taks

well, he did say that kerry was the same thing... unfortunately, his footnote gets lost in the fact that he always points out problems with bush and never seems to be able to find them anywhere else. his agenda is more than obvious to those who have seen him post on a regular basis. taks

but if you had control, then the voices of everyone else would be lost. that's the point of the republic... our voices join together to elect certain officials, and they speak for us. when they stop speaking for us, we elect new officials. control is NOT the goal of a democracy, only influence. in spite of the notion put forth by several in here, it really does work even at a national level. legislators regularly get voted out, and replacements step up from the crowd. also, just because most of us don't have the means or wherewithal to become an elected official does not mean we can't do our bit. MC points out many valid options. rather than sitting about whining about how bad things are, why not try to make a difference? if you do, at least then you can say you tried. how do you think the national review got started? moveon.org? people and their ideas started all of these things. not all from excessive wealth, either (bill clinton was not rich by any means, one of the poorest presidents in our history, actually). dissenting opinion, btw, does not label somebody an unreliable dissident or cause them to be ostracized. even fanatics such as michael moore or rush limbaugh (one on the left, the other on the right) still command a large audience when they speak... learn a little about our system and you'll be surprised at how much influence the common man can actually have. sitting back and complaining without action is not the answer. taks

first of all, that has nothing to do with the oxymoron notion... you did not address my counter that democratic vs. totalitarian communism is essentially the same thing. secondly, capitalism, totalitarianism, communism and democracy are all principles that can't be directly compared. totalitarianism and democracy are both governmental forms, though neither dictates socio-economic policy (though both may, depending upon implementation). neither encompasses a "system" in that they only define one aspect of our lives (type of government). capitalism, however, does not technically dictate social or government policy other than self reliance and a hands-off approach to government. in the end, however, capitalism is not a system developed by man, but the result of the free market concept. i.e. it is more of an observation of the behavior of free market principles rather than the creation of a socio-economic ideal. communism IS, however, a system invented by man. it is not a result of anything other than man trying to envision the perfect society. it is not an observation, but an ideal, invented within and existing only in philosophical debate. taks

hardly. his little essay is stamped as lacking in objectivity simply because of his history. PoTC regularly cuts-and-pastes data from suspect/agenda-driven websites and touts "proof" without any verification. further, i think i've pointed out how easy it is to get sucked into web-based conspiracy theories that are based on nothing other speculative and/or anecdotal evidence, neither of which is proof by any means. more often coincidence. occam's razor violations abound... taks

not sure. the result of a pure democracy can be thought of as either anarchy or totalitarianism depending on the theory you prescribe to. taks

yup, once the mob realizes it can vote itself the keys to the treasury, it will. it will bankrupt itself shortly thereafter. taks

there's always hope he'll learn the concept of truly objective analysis. a practice not necessarily enabled by the internet. there's too much information there, much of it suspect. taks

most don't realize that, either. the problems of a pure democracy are just as bad as those of any other ideal system. taks

i've actually gone by the moniker taks since i was 12 years old (almost 25 years now) as it is a contraction of my last name. taks is me, btw, in terms of personality as well. not much difference between taks and mark at all. my current friends either call me by my last name (more common at work, actually) or mark. i've never really had a problem switching between the various methods of addressing me, and i do answer to them all readily. dunno why... it's just this way. taks... er, mark, er...

not truly, no. in the end, socialism requires a government dictating what it is the people need. while on the surface said governmental leaders may be elected democratically, they are still performing the will of the state, not the will of the people comprising the state. taks

not really anti-american, yet... most discussions on communism end up there, however. taks

*gasp* heaven forbid, alternative views... particulary from a station that openly supports, and advises, the republican... er, wait, that's CNN! true americanization ain't gonna happen from tv. taks

i realize that, but it's also prudent to point out flaws in such arguments. even i was left in college... *shudder*. i did NOT ever think that communism was workable ideal. not so much because of the obvious evidence to the contrary in the world, but just from a common sense standpoint of "now how can we guarantee everybody is on board with this?" which, oddly enough, isn't even the real problem with the system. taks

one could also provide an argument that the pope is the current coming of the anti-christ. and, using web resources, provide "proof" of such an argument. all quite nonsense, IMO (particularly if you don't prescribe to such notions as heaven, hell, christ, satan, etc...) taks

i'll reiterate my relevant contribution... just because PoTC claims proof of criminal activity does not make it so. likewise, the mere existence of such evidence is not to be trusted without verification. quoting news reports is not evidence, particularly when the author has an agenda of his own. the rich got richer last year simply because the economy improved. not much of a scam there. these guys have ALL of their money tied up in investments. mostly tech, which i why they also LOST 30-40% of their holdings during the crash... some even more. when the economy improves, investments do better and oila! more money. 10% btw, is not really a great return in the grand scheme of things. all of these links to past employment tells an even better story, btw... maybe these people are the ones that actually have EXPERIENCE dealing with such ventures? huh? maybe? nearly every politician has a link to some corporate past interest. nothing to see here folks... keep banging away at the drum PoTC. taks

both you and i had posts that were edited out, yet neither of us resorted to the ad-hominem attack that i complained about... mr. mod? taks

he's not wrong at all. MC did not equate communism with the land grab measure. he did the contrary. land division is a practice of communism. certainly no true communism has ever existed, but just as certainly it cannot exist in anything other than an ideal state. variations on a theme are all that have existed in practice, and those are equally fallible. taks

good post, Di... and to those that put any real stock into internet based conspiracy theories... nevermind. taks

oh, 2003 infiniti g35. it's quite nice to hum about in. taks

ahh... got your audi, eh? how do you like it? taks

arguing that we are evolving is pretty easy to do. many characteristics of humans have changed over the course of recorded history (some due to better health conditions and some due to selection...). HOWEVER, this "step" in evolution as you defined it is pretty thin scientifically. actually, it's even worse than that. pseudo-science covers this possibility quite nicely. btw, servant, the term "aboriginal" is similar to saying "african" or "european"... i.e. the phrase "they are of aboriginal descent" is correct. just a nit... taks

in the past, i had heard episodes 7, 8 and 9 were slated for a single movie release. not sure, but i also had heard that rough screenplays have existed since the release of the original star wars. it's been soooo long since i really cared, however taks

i will be in club-level seats at the denver-chiefs game sunday. so far, i've been to two other football games in my life (well, pro). the first was kwinkidentally enough the chiefs vs. 49ers in 1994; joe montana's first (and only) game against his former teammates. the second was denver vs. i can't remember in the same club level seats two years ago. taks

yep <{POST_SNAPBACK}> he is a QB, but not the starter. kurt warner is the starter for now. eli manning is the backup. he got beat up pretty badly in his last outing... taks

you can find the rules for a few here none of the bigby spells that i recall, however. taks