tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post4420502310832196073..comments2023-10-29T06:41:23.910-07:00Comments on Halfway There: The blue dawnZenohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09058127284297728552noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-45669518022464111962008-11-02T08:27:00.000-08:002008-11-02T08:27:00.000-08:00ideologies are a terrible thing, capturing people'...ideologies are a terrible thing, capturing people's minds and causing them to cling to mere shadows of reality while fearing and rejecting the fullness of life. it's something that affects and challenges us all as humans. while seeing it in family and friends can be heart-breaking, it presents, as you've demonstrated, a real opportunity to practice compassion (i.e. "skillful means" to the "buddhists") for your and your family's sake.<BR/><BR/>good on ya, and greetings from mad-town (wisco)...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-70469271444284323872008-11-02T06:29:00.000-08:002008-11-02T06:29:00.000-08:00Whoops. He didn't vote for Gore! My error.Whoops. He didn't vote for Gore! My error.The Ridger, FCDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01538111197270563075noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-82171767926876802292008-10-31T16:24:00.000-07:002008-10-31T16:24:00.000-07:00I'm so grateful that most of my family is almost a...I'm so grateful that most of my family is almost as liberal as I am (one brother is more). My other brother is a registered Republican, who is a real old-fashioned Goldwater conservative (and voted for him once) but has voted Clinton - Gore - Kerry - Obama (his state has earlier voting). He sends the occasional rant but nothing forwarded, always his own thoughts.The Ridger, FCDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01538111197270563075noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-46469118165055345812008-10-31T04:01:00.000-07:002008-10-31T04:01:00.000-07:00Meet them head on, I see. Oh this might be interes...Meet them head on, I see. Oh this might be interesting.<BR/><BR/>My email is full of crap- some of it more banal than the rest. I'm so sick of getting emails written in multi-colored text and talking about this or that latest "miracle"/outrage/"beautifully-written" blessing.The Chemisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15970398885870679916noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-68535054916136984742008-10-30T22:54:00.000-07:002008-10-30T22:54:00.000-07:00going to college saved me from a fate of sheep-lik...going to college saved me from a fate of sheep-like conservatism and thoughtless, mindless mouthing of prayers to an invisible sky daddy. we had pictures of family members, Ronald Reagan and Jesus on the walls of my house, with the former two in the most prominent locations. I believe going to college literally saved my mind and my life.<BR/><BR/>On another note, I have managed to mostly stop my aunt from sending me these intertube spewings of hate, lies and bigotry, with a similar strategy to Zeno's. (I didn't use Reply All, but maybe I'll do that next time she adds my name in there, and maybe, just maybe, that will put it to a final end.)Nevynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12878843585310193085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-23769145887607864862008-10-30T21:43:00.000-07:002008-10-30T21:43:00.000-07:00Zeno,just how did you end up being such a liberal ...Zeno,<BR/>just how did you end up being such a liberal sheep in a conservative flock? Surely <I>some</I> of the nieces and cousins have had enough exposure to life away from the family farm to start thinking for themselves.<BR/><BR/>(Sorry, I don't know a diplomatic way of saying that; at first writing it sounds like I'm insulting your family, which is not my intent. It just seems that people acquire a liberal outlook by being exposed to lots of different ideas, and I suspect that your never-left-the-farm relatives in California and my never-left-the-farm relatives in Minnesota have a <B>lot</B> in common. But it's amazing what packing the kids off to Local State College can do to mess up a perfectly conservative upbringing.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-57213182086967888842008-10-30T21:22:00.000-07:002008-10-30T21:22:00.000-07:00Dad is far from being the worst offender in my fam...Dad is far from being the worst offender in my family. He doesn't forward much junk. Nieces and cousins, on the other hand, have sent me all kinds of idiotically racist and sexist stuff for my supposed entertainment, along with occasional tributes to the wonderfulness of our godly president (which persuades me that godliness must be something really awful).<BR/><BR/>Most of them have finally and painfully learned that I never ignore such mail. I always send detailed replies and hit "Reply to All" when I send them. I include links to the resources that refute the bogus right-wing argument, not so much that I expect to convince anyone, but to show that I'm serious. And my family members don't like getting flame-mail from their friend over my rebuttals, so most of them have stopped including me in their spam-forwarding.<BR/><BR/>It's a small victory, by no means total, but still significant.Zenohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09058127284297728552noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-85632295930801779552008-10-30T21:12:00.000-07:002008-10-30T21:12:00.000-07:00Your father doesn't normally send you junk? How do...Your father doesn't normally send you junk? How do you achieve this feat good sir?The Chemisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15970398885870679916noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-51134362503369295942008-10-30T18:49:00.000-07:002008-10-30T18:49:00.000-07:00The other problem is that Iraq is a whole country,...The other problem is that Iraq is a whole country, while Chicago is a city, with about a tenth the population of Iraq. So, multiply the Chicago figures by ten, and then compare. (Hint: Chicago's still safer.)Williamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02052684196866992031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-46172511127255383262008-10-30T15:45:00.000-07:002008-10-30T15:45:00.000-07:00I hope your father has better critical reasoning f...I hope your father has better critical reasoning faculties than my older (Alaskan!) brother.<BR/><BR/>We had been discussing and then arguing about gun control, with me quoting statistics and facts and using logic and even commonsense. It finally got so heated that he shouted:<BR/><BR/><B>"There's no fact you could give me that would make me change my mind!!"</B><BR/><BR/>Some people are unconvincable. They need their beliefs.<BR/><BR/>I now talk only about family matters and occasionally movies with my entirely Republican family. Some I've stopped talking to. It's just not worth it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-75465745529673112542008-10-29T22:01:00.000-07:002008-10-29T22:01:00.000-07:00I chose to use Iraq Body Count's numbers quite del...I chose to use Iraq Body Count's numbers quite deliberately, since they tally documented deaths. My father regards statistical sampling and analysis as forms of voodoo and doesn't trust them. I intended to give him no opportunity to trot out his arguments about "made up" numbers. The shocking thing is that the Iraq Body Count numbers are so high, given that we know it's quite short of the reality.Zenohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09058127284297728552noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-71596729064177772572008-10-29T21:31:00.000-07:002008-10-29T21:31:00.000-07:00According to Iraq Body Count, which works directly...<I><BR/>According to Iraq Body Count, which works directly from published accounts, in 2007 there were 40 civilian deaths per day from gunfire and executions, plus an additional 21 deaths per day from suicide attacks and vehicle bombs. In six months, therefore, nearly 11,000 Iraqi civilians die.<BR/></I><BR/><BR/>As has been discussed endlessly on Deltoid, the 2004 and 2006 Johns Hopkins Boston School of Public Health surveys of excess Iraq mortality, published in <I>Lancet</I> , show Iraq Body Count greatly underestimates death tolls. After all, Iraq Body Count counts only deaths reported in a select list of newspapers. Reporters can't be everywhere, and must avoid the most dangerous regions.llewellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16001213921499191213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-60896000930998172412008-10-29T21:22:00.000-07:002008-10-29T21:22:00.000-07:00You need to tell your father about the campaign to...You need to tell your father about the campaign to write-in Joe T. Plumber. The media doesn't want to admit it, and the government is hiding the truth, but Joe T. Plumber has a real chance to unseat Obama. A chance McCain no longer has. There is NO MORE IMPORTANT VOTE an American can make than a write-in vote for Joe T. Plumber. If Joe T. Plumber does not win, MEN WILL HOLD HANDS!llewellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16001213921499191213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-46399028959168215122008-10-29T21:21:00.000-07:002008-10-29T21:21:00.000-07:00michael -- I almost want to go to the US and try t...michael -- I almost want to go to the US and try that, not that I'm a real socialist or anything, although I do live in "Soviet Canuckistan," hur hur. I would, except I think probably "I'd be shot" might be on the list of probable outcomes...Interrobanghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14073177798747299275noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-47456968663223018872008-10-29T16:58:00.000-07:002008-10-29T16:58:00.000-07:00Hear, hear.I particularly liked your comment that ...Hear, hear.<BR/><BR/>I particularly liked your comment that liberals aren't socialists. Many conservatives wouldn't recognize a real socialist if one came down the street waving a red flag and singing <I>The Internationale</I>.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15375973697938997176noreply@blogger.com