theloniusfleabag

Dear guyser, Tammy Faye Baker, whom I think may actually be Elvis in disguise. Intersting, but likely there was a 'Muhammed', though the prophet bit might be a stretch. Didn't you post something earlier and elsewhere bemoaning the bastardization of 'Gods personal statement clarifying his existence'? (Opps, that was figleaf, my apologies)

Err, this is an old joke...I expect someone embellished it, as I have often seen with e-mailed jokes and videos. There was a video being e-mailed around of a car commercial, where a series of the parts of the car would 'domino effect' into each other to eventually push the start button on the keychaion. Some boob had added to the intro text, "This video was based on the old game "Mousetrap..." when actually, the fore-runner to even that game was the "Rube Goldberg Contraption", for which at least one major US university/College has a contest every year. Don't believe everything you see or hear...in fact, don't believe any of it until you have cross-checked at least one other reliable source.

What kind of obscure rant is this? Something to be taken up at bible college perhaps... Reminds me of an 'off-colour' joke (or a coloured one) I heard once...A little white boy and a little black boy were arguing over whether God himself was white or black. Just then a big booming voice came down from the heavens, and declared "YOU ARE WHAT YOU ARE". The little white boy said ; "See, that proves it, God is white!" The little black boy countered, "How does that prove anything?" The little white boy replied, "'Cause if he was black, he would have said "You is what you is."

I stand corrected, she was 12. For argument's sake, what if he had waited until she was 16/18 and then left her on the front sidewalk?

Dear jbg, I don't know if that is actually 'PC lingo', because there actually is a difference, though they might be able to be lumped together under 'mentally deficient'. Down's Syndrome is not really the same as schizophrenia, for example. 'Mental retardation' is making a comeback as a valid term, I hear. Charles Anthony makes a good point here... My biggest beef with society today is that life (for many) has become a big game of 'dodge the responsibility', and it is being taken to ridiculous levels.A prior thread was started about one man's action (Robert Latimer) in dealing with an extremely ill person...his daughter. He smothered her to 'save her from her constant torture', that being severe and painful disability(ies). The girl was over the age of 18, so he could have, theoretically, wheeled her to the end of the driveway (kicking her out of the nest, so to speak) where nature would have run it's course, and she would have starved to death (or been eaten, depending on where they lived). At what point should the 'burden' of caring for the severely handicapped be foisted on others (if ever)? Should someone be 'forced' to take care of those that cannot care for themselves, even in the most rudimentary fashion?

Sacre Bleu! Perhaps I am paranoid, but this thread was likely started by our troll. For one, a 'french person' would likely have posted 'en francais' and judged whether or not they would like to have stayed on by the responses. Secondly, they wrote in very reasonable english. No syntax errors, etc. that both humans and translation services are prone to. Third, the name... http://www.dazbert.co.uk/sites/rudefood/in...ood/vergina.htm

Dear Charles Anthony, Well, to make a couple of long stories short, they were both offered 'copious amounts of earthly riches', and both refused. They both believed that something other than personal wealth and power was important...Hence, the Jesus reference. Silly bugger. He could have made a fortune turning water into wine. Instead, he got drunk and 'useless' on brandy-infused compassion for others...he must be the laughing-stock of the business world.

Dear Charles Anthony and August1991, What an utter load of crap. Not to mention a lowbrow generalization akin to racial slurs or epithets (eg; all [insert derogatory race name here] are a bunch of thieving, filthy @^@#$$#s), which I had previously thought as being beneath you two. Perhaps I will (jokingly, of course) add a generalization of my own... So, when do right-wingers revert back to those days of self-centred infantile behaviour and become capitalists? Well educated and shrewd 2 year olds?According to this line of thought, people like Siddharta Guatama and Jesus were foolish (and poor) misguided fops.

Dear geoffrey, I suggest you read up on this a bit more. Nobody except Canada and a few small countries even wanted to help in Rwanda. The UN cannot force countries to supply troops or aid, they can only ask. When Dallaire asked why the US was not assisting, he was told that it would cost approximately 86,000 Rwandans to equal the 'value' of one US soldier.The Belgians were there, at the start, but all they did was fire off all the mission's ammo supply in training, and then left early without replacing it. This much is true, and it is why the rest of the world basically backed up the US when they invaded Afghanistan without prior UN approval.As I have said before, one cannot, in actuality, declare war on terror, nor terrorism, because they are methods, not people or places. The 'root cause'will have to be faced sooner or later, political correctness be damned...its religion. This particular imroglio is merely Islamo-fascism vs. Mammon, but soon others will be forced to join the fray. It is often best to choose your own battle conditions and grounds, isn't it?

Dear Canuck E Stan, Well done. I Have also wondered what they mean when someone 'passes away suddenly at age 92'. (Well, every death is 'sudden' really, one minute you are alive and suddenly you are dead.) Leafless, How can you complain about obituary photos being misleading? Any photo of them while alive would be 'misleading'. Would you rather a photo of the corpse?

Dear geoffrey, I stand corrected, it was General von Moltke who said this... Self determination?

Dear August1991, I don't understand. They are Canadians, they can go anywhere they like. They can vote in a libertarian party. One would think Newfoundlanders would feel more 'trapped', yet they all moved to Ft. McMurray.

Dear geoffrey, Possibly. I believe it was von Clausewitz who said, "The kindest thing we can do for our enemies is to defeat them quickly" (or something like that). The question is really, will escalation shorten the duration? The question becomes more amoral if you intend to have one of the rival gangs be in control after the smoke clears anyway. From a math standpoint...(there is a lottery somewhere in Canada called 'millionaire for life'...you could win 25 million, paid out at 1 million a year for 25 years, or you can take a 17 million upfront payout...which is the better deal?) If you are betting lives, is it better to lose the 17 million right away, or 25 million ovewr a period of time? Which would you choose?

Dear RB, I avoid that accursed box as much as I can. Real life is so much more interesting. I watch the news on occasion, perhaps once or twice a year, unless there is something of note happening. Really, though, I prefer 'data' to hype and spin, so the vast majority of my info comes from books or online. Otherwise, I prefer to play hockey rather than watch it, I prefer playing poker with my friends (and lots of beer) that watching it, rather have sex than watch it....reality is way better than reality TV. Life is what you make of it.

I shouldn't worry too much about replying to anything this 'seinfeld' says, it is almost always either flamebait, ad hominem attacks against broadest definitions of groups, or logic-defying partisan trolling bordering on the absurd. I don't even like writing this much in response... Higher seawalls indeed.

No, mine seem to be about right. Further, they came from an Israeli source. (Seems a bit odd to me, however, that no phrase has been coined, nor no number given, for the non-jews exterminated in Nazi death camps. The T-4 program was in full swing before it was envisioned as 'the final solution'. )jbg, Well said. In fact, sometimes it might be better for the deniers to be in public, so everyone can see who the idiots are. However, and sadly, sometimes they become a beacon for other idiots.

And pray tell, why not? The actual number was admitted to be less than 6 million, something like 5.7. It was rounded up for convenience, though some use connivance. The 'holocaust number' is a bit of an enigma, though. Records were sketchy. Many people in the occupied territories of Nazi Germany were listed as 'missing', and post war records of civilian casualties were estimated. Poland itself lost an estimated 6 million civilians. Polish Jewry was almost entirely wiped out, with the last of them making a stand at the Warsaw Ghetto. An interesting story happened there.

Dear Geoffrey, In 100% agreement with you on that point. I tend to agree on the distasteful aspect but not on the prision time for it. If you don't like what he's saying, don't listen. Don't read his literature. I must concur with you and August1991. I laugh at and ridicule holocaust deniers, but I don't agree that jail time is appropriate method to deal with issues of free speech. Unless, of course, Zundel was calling for a second 'holocaust'.

Dear August1991, That was some rant. Best in a while, from anyone. I have heard the numbers in the news, and I share in your revulsion. However, rather than address any of the points themselves, I would like to point out how close you came to having the answers. Yet you go on to say that you voted...wishful thinking perhaps? Of course your vote counts, but only in a very small percentage sort of way. Unless, of course, voter turnout next election happens to be...August1991! Mind you, that is still no guarantee that election promises will be honoured. Very similar to your next point, but... You must consider that how politicians aquire (and retain) their jobs generally isn't based on performance nor results. It is based on votes. Sometimes huge amounts of votes can be lost for doing a job well (or at least, profitably). Efficiency and accountability in the civil service would mean huge job losses, and it would mean pissing off CUPE. Do that, and they could, in turn (at least in the short term) make everyone's life a living hell. The politicians would then face the wrath of the electorate, The next politician to be elected would have to agree to 'play ball' (nicely) with the civil service and return to the status quo, or be sunk.

Dear Leafless, Most anything is possible. I would like to think that whenever google appears here, it is likely some world leader or other who is interested in what I had to say on the matter . Then, after thinking it through, my wishes sound like 'delusional paranoia coupled with a messiah complex'. Then again, there is probably a little bit of that in all of us.

I concur, this thread isn't really political (much like the Superbowl thread!), though the discussion between August1991, kimmy and Melanie regarding 'genetic success' is interesting. I agree that it should be in the 'morality' column, though.

Dear sharkman, Not exactly, but it could have easily been read that way. Here is the original statement from August1991... So it begs the question, "At what had Anna done better than Melanie?" The attainment of her own desire, or of Melanie's? Or of the perceived goals of 'pop culture society'? Or of wealth?

Dear August1991, The sad part is, had she been slightly 'under-budget', I bet no one would have said a thing.

Dear Melanie, If sperm are to be considered equal to fertilized eggs, and to 'living beings', then I must step forward and admit to being the greatest mass-murderer who ever lived. I have killed millions, billions, with my bare (and sometimes lubricated) hands. I always thought the boys from Monty Python were kidding in their song "Every sperm is sacred".

Dear leonardcohen, Hey ! Be careful with statements like that one. I was a redheaded stepchild, I just might take offence at that. My apologies, I meant no offence. Merely a term I heard as an extension of 'silly synonyms' from a quote by the late Ed Whelan, a sports broadcaster/local celebrity in Calgary. He once said of a hockey player who scored on a breakaway..."He beat him like a rented mule!". My hockey buddies of course added as many different 'victims' as they could, most being politically incorrect. "He beat him like a... -red-headed stepchild -a runaway slave -a lazy hooker -a circus monkey