ATD Joe Urbanski

Urbanski

PHI 101 PHI 210 Fallacies

This is a clear example of a bandwagon commercial/advertisement. Just because Puff Daddy showed up in a  Diet Pepsi Truck everyone decided to go out and buy the truck to be just like him. I would've probably shown him enjoying a Diet Pepsi when he got into the truck. This is would show that he really enjoyed the drink. I feel like the advertisers were smart. They used the biggest celebrity at that time to influence others to buy their product.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPBs5_ZYTrg&t=0s&list=PL2Rf1R6EcGZQt1pYA4_T7MUh2zGhVlqDY&index=1

This commercial is false authority at its finest. The advertisers used Blake Griffin to tell people how to be amazing, as if he is "amazing". If you buy through GameFly you are automatically amazing. This is not true and will not make you amazing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOAPMjsHLDM

AAR Panel Podcast: Recolonization of the Academy Under a Trump Presidency

This panel analyzes the intensified colonization of academic spaces—both intellectual and physical—under the current presidency. How do we accurately map these changes and negotiate these spaces in an era of national “whitelash” from peripheral ideological and embodied spaces? How do we contend with the increasing marginalization and targeting of vulnerable populations? What strategies might scholars use to contribute to the ongoing process of decolonizing the academy? What are the potential ramifications of our non-action or complicity in this academic landscape?

Munir Jiwa, Graduate Theological Union, presiding

Panelists:

- Hatem Bazian, Zaytuna College and University of California, Berkeley

- Jasmin Zine, Wilfrid Laurier University

- Mel Chen, University of California, Berkeley

- Shanell T. Smith, Hartford Seminary

This session was recorded at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion on November 19 in Boston, MA.

In Our Time Religion Podcast: Malta 1565

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the event of which Voltaire, two hundred years later, said 'nothing was more well known'. In 1565, Suleiman the Magnificent, the Ottoman leader, sent a great fleet west to lay siege to Malta and capture it for his empire. Victory would mean control of trade across the Mediterranean and a base for attacks on Spain, Sicily and southern Italy, even Rome. It would also mean elimination of Malta's defenders, the Knights Hospitaller, driven by the Ottomans from their base in Rhodes in 1522 and whose raids on his shipping had long been a thorn in his side. News of the Great Siege of Malta spread fear throughout Europe, though that turned to elation when, after four months of horrific fighting, the Ottomans withdrew, undermined by infighting between their leaders and the death of the highly-valued admiral, Dragut. The Knights Hospitaller had shown that Suleiman's forces could be contained, and their own order was reinvigorated. 

The image above is the Death of Dragut at the Siege of Malta (1867), after a painting by Giuseppe Cali. Dragut (1485 – 1565) was an Ottoman Admiral and privateer, known as The Drawn Sword of Islam and as one of the finest generals of the time.

With 

Helen Nicholson

Professor of Medieval History at Cardiff University

Diarmaid MacCulloch

Professor of the History of the Church at the University of Oxford

and

Kate Fleet

Director of the Skilliter Centre for Ottoman Studies and Fellow of Newnham College, Cambridge

Producer: Simon Tillotson.

In Our Time Religion Podcast: Augustine The Confessions

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss St Augustine of Hippo's account of his conversion to Christianity and his life up to that point. Written c397AD, it has many elements of autobiography with his scrutiny of his earlier life, his long relationship with a concubine, his theft of pears as a child, his work as an orator and his embrace of other philosophies and Manichaeism. Significantly for the development of Christianity, he explores the idea of original sin in the context of his own experience. The work is often seen as an argument for his Roman Catholicism, a less powerful force where he was living in North Africa where another form of Christianity was dominant, Donatism. While Augustine retells many episodes from his own life, the greater strength of his Confessions has come to be seen as his examination of his own emotional development, and the growth of his soul.

With

Kate Cooper

Professor of History at the University of London and Head of History at Royal Holloway

Morwenna Ludlow

Professor of Christian History and Theology at the University of Exeter

and 

Martin Palmer

Visiting Professor in Religion, History and Nature at the University of Winchester

Producer: Simon Tillotson.

HUM 111 Brill's Companion to the Reception of Herodotus in Antiquity and Beyond

Herodotus

Vortex Gay Mind

vortex-the-gay-mind

PHI 101 210 HIS 105 Hillary Fallacies

Fallacies

HUM 111 Faust, Deals With the Devil

Devil

HIS 205 Prairie Fire, 1974, Lesbianism as Radical Politics

Lesbianism has been an affirmation of unity and a challenge to the partnership of sexuality and domination. Women have opposed the dominant culture's treatment of homosexuals -people who are harassed and assaulted, denied employment and housing, raped and even murdered because they don't conform to standard sexual roles and morality. Not all gay culture transcends the sexism of US life, but the independence of lesbian sisters and the attempts of gay people to live according to their own definitions represent an attack on sexist ideology which subjugates women. We support the right of all people to live according to their sexual preferences without discrimination or fear of reprisals.

HUM 111 A Short History of the Phoenicians

Phoenicians

History of Germany Podcast 029: Allemand, Teutonic, German, Dutch, Why?

029-allemand-teutonic-german-dutch-why

A little clarity on the etymology of the all the things referring to Germans and their language.

History of Germany Podcast 031: Franks II: Clovis to Charles

A quick run-through of the Merovingians until we get to the Carolinian Dynasty and up to Charles the Great.

031-franksii-clovistocharles

The History of Rome Podcast: The Storm Before The Storm: Chapter 1- The Beasts of Italy Audio excerpt from The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic by Mike Duncan

thehistoryofrome

REL 205 REL 212 Perpetua's Journey: Faith, Gender, and Power in the Roman Empire

Early Christianity

PHI 205 PHI 101 Enthymeme Obama

Most Senators, typically, didn't so much ask questions as make statements.  Obama did both at the same time as he executed an enthymeme -- a categorical syllogism with an unstated premise. No one seemed to notice at the time that it was also an invalid syllogism. 

Here's how Obama's Enthymeme played out.

Major Premise: The stability of two key factors -- Iranian influence on Iraq and the threat from al Qaeda in Iraq -- will determine when U.S. combat troops can be withdrawn from Iraq.

Minor Premise:  Both factors are now stabilized. (Part of this unstated premise was implied when Crocker characterized the cheek-kissing reception given Iranian President Ahmadinejad by President Maliki in Iraq as "normal relations."  And, the premise was completed when Gen. David Petraeus told Sen. Boxer that al Qaeda operatives in Iraq now number about 2,000.)  

Obama's Conclusion: The achieved stability of those key factors means that U.S. combat troop levels in Iraq can now be dramatically decreased.

Let's break it down and highlight some of the moves in Obama's Enthymeme. He began by setting the first half of his Major Premise.

"I want to just start off with a couple of quick questions [he disarms by minimizing importance] because, in the parade of horribles that I think both of you have outlined should we leave too quickly, at the center is al Qaeda in Iraq and Iran.  So I just [more disarming] want to focus on those two things for a moment."

Because Petraeus and Crocker were there to testify and, most definitely, not to debate, Obama's "at the center" assertion went unchallenged.  Petraeus and Crocker sat mute. 

An exchange between Obama and Petraeus ended with their agreement that, according to Obama,

"Our goal is not to hunt down and eliminate every single trace, but rather to create a manageable situation where they're [al Qaeda] not posing a threat to Iraq or using it as a base to launch attacks outside of Iraq."   

Then the conversation seemed to meander off into a tangential discussion of the integration of Sunni Arabs "into Iraqi security forces or other government positions" (Petraeus).  But Obama may have intended it to establish another indicator of emerging stability -- this one relevant to Iraqi fighting capabilities. At the time, though, where Obama was headed was unclear.

Obama turned to Crocker to establish a case for stability in the Iran-Iraq relationship asking Crocker, 

"Just as it's fair to say that we're not going to completely eliminate all traces of al Qaeda in Iraq, but we want to create a manageable situation, it's also true to say that we're not going to eliminate all influence of Iran in Iraq, correct?"   

Crocker pointed out the destabilizing influence caused by an "Iranian strategy of backing extremist militia groups and sending in weapons and munitions that are used against Iraqis and against our own forces."  That led to a brief exchange as to whether the Iraqi government is aware of Iran's involvement. Then Obama asked,

"If, in fact, it is known...that Iran's government has assisted in arming special groups that are doing harm to Iraqi security forces and undermining the Iraqi government, why is it that they're being welcomed the way they were?" [So we're back to Middle Eastern politicians cheek-kissing that Senator Boxer brought up.  Was this part of the trap coordinated between the two senators?]

In his response, Crocker used the wrong words.

"In terms of the Ahmadinejad visit, you know, Iran and Iraq are neighbors.  A visit like that should be in the category of a normal relationship." 

"Normal relationship?"  Oops.  Those words, along with Petraeus' estimation of al Qaeda in Iraq at 2,000, completed the unstated Minor Premise of Obama's Enthymeme: The key factors determining U.S. combat troop withdrawal are normal and manageable.

After yet again reminding us that he opposed the Iraq War from the beginning, Obama aimed to drive his syllogism home with this convoluted, rhetorical [by Obama's own admission] question to Crocker.

"And so my final -- and I'll even pose this as a question and I won't -- you don't necessarily have to answer it -- maybe it's a rhetorical question -- if we were able to have the status quo [i.e. stability ref. the two determining factors in the Major Premise of his syllogism] right now without U.S. troops, would that be a sufficient definition of success?"   

This was the denouement to his line of questioning -- one that impressed some commentators, like Fred Barnes speaking on FOX News.

Looking somewhat confused and perhaps realizing that he'd stepped into a trap, Crocker nevertheless gave a reasonable answer.

"Senator, I can't imagine the current status quo being sustainable with that kind of precipitous drawdown."

Immediately, Biden came to Obama's defense interrupting with,

"That wasn't the question."

Obama quickly piled-on with,

"No, no, that wasn't the question."

But that was the question!  Crocker gave the best answer to an invalid syllogism that concluded with a hypothetical assertion: "...if we were able to have the status quo right now without U.S. troops."  Essentially, Crocker answered: Your question is based on what I take to be an invalid assertion, namely that the status quo today would continue in the absence of U.S. combat troops. 

Unfortunately for Crocker, he had no articulate defenders on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and he seemed confused by the question.  Looking tired after a full day of testifying before two Senate committees and three presidential candidates, he summarized, "This is hard and this is complicated."  Understandable, but not explanatory.  

With a full night's sleep, what could Crocker have said? Perhaps this:

"Senator, first of all, today's status quo is not acceptable for the long term, but we are making measurable progress toward one that will be.  It's like this, sir. Most of us have, at some time in our lives, been prescribed an antibiotic by a physician to fight off bacteria. The doctor always reminds us that, even when we start feeling better after a couple of days of taking the medicine, we need to keep taking it until it's all gone.  If we stop now, we risk a relapse where the bacteria come back even stronger than before. And that, sir, is the situation we face in Iraq.  Too soon to stop now."

Petraeus, the War Fighter, said it best,

"We have the forces that we need right now, I believe. We've got to continue. We have our teeth into their jugular, and we need to keep it there."  

Meanwhile, Obama, the Linguistic Gymnast, proves that he's as skilled at twisting words as William Jefferson Clinton. 

PHI 101 Quantum Computing

/quantum-computing-explained

Comey Memos

-read-comeys-memos-on-conversations-with-Trump

Nietzsche, Thus Spake Zarathustra

thus-spoke-zarathustra-by-friedrich-nietzsche

Paganism Podcast: JR. Forasteros

What is Paganism? What do Christians and Pagans have in common? What are some important differences?