Biker Killed by Mountain Lion

I can't recall who it was that said it would be better to just pick the
first 1,000 names in the phone book and install them as rulers rather than
be led by the Harvard faculty. Whoever it was, he was wiser than he seemed.

--
--Scott
"Arne" wrote in message
news:tHh5c.5635$rQ.4515@lakeread04...
I would like to be ruled by either a benevolent dictator with a grip on
life, or a conglomeration of people who actually work for a living and
have
a bit of a struggle to make ends meet. The first would probably not pass
out
the pork and get rid of some of the stupid things that occur (ie, suing a
company that sells food because a person can't walk away from their plate)
and the second would have a grip on how money should be spent.

An example is our own town. It is one of the top 5 towns in my state for
per
capita income. And when they build schools, they draw on their experiences
of how they live. Consequently, they think our schools should reflect
their
life style. And our taxes have risen accordingly. And people of normal
means
are leaving town to avoid our high taxes....

Then we have our folks in washington who have their own retirement plan.
They have their own health care system. What did they do after passing
OSHA
and Equal Opportunity Emloyment Act? They put provisions in that excluded
themselves from having to follow the laws they just passed.... In short,
they continually put themselves above us.

The main reason the gov't first existed was to maintain an army/navy for
the
defense of our country. There was no income tax...... and it has grown
from
there to where we are now. We think they should take care of everybody and
everything.

Arne

=====================
"Edward Dolan" wrote in message
om...
"Arne" wrote in message
news:mE25c.3672$rQ.2995@lakeread04...

We are in a society that is ruled by lawyers. I do not know what % of
the
general population is lawyers, but I don't think it is 59%......

I grant you your point, but what I am saying is that is not such a bad
thing. Who would you rather be ruled by? Corporate executives. Labor
union leaders. Priests. Intellectuals. Wealthy landowners. I think
not.

The advent of the small town lawyer in America who works in all areas
of the law is one of our finest creations. It may very well be that
this lawyer class has more to do with our freedoms than any other
class of citizens. They value the law above all else and see to its
enforcement. I give you old Abe Lincoln as a fine example of what I am
talking about. If it weren't for lawyers, we may very well have lost
our democracy long ago along with most of our freedoms.

But lawyers do not so much rule us as represent us. But the beauty of
it is that lawyers know how to check one another without coming to
blows or committing murder. This creates balance and it is very
difficult for any one person or clique to ever dominate anything. It
mostly creates a lot of grid lock, but that is not such a bad thing
either.

Ed Dolan - Minnesota

Arne:

"What we have now could be much better than it is. It is human nature that
has ruined it"

So how could it be better than it is?

Anyway, since you're bored here a citation to an article written by David
Brooks on "bourgeoisophobia."

http://www.weeklystandard.com/conten...001/102gwtnf.a
sp

It's a generalization, but a very powerful one.

--
--Scott
"Arne" wrote in message
news:_Tt5c.6410$rQ.3791@lakeread04...
not true.. a dictator is simply a one person government. that does not
exclude fairness.

What we have now could be much better than it is. It is human nature that
has ruined it.... even fair application of the laws we have now to hold
those jackasses accountable for their actions would be nice. Most times,
when they get caught, they get a slap on the wrist.... where we would wind
up in jail.

Anyway, this discussion is getting boring, so I'm done.

Arne

=====================
"Edward Dolan" wrote in message
om...

There is no such thing as a benevolent dictator. It is an oxymoron.

The second group you mention would be ideal and harkens back to the
Jeffersonian ideal of democracy, the sturdy yeoman of the countryside.
Alas, those days are long gone.

What we presently have is not as bad as you imagine it to be. It could
be infinitely worse.

Scott, after writing out a long reply to you personally, no email
address.... even at the bottom....

Arne

=====================
"Freewheeling"

Arne:

I apologize. I turned off the siggy because I was getting flame email.
It's still .

--
--Scott
"Arne" wrote in message
news:Ymj6c.12543$rQ.3861@lakeread04...
Scott, after writing out a long reply to you personally, no email
address.... even at the bottom....

Arne

=====================
"Freewheeling"

On 18 Mar 2004 06:07:42 -0800, (Edward Dolan) wrote:

Do you know of
anyone who really likes Kerry?

Wrong choice.

Can you come up with enough people who don't hate Bush, by the time
the "smear machine" gets done?

To hear the Dems tell it, Bush is evil incarnate, and responsible for
every bad thing that ever happened since the Great Depression.

And there are a plethora of sheep who will drink Kerry's purple
Kool-Aid.

Sure, Kerry will increase Federal spending on social programs, but
he'll pay for it by raising taxes only on the elite; the very
wealthiest 98% of Americans.

It's for the children. And the ozone.

Did you know Kerry went to Vietnam?

On 18 Mar 2004 23:17:36 -0800, (Edward Dolan) wrote:

You ought to be posting to the newsgroup so I and others can get in on
it. No need to be exclusive here. We are all known to one another by
now and we have no secrets from one another. This is a mature
newsgroup and you do not need to be concerned about being flamed
unless you initiate it.

Simply not true in every case. Some things are, by netiquette, taken
off-line. If I'm discussing someone in general terms and someone wants
to know more personal items about someone we know in common, then it
isn't for the newsgroup, it should be off-line. And sometimes a direct
flame may be appropriate, but only off-line.

There are way too many cases to cover even a small portion of them,
and people are going off-line all the time, whether you are pleased
with it or not.

Curtis L. Russell
Odenton, MD (USA)
Just someone on two wheels...

Scott and I are long-distance recumbent-riding friends who have lost touch.
The note was more personal than to do with this off-topic discussion.
Otherwise, I agree with what you said..... this time it doesn't happen to
fit.

Arne

=====================
"Edward Dolan" wrote in message
om...

You ought to be posting to the newsgroup so I and others can get in on
it.

"Edward Dolan" wrote in message
om...
"Freewheeling" wrote in message
...

Arne:

"What we have now could be much better than it is. It is human nature
that
has ruined it"

So how could it be better than it is?

Anyway, since you're bored here a citation to an article written by
David
Brooks on "bourgeoisophobia."


http://www.weeklystandard.com/conten...001/102gwtnf.a
sp

It's a generalization, but a very powerful one.

Your link above does not get me to the citation. Which is too bad as I
am always delighted to read about the bourgeoisie, whether for good or
ill. But the Weekly Standard is a fine publication and I shall
continue to search for the article by David Brooks.

Regards,

Ed Dolan - Minnesota

Ed,
Put the letters "sp" at the end of the url and it will get there.....they
got cut off in his post....
jd

"Edward Dolan" wrote in message
om...
Zippy the Pinhead wrote in message
. ..

On 18 Mar 2004 06:07:42 -0800, (Edward Dolan) wrote:

Do you know of
anyone who really likes Kerry?

Wrong choice.

Can you come up with enough people who don't hate Bush, by the time
the "smear machine" gets done?

To hear the Dems tell it, Bush is evil incarnate, and responsible for
every bad thing that ever happened since the Great Depression.

And there are a plethora of sheep who will drink Kerry's purple
Kool-Aid.

Sure, Kerry will increase Federal spending on social programs, but
he'll pay for it by raising taxes only on the elite; the very
wealthiest 98% of Americans.

It's for the children. And the ozone.

Did you know Kerry went to Vietnam?

Yes, the hatred of Bush is a phenomenon which defies rational
explanation. The ignorance and downright stupidity of the American
electorate is always something that has to be taken into
consideration. Nevertheless, Bush has enough money to spend on TV ads
to persuade even the stupidest American that he should be retained for
the duration of the War on Terrorism. I predict that Kerry will self
destruct sooner or later. The fact is that no one really likes him. He
is an elitist of the worst sort. Kerry is already making one misstep
after another.

It is now March. The election is not until November. That is more than
enough time for all Americans to get their heads screwed on straight.
I am thinking Kerry will go down to defeat a la McGovern. The fact is
that the Dems are not fit to take power in this time of strife and
warfare. The American people will clearly see this in due course.

The main thing working against Bush is not Kerry but the g.d. liberal
media. If any one tells me that the major media are not liberal I
think I will go stark raving mad from the frustration of it all. Hell,
if it weren't for Fox News, I would already be as mad as a hatter.

Ed Dolan - Minnesota

Ed,

Are you sure Fox got there in time?

Jack

Edward Dolan wrote:

... I will have to take stock of myself and I will report back to the newsgroup my
findings and reconsiderations.

We can barely wait.

--
Tom Sherman - Quad Cities (Illinois Side)