Evidence for God from Science

The problem is NOT the desire to have a strong military force. That is a GOOD thing. But the problem is the gross inefficiency and massive incompetence and enormously wasteful spending of the defense dollars the Pentagon oversees - why, because they have a blank check without sufficient oversights, monitoring and effective bidding. This is how you end up with a gazillion dollar gas station built in Afghanistan, when it could have been built for $500,000. So, it IS patriotic and prudent to want a strong, well-equipped military. But that is not the same as saying hand the guys in uniform a blank check, which is what has happened.

Eddy,

OK...thanks for your reply. I'll have to think about what you wrote, above before answering. For now, all I can do is offer some insightful mindless comments:

1. I like New Hampshire. It dethroned Vermont as my favorite state about 2 years ago.
2. I like that big liquor store just off the Interstate near Concord.
3. Congratulations on your daughter!

So, while I'm thinking over what you wrote, consider this:

Philip wrote:

FL: Have the 67% of Americans who don't bother to vote voluntarily given up their right to choose leaders?

Philip: Pretty much!

Except, as a high percentage of that 67% are truly clueless and ignorant, I'm thankful many of them DON'T vote! Excepting that young persons can and do serve in the military, pay taxes, I ALMOST wouldn't want most people voting before a certain average age in which most people aren't nearly as naive or as easily manipulated (which is over 40 for many ).

When I first read philip's reply, above, I wondered, "Where have I heard that before?" The answer came to me earlier today. I don't have an actual quote (all my books being down south in my home there) but it was no less than Vladimir Lenin who, upon noting that 70% of Bolshevik revolutionaries were illiterate, said something to the effect that, "We can't let a bunch of peasants vote and govern. Better a benign autocrat than a peasant to replace the Czar."

Well...we all know how that turned out!

Is there a parallel? If there is, it is...interesting.

Would NEVER want ONLY certain people to have a legal right to vote. It's just that I AM glad many of the clueless don't do so. Of course, the totalitarian viewpoint, wherein only the elites and officials have the power of appointing leaders - well, that's got a pretty bad track record, eh? ISIS, Taliban, the commies, they all love that "top-down" way of governing - except their way of getting rid of any perceived political opposition is, well, rather permanent

.

Thanks, FL. The two-year-old is actually my oldest. She has a two-month-old sister. It's been an adjustment, but life is good.

Philip, I have a couple of thoughts.

I think that people would be better informed about the issues is the news networks weren't all pumping out sensationalized garbage, or in the case of FOX News, conservative activism.

I also think that more people would vote if they felt like their votes counted, but the fact is they often don't. Gerrymandering in congressional elections and the winner-take-all electoral system in presidential elections means that a lot of peoples' votes are literally irrelevant.

I'd love to see more political parties and to see seats in the House and electoral votes distributed proportionally. With a proportional system if there were 10 seats available and Party A got 60% of the popular vote, Party B for 30%, and Party C got 10% the distribution would be 6/3/1. That's fair. Everybody is represented, and third parties have a shot at getting some seats. With our current system whoever controls the state political apparatus can redraw the districts to ensure that getting 60% of the votes will get them 90% of the seats. That's not democracy.

Finally, regarding "top-down" governance, I hate to break it to you but that's exactly what we have. The difference between the Soviet oligarchy and the American oligarchy is that our overlords are a lot smarter about how they control us. The Soviets used threats of violence, which was dumb. Here they use distraction (Hollywood, sports, video games, pundits, religion, and so forth), fear of bogeymen (ISIS/drug cartels/China is gonna come over here and kill us all if we don't let the government tap our phones), misinformation (a bunch of pundits making stuff up 24/7/365), economic pressure (I don't have time to rebel - I have to pay my college loans!), and mythology (We're all in this together! USA! USA! USA!). We're too busy working, watching football, and arguing about Ten Commandments statues to notice that the government doesn't listen to us anymore. And if we do notice it makes no difference - we're brainwashed to blame it on the other party rather than the people behind the scenes pulling the strings.

I known there are people here who disagree with me.. But I don't vote and never had. I'm 28. My whole life has been living in this oligarchy and I've known it. Voting is an illusion. Representation of the people is a lie. We haven't been a democracy for a while.. I just live here.. why would I support such a disgusting enslaving system? The only change that can 'fix' this country is a revolution of the people taking back the government and putting it in it's place, governed by us.
Canada does look nice...
I found out something HILARIOUS! when searching for RN jobs in Canada. Yes the taxes are higher but guess what? After doing the calculations of my taxes/expenses/wages. I would be making the same/ a little more in Canada doing the same hospital work I do here, and I would have a LOT more social benefits and security..

Mallz wrote: I would be making the same/ a little more in Canada doing the same hospital work I do here, and I would have a LOT more social benefits and security..

More importantly than all that, you'd have a better quality of life were you to move here. (Not to mention a generous pension at retirement...) What is stopping you? The longer you wait, the more difficult it will be.

And our Prime Minister is better looking than B.O. or That Woman.

Yeah - Canada is great if you have enough hair on your back: Spring lasts about a week, summer two days, and fall and winter are just a merge of relentless snow, cold and misery! Other than that, it's great!

I love snow!

I wanna live in Canada.

Furstentum Liechtenstein wrote:

Mallz wrote: I would be making the same/ a little more in Canada doing the same hospital work I do here, and I would have a LOT more social benefits and security..

More importantly than all that, you'd have a better quality of life were you to move here. (Not to mention a generous pension at retirement...) What is stopping you? The longer you wait, the more difficult it will be.

And our Prime Minister is better looking than B.O. or That Woman.

Your prime minister isn't even Canadian. He's French Canadian.

Storyteller wrote:I love snow!

I wanna live in Canada.

Oh great! Now everyone wants to move to Canada. Thanks FL!

RickD wrote:

Storyteller wrote:I love snow!

I wanna live in Canada.

Oh great! Now everyone wants to move to Canada. Thanks FL!

I can move into your closet

Storyteller wrote:

RickD wrote:

Storyteller wrote:I love snow!

I wanna live in Canada.

Oh great! Now everyone wants to move to Canada. Thanks FL!

I can move into your closet

There's no snow here. You wouldn't like it.

I've been to Montreeall.

If anyone has seen the movie, The Day After Tomorrow, that's what Montreal looks like in August.

RickD wrote:

Storyteller wrote:

RickD wrote:

Storyteller wrote:I love snow!

I wanna live in Canada.

Oh great! Now everyone wants to move to Canada. Thanks FL!

I can move into your closet

There's no snow here. You wouldn't like it.

Storyteller wrote:

RickD wrote:

Storyteller wrote:

RickD wrote:

Storyteller wrote:I love snow!

I wanna live in Canada.

Oh great! Now everyone wants to move to Canada. Thanks FL!

I can move into your closet

There's no snow here. You wouldn't like it.

Besides,

A fair-skinned WASP WASC such as yourself, would fry like an egg in the sun here. You'd literally have to live in my closet!