julianw

I smell another flame war coming...

So that they could cut through a traffic jam. Some idiot once knocked off my sideview mirror doing that.

You know there is a button called 'arrange icons', right?

I am beginning to think that this guy is delibrately trying to mock the Christians everywhere by being totally unreasonable; unless he is delusional enough to believe that he is actually doing God a better service by wasting his time here talking to those who wouldn't listen to him than go and do some community service like Mr. Calax has chosen to do. (Gray Jedi Knight - In case you are wondering, Calax went down to New Orleans to help the Katrina victims.)

Feeling a little left out after missing all the flaming action from that Christian thread, I think I will attempt to start a new discussion about how Christians and atheists could learn to respect each other's beliefs as well as how the two parties could conduct a civil discussion about their differences. Like everyone else, I certainly don't appreciate it when someone arrogantly points out that I am ignorant and starts bombarding me with a haughty lecture. Any Christian who would try to spread 'the love of Jesus' (as it's their duty to do so) should be smart enough to see this plain fact. The only way for you Christians to reach an audience with beliefs opposite of yours is first to admit that you yourselves are imperfect and make mistakes and that you yourselves are also seeking knowledge and truth beyond what you have already discovered. If you deny such a simple fact that separates man from God, then you better go and read your Bible a few more times. Even then, it is only best to share your knowledge to those who show interest and are willing to learn. I guess that's all I have to say at the moment. Anyone is certainly welcome to add their thoughts on the matter here.

This bot needs to retire. Aren't WB merged with UPN already?

Never watched the show, Blank, but I heard that the producers wiretapped the people on the show and placed hidden cameras around the house, so maybe Bush is tired of cable TV himself... As for your paper, if it's in the form of a presentation, start by saying that 'People shouldn't be afraid of their government. The government should be afraid of its people.' (in a British accent) Then show the whole class the film V for Vendetta. They are going to love it. But seriously though, you would be better off with the libary if you are looking for ideas for a paper.

Though you are clearly the slave of the flying menace. Btw, Mao didn't kill millions during the Communist Revolution. (His Red Army was fighting the Japanese occupational forces first and then the very corrupt nationalists party. I don't think the causalties his army inflicted accounted to millions since he barely had one million soldiers at the start of the Chinese Civil War.) Nor did he kill millions intentionally during his 30-year-reign. His government persecuted hundreds of thousands of people who opposed their policies. Many were done by the 'Gang of Four' without his knowledge or consent. And a lot of the killings were also the work of the 'Red Guards' against the law. (Angry teenagers with blind faith in the fundamental ideas of communism, waving red banners and shouting 'Mao forever', they would break into the homes of 'conservatives' - mainly the educators or industrialists and prowestern, and beat them to death. You get the picture.) If we blame Mao for those killings, blame him for not controlling the situation during the 'Cultural Revolution' and upholding the laws of the country effectively enough. Millions, however, did die because of famine due to several untimely droughts and of course his f***ed-up economic policy. Though Americans who cry impeachment when few thousand dies need to understand that in China, life is worth little more than sh*t. The emperors don't care his people are starving to death as long as he's banging his concubines night in and night out. This has been going on for nearly five thousand years. Mao and his generation are only the first to come out of medieval China and comparing to past emperors, Mao certainly doesn't get an 'F' simply based on the fact that he was one key reason that China drove out the Japanese army and he had kept China intact through two major wars.

You are still being judged in football, basketball, or baseball though. Referees make mistakes or get bribes and could easily change the outcome of one match. A wrong call in many sports could easily swing the momentum in one team's favor.

Exactly, the combination of both has kept American government system from progressing.

Well. The big fish will always bully the little ones. As meta pointed out before 'aboslute power corrupts absolutely', we need a more effective international organization than the UN to keep the superpowers in check.

You mean the Bush Administration and this horrible two-party system we have going on? Though it's hardly Facist, I can't deny that I am very disappointed by the direction it's currently going.

Thats the American dream isnt it ? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Actually, that's exactly what I was thinking since I am an immigrant. (And if I am more grateful, I would be thanking Thomas Jefferson and George Washington every day.)

I still think a healthy mix of capitalism and socialism should be good enough where equal opportunity is provided to everyone; in the end, if you put forth hard work you will prosper.

That would be a flaw under pure socialism since in communism, there is infinite warehouse space and eveybody has a magic bag where you can pull out anything you'd like.

Though a system similar to communism did exist during the early ages of man when the tribes shared all the food hunted or collected equally among all the tribal members. It's one of the reasons that Marx believed that such a system could exist once again. I guess in those early days, the constant struggle to survive in harsh environments with limited tools suppressed man's lust for luxury. But in today's world, where we are constantly seeking new ways to make our lives more gratifying, how is getting an equal share of the pie no matter the amount of efforts you put into your life ever going to satisfy us? As for the depression followed by the collapse of USSR, don't blame it on democracy but on instability. @taks - There is no such thing as demand in communism since I believe that Ferraris and Rolexes would be raining from the skies.

Figure skating > American football + Soccer

So that's how Hitler ended up with two genitals!

You know. You are the hottest person who I ever suspected of hitting on me. ) (You can't imagine how sadly disappointed I was when I read the rest of your post.)

Didn't Socrates say that 'only those who absolutely dread of having power should have it'? (Offtopic, I know. But the thread moves too fast for me since I am also eating my lunch at the moment.)

There is also a saying that the smart hunter let the two tigers fight it out and takes the skins of both.

Oh yeah. I remember learning about that as well as how Mao modified Marx's theories to suit the situation in China where the the population is consisted of mainly peasants. However, both Lenin and Mao's final goal is the same as Marx's: to provide a utopia for their people at all cost. Both made some strides but ultimately failed because as I stated before pure communism could not be achieved.

People need to understand that Karl Marx defined the communism revolution into stages. First, the ruling class must be overthrown and a totalitarian government of socialists put in its place. When the conditions I mentioned before are met, governments will be abolished and everyone lives happily ever after. And in a pure capitalistic society, there would be no taxes or governments, either. As you see, all countries today are neither pure communists nor pure capitalists.

There is no such thing as communism vs democracy. It's communism vs capitalism or totalitarianism vs democracy. China, Cuba and even USSR are never communist countries. Their governments are socialists. In communism, people are rid of not only personal possessions but even the concept of them. The precondition for communism is that the productivity of human race has increased to infinity that personal possessions lose their meanings entirely. So basically if you wanted a sports car, they will just be raining from the sky. Economically, communism will never work because we have limited resources and unlimited demands. Socially, it won't work because free will is what defines our life but in a communist society our choices have no consequences to us. As for socialism, it has its uses when mixed with capitalism. Since democracy aims to provide everyone with equal opportunity, socialism as in forms of government spending could provide the poor quality education, food, lodging, etc., so they have a chance to compete with the already rich in the primarily capitalistic world. edit - Looks like some of my points are already made by others...

Very courageous of him to stay and continue his work after such an ordeal.