Elected or not, a bunch of disappointments. But they are all nuts to try to run huge empires in the first place. I am currently particularly disappointed in the Pope, which is easy, but why can’t he defend free speech in the wake of a massacre?
Because he relies on a controlled flow of information from an authority (him) to control the masses at his feet. But how can he essentially defend hate, when he tries to be all mealy mouthed about respecting other people’s faiths, by which he means not drawing stupid cartoons, or you might deserve to die:
“You cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others. There is a limit.”
What an unfortunate stance to take when religious extremism is what killed people here, not a lack of respect or an insult. Exactly backwards.
So once again [wonce? why isn’t once prenounced on-se? where does the w sound come from?] a big fat zero for organized religion. Anything based on one book or one man is bonkers. Like they say in Sawbones, that delightful marital tour of misguided medicine, a cure all cures nothing. [It really is worth the listen but you should go back to the beginning, just in case you get an urge to drill a hole in your head, which seems likely these days.]
And religion is nothing but a cure all, a lens through which to view the world. Experience puts on enough blinkers as we make fact out of anecdote and happenstance without letting someone else have the power to fit you with glasses that filter your understanding for you.
And that’s enough about that.
Stripping down and smearing oneself with paste while burning something, if not an effigy, seems like a better alternative to the above referenced trepanation, and I think I will make an herbal infusion to aid in the ceremony. Now if only I can find my peace pipe …
which I pass to you cyberthetically on this chilly but warming Saturday.
i have a little experiment for anyone to try. it has to do with what you mention above Xty, the controlled flow of information.
so do this… search for “life today in Greece”, “first persons account of Greece”, whatever variations you can come up with, using Google, Bing, YAHOO, etc. after giving up in disgust, try Duckduckgo instead.
i had been unaware of the Pope’s comments. here’s a link.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/15/pope-francis-charlie-hebdo_n_6478104.html?utm_hp_ref=pope
my take is that he is suggesting moderation on all sides. but we all have our perspectives. and the world is very grey.
If that was his intent, his timing sucked. And in this case the moderation exists on one side, which used paper and pen and satire, and the other side used assault weapons. So for a moment there was only one side. And if I insult the pope’s friend’s mother, he does not get to punch me in the nose. Even his analogy was wrong.
And Good Morning.
As my hubby had apparently secretly predicted, as soon as we spent too much money on a boat all our appliances would break. First to rise to the challenge: the hot water tank!
Off to investigate the expensive options. Yeah!
The water is brown, but it does keep on rollin’
my perspective comes from one with relatives in Europe, and from one that for whatever reason keeps on top of and worries about world events. i like the saying, “think globally, act locally”. i also have a family history that was affected by the nazis. so that said…
right now there is a resurgence of extreme social and political views in Europe – every country really, even France – a far right party is leading in the polls. there has been an increase of scapegoating immigrants, especially Muslims. and this satire that you speak of goes way above and beyond that – this newspaper is no “Onion”.
http://www.theonion.com/
it is inciteful, hateful, and disrespectful. they have the right to print whatever they want, but with rights come responsibilities. and the editor himself fancied himself as a martyr!
so isn’t this another example of the question, “is shouting fire in a theater free speech”?
so we can agree to disagree a little. we are not that far apart. i just have a different perspective.
too busy to flesh this out right now. sorry to hear of your setback.