[OT: humour] On the subject of taking Iraq messages elsewhere

[Joshua Goldberg]

Yeah I like Raccoons too, but the hordes of Barbarians sound cool too.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"rorschandt" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Carol Cohen <[email protected]> wrote in news:BA77EB21.45014%[email protected]:
>
> >
> >
> >>
> >> I am coming to the conclusion, while the human species may contain some reasonable individuals,
> >> as a collective group they are a failure at establishing a just, sustainable society.
> >> Therefore, I believe the best solution to the current situation is to sit back and watch the
> >> world descend into a new age of barbarism and ecological disaster, where might makes right and
> >> any pretense of international order is abandoned.
> >>
> >> All will not be lost, since rodents are quite tough
> >
> > My vote is for raccoons. They have little hands and can change gears and grip brake levers, and
> > those fluffy banded tails make excellent padding on a lowracer seat.
> >
> > WILL YOU GUYS EVER STAY ON-TOPIC???
>
> Raccoons are not rodents, and are of the order of CARNIVORA, Family PROCYONIDAE. Ailurus.
>
> happy trails, rorschandt

 

[Jay Ault]

Tom Sherman <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Freewheeling wrote:
> >
> > Guy:
> >
> > I recently posted (in a more appropriate setting) a lament that the President of the US is not
> > Hillary Clinton. I think the Clinton/Levin proposal for dealing with Iraq would actually work,
> > and eventually checkmate Saddam (quite possibly without a war). Even if it occasioned a war it
> > would be one started by Saddam, and not us. I find it very frustrating that the Bush team
> > apparently doesn't see this opportunity. Furthermore the Clinton/Levin position is not so far
> > from that of the French that we couldn't embarass or compel them to accept it , and obtain
> > either a second resolution or a new resolve to implement the precise terms of the first. (The
> > Germans are a lost cause.)
>
> I am coming to the conclusion, while the human species may contain some reasonable individuals, as
> a collective group they are a failure at establishing a just, sustainable society. Therefore, I
> believe the best solution to the current situation is to sit back and watch the world descend into
> a new age of barbarism and ecological disaster, where might makes right and any pretense of
> international order is abandoned.
>
> All will not be lost, since rodents are quite tough [1], and should survive any destruction that
> humans may cause, so mammals will not become extinct. The second time around, a highly intelligent
> species with more wisdom than the current one may evolve.
>
> [1] A large population of rats was found living on Bikini Atoll after the island had been used for
> aboveground thermonuclear test explosions.
>
> Tom Sherman - Quad Cities USA (Illinois side)

What a sorry world veiw. The human condition improves daily. No, it is not perfect. Perfection will
never be attained. I beleive we will get pretty close. The journey will be slow, sloppy and,
unfortunately bloody. Just because half the world doesn't agree with your world view doesn't mean
the world is going to hell in a handbasket. Half the world will always disagree with the other
half. Don't like the current political landscape? Just wait, it will change and change and change.
The quality of life continues to improve since the days of Mesopotamia. We live longer, eat better
and have more leasure time, ect.. We as human make mistakes and do much harm. I believe we will
solve these problems for the betterment of all. We are problemsolvers by nature. Just check how
many on this NG are engineers, teachers, technicians, medical professionals, writers and on and on.
I do not buy the line about a rat is a dog is a boy. Show me a rat that has built a hospital. How
about a whale that irrigated a desert so the straving can farm. We humans are special. Half of you
will disagree.

Jay

 

[Carol Cohen]

> What a sorry world veiw. The human condition improves daily. No, it is not perfect. Perfection
> will never be attained. I beleive we will get pretty close. The journey will be slow, sloppy and,
> unfortunately bloody. Just because half the world doesn't agree with your world view doesn't mean
> the world is going to hell in a handbasket. Half the world will always disagree with the other
> half. Don't like the current political landscape? Just wait, it will change and change and change.
> The quality of life continues to improve since the days of Mesopotamia. We live longer, eat better
> and have more leasure time, ect.. We as human make mistakes and do much harm. I believe we will
> solve these problems for the betterment of all. We are problemsolvers by nature. Just check how
> many on this NG are engineers, teachers, technicians, medical professionals, writers and on and
> on. I do not buy the line about a rat is a dog is a boy. Show me a rat that has built a hospital.
> How about a whale that irrigated a desert so the straving can farm. We humans are special. Half of
> you will disagree.
>
> Jay

Hi, Jay--

Ever read Anatole France's "Penguin Island"? I recommend it for its perspective on humanity.

C.C.

 

[Edward Dolan]

Tom Sherman <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Freewheeling wrote:
> >
> > Guy:
> >
> > I recently posted (in a more appropriate setting) a lament that the President of the US is not
> > Hillary Clinton. I think the Clinton/Levin proposal for dealing with Iraq would actually work,
> > and eventually checkmate Saddam (quite possibly without a war). Even if it occasioned a war it
> > would be one started by Saddam, and not us. I find it very frustrating that the Bush team
> > apparently doesn't see this opportunity. Furthermore the Clinton/Levin position is not so far
> > from that of the French that we couldn't embarass or compel them to accept it , and obtain
> > either a second resolution or a new resolve to implement the precise terms of the first. (The
> > Germans are a lost cause.)
>
> I am coming to the conclusion, while the human species may contain some reasonable individuals, as
> a collective group they are a failure at establishing a just, sustainable society. Therefore, I
> believe the best solution to the current situation is to sit back and watch the world descend into
> a new age of barbarism and ecological disaster, where might makes right and any pretense of
> international order is abandoned.
>
> All will not be lost, since rodents are quite tough [1], and should survive any destruction that
> humans may cause, so mammals will not become extinct. The second time around, a highly intelligent
> species with more wisdom than the current one may evolve.
>
> [1] A large population of rats was found living on Bikini Atoll after the island had been used for
> aboveground thermonuclear test explosions.
>
> Tom Sherman - Quad Cities USA (Illinois side

Forget the rats. Cockroaches and other insects are the future of life on earth. Who cares about
intelligence anyway.

Ed Dolan - Minnesota aka Lower Slobovia

 

[Tom Sherman]

Scott,

Freewheeling wrote:
>
> So, in other words as long as you don't have to see any opposition to your point of view you don't
> mind not reiterating them. Doesn't that define a monopoly?

I believe that it defines someone who is ill tempered and a chronically foul mood about human
"civilization". If we must have an invasion of Iraq, I hope it happens soon so we can at least know
what the fallout is and deal with it. As for a monopoly, the pro-war view has held almost a complete
monopoly in the US media, so I do not feel it needs to be promoted in this forum.

Or maybe I am just a rather unpleasant person (resounding cries of agreement from the crowd).

> The way I see it is that the Chomskyites, et al have pretty much had their way within the
> education system for quite awhile, virtually unopposed....

I suppose this depends on "which" education system you are referring to. I have never heard
Chomsky's name in school from K-12 to the MS program I was in, nor in any mainstream media outlet.
However, I will take your word on it that his ideas are much more prevalent in certain social
science fields.

The result is a series of commonly held mythologies that, for
> instance, employ the same word for opening a McDonalds in a third world country and the horrors in
> the Belgian Congo....

Choosing the known blandness and poor nutrition of McDonald's food over taking a chance on a local
eatery is like riding a wedgie because one is unwilling to try something as different as a recumbent
bicycle. And we all know which is better for the bottom line, er end.

Tom Sherman - Recumbent Curmudgeon

 

[Tom Sherman]

Jay Ault wrote:
>
> What a sorry world veiw. The human condition improves daily. No, it is not perfect. Perfection
> will never be attained. I beleive we will get pretty close. The journey will be slow, sloppy and,
> unfortunately bloody. Just because half the world doesn't agree with your world view doesn't mean
> the world is going to hell in a handbasket....

War destroys any conception of goals, including any conception of the goals of war. It even destroys
the idea of putting an end to war. - Simone Weil

Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind. - John F. Kennedy

I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with
sticks and stones. -Albert Einstein

 

[Tom Sherman]

Freewheeling wrote:
>
> Tom:
>
> "I am coming to the conclusion, while the human species may contain some reasonable individuals,
> as a collective group they are a failure at establishing a just, sustainable society."
>
> I have a suggestion. Learn something about Game Theory, and why they decided to give the Nobel
> Prize to John Nash.

Scott,

I know about snowshoe hares and lynx.

Tom Sherman - Recumbent Curmudgeon

 

[Jay Ault]

> Hi, Jay--
>
> Ever read Anatole France's "Penguin Island"? I recommend it for its perspective on humanity.
>
> C.C.

My taste is more Ayn Rand

Jay

 

[Dave Larrington]

Jay Ault wrote:

> The human condition improves daily

*That* depends on where the human in question lives...

Dave Larrington - http://legslarry.crosswinds.net/
===========================================================
Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
http://www.bhpc.org.uk/
===========================================================

 

[Jackal]

"Dave Larrington" <[email protected]> wrote in news:b2vo4n$1grihl$1@ID- 120318.news.dfncis.de:

> Jay Ault wrote:
>
>> The human condition improves daily
>
> *That* depends on where the human in question lives...
>
> Dave Larrington - http://legslarry.crosswinds.net/
> ===========================================================
> Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
> http://www.bhpc.org.uk/
> ===========================================================
>
>
>

Yeh,I guess this guys world view is limited to the developed countries.

 

[Carol Cohen]

> From: [email protected] (Jay Ault)

>>
>> Hi, Jay--
>>
>> Ever read Anatole France's "Penguin Island"? I recommend it for its perspective on humanity.
>>
>> C.C.
>
> My taste is more Ayn Rand
>
> Jay

So: Who is Jay Ault?

C.C.

 

[Dave Larrington]

Carol Cohen asked

> Who is Jay Ault?

A Seth Efrikan serving a stritch in prison is said to have bin "Jayault".

(dies)

Dave Larrington - http://legslarry.crosswinds.net/
===========================================================
Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
http://www.bhpc.org.uk/
===========================================================

 

[Dj Blag]

The trouble is rooted in something we all have in common. WE are comfortable on our bikes, and the
non bent world is in a bad mood for sitting on a DF with the seat going up their nether regions.
Used to put me in a bad mood too. Now I ride and smile, even when my thighs are burning!! Chas

 

[Tom Sherman]

Jackal wrote:
>
> Yeh,I guess this guys world view is limited to the developed countries.

The average standard of living in the US is currently in a 3 decade decline, and the median standard
of living has dropped even farther.

Tom Sherman - Recumbent Curmudgeon

I criticize America because I love her. I want her to stand as a moral example to the world. -
Martin Luther King Jr.

 

[Edward Dolan]

[email protected] (Jay Ault) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Tom Sherman <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> > Freewheeling wrote:
> > >
> > > Guy:
> > >
> > > I recently posted (in a more appropriate setting) a lament that the President of the US is not
> > > Hillary Clinton. I think the Clinton/Levin proposal for dealing with Iraq would actually work,
> > > and eventually checkmate Saddam (quite possibly without a war). Even if it occasioned a war it
> > > would be one started by Saddam, and not us. I find it very frustrating that the Bush team
> > > apparently doesn't see this opportunity. Furthermore the Clinton/Levin position is not so far
> > > from that of the French that we couldn't embarass or compel them to accept it , and obtain
> > > either a second resolution or a new resolve to implement the precise terms of the first. (The
> > > Germans are a lost cause.)
> >
> > I am coming to the conclusion, while the human species may contain some reasonable individuals,
> > as a collective group they are a failure at establishing a just, sustainable society. Therefore,
> > I believe the best solution to the current situation is to sit back and watch the world descend
> > into a new age of barbarism and ecological disaster, where might makes right and any pretense of
> > international order is abandoned.
> >
> > All will not be lost, since rodents are quite tough [1], and should survive any destruction that
> > humans may cause, so mammals will not become extinct. The second time around, a highly
> > intelligent species with more wisdom than the current one may evolve.
> >
> > [1] A large population of rats was found living on Bikini Atoll after the island had been used
> > for aboveground thermonuclear test explosions.
> >
> > Tom Sherman - Quad Cities USA (Illinois side)
>
>
> What a sorry world veiw. The human condition improves daily. No, it is not perfect. Perfection
> will never be attained. I beleive we will get pretty close. The journey will be slow, sloppy and,
> unfortunately bloody. Just because half the world doesn't agree with your world view doesn't mean
> the world is going to hell in a handbasket. Half the world will always disagree with the other
> half. Don't like the current political landscape? Just wait, it will change and change and change.
> The quality of life continues to improve since the days of Mesopotamia. We live longer, eat better
> and have more leasure time, ect.. We as human make mistakes and do much harm. I believe we will
> solve these problems for the betterment of all. We are problemsolvers by nature. Just check how
> many on this NG are engineers, teachers, technicians, medical professionals, writers and on and
> on. I do not buy the line about a rat is a dog is a boy. Show me a rat that has built a hospital.
> How about a whale that irrigated a desert so the straving can farm. We humans are special. Half of
> you will disagree.
>
> Jay

Who is this guy, Jay? As much as I disagree with Tom Sherman on almost every other subject under the
sun, I do agree with him that the world has been going to hell from the very beginning, and it will
always be going to hell because of human nature being the way it is. I would like to take Jay and
plop him down in sub-Saharran Africa and let him experience how things are going there. He says "We
humans are special" all the while denigrating the other animals. All animals are special. Just
because we have langauge and can therefore talk and think does not make us all that special. We are
a special category of Primate. That's it.

Ed Dolan - Minnesota

 

[Carol Cohen]

> Who is this guy, Jay? As much as I disagree with Tom Sherman on almost every other subject under
> the sun, I do agree with him that the world has been going to hell from the very beginning, and it
> will always be going to hell because of human nature being the way it is. I would like to take Jay
> and plop him down in sub-Saharran Africa and let him experience how things are going there. He
> says "We humans are special" all the while denigrating the other animals. All animals are special.
> Just because we have langauge and can therefore talk and think does not make us all that special.
> We are a special category of Primate. That's it.
>
> Ed Dolan - Minnesota

Jay Ault may be a misspelling of John Gault, Ayn Rand's hero

C.C.

 

[Zippy The Pinhe]

"Edward Dolan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> All animals are special. Just because we have langauge and can therefore
talk and think does not make us all that special. We are a special category of Primate. That's it.

Speak for yourself, Chimp-boy.

 

[Skip]

"Carol Cohen" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:BA7A7F19.451F3%[email protected]...
>
> > Who is this guy, Jay? As much as I disagree with Tom Sherman on almost every other subject under
> > the sun, I do agree with him that the world has been going to hell from the very beginning, and
> > it will always be going to hell because of human nature being the way it is. I would like to
> > take Jay and plop him down in sub-Saharran Africa and let him experience how things are going
> > there. He says "We humans are special" all the while denigrating the other animals. All animals
> > are special. Just because we have langauge and can therefore talk and think does not make us all
> > that special. We are a special category of Primate. That's it.
> >
> > Ed Dolan - Minnesota
>
> Jay Ault may be a misspelling of John Gault, Ayn Rand's hero
>
> C.C.
>

Jay could be one of Ayn's (or is that pronunced Ayn?) love children.

BTW it's John Galt, but that's OK because it really was a long time ago.

Skip

 

[Freewheeling]

Tom:

Good things to know about, to be sure, but they won't improve your perception of human institutions.

--
--Scott [email protected] Cut the "tail" to send email.

"Tom Sherman" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
>
> Freewheeling wrote:
> >
> > Tom:
> >
> > "I am coming to the conclusion, while the human species may contain some reasonable individuals,
> > as a collective group they are a failure at establishing a just, sustainable society."
> >
> > I have a suggestion. Learn something about Game Theory, and why they decided to give the Nobel
> > Prize to John Nash.
>
> Scott,
>
> I know about snowshoe hares and lynx.
>
> Tom Sherman - Recumbent Curmudgeon

 

[Ben Fox]

Choosing the known blandness and poor nutrition of McDonald's food over
> taking a chance on a local eatery is like riding a wedgie because one is unwilling to try
> something as different as a recumbent bicycle. And we all know which is better for the bottom
> line, er end.
>
> Tom Sherman - Recumbent Curmudgeon

Tom, This from the guy who, during a ride with me, eats donuts from Casey's instead of a healthy
alternative. Ben fox

"Tom Sherman" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Scott,
>
> Freewheeling wrote:
> >
> > So, in other words as long as you don't have to see any opposition to
your
> > point of view you don't mind not reiterating them. Doesn't that define
a
> > monopoly?
>
> I believe that it defines someone who is ill tempered and a chronically foul mood about human
> "civilization". If we must have an invasion of Iraq, I hope it happens soon so we can at least
> know what the fallout is and deal with it. As for a monopoly, the pro-war view has held almost a
> complete monopoly in the US media, so I do not feel it needs to be promoted in this forum.
>
> Or maybe I am just a rather unpleasant person (resounding cries of agreement from the crowd).
>
> > The way I see it is that the Chomskyites, et al have pretty much had their way within the
> > education system for quite awhile, virtually unopposed....
>
> I suppose this depends on "which" education system you are referring to. I have never heard
> Chomsky's name in school from K-12 to the MS program I was in, nor in any mainstream media outlet.
> However, I will take your word on it that his ideas are much more prevalent in certain social
> science fields.
>
> The result is a series of commonly held mythologies that, for
> > instance, employ the same word for opening a McDonalds in a third world country and the horrors
> > in the Belgian Congo....
>
> Choosing the known blandness and poor nutrition of McDonald's food over taking a chance on a local
> eatery is like riding a wedgie because one is unwilling to try something as different as a
> recumbent bicycle. And we all know which is better for the bottom line, er end.
>
> Tom Sherman - Recumbent Curmudgeon