Author name: davidswanson

Can pain be defined and can robots feel it?

To answer these questions requires sorting through a lot of interwoven beliefs or feelings. Where we think there is pain does not correlate with what we are reluctant to damage, and what we are reluctant to damage depends on the directness of the damaging.

Many of us eat dead cow, for example, but couldn’t bring ourselves to kill one. Similarly for capital punishment. Some of us sometimes wince with empathy when our cars are damaged, although often we think the car is not feeling pain. There read more

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The Much Requested Short Answer to "What is Deconstuction?"

In article <19971010153301.LAA15626@ladder02.news.aol.com> jackhat1@aol.com (Jackhat1) writes:
> I dip into this thread from time to time looking for a short description of
> decontructionism. I still don’t know what it is. Does anyone have a paragraph
> or two that could help me. Thanks.
>
> Jack h

OK, Jack, I’m picking yours at random, and composing a paragraph. I will then put it on my webpage and in the future refer as many of these requests there as possible. read more

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Wear Mittens

She said to me: Those were the first words you said to me: “You have beautiful mittens.” Remember?

I didn’t remember: Of course. And you did. They were my favorite color. Like . . . like your eyes.

My eyes aren’t red.

Just a little. I kissed her eyes.

Red isn’t your favorite color.

It is now. Just ask me.

What’s your favorite color?

Red . . . see?

What does that prove? What kind of mittens were they?

Wool mittens that you could see the shape of your fingers read more

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Speech By Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr.

Fair Taxes Is A Way Of Making The Union More Perfect
Speech By Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr.
ACORN’s Annual Legislative and Political Conference
Monday, March 12, 2001
12:00 Noon
I want to start with two observations before making several other points. The first observation is that during the Civil War it was said that one of the differences between Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis was that Davis seemed determined to win arguments and debates even if read more

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David Swanson's Resume

David Swanson's Resume Read More »

Reference Letter from Karen Kilroy

Karen Kilroy
Akron, Ohio

re: David Swanson

To Whom It May Concern

I had the good fortune to work closely with David Swanson in his role with the Kucinich for President Campaign in 2003-2004. My role as Webmaster was closely dependent on his role as Press Secretary. I could always depend on the quality of David’s output as I posted his writings to the kucinich.us web site and in mass email communications.

David’s role included being editor-in-chief of the website, which meant that he was read more

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Reference Letter from Jeff Cohen

From Jeff Cohen, founder of FAIR, columnist/TV commentator, former ACLU attorney

Feb. 3, 2004

To whom it may concern:

I have been an executive in the progressive/public interest/nonprofit sector for more than two decades, and I have never come across a public interest co-worker whose skills and work ethic surpassed those of David Swanson. He is a quick study, talented writer, great motivator of colleagues and consummate multi-tasker. I first met him when he was the communications director of ACORN. read more

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Reference Letter from Dennis Kucinich

FROM DENNIS KUCINICH

Cleveland, Ohio
February 6, 2004

To Whom It May Concern:

This is to enthusiastically recommend David Swanson to your employment.

I worked closely with Mr. Swanson on a daily basis in his capacity as press secretary to my campaign for President of the United States.

He is honest, thorough, hardworking and able to complete even the most demanding tasks expeditiously.

His extraordinary dedication helped to build strong awareness of our campaign in the national media.

He was aggressive read more

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Reference Letter from Steve Cobble

From Steve Cobble, Political Strategist

To Whom It May Concern:

David Swanson is quite possibly the hardest-working person I have ever worked with — and I have spent most of my adult life on political and issue campaigns, where hard-working people are everywhere. David is smart; committed to change; a good writer, and a very fast writer. He is optimistic, and I enjoyed working with him on the Kucinich Campaign (of course, that was partly because he was constantly volunteering to take on additional read more

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Reference Letter from Jen Kern

From Jen Kern

To Whom it May Concern,

I am a former colleague of David Swanson who worked closely with him in his capacity as Communications Coordinator for ACORN for over two years.

I found David to be hardworking, conscientious and passionate about the struggle for social and economic justice. He quickly adjusted to both the substance of his work (which often involved learning very detailed aspects of a range of complicated policy issues) and to the pace, climate, and values of the organization. read more

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