At 10:05 AM 10/21/03 -0700 said:At 06:31 PM 10/17/2003 -0700 said:1. You said I exaggerated. That's a lie.
Quoted message said:No, that's a subjective assessment.
"I think you exaggerated" would be a "subjective assessment". "You exaggerated" is a lie. It doesn't
surprize me that a mountain biker dioesn't know the difference between truth and lies.
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:2. You just agreed with me: "mountain bikes don't warrant the attention..."
means that the damage they do is acceptable.
Quoted message said:You continue to miss the point of relative severity here.
As I said, you continue to rationalize mountain biking by claiming that it's less damaging than
something else. Is burglary okay, just because it's less harmful than murder? Of course not!
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:3. You threatened to join IMBA, to retaliate against me, and even carried out
your threat.
Quoted message said:Technically, a threat is an expression of intent. Since I had already joined
IMBA before responding to you, I was not expressing intent but rather reporting the facts. If you
find it threatening for someone to join the IMBA, then I suppose that's your choice.
You used it as a threat, to intimidate me. Of course, it didn't work. 🙂
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:In other words, you are a 100% typical mountain biker.
Quoted message said:There is no such thing. Some mountain bikers are honest and pure and always
try to do the right thing, and some are selfish inconsiderate [censored]. Most are somewhere in
between. Just like life. Surely you understand this reality of statistical variation but choose to
ignore it because stereotypes are so much simpler.
100% of the mountain bikers I have met have lied. That is statistically improbable, but true. It
proves that mountain bikers are different.
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:If you weren't so busy lying, you might get some respect. If you pass my email
to your parents, as you promised (mountain bikers are NOTORIOUSLY unreliable), you will see that
they are very disappointed.
Quoted message said:I hate to disrupt your exaggerated stereotype of unreliability, but here's part
of my mother's response: "You, as a son, are not only a thrill but the farthest thing from a
disappointment. You are considered as a kind and caring person in regards to the environment and
others." Of course, she may not realize what a belligerent, aggressive, unreliable, lying, nature
hater I am...
True. Mothers wear rose-colored glasses, especially when outsiders are concerned. I'm not surprized
that she doesn't understand the damage that mountain biking does. She has YOU for a teacher.
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:No parent I have ever met would teach their kid to lie. You do it, because you
want to get your way. Mountain bikers are like that: belligerent, aggressive, and dishonest.
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:I don't have time to teach all mountain bikers ethics, but I will give you ONE
more chance to prove that you have a shred of integrity, by how you respond. Good luck.
Quoted message said:In the end, I do appreciate what folks like you say and do for the sake of the
environment, that's why I joined the Sierra Club, and give money to Greenpeace, and even voted for
Mr.Nader in the last election. But if Greenpeace spent their time and energy trying to ban scuba
diving because divers often insist on touching marine life with their bare hands (which can cause
disease and even death in some species), then I would stop supporting them.
As I said, you value human pleasure above wildlife protection -- like ALL mountain bikers.
Quoted message said:It's not because scuba diving is harmless to the environment, but rather
because it is more important to address the unconscionable mass polluting of the oceans by
government and mega-corporations around the world, It's all about relative severity. Until you get
that concept, I'm afraid you will just continue to be a frustrated and angry man (not a lie, just
another subjective assessment, take it or leave it).
I just tell the truth -- something you have yet to learn, although you should have known by
kindergarten.
Quoted message said:Have a good day.
Quoted message said:- Mike
Mike Stewart <[email hidden]> wrote: Yep, you got me. I'm one of those mountain bikers. I didn't
mention it because I don't think its relevant, not because I wasn't being honest enough to admit it.
Actually, I have two mountain bikes. Twice the evil.
I am curious as to how you figured my mountain bike status given that:
(1) I didn't lie to you. Your letters did frighten me, and I did join the IMBA immediately after
reading them.
(2) I didn't imply that what mountain bikes are doing is ok, that's your inference. I only pointed
out that in the greater reality of environmental issues, mountain bikes do not warrant the
attention you are giving them.
(3) I didn't threaten you.
My parents must be pretty disappointed? Well I'm sure they're not thrilled with me but I wouldn't go
so far as to say they are disappointed. I'll forward your email to them anyway, just to make sure.
Still, I don't see what they have to do with this. Seems to me like a pretty desperate attempt on
your part to make me feel bad about myself or something.
Happy Friday.
- Mike
At 06:01 PM 10/16/2003 -0700, you wrote: One way you can tell that you are dealing with a mountain
biker is that:
(1) They lie. A LOT.
(2) They tell you that they aren't as bad as someone else, implying that what they are doing is
therefore okay.
(3) They threaten you in some way. I guess you must be a mountain biker, although you weren't honest
enough to admit it. Didn't your parents teach you to tell the truth? Most parents DO, you know.
They must be pretty disappointed....
Mike Stewart <[email hidden]> wrote: Mike - Just ran across some of your letters on the web
regarding mountain biking. home.pacbell.netwc14.htmOpen ↗
home.pacbell.netmtb121.htmOpen ↗
"One look at a mountain bike is enough to tell you that it is up to no good: the knobby tires are
designed to rip up the soil, and the suspension systems are designed to insulate the rider from the
shocks, as they beat the trail to a pulp."
"We are literally creating a generation that is too lazy to walk..."
Frightening stuff. Truly, something needs to be done. Your painfully exaggerated descriptions of
mountain bikes and their irresponsible, environmentally unconscious owners has already motivated me
to join the IMBA. I do share your environmental concerns in general, but your focus on mountain
bikes as a nature damaging component is like complaining that kids are spitting in the river
downstream from the Dow chemical plant. Your target cause is just, but your aim is senseless.
- Mike
I am working on creating wildlife habitat that is off-limits to humans ("pure habitat"😉. Want to
help? (I spent the previous 8 years fighting auto dependence and road construction.)
===
I am working on creating wildlife habitat that is off-limits to humans ("pure habitat"😉. Want to
help? (I spent the previous 8 years fighting auto dependence and road construction.)