Is this where the USA is heading?

[maxcok]

at no time have i ever said a big business. in-fact there are 5 of us. . . . . as for staff wages it would be irresponsible to quote those don't you think.

To be clear, you said you didn't know the salaries, which sort of runs counter to your claim of business savvy, but so be it. I would still encourage you to pursue the literacy course. It couldn't hurt.

I didn't know we had a Grammar, Spelling and Semantics forum.

Careful Vince, you've got a few of your own grammar cop posts floating around. :wink:

At any rate, there was initially a point made in passing way back here that would have been abandoned long ago if the poster hadn't continued to belabor it and carry it forward:

I try to resist being a grammar nazi, but it cannot go unnoticed that the most egregious and most obvious offenders (and presumably the least thoughtful and least educated) are overwhelmingly and not surprisingly posters espousing the most ignorant views.

In other news, the fire at the mosque construction site in Murfreesboro has officially been ruled arson. In a press conference held at the site on Friday, Federal investigators also offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case. They declined to speculate on a motive while the investigation is ongoing.

$20000 reward offered in arson at Murfreesboro mosque site

​

 

[123scotty]

At any rate, there was initially a point made in passing way back here that would have been abandoned long ago if the poster hadn't continued to belabor it and carry it forward:[/COLOR]

[/CENTER]

touché

the ironic thing max i think i will miss thi spellin und graimer thinge wel letz chist pute itt too baed noo <<< again my wee joke. you never know max i might go to lit classes and you might change my mind about muslims. but at the moment work is taking up lots of time. but i will give it thought.

 

[vince]

To be clear, you said you didn't know the salaries, which sort of runs counter to your claim of business savvy, but so be it. I would still encourage you to pursue the literacy course. It couldn't hurt.

Careful Vince, you've got a few of your own grammar cop posts floating around. :wink:

I don't think so Max. Certainly never to the point where I hijacked a whole thread with them for pages.

At any rate, there was initially a point made in passing way back here that would have been abandoned long ago if the poster hadn't continued to belabor it and carry it forward:

And it was quite an insulting point at that. No surprise the poster responded. Did you expect him to just run off with his scolding after being told he was likely to be unthoughtful, uneducated and held ignorant views because he misspelled "their"? Seems kind of small Max. It changes an interesting topic into something quite tedious for the rest of us when it goes on and on. Debates are better if we discuss the topic and refrain from taking it to a personal level. Same goes for you Scotty.

 

[123scotty]

I don't think so Max. Certainly never to the point where I hijacked a whole thread with them for pages.

And it was quite an insulting point at that. No surprise the poster responded. Did you expect him to just run off with his scolding after being told he was likely to be unthoughtful, uneducated and held ignorant views because he misspelled "their"? Seems kind of small Max. It changes an interesting topic into something quite tedious for the rest of us when it goes on and on. Debates are better if we discuss the topic and refrain from taking it to a personal level. Same goes for you Scotty.

at this point i will do something vince
I apologize
For taking the post over and changing it into the max and Scott spelling bash.
I did take the comments maybe to serious and to heart. I work bloody hard and didn't like the comments made against me.

 

[maxcok]

I don't think so Max. Certainly never to the point where I hijacked a whole thread with them for pages.

Hijacked a whole thread? For pages? Could that be a bit of an exaggeration? I have the sum total of 17 posts in this thread, 18 counting this one. Of those, only 6 are addressed to Scotty, only 4 reference his grammar, and all but 1 address the topic of the OP in some way. All together, they wouldn't make up a third of a page.

My initial post on the subject of grammar pointed out the correlation between bigotry and lack of education, a correlation that has been well studied and well documented. I see clear evidence of that where I live in the way people speak, notably among the sort of people who turn out for mosque protests, and I see it here in this forum in the way people write. Basic literacy is a fairly good indicator of educational development, fundamental to accessing a world of ideas beyond personal experience and the spoonfed media narrative. I used his post as an example, but it was clearly directed at the many people here and beyond this forum who exemplify this correlation, not just him. It was a brief general observation made in passing, followed by a separate and substantive challenge to his bigoted attitudes toward Muslims. Here. It was his choice to focus on the grammatical sleight from there forward rather than responding to the main substance of my post.

And it was quite an insulting point at that. No surprise the poster responded. Did you expect him to just run off with his scolding after being told he was likely to be unthoughtful, uneducated and held ignorant views because he misspelled "their"?

(Noting the trivialization of my point.) By the same token, do you expect me not to respond to his subsequent self-justifications and deflections from the topic? Vince, I could easily pull up posts of yours that are more personal, more direct, and equally if not more insulting on the exact same point - though lacking in any wider context like the observation I made in mine. But that would be silly and a further distraction from the thread, would it not? It's not about you, or I, or Scotty, now is it?

Seems kind of small Max. It changes an interesting topic into something quite tedious for the rest of us when it goes on and on. Debates are better if we discuss the topic and refrain from taking it to a personal level. Same goes for you Scotty.

I would challenge again your assertion that I hijacked this thread. These events took place more than a week ago. People tire of topics and move on in the absence of new developments, and topics naturally evolve to other (sometimes related) levels all the time. (Exceptions being certain irreconcilable hot button subjects e.g. circumcision, sexual orientation, locker room behavior, muslim veils, Brits & BP, etc., which seem to go on and on ad infinitum.) No one's been prevented from contributing further to the topic here; probably they have nothing to add at this juncture. No one's forced to read either. You have four posts in the thread, two on the reporting, two on the grammar question. Was there anything you wanted to add?

The vast majority of my posts in this thread are substantive and very much on topic, and of my posts to Scotty, all but one make some reference to the topic. I've provided 18 links to outside sources for more information and a local perspective on the events happening down the road here in Tennessee. I doubt anyone has made more effort to contribute to the substance of the thread than I. Here, here and here, for examples. If you want to call this a threadjack, fine. Despite your professed objectivity, I've gotten used to you looking at me with a jaundiced eye.

Even in this "kinder, gentler" forum, the exchange I had with Scotty pales in comparison to some of the nasty personal insults I see hurled about, completely irrelevant and unrelated to the topic. I don't even object to that (within reason). These are dramatic events and emotional subjects we are discussing, and passions run high. We are all (mostly) adults on an adult site. To expect the etiquette of a garden party here I think is unreasonable. It discourages a free and healthy exchange of ideas, and it discourages some of our best informed, most interesting, sometimes provocative members from contributing. Who defines the boundaries of what is and is not on topic, and how narrow is the field? My exchange with Scotty had a clear connection to the topic - the relationship between bigotry and lack of education. However tangentially you may choose to view that, I see it at the very root of many, if not most, of our problems in the US, and very much on topic.

 

[maxcok]

touché

the ironic thing max i think i will miss thi spellin und graimer thinge wel letz chist pute itt too baed noo <<< again my wee joke. you never know max i might go to lit classes and you might change my mind about muslims. but at the moment work is taking up lots of time. but i will give it thought.

LOL! I won't miss it, but it's been fun.

I'm sorry your post happened to be the one I used to make my initial point Scotty, and I don't blame you for being defensive. What some may have missed in our exchange, is that although the subject is serious, you and I were also having a bit of fun sparring.

I've looked at some of your other posts, and I know you are generally thoughtful, open and intelligent. It's a shame that you are hindered by the written word, and I hope you will give the basic literacy classes serious consideration. I can't change your mind, but if any of this has encouraged to think and open your mind further, that's good. Cheers.

 

[willow78]

To expect the etiquette of a garden party here I think is unreasonable.

I don't know about that - I've seen some garden parties descend into chaos! Once the old ladies get a few glasses of sherry in them...

 

[maxcok]

^ LOL. I want to travel in your crowd.








p.s. You're off topic. :nono:

 

[D_Andreas Sukov]

Wow...this has been one hard thread to follow.

The world is scary. Lately there has been an increase in news stories and personal experiances that are scaring the shit out of me. This isnt just about hate of Islam or any demographic, there is simply a rise of hate for anyone but yourself.

Whats worse is that i dont feel the shit has truly hit the fan....

 

[willow78]

p.s. You're off topic. :nono:

Aren't I always? :smile:

 

[Bbucko]

Whats worse is that i dont feel the shit has truly hit the fan....

It hasn't: not by a long-shot.

 

[Bbucko]

This is extremely encouraging news:

Attorney General Eric Holder, after meeting with interfaith leaders this afternoon, released a statement this afternoon saying that anti-Muslim violence won't be tolerated.


"As the Attorney General has noted on previous occasions, violence against individuals or institutions based on religious bias is intolerable and the Department will bring anyone who commits such crimes to justice," spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

 

[123scotty]

Wow...this has been one hard thread to follow.

The world is scary. Lately there has been an increase in news stories and personal experiances that are scaring the shit out of me. This isnt just about hate of Islam or any demographic, there is simply a rise of hate for anyone but yourself.

Whats worse is that i dont feel the shit has truly hit the fan....

The world sometimes sounds scary. But remember bad news sells papers, bad news can be sensationalized on tv. So hate and attitude may sound worse but I would guess its just reported more by 24 hour news channels. That have lots of time to fill up cheaply. The shit and the fan ? Well there is loads more shit and loads more fans. i suspect the supply of both are plentiful

 

[BJs4You IL]

Ooooh, an MBA! Like half the graduates with "advanced" degrees from god-knows-where. LOL.

Not that it even matters - having a college degree in anything doesn't guarantee you're edjookated.


:rofl: Oh, the irony!

Damn. You is smart.

Eye thawt iht wuz edgikayt'd...damn, ware dyd mie dickshunerry goe?

 

[willow78]

This is extremely encouraging news:

Sadly, this isn't:

Telstra BigPond News and Weather

Quotes:
A Florida evangelical church has vowed to go ahead with plans to burn the Koran on the 9/11 anniversary, despite fears it may fuel an angry backlash and endanger US and allied troops in Afghanistan.

A small Florida church has vowed to mark Saturday's anniversary and honour the deaths of almost 3,000 people killed in the al-Qaeda militant attack on the United States by burning a Koran.

Pastor Terry Jones said the Koran torching aimed 'to remember those who were brutally murdered on September 11,' and to send a warning 'to the radical element of Islam.'

It's even being reported here in Australia so I shudder to think how big it could turn out to be. Especially as it looks like the church is trying to make it an international event. Still, that's Christian values and *ahem* tolerance for you...

 

[1kmb1]

headed? apparently we never moved past it.

Miss. school drops race-based rules for student elections

 

[123scotty]

Sadly, this isn't:

Telstra BigPond News and Weather

Quotes:
A Florida evangelical church has vowed to go ahead with plans to burn the Koran on the 9/11 anniversary, despite fears it may fuel an angry backlash and endanger US and allied troops in Afghanistan.

A small Florida church has vowed to mark Saturday's anniversary and honour the deaths of almost 3,000 people killed in the al-Qaeda militant attack on the United States by burning a Koran.

Pastor Terry Jones said the Koran torching aimed 'to remember those who were brutally murdered on September 11,' and to send a warning 'to the radical element of Islam.'

It's even being reported here in Australia so I shudder to think how big it could turn out to be. Especially as it looks like the church is trying to make it an international event. Still, that's Christian values and *ahem* tolerance for you...

brings back a saying i heard long ago.
good people do good things
bad people do bad things
but religion can make good people do bad things
what would the world be like without religion
makes you wonder

 

[Bbucko]

Sadly, this isn't:

Telstra BigPond News and Weather

Quotes:
A Florida evangelical church has vowed to go ahead with plans to burn the Koran on the 9/11 anniversary, despite fears it may fuel an angry backlash and endanger US and allied troops in Afghanistan.

A small Florida church has vowed to mark Saturday's anniversary and honour the deaths of almost 3,000 people killed in the al-Qaeda militant attack on the United States by burning a Koran.

Pastor Terry Jones said the Koran torching aimed 'to remember those who were brutally murdered on September 11,' and to send a warning 'to the radical element of Islam.'

It's even being reported here in Australia so I shudder to think how big it could turn out to be. Especially as it looks like the church is trying to make it an international event. Still, that's Christian values and *ahem* tolerance for you...

<sigh>

It's 50 nutjobs and one publicity-seeking demagogue. Why this persists as news anywhere is just another example of sensation over substance that has overrun our news sources. Fred Phelps is another example of this.

Extreme and literalist interpretations of the first two amendments to the US Constitution are really tricky for people who don't live here, most especially our Anglophone cousins in Canada, the UK, Australia, NZ and elsewhere. This is a classic example.

Many would argue that these amendments are revered with a dogmatic zeal more generally associated with religion rather than politics, which should have its roots deeply planted in pragmatism. I cannot argue with that sentiment one bit: even as I condemn the book burning stunt, I defend its right to take place.

I've even come around on the Second amendment, which was much harder for me personally, as I've been subject to numerous (more than three) armed threats to my life. I'm sure that's even more difficult to wrap one's brains around, especially as I've repeatedly stated my distrust and contempt for "authorities" large and small and my insistence on self-describing as an Individualist Anarchist (low church variety :wink.

Holder was speaking of actual violence, not merely its threat (though a bomb scare qualifies, as does seditious speech, as unprotected abuses of the First amendment). Abhorrent, loathsome and utterly despicable, book burnings (with their early-30s-Germany mind-images which we all share) are not inherently violent. Though with any luck, the fools will do it inside their "house of worship" and burn the shithole to the ground: arson is considered a violent crime and could, conceivably be prosecuted as such

We have not yet reached the level where violent thoughts expressed through non-violent means are considered intolerable on a federal level.

ETA:
NB: I will cross-post this in VB's Wingnuttery: Florida thread.

 

[D_Tully Tunnelrat]

Well, Rev. Jones finally gave the Koran burning up. He claims he did so in a quid pro quo exchange for moving the mosque near Park Place in NYC. Imam Rauf disputes there is any such deal.

Pastor nixes Quran-burning, claims NYC mosque deal - Yahoo! News