Unutterably Silly So what are you doing RIGHT NOW?

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

I know it was scary and caused all sorts of problems, but honestly, the pics of the ice coated trees and bushes are very beautiful. Looks like a fairy land rendered in glass.

Glad you were able to check in and let us know you are OK!

Originally Posted by nekokami

Oh, I quite agree! That was part of why I posted the link to the images.

some of my favorites are the ones where the tree branches seem to be encased in crystal. but seeing them i understand also how the weight of the ice could devastate the trees.

Originally Posted by RWood

Right now I'm recovering from having a tooth pulled today. Im not too sure what is worse, the original pain or the medicine to ease the pain. Time to fold my tent and turn off the light. See you all tomorrow.

ooh, that's unpleasant. i'm sorry. i hope you feel better soon.


right now i am feeling a bit sick to my stomach but also relieved, as i've just heard on the radio that 5 bombs have been defused a few minutes ago in one of Paris' most famous and most frequented (especially in this season...) stores, the Printemps near l'Opéra.

i'm glad they were defused in time, as that store must have been packed today with people doing christmas shopping, but i just can't understand people who do not hesitate to make a despicable attack on a historic building full of innocent people. apparently the attack has been claimed by the "Afghan Revolutionary Front," which was an unknown group till today.

about 10 years ago there was a series of bombings in paris in the public transports, you have to keep living your life but it is scary and upsetting if you stop to think about it. i hope we are not going to go through that again.

[Slite]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

right now i am feeling a bit sick to my stomach but also relieved, as i've just heard on the radio that 5 bombs have been defused a few minutes ago in one of Paris' most famous and most frequented (especially in this season...) stores, the Printemps near l'Opéra.

i'm glad they were defused in time, as that store must have been packed today with people doing christmas shopping, but i just can't understand people who do not hesitate to make a despicable attack on a historic building full of innocent people. apparently the attack has been claimed by the "Afghan Revolutionary Front," which was an unknown group till today.

about 10 years ago there was a series of bombings in paris in the public transports, you have to keep living your life but it is scary and upsetting if you stop to think about it. i hope we are not going to go through that again.

That is just plain despicable! I don't think there is a lower form of life on this planet than those who tries to "make an example" of innocent people just because they happen to live in a country that adopt a policy they don't agree with. That is just about the only thing that marxism got right, and that is that religion should be forbidden. I apologize beforehand to any of you that are religious out there, but just look at the facts. Religious differences is responsible for more deaths and atrocities on this planet than just about anything else.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by Slite

That is just plain despicable! I don't think there is a lower form of life on this planet than those who tries to "make an example" of innocent people just because they happen to live in a country that adopt a policy they don't agree with. That is just about the only thing that marxism got right, and that is that religion should be forbidden. I apologize beforehand to any of you that are religious out there, but just look at the facts. Religious differences is responsible for more deaths and atrocities on this planet than just about anything else.

some new details are unfolding : apparently, the police discovered the explosives because they received a letter warning them about them. also, strangely, none of the explosives (it's 5 sticks of dynamite in fact) had a detonating system. the letter demands that french troops be evacuated from afghanistan before february and that if no action is taken by tomorrow they would be detonated (but how ?).

i'm afraid i have to agree with your views, and it makes me really sad to see that after so many centuries humans are still not very civilized... a lot of human society is still so close to barbariansism. we should be more evolved by now.

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by Slite

That is just plain despicable! I don't think there is a lower form of life on this planet than those who tries to "make an example" of innocent people just because they happen to live in a country that adopt a policy they don't agree with. That is just about the only thing that marxism got right, and that is that religion should be forbidden. I apologize beforehand to any of you that are religious out there, but just look at the facts. Religious differences is responsible for more deaths and atrocities on this planet than just about anything else.

On this point you are 100% correct. However, 'forbidding religion' is not the answer. (no offense taken, i know where you are coming from)
I don't have an answer. But for most people, those who do believe in God, or whatever, religion is a great solace in times of need. Lord knows we are living in those times. Why take that away?
Why don't we put the blame where it belongs? On the extremists?

[Slite]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

On this point you are 100% correct. However, 'forbidding religion' is not the answer. (no offense taken, i know where you are coming from)
I don't have an answer. But for most people, those who do believe in God, or whatever, religion is a great solace in times of need. Lord knows we are living in those times. Why take that away?
Why don't we put the blame where it belongs? On the extremists?

Yeah, maybe forbidding religion is taking it to the extreme. But why the heck can't we just get along? Or if you have differences, solve it with a pillow fight or something, just don't take it out on innocent people!

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by Slite

Yeah, maybe forbidding religion is taking it to the extreme. But why the heck can't we just get along? Or if you have differences, solve it with a pillow fight or something, just don't take it out on innocent people!

Because those who advocate this love the power they have....instill into those who have nothing, fear and hatred for others, blame everyone else but yourself for the way things are.

Remember Hitler?

[Slite]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Because those who advocate this love the power they have....instill into those who have nothing, fear and hatred for others, blame everyone else but yourself for the way things are.

Remember Hitler?

Not quite that old, but yeah. I know what he caused

Amazing how one little corporal can cause so much trouble, just goes to show that Agent Smith had a point in the Matrix...

I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area, and you multiply, and multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet, you are a plague, and we are the cure.

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by Slite

Not quite that old, but yeah. I know what he caused

Amazing how one little corporal can cause so much trouble, just goes to show that Agent Smith had a point in the Matrix...

I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area, and you multiply, and multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet, you are a plague, and we are the cure.

How true! Is this from the movie "The Matrix" I haven't see it or any of them......

[Slite]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

How true! Is this from the movie "The Matrix" I haven't see it or any of them......

Yes it is from that movie, and the first one is the only one worth watching, the two followup's were very, very bad IMHO

[LazyScot]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

i'm afraid i have to agree with your views, and it makes me really sad to see that after so many centuries humans are still not very civilized... a lot of human society is still so close to barbariansism. we should be more evolved by now.

I think a quote from Hitchhiker's Guide is called for here:

... after one man had been nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be to be nice to people for a change ...

There's far too much misanthropy in the world. Animal Farm is alive and well and still being practised all around us.

Except where squirrels are concerned

[nekokami]

I'm a bit more optimistic than that, both about religion and about humanity. But I agree we've got a long way to go toward learning to live with one another and the rest of life on the planet in any kind of equilibrium.

To me, strong identification with any small group (by which I mean "smaller than the sum of humanity," really) is where we get the problems. Anyone "in" the group is ok, and their flaws are overlooked (or they get thrown out of the group), and anyone "out" of the group is somehow less than human, and fair game for anything the group wants to do. This is by no means confined to religion. Political parties, economic ideologies, geography, and accidents of birth (i.e. "class") all have the same effect.

I have a working theory that if we tried to make the world a bit more "fair," with more equitable distribution of resources and opportunities (at least at birth and for children), much of the motivation for this kind of nastiness would go away, but oddly enough, I'm having trouble finding a way to test this theory....

[Greg Anos]

I just posted the end of The Case of the Golden Coprolite.

[desertgrandma]

correct me if I'm wrong,, but aren't billions already sent, by every country capable, to third world places? Food, doctors, money, etc.

The problem seems to be in making sure the help gets where its needed, not into pockets of corrupt officials. Until this issue is addressed, nothing will change.

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by Slite

Amazing how one little corporal can cause so much trouble, just goes to show that Agent Smith had a point in the Matrix...

The idea that humanity is a disease of the planet is pre_Matrix. Brian Aldiss used it in 'The Saliva Tree' iirc.

I'd be interested to hear if anyone knows of any earlier examples in SF.

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by Slite

Yeah, maybe forbidding religion is taking it to the extreme. But why the heck can't we just get along? Or if you have differences, solve it with a pillow fight or something, just don't take it out on innocent people!

On that note .... I just read an article about Genghis Khan, who .... and I am not kidding here .... when his son-in-law was murdered and his daughter demanded revenge, killed every living creature (dogs, cats, birds, and a population of over 1,780,000 people) in one of the largest cities in the world in the 13th century, because that's where the murder happened.

Talk about taking it out on innocent people (and animals).

I think the biggest problem isn't religion, or skin color, or nationalities, or any difference you can name. It's just that people are not schooled in, nor do they value, critical thinking. They are also too prone to handing over huge amounts of power to people who are probably clinically insane. The combination can be, and often is, deadly.