pirana

That's a pretty good set of bullets. Sums it up well. Most people are not aware that Sadam was one of our buddies right up until he invaded Kuwait. Not only did our government not give a crap how many people he screwed over, they actually supplied him and the Turks with weapons and money to slaughter Kurdish civilians. But invading Kuwait and threatening to destabilize the Middle East in general, and oil supplies specifically, that was crossing the line. People that think we went there to free the Iraqi people from a tyrant or eliminate WMD are incredibly naive. Our government has ignored, and still does ignore, tyrants much worse than Sadam. Our presence in that region since WWII has been about 1 thing - OIL. Nothing else. I doubt we would have even gave a crap about Israel if it weren't for the fact that they represent our best foothold in the region. IMO, they wouldn't even exist if it weren't for oil in the Middle East. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

So who, then, thinks the pics are staged? If only some, which ones? None of it is staged...the pictures are handpicked. I doubt they are staged, but don't know, and it's irrelevant. A soldier petting a kitty has no bearing on why we are there, what we are doing, what we'll accomplish, or how it will end. A picture like that is window dressing - art at best, propoganda at worst. I oppose our actions, but wish no harm to our troops. To me, the best way to insure them no harm would be to bring them home. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Of course the best case scenario would be not having the fight at all. Our dependency on oil and the desire for Bush and Co. to line their pockets kind of rules out that option. So yeah, I'll agree, better their dead children than ours. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Haven't seen the documentary, but don't go there; and don't see that I will. It's like most things in life. You get what you pay for. I like Dennis Miller's line about buying crap for cheap. He was poking fun at K-Mart and the special lime green pullover offerred at 2 for 1. His comment: "Two of shit is shit. If they really want to fuck you over they'll give you 3 of the damn things!" " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Did you come to that opinion after reading the research in the field or does it just feel right to you? It's really too bad English doesn't have different words for those two types of opinions. It's both, or more accurately, all three. There are genetic factors that influence a person'e predisposition for religious beliefs, and there is the learning drilled into us as children. Then there is the cerebral free will we all possess to constantly review and either keep or discard what we believe to be true. The 3 work together to make us who we are: genes, environment, and brain (free will). don b - dispensing wisdom wherever the truth, and things that come in 3's, are not suppressed. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Reminds me of the scene in The Holy Grail where the good Knight is being rescued by his comrades from the castle full of virgins between the ages of 17 and 19. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Absolutely agree. It's more like The Great Pumpkin. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Wonder how much money they spent to find this out. They should have just asked me. I would have charged them only half the amount. More daring predictions: Children's brains are different than adults. Dog brains are different than cats. Brains are different than no brains. There, just saved some academic all-star a boatload of money. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Only those taking part will really know for certain if there is any bias (tampering with the experiment or the findings to fit an intended result). Otherwise I consider this a worthy experiment. One in which it sounds (from the preliminary info) like the subjects behaved nobly. I don't think it's creating news any more than taking a survey is creating news. If anything it's just that it's qualitative in nature, and not quantitative the way a Q&A survey would be. We learn a lot from qualitative investigation - you just have to be careful not to make the leap to quantitative conclusions. Or as someone here said before: The plural of anecdote is not data. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

That's a really, really, really, really, really, reallly, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, long way of saying that free will is alive and kicking and you should never stop asking why. Usually you have to ask many times (5 is the average) to get to the bottom line. Accept no substitutes for clear, deliberate, critical thinking; and treat with extreme suspicion those that resent being questioned. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Might be able to land a wingsuit too. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

If the story represents a truthful disclosure of fact, then I'd have to chalk it up to always being some bad apples no matter what line of work. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

I think the level of "eccentricity" that would result in shooting a teenager in the back would be pretty easy to detect. I'm not an anti-gun nut, but this nations murder rate is all you need to see to know that a lot of guns are getting in the wrong hands. We don't necessarily need tighter gun control as we much as we need tighter wacko control. If a person has ever committed a violent crime at any level, they should never own a gun. If they have ever been diagnosed with certain mental disorders - no gun for you. And a brief exam isn't a bad idea either. We need better controls on who can own a gun. Guaranteed this guys nuerosis showed in more ways than just measuring his grass. Ever notice how after these events happen, you see the neighbors being interviewed and they almost always say something like "He was a pretty quiet guy. Kept to himself usually. Spent a lot of time (insert nuerotic obsession here)." Those clips are so similar they could just use stock footage. My guess is that even a superficial psycho exam would identify damn near every one of these cretins. Maybe they're not nuerotic enough to need a lobotomy, but for crying out loud we could at least stop letting them own guns just because some special interest group or another is afraid someone will use it as a first chip in their rights to own a gun. Everyone who wants to own a gun should be required to pass some cursory evaluation, such as MMPI. I'd rather have freedom from psychos with guns than freedom from the government knowing I prefer tall women, . . . in uniform, . . . who talk dirty. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Yep. IIRC, with our current inability to predict solar events in detail, it's just a matter of odds in avoiding a big event. Basically, if you are outside the Earth's magnetosphere during a large CME that comes our way - you're toast. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

"I like to watch." - Chauncey Gardner " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

It's too late. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

A trick question. Reminds me of the witchhunt scene in the Holy Grail. If I say no, I must be part of the conspiracy. If I say yes, I'm admitting it. BUUUURRRRRNNNNNNNNN HER! " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

No, absolutely not, impossible. Governments do not lie, people lie - some more than others - politicians more than most. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

My standards for extermination would take into account the distinction between sitting in the "wrong" seat on the bus versus, say for instance, stalking and killing children. I think the expenses part has been addressed. End the ridiculous parade of appeals. That's not justice. That's stalling. For those objecting to capital punishment, I would turn the question around. What purpose is served by locking someone up permanently that can not be served by execution? " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

[replyWould you claim that Rosa Parks wasn't human? Richard Loving? Martin Luther King? The suffragettes? Many of our heroes get to be heroes by not abiding by societal expectations. I suspect you meant "doing evil things that are outside societal expectations." But again, we claim that when done for good reasons such things are acceptable. Hence the need to not just shoot everyone in the head who does something like that; we send them to trial to determine what their motivation was and whether they are really guilty of the crime or not. And if found guilty, THEN we shoot them in the head. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Yes, there would be some devilish details, but it's doable. And yes, I recognize there are all kinds of predators, and am open to having more than just killers executed. I'll start working on my list. I really do not understand the objections to capital punishment. It does not appear that it's a sanctity-of-life matter for most people. To hold that up as the reason would mean a person object's to all killing in all places for all reasons. If anywhere near even half the population felt that way, we'd have no wars. There would simply be no support for it. Other possible exceptions include abortion, euthenasia, suicide, etc. And if there are going to be exceptions, then the whole sanctity-of-life moral arguement goes out the window. Can't have it both ways - either life is sacred or it's not. That's how principles work. You can't sorta have integrity or sorta believe in the sanctity of life any more than you can be sorta pregnant. So my take on most people who object on moral grounds is more that they don't like how it makes them feel for someone to be PUT to death versus being killed in a war or some other scenario. When the manner of death makes them feel icky, they claim moral high ground. When the manner of death does not upset their sensibilities, they suddenly get holes in their morals. Their moral no longer look like a principle but more resembles situational ethics. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Here's another angle. Let all the folks who think it is preferrable to lock someone up for the rest of their life foot the bill. I have no qualms about the death penalty being used, as long as the standards are well thought out. I don't think that makes me anything like the people I think should be put down, or that there is any danger I will become like them. With DNA testing and all the other top notch tools avaiable to forensics experts these days, I'm confident we could come up with standards that would be hard to object to on anything but supposedly moral grounds. As far as being human in physical form only - I am quite serious. My definition of humanity is more than just having physical roots in the same gene pool. It means recognizing and abiding by societal expectations. The spiritual being is as much a part of being human as the physical being. I would accept that there may be some finer points open to interpretation, but I don't think anyone could say that they did not know that raping or killing children was against those expectations. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

nonsense, executions are cheap. all the litigation and interim time is expensive You stole my reply. An execution costs one bullet and a few seconds of a decent rifleman's time. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

OK, that's just funny. I know it's a typo, but it's still funny . Wendy W. Somebody has NCAA Bracket Fever. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

That would be a waste of money. Predators should be exterminated. They are human only in physical form. All evidence points to there not being a cure, not to mention that the rate of recitivism is thru the ceiling. These people are more like rabid dogs than people with a "problem" and need to be put down as such. It is unjust, unsafe, and ineffective to keep them alive. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley