Stalin killed for an ideology - one that justified killing for a greater cause. Atheism wasn't the source of that sense of justification, Communism was.

It's true that some religions are nicer and more rational than others. I think Buddha's teachings are alright, in that he encourages skepticism and doubt as the means to get past illusions, even including the illusion of the ego. In Buddha's philosophy sectarianism and blind belief are errors born of ignorance. The religions built around Buddha sometimes have superstitious elements, but that doesn't indict the rational psychological core. So I try to encourage people who believe in nutty things like the Son of God to look at Eastern philosophy more closely, to augment and clarify the rationale for their ethics and meditative practices. That makes me more of a Sam Harris style atheist, in that I perceive great value in things like yoga and meditation.

This is why politicians like to prop up so-called "faith." They love ti that they can get people to believe any nonsense they want, and religion gives them a huge foothold.

I went for a Hostgator reseller account. But just till they get too evil.

Most of us would never choose to live as homeless ascetics, and yet some of us are unable to work and acquire the minimal property required for basic comfort and security. Should such individuals be given some property as a basic right? I believe that if we are to be consistent to the ideal of reciprocal rights, they must receive some help from society as a whole. Some would disagree. Consider other issues like mental and physical health.

Thing is, by promoting these 'rights' we in fact help society overall. As the downtrodden gain back their dignity, we gain more dignity ourselves, and those individuals grow stronger and give back to society. As we help those with illness, we save resources that would be spent later as their illnesses become more serious.

There are all kinds of areas where something might not seem on its face to be a 'natural right' and yet we must extend a hand in order to raise people up and bring them out of despair and into society. Otherwise we will always function at a minimal level, and most likely a dysfunctional one.

Whys are kind of useless without a common metaphysics, but we do have a common nature and common interests, and those make fine springboards.

The reciprocal principle. If you don't want someone else to have a certain right, you must be equally willing to give it up yourself. If you want some right for yourself, then you must be willing to extend it to others in full measure. I'm sure there are plenty of people who would cut off their nose just to spite their neighbor's face, but generally this principle makes sense.

As a person born in America but by no means inured to its culture, I can assure you it pisses me off equally that we hold people at Guantanamo Bay with no legal recourse and no rights of habeas corpus. It especially concerns me because these actions are diametrically-opposed to the ideals upon which this republic was founded, namely to protect powerless individuals from the tyranny of the powerful by a rigorous application of due process. And whose interests are really being considered?

One interesting thing I want to point out is that al-Awlaki would not have been assassinated if he was residing here, or in France, or in Britain, or in any country where the US wouldn't be able to act with impunity. These actions are reserved for places whose lawlessness we find convenient.

Now that the genie is out of the bottle, it's going to be really hard to get it back inside.

It gives immediate results and not only shows an idealized programming space, but one that game and sim developers actually use. It allows you to program in JavaScript also, which is the new intro programming language in CS 101.

Wait, so if they haven't found any breach, but some "unnamed intelligence official" told the press that they have, and the press is reporting that they have... well, where did the story come from and how did it get so much traction if iBahn doesn't even know about it?

Wait, could this be just another piece of anti-Chinese, anti-communist propaganda being floated by the American press? Of course not! We don't have propaganda and psy-ops here in the USA!

Brazil, well they have the bigger problem that the majority of their population has Toxoplasmosis, and this is adversely affecting their brains. Maybe it's related to the slavery behavior. Studies should be done.