No, they’re just tools.

What I hate is people telling me that I have to use certain tools without good reason. Like building stuff only to work with IE. Or even FireFox 2. And that includes stuff deliberately designed to work with Safari as well.

Microsoft just works extra hard at being loathed.

Software Dev How Projects Really Work (version 2.0)…

“Spending of your government never has been higher.” That is true, it was a bitter disappointment. I do not, however, have faith that the Democrats would spend less. One advantage of military wastage is that we can cut back anytime without having to read horror stories about the resulting victims of the cutbacks. Once social spending is increased, however, people become dependent, and we can _never_ cut back without having to hear all sorts of horror stories about people thrown into sudden need and confusion.

“You never had more of your constitutation violated than now.” That is debatable, as I’ll explain below.

“You are pro-guns because you want to be able to defend against a government gone bad. Well, the time is now. If you didn’t use it against this administration, i doubt you ever will defend yourself with that gun.” Actually, as long as the government (however bad) respects the democratic process, use of guns against them would be a mistake. A _good_ revolution (as distinct from some sort of coup) requires massive public support, and if we had that right now we could simply vote for change.

As for corruption and lies, we have lots of financial corruption in both parties. The two cities I’ve lived in most recently, New Orleans and Memphis, have both been controlled by politicians of the Democratic Party, and we regularly hear of them getting caught in an FBI sting for bribery and going to prison. I can tell you of much more blatant lies I’ve been told by President Clinton. (And no, I’m not referring to his lies under oath about sex.)

As for my other Constitutional Rights being violated by the Bush admininstration, we’re talking about fringe cases. The most common blatant infringement of the average person’s Constitutional rights are done through intermediaries not _officially_ approved by the government, but tolerated by them. Consider these fundamental rights:

* Privacy in the home
* Control over one’s own body
* Freedom to travel
* Freedom from unwarranted searches and seizures

When a burglar is rooting around in my home, my privacy is violated. When I cannot walk public streets in certain places or at certain times without risking a mugging, my right to travel is violated. When a woman is raped, forced to choose between bearing an attacker’s child or killing her own unborn flesh and blood, her right to control her own body is violated. When I am robbed or burgled, my right to freedom from unwarranted searches and seizures is violated.

These at the most blatant and the most common violations of our Constitutional rights. When a government protects the lives of these attackers as they violate my rights by making me choose between defenselessness or prison — telling me that to save my own life I should submit obediently to a robber’s demands — such a government becomes an accomplice to these crimes. Morally, such a government is no different from the man who serves as a bankrobber’s look-out, no different from the rapist’s buddy who helps hold the woman’s arms down to prevent her from scratching at the rapist’s eyes while he rapes her. (That blindness is not an accepted punishment for rape is no justification.)

These rights are not satisfied merely by having laws against rape and robbery, nor is it a right merely to see a violator punished. Rather, we have the right not to tolerate being robbed or raped in the first place (nor to have to choose between that or death).

Until and unless the police can guarantee us mugger-free streets and burglar-free homes, we have the right and duty to defend these rights individually, and a government that tries to force us to tolerate these crimes is an oprressor.

If the police fear that a burglar might steal my gun, let them work harder to keep burglars out of my home (and discourage burglars from even trying by encouraging more people to shoot burglars).

>I can forgive a murderer

>I cannot forgive the people in power and those that have put them there

People that don’t lie and can’t image the tv lies to them?

Since when is naivity a sin?

>If I saw someone with their baby in a burning car with a bush/cheney sticker, I would have to consider whether or not I would even call for help

That is borderline murder.

>I’ve got friends who are republicans, but they are fine in my book

So, you would save THEIR baby. Nice.

>Do you really think people are honest and honorable?

Yes, most people are well intended civil beings. Some have less control over themselves as others, some are more intelligent as other.

I don’t live in your country, but if I did i would not be the type to vote on a republican. Most are crooks. But its much easier for me to see that from the outside. Our media outlets have no interest in my opinion about the US. They might have a local political bias, they have less of an international political bias.

I wouldn’t blame any american for not understanding what is going on. Its one thing to have media with different political biases, but it’s another thing if they completely contradict each other on factual information.

>2000 was decided by a margin of… gays cannot marry…

So, they have some issues to work out, like being homophobic. You are not helping them. You are just pointing a finger.

>My dear poephol, I think you’re talk of uncontrolled anger is reflective (see your above posts).

It wasn’t anger, but it was a bit of concern and shock, yes. You are a difficult person to debate with; you switch between real arguments and intellectual debate to name-calling, insults and threats.

So, obviously, you are not dumb. So be so rude or mean? What are you trying to achieve? Do you feel attacked?

If its all so important to you, if you think its all -that- bad, then why focus your energy on name-calling, insults and threats? The only purpose that could possible have is to make you feel better about yourself. That’s how much you really care.

Using ideology in an existential way is not healthy path. Try basing your self respect on how you treat people around you. Try to be the guy that does save that baby. You really can’t go on a moral highground because of political preference.

Because when you base your identity and self-image on your political colors, you don’t really want people to agree with you. If we would, we would be stealing your identity. If everybody agreed with you, you would have no reason to be ‘angry’ or ‘point at’ other people. You wouldn’t be able to distinguish yourself.

Maybe this is just speculation. I’m just trying to understand where your lack of manners originate from.

And there is nothing wrong with talking with somebody about that. It’s a lot healthier than going on blogs and claiming you want republican babies to die.

I think you mistake hate for something else… I believe that game theory scopes behavior in ethics quite well.

I can forgive a murderer – I don’t know their circumstances. I can try to empathize with an abuser – I don’t know their history. In either case, appropriate measures need to be put in place to punish the behavior and to protect others, but I do not judge these people.

I cannot forgive the people in power and those that have put them there. They consciously put in place a group who is responsible for the death of over a million people (American, Iraqi, and others). This does not count the physically injured. This does not count those who are emotionally scarred – either as abusers or abusees… They voted these people in power and they did it again… At this point, I don’t care about why they vote republican, all i know is that they are much like a disease and must be stopped. Anything that decreases that population is nice.

BTW – I’ve got friends who are republicans, but they are fine in my book. They voted their interests (they are pretty damn wealthy), and changed their vote when they saw what these people did. My political hero is Ron Paul… a republican…

Do you really think people are honest and honorable? If so why do we even need laws… (if it is just republicans who are honest and honorable – why do highly republican areas have greater afflictions of crime and religion?) Perhaps a more plausible explanation is that they are easily controlled by the tv and the great opiate. 2000 was decided by a margin of… gays cannot marry…

My dear poephol, I think you’re talk of uncontrolled anger is reflective (see your above posts).

You scare the shit out of me. How much of a biggot are you?

I wouldn’t likely vote for a republican, because i honestly think most of them are crooks. Some democrats are crooks too.

But people that vote for a republican might be confused. Maybe they just have different priorities in life.

In general, people like that expect their republican leaders to speak the truth, because they are like that themselves. Honest people with self-respect and honor. They are most easily fooled.

But you, you are full of hate. You judge people by their opinion and then you execute with your selective passifism.

Why pose such a threat? This people are just people. Maybe you neighbours. Somebody’s family.

Again, Matt, what is wrong with you? Please don’t get this the wrong way. But maybe you want to talk with some one about your anger.

You might end up doing something you regret. You might end up hurting the people around you.

I think most of humanity shares a common ethos – let’s live and let live and try to help eachother when we can… Our politicians and media (republican/zionist owned) have obscured our commonality with crap to keep the common man confused and occupied with stuff that really doesn’t matter. If revolution breaks out, hopefully both sides can take a few minutes to take out the real trouble makers first…

I’m not sure voting matters – most of the time we must choose between an asshat with an R or an asshat with a D… And almost all of them are prostistutes to lobbying groups that do not have our human or national interests in mind. Actually, I apologize to prostitutes for comparing them to politicians – we need a new word so that I do not demean hard-working women.

Correct. Its like sir/mister/monsieur. And the R is just the first letter of my firstname. I’ve learned a long time ago not to put my full name up on the internet.

>I can see how someone who hates my reactionary conservatism might call me that, but I don’t think I postured agressively, lost control, or ranted.

You were never aggresive.

>my reactionary conservatism

Is that it is? Although you obviously have different priorities, i don’t thinky our opinion is that extreme. It’s not the so much the subjective, but the seemingly objective part we seem to disagree. You believe your president and the american media, I believe the european media.

There was no link between 9/11 and saddam. Zero. That was a hoax. Pentagon even admitted that was no link.

There were no weapons of mass destruction. Nobody is sure if that was an intentional hoax though. _That_ could really just be a mistake. But we can at least saw that the certainty which with the president claimed that ‘fact’ was exagerated. He really wanted it to be true.

More importantly, if Saddam really had those weapons in a ready state, Iraq wouldn’t be attacked. (see north-korea).

The most dangerous aspect of the american democracy is that there are different versions of the truth. At least in Europe, the media is independent enough to not allow any politician to ‘play’ or ‘make up’ historial facts.

If I may feel as free to give you voting advise. Choose between the honest ones. Perhaps there is a lying politician (like bush) that appears to agree more with your political views. But can you really trust him? Your president took the right to ship people to guatanamo bay, to torture them and to not ever see judge. How could you possible still have freedom? How could you still a fair democracy?

Honestly, with all respect, voters like you have been played. You have been peopled. Misled. Deceived.

Spending of your government never has been higher. You never had more of your constitutation violated than now.

You are pro-guns because you want to be able to defend against a government gone bad. Well, the time is now. If you didn’t use it against this administration, i doubt you ever will defend yourself with that gun.