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This amazing cruise experience combines the 3 and 4 night itineraries, covering the full length of the magnificent Yasawa Island chain as well as Modriki and the Sacred Islands. You'll have the opportunity to see and do so much on this cruise, that you'll come away with memories from a holiday of a lifetime. You'll see mother nature at her best, be welcomed into the friendliest culture in the world, discover an underwater world of vibrant life, laze on countless golden sand beaches and luxuriate in warm lagoons. To put it simply, you'll be transported to paradise!
This amazing cruise experience combines the 3 and 4 night itineraries, covering the full length of the magnificent Yasawa Island chain as well as Modriki and the Sacred Islands. You'll have the opportunity to see and do so much on this cruise, that you'll come away with memories from a holiday of a lifetime. You'll see mother nature at her best, be welcomed into the friendliest culture in the world, discover an underwater world of vibrant life, laze on countless golden sand beaches and luxuriate in warm lagoons. To put it simply, you'll be transported to paradise!
Day 1: Friday
Bula and welcome aboard Blue Lagoon Cruises! Set sail aboard Fiji Princess and enjoy afternoon tea as you head out from Denarau Marina for the outer Mamanucas. The first destination is at the gorgeous, secluded Modriki Island. Have you seen the Tom Hanks' movie 'Cast Away'? Modriki is the very island that stars so well in this block-buster! Enroute to the famous little island, settle into your cabin, enjoy a welcome cruise briefing, meet fellow guests and admire the scenery that slides by as you cruise.
Come early evening, as the skies turn dusky, cocktails are served with canapés on the sun deck. Mingle with fellow passengers and look out over the tranquil waters as the sun sets.
Tonight is the Captain's Welcome Dinner, an a la carte menu served in the dining saloon. Entertainment is provided by talented singing, dancing and guitar playing crew! Don't forget to wander to the upper deck to see the magnificent array of stars in the night sky
Anchorage MODRIKI ISLAND
Day 2: Saturday
Awake to the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and breakfast underway. There's time for an early morning snorkel, swim or wander along the stunning white sands at Modriki Island before you set sail for the southern Yasawa Islands.
Late morning, it's time for you to take a bit of an adventure… There is a very special location where the brave will get to swim with reef sharks! Of course they are only gentle reef sharks but they still make for a great snorkel experience! Alternatively, cruise aboard the glass bottom boat to view the reef and its colourful and lively inhabitants. The knowledgeable crew will provide a commentary on what you're viewing below.
Back on-board you cruise into the waters around Naviti and Soso Bay. A tasty lunch is served on-board before heading ashore for a visit to the chiefly village of Soso. You'll be welcomed in traditional fashion with a kava ceremony, before being shown through the village. Late afternoon there will be a presentation on the local history and legends, giving an insight into early Yasawan life. If youre lucky, a village elder will regale you with tall tales and true of his people's land and myths.
A sport fishing trip is also on offer at this location (optional and additional cost). Try to catch the big ones on the outer reef with a local charter operator and fishing enthusiast who knows all the good spots! Or if you prefer to get under the water, we'll offer diving for both novices and experienced divers (additional cost). There are many awesome dive spots in this area.
Back on Fiji Princess, ease into the evening with cocktails served at the sun deck, followed by a 'Thali' buffet dinner featuring exquisite Indian dishes. Help yourself to the fancy dress box and put on your boogie shoes for some 'Bollywood Dancing' after dinner on the upper deck, complete with Bollywood movies on the big screen.
Anchorage SOSO BAY, NAVITI ISLAND
Day 3: Sunday
Sunday in Fiji is respected as a day of rest. You can start the day with a cup of coffee and tasty breakfast or get in first with an early morning swim…. or just take it easy with a Sunday morning sleep-in!
There is a special opportunity to attend a village church service, which you'll find to be a very moving experience. The atmosphere, singing and uniqueness of where you are will provide a great memory to remind you of the wonderful people of Fiji.
Lunch is served on board as you cruise to the next slice of paradise, not far away. You can partake in a Fijian cooking lesson and help prepare a tasty Fijian fish-dish, Kokoda. Yum! Basket weaving is another traditional Fijian craft, which you can try your hand at.
We'll anchor in the sheltered waters at Naukacuva and Narara Islands. The islands are covered in dense, vividly green forest, which reaches down to the white sandy beaches. These islands are picture-perfect and are a superb playground for a lazy Sunday afternoon. Sunbathe on Fiji Princess or dive into the waters and discover the amazing colourful underwater world below. Snorkel to your heart's content or cruise around in the glass bottom boat. If you'd like to dive, this can be arranged for you (extra cost). There are many awesome dive sites around!
Come evening sip on cocktails served with canapés on the sun deck. Tonight's buffet has a range of dishes from Fiji along with a choice of European dishes. Bingo will be held in the dining room with lots of laughs and some good prizes! Of course you can always head to the upper deck for a quiet drink or two. The staff will muster up some gentle tunes to set the mood.
Anchorage between NAUKACUVU and NARARA ISLANDS
Day 4: Monday
Care to help catch dinner? An early morning fishing trip is on offer with the crew. An a la carte breakfast, cooked to your liking along with the buffet of fresh tropical fruits, yogurts, cereals, fruit juices, tea and coffee is the perfect way to fuel your day!
There will be time for a snorkel, swim or kayak before you depart Naukacuva and cruise to one of the most beautiful and remote island groups seen on your cruise, the Sacred Islands. The Sacred Islands provide a breathtaking backdrop and the rest of your day is spent here enjoying these idyllic tropical islands and feeling very special because you are the only ones there!
Say farewell to the 3 night guests and then head ashore to a deserted beach with crew and a picnic lunch. It's up to you how you want to spend your time in this stunning setting. Enjoy a swim, wander the beaches, kayak in the lagoon and enjoy the feeling of just being in this beautiful part of the world!
This afternoon, meet the 4 night guests and learn the art of Fiji High Tea: learn how to make roti in lolo and enjoy with lemon tea.
Back on-board it's happy hour at the bar, cocktails, cold beers and wines on the upper deck. Cocktails can be won in a coconut bowls competition!
Tonight enjoy the Captain's Dinner welcoming you into the Blue Lagoon family. The a la carte menu is served in the dining saloon and entertainment is provided by talented singing, dancing and guitar playing crew!
Anchorage in the lagoon of the SACRED ISLANDS
Day Two: Tuesday
Take some last snaps of this spectacular location (but save some room on your camera because we're cruising into paradise!).
Laze on the sun deck as you cruise past several of the larger Yasawa Islands and beautiful bays. The destination today is the famed Blue Lagoon. This superb stretch of water is circled by islands, creating a lagoon that is filled with fascinating coral reefs easily seen from the surface of the crystal clear waters.
One of those islands, Nanuya Lailai, is home to Blue Lagoon Cruises very own private beach. Watch as the crew position the vessel right up to the beach and tie her off to a coconut tree! Lunch is served on-board, whilst on shore Blue Laggon's private 'Fiji style beach club' awaits, along with sun loungers, onshore massage, a bar and beach volleyball. You'll have plenty of time for swimming, snorkelling, fish feeding, viewing coral from the glass bottom boat or just wandering along to a secluded stretch of beach to top up the tan. We'll give a coconut demonstration – how to climb that palm, get the coconut and husk them, then appreciate fresh coconut milk straight from the coconut for afternoon tea. Delicious!
Diving for both novices and experienced divers can be pre-booked for this location. There are many awesome dive sites within easy reach (diving is an extra cost). There are also a number of guided 'reef safari' (snorkelling tours) to show you the best spots around the island.
Happy hour is served on shore from the beach bar along with canapes. Tonight is a very special night with a traditional Lovo meal. The food is cooked underground in a specially prepared pit. Watch the unearthing of the Lovo and be tantalized by the smells. The dining room tonight is on the beach under the coconut palms and the stars.
Following dinner is a fantastic meke with singing, dancing and story telling by a group of local villagers, come to share their company with Blue Lagoon guests.
Anchorage NANUYA LAILAI, THE BLUE LAGOON
Day Three: Wednesday
The azure waters will tempt you to an early morning swim. Dive off the boat, head ashore to the beach or paddle a kayak in the surrounding tranquil waters.
Sit down to an a la carte breakfast, cooked to your liking along with the buffet of fresh tropical fruits, yogurts, cereals, fruit juices, tea and coffee.
Most of the day is at leisure here at Blue Lagoon's private beach. Laze around or take part in any of these great Fijian activities. All of the islands activities from yesterday are on offer again today plus a few extra special ones:
On arrival you will set off on a private guided visit to the Sawa i Lau caves. Steps rise from the shore up to the first cave. You can view the majestic cavern from the stairs or take to the water. A short swim through an underwater passage takes you into the second of these stunning limestone caves.
This evening includes a special visit to the village of Tamusua. A yaqona ceremony, a guided walk around the village and a Fiji village style 'feast' prepared and cooked by the village women awaits you. This is not a feast tailored for visitors but one exactly as the village would hold themselves for special occasions. Served outside if the weather is good, you will be Fijian for the night, sitting on mats, eating Fijian village food and sharing stories with the villagers about their culture and their home.
Return to Fiji Princess for a movie night. Pull up a chair or a sun lounger on the upper theatre deck, get a cold drink in hand and enjoy the one movie that just has to be shown on a Blue Lagoon Cruise – the classic 'Blue Lagoon' starring Brooke Shields.
Anchorage just off TAMUSUA BAY, YASAWA ISLAND
Day Four: Thursday
Fiji Princess heads on out of the bay bound for Drawaqa Island. At your leisure enjoy a la carte breakfast, cooked to your liking.
On arrival at Drawaqa, the Marine Biologist will tell you all about the local fish, marine life and the conservation work the Vinaka Fiji Volunteer team are doing in this area. If you are lucky enough to be here during May to October then an introduction to the magnificent manta rays, whose feeding ground is just nearby, will be included. Conditions permitting you will have the opportunity to snorkel with these wonderful creatures in small escorted groups. From October to April a guided 'Reef Safari' snorkelling tour is conducted to see the prolific corals, clams and marine life in this area. This is also a superb dive area and optional dives under expert instruction – perhaps your very first scuba dive can be booked. Certified divers well catered for as well! (Diving is an additional cost).
If getting wet is not your thing two other great activities are on offer. Visit a local village school where Vinaka Fiji volunteers are at work. Or, for a truly exhilarating view, from the island cliff top to the stunning waters below, have a go at abseiling!
Dinner this evening is a barbecue served on the upper deck of the vessel dining under the stars! A special feast and party night is the perfect way to celebrate your time in the Yasawas. The bar is open and the resident DJ 'Fiji Afro Jack' spins the tunes on the upper deck. If you haven't already learnt the Bula Bula dance you soon will.
Anchorage DRAWAQA ISLAND
Day Five: Friday
An early start for the crew as unfortunately it is time to cruise for home and return to Denarau Marina. Enjoy breakfast on-board as Fiji Princess cruises back toward her home port. Guests going onto a Mamancua island resort will be collected enroute and transferred to their island.
All guests will be farewelled with the traditional Isa Lei song from the crew, as your exploration of the beautiful Yasawa Islands comes to an end. Vinaka vakalevu and hope to see you again!
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Call it savvy-baserunning or just Manny being Manny.
Ramirez plays for the EDA Rhinos of the Chinese Professional Baseball League and he has apparently found a new way to avoid double plays.
His solution? Slide well ahead of the base so that an infielder has to take several steps before applying the tag.
His unorthodox tactic worked as his teammate was safe at first base.
The 41-year-old Ramirez is tied for first with five home runs in the CPBL.

subset: commoncrawl


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By blocking cold air from entering your living areas, mud rooms cut your heating costs.
Regular maintenance of our air conditioner produces significant energy savings.
Programmable thermostats help manage your energy use.
Insulating water pipes is cheap, easy to do, and one of the best ways to save on energy costs.
A lot of heat is lost through poorly sealed windows; upgrading can help you save.
Compact fluorescent and LED lights cost more than regular lightbulbs, but they save money over the long run.
Collecting rainwater during stormy spring months will give you plenty to use on your lawn during the summer.
Water recycled from your drains can be used to water plants or wash your car.
Tankless boilers heat water on demand, saving energy.
Older appliances are very inefficient; newer models save both water and energy.
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"Some years ago, reporting the trial of Eichmann in Jerusalem, I spoke of 'the Banality of evil' and meant with this ... the phenomenon of evil deeds, committed on a gigantic scale, which could not be traced to any particularity of wickedness, pathology or ideological conviction in the doer, whose only personal distinction was a perhaps extraordinary shallowness...., and the only specific characteristic one could detect on his part as well as in his behavior ... was not stupidity but a curious, quite authentic inability to think."
--Hannah Arendt
Whether political theorist Hannah Arendt was correct in her assessment of Adolf Eichmann--and I am inclined to believe she was duped by his testimony in Jerusalem and hence overstated the extent to which he was an example of the banality of evil--she was onto something important with the concept. For while the idea of the banality of evil may have become at times a cliche and, far worse, a facile evasion of moral responsibility, it nonetheless provides a way to understand how Late Capitalism's Imperialism creates conditions that necessitate self-alienation on the part of the individual as well the social formation as a whole.
Torture doesn't matter anymore, at least not to the Barack Obama administration. Four years ago, John Brennan, a 25-year veteran of the CIA, was forced to withdraw his name from consideration to be CIA Director (DCI) because of his public support of--and likely participation in--the Bush administration's programs of torturing terrorism suspects and/or sending them to foreign prisons to be tortured. Apparently wishing to maintain his anti-torture credentials at the time, Obama appointed Brennan to a White House job that did not require Senate confirmation.
Four years later, his human rights record irretrievably tarnished by the illegal drone assassination program, Obama nominated Brennan--who has been running Obama's drone assassination program from the White House--to be the next DCI. If confirmed, he would succeed Gen. David Petraeus, who resigned following revelations of an extra-marital affair in November 2009.
So, according to Obama, it's okay to kidnap and torture and kill terrorism suspects without even a hint of "due process of law," but if you put your dick in the wrong person, you're unfit to run the CIA.
Obama is, sadly, right: Under the Imperialism of Late Capitalism, only a moral degenerate like John Brennan is fit to run an utterly amoral outfit like the CIA.
By "the Imperialism of Late Capitalism" we mean the forcible opening up of all spatial, ecological and cultural boundaries of peoples and nations to the global flow of capital and goods and services, according to the needs of capital and of Late Capitalism, which itself is wracked by ever-worsening crises that fuel the need for ever-more globalization.
But unlike Barack Obama, whose tolerance for torture and other human rights abuses seems of recent vintage, Brennan's views were warped from a relatively young age. Born to Irish immigrant parents, John Brennan earned a B.A. in Political Science at Fordham University in 1977 and an M.A. in Government with a concentration in Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas at Austin in 1980.
Although Brennan officially joined the CIA in 1980—he tells reporters a story of how his "wanderlust" was piqued by a CIA recruiting ad in the New York Times—some of his activities at Fordham suggest his recruitment dates back to his school days. Bob Keane, a classmate from the 4th grade through sophomore year at Fordham, told reporters that Brennan spent the summer after freshman year in Indonesia with a cousin who was working for the Agency for International Development, and visited Bahrain on the way home. "I wondered if he had even been recruited that early," mused Keane. In fact, Brennan spent his junior year abroad learning fluent Arabic and taking Middle Eastern studies courses at the American University in Cairo, Egypt, a well-known site for CIA recruitment and training.
At UT, Brennan wrote an M.A. Thesis, "Human Rights: The Case Study of Egypt," in which he denied the existence of "absolute human rights," defended censorship in Egypt and indicated an early tolerance for torture. "Since the press can play such an influential role in determining the perceptions of the masses, I am in favor of some degree of government censorship," wrote Brennan.
Taking his relativistic view of human rights to its logical conclusion, Brennan argued that
"the fact that absolute human rights do not exist (with the probable exception of freedom from torture) makes the [human rights] analysis subject to innumerable conditional criticisms." (emphasis added.)
Think about that for a moment: John Brennan wrote that, in his opinion, not only are human rights not absolute, freedom from torture is only a "probable exception"--meaning that at the young age of 25, the Jesuit-educated Brennan was rejecting the 200-year-old anti-torture teachings of the Jesuit-educated Cesare Beccaria, the father of modern penology and human rights, who argued that torture is always wrong. Just a few years after his probable recruitment by the CIA, Brennan's mind was already being warped by the needs of capitalist imperialism.
Working for Bush in the 2000s, Brennan became the embodiment of the banality of evil, helping to facilitate illegal kidnappings and torture in the name of the greater good--in this case so-called "national security." Under Obama, Brennan has become the chief Angel of Death in the White House, selecting which terror suspects are to be murdered via unmanned drone attacks in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, Afghanistan, and elsewhere--and then lying about it later, as when he publicly claimed that drone attacks in Pakistan in 2010 did not cause "a single collateral death" when authorities knew better.
But the tragedy here lies with Barack Obama, who is able to make statements about the horrors of the Sandy Hook massacre while blithely raining down equivalent massacres on schoolchildren in Pakistan and Afghanistan. It is this banality of evil--Obama's ability to commit evil acts while pretending (to himself and to the world) that he remains a basically decent human being who loves his wife and daughters--that is one of the most corrosive aspects of Late Capitalist Imperialism.
Just as capitalist production alienates the worker, not only from the means of production and the product of his labor, but from his true species-essence as a human being, so too the reproduction of the Late Capitalist system requires acts of moral evil that alienate, not only the doers of these deeds but the entire social formation, from their human essence as creative and moral actors. Because such a reality would be intolerable if faced with honesty, the banality of evil represents a form of social-psychological ideology of denial that perpetuates Late Capitalism and the suffering attendant upon it.
very excellent piece
The banality of evil is real and important
This notion is fresh on my mind, having just seen the new docudrama Hannah Arendt, which focuses on the period in her life when she was reporting on the Eichman trial and came up with her theory. To my understanding, this essay misses the point on the notion. The entire point is to look at the system rather than at individuals. Arendt was widely vilified for her theory, which was put forward in the same article in which she claimed that cooperation of Jewish leaders with Nazis led to more Jews being killed than if there had simply been chaos. There was virtually no discussion of her nuanced theory; instead, there was character assassination--she is a self-hater, devoid of emotion, without integrity, and much worse--and absurd mischaracterization--she is blaming the victims, she is denying the Holocaust was evil. In the hysteria, Arendt lost most of her closest friends as well as support from the wider community. I learned from this episode that it is dangerous to get between people and their need to have culprits, to put human evil on certain people or groups while denying it in others.
What I question in this diary is the focus on individuals when discussing the banality of evil. The starting point for Arendt was how such a mediocre man could be being blamed for such horrendous evil. She said that, because the system could not be put on trial, a single person had to stand in for all the horror, and such is the human way. In seeing the understandable reaction of Jews to her theory, I felt I was watching the seeds being planted of Israel's current human rights violations. It is understandable, because it is difficult to expect victims of violence to be able to entertain nuance or to accept that they contain within them the same potential for evil as their persecutors. But if we insist that nazis were some kind of different human being, human beings capable of evil in a way that normal human beings aren't, then we will not address the sources of evil--ironically, we are continuing the cycle of projection and blame that was the basis of nazi behavior. Because Jews insisted on denying all complicity as well as any possibility that Nazi behavior was in some ways normal human behavior--because they insisted on being 100% victims and 100% justified, we now find a situation in which many Isreali Jews simply cannot entertain the possibility that they are committing evil acts towards the Palestinians.
To bring it to the current day domestically, demonizing Obama and Brennan is actually an obstacle to addressing the very human explanations for what they United States has become. In the world of power politics, such demonizing can be expected, but if we wish to understand the nature of evil, we must find some way to accept our own complicity. If we wish to create a world of metanoia, we must wean ourselves from paranoia-based analyses.
It is not my intention to invalidate this essay in its entirety so much as to question the way banality of evil is being employed. We need to give up believing that certain uniquely evil humans are responsible for all evil rather than seeing evil is a product of universal human tendencies. Here is the inconsistency: The things that are occurring today were predicted for a capitalist system well before Brennan or Obama was born. The end point of capitalism is seen as flowing inexorably from the qualities of the system. Thus, is it not inconsistent to want to hold Obama or Brennan as individually responsible for what is happening? In short, we must find ways to address systemic evil; this can only be done if we free ourselves from the natural human tendency to assign personal blame to humans who behave the way most humans would behave in similar circumstances. We must find a way to come to terms with the potential for evil in each of us.
I agree with almost everything you wrote
I especially agree with this statement: "if we insist that nazis were some kind of different human being, human beings capable of evil in a way that normal human beings aren't, then we will not address the sources of evil--ironically, we are continuing the cycle of projection and blame that was the basis of nazi behavior."
However, I disagree with this: "The end point of capitalism is seen as flowing inexorably from the qualities of the system. Thus, is it not inconsistent to want to hold Obama or Brennan as individually responsible for what is happening?"
I believe that, regardless of the systemic nature of the imperatives of capitalism, the individual must be held morally accountable for his/her actions, as responsibility is rooted in choice resting on free will. Obama, Brennan and others all have made choices to engage in their evil conduct on behalf of the system, for which they are rewarded handsomely. It would be inconsistent with basic ethics to let them off the hook because "the system made them do it."
That is a helpful response.
I'm relieved that we agree on the premise that matters to me. I do think I expressed myself inaccurately in the very way you point out. I think my point is that, while we naturally must challenge behavior where we see it, it is crucial not to lose sight of the fact that the problems we hope to solve will never be solved by finding people to blame nor even by holding individuals accountable. If it were easy for us to hold Obama accountable while remembering that he is merely a human like all humans; if it were easy to remember that Obama is merely a cog in the system while holding him acccountable, there would be little problem. It is not easy; it is extremely difficult. It is human nature to find someone outside ourselves to blame everything on while ignoring the fact that, like Obama, we are each behaving all too humanly, playing our roles in the system we wish to change, perhaps by consuming more than our share or by taking refuge in ownership of private property.
I am urging consideration of evil in terms other than putting people on the hook or letting them off the hook. I am asking that we consider evil in terms of common humanity, as shared problems. This matters because an essential element to ending paranoid, exploitative behavior is take responsibility for our own humanity, for the fact that we are like Obama. This is no simple task. To go back to Arendt's time, she was asking Jews who had just been through the holocaust, many of them the sole survivors from their extended families, to be able to acknowledge some degree of complicity in their own people. It is hard to imagine how people could do this, but Arendt managed, so it is possible. We might argue that making these arguments needs to wait until some time has passed. But then we come up against what we see these decades later--many Israeli Jews still convinced that they are permanent victims and thus unable to see their own, all too human, participation in evil.
I am attempting to address the way in which we hold people responsible, the attitudes we have. If Arendt's thought is invoked, I believe it is important to get her point straight. She was not saying that it made sense to lay the entire holocaust at Eichman's feet because he was a new kind of evil, a banal kind of evil. She was saying that the evil of the holocaust cannot be fully explained by looking at the behavior of the one man.
I expect we know the excuse for the evil that will be ...
... advanced at Agent Orange ~ and that excuse gets to the systemic nature of the evil ~ that if President Obama had in fact refused to engage in these evil acts, his refusal would have been used to defeat him in his bid for re-election.
It might, indeed, be true ... but then, (1) President Obama is no longer running for re-election, so what is the excuse now? and (2) if you always choose to keep your powder dry, it might as well be dirt.
can you clarify this statement??
Because Jews insisted on denying all complicity as well as any possibility that Nazi behavior was in some ways normal human behavior--because they insisted on being 100% victims and 100% justified......
I have always understood her point of 'the banality of evil' to mean that people like Eichmann followed orders without considering the consequences of those orders.
I think she was saying that and more
She was accepting Eichman's claim that after he had the trains loaded efficiently and on time, on their way to Auschwitz, that he did not concern himself with what happened after that. There is a perfect parallel between this stance and the way most Americans feel about victims of drone strikes. After we pay our taxes, we do not think about what happens from there--we do not take responsibility for it. It is the rare Amercan who "thinks" about the victims or feels any personal responsibilty for drone strikes. I happen to think Arendt's use of failure to think is flawed--I think of it as, it is not real to people. It is odd to me how easily people seem to be able to imagine themselves living in a time of systemic evil and somehow imagine themselves untainted. It has been shown experimentally that Eichman behaved in the exact same way as the vast majority of humans would have behaved. That he was unable to perceive his own guilt was a measure of his lack of imagination and introspection. I see these same lacks in the people with whom I attempt to discuss these issues today.
If we attempt to make people guilty for being human, then we continue the patterns we wish to change. We can hold people accountable while still keeping this in mind.
can't agree with you on this
I don't there is any correlation to be found between loading trains full of people to send to a deathcamp, and the act of paying taxes. I think you're referring to the Milgram experiment that showed how easy it is to have people 'shock' other people, as long as they can blame a higher authority. The 'I was just following orders' experiment. That's a great experiment, however, it doesn't explain the holocaust, and should not be construed as doing so. There have been 5 modern genocides. Armenia, Germany, Cambodia, Serbia and Rwanda. Each of those counties were experiencing many similarities that led to the conditions necessary for genocide to happen. The most important element necessary for a genocide is a totalitarian government.
That's why the Marxist countries experienced some of the most egregious acts of inhumanity known in history. Without a totalitarian regime the fear factor is missing. I don't think anyone is attempting to 'make people guilty for being human', I think we are saying: Even under extreme conditions you are responsible for your actions. The conditioning of the people to see those they are going to kill as being less than human is a central element in each of the 5 genocides. The Germans were rabidly anti-semitic. It was not that the Jews were bad humans, it was that they were less than human. Conditioning the population to see another part of the population as 'less than human' is, in my opinion, the key ingredient of each genocide.
We dehumanized the Native Americans in much the same manner. My greatest fear with the war on terror is that we portray the 'enemy' as 'less than human', and in doing so our killing of them is justified. In each genocide there are the killers and the killed. The killers are 100% guilty and the killed are 100% innocent.
Anyway, it's always nice to talk with someone who has actually read Hannah Arendt. It is a rare occasion when I meet someone else who has read her books. You might enjoy a fairly short book on this subject by Christopher Browning called: Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland. I found much to disagree with Browning, however, it's a very detailed account of the use of 'ordinary' Germans to carry out murders.
I wish there were a clear dividing line
between good and evil. I've been thinking today about psychopaths. I believe that is a possible evil. A few psycopaths can create a lot of harm. What is the culpability of those around them? Surely there is a scale. This is a vexed question. No one is not complicit, and paying taxes is on the same spectrum, but more specificially, the psychological process of denial, projection, and unconsciousness is identical in the two cases. That is a lesson for us all to learn, even if it's only in paying for taxes.
paying taxes is an indirect action, not a direct action
The actions of Eichmann were quite direct. There was a definite connection between what he (and others) were doing and the deaths of the victims. How can you link the payment of taxes to the specific drone attack that kills an innocent civilian? By your reasoning, those Americans who do not pay federal taxes are quite innocent since they made no monetary contribution that could be traced to the DoD's budget. Additionally, the DoD has a very specific budget. It's not theoretical or open to debate. There is an actual amount of money that is spent by the U.S. on military purposes. That amount of money does not exceed the amount of tax revenues, therefore, not everyone's taxes are used to fund the DoD. By extension, that would mean that not everyone saw their money used to kill an innocent civilian.
When you say, 'no one is not complicit', you are also implicating the innocent civilian that is killed in the drone attack. I simply cannot follow your reasoning or logic in this matter. However, as usual, I appreciate your conversation.
None of this is theoretical in the least
Sorry but, with respect, this looks to me like exactly the kind of sophistry Eichmann engaged in, differentiating "direct" from "indirect" and doing percent calculations of where taxes go. Let me try approaching this from a different angle.
I wonder how culpable one holds the average German citizen for what happened in the holocaust. Let's take a provincial mayor who is naturally a member of the nazi party, as was everyone, and who in normal life is a decent, well-meaning individual. He is aware of what is happening to the Jews. How responsible is this man for what happened at the concentration camp 50 miles outside his town? If you are like most people, you consider this man to be somewhat guilty. This man, on the other hand, likely feels blameless, feels like a normal person living his life in a very difficult time.
Moving to the present, imagine that you live in a Pakistan village under constant threat of drone attack. (These drones hover overhead spying 24/5, droning their threat of assault. How many Americans have taken the time to be aware of this.) Let's say your two children were killed in a drone attack launched on a funeral. I ask you, how responsible do you think you would hold the average U.S. citizen for what happened to you, let's say the citizen who pays his taxes and voted for the command-in-chief to be president? Surely you will agree that you would hold all Americans to be somewhat guilty and there is a good chance you would come to think of all Americans as the embodiment of evil. Come back to America and how responsible does the average Democrat feel? Not responsible in the least is what I see.
This mismatch in assigning guilt to others over taking responsibility oneself is the stuff of wars. This is how they happen. No, this is not abstract in the least. Neither "side" can see that, were the roles to be reversed, the behaviors would be the same human behaviors. The problem is the strong resistance to seeing the humanity of someone perceived as evil and at the same time resistance to seeing oneself as having the potential for evil. If we wish to create a more peaceful, less violent world, then it is necessary for each of us to come to terms with this human trait of easily assigning blame for the evil in the world and almost never taking responsibility for any of it. It is always the other people who are the problem. This is a well-established psychological fact and is an example of our common humanity.
It is frustrating to me to find people I consider strong allies defending their right to demonize. The author invoked Arendt's theory, then challenged it immediately by speculating that she had been duped by Eichmann. Already we find resistance to seeing Eichmann as a normal human being. Already, the heart of her idea had been undermined. The essay goes on to misapply the notion of the banality of evil by continuing on with the kind of thought Arendt was questioning. Her point was not that Eichmann was fully guilty but that the evil i him was a banal sort of evil, a sort of evil which could not fully explain the unthinkable horrors. Who could consider the holocaust to be banal evil? I'm sorry, but Arendt's thought is important and it disturbs me to see it mis-applied in this manner, especially given how relevant her ideas are to us today. The sad truth is, a truth by now well shown, the sad truth is that the majority of humans would have behaved as Eichmann behaved in the same circumstances. It should no longer be a surprise to people that the same peoples who were victimized by the likes of Eichmann now turn around and victimize others. Like Eichmann, they justify their behavior and feel no sense of guilt over the suffering of the Palestinians. What does one do about this state of affairs? One necessary ingredient is for individual people to be able to own their full humanity, including the tendency to blame others while feeling no culpability oneself.
So, despite differences in direct vs indirect, the over-riding point is shared humanity. This is not an abstract term. We each have the same brains, the same inherited reflexes, very similar responses to similar stimuli. Whether we are discussing Eichmann or a U.S. tax-payer, the same process is in play in each person, finding a way to justify what they do, to avoid taking on any responsility for any of the evil in the world. The fact that the horrors of the crime are different or the level of participation is different does not change in the least the similiarity of the psychological process of declaring oneself fully innocent and another fully to blame.
This is tough:
When you say, 'no one is not complicit', you are also implicating the innocent civilian that is killed in the drone attack.
I believe there is no such thing as a purely innocent civilian, but I won't pursue this very challenging aspect to how I see things, nor does the above argument depend on having to hold all the way out to this extreme.
simply being a citizen of a country does not make you guilty
No, I simply cannot follow your reasoning. You are endorsing collective punishment when you endorse collective guilt. No, I do not blame every German citizens for the crimes committed during their lifetime. Being a German citizen and being a member of the Nazi party were two completely different things. Also, I simply cannot agree with collective punishment or collective guilt. I understand your theoretical arguments, however, I am in complete disagreement.
As a rational thinking person I have the ability to consider the consequences of a person's specific crime. Perhaps we're just talking past each other. I am calling the Time of Death on this particular horse..........
It ain't a dead horse to me
Sorry, just for the record
Nor am I talking about collective guilt. Quite the contrary, I am talking about individual responsibility. It is not new to me that you seem to be unable even to entertain what I am saying enough to actually disagree with me. This is pretty much the same response Arendt encountered. People insisted that she was blaming the victim, to take one example. She was not, nor am I.
However, the payment of taxes does not fund ...
... the Defense Department ~ that's the neoclassical fantasy version of how an economy works, after all ~ so its hard to see wherein the individual responsibility lies. Its kind of like making someone in Texas who refused to participate in Gov. Perry's prayer for rain responsible for the continued drought. How is there individual responsibility with no causal connection between the action and the evil that is the purported consequence?
I'm baffled by this
Americans pay taxes to the federal government. Americans fund the CIA, the military, the whole shebang. Americans raise their children to respect the government and in many cases raise their children to be willing to kill for the government. Americans cheer their military at their football games and tolerate the most heinous of war crimes. It is beyond disturbing that I'm arguing with people I have lot of respect for, the to-me obvious fact that, if you are an American citizen today, you are complict in precisely the same way Germans citizens are considered complicit in the holocaust. No difference. It's the same thing. A lot of our friends on the left voted for a known war ciminal, knowing at the time enough information to prove he is a war ciminal, and even as he continued to commit criminal acts. Some of us whine on line about the state of affairs.
This stuns me. I don't understand the sophistry behind taxes do not fund defense. Wherever you think the money comes from, it would dry up immediately without the support in funds and in validation of the system. The system, however it works, derives its power, its worth, from the millions of Americans who pay taxes in both money and cannon fodder.
Fuck. This could not be more upsetting.
We, as Americans, are complicit in war cimes. And that's the way it is. Whatever people choose to do about that, whether denial or paralysis or whatever, is none of my business, I guess.


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Houston native Sera (formerly known as Pinque) has only worn pink for 30 years. She's been featured on more than 30 TV shows and has earned the nickname the Pink Lady Of Hollywood. She met Beyoncé in 1995, well before Knowles was a household name.
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Upcoming Events
On Campus Events
Homecoming and Family Weekend
October 4–6
Cheer on the Pios at the Homecoming game, reconnect with friends and faculty, and take a Pioneer College class. In addition to a full slate of Homecoming activities, we are hosting special reunion events for Pamplin Society scholars; English majors and minors; and former students and friends of William Stafford (1914–93). For more information, visit go.lclark.edu/homecoming.
President's Holiday Reception
December 7
Off-Campus Events
Worldwide Black and Orange Parties
November 6 (evening)
Join alumni all over the world at one of this year's Black and Orange party locations. Meet alumni and parents in one of the 50+ cities that are holding events, welcome alumni from the class of 2013, swap business information, and make new connections. Check out the full list of parties.
Learn more on the Alumni and Parent Programs site.


text:
By Kenneth Roth, Special to CNN
Editor's note: Kenneth Roth is executive director of Human Rights Watch. You can follow him on @KenRoth. The views expressed are his own.
As rioting resumes in Egypt, militias reign ominously in parts of Libya, and relentless slaughter proceeds in Syria, some are beginning to question whether the Arab Spring was such a good idea after all. But would we really want to condemn entire nations to the likes of Mubarak, Gadhafi and al-Assad? As we know from the fall of military dictatorships in Latin America and the demise of the Soviet Union, building a rights-respecting democracy on a legacy of authoritarian rule is not easy. However, there are steps that both the people of the region and the international community can take to make a positive outcome more likely.
The new governments in the Middle East and North Africa should remember foremost that an electoral majority does not grant them license to do whatever they want. Once they gain power, long-suppressed political movements may not be eager to hear that their latitude for governance is still constrained, but that is what international human rights law requires. Repression of basic rights can emerge as readily from majoritarian hubris as from a classic autocrat.
Egypt, the largest and most influential country of the region, epitomizes the problem. The Muslim Brotherhood has used its electoral mandate to push through a new constitution filled with potential threats to the rights of women, government opponents, and religious minorities, while enshrining a dangerous autonomy for the military. The government has exploited these compromised provisions to launch a raft of prosecutions against journalists and others who criticize it, while old police habits of torture and lethal attacks on demonstrators persist.
Between popular protests in Egypt and pressure from the international donors and investors needed to revive the Egyptian economy, there is reason to believe the government will moderate. But one would have hoped the Muslim Brotherhood, itself long persecuted by the Mubarak dictatorship, would have been more reluctant to replicate its predecessor's repressive tactics.
More from GPS: Freedoms took hit in 2012
International protests would be more credible if they were more consistent and principled. The people of the region notice, for example, when the West's promotion of democracy seems to stop where other interests arise – whether accessing oil, containing Iran or defending Israel. It is easier for the Egyptian government to deflect Western protests when so few are directed to the unreformed repression of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, or the United Arab Emirates, let alone Israeli rights violations in Gaza and the West Bank. Nor do protests against torture resonate as powerfully when President Obama refuses to investigate torture by the Bush administration and the British government proceeds only reluctantly to examine its role in sending terrorism suspects to torture in Gadhafi's Libya.
The region's most acute problem is the slaughter of civilians in Syria. The West has imposed sanctions on Bashar al-Assad's government, but tougher measures, such as a global ban on sending arms to government forces or the invocation of the International Criminal Court, have been stymied by Russia's veto, backed by China, in the U.N. Security Council. More should be done to highlight Putin's callous indifference to the Syrian bloodshed and to ensure that the Russian arms supplier feeding Syria's killing machine does not profit from Western purchases. In addition, the Arab League, ostensibly concerned about its brethren in Syria, should press its member Iraq to stop enabling the shipment of arms from Iran to Syria.
But al-Assad is not the only problem. The armed Syrian opposition is a varied collection of militias, some of which torture and execute detainees while articulating a narrow sectarian vision that allows no room for Syria's minorities. That makes the minorities more likely to defend al-Assad than risk an uncertain future in opposition hands. Fear of strengthening abusive or potentially hostile forces is also a major reason why Western governments have been reluctant to send arms or provide military backing. But the jihadists among the rebels have their own networks to obtain arms, enhancing the most abusive elements within the armed opposition.
The Syrian National Coalition was created to provide a unified command structure for the opposition that could rein in abusive forces, guarantee minority rights, and pursue a negotiated departure for al-Assad and his henchmen that leaves intact enough of the state structure to avoid the chaos of post-Saddam Iraq. Yet the SNC's clout is waning because it has little to offer the Syrian people to relieve their suffering.
At the very least, a major influx of humanitarian aid is needed. But out of misguided deference to Syria's sovereignty and overwrought concerns about taking sides in the conflict, most donors have sent aid via Damascus, meaning little gets to opposition-held areas where the suffering is most acute. Donors should also deliver massive quantities of humanitarian aid across the Turkish border and through the rudimentary civilian governance structures now being created in opposition-held areas of Syria. That would help to ease real suffering while enhancing the influence of both the West and the civilian governance structures in opposition areas that are most likely to promote respect for rights among opposition fighters and an inclusive vision of Syria for all Syrians. Ideally, such cross-border aid should be sent with U.N. Security Council approval, but if Russian intransigence precludes that, the international community should act anyway, operating as needed through non-governmental humanitarian groups.
Yes, it has proven difficult to build rights-respecting democracies in the Middle East and North Africa. But the international community should not condemn the people of the region to the grim prospect of authoritarian rule without end, let alone to massive bloodshed. They have risked their lives for a freer future, and it is our responsibility to support them. As the Arab uprising enters its third year, we should all redouble our commitment to a positive outcome.
How to keep the so-called "Arab Spring" blossoming. That's hardly possible since it has failed everywhere except for Egypt and Tunisia. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Yemen are still under the control of right-wing, pro-Western tyrants and that is unlikely to change anytime soon.
I hate to break it to you, but it has failed in Egypt, too. The people who created the revolution are now being oppressed by the pig that became the father. (That's an Orwellian reference, in case you missed it)
Darn autocorrect...
No wonder many Arab political analysts don't use the term "Arab Spring". They call the movement "Arab Awakening". Spring is a season that lasts approx. three months.
I agree with you. But there is more complications and intricacies to this.
North americans are willing to destabilize just about any nation, and do so under any pretence or excuse they can use.
The lattest has become the human rights issue.
Yeah, well I am in utah, and here you see banners and lawn posters that afirm the homeowner to vote for the rights of animals, to stop animal abuse. Yet I know they are mormons and that as such, there is a 95% chance that they voted for bush, who ordered the slughter of millions of arabs, the destabilization of two sovereign nations and the maining and torture of countless children in secret concentration camps.
And yet refuse to bring the emirates , arabia , and israel to acount.
Hipocracy with exponents.
You lost all credibility when you chose your screen name.
arab spring is against the western backed or puppet government so western thinkers Arab spring has failed so they send terrorist squad into Syria bcz there dream of democratic western leaning Arab state has failed now there target is iran and syria they want to control the middle east this way or that way what abt s arabia ,qtqr baharin. they want their dictators to continue bcz these are their puppet people of midlle east has now understood they will topple their ruler and bring their own system of governance
I agree with the meat of the article but please don't cite South American dictatorships when these were vehemently sponsored by the US (according to CIA docs). Historically, someone could argue that the US is not a sponsor for democracy but for their own interests.
Well said, lalopangue. I'm sick and tired of people belching out all that bla-bla-bla about the U.S. being a "champion" of democracy around the world. The U.S. is in it for it's own self interests and nothing else. Yes, we did manage to establish some pseudo-democracies in places like Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan. The one we set up in South Vietnam finally collapsed in 1975 after some 20 years.
The idea that the west or anyone else could control the "Arab Spring" is false. No more than anyone could control the Russian, French or American revolutions. The Arab Spring has been produced by massive amounts of dissatisfaction with the world by ordinary people in the middle east. That does not mean that what follows it will be great for the people in the middle east. For once though this is a movement that has not been created by Nato or the Russians or anyone else (no doubt all these players are tying to influence it to their advantage though). The middle east is changing, slowly but it's one of the oldest and most socially conservative regions on earth and things take time. It took hundreds of years to develop the imperfect democracy that exists in the west. They are going to have to work out there own imperfect system.
There is power in rejection. Take it from me.
Then there is faith to make the power work for goodness sake.
Only 'some' are beginning to question whether the Arab Spring was a good idea?! Are people really that far removed from reality that they can't see how disasterous it was and how pompous and ill-advised Obama's role in it was? First, Obama encourages Libya to overthrow Qadafi, helps out with a few airstrikes, then turns his back and acts like it never happened when the Muslim Brotherhood took over. Same story in Egypt.
Now the Arab spring has become an "IDEA", that is so deep, WOW
Syria's opposition faces a problem. The umbrella group, the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces is divided. Khatid, the head of the group wants sit together with Assad's officials to talk about the release of some 100.000 prisoners held in Syria and the renewal of passports of Syrian refugees in exil. There are some, who support Khatib. There are others, who do not settle for anything without Assad's stepping down. They call Khatib a traitor.
Yes support the uprisings in a dozen arab countries while taking away the right to bear arms in our own country. What a two faced policy we promote !!
Why can't you live without bearing arms..............
Does anyone have an inkling on where I can purchase te earthen dish to cook a Tajin?
Only language these arabs understand is oppression, that's it, their skewered religion and democracy don't go together.
Their religion is based upon anti democratic values, period.
The Arab spring is blossoming? You must be joking. What planet is this writer on? The only blossoms in sight are on the coffins of the hapless victims who have died at the hands of Islamists and Arab despots like Morsi in Egypt and Assad in Syria.
The Muslim Brotherhood is a religious party that officially promotes Sharia law. Saudi and the gulf monarchies nurture and export Salifist jihadism and arms throughout the region, including to the Syrian rebels. Don't excuse them. Leon Panetta said we are at war with Al Qaeda. But we are also at war with all forms of Sunni fundamentalism and the governments that use it for political gain. Syria is sectarian civil war promoted by the Gulf states who hate Shiite Iran, and who also despise the Shiite-led government of Iraq. Get your facts straight before attempting to solve the problem.
I love the part where Roth slips in a jab on Obama and Bush by chastising the former for not investigating the latter for using "torture" techniques. The very same torture techniques that led, in large part, to Osama Bin Laden's courier and then to Osama himself. Obama didn't close Gitmo and didn't repeal the Patriot Act either. Many of Bush's core post 911 policies are alive and well. Could it be that there are some very practical / pragmatic reasons that liberal idealism simply falls apart in the face of daily national security briefings? I know it hurts the left's sensibilities, but one of the most admirable traits of President Obama is precisely his refusal to allow the far left agenda hijack his primary responsibility to protect the U.S. - even when that mean compromising on ideals that are noble in of themselves but foolish and weak in the face of the scourge and threat of terrorism.
India & Pakistan needs one and Saudi too.
I hate this expression 'Arab Spring" it drives me crazy, and who believes that, deceives him self.
Strangest way to the marriage application
Arab Spring started out as a the youth movement for a more liberal middle east.
Now it's just an excuse for wahabi fanatics to rave on the streets like the crazy lunatics that they are.
It failed miserably as was expected. Nothing to see here. Carry on.
take responsibility.
stop playing around. this is not tetris.
Obviousely this Fareed Zakaria is just an incredibly naive man. He needs to go plant himself in the Arab spring.
You forgot to remember that these dogs o' war let unlashed by some idiotic personage led to this unintelligent rush. Remember the French Revolution. And the Guilotinne. It may look romantic or Noble to you. But this is not a movie or a box game you can bet on. People die.
The so called Arab Spring should not be on the battling ground and between pions of some enthusiastic party. But in somewhat social level. By talking, exchanging historical facts and sharing and respecting each other's culture.


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Hi I'm Gemma and new to the site (and not really sure what I am doing at the moment!)
Am not really sure how to find the different codes and am a bit lost with the site at the moment!!??!! Anyway ....
My husband and I have been TTC for about 18 months now. We have already had an attempt at ICSI but unfortunately unsuccessful. We are at the Lister clinic. We are having our second attempt soon .... am currently on the pill and due for my first scan November 10th.
Would love to chat to anyone who is in a similar boat to me at the moment. Or anyone really!!
I was so upset when the last round didn't work and feel like I am the only person in the world going through it all! It's especially difficult having 2 new baby's in my family too! Gemma[/code]


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