I'm calling it. Dean is toast.Follow

Off topic, but..
Huh? Tuna = Food. Dolphin = Not food. Maybe teach a tuna to make cute clicking noises while you rub its head at SeaWorld and you might be on to something.

Fair or not, intelligent or majestic animals have more value associated to them than the rank and file. That's not an animal rights thing, that's just human nature. If it was revealed tomorrow that, for every thousand cattle slaughtered for meat, a snow leopard got caught in the mix it wouldn't take PETA to raise a fuss about it. I guess your other choice is to pick one of two extremes: chunks of albino mountain gorilla on your pizza or else hire some shorn headed monks to sweep the walk in front of you to avoid steeping on any ants or worms.

So, yeah, I guess I fail to see the irony.

*shrug* Why aren't monkeys used for food? Why not cats, dogs and horses (in the US, anyway)? Why aren't people? We've got a lot of those. Point being, you draw the line somewhere and most people, when it comes to things that frolic in the sea, draw it between dolphins and tuna. I'm willing to bet there's a lot less dolphins than there are tuna though, if that was your point.

However, the American bald eagle was taken off the endangered species list a couple years back (in an amusingly ironic ceremony where they released a young eagle and it was immediately mauled by a hawk) so let's say one eagle per thousand cattle if that makes you feel better.

Perhaps withdrawing the animal analogy would be best. It is, as all analogies must be, flawed. That being said, I still maintain the other points in those posts. These are:

The trouble is, people don't pay attention. The vast majority are apathetic creatures who want nothing more than to be told that it's safe to go to sleep, that it's safe to send your kids to school. Bush is accomplishing that by playing on the fears of Americans. I could be wrong, but I have always believed fear to be an incredibly effective tactic in controling the masses. It appears that I am right, when given the current state of politics in this country.

I believe that the nature of man is not good. I believe good is a conscious choice that some make, and some don't, a majority of the time. While I will grant that all of us make a mixture of the two, most of us have a definite preference, consious or not. As to complacence, I would submit that this world has not become complacent, rather it is the default state. People are content to take the path of least resistance. Were that not the case, you and I would surely live in a markedly different world.

I wonder if there ins't some inherant responsibility to educate one's self to take advantage of the freedoms being squandered. I personally believe that freedoms gauranteed by the constitution are a great thing. However, freedoms such as these in the hands of the uneducated, disinterested, apathetic masses can be a bad thing.

I believe that in the society in which velcro closing shoes were invented that a good measure of control and illusion must be excersized on the masses. If it weren't, a reign of idiots would be ushered in that would make the shrub-one seem like a true MENSA candidate. The illusion of freedom is enough for some people.

You ought to have to take a test before you register to vote. Anyone without a passing grade gets passed over till next year. Democrats would lose the entire inner city population of the country, and republicans would lose the South, in its entirety. Sounds like a fair trade to me.

These being made, I will allow you all to rebut.

They taste oddly like chicken.

You left out the "(In the US anyway)" from my quote. Stop trying to pervert my messages with your Right Wing censorship in the name of 'freedom'!

Moebius-

I agree with you on almost all points. But once you have reached these conclusions, then you have to decide how to live in this world and this country while retaining the ability to sleep at night.

Look, I'm not going to rehash the good/evil debate on this thread. Being conscience of these points we are ahead of the curve. No intellectual back-slapping here, just hard fact. So we agree that Americans are especially complacent and self-interested, we like being told we can have our cake and eat it too, we live in fear partially propogated by authority for political reasons and if we act in this manner our freedoms are endangered. Now we decide wtf we do about it in our own personal lives:

1. Nothing, change is impossible.
a) Go back to navel gazing.
b) Use this knowledge to promote our own self-interest covertly.
c) Escapism such as TV religion drugs/alcohol EQ etc.
d) Move to Canada and take up fly fishing.

2. Something, change is possible.
a) Preach to the choir.
b) Get in pointless debates with people who will never come around.
c) Challenge misconceptions when you run afoul of them apolitically or uncondesendingly.
d) Become directly involved in the polical process and probably get disenchanted yet again because, let's all admit this, neither party is right all the time or being completely honest.

I am floating between 1c and 2c but will probably eventually land on 1d.

FUN FACTS ABOUT CANADA!

Canada got it's name by pulling random Scrabble tiles.

"C, eh? N, eh? D, eh?"

Edit: Forgot at least one:
1e Ridicule the idiots.

Edited, Wed Jan 28 02:16:42 2004 by Meadros

Well, fortunately for me, the only time I have trouble sleeping is when I have had too many peppers, or a little too much chili. Other than that, my conscience is clear, even as far as my complicity to the boot heal on the neck of the average citizen.

As to your list, I am more of a 1b/2c person. I know. It makes me a shallow person. If that is the definition, so be it. I enjoy a relatively comfortable income, I own my own home, I am the prod owner of more than one vehicle for every legal driver in my household and I am not a candidate for a Springer Special. I don't care about welfare, don't care about where Social Security is in 50 years. I donate to the United Way. I volunteer my time as a tutor. Life, for me, is a string of days that roll on, regardless of my actions in them. Enjoy them while they're here. The rest, who knows. Buy a handgun before they're outlawed so I can shoot the poor homeless guy that breaks in to my house when welfare dries up and the soup kitchen closes its doors. :)

Ok, so that was a little of an exageration lol