If virtue and knowledge are diffused among the People, they will never be enslav'd. This will be their great Security.
Samuel Adams, letter to James Warren, February 12, 1779
It is certainly true that a popular government cannot flourish without virtue in the people.
Richard Henry Lee, letter to Colonel Martin Pickett, March 5, 1786
While the people retain their virtue and vigilence, no administration, by any extreme of wickedness or folly, can very seriously injure the government in the short space of four years.
Abraham Lincoln
"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion . . . Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
John Adams in a speech to the military in 1798
Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition.
Thomas Jefferson
The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.
Winston Churchill
That some should be rich shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise.
Abraham Lincoln
The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Samuel Adams, letter to James Warren, February 12, 1779
It is certainly true that a popular government cannot flourish without virtue in the people.
Richard Henry Lee, letter to Colonel Martin Pickett, March 5, 1786
While the people retain their virtue and vigilence, no administration, by any extreme of wickedness or folly, can very seriously injure the government in the short space of four years.
Abraham Lincoln
"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion . . . Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
John Adams in a speech to the military in 1798
Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition.
Thomas Jefferson
The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.
Winston Churchill
That some should be rich shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise.
Abraham Lincoln
The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Election08 Videos Submitted by deedub81
In reply to this comment by deedub81:
*promote
I put Penn Jillet in that fuirst group, Glenn Beck in the second.
In reply to this comment by deedub81:
Yeah, it doesn't matter what's being said, just who is saying it, right?
If somebody is deemed "not worth listening to" then I don't care what they say.
>> ^NetRunner:
BR>Jillette is the only person here worth listening to, but I didn't really hear a concrete solution from him.
Anyways, the problems you cite with state budgets is a direct consequence of the Great Depression-style economy conservatives have created.
Roll your eyes if you like, but tell me, how will cutting unemployment benefits, laying off teachers, fire fighters, nurses, and police officers help the economy?
As for liberal Texas, that's actually been the thing us liberals have been eying quite carefully. The demographic trends in Texas suggest that Obama may carry Texas in 2012. If not then, then the next Democratic candidate in 2016.
I didn't even know Democrats had anything like a majority at the state level. That's pretty cool. Si se puede, I suppose.
In reply to this comment by deedub81:
In reply to this comment by deedub81:
*promote
In reply to this comment by deedub81:
Oldie but a goodie.
*promote
Mostly I think it was insane to try to make it out to be a public outcry against Obama; he hadn't even been President for 100 days yet.
I actually believe Fox when they say they didn't plan or organize those protests, though I do think toward the end there were a lot of professional Republican-aligned advocacy groups trying to bring professional organizing to some of the rallies.
I wouldn't be surprised if next tax day we see a series of professionally organized protests. We'll see if they find a good message to push by then.
In reply to this comment by deedub81:
I kid because I think it's pretty silly that the tea parties got so much attention and yet there was not a unified message conveyed to anybody about anything.
The overall message was, "we're fed up." Fed up with what? The subjects being address ranged from the irrelevant (Obama's birth certificate) to very poignant issues such as the deficit, the border, the Iraq war and so on.
You're probably right that it doesn't fall into the category of "slacktivism" but it is still ineffective. What a waste to rally that many people with no clear purpose to be united on and no clear solution being proposed.
The tea parties certainly reached a far larger audience than all the anti-Iraq war protests combined due to its wall-to-wall coverage by Fox News. Whether the message of those protests was focused and effective is a whole other matter.
I'm more inclined to reserve the word "slacktivism" for things that have just about zero chance of making an impact (e.g. a yellow "Support the Troops" magnet, signing online petitions, leaving comments on the New York Times' website saying "WHAY WON'T YOU LOOK FOR OBAMA's MISSING BIRTH CERTIFICATE, YOU DMAN MARXISTS?!", etc.).
In reply to this comment by deedub81:
...or attending a tea party. I counts because it's covered by Fox News, right?
In reply to this comment by deedub81:
Now, now, now.
Is that the "Obama" approach to debate or the "Bush" method?
Hmm.
In reply to this comment by gorillaman:
I can't believe you fucking people are having this fucking argument.
Those of you with the correct position, just say "you're retards" and walk away.
*Less vs Fewer IS one of my pet peeves, on the other hand.
In reply to this comment by deedub81:
"Grammar is about structure, not what is implied (or inferred)."
Yes, and "language" is about what is implied and what is inferred. Grammar is not the only factor involved in communication.
Language is the systematic creation and usage of systems of symbols —each referring to linguistic concepts with semantic or logical or otherwise expressive meanings.
Communication is the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information by speech, writing, or signs. Communication sometimes has nothing to do with grammar.
That being said, it bugs the CRAP outta me when somebody says, "I could care less."
In reply to this comment by Bullwinkle:
"Yep, mixed up imply/infer and didn't reread my post. Whoopee, what a tame and insanely common mistake. Notice how I can admit where I'm wrong instead of kicking the air like a mule."
A common mistake and a big one. It also discredits your whole "English Major" trumpeting.
"What an amazingly thorough rebuttal, just stubbornly asserting the opposite without addressing the logic of my post. Why would anyone interpret that you cared enough to give a preference unless an actual preference followed? Explain. Your entire argument rests on this. For "I could care less" to imply caring when the opposite was intended, it has to be inferred that way by the person to whom it's spoken."
I doon't have to write a dissertation (or 100 formal papers) to make a point, though I clearly have to illustrate it again, since you boiled it down to your point instead of mine.
Grammar is about structure, not what is implied (or inferred). So, yes, the speaker may intend to say they couldn't care less when they say, "I could care less," but that is not what they're saying, even if the listener understood what they meant. As another example, people may know what you mean when you use a double negative, that doesn't make it correct.
In reply to this comment by deedub81:
I love this song. I sang this arrangement with a quartet years ago. Ahhh memories.
...and I think their accents are cute.
By the way, you can keep your political commentary out of our conversation, since it is entirely unrelated to the reason I claimed dupe and downvoted. Thanks.
In reply to this comment by deedub81:
Whoopsie. Look before you leap.
That video has some lame dubbed music. This is the remastered copy with the original Bobby McFerrin.
Thanks anyway (for the downvote).
That other video that you linked to is kinda like Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. Looks fine on the surface, but once you really dig in you find it's nothing more than a crock.
In reply to this comment by HaricotVert:
dupe: http://www.videosift.com/video/Pixar-Classic-Short
What the fuck was that, then?
Next time, just tell thepinky that downvotes can be seen if you hover over the downvote button.
You puppet.
In reply to this comment by deedub81:
Still don't see anywhere that I've attacked you personally.
In reply to this comment by UsesProzac:
"...I have never waged any personal attacks against you..."
Oh, really? Please refer to my previous comment on your profile.
And that's all I could care to contribute to an issue that I don't think is meaningful.
Oh, really? Please refer to my previous comment on your profile.
And that's all I could care to contribute to an issue that I don't think is meaningful.
In reply to this comment by deedub81:
I'm glad you appreciate them. I have great personal connection to the cause of furthering people's understanding of the dangers of pornography. Members of my extended family have suffered greatly due to it's negative effects. I feel it can be as addictive as the most powerful drugs. People who tell themselves that it's innocent or healthy are just lying to themselves.
I didn't see that thread until recently. There must be a flaw in the code for that page because there is not comment box.
You never felt the need to comment on the Pornography post, though?
In reply to this comment by deedub81:
Okay. That's not the way I see it, though.
In this instance, I rely on facts and studies. You, on the other hand, seem to "take it the way you want it."
In reply to this comment by LadyDeath:
Sure Take it the way you want it
In reply to this comment by deedub81:
Do you have any sources to back up your statement or is it just your opinion?
-At the 2002 American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers convention, attorneys present reported that 56% of their recent divorce cases resulted from a spouse’s compulsive Internet porn use. (Paul, 2005)
-41% of surveyed adults admitted they felt insecure and less attractive due to their partner’s pornography use. (Yarhouse, Marriage Related Research)
-One psychiatrist specializing in treatment of sexual dysfunction estimates that 60% of his cases are directly related to the Internet. (The Sunday Paper, Atlanta)
-87% of the molesters of girls, and 77% of the molesters of boys reported regular use of hard-core porn. (Marshall, 1988)
-Zillmann and Bryant’s research studies, completed in the 1980’s, were so successful at proving the irreversible negative effects of viewing pornography that ethics boards will not allow further studies on the topic to be undertaken. (Paul, 2005)
In reply to this comment by LadyDeath:
I come here only because I Love To vote for people comments lol ^ ^
Edited* The ones that are worthwhile and make me laugh at this nonsense post.