ruthless Cuban sociopath named Fidel Castro joined other Latin leftists in fomenting urban riots and rural violence that became known as the Bogatazo and La Violencia, respectively. Their intention was to overthrow the democratic government that had ruled Colombia for 150 years." Then I checked the credentials of the author: "James M. Roberts is a research fellow for economic freedom and growth in the Center for International Trade and Economics at The Heritage Foundation." No wonder!

Sr Tertius comments on The Carimagua Scandal

"when their preferred form of government is one that centralizes power to an even greater degree" hmm... interesting... and what else does your microwave oven tells you? does it use an angry tone...? I see...

Sr Tertius comments on The Carimagua Scandal

Apparently Carimagua is near the Meta-Casanare border, 22k from Orocue.

Sr Tertius comments on The Carimagua Scandal

If Uribito ever had a serious aspiration to be Uribe's successor, he can kiss that dream goodbye.

Sr Tertius comments on The Carimagua Scandal

Well put, Desi. RJ: The closest town is Puerto Gaitan. Here's the Google Maps link: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&safe=off&rls=GGIC,GGIC:2006-50,GGIC:en&q=puerto gaitan, meta, colombia&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl The total area assigned for 800 displaced families is (or was?) 17000 hectares, about 66 square miles.

Sr Tertius comments on The Carimagua Scandal

ha ha... tag team alright.

Sr Tertius comments on Por qué marchar el 6 de marzo

What group? where do I "vehementely support FARC and their tacticts (sic)"?

Sr Tertius comments on The Carimagua Scandal

Pod: You've got some competition here.

Sr Tertius comments on Por qué marchar el 6 de marzo

Complicated? I think this is very simple: There is a march in solidarity with those who have been victimized by paracos and government. March 6. Those of us who appreciate such solidarity should participate. Period. For rationalizations, ask jorge. My questions are just trying to figure him out, but I think he's looking for Communists in facebook.

Sr Tertius comments on Por qué marchar el 6 de marzo

I was hoping that you would address my questions. Guess not.

Sr Tertius comments on The Carimagua Scandal

That's a telling comment. BTW, you may be interested in joining the facebook group "UN MILLÓN DE VOCES CONTRA TODO TIPO DE TERRORISMO EN COLOMBIA!!!"

Sr Tertius comments on The Carimagua Scandal

I have one. But I'm aware that a lot of Colombians don't.

Sr Tertius comments on Por qué marchar el 6 de marzo

Well, I've been trying to reasonably show that that's not the case. Would you share with us why you think that FARC is behind 6M, aside from the speculations you just made? In particular I don't get a couple of points. First, how would this march serve as "damage control" for FARC? If it's because it criticizes the government, does that mean than anyone's peaceful criticism of the government serves as "damage control" to FARC? I think there's a simpler way to minimize those criticisms: address the plight of displaced population. I'll bet you my left arm that there will not be 10 people supporting FARC in that march. On the other hand, Uribe could appear to apologize--as head of state--for those state crimes that have been demonstrated in the courts of law, and make a commitment to take seriously the demands of displaced population. I actually wouldn't be surprised if he did that, but I doubt that he would follow through with whatever promises he makes. And second, why would paraco victims "buy" anything if they were the ones who initiated the march?

Sr Tertius comments on The Carimagua Scandal

you're right about my mood. And yes indeed. I worked in various private businesses, including a marketing research firm, before settling for academic work. How about you? Have you ever worked full time in a non-for-profit (public or private)?

Sr Tertius comments on OJO !!! CON ESTA INFORMACION, NO SE QUE TAN VERAZ PUEDAD SER.....

De hecho yo uso papel de lija--será por eso que los panfleticos y cadenitas de e-mail no me surten efecto?

Sr Tertius comments on Por qué marchar el 6 de marzo

Jorge: You're right about ANNCOL, but recall that Mancuso and his buddies also jumped into the 4F bandbwagon. The organizers rejected their support, just like the organizers of 6M have rejected FARC's. Well, yes, all humans are victims...but if you have a relative currently or formerly captive, you can join any of the established organizations and let your voice be heard. My point was simply that it is rather ironic that those most directly affected by the war boycotted the 4F march... nothing wrong with that, but noone can say that the march was in solidarity with THOSE victims. That's a critical difference with the 6M march: It is organized by the victims themselves.

Sr Tertius comments on The Carimagua Scandal

oy oy oy... the voices... ;)

Sr Tertius comments on Por qué marchar el 6 de marzo

nah, I browsed them quickly though, and found them uninteresting. If I wanted to talk about Chomsky, I wouldn't come to a Colombia forum--unless you want to discuss his points on Colombia.

Sr Tertius comments on Por qué marchar el 6 de marzo

"I think it's he first time I've heard you actually state a belief." Parading one's beliefs seems to me the signature of intolerant fundamentalists that I detest. "I'm willing to wager that within 1 week you will contradict yourself on that though" It's possible, but I doubt it'll happen. And, "just for he record, not that I care," I want to clarify that "the voices" are not meant as a personal insult but just as a reference to your tendency to make up statements and facts, a tendency that I've learned to enjoy. Best, T

Sr Tertius comments on Por qué marchar el 6 de marzo

Pod. To answer your questions: 1) The organizers of the 4F march refused to extend their call to other forms of violence. They claimed that they needed to focus on FARC alone. 2) Check "The Carimagua Scandal" thread 3) I've never questioned the right of anyone to own property (and where did you get that I would? nevermind, I forgot about the voices). I got something against other individuals taking my property by force, though.

Sr Tertius comments on Por qué marchar el 6 de marzo

You know what I found interesting though? That the people that called for boycotting the 4F march were the actual victims. http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=109154

Sr Tertius comments on Por qué marchar el 6 de marzo

Nice story, tasco. But is fiction. The WHOLE thing--amazing how you can be wrong on every single sentence. Let's see: "The problem with this march is that it is organized by those who boycotted the NO MAS FARC march" The march is organized by the Movimiento Nacional de Victimas de Crímenes de Estado, headed by Ivan Cepeda. Could you post here anything that suggests that either Mr. Cepeda or the organization he leads called for boycotting the NO MAS FARC march? "Furthermore they organized it only after they realized the enormous success and the international coverage of the NO MAS FARC march" Nope. It was organized BEFORE the 4F march. There is at least one letter, dated February 2, in which the 6M march is announced. http://www.elespectador.com/elespectador/secciones/Detalles.aspx?idNoticia=21314&idSeccion=25 The position of Ivan Cepeda with respect to 4F vs 6M comparisons can be found in his Semana interview: http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?IdArt=109263 Your last sentence, of course, is a conclusion that follows from false premises.

Sr Tertius comments on Por qué marchar el 6 de marzo

No Jorge, they're closely related. Because the march is not so much against paracos but to demonstrate solidarity with their victims and the victims of state crimes. http://www.movimientodevictimas.org/node/549 THESE are those victims. The march is for them. Besides, I wouldn't call this a "descachada." That's an accident. This was planned, this is state policy.

Sr Tertius comments on The Carimagua Scandal

Good to see that Noticias Uno is doing some serious reporting, talking to all sides of the issue (see interview to Uribito in the "march 6" thread). Those who are so obsessed with the image of Colombia outside should know that THIS is not precisely helping. Where's the solidarity with these people?

Sr Tertius comments on Por qué marchar el 6 de marzo

Robi: I've heard it from all reasonable sources, including multiple interviews to Arias. He seems to be convinced that his logic is right. Fortunately, very few have been persuaded. I'll venture this analogy; I wish I could offer it personally to the minister. Imagine I kick him out of his house at gun point. For some reason, the government legalizes the property to me, and to appease the minister, he is offered another house. Then the government realizes that I (or some of my friends) can actually make better use of the newly assigned house. I may even hire the minister to work as my butler in what was assigned to be his house--I'm generous, so I'd probably pay him better as a butler than his ministerial job does. How can I be so generous? Because stealing houses is good business! As Desi says: perverse.

Sr Tertius comments on Por qué marchar el 6 de marzo

Agree. I don't know how the minister can present his argument with a straight face.

Sr Tertius comments on Por qué marchar el 6 de marzo

Más razones, como si hicieran falta.

Sr Tertius comments on For anyone that still has doubts about the dictatorial ways of Chavez

Thanks, cali. BTW, the conspirators did take over one channel: Channel 8, VTV. And guess what? They closed it!

Sr Tertius comments on OJO !!! CON ESTA INFORMACION, NO SE QUE TAN VERAZ PUEDAD SER.....

Utiles? Los que escriben estos panfleticos de mierda? No sirven ni pa limpiarle a uno el culo.

Sr Tertius comments on Escritor Español resalta lo peor de Colombia en una de sus novelas

Ah, es que si lo dice Martha Liliana Galindo de El Tiempo, pues tiene que ser verdad. Eso pa que juzgarlo uno mismo.

Sr Tertius comments on Escritor Español resalta lo peor de Colombia en una de sus novelas

¿Debo imaginar, Monpirri, que ya lo leíste?

Sr Tertius comments on Noam Chomsky's statement supporting the vigil on March 6

aahh... the paranoids that see "anti-Americanism" in a lollypop.

Sr Tertius comments on OJO !!! CON ESTA INFORMACION, NO SE QUE TAN VERAZ PUEDAD SER.....

La gente si es guevona, no joda.

Sr Tertius comments on Colombia's ex-president slams government for hostage comments

"Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos said that he knew where the four captives would be released" I still have to hear what purpose it served to make this public.

Sr Tertius comments on kill who?

We're #8 ! And with this post, tied for #7 ! Yeeey! "And 50 of those posts was Sr T. telling us what a stupid thread it was" Shit yeah! And not a single thank you note, ha ha!

Sr Tertius comments on kill who?

This is Juan Cole's note on the matter. BTW, billy, your snippy humor is not particularly inviting. It's not like I care that much about this BS thread... but I do care to take it to #1!! "This affair is similar to the attribution to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of the statement that "Israel must be wiped off the map." No such idiom exists in Persian, and Ahmadinejad actually just quoted an old speech of Khomeini in which he said "The occupation regime over Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time." Of course Ahamdinejad does wish Israel would disappear, but he is not commander of the armed forces and could not attack it even if he wanted to, which he denies."

Sr Tertius comments on kill who?

This thread is now #13 for the most popular PBH thread of all times. With my post now it should tie for #12, and with a few more it could easily make it to the top 10. C'mon guys! We can make it happen! ha ha ha.... I love it that "Chavez wants to ban mini skirts", probably the dumbest thread since I've been in PBH, is #4. But this one... this one is gold! BTW, I don't know about the rest of his points (in fact, I've barely glanced over the later part of th thread), but ujay seems to be right on one point. Juan Cole, who is an expert in Middle Eastern affairs and hates Ahma to the bone, has said that the the whole thing about "making Israel disappear" was a mistranslation. Of course, when you have your own prejudices, who care about what he actually said!

Sr Tertius comments on kill who?

Face it: You guys "ain't got the brains to debate" with Gringoloid ;) I don't have the brains or the spare time that mental health institutions afford.

Sr Tertius comments on kill who?

"the former keep fighting in their own territory because the later is kicking the shit out of them." Don't think so. Take the Talibans or the Wahhabists. Once they secured power over their own territory, they were rather content. Sure, they bombed an embassy here or there, and attacked a US Navy vessel, but they never quite got to the point of building military bases in Miami or Toronto (AFAIK). "Had they actually done that, they would have had a lot less problems with the latter." I don't think it would've mattered: Someone would've figured out a connection between their internal conflicts and national security. It has happened very often: Just look at Colombia. "Do you subscribe to the "let them fight it out" theory?" Well, I have a humble little political theory I like to call "keep your fucking guns out of my country" theory. It's based on the idea that people don't like being invaded and colonized, and that they can figure out their own internal disputes by themselves, without anyone else nosing in. I don't know if it also goes by the "let them fight it out" label, but if so, yes, I'm a fervent advocate.

Sr Tertius comments on kill who?

Everyone has their own hatemongering delusions. The Islamic fundamentalists think they are fighting a Holy War. The First World thinks it is fighting "terror". At least the former, unlike the latter, generally keep their fighting within their own territory.

Sr Tertius comments on kill who?

Uh, that's beyond my scope, so I'll take your word for that. Thanks!

Sr Tertius comments on kill who?

"sorry babe, you ain't got the brains to debate with me" You should've told me that this was about your insecurities and I'd stop some time ago. I doubt that you "defeated" my argument, because I didn't really have one: Just a bunch of questions that went unanswered. The argument from the website, gringoloid, is not whether those who created languages have conscious minds but whether they have A SINGLE conscious mind, i.e., that they were planned. I'm no linguist, but my guess is that natural languages--like DNA--are more the product of accumulated accidents selected by an unguided process.

Sr Tertius comments on kill who?

Gato, I'm not a Aristotle expert at all, but I do have a copy of the Ethics (the Ostwald translation) and I fail to see where that argument is actually advanced. This is a topic that interests me very much, so I'd appreciate it if you can direct me to a book and chapter. I know that older translations assumed that what is now conventionally translated as "the good" (I don't know the original greek word) was God.

Sr Tertius comments on kill who?

"Aristotle was the first dude to try to prove the existence of god through logic." Gato, I think this is Aquinas take on Aristotle, not Aristotle himself. Here's another contradictory (i.e., meaningless) question: Is the statement "I always lie" true?

Sr Tertius comments on For anyone that still has doubts about the dictatorial ways of Chavez

I didn't say that a FARC commando took Caracol. Read it again. Or are you saying that the conspirators took over RCTV? Sorry, man, but that's FAR from the truth. You asked me to show you something and I did. What else were you expecting?

Sr Tertius comments on kill who?

Gringoloid, unlike you with my posts, at least I read a few sentences into the website. Briefly: Bullcrap. The statement (which I presume is the synthesis of their argument), "the laws of physics and chemistry do not explain the existence of information" is a conflation of terms. Information doesn't exist in the same way that my left foot exists, that's why no natural science can "prove" it. Physics and chemistry cannot demonstrate that 2 plus 2 is 4... THERE MUST BE A GOD!! I like one of the premises: "All codes are created by a conscious mind" By codes this guy means language. I wonder... what conscious mind created English? John English? The whole "intelligent design" argument has been debunked already so many times, not even its own secular advocates take it seriously anymore. H. Allen Orr's article, Devolution, printed in the New Yorker, provides a good synthesis of the discussion.

Sr Tertius comments on For anyone that still has doubts about the dictatorial ways of Chavez

REALLY? What did I say? Did I say that they started it? or did I say they supported it? Isn't showing the conspirators on TV calling for overthrowing the legitimate government (sure, give up and we'll avoid a bloodshed... that sounds reasonable!) not a support for the coup? So I guess if there was a real threat that, say, FARC could take power (a very hypothetical scenario) and Caracol decided to air Tirofijo calling Uribe to give up to avoid a bloodshed, nahhh... that wouldn't constitute support for FARC, eh?

Sr Tertius comments on kill who?

Had you read my posts you wouldn't be asking this: "you don't think god can be proven NOT to exist?" Answer: NO. What part of "it is not a valid question" is not clear? If you want to conflate stuborness with open-mindedness, that's your choice. Even the ayatollahs think they're open minded.