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BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: Amos Date: 17 Jul 09 - 01:25 PM OR this: "Reporting from San Francisco -- The blogosphere has been buzzing for days over the perky widow who stole the handsome gay guy from his longtime partner. She's been called a "home wrecker" and the sobriquet that rhymes with witch, and lambasted as a wretch "who only lives for her own happiness, no matter who gets hurt." * Opinion L.A.: What about the Tango dads in Central Park Zoo? Cherchez la femme notwithstanding, the saga of Linda and Harry and poor, cuckolded Pepper has ignited a fierce debate about whether homosexuality is a choice. Even People magazine has called for details. So it goes on Penguin Island at the San Francisco Zoo, where the news recently broke that Harry ditched Pepper, his male burrowmate of six years, leaving zookeepers scrambling to explain what one described as "the big philosophical issues." The love triangle has spurred a "nature-versus-nurture debate about whether animals or people are hard-wired to be heterosexual or homosexual," said Harrison Edell, curator of birds. "There are people who are trying to draw conclusions from our birds, and I'm not really sure whether that can be done." One recent zoo guest posed the other big question about the avian antics: "Is this something that only happens in San Francisco?" The answer to that one, thank goodness, is a lot simpler: No. At New York City's Central Park Zoo a few years back, Silo left Roy for Scrappy, a California girl who joined them via Sea World. The East Coast's unhappy threesome are chinstrap penguins, the West's are magellanics. Aside from that, the saga's pretty much the same: Boy meets boy. Boy loses boy. Girl takes blame. Talking heads take notice. Christian website OneNewsNow.com quoted a "pro-family advocate" on Thursday who parsed the Harry-Pepper split as proof that "nature prefers heterosexual relationships." Matt Barber, director of cultural affairs with the conservative Liberty Counsel, took a more tongue-in-cheek approach in a column on Townhall.com that ended with a veiled comparison of Pepper and former Idaho Sen. Larry Craig, who was arrested for homosexual lewd conduct in an airport bathroom. "In recent days he has reportedly been spotted waddling around the zoo's public men's room, skulking in stalls and inexplicably tapping his flipper. There's even speculation that, as things continue to spiral, he may consider a run for public office." Other commentators were more sympathetic to Pepper. John wrote on a blog called "The Friggin Loon" that he is "heartbroken" for the lovelorn loser and "hopes that he finds another male penguin that is ten times hotter than Harry!" The blog Queerty.com floated another possibility: "Maybe," the writer posited, "Harry is actually bi?" In their six years together, Pepper and Harry were foster fathers to a couple of abandoned eggs and hatched a chick named Norris. They lived near Linda and her partner Fig, a kind of Penguin Island older statesman who controlled "not one but two burrows," said Edell, the bird curator. Fig died in January, and Linda kept them both. "For penguins, real estate means a lot," Edell noted, so "as far as penguins go, she was a pretty attractive prospect."..." |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: Little Hawk Date: 17 Jul 09 - 01:34 PM LOL! Disturbing stuff indeed, Amos. The complex love lives of Penguins are quite notorious in the Avian world. Well, it's nice to know that we humans are not alone in struggling with the delicate negotiations that can arise around sexual roles, isn't it? What we need to establish harmony and tolerance is inspiring moral leadership from individuals like this fine man from Austria: "Ich vant to be uber-famous..." |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: Don Firth Date: 17 Jul 09 - 01:45 PM Trivial to the last, eh, Little Hawk? #### ". . . trying to paint me as a psycopathic hate filled bully, as you have done in your last post. . . ." Is that how you read that, Ake? Once again, you're putting your own spin on what you read. I was not trying to imply that at all. It's not always about you, you know. I think you are just abysmally misinformed, and quite prejudiced. I do wish you would try to drop you preconceptions and learn something about what this whole business is all about. I mirror your own words back to you. ". . . my agenda is to get people to start thinking for themselves and be unafraid to stand against political manipulation where ever they encounter it," including—particularly including—political manipulation based on ignorance and prejudice. Thank you for the debate. Here, I have learned the kind of arguments that those in Washington State who wish to rescind the recently enacted domestic partnership law and oppose the forthcoming same-sex marriage law will be using. I consider this debate like a fencing match in which I have had a chance to practice my skills before going out to fight a real duel. I now know what to expect and I am fully prepared. Don Firth |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: akenaton Date: 17 Jul 09 - 03:59 PM Prepare to meet thy maker! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: Little Hawk Date: 17 Jul 09 - 04:18 PM Don - Avaunt, vile wretch! Get thee hence to thine abysmal haunts where thou canst ply thy usual corrupted habits amongst the thieves and cutpurses who are thy favoured companions, and trouble me no longer. Truly, thou art more vexatious than a pox, more inglorious than a rodent, more irritating than a rash, more undesirable than scurvy, and more noisome than a chronic skin ailment. May thou meet a hideous fate and be buried in a nameless plot on unhallowed ground, thou pettifogging, humourless scoundrel. ;-) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: Don Firth Date: 17 Jul 09 - 04:22 PM Not bloody likely. I know my state legislature. And I know the nature of the out-of-state religious coalition that's pushing the anti-gay legislation. And I know the kind of tactics they're laible to use. And so do most of the state's voters. They tend to react pretty negatively when out-of-staters try to tell us how we should run things. Touché! Don Firth |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: Little Hawk Date: 17 Jul 09 - 04:26 PM Which state dost thou live in, churl? And are they accepting immigrants at this time? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: Don Firth Date: 17 Jul 09 - 04:43 PM Fie, foolish jester! Get the hence, lest you feel the toe of my boot! In answer to your query, knave, I live in a state of tranquility and bliss. Don Firth |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: Little Hawk Date: 17 Jul 09 - 04:57 PM Ah, that is good, Don! So do I. Indeed, this little enlightened enclave in which I happily repose (the Commonwealth of Simcoe County in the Principality of Ontario) is a liberal paradise of grand social tolerance, openness, and impartiality, albeit pining at present under a certain number of remaining oppressive restrictions put in place by bureaucratic chuckleheads and religious fanatics. I am fighting the good fight here so that my friend Daniel can legally marry his love and life partner, Cha Cha.... Daniel and Cha Cha Until everyone is free, no one is free!!!! Let that be our battlecry! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: Don Firth Date: 17 Jul 09 - 05:04 PM Daniel and Cha Cha: All I get is "HTTP 403 Forbidden." Don Firth |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: Little Hawk Date: 17 Jul 09 - 06:06 PM Damn! The fascists may have shut down the link. Hang on...I'll see if I can fix it. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage From: Amos Date: 17 Jul 09 - 06:11 PM I see LH has succeeded in his long desire to derail the thread and reduce it to mental frippery. Well done, Sir Hawk. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: Little Hawk Date: 17 Jul 09 - 06:15 PM Hmmm. You're right, Don. I can't open it now either. Dang. One more blow against freedom and tolerance. I have the picture saved in "My Pictures" on my computer, but that doesn't help too much, does it? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: Don Firth Date: 17 Jul 09 - 07:07 PM Just to establish that I am not a "pettifogging (whatever the hell that means), humorless (why do Canadians always insist on misspelling that word? Brits, too?) scoundrel (I am greatly loved by multitudes)." Now, with that firmly established, step aside, Little Hawk. I have some bloodletting to do, and you don't want to get in the way. #### Actually, however, unless something new and startling manifests itself, I have said about all I care to say (several times and well-documented), so I see little point in continuing to try to educate the ineducable. That doesn't mean that I'm necessarily going to retire from this thread, but I'm really getting tired of pointing out the obvious, documenting it thoroughly, only to hear the same old superstitious nonsense repeated back to me yet again, still being presented as if it were sensible argument. Don Firth |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: jeddy Date: 17 Jul 09 - 08:15 PM the one more thing i will say(for now) is that we should all have the freedom to be who we are and love whom we please, but this freedom comes with responsibility. as do most of the freedoms we all enjoy. driving for example, is very dangerous and kills loads of people because of the idiots who have misused their freedom to do it. personal ownership of ones actions must be brought into question more. i think that covers where i am at right now. take care all jade x x x |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: Little Hawk Date: 17 Jul 09 - 08:51 PM "Humourless" is the Canadian (or British) spelling, Don. In Canada and the UK we do certain things differently. We spell our words as follows: humour rumour harbour rancour honour The additional "u" in these words is one of the very few forms of cultural independence we have left to distinguish ourselves from the USA! As such it is celebrated here. ;-) Matter of fact, there's a humorous singer here in Canada, very well known for her satirical songs, and she did a song at the recent Mariposa Folk Festival about the extra "u" in our British spelling. We love it, eh? Another thing we do here that is different is how we pronounce the name of the letter "z". Americans pronounce it as "zee", we pronounce it as "zed". It's almost all we have left, Don! (other than poutine) So be tolerant. Pettifogging is a Lachaesian word. It means something similar to taddlewanking which is another Lachaeasian word. A pettifogger is one who harps on petty technicalities in an argumentative, maundering, and crabby fashion and it also implies one who lacks humour. Oh, sorry....maundering is another Lachaesian word. It means to carp, bellyache, and complain incessantly. Woody Allen is a classic maunderer...well, at least he portrays such types in his movies at any rate. Whether he's really like that in real life I can't say. Now I shall step discreetly aside and let you engage in the promised bloodletting... ;-) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: Don Firth Date: 17 Jul 09 - 09:14 PM Wise. One should avoid placing oneself in the position of Mercutio, Romeo's cousin in Romeo and Juliet, who lay on the ground bleeding from a fatal sword thrust: "Tis not so wide as a church door, nor as deep as a well, but 'twill serve. Inquire after me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man. . . ." Just out of curiosity, Little Hawk, did you know that before I changed my college major to music, I was majoring in English? You tell my nothing I don't already know. Comprenez-vous irony? Don Firth |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: Don Firth Date: 17 Jul 09 - 09:23 PM By the way, I won a game of Scrabble against an English professor (whom I knew socially) with the word "zed." He challenged it, I informed him that it was the British rendition of the final letter in the alphabet. He doubted it, so we consulted a dictionary, which verified what I said. Don Firth Now back to our regular broadcast. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: Little Hawk Date: 17 Jul 09 - 09:43 PM Of course I know that you already know, Don. I'm just playing the role of the straight man when I patiently explain to you the many things you already know. But you already knew that too, didn't you? ;-) I am Canadian, and proud of it, eh? We live for irony in this country. God, we are a clever and urbane pair, you and me! We are true philosopher kings of the North American zeitgeist. Savants. Heroic intellectual adventurers. We may even be a tad smarter than Spaw. We might as well be rubbing shoulders with the likes of Woody Allen, Alan Alda, and Noam Chomsky. Damn shame you and I can't meet for a coffee now and then and share our brilliance together... ;-) It's also a damn shame I can't work out a link to that picture of Daniel and Cha Cha. (sigh) It would shed much light on this discussion. By the way, I love that scene with Mercutio. The ability to show humour in the face of death is indeed a noble attribute. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: Don Firth Date: 17 Jul 09 - 09:50 PM The trick is to remember that when the time comes. Don Firth |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: Little Hawk Date: 17 Jul 09 - 09:58 PM Yessiree. It's not that easy. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: akenaton Date: 18 Jul 09 - 03:08 AM "Just out of curiosity, Little Hawk, did you know that before I changed my college major to music, I was majoring in English? You tell my nothing I don't already know." Hi Don.....I was just wondering, were you by any chance attending the same college as Tia? As far as irony is concerned you are still in the first grade, in Little Hawk you are challenging a master. If I were you, I would stick to windmills for the present. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: akenaton Date: 18 Jul 09 - 03:12 AM Or would "Don Quixote" be a little too ironic? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: Little Hawk Date: 18 Jul 09 - 07:38 AM There is nothing more breathtaking than sitting in a Starbucks nursing one's Grande Latte and watching 5 or 6 English majors at the next table over trying snottily to outdo one another at irony... I've observed this. In Barrie, Ontario. They have a Starbucks there right next door to the Chapters giant bookstore. The drinks are way overpriced and not all that exceptionally good either, but it's worth it just to be able to eavesdrop on the local intelligentsia. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: akenaton Date: 18 Jul 09 - 09:57 AM The real score on this thread: Peasants 1.....Intelligentsia 0 |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage From: Amos Date: 18 Jul 09 - 10:44 AM Ake, That is rude, and inaccurate. First, there are no peasants on this thread. Second, if, as one must assume, you are counting yourself and you condescending irony-monger as constituting the peasants, you are swept up in imagined events as a sixteen year old reading Playboy. I think the real score was Liberals 10, Bigots 3. I am sure that will sit well with you, but I do not mean it. I write it just to demonstrate what a witless assertion yours was, and how inappropriate. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: Don Firth Date: 18 Jul 09 - 12:32 PM Jeez, Amos, these ding-dongs are prejudiced against all kinds of people. Now that's ignorance on the grand scale. I write them off as not worth debating with. Don Firth |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: TIA Date: 18 Jul 09 - 01:45 PM Akenaton, Since you summoned me, I will point out that: sum=14 |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: Don Firth Date: 18 Jul 09 - 02:10 PM When it comes to engaging in the coming referendum battle in Washington State, I don't think I need to prepare to meet my maker just yet. The legalization of same-sex marriage is just a matter of time, and a brief time at that: CLICKY. Not just in Washington State, but all over the country. And, it would appear, the world. One Larry Stickney, self-styled head of the "Washington Values Allliance" is pushing Referendum 71, which would repeal Washington State's recently passed domestic partnership law. So far, it's not going too well for him. The referendum has been out there for awhile, and it has until July 25 (one week from today) to gather a total of 120,577 valid voter signatures to secure a place on the November 3 ballot. So far, there is another petition being circulated, gathering the signatures of registered voters who pledge not to sign the Referendum 71 petition, and I understand that's doing quite well! The arguments that Stickney is putting forward are from a fundamentalist Christian perspective, which tends not to go over very well in this area, especially with members of more liberal Christian churches, of which there are many here—some of which perform religious marriage ceremonies for same-sex couples, whether the law recognizes them or not. This is not going to be any kind of duel at all. I was expecting more sophisticated arguments than this! Don Firth |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: Don Firth Date: 18 Jul 09 - 03:26 PM Even though I spent a couple of years as an English major in college, I don't think I quite fit the stereotype that Ake and Little Hawk are tittering about. And sitting around in Starbuck's? Although Starbuck's started in Seattle and there is either a Starbuck's or a barista's cart on practically every corner, I have never been in a Starbuck's, and I've only drunk Starbuck's coffee a half-dozen times in my life. This was when a friend of mine came over to my apartment a couple of times a week to read me his novel manuscript, to get my input and general expertise as a former English major, editor, technical writer, and one-time radio station news director. On the way over, he would stop at the local Starbucks and buy a couple of lattés. I take it they don't personally know any real, live English majors. Only self-generated stereotypes. And for that matter, not all English majors are created equal. Pigeonhole thinking again. And, Ake, Little Hawk is a master of irony? Mildly amusing from time to time, but "a master of irony?" Sorry, Little Hawk. "Irony has always been a primary tool the under-powered use to tear at the over-powered in our culture. But now irony has become the bait that media corporations use to appeal to educated consumers. . . . It's almost an ultimate irony that those who say they don't like TV will sit and watch TV as long as the hosts of their favorite shows act like they don't like TV, either. Somewhere in this swirl of droll poses and pseudo-insights, irony itself becomes a kind of mass therapy for a politically confused culture. It offers a comfortable space where complicity doesn't feel like complicity. It makes you feel like you are counter-cultural while never requiring you to leave the mainstream culture it has so much fun teasing. We are happy enough with this therapy that we feel no need to enact social change."The irony of irony is that true irony generally grows out of situation. When one tries to be ironic, it generally falls flat. Don't bother to thank me. Always glad to help. Don Firth |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage From: Amos Date: 18 Jul 09 - 05:52 PM LIttle Hawk, First, I urge you to absorb the distinction between irony and mere sarcasm. Second, your grandiose screeds posed from Olympian heights remind me of nothing more than Mark Twain's wife. For one thing, Mark Twain was an inveterate but not invertebrate swearer -- swearing was in his bones. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: Little Hawk Date: 18 Jul 09 - 09:52 PM LOL! Mark Twain was a true wit, Amos. I have nothing but admiration for the man...and also for his no doubt long-suffering wife. Don, you mentioned that "these ding-dongs are prejudiced against all kinds of people". Yikes! Who are these despicable people you refer to who are prejudiced against all kinds of people? Why do we permit them to go on living? They must be ferreted out and dealt with! Send me a list of names, would you? I'll pass that list on to Chongo Chimp, he will pass it on to some of his good friends in Chicago, and THEN they'll see, by God, what happens to the prejudiced when they have gone too far! Intolerance will NOT be tolerated! No sir. To the guillotine with them all, I say! * Note: (You go far astray, Don, when you insist on taking personally my every satirical comment on this thread when I am speaking about the various silly human foibles that amuse or annoy me as I observe society percolating around me...but if you are bent on doing so and imagining that my comments are all directed specifically at YOU, I hardly see how I could ever convince you that I intended otherwise.) If you go to some other threads, you will note that I'm also making ruthless fun of Valley Girl types who use the word "like" 8500 times an hour and stretch the boundaries of vapidity to unheard of dimensions. More prejudice on my part! (Could it be another sly attack on Don Firth, though, with the gender of the attackee switched as a camouflage of my true intentions?) I'm also making fun of Canadians and of Don Cherry and his dog on another thread. More prejudice! (But how does it link to Don Firth? Hmmmm...gotta work on that and find out the connection...wait a minute! Don Cherry...Don Firth. Aha! I think we have the smoking gun.) Whoo-wee. Whole lotta stuff to track down, eh? Look through all my other posts for yet more evidence of prejudice and report it to the human rights commission and Homeland Security ASAP. ;-) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: Little Hawk Date: 18 Jul 09 - 09:55 PM Oh, by the way, Don....I am a real live English Major. That's one reason why I find the jokes about them so funny. I know the territory...and its joys and its pitfalls. It's the same reason I find jokes about Canada and Canadians so funny. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: akenaton Date: 19 Jul 09 - 07:02 AM Well....I'm "proud to be a peasant"! The intelligetsia love themselves far too much as far as I'm concerned....you can all see it here, boasting about their academic qualifications...pathetic!{I exclude Little Hawk from whom the information has had to be extracted by force!) The trouble with academia is that it appears to give one a feeling of superiority in EVERYTHING, as if no one has a right to hold differing opinions. No one needs qualifications to see the health problems in the male homosexual lifestyle, or the effect behaviour has on "rights". My view is as valid as the view of anyone with a bunch of "parrot papers" or a "liberal" agenda, I just keep my eyes and ears open to the real world, non the world according to some manipulating power hungry politicians. Our humanity is gradually being eroded, not just in the realms of minority rights but in every facet of life. We now live by committee, there is no personal responsibility. Do you know that in our local primary school, children are not allowed to run in the playground! not allowed to speak to adults unless vetted by the school, we are raising a generation of automatons, without empathy or the power to decide for themselves. But they will make fine citizens in the brave new Orwellian "liberal" world. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: GUEST Date: 19 Jul 09 - 08:19 AM ""If you go to some other threads, you will note that I'm also making ruthless fun of Valley Girl types who use the word "like" 8500 times an hour and stretch the boundaries of vapidity to unheard of dimensions. I'm also making fun of Canadians and of Don Cherry and his dog on another thread. ....my every satirical comment on this thread when I am speaking about the various silly human foibles that amuse or annoy me as I observe society percolating around me"" This is the man who has nothing of value to add in the way of "on topic" comment, but appears on multiple threads seemingly to disrupt and disparage. This is the man who writes reams of exhortations to treat each other with respect, to listen to each other's point of view, to eschew pejorative language, and then derides whole groups of people with stereotypical comment and treats them as somewhat lower in the scale of human existence than his exalted self. This is the man Akenaton looks up to as a shining wit. DR.SPOONER WOULD AGREE! Don T. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: Don(Wyziwyg)T Date: 19 Jul 09 - 08:23 AM That GUEST was me, sans biscuit. Don't KNOW why. Don T. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: gnu Date: 19 Jul 09 - 10:06 AM It was just a phase. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: Ebbie Date: 19 Jul 09 - 10:35 AM "Do you know that in our local primary school, children are not allowed to run in the playground!" ake You know, somehow, I just don't believe that. To me, it sounds like a statement coming from someone who has never or not for a long time had a child in the school system and is taking someone else's statement at face value. Please amplify. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: jeddy Date: 19 Jul 09 - 10:54 AM that wouldn't suprise me. as some schools have banned the noble art of playing conkers, either that or you have to wear goggles. it is down to the i will sue theme we have gotten into, the schools are now so terrified that they have to be so careful, just in case. jade x x x x x x x |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: Ebbie Date: 19 Jul 09 - 11:54 AM Well, it would surprise me greatly. Well, I just ASKed Jeeves. It appears that in 2007 the Thomas Deacon Academy was planned to have no break times (only 30 minutes for lunch) and no outdoor play. The premise is that children "won't need to let off steam because they won't be bored." And that with so many students (2200) any playground would have to be huge. hahhahahahahahahhha |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: Don Firth Date: 19 Jul 09 - 01:49 PM "You go far astray, Don, when you insist on taking personally my every satirical comment on this thread when I am speaking about the various silly human foibles that amuse or annoy me as I observe society percolating around me...but if you are bent on doing so and imagining that my comments are all directed specifically at YOU, I hardly see how I could ever convince you that I intended otherwise." You flatter yourself, Little Hawk. I don't take anything you say personally because you don't know me at all (although the above quote indicates that you egotistically assume you do), and you have generally indicated that you don't really grasp much of what I'm saying. Among other things, for someone who has been dubbed "a master of irony," it's kind of funny the way you don't recognize irony when you read it. And as far as your "satire" is concerned, you'd undoubtedly get a much better response from your dachshunds and your imaginary chimp. It's a bit hard to believe that you didn't intend your barbs personally when you kept mentioning my name throughout your post. But as they say, I consider the source. No, Little Hawk, not only do I not take what you say personally, but considering you ever-increasing penchant for descending into the abyss of mindless frivolity, I find it increasingly difficult to take anything you say seriously. Don Firth |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: Little Hawk Date: 19 Jul 09 - 01:55 PM Don W., I'm a philosophical type of person. Philosophers comment on society and the foibles of man in a general sort of way, because it helps them understand what makes people tick, and that's what mainly interests a philosopher. Mark Twain was such a person, and his books are full of humorous jibes at the common failings of humanity...and I bet you respect Mark Twain, don't you? You probably would have been quite ticked off at him had you lived in his time, though, because he might have made fun of one of your sacred cows! I don't sound a single note here. I play the whole scale. I make serious comments when I want, and I engage in humorous satire when I want. I apologize for none of it, and neither did Mark Twain (who pissed off a whole lot of people in his time...but delighted many others). If I were to try and please everyone, which would mean trying to please even you and Don Firth, then I'd be wasting my time, because it's impossible to please everyone. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: Little Hawk Date: 19 Jul 09 - 02:04 PM Ho-hum. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage From: Amos Date: 19 Jul 09 - 02:30 PM Interesting analogy: "Mark Twain made fun of many things and made many people angry. I am making fun of making things and making people angry. Therefore I am the equivalent of Mark Twain...". But, unfortunately, it does not work quite that way. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: jeddy Date: 19 Jul 09 - 03:39 PM no outdoor play? surely that is sending the wrong message to kids who(hipocrite time) spend too much time doing nothing as it is. what about their vitamin D intake? kids need to be able to let off steam after being cooped up for so long in a classroom. however they could do it as a shorter school day but with less breaks. i know i found it hard to settle again after break time so maybe they have a point. as someone without kids it is hard for me to make up my mind as to the best way forward on this. (helpful aren't i?) take care all jade x x x ps i have no idea who mark twain(e) is so i am keeping out of this one x x x x |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: Little Hawk Date: 19 Jul 09 - 03:52 PM I anticipated a response such as yours, Amos, even before I hit "submit" on that post of mine you allude to. :-) I really should have pre-emptively posted in order to head it off. No, I do not think I am the equivalent of Mark Twain. I regard his contributions to humanity as vastly, simply vastly ahead of my own. So far beyond my own, in fact, that it would be sort of like comparing a trip to the moon (in Mark Twain's case) to an amble across the street to sit comfortably in the park (in my case). I was suggesting that my satirical and philosophical motivations are perhaps a bit like Twain's, but certainly not my accomplishments. jeddy - Mark Twain is one of the greatest writers of all time. I suggest you read some of his books. Try "Huckleberry Finn" or "Joan of Arc" for a start. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: Don Firth Date: 19 Jul 09 - 04:13 PM A philosopher? Easy claim to make, but hard to back up. Was Mark Twain a philosopher? Only in the loosest sense. He was a writer, a humorist, and a satirist. And a very good one. But I don't find him listed anywhere as a philosopher, other than one of the crackerbarrel variety. Little Hawk, can you give me a brief definition of Metaphysics (no, it doesn't mean "the Occult" the way many people use the word)? Or Epistomology? Or Ethics? How much Aristotle have you read? Socrates? Plato? Aquinas? Machiavelli? Descartes? Hobbes? Spinoza? Berkeley? Hume? Rousseau? Kant? Locke? James? Hegel? Marx? Mill? Nietzsche? Wittgenstein? Russell? Other than the popular Eastern philosophers, who have you read? Or have you just read a book or two on Taoism, a bit of Alan Watts, browsed through the Bhagavad Gita, then taken occasional side-trips into Carlos Castaneda? Anybody can call himself a philosopher. And everyone is a philosopher in his or her own way. But I think if one is going to tout himself as a philosopher and sit around, look down from one's lofty position, and make pronouncements on the human condition—and be taken seriously, not just as a blowhard—it takes a bit of formal study of the field, otherwise you're no different from old Charlie, who spends his days sitting on the front porch of the general store, whittling and spitting and making wry comments on the passing parade. Charlie ain't no philosopher. He just takes up space. Ethics. I, personally, am especially interested in Ethics, because Ethics is philosophy in action. For example, should one just sit, observe, and comment from a nice, safe position? Or should you get involved and transform your beliefs into action? Anthropologist Margaret Mead once said, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Don Firth |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: akenaton Date: 19 Jul 09 - 04:27 PM Jade is perfectly correct Ebbie.....so prepare to be "very surprised". Everyone over here is so wrapped up in their "rights" that they are prepared to sue anybody they can....local councils, schools,public services who are all held responsible for the safety of children and adults, no matter how stupidly they behave.....another bi-product of "liberalism"...."rights for all" Does anyone care about the right of kids to have a free and normal upbringing...I don't think so! I think I find myself agreeing with the Bishop of Durham "Justice does not mean treating people equally, it means treating people appropriately" |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: Don Firth Date: 19 Jul 09 - 04:36 PM Ake, your view of what constitutes a "liberal" is diametrically opposed to the American idea of liberalism. And who, Ake, determines what is "appropriate?" Don Firth |
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Subject: RE: BS: Californians Oppose 'Prop 8' Gay Marriage Ban From: akenaton Date: 19 Jul 09 - 04:37 PM Its impossible to define a philosopher.........But you sure know one when you read what he writes! And as I paraphrased earlier Don, "You Mr Firth are no Confucius!!" |
