Ah. Well, it works like this, Kirsten. It's a joke. Once you are here awhile, you will get much better at figuring out when various of us are serious, and when we're not. I am quite willing to discuss things seriously, and often do, but I also joke around a lot, as you will discover.

My earlier post on this thread was dead serious. My later remark about the penguins was a joke. I find that when serious discussions grow heated (as sometimes happens, not that it did so much with this one) that it helps to leaven the discussion now and then with a bit of unexpected humour...

This is particularly true in political discussions. It's amazing how bent out of shape some people get when they disagree with another on some point, even a minor one. They begin to hate the other person and attack everything they say, no matter what it is. This kind of hatred can easily be defused with a little humour. When they realize you are keeping your sense of humour, they begin to regain their own. It mends fences.

That doesn't have much to do with this particular thread, but it is the main reason why I have learned to joke a lot on Mudcat. It's become a sort of habit. If I show that I am not taking myself or the whole thing all that seriously, then it becomes easier for the other person to relate to me...with the exception of people who are simply addicted to anger. They are very hard to reach, because they'd rather be angry than happy. They're rather be "right" than be happy. They'd rather be miserable than be happy. It's an emotional disease.

And THAT is why we must free the pengins!!! (that's a joke)