Unfortunately, the universe is "pretty totalitarian". In fact, it doesn't give a rat's ass for human rights. Fighting reality is not a promising occupation.

"Stupidity cannot be cured with money, or through education, or by legislation. Stupidity isn't a sin, the victim can't help being stupid. But stupidity is the only universal capital crime; the sentence is death, there is no appeal, and execution is carried out automatically and without pity".
- Lazarus Long, in “Time Enough for Love” (Robert A Heinlein)

... but I had the impression that nowadays the only legal justification anything needs is that the Fuehrer (sorry, President) wants it to happen.

The analogy is not "flawed" except in that it is an analogy.

analogy
n noun (plural analogies) a comparison between one thing and another made for the purpose of explanation or clarification. Øthe process of making such a comparison. Øa thing regarded as analogous to another; an analogue.

In an analogy, you suggest that one thing is LIKE another - not identical. If they were identical, they would be THE SAME THING.

The marble/rubber sheet analogy is helpful in some ways; I have always found it so, at any rate. It never occurred to me for a moment to test its exact physical behaviour, because I wouldn't expect it to be identical. The purpose of the analogy is to guide one's imagination and help it to grasp the kind of phenomenon being described. One might as well condemn Bohr's model of the atom because electrons don't behave exactly like planets.

More to the point, WHY would he write a letter? What would it accomplish? He is not going to get his instruments back, and the only likely result of writing to the bureaucrats is a reply explaining in tedious condescending terms why they were right to do what they did.

Bottom line: any government can do whatever it pleases to anyone within its borders. (Some aren't limited to their own borders, of course). Read Hobbes' "Leviathan", a very realistic description of state power, whatever you think of its theoretical value.

The Web is a great example. An even more dramatic one is the number system: the digits, the algorithms of arithmetic, etc. If those had just recently been invented, you can bet they would be legally wrapped up as tight as a Monsanto GM seed. And the whole field of science - up until the point where it, too, became a "corporate asset" not to be shared (except in return for a "revenue stream", of course).

If those dodos even knew what it takes to make an adult "well nourished", I might be more disposed to believe them. But they don't. The official party line from most scientists, doctors, and governments is still that fat is bad for you and so you need to fill up with carbohydrates. However, all the evidence points to the opposite conclusion: it's carbohydrates (most of all sugar and wheat) that cause many "Western" diseases such as atherosclerosis, heart disease, diabetes, and even cancer.

Since they persist in saying that unhealthy foods are healthy, and healthy foods are unhealthy, only a simpleton would pay attention to their conclusions about vitamins and minerals. Once NuSI reports in, we'll have a better idea about what's healthy and what isn't.

http://nusi.org/
http://www.second-opinions.co.uk/banting.html

1. As far as I know, the DoJ hasn't brought legal proceedings against any of the people detained at Guantanamo.

2. The President has publicly claimed (and regularly exercises) the right to order anyone, anywhere, to be killed any time he chooses. Just because he deems it fit.

So I wouldn't put too much store in anything the DoJ says. Because, you know, they don't have the final say.

Thanks for your polite persistence in bringing these unpleasant facts home to me. I apologize for my intemperate language. As an admirer of Russell, I had no idea that he could ever have made such a horrible suggestion. Like so many other pure thinkers, it seems he had little understanding of human motivation and political realities. (however, I am still sure the idea of a preemptive strike based on game theory originated with von Neumann).

I found what seems a good and balanced summary here: http://digitalcommons.mcmaster.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1015&context=russelljournal

Russell is quoted as saying he had supported appeasement in the 1930s but now (in the 1950s) could see that he had been completely wrong in the 1930s. But that did not seem to have suggested to him that he might be completely wrong again in the 1950s! It seems the main thing Russell and Einstein agreed about was that the USSR could not be left to its own devices - which is what happened, and led fairly soon to its downfall.

Next time I'll do my fact-checking first.

FTFY

And if you think they might be an enemy, do the same to be on the safe side. After all, their surviving relatives and friends can't harm you so where's the downside?

That is poisonous rubbish, and a horrible libel on a great (and peaceful) man. You are thinking of John von Neumann. Russell had nothing to do with game theory, and abhorred all violence: see his Wikipedia entry which makes it crystal clear that Russell was an active and courageous pacifist as early as 1916.

"During the First World War, Russell was one of the very few people to engage in active pacifist activities, and in 1916, he was dismissed from Trinity College following his conviction under the Defence of the Realm Act.

"He was charged a fine of £100, which he refused to pay, hoping that he would be sent to prison. However, his books were sold at auction to raise the money. The books were bought by friends; he later treasured his copy of the King James Bible that was stamped "Confiscated by Cambridge Police."

"A later conviction for publicly lecturing against inviting the US to enter the war on Britain's side resulted in six months' imprisonment in Brixton prison (see Bertrand Russell's views on society) in 1918".

I think you will find the operative word in those sentences is "we". WE don't do those things, but they are technically feasible. Maybe someone else would be only too happy to do them.

Please don't rule out the possibility that there may be even more ruthlessly violent people in the world than the US armed forces and their paramilitary assistants.

I'm still waiting for "the group" to hunt Israel down. Oh wait... "the group" (aka "the international community") is led by the USA, which has vetoed dozens of UN resolutions against Israel.

Actually, you have got the wrong end of the stick. The only unforgivable crime, which will lead "the group" to hunt you down, is defying the leader of "the group". Ask Saddam. Ask Qaddafi. Ask Assad. (Maybe soon you can ask Cameron).

Potentially, yes. It all depends. In principle, a single person with a screwdriver could kill any number of helpless individuals. In the Middle Ages, heavily armoured knights were routinely killed in their hundreds after they fell off their horses or just lost their footing. Unarmoured peasant soldiers simply opened their visors and shoved a stiletto or similar through an eye socket. A screwdriver would have done just as well.

After the battle of Towton, thousands of prisoners were apparently executed in cold blood. Each of the skulls has a similar shaped hole in the same place. They may have been lined up while horsemen rode along the line, swinging poleaxes - one head, one puncture, one death.

Never underestimate the lethal potential of a simple piece of metal.

Exactly. If you remember, Vietnam was a "police action".