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In Abstentia Lucii Tenebrae Vinctum...in the Absence of Light Darkness Prevails.
Personal motto |
"Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst. Breeds that forget this basic truth have always paid for it with their lives and freedoms."
The Robert A. Heinlein , Starship Troopers. |
"It is naively assumed that the fact that the majority of people share certain ideas or feelings proves the validity of these ideas and feelings. Nothing is further from the truth... Just as there is a 'folie a deux' (folly of two) there is a 'folie a millions' (folly of millions). The fact that millions of people share the same vices does not make these vices virtues, the fact that they share so many errors does not make the errors to be truths, and the fact that millions of people share the same form of mental pathology does not make these people sane."
Erich Fromm, The Sane Society. |
"the government that governs least governs best"
Libertarian motto |
[edit] My Userboxes
[edit] World's biggest user box
[edit] User Boxes
[edit] Languages
[edit] Welcome
Hello, my name is Thomas (Tomtom to my friends, et al) Fuller. I was previously Tombombadil until the network I was on was comprised. I live in Warminster, Pennsylvania, United States.
I served in the 
United States Army.
I have a Rat terrier named Brutus.
I am a BIG believer in the Democratic Peace Theory (which suggests that the nature of democracy means that democratic countries will not go to war with each other. As democracies externalise their norms and only go to war for just causes, and that they encourage mutual trust and respect) and Peace through strength (the doctrine that military strength is a primary or necessary component of peace). Amen.
[edit] Where I was stationed
Fort Leonard Wood, Fort Huachuca, Fort Bragg, Hunter Army Airfield, Yongsan Army Garrison, Camp Jackson, Fort Jackson, 
1st Cavalry Division, headquartered at Fort Hood, 
49th Armored Division , in that order.
[edit] Countries I've visited
In order of visits:
Mexico, 
England, 
Germany, 
Netherlands, 
Ireland, 
Egypt, 
Israel, 
El Salvador, 
Honduras, 
Grenada, 
South Korea, 
Japan, 
Italy, 
Saudi Arabia, 
Kuwait, 
Iraq, and .svg/22px-Flag_of_Belgium_(civil).svg.png)
Belgium.
Both "Interests" and "Leading frustrations" were borrowed from Ford with his, errr, umm...somewhat retroactive, and possibly reluctant, consent. But as we are in abject and whole hearted agreement.... :-} --Tomtom9041 17:49, 4 December 2007 (UTC)[1]
[edit] Interests
Generalist in world studies, particular interest in history, geography, language and symbols, and the nature and practice of dominion. Proponent of transcendent rationalism, and its corollary, stewardship.
[edit] Leading frustrations
Administrator abuse. — This frustration trumps all others. There is little if any point in editing here when self-important editors with special powers violate written policies that are meant to govern the use of these special powers. Perhaps worse than that is that such abuse receives from the community. This is incredibly shortsighted; those who cheer abuse when it happens to those they do not like have no defense when they are the victims of abuse themselves.
Biased edits. — I agree with the sentiments of some that calling a thing by its proper name is important — dictatorship, rule, oppression, murder. That is much of the point of the above pages, particularly Earth as it is. I am happy to deal in controversy elsewhere; but Wikipedia, with its open format, is not the place. We have all agreed to produce something that is dry and factual; we should do only that. Of course, this bias is most frustrating when it involves calling a thing what it is not, and is accompanied by accusations that a neutral position is biased.
“Settled” matters. — Policies which are subject to change are taken as divine fiat; agreements reached between a handful of editors at some indeterminate time in the past are taken as constitutional law. While I am called upon to justify my editing practices, other editors are allowed to resist any change with reference to a discussion with a few or even one other editor a year or two in the past as the last word on any given issue. And such “settled” or “established” policies are held to trump even the policy of neutrality.
Adulation of “superiors”. — Religious figures, royalty and nobility, and other holdovers of pre-modern times are subjects that some editors are clearly incapable of treating. Styles and titles that are assumed by self-important individuals, or disingenuously “granted” them by their supporters, or bestowed by presumptuous governments, are perhaps matters of fact that can be noted; but they cannot be used if the encyclopedia is to remain neutral. John Paul II and Tenzin Gyatso are not “holy”, Elizabeth Windsor is not “majestic”, and those who insist that to call them so is not an endorsement of these claims are dupes. Naturally, there is a lingering fascination with the pre-modern culture of nobility, and there is no shortage of fanboys here who treat the persistence of the nobility as a terrific game; but between such neo-romantics, fame-addled celebrity worshippers, and the pious devotees of religions and patriotisms of various kinds, the encyclopedia is a testament to inequality, where the egalitarian idea is treated as unacceptable bias.
Page ownership. — Some rather-important pages are treated like personal property by single editors. The most significant instance of this I have seen involved an editor who resisted any change not of its own doing on conservative grounds (id est, “this wording has stood the test of time”), and then summarily substituted a radically-different version while we were still discussing a new version that I had placed on the talk page for consideration.
Gratifying vanity or commercial interest of subjects. — While self-identification is worth taking into account, when self-identification becomes self-promotion we are not in any way obligated to follow suit. If we do so, we abandon the policies of neutrality and common usage and actually engage in advertising. This includes the practice of writing brand names in all caps, which companies support because it calls attention to their brands. This also includes the non-standard and utterly-ridiculous practice of considering the definite article as part of the name of something to the extent that it should be included in an article’s title and capitalized in the middle of a sentence. All the arguments for this practice would likewise support silliness like “graduated from the presitigious The George Washington University”, and will lead to this eventually, if they have not already.
[edit] Various things I believe
[edit] Wikipedia-related
- Wikipedia is the future.
- Wikipedia is not a democracy!!
- When in doubt, STOP and take a deep breath before you delete.
- United States is always better than American. US should be U.S.
- The Wiki, and its various applications, has done more to further peace and prosperity in the world than have any confused political notions or armies of bureaucrats and meddlers.
- It won't kill you to be nice to other Wikipedians. Defend your honor and mark your territory elsewhere.
[edit] Other Stuff
- "History as we know it is a lie." (Tagline from Dark Skies)
- Zecharia Sitchin got it right in his reading of the Enûma Eliš
- All governments lie, Big time. It is in their interest for power self-preservation.
- Conspiracies abound. Also big time. Many because of governments.
- The northern United States is too cold.
- Global warming is a scam. The percentage of change (one half to two thirds of a degree celcius) does not even exceed the possible Percentage of Error.
- The Austrian School of Economics is the only one that has a clue.
- Political boundaries, citizenship, and other such notions are asinine.
- All skin is some shade of tan; everybody is born somewhere. The fact that your epidermis is of a lighter or darker shade, and that your parents lived within a certain geo-political entity, entitles you to nothing.
- Ayn Rand was wacky, brilliant, but wacky.
- And so is Anne Coulter
- Dogs are beautiful and noble animals.
- France has had its less than glorious times; as we have had ours.
- War is big business.
- "Nazi" means National Socialist; let's not forget that. AND
- Socialism, in all its guises, to include Fascism, Nazism, and Communism (et al), has killed more people than any other belief system, including religion.
[edit] HMMMMMMM?
- Spaceship Moon Theory - also called the Vasin-Shcherbakov Theory, was put forth in July 1970 by two Russian scientists, Michael Vasin and Alexander Shcherbakov, in an article titled "Is the Moon the Creation of Alien Intelligence?". In the article they put foreword the theory that the moon was a hollowed out planetoid by persons unknown bearing a technology far superior to any on Earth. They prose that huge machines were used to melt rock and form large cavities within the moon with the molten lava spewing out onto the moon's surface. Thus the moon was protected by a hull-like inner shell and an outer shell made from metallic rocky slag. They propose that for reasons unknown, the spaceship moon was steered thru spaced and was then parked in orbit around the earth. In 1975 Don Wilson published "Our Mysterious Spaceship Moon" in which he compiled what he considered supporting facts.
[edit] On Jimmy Carter
- "The chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize committee caused an uproar in October when he said granting the award to Mr Carter should be interpreted as a criticism of Mr Bush's Iraq policy. "
[1]
[edit] Favorite Quotes
"Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of scoundrels; it is a way to avoid debate by claiming that the matter is already settled."
Michael Crichton on consensus |
"All democracies must fail when its citizens realise their ability to vote themselves bread and circuses."
Cicero on Government |
- "We are here on Earth to do good to others. What the others are here for, I don't know." - W. H. Auden
- "All government at any level is a total waste of taxpayer money," Lyndon LaRouche
- "We actually misnamed the war on terror. It ought to be the Struggle Against Ideological Extremists Who Do Not Believe in Free Societies Who Happen to Use Terror as a Weapon to Try to Shake the Conscience of the Free World." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Aug. 6, 2004
- "Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action." -George Washington, speech of January 7, 1790 in the Boston Independent Chronicle, January 14, 1790
- "After the 'war to end war' they seem to have been pretty successful in Paris at making a 'Peace to end Peace.'" (Archibald Wavell commenting on the treaties ending World War I; this quote was the basis for the title of Fromkin, David (1989), A Peace to End All Peace, New York: Henry Holt, ISBN 0-8050-6884-8)
- "This world is an uncertain realm, filled with danger. Honor undermined by the pursuit of power, freedom sacrificed when the weak are oppressed by the strong. But there are those who oppose these powerful forces, who dedicate their lives to truth, honor, and freedom..." Louis XIII, King of France in the movie the Three Musketeers
- "Better to fight honorably to the bitter end than to live on a few months or years in disgrace and dishonor." Joseph Goebbels
- "The U.S. has broken the second rule of war. That is, don't go fighting with your land army on the mainland of Asia. Rule One is don't march on Moscow. I developed these two rules myself." (Bernard Montgomery spoken of the US approach to the Vietnam War) Quoted in Chalfont's Montgomery of Alamein.
- "Mythology is not fanciful but the repository of ancient memories; that the Bible ought to be read literally as a historic/scientific document; and that ancient civilizations were older and greater than assumed..." Zecharia Sitchin
- "My trust is in the mercy and wisdom of a kind Providence, who ordereth all things for our good." Robert E Lee
- "The meaning of status quo is look at the mess we are in." Samuel Clemens
- "Part of writing history is hiding the truth." Malcom Reynolds
- "Resorting to legalisms is the sign of a week mind." Thomas Jefferson
- "The Environmentalist movement is the last refuge of socialists and communists" Lech Kaczyński, President of Poland
- "Radical environmentalist are the greatest danger to the free world." Václav Havel, the first President of the Czech Republic.
- "Communism is dead but still thrives on the campuses of American colleges and universities." Rush Limbaugh
- "Faith is believing what you know damned well ain't so" -- Samuel Clemens
- "There's nothing in the middle of the road but yellow stripes and dead armadillos." - James Hightower
- "Read not to contradict and confute, nor to believe and take for granted, nor to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider." -- Roger Bacon
- "Everybody needs to believe in something. I believe I'll have another beer." -- W C Fields
- "Well, I believe in the soul, the cock, the pussy, the small of a woman's back, the hanging curve ball, high fiber, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap. I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. I believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter. I believe in the sweet spot, soft-core pornography, opening your presents Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve and I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days." -- Crash Davis in Bull Durham.[2]
- "A true friend is someone who believes that you are a good egg even though he knows you are slightly cracked." -- Bernard Meltzer
- "Courts are made for judges and lawyers". Bernard Meltzer
- "I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use." - Galileo Galilei
- "To believe in one's dreams is to spend all of one's life asleep" -- Chinese Proverb
| “ |
Why is it the world never remembered the name of Johann Gambolputty de von Ausfernschplenden-schlitter-crasscrenbon-fried-digger-dangle-dongle-dungle-burstein von knacker-thrasher-apple-banger-horowitz-ticolensic-grander-knotty-spelltinkle-grandlich-grumblemeyer-
spelterwasser-kurstlich-himbleeisen-bahnwagen-gutenabend-bitte-ein-nürnburger-bratwurstle-gerspurten- mit-tzwei-macheluber-hundsfut-gumberaber-shoenendanker-kalbsfleisch-mittler-aucher von Hautkopft of Ulm?
|
” |
Mr Figgis (John Cleese) from Monty Python's Flying Circus "It's the Arts" [1.06]
- And there’s another country, I’ve heard of long ago, Most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know; We may not count her armies, we may not see her king; Her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering; And soul by soul and silently her shining bounds increase, And her ways are ways of gentleness, and all her paths are peace. Cecil Arthur Spring-Rice
[edit] Politics
- "I have ever deemed it fundamental for the United States never to take active part in the quarrels of Europe. Their political interests are entirely distinct from ours... They are nations of eternal war." Thomas Jefferson
President George Washington
- "Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have none, or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves, by artificial ties, in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities." George Washington in his Farewell Address
- "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen, he was second to none in humble and enduring scenes of private life. Pious, just, humane, temperate, and sincere; uniform, dignified, and commanding; his example was as edifying to all around him as were the effects of that example lasting…Correct throughout, vice shuddered in his presence and virtue always felt his fostering hand. The purity of his private character gave effulgence to his public virtues…Such was the man for whom our nation mourns." Congressman Henry Lee, a Revolutionary War comrade and father of the Civil War general Robert E. Lee, eulogizing George Washington.
- "From Stettin on the Baltic to Varna on the Black Sea, the regimes planted by totalitarianism have had more than thirty years to establish their legitimacy. But none — not one regime — has yet been able to risk free elections. Regimes planted by bayonets do not take root....If history teaches anything, it teaches self-delusion in the face of unpleasant facts is folly....Our military strength is a prerequisite to peace, but let it be clear we maintain this strength in the hope it will never be used, for the ultimate determinant in the struggle that's now going on in the world will not be bombs and rockets but a test of wills and ideas, a trial of spiritual resolve, the values we hold, the beliefs we cherish, the ideals to which we are dedicated." Ronald Reagan in a Speech to the House of Commons, (1982-06-08)
- "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes." Ronald Reagan during a microphone check, unaware that he was being broadcast.[6] (1984-08-11)
[edit] French Jokes
- "France has neither winter nor summer nor morals. Apart from these drawbacks it is a fine country." -- Mark Twain
- "France has usually been governed by prostitutes." -- Mark Twain
- "I would rather have a German division in front of me than a French one behind me." -- General George S. Patton
- "Going to war without France is like going deer hunting without your accordion." -- General H Norman Schwartzkopf
- "We can stand here like the French, or we can do something about it." - -Marge Simpson
- "As far as France is concerned, you're right." -- Rush Limbaugh
- "The only time France wants us to go to war is when the German Army is sitting in Paris sipping coffee." -- Regis Philbin
- "You know, the French remind me a little bit of an aging actress of the 1940s who was still trying to dine out on her looks but doesn't have the face for it." -- John McCain , U.S. Senator from Arizona
- "The last time the French asked for 'more proof' it came marching into Paris under a German flag." -- David Letterman
- "Only thing worse than a Frenchman is a Frenchman who lives in Canada." -- Ted Nugent
- "War without France would be like ... World War II." -- Unknown
- "The favorite bumper sticker in Washington D.C. right now is one that says 'First Iraq, then France.'" -- Tom Brokaw
- "What do you expect from a culture and a nation that exerted more of its national will fighting against Disney World and Big Macs than the Nazis?" -- Dennis Miller
- "It is important to remember that the French have always been there when they needed us." -- Alan Kent
- "They've taken their own precautions against al-Qa'ida. To prepare for an attack, each Frenchman is urged to keep duct tape, a white flag, and a three-day supply of mistresses in the house." -- Argus Hamilton
- "Somebody was telling me about the French Army rifle that was being advertised on eBay the other day --the description was, 'Never shot. Dropped once.'" -- Rep. Roy Blunt, MO
- "The French will only agree to go to war when we've proven we've found truffles in Iraq " -- Dennis Miller
- Paris Mayor in WW2
- Q. What did the mayor of Paris say to the German Army as they entered the city in WWII?
- A. Table for 100,000 m'sieur?
- "Do you know how many Frenchmen it takes to defend Paris? It's not known, it's never been tried." -- Rep. R. Blount, MO
- "Do you know it only took Germany three days to conquer France in WWII? And that's because it was raining." -- John Xereas, Manager, DC Improv
- The AP and UPI reported that the French Government announced after the London bombings that it has raised its terror alert level from Run to Hide. (The only two higher levels in France are Surrender and Collaborate.) The rise in the alert level was precipitated by a recent fire which destroyed France's white flag factory, effectively disabling their military.
- French Ban Fireworks at Euro Disney - The French Government announced today that it is imposing a ban on the use of fireworks at Euro Disney. The decision comes the day after a nightly fireworks display at the park, located just 30 miles outside of Paris, caused the soldiers at a nearby French Army garrison to surrender to a group of Czech tourists. (AP), Paris, March 5, 2003
[edit] Communist state imitations
I was born in 1963, and having served in the US Military in the 1980's and 1990's, I am a cold warrior, I remember that the Soviet Union and Communist China were once, and some would say still are, "the" Evil empires of the world. I remember seeing the Fal of the Berlin Wall on TV. The cold war fascinates me, what if we still had the Soviet Union, what would the world be like today? Would Soviet citizens be allowed on the Internet? Would they write blogs? I like how they were always trying to copy the west. Here is a table with a list of examples:
[edit] WikiLicense
I agree to multi-license all my contributions, with the exception of my user pages, as described below:
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Multi-licensed with the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike License versions 1.0 and 2.0 |
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