mad4u689

Ideally, myself, completely. Practically, more myself than other people, but I don't care about either as much as I should. It's that trying-to-be-existentialist-but-sadly-somehow-nihilist thing coming in.

Ha, that's one intense speech. I was kind of bored by the end. I may have skipped a few bits... it was so repetitive. That said, John Galt was an incredibly sexy character. I'm serious, while reading both Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead I'd sometimes have to stop because I'd be turned on because the characters were so damn intriguing and attractive. :D The Good Will Hunting quote is a classic too. Then again, that movie has a lot of classic quotes. It's one of the most well-written (and acted!) movies out there, IMO. :D As for more literature quotes... The entire Steppenwolf excerpt in Steppenwolf, by Hermann Hesse. Also, the entire section in the Magic Theater - so surreal! and brilliant! That book changed the way I think about life and the world immensely. In fact, I think it was upon reading Steppenwolf that I matured a huge amount as an individual. For more "great lines," read "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde. If you're too lazy for that, just look up Oscar Wilde quotes on google. They're so much fun :D Also, brilliant and intuitive about human nature. mm.. I'll think of more later :D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_bang#O ... l_evidence

Freedom, in general.

I have a friend whose father would often "smoke up" (marijuana) with her and her brother (after they were age 13 or so). The father and these two kids had a great relationship, were very open and honest with each other, and enjoyed each other's company. The daughter now goes to Wesleyan University and the son now goes to Yale University, both very respected universities. I'm not saying drugs are good; I'm saying they're not universally bad. Also, parents giving drugs to their children in a controlled way can, similarly, be "not bad."

Now that's idealistic :P If you ever want a hope of reaching the "ideal" society, someone's gotta strive for it :D Also, it is important to separate the two issues: -whether abortion should be legal or illegal -the social ramifications of legalizing/illegalizing abortion, and how to counteract those effects in a way that is most beneficial to society

Then the real issue isn't allowing abortion, but rather establishing support structures so that babies who live are given a fighting chance. This means education reform, prison reform, etc etc :D

Oh, glad you've touched that point Mad. What I understand as an abortion elective situation is something along the lines of a 14 year old educationless, poor mother, whose child is fruit of rapeing and is unwanted by the mother and the mother's relatives. That child's life is surely going to be disgraceful. No, you're neglecting the HUGE factor of human free choice. The child's life might be "disgraceful" or it might wind up okay. The child may wind up going to public school, where the child will (ideally) get a good enough education to function in society and improve hir economic situation; alternatively, ze may not improve hir economic situation, but at least may be happy to be alive anyway. Regardless of what is better for this individual baby or for society, you have to consider whether you're violating a human right or not. I consider murder to be not okay. Regardless of the context, murder is something that is not alright, and the government must legislate against. For example, let's say Criminal X kills my mother. That means that it's not okay for me to go out and murder Criminal X. This is still wrong, and this is still murder, and this should be illegal, even though my reasons are "understandable." Similarly, I believe abortion is murder, once the fetus has achieved a certain point of "consciousness." This is a difficult line to draw, so I'll leave that for another later topic. If abortion is murder, then regardless of context (I don't want this baby / I was raped and don't want the child of a rapist / etc), it is not okay, and the government should legislate against it, even if the reasons are understandable. The exception to this is in cases where the mother's life is threatened. Similarly, you are allowed to kill in defense of your own life, if someone has broken into and entered your home, for example. When another life is in danger, the line of "murder" blurs.

So.... go up to a poor person and tell them that the world would be better off had they been aborted. I think the point is beyond that. Would you rather be born to a poor, unstructured, or even inexistent family or don't get to be born at all? I would like not to be born, because I think life's only worth it if you can enjoy your time in the Earth. The idea of a life of suffering and pain doesn't appeal to me. You're assuming that everyone who is poor lives a life of suffering and pain. If their life is so terrible they'd prefer not to live, they'd choose to commit suicide. Since more people choose to live than to commit suicide, let's safely assume that they are glad to be alive, and if you asked them if they'd rather not be alive, they'd look at you like you were crazy.

I guess I can't really know until I were in such a situation... but gosh... I really can't imagine being in a place where I could kill someone. Except myself, which wouldn't take as much willpower because you KNOW yourself, or someone who I knew actively wanted to die.

I did... but now I know him better and think HE is an awesome dude :D

If the defense of all good, means being tough then damnit so be it! I'll be honest - I disagree with you, and I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. I don't think "being tough" includes violating basic human rights, which is what I think the USA is currently doing, crossing the line from "tough" to "inhumane." There definitely is a fine line. Ghost Ranger is arguing that we haven't quite crossed it; I'm arguing that we have. The line is kind of arbitrary, and so it's understandable that we have a difference of opinion. So, I understand where you're coming from, but respectfully disagree :)

So they were released? What's the problem then? :shock: What? There's nothing wrong with being imprisoned for TWO AND A HALF YEARS without ever having a formal charge laid against you? With prison guards potentially mistreating you, being unable to see or contact your family, for two and a half YEARS? I mean... I know we all have different standards of morality and all, but... :P Then I would agree he should be compensated in some way. Slightly off topic: Right now, most states don't provide any compensation for people who are wrongfully imprisoned going through the normal justice system. There are people who have served over 20 years in prison, or have even served many years on DEATH ROW expecting to be killed, and later released when new evidence was found. Most of these exonerees aren't compensated by the government in any way, despite 18 years of their life being taken away, for example. However, some of them have earned decent jobs by becoming public speakers and sharing their experiences - if you ever get the opportunity, I highly recommend trying to bring someone to your school or community or campus to talk. For more information, check out The Innocence Project at http://www.innocenceproject.org/

So they were released? What's the problem then? :shock: What? There's nothing wrong with being imprisoned for TWO AND A HALF YEARS without ever having a formal charge laid against you? With prison guards potentially mistreating you, being unable to see or contact your family, for two and a half YEARS? I mean... I know we all have different standards of morality and all, but... :P

Maybe I'm just really dim today but I'm not sure what the point is that you're making with the Swedish chap. Maybe I don't understand it because I've never watched an episode of 24 before... I believe what Blue Tear meant is the following: You asserted that everyone captured and sent to Guantanamo is guilty of terrorist acts and should be detained for that reason. Blue Tear brought up a counterexample, in which a Swedish individual spent 930 days at Guantanamo, and was eventually released. 930 days of prison time without the rights afforded to other types of prisoners... and yet he was eventually not found guilty and released.

South Park (only in its most recent seasons) has had some good political and social commentary and is sometimes funny.

It's sad that the democrats don't have a single viable candidate right now. I don't see what's wrong with McCain though. He's so right, he's left. He's a great guy, but I don't personally agree with his politics, while I do with Colin Powell's. Ah :) Similarly, I don't really agree with the personal politics of Colin Powell or even McCain so much, either. They're both a bit right from me... you might have noticed I'm fairly liberal on most issues except abortion :P However, to be honest, I care more about having a president I respect and trust to be honest with the public (like Powell and McCain, and even Jon Stewart) than pretty much any other quality.

It totally has been o.O Wow. I need a life :P

It's sad that the democrats don't have a single viable candidate right now. I don't see what's wrong with McCain though. Jon Stewart ;) Out of curiosity, thedepressedsquirrel, did you read the entire article?

Thank you for posting this article - it was fascinating. I just spent quite a good deal of time reading it. I'm not sure if what I got out of it, in the end, was that Colin Powell was fired. I think it's always been clear that Colin Powell's resignation would not have been a one-sided decision; politics just doesn't work that way. However, the behind-the-scenes look at government officials during critical Iraq moments - really, I wonder how they got this information. To harryp0tt3rules: Media certainly should not always be trusted. I would not trust everything in this article. However, it seems well-researched and correct... and don't forget that the Washington Post is the newspaper that broke the Watergate scandal. Also: I would support either Colin Powell or John McCain in a presidential bid 2008.

Dude, I think I've been in this community way too long. Has it seriously been that long just since scapeboard, let alone the many other previous incarnations? :-k

I actually love all my classes this semester. The great thing about college is you can choose classes that you find really fascinating :D Abstract Algebra - a math class that looks at algebra in the abstract. For example, you've learned how to solve equations that deal with real numbers in either addition or multiplication. But Abstract Algebra deals with other things - if Function F composed with Function X = Function G, can you solve for Function X? And it gets more complex, but it forces you to think about the world in an entirely new and very abstract way, where so many things can be considered groups :D Also, the proofs are way fun to do. Intensional Logic and Metaphysics - wild class :D Cross listed between math and philosophy, this class focuses on modal logic, an extension of elementary logic. That means you examine logical possibility and necessity based on other possible worlds... study the completeness of the systems... Also totally trippy! SWEET class! Social Psychology - hear about research about why people act the way they do in relation to other people. Why do prejudices exist, and how can we counter them? Enough said! Also, my professor is a bit famous, which is totally cool :D And he also designed the big popular socialpsychology.org website :D Behavioural Neurobiology - (intro neuroscience) How does our brain work? The specifics are totally fascinating, especially when you think about it in relation to artificial intelligence, and the possibility of replicating intelligence without having any of the same basic level components. Intro Programming - actually, I don't like it that much. It's an intro Java class, but I already taught myself all the concepts (just with C++) over the summer, and it's going at a sadly crawling pace. But computer programming in general is fascinating :D Re: artificial intelligence

That is SICK. I feel a little sick now too. :S

Alright :) I respect your opinion as fairly consistent, just different from my own :D

Free time... ha... :P Well, I spend a lot of my time wasting, socializing, hanging out with friends and not doing much, just enjoying myself. When I'm on my own, instead of doing useful good things like reading, I often wind up reading tip.it forums or livejournal :x Oh, sigh, bad habits die hard :D