When you realize how perfect everything really is, you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky. ~ the Buddha

“If you've got them by the balls their hearts and minds will follow."

John Wayne

Not when the spelling is this funny. intellictual blobbers of the world, unite ! Save us, Obama- wan, you're our only soap !

May the force be with you.

Thank you all for a good laugh. Please make this a formal complaint. Let me mispel a word to give Canyon Rat something to do.

All have a great day.

Canyawn Rat, maybe he intended the use of "blob" versus "blog" since alot of the blogs are a bunch of blubber - not to mention the comments on the blogs. And if Obama's got some soap, please send some to the AJ bloggers to clean up their act. .

Thanks timeslip, for reminding us all not to take ourselves too seriously. I've enjoyed your foray into the discussion of "why" we all are drawn to engage in this lunacy called "myopolis".

"Blob" is the correct term. We all sit around in front of our computers like a bunch of blobs yapping at each other. That movie Wall-E comes to mind. Perhaps we all need to go for a walk under God's perfect sky.

But since you asked for solutions, rather than complaints, here's a solution: Us conservative types should get out there and DO productive things and let the liberal-types have this AJ blob all to themselves. I think half their fun is getting us upset (like how mom used to tell us not to fight with our sibling because that is what they want).

Another solution is to provide well-thought out and factual arguments for the topics at hand, rather than simply going ad hominem (Sceptic studies Latin so that should not be a tough one to understand). When I started posting on these blogs I vowed to keep it civil (another Latin word) and not get pulled down into the name-calling thing. That doesn't mean you can't get emotional and have strong feelings about a topic. For example, it seems that certain posters on these blogs like to pull out the "race card" even when the topic has little or nothing to do with race. Then those who disagree are called bigots, racists and hateful. Nowdays, it seems disagreement is called "hate." There must be another way to discuss these topics without being told you are full of hate towards your fellow man.

Again, it is just a tactic to get people to lose their cool and engage in street fighting rather than actual debate.

I say we all read the Federalist Papers, see how real debate is done in a public forum like this, then get back to it.

BUT that would require some mental effort. ;-)

Tua mater tam antiquior ut linguam latine loquatur!

Listen, Gail... hate is hate no matter how hard you try & gussy it up. There are actually a couple of racist & bigoted types that blog here but most folks keep it somewhat civil. Most everyone at some time gets overly emotional & that's normal. I hate to see people so doped up on anti-depressants that they're too complacent to care one way or the other.

Another thing... the world isn't conservative. It's a mixed bag of many kinds of ideologies & if you're having a hard time with it you may want to take a look at that. Nobody can be right all the time. Sometimes I agree with you... sometimes I don't... I'm not you. Have a good day.

BirchBricker: "Nemo umquam neque poeta neque orator fuit, qui quemquam meliorem quam se arbitrater." Take note. BTW who said it?

I have no intention of gussying up hate, how insulting of you to say that. If my language is too old or flowery for you, then perhaps you need to just not read what I write. What are you used to reading anyway? Newsweek?

Here's an idea: try debating without even going down the "hate" route. Just state your position on a topic and see where it goes without constantly saying those how disagree with you are "racist," "bigots," and "hateful."

See if that works.

This ISN'T the complaint dept.? Dang, I've been lost this entire time.

Ok Gail, if you conservative types leave and want just the liberal types to write...where do us moderates go? You know, the ones that don't see things as right or left, black or white, but as sometimes right and sometimes wrong. Too much government and sometimes not enough, or just government in the wrong place at the wrong time... I know, we can be a fickled bunch; vote for a democrat and ask for less taxes or vote for a republican and ask for less religion. I want religious freedom and gay rights to exist side by side and expect the government to play as little role as possible in either...

Leave me alone and I'll leave you alone.

"No poet or speechmaker ever thought anybody was cleverer than he."- Cicero

Well... I can't be much worserer.

Rolandmc: So if we are all to just leave each other alone then why do these blogs even exist? Why do we look at them and make comments? I knew a man once who totally wanted to be left alone by the world. He bought a house miles out in the middle of the desert, grudingly came to work, talked to no one about anything "controversial" and went home to his little "nowhere land." But everytime he drove to work he *had* to be faced with other people; the laws that govern the roads, food bought at the grocery store that might have germs, etc. So you are never totally "left alone."

And if you want the world to be more the way you think it ought to be, you really need to take part in the debates that go on. For that I am happy that all of us are on here hashing it out. Sometimes it is painful, but that is all par for the course. Right? I may not always agree with Birch or Sceptic or whoever, but I am not calling them condescending names, either. That is my goal, at least.

But maybe "conservative" and "liberal" are considered insulting names or labels now.

For lack of a better way of stating my case I used the terms "conservative-type" and "liberal-type" as a way of illustrating the push and pull that goes on in this blog. I totally admit, my terms are probably not the best. There is definitely a chasm between bloggers like myself and, say, Sceptic. Language is an imperfect thing. I recognize that you and Loomis and others are more moderate. We all will never totally agree (and that is a wonderful priviledge we all enjoy in this country).

So I apologize if my terms were taken as insulting, that was not my point.

Good for you Birch, I see we both own the same books or can work the Google on the internet machine. ;-)

BTW the study of ancient Latin was probably one of the best pursuits I took up several years ago. I put it down and am now rusty, but thanks to Sceptic and Birch and all their Latin salutations (and veiled insults toward people of my ilk) have caused me to get my books out again. So, see, we CAN effect each other in positive ways even when we disagree with each other philosophically.

GailBegin: R_T is a "conservative type", if you're intelectually honest, you'll preach the same to him as he's one of the worst offenders.

Steelybob: I know full well that RT is a "conservative-type." I think everyone knows that. I said that I, for myself personally, am trying to not go down the ad hominem road. If RT does that, then I guess I am "preaching" to him, too.

Bless you, Gail. Cave ab homine unius libri!

BirchBricker: Gratias. Autem multos libros habeo ergo cogitationes meas semper scribam, non Ciceronis et al. Facilis nimis est.

Nunc est bibendum

Beati pacifici!

Interesting thing, we all have the same overlapping goal, we just disagree over the cause and the solution. If we can set aside causality, seems like we could find some common ground on the solutions if we worked at it.

That's true... I think most people wish for a peaceable resolution to most situations & if partisanship were put aside, we could probably get more done. The labels "right wing" & "left wing" really are not helpful in bringing everyone to a common cause.

...Let's see, 'Ire'... 'eo'... 'Is'. 'It'... 'Imus'... 'Itis'... 'Eunt', third person plural present indicative 'they go' But 'Romans Go Home' is an order, so you must use the imperative...

Please - - help me out here, Gail.

My poor-to-begin-with church Latin is a bit rusty. What means "Autem multos libros habeo ergo cogitationes meas semper scribam, non Ciceronis et al. Facilis nimis est. " in English? Something about many books and understand all writing but Cicero and it's easy?

BTW: Do you say "Sis-ero" or "Kick-ero?"