The real reason democracy cannot end terrorism is that terrorism is ideally suited for influencing democratic results. Terrorism is violence by and for the people, which is to say, it is expressly designed to speak through the mass media in order to influence the masses. As every successful politician knows, fear is an excellent means of manipulating the minds of the voting populace, and so terrorism has a utility in democratic societies that it does not have in autocracies. By Vox Day How democracy feeds terror
Eye on Politics & Law Lords: Mark Latham's Webdiary interview
I suppose I'm getting to this thing that you did, that Internet Democracy experiment, and I'm just looking for what - can you imagine possibilities utilising the net as a means for Australians to rescue the system so that they have got a real alternative again, to get the debate moving?
Oh well you get different attempts at this. Someone was telling me about (inaudible) which is some sort of Internet Democracy Movement and so forth but in the end you're dealing with a limited audience, you know. I reach the conclusion that maybe 15% of the electorate is well informed, progressive, interested in politics and otherwise you've got a lot of conservatism and a lot of apathy. So you can mobilise some people but in a democracy you need to mobilise the majority and I don't see that happening.
• e-Democracy experiment [ Let's not turn our judges into politicians ; The Australians are Mocking Us ; Mr Brogden resigned today from his northern Sydney seat of Pittwater ]
• · Analysts have long been writing obituaries for Poland’s left. They should soon have a chance to print them. Two poles – a clerical tradition and the communist legacy Poland: Turn Right for Poland ; A Fourth Republic? The end of Poland’s post-communist era? Maybe, maybe not – but something has begun Poland: Lo, a New Republic
• · · Scott Ritter was the former US marine captain tasked with finding Saddam Hussein's weapons. Now, in this first detailed account, he reveals how the CIA plotted to use a UN weapons inspection to overthrow the Iraqi regime - and how fiasco turned to tragedy when it failed. The Coup That Wasn't ; No one knows how much is left, but humankind can't wait any longer before coming up with alternatives It's Better to Cry Wolf Now Than to Wait Until the Oil Has Run Out
• · · · The rumors are true this time. I was arrested in front of the White House today. It was my first time ever being arrested. My First Time ; Widening Abramoff Scandal Exposes GOP Cronyism Corrupt Connections
• · · · · Stephen Lewis Jr. It's Immoral to Think Taxes Can't Be Raised On Folks Like Me ; Kafka Does Iraq: The Disturbing Case of Abdul Amir Younes Hussein
• · · · · · 'You Can't Wash Your Hands When They're Covered in Blood' ; Pork Busters