narcimund

Actually, as someone who's sold a lot of stuff online I can understand where he's coming from. While I've never done this it has happened to me. It's infuriating after a while when 10 (or 100) people all ask the same slow series of questions when you know you could speed it up by answering the question that you know usually comes next. An invoice doesn't cost him anything and doesn't obligate you. It just saves everyone a back-and-forth email if you DO choose to buy something. If you don't, no bother to anyone. First Class Citizen Twice Over

I can see the job interview now: Interviewer: "You're both hired. Ms Jones, your starting salary is $40,000 per year and Mr. Smith, yours is $50,000/year." Ms Jones: "WHAT? Why is he getting more than me?" Interviewer: "Well, it's only fair. You might both be child molesters and as a woman you'd serve less time than Mr Smith. See?" Ms Jones: "Oh, well that makes sense. Ok." Mr Smith: "Wait a second. How many years in jail am I looking at? I think my freedom's worth more like $20,000 a year more than her." First Class Citizen Twice Over

I'm surprised at you, RL. I didn't expect you to form fixed opinions of strangers after reading a sensational psuedo-article like this one. The one thing I know after reading this is that the journalist has an ax to grind and the editor encourages wild-eyed reporting. Who knows what led up to the event? This is a story that EASILY could be told either way: * "Measures his grass" could mean he spends 45 minutes daily on hands and knees with a clipboard and calipers. It could also mean his neighbor once saw him calibrating a the blade-height of new lawn mower (like you're supposed to) and exaggerated to the reporter (or the reporter exaggerated). * "disputes with the neighbors about people walking on his 'perfect' lawn" could mean he shakes his cheeks until foam flies whenever a puppy cuts across the corner or it could mean a pack of kids has made a group vendetta out of ritually pissing him off. No, I'm not taking his side in any part of the story. I'm IGNORANT and I admit it and so should everyone else. It's a shame when otherwise intelligent people read this kind of manipulative crap and let themselves believe it. First Class Citizen Twice Over

After my experience with you here I remain open minded that your neighbor could tell a very sympathetic story. First Class Citizen Twice Over

Ha ha. Buffet the billionaire investor is clueless about his finances. Nice one. Wow. It's AMAZING what bullshit people can spew with a straight face in order to pretend to support their position, isn't it? First Class Citizen Twice Over

Slip slip slip. Wheee! It's fun to miss the point, isn't it? Slip slip slip. First Class Citizen Twice Over

Wow. You're slippery. Do you take pride in missing the point so diligently? First Class Citizen Twice Over

It's worse than that. Nobody's attacked his actual character; they've attacked SPECULATIONS about his character. Next thing you know they'll hypothesize that he beats his wife and keeps an unkept lawn. This is lower than they usually stoop. They're really scraping bottom this time. First Class Citizen Twice Over

My god! I think I'm getting a headache from reading this sentence. First Class Citizen Twice Over

And that's THAT! First Class Citizen Twice Over

You said "horseshit" but then you explained a position that's unrelated to the point he made and followed it up by describing how ineligible you are to have an opinion on the matter. I thought it was a brilliant observation. First Class Citizen Twice Over

The cause is not being won (or lost) on dropzone.com. i don't post here to win (or lose) converts. But that being said, letting harsh, hateful words stand without an appropriate rebuttal risks a new lurker reading them and thinking the opinion of the community is represented. That's minor I suppose, but still worth guarding against. First Class Citizen Twice Over

It's odd that people keep signing that contract then act surprised when they have to fight. But keep in mind it's 17 and 18 year olds who generally know nothing about history except the bleached patriotic pap taught in public schools. And also remember the large number of National Guard members who joined because they sincerely believed in defending this country from invaders and had little reason to believe they'd be forced to invade someone else's country instead. First Class Citizen Twice Over

I would never pass up a chance to educate someone who was sincerely eager and open to new information. I am certain this was not an example of that. First Class Citizen Twice Over

And to continue the thought, I'm curious what will happen if someday a prenatal hormonal basis is discovered for people being sexually attracted to other races. Perhaps it will be found that a surfeit of fetal melanostrone causes white boys to prefer black girls or some such. Anyone want to argue for a medical "fix" for this situation so parents who'd rather their children marry within their own race can be more comfortable? First Class Citizen Twice Over

"Variation in hormones" is neutral while "lack" is a value judgement. And if you don't consider homosexuality to be a pathology, then the very notion of "fixable" is a non-sequitur. Actually, lots of people here DO say that, although not yet in this particular thread. It's reasonable to acknowledge the related opinions of the participants even if they haven't mentioned them in this week's gay thread yet. A huge number of parents hate their gay kids and give them untold grief, often resulting in teen suicide. These parents prefer their kids to be straight to such an exaggerated extent that they torture them if they aren't. I am strongly suspect of any parents who would go to medical lengths to change their child's sexual orientation. I see that as about halfway along the scale from healthy disinterest to destructively obsessive. First Class Citizen Twice Over

First Class Citizen Twice Over

Fascinating idea. Of course if one believes all fetal medical intervention is improper, that leads to the corollary that perhaps all adult medical intervention is also. If God wants someone to have diabetes, cardiac infarction, or cancer, who are we mortals to get in his way? Hell, while we're at it if God wants us to be hungry, who are we to eat food and mess up his plans? First Class Citizen Twice Over

I don't see any spraying of anger or hate, although there's certainly a fair amount of disdain. Search for posts by steel and you'll see this in a slightly larger context. Of course searching for posts by rehmwa also shows a larger context so I'll stop trying to explain now. First Class Citizen Twice Over

Your incredibly clear, direct, and pointed analogies are excellent but you really should consider administering a basic intellectual competency test before wasting your time. First Class Citizen Twice Over

Bill said it but I have to chime in. If two gay people dancing make you naucious that certainly qualifies you as "anti-gay". In the words of Mark Slackmeyer, "Wrong wrong wrong." However, you're the kind of person who gets naucious when you see a couple dance. I don't expect you to actually know ANYTHING about the subject and you continually prove me right. First Class Citizen Twice Over

It might be obvious to you that you weren't saying something completely stupid, but when it's exactly what your words are saying, it isn't so obvious to everyone else. And to be fair some of the other vigorously anti-gay members of dropzone.com often say things that are completely stupid and mean them. First Class Citizen Twice Over

Typos are one thing but consistently misspelling the main subject of your argument NINE times is serious carelessness. And claiming everyone is born female then boys grow penises later seriously calls into question not only your advanced biology training but also your basic hold on reality. First Class Citizen Twice Over

You had me fooled for a minute. I thought you might actually have something educational to say about endocrinology but this is just hilarious. Is this really the sense of reality that we're battling against? First Class Citizen Twice Over

I would have just thought this was a typo except you typed it this way nine times so I figure it's got to be on purpose. If you're as well educated about these things as you snottily imply with your first sentence, I'm very excited to learn something from you. On the other hand, if you were just being snotty, it's back to normal around here. So please explain the difference between testoserone and testosterone. First Class Citizen Twice Over