Entry tags:
QotD: Twain again
to put up with
than the annoyance
of a good example.
--Mark Twain
to put up with
than the annoyance
of a good example.
--Mark Twain
QotD: Gatofeo
An ugly cat.
Vast desert.
Smoke and fire.
Flying lead makes holes in parchment.
The ugly cat is much amused.
--- Gatodamus (1503-1566)
(Source: https://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum/topic/107438-jarbidge-nevada-monster/)
Vast desert.
Smoke and fire.
Flying lead makes holes in parchment.
The ugly cat is much amused.
--- Gatodamus (1503-1566)
(Source: https://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum/topic/107438-jarbidge-nevada-monster/)
QotD: Spaghettimonster Prayer
Thy noodle come, Thy sauce be yum, on top some grated Parmesan. Give us this day our garlic bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trample on our lawns. And lead us not into vegetarianism, but deliver us some pizza, for thine is the meatball, the onion, and the bay leaves, forever and ever.
Amen.
--John ScottQotD: Looking for a Black Cat in a Dark Room
Philosophy is like being in a dark room and looking for a black cat.
Metaphysics is like being in a dark room and looking for a black cat that isn’t there.
Theology is like being in a dark room and looking for a black cat that isn’t there, and shouting “I found it!”
Science is like being in a dark room looking for a black cat while using a flashlight.
― Anonymous
Entry tags:
Q0tD: Hunting Tools
"Assault rifles aren’t hunting tools, but many of their owners absolutely are."
--Teresa Rogerson
--Teresa Rogerson
QotD: American Delusion Influences Politics
Socialism never took root in America because
the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat
but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.
--Ronald Wright
the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat
but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.
--Ronald Wright
QotD: the Merits of the Knife
I am not anti-gun. I'm pro-knife.
Consider the merits of the knife.
In the first place, you have to catch up with someone
in order to stab him.
A general substitution of knives for guns would promote physical fitness.
We'd turn into a whole nation of great runners.
Plus, knives don't ricochet.
And people are seldom killed while cleaning their knives.
- Molly Ivins
Consider the merits of the knife.
In the first place, you have to catch up with someone
in order to stab him.
A general substitution of knives for guns would promote physical fitness.
We'd turn into a whole nation of great runners.
Plus, knives don't ricochet.
And people are seldom killed while cleaning their knives.
- Molly Ivins
QotD: Democracy
Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard.
--H.L. Mencken
One fifth of the people are against everything all the time.
--Robert Kennedy
Anti-intellectualism has been a constant threat winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."
--Isaac Asimov
Democracy if four wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.
--Ambrose Bierce
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.
--Winston S. Churchill
The main problem in any democracy is that the crowd-pleasers are generally brainless swine who can go out on a stage and whip their supporters into an orgiastic frenzy -- then go back to the office and sell every one of the poor bastards than the tube for a nickel apiece.
--Hunter S. Thompson
Quotes from page 18 of the Funny Times, September 2017
--H.L. Mencken
One fifth of the people are against everything all the time.
--Robert Kennedy
Anti-intellectualism has been a constant threat winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."
--Isaac Asimov
Democracy if four wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.
--Ambrose Bierce
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.
--Winston S. Churchill
The main problem in any democracy is that the crowd-pleasers are generally brainless swine who can go out on a stage and whip their supporters into an orgiastic frenzy -- then go back to the office and sell every one of the poor bastards than the tube for a nickel apiece.
--Hunter S. Thompson
Quotes from page 18 of the Funny Times, September 2017
QotD: Get Your Facts First
"Get your facts first,
then you can distort them
as you please."
--Mark Twain
then you can distort them
as you please."
--Mark Twain
I'm a House Nigger
Maher crossed a line with his joke, but that's what comedians do. It's the taboos that make jokes funny, the fact that they refer to something that is painful or secret. The US history of enslaving Africans is not secret, but it is painful. The pain is felt by many of us, perhaps not the same for those with other colors of skin, but there is no doubt that it has marred many generations of our society. When/how will we ever get past it? Can the descendants of slavery ever forgive?
My great grandmother lived in the piedmont of North Carolina and owned a slave. Am I guilty? Should I be punished for that? I have been punished, and I'm sure I will be punished more. Do I deserve this punishment? I go out of my way to protect and include black people. Does my calling them black people make me a racist? How about brown people, red people, white people? Does my effort to be inclusive make me an ass? Is there any way for a white person to broach this subject without it being negatively received? I know I am priviledged but I am not immune to the attitudes of people around me of every description.
Racial relations get worse when people are unfairly punished. I was born with no ill will toward any group. Painful experiences in my life have led me to be wary of certain groups of people. Usually it is the people who have historically been abused who later become agressive or condescending. Jewish people have treated me badly, moreso than Blacks but some of them too have assumed that I am a racist and helped to make me into one. It is understandable, but it does not result in the whirled peas that we seek.
Those who say Maher should be fired for racism, seriously now? He did not call anyone else a nigger, he was referring to himself. His joke was on TV and showed that he understood the class system that was applied to black slaves in our nation. Who else but a comedian can publicly break taboos and get people talking about it? If we are to heal these wounds, we need to talk about it. Keeping it secret and taboo does nothing to reduce the pain. Time passing, generations shifting, that reduces the pain... but I wish we could do it faster.
This brings me to the question about words. The word nigger is apparently 100% taboo, at least for a white person to say on TV. It appears to me that it is just a word. It is not the word that I am worried about, it is the attitude. Certainly words and attitudes are linked, but it is not a 100% correlation between saying the word nigger and being a racist or promoting racism. I do not believe that Maher is a racist. I think he is trying to defuse the tensions around our dark history and get us all to laugh, together, and let the pain slip away.
What other words are taboo? I can't think of any that the two white men I live with react to as strongly. Honky? LOL.
I wish "bitch" were less acceptable. The word has been applied to me many times in my life, usually because I refused to do what a white man wanted me to do, or because I got angry. The word bitch has been used to suppress the will of a huge class of people, and it is still in common usage and acceptable in rap music and other places. I am allowed to get angry and to assert myself without deserving denigration. But women have been put down for a long time and a large segment of our population would like to keep us down. If Maher had said "I'm a bitch", I would not have been offended. That is not the same as him calling someone else a bitch.
I would like to hear from the descendants of slaves in the US as to whether they think Maher should be fired. I bet they will say no. He is doing his job, making us laugh out things that hurt.
My great grandmother lived in the piedmont of North Carolina and owned a slave. Am I guilty? Should I be punished for that? I have been punished, and I'm sure I will be punished more. Do I deserve this punishment? I go out of my way to protect and include black people. Does my calling them black people make me a racist? How about brown people, red people, white people? Does my effort to be inclusive make me an ass? Is there any way for a white person to broach this subject without it being negatively received? I know I am priviledged but I am not immune to the attitudes of people around me of every description.
Racial relations get worse when people are unfairly punished. I was born with no ill will toward any group. Painful experiences in my life have led me to be wary of certain groups of people. Usually it is the people who have historically been abused who later become agressive or condescending. Jewish people have treated me badly, moreso than Blacks but some of them too have assumed that I am a racist and helped to make me into one. It is understandable, but it does not result in the whirled peas that we seek.
Those who say Maher should be fired for racism, seriously now? He did not call anyone else a nigger, he was referring to himself. His joke was on TV and showed that he understood the class system that was applied to black slaves in our nation. Who else but a comedian can publicly break taboos and get people talking about it? If we are to heal these wounds, we need to talk about it. Keeping it secret and taboo does nothing to reduce the pain. Time passing, generations shifting, that reduces the pain... but I wish we could do it faster.
This brings me to the question about words. The word nigger is apparently 100% taboo, at least for a white person to say on TV. It appears to me that it is just a word. It is not the word that I am worried about, it is the attitude. Certainly words and attitudes are linked, but it is not a 100% correlation between saying the word nigger and being a racist or promoting racism. I do not believe that Maher is a racist. I think he is trying to defuse the tensions around our dark history and get us all to laugh, together, and let the pain slip away.
What other words are taboo? I can't think of any that the two white men I live with react to as strongly. Honky? LOL.
I wish "bitch" were less acceptable. The word has been applied to me many times in my life, usually because I refused to do what a white man wanted me to do, or because I got angry. The word bitch has been used to suppress the will of a huge class of people, and it is still in common usage and acceptable in rap music and other places. I am allowed to get angry and to assert myself without deserving denigration. But women have been put down for a long time and a large segment of our population would like to keep us down. If Maher had said "I'm a bitch", I would not have been offended. That is not the same as him calling someone else a bitch.
I would like to hear from the descendants of slaves in the US as to whether they think Maher should be fired. I bet they will say no. He is doing his job, making us laugh out things that hurt.
QotD: Meat
If God had not intended for us to eat animals,
how come He made them out of meat?
--found attributed to Sarah Palin but have been informed that John Cleese said it before she did.....
how come He made them out of meat?
--found attributed to Sarah Palin but have been informed that John Cleese said it before she did.....
QotD: Sayings not actually by Confucius
SOME ALMOST CONFUCIUS SAYINGS:
Man who wants pretty nurse, must be patient.
Lady who goes camping must beware of evil intent.
Man who leaps off cliff jumps to conclusion.
Man who runs in front of car gets tired, man who runs behind car gets exhausted.
Man who eats many prunes get good run for money.
War does not determine who is right, it determines who is left.
Man who fight with wife all day get no piece at night.
Man who drives like hell is bound to get there.
Man who live in glass house should change clothes in basement.
He who fart in church, sit in own pew.
Man who win lottery find great change in himself.
Entry tags:
Late to discover Groundhog Day
How did I live to be 50 before I watched this classic movie? Bill Murray plays a sunovabitch who because of a glitch in time learns to be a decent human. The glitch: every day is the same day, Groundhog day. He is a TV weather man who is accumstomed to being rude, selfish, and sarcastic to everyone. He discovers along the way that one of the people he gets to relive this day with is a truly wonderful woman, and it takes him a long time to become a man worthy of her. People told me it was a great movie but for some reason the groundhog part turned me off. Funny, maybe I'm learning.
QotD: Homer Loves America
You must love this country more than I love a cold beer on a hot Christmas morning.
—Homer Simpson
QotD: Taxes in America
The administration says the American people want tax cuts.
Well, duh. The American people also want drive-through nickel beer night. The American people want to lose weight by eating ice cream. The American people love the Home Shopping Networkd because it's commercial-free.
--Will Durst (quoted in the Funny Times 4/16)
Well, duh. The American people also want drive-through nickel beer night. The American people want to lose weight by eating ice cream. The American people love the Home Shopping Networkd because it's commercial-free.
--Will Durst (quoted in the Funny Times 4/16)
The College Student Rule for Potlucks
Bring carbs
Eat protein.
Dr Paul brings ribs from a restaurant. He's in his 90's and doesn't mind spending his money on food for others. He's a retired physician, orthopedic surgeon to be specific. His sons are all in medicine too, some clinical and some research. He gave me the Mayo clinic book on Alternative Medicine. They basically have a stoplight rating system for all things alternative, and the majority of treatments get the yellow light based on the science that they found. I appreciate it pretty much. They don't damn naturopathic medicine, it gets yellow also. There are good and bad parts. I wish they'd do the same approach for conventional medicines. People might be shocked how weak the evidence is for some of them. The degree to which pharmaceutical businesses drive the FDA and the delivery of medicine is apalling. I love it every time I read of another review that shows reasonable conventional doctors understand that some of the uses of pharmaceuticals are unsubstantiated and may do more harm than good.
Eat protein.
Dr Paul brings ribs from a restaurant. He's in his 90's and doesn't mind spending his money on food for others. He's a retired physician, orthopedic surgeon to be specific. His sons are all in medicine too, some clinical and some research. He gave me the Mayo clinic book on Alternative Medicine. They basically have a stoplight rating system for all things alternative, and the majority of treatments get the yellow light based on the science that they found. I appreciate it pretty much. They don't damn naturopathic medicine, it gets yellow also. There are good and bad parts. I wish they'd do the same approach for conventional medicines. People might be shocked how weak the evidence is for some of them. The degree to which pharmaceutical businesses drive the FDA and the delivery of medicine is apalling. I love it every time I read of another review that shows reasonable conventional doctors understand that some of the uses of pharmaceuticals are unsubstantiated and may do more harm than good.