Did you skip your history class?

Dark Ages referred to the period of time ushered in by the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

The decline of the Roman Empire refers to the societal collapse encompassing both the gradual disintegration of the political, economic, military, and other social institutions of Rome.

To be sure Christians have done their good part in making a mockery out of religion. This doesn't make the Bible wrong. Just piss poor examples that do more harm than good.

The irony of this is that our 21st Century world is no less dark. It is an individual darkness, which multiplies and grows as those who reject Gods walk. Our age is characterized by every intellectual and technological advance but our morals have turned backwards.

From 2 Timothy 3
1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.

The Book of 2 Timothy was written in approximately A.D. 67 which is interesting that for something written so long ago appear so timely today.

I guess that if Nostradamus wrote it more would probably give it more credit.

>> ^TheGenk:

Didn't we have a christian dictatorship on this planet already? What was it called...? Ah yes, the fucking DARK AGE!

So, hes a practical idealist and as such, a visionary.
As for children of the transitional experience of our age the mantra should be, "Crack it, hack it, track it, stack it, pack it, and back it."

*Promote the hero for our age!!

I'll be brief. I have agreed with most of Obama's decisions up until this point. I am outraged and bitter. I voted for Obama because he talked about pulling the troops OUT. I knocked on doors to help get Obama elected because he talked about pulling the troops OUT.

I grew up with a kid named Mark, his younger brother's name was Tommy. I have a younger brother named Jeff and our ages matched (Mark was my age and Tommy was my brother's age). We grew up together after our mother's met each other on a field trip. From Chuckie Cheese trips (aka Show-Biz-Pizza at the time), baseball games, we did a lot together. Somewhere in the high school years though we lost touch.

Then about two weeks ago my mom called me to let me know Tommy died in Iraq. He was 23 years old.

I don't want to sound like a bleeding heart, and for those who dont know me this isn't like many of my other posts. But I just wanted to share a snippet of how the war is effecting me. I have family members there, numerous friends from high school and college. I think about them frequently and shake my head at the thought of them on patrol.

More troops and more cash thrown at the military. More dead kids. *sigh*

Ooof! That wasn't easy to watch.

Every time I see something like this on the internet, I have really mixed feelings. While I am somehow increasing my proximity to the situation by virtue of even being able to see this at all, I also feel so utterly distant from it. Bearing witness really has changed in so many ways in our age. Thanks for the sift, theali, for better or worse.

The movie was great and certainly as good as the comic. You should keep your pipe in when you haven't seen it, because really, you were wrong.

>> ^budzos:
The retards are the ones making the movie. I can see that was not clear.
300 was a comic book designed by Frank Miller to be "cinematic." Same with Sin City. So those properties don't suffer for the adaptation (even though I resent the making of Sin City as well). Spider Man, Superman, etc.. are all part of a greater mythology and have been multi-media more than twice most of our ages. The rest of the adaptations are just "comic book bullshit" and it doesn't matter what happens with it because it's nonsense thought up by nerdy fuckheads in their teens and twenties for the most part.
Watchmen was expressly designed to be the nexus of everything that comic books have been and could be. To anyone who cares, 300 is to Watchmen as Commando is to Casablanca. The story is fantastic and the story will translate well, but it's about the MEDIUM and what can be done with it.
I don't care about the changes. To be honest I'm sure the movie will be great, probably the best comic book adaptaion of all time. I'll be there opening day. That doesn't change the fact that I wish they weren't making it, so that more people would end up READING Watchmen rather than WATCHING it. They could make the most perfect adaptation of all time and I'd still resent the concept of a Watchmen movie.
The "Citizen Kane" parallel is not made lightly. Seeing Watchmen without having read the comic is just like reading Citizen Kane the comic book. It's not the experience the author intended. It's adulterated.

dystopianfuturetoday,

If it is true that you and blankfist have had many many discussions over and over as you say, why is it you still fail to even understand the basic framework surrounding his position?

I'll quote Mises as his "dusty, aged, cold-war tome" is once again, relevant:

"Thus Marxism protects itself against all unwel-
come criticism. The enemy is not refuted: enough to unmask him as
a bourgeois.' Marxism criticizes the achievements of all those who
think otherwise by representing them as the venal servants of the
bourgeoisie. Marx and Engels never tried to rehte their opponents
with argument. They insulted, ridiculed, derided, slandered, and
traduced them, and in the use of these methods their followers are
not less expert. Their polemic is directed never against the argument
of the opponent, but always against his person."

I imagine you are going to try to deflect that by mocking the usage of the term Marxist, so I have included this as well:

"I hope that these remarks will convince even the cursory and
superficial reader that my investigation and criticisms do not apply
solely to Marxian Socialism. As, however, all socialistic movements
have been strongly stimulated by Marxism I devote more space to
Mamian views than to those of other varieties of Socialism."

"Opposition in principle to Socialism there is none. Today no influential party would dare openly to advocate Private Property in the Means of Production. The word "Capitalism" expresses, for our age, the sum of all evil. Even the opponents of Socialism are dominated by socialist ideas. In seeking to combat Socialism from the standpoint of their special class interest these opponents—the parties which particularly call themselves "bourgeois" or "peasant"—admit indirectly the validity of all the essentials of socialist thought. For if it is only possible to argue against the socialist programme that it endangers the particular interests of one part of humanity, one has really affirmed Socialism. If one complains that the system of economic and social organization which is based on private property in the means of production does not sufficiently consider the interests of the community, that it serves only the purposes of single strata, and that it limits productivity; and if therefore one demands with the supporters of the various "social-political" and "social-reform" movements, state interference in all fields of economic life, then one has fundamentally accepted the principle of the socialist programme. Or again, if one can only argue against socialism that the imperfections of human nature make its realization impossible, or that it is inexpedient under existing economic conditions to proceed at once to socialization, then one merely confesses that one has capitulated to socialist ideas. The nationalist, too, affirms socialism, and objects only to its Internationalism. He wishes to combine Socialism with the ideas of Imperialism and the struggle against foreign nations. He is a national, not an international socialist; but he, also, approves of the essential principles of Socialism. [2]

The supporters of Socialism therefore are not confined to the Bolshevists and their friends outside Russia or to the members of the numerous socialist parties: all are socialists who consider the socialistic order of society economically and ethically superior to that based on private ownership of the means of production, even though they may try for one reason or another to make a temporary or permanent compromise between their socialistic ideal and the particular interests which they believe themselves to represent. If we define Socialism as broadly as this we see that the great majority of people are with Socialism today. Those who confess to the principles of Liberalism and who see the only possible form of economic society in an order based on private ownership of the means of production are few indeed."

The retards are the ones making the movie. I can see that was not clear.

300 was a comic book designed by Frank Miller to be "cinematic." Same with Sin City. So those properties don't suffer for the adaptation (even though I resent the making of Sin City as well). Spider Man, Superman, etc.. are all part of a greater mythology and have been multi-media more than twice most of our ages. The rest of the adaptations are just "comic book bullshit" and it doesn't matter what happens with it because it's nonsense thought up by nerdy fuckheads in their teens and twenties for the most part.

Watchmen was expressly designed to be the nexus of everything that comic books have been and could be. To anyone who cares, 300 is to Watchmen as Commando is to Casablanca. The story is fantastic and the story will translate well, but it's about the MEDIUM and what can be done with it.

I don't care about the changes. To be honest I'm sure the movie will be great, probably the best comic book adaptaion of all time. I'll be there opening day. That doesn't change the fact that I wish they weren't making it, so that more people would end up READING Watchmen rather than WATCHING it. They could make the most perfect adaptation of all time and I'd still resent the concept of a Watchmen movie.

The "Citizen Kane" parallel is not made lightly. Seeing Watchmen without having read the comic is just like reading Citizen Kane the comic book. It's not the experience the author intended. It's adulterated.

Think about the satirical/negative images of past presidents that we still remember today--e.g. "I am not a crook" (Nixon) and "Ich bein ein Berliner" (Kennedy). Then realize that these kinds of jokes will not fade with time, but will form the echo of the legacy of this man. For those in doubt, fear not; for a very long time, this man will be remembered as the most preposterous person of our age.

Go for 11, dude. Try that first for a few weeks, and if that isn't good enough then bump it up to 12. I think our community has grown enough since I've been here to make 11 or even 12 a decent escape threshold.

What kind of flour are we sifting anyway? White, wholegrain, or germ? I hope it's wholegrain, because that has the bran fiber. Guys our age start to need that, buddy.

Mariah Carey may be washed up, but I'd still do her. I'm not a sexist, but I realize that's probably a sexist statement. I still remember when she was young, and though her songs were lame she still had the voice of an angel.

(Long, lame, nostalgic bullshit warning)

It reminds of a girl with whom I used to work. At the time I was 23 and she was 18, and yet at that time I felt our age difference was vast. I thought I was so urbane and sophisticated because I was a whole 5 years older than her. Yeah, I was one of those guys who felt sophisticated at the mature age of 23. Crucifixion deserved.

The fact of the matter is that she was hot enough to relegate my 5+ year seniority to the dumpster because she was also a smart, funny, beautiful person who didn't feel the need to succor the delusions of a twenty-something individual to maintain her sense of self-worth.

So what am I trying to say? God DAMN all you smart and beautiful woman, that's what. And the less smart, less beautiful women too. You all get what you deserve: Never getting my company. So live with it. And you BEST not tell me you're over it already.

Because that would break my heart.

Again.

the most common medication associated with a moon face is cortisol, a steroid, which carlin would have really no reason to take for a heart problem. it is the result of fat redistribution, not water retention. he is most likely on blood thinners or diuretics to prevent clots and decrease the load on the heart (which would actually serve to increase water loss), neither of which should cause weight gain. i'm gonna go with "he's getting old" and his metabolism is slowing, or the embed video is distorted

>> ^Trancecoach:
This is from Saturday, March 1, 2008. & No, he hasn't gained any weight. He's on heart medication (7 or so heart attacks'll require that) which causes a "moon-face" (retaining water). And thank goodness the man is still with us. He is an amazing voice of reason in these days of turmoil. Upvote for the greatest living philosopher of our age!

This is from Saturday, March 1, 2008. & No, he hasn't gained any weight. He's on heart medication (7 or so heart attacks'll require that) which causes a "moon-face" (retaining water). And thank goodness the man is still with us. He is an amazing voice of reason in these days of turmoil. Upvote for the greatest living philosopher of our age!

My favourite musicians feature on Extras. Cat Stevens and Kate Bush. Guess Ricky is about our age.

I'm afraid many of us regulars are too old to be volunteering our ages..