green

Wow! This is too cool! Thanks for posting this splendid document! :whoo:

Thanks so much, Alexandra. This was the point that I was kinda trying to make but I am a foreigner and what I believe is my firm grasp of American history sometimes proves to be inaccurate. :help: It also strikes me that this notion that having a reference to God on yer money is in fact a compelling argument that America is a Christian state might well be considered an unattractive argument in the court of Jesus. Didn't He chuck those money lenders out of His temple? And didn't He make a point of talking about rendering unto Caesar? In Canada we have the British Queen on our coin. This is our custom and it displays not only this country's roots but her on-going connection with the rest of the commonwealth countries. And that is exactly it. It is all very boring and nobody spends anytime at all thinking about that very nice Queen nor her dysfunctional family. A state can chose to put anything it wants on its coin. Money has nothing to do with spiritual issues. The value of money has to do with the health of a state's economy. To argue that the mention of God on your currency indicates a special Christian connection is just plain illogical. I am aware that I have been sounding harsh. To tell you the truth, I have no problem with those who do have faith. I have met faith-filled individuals whom I have deeply envied. I do, however, have serious problems with those have chosen to use their beliefs as an excuse not to learn, to analyse, to think.

Elena, thank you for responding to my memories of being in Cuba 31 years ago when it was only just opening itself up to hard currency tourists. At that time I had done very little travelling and certainly none in those countries which have a political agenda to present to the outside world. While we were enjoying life on our vacation compound, and we recognised even while we were there that we were confined to a gilded cage, we well treated by our hosts. One day, however, we heard a dissenting voice. My husband and I were walking along the beach and we wandered beyond the peripheries of our compound. We met a black man who was Cuban but who spoke some English. He gave us his full name and explained that his family had Scottish roots but that they had come to Cuba from another island. He described life in Cuba under Castro as being a hellish experience. He either trusted us or, more likely, needed to trust us for he spoke at length and with great bitterness. We were both very much moved by this experience and though I have since forgotten most of what he had said I still remember his name and I remember his message, a message which was first taught to me by my father when I was very young, and that is this: don't believe everything they tell you. During the time we spent listening to this man we became increasingly aware that we might be rounded up by our keepers and that this man, should he be caught speaking with us, might suffer as a result. We were terribly concerned for him and yet this cat sure did need to talk to us. And, too, maybe we were feeling a little bit paranoid. What did we know, eh? We were a pair of young, ignorant, spoiled, and squeaky clean Canucki puppies who were about to divorce. Somewhere in my house I have a very worn Cuban bank note with Jose Marti on it. It is a souvenir of that visit. I am also nuts about Cuban music. And, yes, you are right to write about your personal experiences and those of your family. Please continue on with posting your recollections of your life in Cuba. I, for one, would love to learn more.

Ah, you are referring to le vice anglais, also referred to as spanking. This became known as le vice anglais because English school boys of upper crust families were raised by nannies and then sent away to public (boarding) schools. Discipline came in the form of beatings and some of the boys did develop a sexual taste for spankies. If I remember correctly le vice francais was oral sex and le vice grec was buggery or anal sex. These terms for sexual activities were once current in the English language and were often used in earlier and more guilt-ridden times. Spankies, eh? Ooh, Derick, you naughty boy! :kiss2:

Well, I heard that your money was changed to read "in God we trust," relatively recently, in the Eisenhauer era, I believe.... And as for your founding fathers, a number of them were humanists. It is certain that America is a magnificent country but as to this business of the country being specifically anchored in the lexicon of Christian belief it seems that this may not have been the case.

AnneElliot, I am very pleased that you have joined the ranks of those of us who like to debate here on Rant&Raves. And I also admit that I personally feel that we should all spend much more on-line time discussing this biz of modern Islam. But I feel that I must point out to you that Derick, one of our most valued voices, regularly acts in the way of being an agent provocateur, that is to say that he is someone who likes to stimulate debate by opting to display an extremist view in debate.

I dunno.... I would be inclined to look at this problem from another angle. Your sister's reaction is so extreme that it may indicate that she is suffering from a whole separate set of emotional issues but is choosing - on an entirely subconscious level - to deal with these by tossing them into the divorced parent bin. Why don't you try talking to your sister in a warm and loving way about her feelings about all of this biz. It may well be that the woman is feeling threatened by all the family changes. Her mum and her dad have moved on with their lives and her sister has now lost a big chunk of weight and is no longer the official fatty grrl in the family. Could it be that this sister is now feeling very insecure and is lashing out?

Yep, that's how it works up here! LOL

Very well said, Jack. :clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2:

Green has spent this afternoon talking with her Yankee bro, that skinny cat who lives in Virginia. She has carefully discussed with him the discussions which have been undertaken on this site. She has even displayed her own personal fondness for the lovely Obama, and has found herself whining to her bro, eh...about his choice. Nevertheless, Green's American bro has finally spoken to her about American politics and this is what he has said: the Green American bro dude would be content to see Hilary in office as Pres with the splendid Obama sitting in as co-chair or, um, as vice-president for the next 4 to 8 years. He certainly hopes to see Obama as President ... eventually, eh.

It sure is easy for those of you who fall into the category of funny fundamentalist Christians to opt out this respectable discussion, the one which torments the rest of us. It is equally easy for those of us who are atheists to slither out of these - these nasty and seemingly idiotic discussions.

Carbon dating indicates that the planet is billions of years old and that it has passed through many eras of development, each one of these lasting millions of years. As Laurend has so often and so patiently explained, a scientific theory is very different from you or I stating that we have a theory about some issue. Scientific theories arise after much research has been put into an area of study by large numbers of scientists, each seeking to poke holes in the original hypothesis. So it seems that the Bible called it right on the fact that the planet is a globe, not flat. Basing your absolute trust in the Bible as a rock solid scientific text upon this one success story seems to be an illogical move in my opinion. There are, moreover, many internal contradictions in this sacred document. Why, one doesn't have to stray further than Genesis to discover this. There may or may not be a Supreme Creator but what makes you believe that this Creator is the version found in the Bible? You must remember that devout Jews and devout Muslims are equally convinced that their God is the right God. And Hindus, Sikhs, and Animists are just as attached to their beliefs. Indeed, there are many other Christian sects which have made their peace between their Christian beliefs and the results of scientific research. What is disturbing about the notion of a man like Huckabee helming what is arguably the single most important nation, globally-speaking, is that a man like this will inevitably lack the flexibility to successfully guide America in the arena of international diplomacy and will also be unable to make friends amongst the various internal factions in your own country.

Oh, goody, now I finally know what I am. I am a moonatick! :heh: A moonatick from Soviet Canuckistan.... ....possibly the worst kind, eh. :faint:

Diva, I haven't read those studies but I have read about them. I think they are referring to the fact that those kids who are raised in 2 parent homes have statistically speaking a better chance of doing well in life than kids who are raised by single parents. This would be because there are two incomes and two sets of energies focused on the children and their well-being. A single parent has half the income, half the time and twice the work. Moreover, it is thought to be a good thing for all kids to be exposed to good role models of both sexes. Boys need to be exposed to decent, emotionally solid adult males for obvious reasons. Girls need this, too. If they don't learn how good men behave they are more likely to make bad choices when choosing their own romantic partners. I mention men because so many single parent families have only a female parent on board. Of course there are many exceptions to the above and certainly single parent or same sex couple families can be creative about supplying good role models of the missing sex. Good friends and extended families can make up for the lack of an on-site partner of the opposite sex. But being a single parent is hard work. I have a gay friend who is raising her young son alone and one of my two nieces is raising her daughter alone. There are money issues and there are those problems which arise from being constantly squeezed for time. And you are right when you note that having both parents in the home is not going to guarantee a well-adjusted kid. I for one do not remember my childhood with any fondness. :phanvan

Why would you vote against an atheist? Just curious is all. :ranger:

Wheetsin, I must tell you that I read your initial post with great interest. My own relationship with my parents was very untidy. There was a great deal of anger there which expressed itself in destructive behaviour. Both of my parents were, in their separate ways, skilled at undercutting my sense of pride in my achievements. It sounds like your mother is quite a master of this and you consequently have a lot of rage towards her. Of course you already know this; of course you already know that the parent-child relationship can be, when it is not a good one, the most fraught relationship that anyone will ever experience. You have all my sympathy.

My mate and I have been shacked up for almost 24 years now, a relationship which has outlasted both his brother's and his sister's marriages. We don't have children. Some couples chose to remain without them. As for the best environment in which to raise children, I agree with you in so far that it should be a stable one with two parents. But I have seen too many sequences of marriage, divorce, and subsequent remarriage to be deluded that all marriages will last. My own marriage lasted all of 5 years.

It does seem to me that lately we have been drifting into some very small brawls. Our best brawls on R&R have traditionally been those which are idea-driven. Remember, boys and girls, the tension-filled days and nights of Ron Cusano? TommyO has always had a lot of value to contribute in that debate and he has been a very valuable and entertaining contributor to many other idea-driven discussions/debates/brawls. It is true that recently we have been drifting into the arena of personality-driven brawls, these are what I personally call small brawls, and I figure that we likely will all be better off as an on-line community once we elect to opt out of this loop. As to why and how we found ourselves here, well, I dunno. Perhaps this is due to this being a traditionally thin-skinned time of the year, and when you add in a few hostile on-line comments made by some of the angrier, the more bitter members of our community, hostilities quickly arise and escalate. Certainly the current level of anger should never have happened. Some of the most valuable members of this site have now found themselves caught up in these useless and ugly brawls - they've swallowed the toxic bait, eh. Of course this is a tragedy, is it not? All of these really great and very, very knowledgable LBTers should be on this site in their roles as experienced old-timers, old-timers who are both able and willing to share their knowledge with the newbies. They should not allow themselves to be trapped in these ugly, oxygen-sapping squabbles. I admit to being a fan of TommyO: I have always found what he has had to say to be of great interest and I figure that his opinion has as much value as mine when it comes to this biz of weighting our possible value - that is to say that of Green and that of TommyO - on the on-line community. Although I consider myself to be in the way of being personal internet friends with some of the participants - and this is something which means a great deal to me - I must admit that I avoid spending time on those threads where LBT folks get into these personal on-line brawls. The truth is that I find most of this material kinda boring and kinda pointless and very sad. I would urge all participants to walk away from these dumbass brawls. Stooping in order to engage is ill-advised. None of us who are old timers need to worry about our street cred. Why get yerselves trapped in these idiotic pissing contests? Christmas is coming up and it is important for us to save our spleen and our piss for those who really are dangerous.......:heh: Let us say no, nada, non, nyet, et pas de chance to just about everyone. We should and must able to separate and ignore the rage which propels a personal attack from that which seeks to engage in an idea-driven debate. As an example I will present my on-going debate against Gadget in the Right To Chose thread. Though Gadget and I continue to remain at loggerheads on the abortion debate, and we have indeed been brawling over this for many months now, we continue to maintain a real respect for each other. Truth is that Gadget and myself are two individuals who come close to occupying the exact opposite zones of the belief band and yet we have always been able to display through our only personal connection - that of LBT - a very pleasant connection and a respectful acknowledgement of our profound differences. And so, and oh, and ugh, and this is where I would like to suggest that it is time for all this bitcherie to stop. Green sez, just say no to immature and, well, twat-like acts. You'all know that we can walk away from this stuff. Calm down, avoid the poo pouperie, ya know it is only going to get worse, eh. Fer after all, Christmas and the whole array of disfunctional family members are coming. Bwhahahahaha:heh: It is gonna get a lot worse. :faint::faint::faint::faint::faint:

Elena, thanks for posting your letter written to Castro. It is always interesting to listen to a first-hand account of life in a country which is so different from one's own. To tell you the truth I do have a little extra interest in Cuba. I used to be very close friends with a Latina who was a Communist and who, though originally from Uruguay, was very much involved with Cuba. She often accompanied groups of Canadian sympathisers down to Cuba for conferences where she would act as translator. To hear her talk, life under Castro was practically like living in the Garden of Eden. Of course I have read the occasional long article in the weekend newspapers, articles which paint a very different, and much grimmer picture. One of the things which this friend used to do was collect unused prescription medicines and other items of this nature to take down with her. She was in contact with a Cuban doctor. I always made a point of sending my unused prescription meds, etc to Cuba with her. Americans may or may not know that Canada does have an official diplomatic relationship with Cuba. Cuba is now one of the cheap Caribbean holiday destinations for Canadians. Thirty-one years ago, when Cuba had only first opened itself up to the notion of becoming a holiday destination for folks carrying hard currencies I, my then husband, and two couples who were friends of ours decided to spend a week there. This sure was a peculiar experience. My own marriage was on the skids but we had already long ago made our plans and so we were stuck having to follow through with these. It was important that we took care not to disturb our friends with our own misery. And I had been receiving serious grief from my father who seemed to view Castro and Idi Amin as being one and the same. So we flew from Toronto and landed in a very primitive tin-can kinda airport where we warmly welcomed and then were hussled onto an airconditioned bus which was to bring us to our destination. Once on the bus we were treated to the party line: we were given a lecture which provided us with information on all the successes performed under the Castro regime. When we, the first generation of tourists, arrived in Cuba we did find ourselves warmly welcomed. The Cubans had prepared a splendid, if somewhat primitive, recreational compound for us. The beach was gorgeous, the food, served buffet-style, was generous, and the personnel who looked after us were warm and welcoming. We soon became aware, however, that we were living in a sequestered compound. It was pretty well impossible to go anywhere, and we did want to see things while we were there. Most notably we wanted to see Havana. The six of us managed to pull this off - with great difficulty - by hitching a lift in to Havana with a local bus, one of those which has folks hanging from the doors and the windows. Once in Havana we found that we couldn't do anthing much apart from visit the Museum of the Revolution. We didn't have the right to be there, you see, and we didn't have the government-issued script which would permit us to buy either food or drink. There were 6 parched and very scared Canucks - two of whom required sunblock 50 - wandering around in downtown Havana. Parched Green, a grrl who was considering drinking urine, was interested to note that the locals figured that she was Bulgarian. It was, she now knows, a sign of the times.

Awww, they should have let her have a dog and a supply of birth control pills.....

Now, this is seriously creepy news. He has also got some very unattractive views on people who live common-law and on homosexuals and his proposal as how to deal with individuals suffering from AIDS is seriously twisted.

Congratulations! This atheist moonbat will miss you. Take care of yourself and post about your experiences whenever you can.

This comment reminds me of a great scene in the movie, Last Tango in Paris. LOL As for butter, I came from a family of butter freaks and I never did hop aboard the margarine bandwagon. This was because butter tastes better and margerine tastes Ugh! I chose to cut back on my consumption of butter instead. I felt real happy when it was finally revealed that margarine was loaded with trans fats and really wasn't the healthy alternative. It certainly isn't any less fattening than butter, is it? After all, fat is fat. :phanvan

Lisa, I am so very sorry that I have only just now read about your loss and thus was unable to tell you how sorry I am in a more timely manner. The loss of a parent is always a source of shock and bitter grief for a child. You have all my thoughts and sympathy at this time. If there is anything I can do to help, get in touch with me.

I've only watched a few episodes. At first I liked the show very much but later I became a little bored. I do think that the premise is interesting, the actors are excellent, and that the scripts are intelligently written but I found the show a little slow is all. It is playing up here in Canada on a cable channel and has elicited no comment at all. In your initial post you mentioned that it is controversial south of the border. What does this hinge upon?