Intergalactic Summit

Ah, a new strawman.
How delightful.

Brief public summary of DSTON policy changes:

1. Administration shall remain under the Development office including approval of roles, corporate access, etc.
2. The Board of regeants of the Academic Center shall appoint the CEO and maintain Administrative oversight.
3. Official Policy Summaries shall be communicated publicly on this thread.
4. Other Corporate activity will be communicated in this thread.
5. No other threads will be opened by members of DSTON without approval from the Development Office.
6. Bowman and May Cotton, along with Halfred and Bell Greenhand shall assume administration of all Matriculation Centers run by DSTON.
7. All concerns, questions or inquiries may be addressed to me personally.

Note: Any responses that require my attention should be sent by EVE mail to Tahrmal Nalthkh and not on this thread. I will give no official responses here, only short policy and procedural updates appropriate for public information.

Dr. Tahrmal Nalthkh,
Provost, DSTON Academic Learning Center

The following a concise report of recent transfers followed by a new program announcement.

102 criminal slave traders were processed into our detention center in Korama from temporary facilities in Amarr space and from our Centers in Dresi and Aharalel, In addition 54 criminal militants were also processed. Detention Center inmate census: 245 Criminal Slave Traders, 79 Terrorists.

1574 rescued men, women, and children were transered from temp facilities to Dresi Center #2 yesterday and today.

Program Announcement:

The Development Office of the Disciples of Ston together with the Cottons, Greenhands, and Mr. Momaki have worked hard to plan and create a new program. Today we announce that 50 criminal slave traders will be entering a Restitution and Rehabilitation program to hasten their re-entry into society as productive citizens. This will begin with vocational training here in Korama and then assignment to one of our Matriculation Centers to serve those they once enslaved.

Those who choose to enroll in this program will train in areas from as simple as janitorial work to becoming a crew member aboard a rescue vessel. The focus will be on making restitution for their crimes of the past. After a period of service, the enrollees will then become hired and paid employees of DSTON, eventually being able to leave and go where they wish or stay if they wish.

The Development office will evaluate each individual who enrolls in the program as to readiness for each step. The final say will be given by the Greenhands and Cottons.

Are you really as dull as you seem? If you paid attention, you would note that Dr. Nalthkh clearly stated that communication refers to interaction, like what I am doing right now. Dr. Nalthkh made it clear that he would use this thread to "make announcements" regarding policy and program but would only communicated interactively through EVEmail. Clean the wax out of your ears, Blake.

I think what you meant to say is that the first 20 prisoners. I doubt that these slavers have voluntarily enrolled in your program. No doubt they were captured when you were rescuing abandonned slaves. Who has given you the authority to hold these individuals? To try them and assign them to what essentially is a penal colony??? Somehow I doubt that the slaves in the centres are going to treat the slavers in fair manner.

Release the slavers. Now.

THE SUBTLETIES OF AD HOMINEM

I have been out of the practice of writing reflective posts since devoting more time to rescue work, but reading the IGS reminds me of the need for all of us to be more reflective. Today's relfection is on the use of "ad hominem" "against the man" "against the woman" fallacies on the IGS.

I don't know if I have ever met anyone who has any convictions or strong feelings about their values who doesn't use some ad hominem from time to time. It is the most difficult of fallacies to avoid. Often it is used by force of habit, but sometimes it is used subtly, purposefully, and with great skill to great effect. Those with rhetorical training can use ad hominem without seeming to use it.

The skillful use of ad hominem does not require you to directly attack a person to discredit their argument. One can use indirect ad hominem to much greater effect and come out looking smart and quick and reasonable. Consider the following statements; one of them contains ad hominem the other does not.

"Ston's argument has some logical issues that I would like to address."
"I would like to expose the stupidity/silliness/non-sense (host of other terms) of Ston's argument."

If I don't want to come right out and call Ston an idiot or a silly dolt and thus be accused of ad hominem, I will use the pejorative of his arguments and thus cast the same pejorative upon him. This is the most common skilled use of ad hominem and some people are very skilled at its use. Indirect ad hominem is almost always more effective than direct ad hominem.

Is it possible to avoid ad hominem all together? Yes, but it is very difficult and requires a great amount of self-discipline. I've gone back through some of my own posts and found quite a bit of ad hominem both direct and indirect in my own arguments with others. Some was intentional, some was because I was being lazy or emotional at the time.

Now, before I conclude, I want to address a related fallacy that is even more difficult to detect and equal to if not greater in force than ad hominem. This would be the fallacy of "enim homo" or "for the man." Like ad hominem it focusses on the person rather than the argument. In this case it is used to cover a failed argument on the basis of a positive characterization of the person. Below is a typical example of the most common enim homo.

"Cousin Billy Bob is always right; he knows what he is talking about."

P.S. There is a bit of not-so-sly ad hominem in the example above as well, just for your enjoyment.

DSTON Development Office Issues Uniform Policy Regarding War Declarations

The Corporation Disciples of Ston is a functionally pacifistic entity and seeks to maintain this functional pacifism to the greatest extent possible. Therefore, under the conditions of a war declaration against DSTON, all members currently active in rescue operations and active travel in the cluster shall leave the corporation and continue to operate under private contract to DSTON.

Currently, the Corporation House of Murder has declared war on DSTON. Ston Momaki and Manwe Todako have been instructed to resign all roles and prepare to leave the corporation for the duration of the war.

Any questions regarding this policy may be directed to the DSTON Development Office via evemail to
Dr. Tahrmal Nalthkh
Provost, DSTON Academic Learning Center
CEO: Disciples of Ston

While attempting these rescue operations is an applaudible act, i'm still not convinced that any of it is true.
Ston himself claimed to have rescued one group of can-bound lives when he spent the entire day running around in a capsule.
If he had not been caught lying one, i would perhaps believe that these slaves are truly free, but he has. That brings everything into question.

Go back to being a simple thief Ston. you were better at that.

I marked the occasion by running 21.1 km around the station promenade this morning as a reminder to myself of the victory of self-discipline over self-service. I am reminded that the Disciples of Ston exist to give avenue for the position, power and resources of the capsuleer to be a tool not of violence but of gentle service, not of acquisition but of giving.

Happy anniversary DSTON.

Thank you Ston Momaki for influencing my thinking in several areas.
Happy anniversary DSTON