Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Walking on Water as a Siddhi
Aboriginal folklore and fairytales''... http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/3225/aboriginal-dreaming-story-leads-meteorite-crater http://www.universetoday.com/2009/12/30/dreamtime-meteor-impact-found-with-google-earth-2/
[FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp
For the record, I find nothing technically wrong or offensive in Shemp's review. And his Subject line is just *perfect*. He is merely projecting his own hangups and hatreds onto a movie framework that allowed him to do so. That those hangups were so predominant as to make him miss the movie itself is sad, but not unusual. For example, having been commissioned by a mag to write an article about Avatar, I felt the need to rent a few of the movies it has been compared to, and that were claimed as sources. One of them was Dances With Wolves, which I saw again last night. Lovely film, one with an uplifting vision that those who see it without hangup filters in place that force them to see *only* the hangup and not the film would gain some benefit from seeing. I mention it because there is not a single moment in the film in which Mary McDonnell's hair is shown as dirty-looking or snarled or matted or a rat's nest. It's just windblown and unkempt. And lovely. Just as Shemp missed the film he was watching because all he could see in it were his own hatreds and hangups, so did the person who freaked out over Mary McDonnell looking like a slattern because all she could see in the film were her own hangups. At least Shemp actually *saw* the movie he projected his hangups onto; given the inaccuracy of her descriptions and her past history on this forum, it is not clear that Judy ever saw Dances With Wolves. The only hair that really stands out in Dances With Wolves is Rodney A. Grant's, as Wind In His Hair. If one were prone to project one's hangups about inauthenticity onto a film just to have something to criticize in it, one could make the case that because his hair (long enough to reach his upper thighs) was inauthentic because it was so much longer than anyone else's in the film. Of course, that's Rodney's real hair, but one *could* make such an argument. If one were an idiot, that is. What I'm waiting for is for a similar idiot to claim that Avatar is anti-semitic because it portrays the savages as Bluish. :-) :-) :-) --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, ShempMcGurk shempmcg...@... wrote: Wonderful, wonderful movie. I thought it appropriate that the movie came out in the same month as a study that showed the ocean's ability to absorb CO2 has not diminished: http://theresilientearth.com/?q=content/ocean-absorption-co2-not-shrinking Avatar is the story of Gaia, the idea that the Earth is a living organism and, as such, can adjust itself and its equalibrium as the make-up of various elements in its atmosphere change. More CO2? Why, the ecosystem adjusts itself accordingly. Adaptation. Just like the skin on your arm adjusts when it is cut: it heals itself. The Na'Vi represent Gaia. The military represents the catastrophic man-made global warming movement, particularly in the person of Col. Miles Quaritch, who is pro-fear and anti-science. Quaritch personifies Al Gore, the most evil man in America today. Jake Sully represents reason as well as man acknowledging the power and balancing ability of nature. The best parallel to today's situation would be that Sully represents someone like Senator Inhofe. So when Al Gore (the military) tries to upset the natural order of things, it took a brave soul like Sully (Sen. Inhofe) to fight the fear and irrationality of Al Gore and the global warming movement. Good ultimately triumphs over evil.
[FairfieldLife] Re: John Stewart his team discuss Tiger Woods' religion
As far as TM and moral reasoning goes, I am fully aware that a few of the heavy hitters within the TMO have slept with other peoples wives, or at least attempted to. Very few per capita though. However, Fairfield had the highest divorce rate in Iowa in the 1990's, but as a friend pointed out, I wonder what the domestic violence rate was outside of Fairfield. -- OffWorld you're correct, any moral failures among meditators is usually limited to very mild issues. Most failures i've seen are usually lack of responsibility or integrity, which is usually not a catastrophic problem, IMO. The worst moral failures i've seen or heard of is dishonesty in business to the point of it being theft, or perhaps some sex scandals here and there. But domestic violence, I assume is very rare, or violence in general. But I also think part of the reason for less moral problems among meditators is also partially due to the 'type' of person who would be interested in meditation in the first place. Most people interested in any form of yoga, meditation, or anything spiritual are likely to already be well beyond any harmful tendencies. Although TM may have something to do with it, so does the individual mindset of the individual. seekliberation p.s. I've noticed that you, and perhaps one other person on this forum are able to alter the font and style of your text on this forum. Could you explain how to do that? I haven't been able to find any tabs that give that option. I tried copying and pasting from Microsoft word, but it always goes back to the default text style on here.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Bhuutajaya in Vlodrop?
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, cardemaister no_re...@... wrote: I hope siddhas in Vlodrop next week (12th - 15th) shall use bhuuta-jaya-siddhi, or something, to warm up the weather in Europe at least by about 10 degrees of Celsius... : / Looks like that's really gonna happen! At least in Germany and France, perhaps even in the Netherlands... ;)
[FairfieldLife] FFL HTML (was Re: John Stewart his team discuss Tiger Woods' religion)
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, seekliberation seekliberat...@... wrote: p.s. I've noticed that you, and perhaps one other person on this forum are able to alter the font and style of your text on this forum. Could you explain how to do that? I haven't been able to find any tabs that give that option. I tried copying and pasting from Microsoft word, but it always goes back to the default text style on here. Seek, FFL is set up as a Yahoo group such that it enables HTML pass-through. (Many Yahoo groups are not.) This means that if you are working in an editor that allows you to edit the characteristics of the post and send it *as* HTML, Yahoo will pass that HTML through and display it. Some who post from an email reader like Outlook or Thunder- bird can do this because their editor allows them to edit the HTML of their emails. I post using the Yahoo Web viewer at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ When you reply to a post using that Web editor, the default is text only. However, if you reply and then click the Rich Text Editor link in the upper right, you get a limited HTML editor that allows you to change fonts and font sizes, apply colors or highlighting such as bold or italic or underlining, and even paste in photos *as long as they're on a Web page* somewhere, such as this one: [http://i.imgur.com/8Wb1I.jpg] You can't upload your own photos from your hard drive, except to the FFL photo area. Once there or on some other photo site, you can copy the photo from that site and paste it into your posts. Hope this helps...
[FairfieldLife] Re: Walking on Water as a Siddhi
As I understand it from a muslim friend, Hindus take their mythical writings literally. I guess the question is how much we need to buy into the idea that there was once human beings who could do things that seem to defy reason. In today's world the real miracle would be for people to stop trying to convince one another that his or her religion / belief system trumps that of their neighbours. That would be something. Indeed it would. And it's related to other things I've rapped about recently -- the relationship of subjective experience to Truth, and the relationship of belief to Truth. I hold that there *IS* no such relationship. And I hold this speaking as the only person here who has witnessed siddhis being performed. (Unless you believe Nabby, that is.) I witnessed levitation, turning invisible, turning mountains transparent, and many other siddhis numerous times over a period of 14 years. But does that make such things True? Or Truth? By remembering our inner innocence when we begin spiritual work, we ask to have that which is not the truth brought to our awareness. The process is therefore the evidence of success. As a result, there may be a somewhat chaotic appearance to the lives of people who are labeled spiritual seekers. The inner person is pleased because it says, 'I have been asked to see what stands between me and the truth, and that has been brought up from my awareness to be recognized, re-owned, recontextualized, and healed.' We provide a safe space and context about our spiritual work by being centered in the Heart--not the physical heart, but from the ultimate compassion, the owning of our self from this level, the joy of the spiritual work, and the saying 'thank you' to all the things that come up out of gratitude. The crisis is the very event of the spiritual healing. It is out of the crises that the healing occurs. - Dr. David S. Hawkins Not to me. All it means is that I experienced these things. I've seen hang-in-midair-for-minutes-at-a- time levitation *hundreds* of times, but I would not claim that it exists. My subjective experience tells me that it exists, but that is ONLY my subjective experience. Not Truth. It gets even weirder when people claim that things they have NEVER experienced subjectively but have only heard of are Truth. These things aren't even subjective experience; they are pure BELIEF. And yet you have millions of people who are willing to claim that they are Truth, and even to wage war against others who don't accept that they are Truth. I think that a little fuckin' humility is in order. If you experienced something subjectively, you cannot declare that something to be Truth. The most you can legitimately say is that you experienced it subjectively. But to claim that something *you haven't even exper- ienced* is Truth because you BELIEVE it is, or because you read it in a book you consider Truth? That's the absolute *absence* of humility. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, John jr_esq@ wrote: To All: Siddhis are not restricted to the vedic literature. We find similar feats in the gospels and stories of Christian saints. The conclusion is inescapable. Because stories of siddhis exist in these books, siddhis must exist. Similarly, stories of not only siddhis but fantastic creatures like dragons, trolls, etc. exist in other books. These books are often referred to as fairytales or myths. Presumably these stories should be given EXACTLY the same credence as the stories in the vedic literature or in the gospels. After all, there is EXACTLY the same amount of evidence that the stories in the myths and fairytales are true as there is that any of the stories in the vedic literature or gospels are true. Therefore what I think you're trying to make is that if it's a story in a book, it's true. Or did I get that wrong, John? Were you suggesting instead that something is true only if it's a story in *some* books? :-) Just funnin' wit ya, John. But seriously, if you feel like it (or if *anyone* here feels like it), please present a reason why we should consider the Bible or the gospels or the vedic literature any different from myths and fairytales -- or for that matter from any other form of fiction -- in terms of their credence or accuracy. A reason other than Because I believe they are, that is. I'll wait.
[FairfieldLife] FFL HTML
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_re...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, seekliberation seekliberation@ wrote: p.s. I've noticed that you, and perhaps one other person on this forum are able to alter the font and style of your text on this forum. Could you explain how to do that? I haven't been able to find any tabs that give that option. I tried copying and pasting from Microsoft word, but it always goes back to the default text style on here. Seek, FFL is set up as a Yahoo group such that it enables HTML pass-through. (Many Yahoo groups are not.) This means that if you are working in an editor that allows you to edit the characteristics of the post and send it *as* HTML, Yahoo will pass that HTML through and display it. Some who post from an email reader like Outlook or Thunder- bird can do this because their editor allows them to edit the HTML of their emails. I post using the Yahoo Web viewer at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ When you reply to a post using that Web editor, the default is text only. However, if you reply and then click the Rich Text Editor link in the upper right, you get a limited HTML editor that allows you to change fonts and font sizes, apply colors or highlighting such as bold or italic or underlining, and even paste in photos *as long as they're on a Web page* somewhere, such as this one: [http://i.imgur.com/8Wb1I.jpg] You can't upload your own photos from your hard drive, except to the FFL photo area. Once there or on some other photo site, you can copy the photo from that site and paste it into your posts. Hope this helps... Totally Cool Why can't yahoo small business get their Small Business pagebuilder editor to work this good? I got webpages i can't edit no more over there on Yahoo web page hosting using their page tool. I feel like I've been held hostage by Yahoo for all the work put in to where it is. http://www.icelandichorse.info/salemfugitiveslaves.html http://www.icelandichorse.info/salemfugitiveslaves.html http://www.icelandichorse.info/essays.html http://www.icelandichorse.info/essays.html http://icelandichorse.info/ http://icelandichorse.info/ Anybody use Drupal that could recommend it for home use by non-professional webpaging? Similarly, I got another page with a different host too that is a pain to manage too that i would like to edit and re-make. http://www.icelandichorsesmidwest.com/ http://www.icelandichorsesmidwest.com/ Drupal on a different host? Any body got experience with Drupal?
[FairfieldLife] Why I am a Joss Whedon fanboy
As I sit here in a cafe waiting for my download of the first of the last three Dollhouse episodes to complete back at my house, I thought I'd rap for a few minutes about why I like the guy so much. I discovered Joss Whedon only with Firefly, having missed both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel because in the US I didn't have cable and in France they weren't on broadcast TV. I've been taking advan- tage of the cold weather lately to catch up on both on DVD. As expected, I love both series, and both the episodes themselves and the commentaries have shed light on the mystery of the Whedonesque universe I so love and why I love it. One reason, of course, is the depth of characterization and the loving relationships between characters. Joss does this better than almost anyone. Another is his sense of throwaway humor, being willing to show a heavy action scene or dramatic scene that leaves you speechless and then undercut it with a comedy line that leaves you laughing out loud. My kinda guy. I love that Joss *takes risks*, such as creating an entire episode of Buffy *as a silent movie*. On national TV. As a result of a spell, everyone in Sunnydale loses the ability to speak. Joss has to pull off an entire hour of television without any exposition, and without *any* of his characters being able to speak. Now *that* is ballsy. Joss can also claim credit for having shown the first lesbian kiss on broadcast TV. Knowing that his network would never allow him to show the actual kiss, he handles this challenge in typical Joss fashion, showing Willow and Tara about to kiss passionately, and then cutting to Xander, and conveying the entire experience by filming the expressions on his face. It's a howler. Another reason that only became evident to me after watch- ing a featurette on the Season 3 DVDs called Buffyspeak. It actually shocked me to watch it, because I had never noticed before that the main reason I love Joss Whedon's series is because of their *use of language*. Joss' char- acters don't talk like anyone else on TV or in the movies. Their dialogue is consistently quirky, twisted, and above all funny. In the featurette, the writers of Buffy are open and honest about where this use of language comes from. This is just how Joss talks normally. Their job as writers is to try to capture some of the quirky and twisted ways that Joss talks and thinks, and graft that weird way of talking onto the characters, each in their own way. Then Joss reviews every script and twists the language even further, making it even more out of the ordinary and funny. I probably missed all this before because to me Joss' characters always sounded NORMAL. This is the way *I* talk. A final reason for being a Joss fanboy is his pursuit of excellence and clarity of vision in a medium that was almost designed to prevent both. He works for networks that could cancel his series at any moment, and threaten to do so every other week. They did this with Buffy and Angel, and really canceled Firefly and Dollhouse. So his working environment is one in which the whole thing could go poof at any moment and leave the last episode he filmed as the last episode he *ever* gets to film. Some could react to this with despair; Joss takes it as an artistic challenge. Typically atypical, Joss does not end Season 4 of Buffy with the Big Climax. He had done that in Seasons 1 and 2, and didn't want to repeat himself. So he did the Big Climax in episodes 20 and 21, and saved episode 22 for an experiment on the level of Hush, the episode he filmed in silence. In Restless, Joss makes an entire episode that is a dream sequence. The Scooby Gang -- Buffy, Willow, Xander and Giles -- get together to watch videos all night. Instead, they all fall asleep and all have related dreams, in which they are 1) being attacked by the same entity, but also 2) dealing with their own issues. Joss saw this as a way to sum up each of their characters -- where they have 'come from' in past episodes, and where that leaves them now. In other words, he did a Castanedan recapitulation on his entire series, and *as a dream sequence*. It's bloody marvelous. I watched it three times in a row, the third time with Joss' commentary turned on. In it, he admits that on one level the whole thing is a goof, and done for fun, but then he cites his *influences* for the episode, including Steven Soderberg's The Limey and Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now. And all of this for a *goof*, a fun episode that most viewers probably saw as a throwaway. It isn't. It's perhaps the truest to the overall vision he had for the series episode I've seen so far. Joss ends his commentary on it with the following words. They express why I am such a fanboy of this guy better than I have above: Having gone through everybody's dream, we end with a little note of 'There is more to come.' This was one of the years when I was pretty convinced we would actually be picked up for another year
[FairfieldLife] Re: FFL HTML
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, dhamiltony2k5 dhamiltony...@... wrote: Totally Cool Why can't yahoo small business get their Small Business pagebuilder editor to work this good? The icelandichorse.info site stalls out, trying to load images from geocities, which Yahoo shut down last year. My advice: switch to a different web hosting company.
[FairfieldLife] Re: FFL HTML
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, dhamiltony2k5 dhamiltony...@... wrote: Why can't yahoo small business get their Small Business pagebuilder editor to work this good? Drupal on a different host? Any body got experience with Drupal? No, but I wonder whether Google's free Google Sites would suit you? http://www.google.com/sites/help/intl/en/overview.html Or, what about trying free hosted Wordpress (which can be used to create static web page sites and not just blogs): http://en.wordpress.com/signup/
[FairfieldLife] Judy's Hair Club For Women (was Re: 'Avatar' arouses conservatives' ire)
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, jeff.evans60 jeff.evan...@... wrote: Judy's Native American name may indeed be splitting hairs ! Splitting Hairs is excellent. Almost Whedonesque. Although I think that Stands With Her Knickers In A Twist is a possible contender. :-) --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: Perfect way to end my posting week, by pointing out that the *other* self-proclaimed feminist on this forum seems to *agree* with Judy characterizing another woman as a slut or prostitute *on the basis of her hairstyle*. Look up the word slattern. Note its synonyms: slut and prostitute. Note definitions such as: a pros- titute who attracts customers by walking the streets and a loose woman. This from the two feminists who suggested that me pointing out that IMO Sarah Palin is a very ordinary- looking woman and that the only reason anyone thinks otherwise is because of makeup was misogyny and hatred of women. The two feminists seem to feel that *they* are able to refer to *another woman* as a slattern FOR NO OTHER REASON THAN THAT THEY DON'T LIKE HER HAIRCUT. That's not hatred of women. But pointing out that Sarah Palin has to wear a ton of makeup to look good on camera is. Go figure. Now, having set the stage for the meltdown that will follow today and the early part of next week, I shall again withdraw and allow the two unpersons to make my points for me. Have a nice rest of Friday folks...I'm off to Barcelona for the evening while they sit in their houses and plot their revenge. :-) :-) :-) --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, raunchydog raunchydog@ wrote: It's all about Judyagain. Didn't Barry make a formal declaration that she was a non-person? Didn't he vow to not read her posts beyond the message view because he's too cowardly to admit to himself how badly she mops the floor with him EVERY TIME? Now he's cruising for a bruising... again? Pass the popcorn. This is going to be fun. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: This followup to a followup is just for fun, because we all know that Judy is out there somewhere, chomping at the bit to come running back to FFL and call me a LIAR for saying the things below. Let's compare my characterization of her freakout over unkempt hair to her *actual words* on the subject, shall we? --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: Just as a followup, doncha think it's fascinating that a supposed feminist throws away several posts 1) picking a nit about another woman's unkempt appearance as if that somehow offended her, and 2) does so by suggesting that it is somehow inauthentic for a woman in any era to wear her hair the way she wants to? Presumably the ideal woman Judy has in mind would submit to what the society she lived in (*especially* other women who bitchily criticized her unkempt appearance) wanted from her, rather than express her own taste in hairstyles. :-) The following -- emphasis mine but the words Judy's -- is what she actually *said* about Mary McDonnell's hair after seeing Dances With Wolves. (*IF* she ever saw it, that is...I think we all know there is a possibility she never did, and is basing these rants purely on what she was told about the film by someone else, as she's done in the past with Apocalypto and other films.) Note the...uh...lack of equanimity in the following quotes. Note that Judy is almost *out of control* with anger at having been forced to view the hairstyle of a slattern (her term) on another woman. Note that this supposed feminist wants the right to impose *her* ideas of a proper hairstyle on another woman. Ponder its meaning and have as much fun laughing at feminist Judy as I have. Doncha get the feeling that someone in her past said all of these things to Judy about *her* hair, and now years later she is still so programmed by that as to feel that she has the right to say them about another woman's? Some feminist. Yeah, but my point was that *her hair was just slovenly looking*. *You'd think if she wanted so badly to belong to the Lakota culture, she'd have found a way to keep it neat*. You can make perfectly good braids with curly hair, and hers wasn't all *that* curly, really just wavy. I don't know, maybe they thought the *messy hair* kept her from looking too glamorous. But she was by far the most prominent woman in the film, and *it gave the impression that she had somehow become wild and savage* She'd been taken in by the tribe when she was a little girl. *I don't think at that point she would have had a cultural identity that would have
[FairfieldLife] Re: How much would you pay to hear Sarah Palin?
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, suziezuzie msilver1...@... wrote: Lets not forget, if Palin had been the front runner candidate for president instead of McCain, she would have been president. Its alright though, because in 2012, she will. LOL... --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, do.rflex do.rflex@ wrote: Is Palin Getting $100,000 to Speak at the Tea Party National Convention? This morning, I asked whether Sarah Palin's decision to speak at the Tea Party National Convention ... had anything to with money. Conservative blogger Dan Riehl is reporting, based on forwarded communications, that Palin is making at least $75,000 and at most $100,000 for her speech. Tickets for the speech alone are going for $349 tickets for the whole convention are $549. ~~ David Weigel - The Washington Independent http://snipurl.com/u0i83 [washingtonindependent_com]
[FairfieldLife] Re: How much would you pay to hear Sarah Palin?
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, suziezuzie msilver1...@... wrote: Lets not forget, if Palin had been the front runner candidate for president instead of McCain, she would have been president. I really don't think so: CNN Poll: 7 in 10 say Palin not qualified to be president WASHINGTON (CNN) - More than seven in 10 Americans think Sarah Palin is not qualified to be president, according to a new national poll. Seventy-one percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Wednesday morning believe the former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee is not qualified to be president, with 29 percent saying she does have the credentials to serve in the White House. Republicans appear split, with 52 percent saying she's qualified and 47 percent disagreeing with that view. http://snipurl.com/u0ym2 [politicalticker_blogs_cnn_com] = = = GOP Insiders Favor Romney A new National Journal poll http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2010/01/gop_insiders_\ so.php of Republican insiders finds Mitt Romney the runaway favorite to secure the party's presidential nomination in 2012. Romney had 62%, followed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty at 9%, Sen. John Thune at 12% and Gov. Haley Barbour at 6%. Sarah Palin was tied for 5th place with Gov. Mitch Daniels...
[FairfieldLife] 3D TV is here
I haven't even been able to see Avatar in 3D yet, but at the recent CES show attendees got to see some of their favorite non-3D movies in 3D. On a television screen thinner than a pack of matches. I want one. Samsung rolled out its new 3D televisions. Just 1/3- inches thick, they can display 3D without glasses, and have built-in software that can transform old 2D movies into 3D. High-end models will support 3D glasses for an even more startling effect. http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2010-01/08/samsung-turns-3d-into-a-thing-of-beauty.aspx I'm a big fan of Samsung. All of my current video and audio equipment comes from Samsung. They manage to combine state-of-the-art with inexpensive, some- thing no other manufacturer seems capable of.
[FairfieldLife] Teabaggers vs the GOP
Hee Haw meets 28 Days Later By CHARLES M. BLOW - New York Times - January 8, 2010 The attack on the Republican establishment by the tea party folks grabs the gaze like a really bad horror flick some version of Hee Haw meets 28 Days Later. It's fascinating. But it also raises a serious question: Are these the desperate thrashings of a dying movement or the labor pains of a new one? http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/09/opinion/09blow.html?hp#secondParagrap\ h [190] Earl Wilson/The New York Times Charles M. Blow My money is on the former. Anyone who says that this is the dawn of a new age of conservatism is engaging in wishful thinking on a delusional scale. There is no doubt that the number of people who say that they are conservative has inched up. According to a report from Gallup on Thursday, conservatives finished 2009 http://www.gallup.com/poll/124958/Conservatives-Finish-2009-No-1-Ideolo\ gical-Group.aspx as the No. 1 ideological group. But ideological identification is no predictor of electoral outcomes. According to polls by The New York Times http://documents.nytimes.com/the-new-york-times-cbs-news-poll-of-unempl\ oyed-adults#p=21 , conservative identification was slightly higher on the verge of Bill Clinton's first-term election and Barack Obama's election than it was on the verge of George W. Bush's first-term election. It is likely that Republicans will pick up Congressional seats http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2010/01/2010-senate-races-present-reward\ s-but.html in November partly because of the enthusiasm of this conservative fringe, democratic apathy and historical trends. But make no mistake: This is not 1994. This is a limited, emotional reaction. It's a response to the trauma that is the Great Recession, the uncertainty and creeping suspicion about the risks being taken in Washington, a visceral reaction to Obama and an overwhelming sense of powerlessness and loss. Simply put, it's about fear-fueled anger. But anger is not an idea. It's not a plan. And it's not a vision for the future. It is, however, the second stage of grief, right after denial and before bargaining. The right is on the wrong side of history. The demographics of the country are rapidly changing, young people are becoming increasingly liberal on social issues, and rigid, dogmatic religious stricture is loosening its grip on the throat of our culture. The right has seen the enemy, and he is the future. According to a Gallup report issued this week http://www.gallup.com/poll/124910/Majority-Americans-Optimistic-Future.\ aspx , Republicans were more than twice as likely as Democrats and a third more likely as independents to have a pessimistic outlook for the country over the next 20 years. That might be the fourth stage of grief: depression. So what's their battle plan to fight back from the precipice of irrelevance? Moderation? A stab at modernity? A slate of innovative ideas? No, their plan is to purge the party's moderates and march farther down the road to oblivion. Erick Erickson, the incendiary editor of the popular conservative blog RedState, appeared on The Colbert Report on Monday http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/258313/january-0\ 4-2010/erick-erickson and said that no one really knows what a Republican is anymore. Split hairs about labels if you must, but the Republican brand already has begun a slow slide into obscurity. And turning further right only hastens its demise. Quiet as it's kept, many in the party know this. That, alas, is called acceptance. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/09/opinion/09blow.html?hp
[FairfieldLife] Re: Teabaggers vs the GOP
dorx wrote: Teabaggers vs the GOP... Notice how almost every time 'dorx' calls the Tea Party Movement 'tea-baggers', how afraid and scared he sounds of the 'GOP'? In fact, America is not safe, after nearly nine years of war, and billions of dollars and thousands of lives. The economy is in the tank, and the taxes are going up. What's up with that? So, I'd say it's about time to vote the bums out! I'm seeing a lot of independent candidates that I could really support in the next election. Maybe you should seriously consider joining a 'tea party' dorx, and at least, put up a symbolic protest. Obviously it's not important enough to get you out to vote for your congressional leaders. What's up with that?
[FairfieldLife] Re: Those who see the movie vs. those who only read the reviews
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_re...@... wrote: A spiritual teacher I studied with for a number of years (not Maharishi) had a dualistic view of things he liked to rap about from time to time, even though his predominant view was more Unity-based. He gave a number of talks about the two types of seekers. He *more* than knew that there are more than two types. But his theory was that one could reduce the multiplicity of seekers out there to two basic tend- encies or predilections -- those for whom reading about other people's spiritual experiences was enough, and those for whom only the spiritual experiences themselves were enough. This distinction is echoed in many other traditional teachings. Sutra vs. tantra. Scholar vs. mystic. I would add to the list those who walk the walk vs. those who feel they have the right to talk the talk based on the 'authority' of others who claim to have walked the walk. Think movies. We have seen on this forum instances of a person being so convinced that they knew the Truth of a movie *without ever seeing it* to call the director of that film a Christian bigot for having made it. Gibson was widely known as a Christian bigot well before Apocalypto came out (as Barry knows). We even discussed it on FFL. The issue was *how that bigotry was reflected* in Apocalypto based on what happens in the film, specifically how the Mayans and their history and culture were portrayed. I've pointed out any number of times why Barry's claim is a thoroughly bad rap. Happy to cite chapter and verse for anyone interested. In subsequent rants this same person has felt that she had the right to express her opinion about several other films being discussed here among those who had seen them. For example, Doubt and Avatar. Nope, never expressed an opinion about either, nor any other film I haven't seen (as Barry knows). snip Now think spiritual practice. Every week we see instances of people declaring what they believe to be the Truth about enlightenment, *without ever having experienced it themselves*. They have convinced themselves that reading *about* enlightenment is enough to talk the talk of enlightenment. And Barry has convinced himself that reading what people say about enlightenment on an Internet forum is enough to know what they have and have not experienced. guffaw Call me crazy, but I think only the people who have seen the movie have the right to discuss the movie. Can you just *imagine* the shrieks of outrage from Barry if anybody ever told him he didn't have the right to discuss something?
[FairfieldLife] Re: Walking on Water as a Siddhi
Hi All: New to this group, and just selected a topic to commence reading. I chose this one, and it's interesting. There is no logical reason (or logic based reason) to consider the Bible or the gospels or the vedic literature any different from myths and fairytales -- or for that matter from any other form of fiction -- in terms of their credence or accuracy.. Religious faith literature depends upon the belief of the reader to make its authority meaningful. There are portions of such literature that are historically based, and these can be taken as believable, of course. There are other portions (such as miracle stories, birth legends, exstatic prophecies and descriptions of future life) which depend upon the faith of the reader to make them real. Then there are the ethical writings, describing the life of an enlightened person, which the reader can accept or reject depending upon his or her take on the sort of life that has meaning. Just my thoughts, folks. Thanks for being here and offering such a forum for discussion. In Gratitude; ray --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_re...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, John jr_esq@ wrote: To All: Siddhis are not restricted to the vedic literature. We find similar feats in the gospels and stories of Christian saints. The conclusion is inescapable. Because stories of siddhis exist in these books, siddhis must exist. Similarly, stories of not only siddhis but fantastic creatures like dragons, trolls, etc. exist in other books. These books are often referred to as fairytales or myths. Presumably these stories should be given EXACTLY the same credence as the stories in the vedic literature or in the gospels. After all, there is EXACTLY the same amount of evidence that the stories in the myths and fairytales are true as there is that any of the stories in the vedic literature or gospels are true. Therefore what I think you're trying to make is that if it's a story in a book, it's true. Or did I get that wrong, John? Were you suggesting instead that something is true only if it's a story in *some* books? :-) Just funnin' wit ya, John. But seriously, if you feel like it (or if *anyone* here feels like it), please present a reason why we should consider the Bible or the gospels or the vedic literature any different from myths and fairytales -- or for that matter from any other form of fiction -- in terms of their credence or accuracy. A reason other than Because I believe they are, that is. I'll wait.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Walking on Water as a Siddhi
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Premanand premanandp...@... wrote: Now I'm not at all sure that 'transcending' remained Maharishi's message, seems more and more he was trying to get the world to believe everything and anything contained in Indian Sacred Texts. His message was that only regular, repeated transcending made it possible to understand/grok and utilize the sacred texts. Hence his emphasis on the Richo Akshare verse of the Rig Veda: He whose awareness is not open to [the transcendental] field, what can the verses accomplish for him?
[FairfieldLife] Re: Walking on Water as a Siddhi
Vaj wrote: He replied that the only thing he heard was: Apparently MMY visited the Shankaryacharya some time ago. And after MMY had left, the Shankaracharya commented to the Swami that MMY's mind was a complete mess, a supermarket, not quiet at all. According to Paul G. van Oyen, the Shankaracharya of Sringeri, was very fond of the Maharishi and the Swami Shantanand Saraswati, Guru Dev's successor at Jyotirmath. Paul G. van Oyen, who visited His Holiness Shri Bharati Tirtha, the 'Shankaracharya of the South' wrote in his newsletter: He also emphatically confirmed that in his opinion and in the opinion of Shringeri Matha Shri Shantânanda Sarasvati had been the lawful and respected Pîthapati of Jyotirmath. In their view Shrî Shantânanda Sarasvatî had been a disciple of Shrî Shantânanda Sarasvati, maybe even a rather disobedient and naughty disciple. In a later conversation with another member of the Shringeri Matha staff we were reminded of the fact that when Shri Svarupananda was challenging the position of Shrî Shantananda as Pîthapati of Jyotir Matha the then Shankaracarya of Shringeri (Shri Vidyatîrtha Svamiji) had offered to anoint Svarupananda as Shankaracarya of Dvaraka when that seat fell vacant. The one condition was that he would drop his claim for Jyotir Matha. This was agreed and Svarupananda was anointed as Pîthapati of Dvaraka Matha. However when the ceremony was over Svarupananda refused to honour his commitment and did not step down as claimant to the Jyotir Matha seat. Work cited: 'A Visit to the Shankaracharya' By Paul G. van Oyen Kosmopolis Newsletter, August 2000 He was His Holiness Shrî Shantânanda Sarasvatî, Shankarâcârya of North India and based in Jyotir Math (Himalayas). Dr Roles introduced Leon MacLaren to His Holiness and as a result a master-disciple relationship was established... Read more: From: Willytex Subject: The Work Newsgroups: alt.meditation.transcendental Date: January 7, 2003 http://tinyurl.com/yfoveuj
[FairfieldLife] Re: 'Avatar' arouses conservatives' ire
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jst...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, jeff.evans60 jeff.evans60@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: snip Not sure where or if this fits in, but my sister pointed out to me that all the Indian women in Dances With Wolves were beautifully groomed, their hair in neat braids or pulled back, whereas the 'do of Stands with a Fist, the white woman who was supposedly completely assimilated into the Lakota culture and fiercely loyal to it, was loose, messy and unkempt, as if she never combed it. That had to have been a choice, but what was it supposed to mean? Big disconnect somehow. I dont think ceramic hair straighteners were available in the 1860's ( although she obviously had access to curling tongs ) Yeah, but my point was that her hair was just slovenly looking. You'd think if she wanted so badly to belong to the Lakota culture, she'd have found a way to keep it neat. You can make perfectly good braids with curly hair, and hers wasn't all *that* curly, really just wavy. I just read Wikipedia to refresh my memory. The tribe Dunbar befriends is Sioux. Stands With A Fist, whose hair IMO suits her defiant name, teaches Dunbar Lakota. I assume this means the Sioux spoke Lakota. I see your point that the producers couldn't quite cope mentally with the idea of a white woman becoming one of *them* without lowering herself and becoming uncivilized, and perhaps it implies a form of unconscious racism. I think it's a stretch. I have a hard time looking for racism under every rock. I had my fill of it during Hillary's campaign. Another way to look at it is that before the Sioux adopted Stands With A Fist, as a child she had already identified with a white culture. Although she adapted in many ways to a foreign culture (where else is a girl going to go shopping for clothes?) she retained her sense of being different and it may have been the source of her defiance and thus the hairdo. perfectly coiffed bikini line neat Indian feathers bow at her feet bodacious her quiff a bird nesting wild sage talking stick tells of lone child mercurial tufts fly on the wing rebelliously sly unbraided curling slatternly dreadlocks sexy hair ball tangles unfurling tresses free fall pompadour high or scraggly twist director malfunction or Stands With A Fist? I don't know, maybe they thought the messy hair kept her from looking too glamorous. But she was by far the most prominent woman in the film, and it gave the impression that she had somehow become wild and savage when she was taken in by the tribe, as if Indian women were naturally unkempt--except that the others weren't! It seemed as though the filmmakers hadn't thought it through, as if they couldn't quite cope mentally with the idea of a white woman becoming one of *them* without lowering herself and becoming uncivilized. No doubt all subconscious on the part of the filmmakers, but it was just rather unpleasant.
[FairfieldLife] Re: 'Avatar' arouses conservatives' ire
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_re...@... wrote: snip Just as a followup, doncha think it's fascinating that a supposed feminist throws away several posts 1) picking a nit about another woman's unkempt appearance as if that somehow offended her, and 2) does so by suggesting that it is somehow inauthentic for a woman in any era to wear her hair the way she wants to? Barry. [knock knock knock] Anybody home in there? I was talking about *a character in a movie*, and how that character *would have been likely* to wear her hair, not about how women *should* wear their hair in real life. And it wasn't just a nit. It had to do with how the choice of hairstyle for the movie reflected a racist attitude on the filmmakers' part. Nothing wrong with unkempt on its own terms. Nothing wrong with it in a film either when it's appropriate for the character. It *is* problematic when it reveals subconscious racism. It seems you've been spending so much time lately watching movies that you're having trouble distinguishing their fictional reality from real life. That said, having dated a number of women with naturally curly hair in my life, and lived with a few of them, I can attest to the fact that no matter *how* society-whipped or pussy-whipped Judy would like them to be, those curls are not going to stay kempt for very long if they live outdoors in the wind and the elements. McDonnell's hair isn't curly. At most, it's wavy. And she could easily have had even the waviness straightened for the film. Braid it however you want, bind it up neatly the way Judy thinks it should be bound up as much as you want, and within an hour you're looking pretty much the way Mary McDonnell looked to start with because she was smart enough to realize this. Braided or tied-back hair under windy conditions doesn't end up looking anything remotely like McDonnell's hair in the film. Plus which, according to what you quoted her as saying in your earlier post, that's not why she went along with it in any case. Did you forget that already? snip Mary McDonnell -- in Dances With Wolves or Grand Canyon or Battlestar Galactica or any of the other 48 films she's been in -- pretty much encapsulates my vision of a certain kind of feminine (and feminist) beauty that is on the one hand lovely and on the other hand Don't Take No Shit. Free clue: A woman can do the Don't Take No Shit thing regardless of the hairstyle she chooses. For that matter, she can also be the type who takes all kinds of shit regardless of the hairstyle she chooses--even possibly *more important* shit than how she wears her hair. It isn't impossible that McDonnell was *intimidated* into wearing her hair that way against her better judgment, and then had to try to justify it after the fact. In other words, the messy hair may have been a function of her taking shit from the costumers and makeup artists about how she couldn't hope to put the character across otherwise.
[FairfieldLife] Judy's Hair Club For Women (was Re: 'Avatar' arouses conservatives' ire)
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_re...@... wrote: snip Let's compare my characterization of her freakout over unkempt hair to her *actual words* on the subject, shall we? No matter how many of my actual words you bold, Barry, they don't say anything even remotely like what you claim. This is your freakout, not mine. As to your assertion that it's somehow anti-feminist for women to go along with the fashions of the society they live in, here you are describing your attendance at a feminist conference: Going with them to this gala event involved me being one of two men in a room full of 600 staggeringly attractive wommen who were dressed to the nines I should give the Fashion Report. To Die For. First, we are talking about a room full of healthy, trim, worked-out, and stunningly beautiful women. Second, we are talking a room full of them given a chance to play dress-upThe fancy dresses and high heels and makeup...were just icing on the cake. guffaw FWIW, unlike your feminists, I decided about, oh, 25 years or so ago that I was tired of submitting to society's mandate that women wear heels and makeup and spend lots of time and money on their hair, and I haven't done so since.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Walking on Water as a Siddhi
Was it the culture at the time that brought it about? Or, was it the Spanish language itself that caused it? Maybe the Castillian pronunciation has a special sound quality... Maybe, but as you noted, these experiences were the result of 'religious prayer'. There are no Christian miracles that are ascribed to 'self-power'. None of the miracles associated with the Spanish Christian or Muslim religion are attributable to the 'will of the individual'. The miracles are performed by 'God', not from anyone's own 'self-power', as described in Indian yoga. There is no 'God of Yoga', which enters into the physical universe and causes change. So, most Christian and Muslim religions don't approve of yoga or the siddhis. Religions are based on faith and surrender, not on individual freedom and will-power. According to Maharishi, TM and the TM-Sidhis, are mechanical processes. Siddhis are just an indicator of natural law - consciousness and causation. The Sanskrit term 'yoga' refers to the techniques for experiencing higher states of consciousness in meditation. The earliest mention of meditative states are the Buddhist records of the historical Buddha. According to Mircea Eliade, yoga and the shramana life-view, is native to South Asia - it isn't found in the mythology or religious systems of western culture. Ascetic yoga seems to be peculiar to the Buddhist, Jain, and Hindu philosophies. 'Siddha yoga' means 'perfected, that is, enlightened, transcended into pure consciousness, which is made manifest in the individual by 'Self-Knowlege. Enlightenment is the state pertaining to 'gnosis' - that which ends the identity of the mind with sense phenomena - knowledge that is 'transcendenal', or beyond sense perceptions. The first historical yogin was Shakya the Muni, who formulated the 'Eightfold Path' leading to Nirvana. The term 'nirvana' is Sanskrit, and is the central concept in Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Kashmere Shaivism. Nirvana is the state of being 'enlightened', free from ignorance; where the mind that has come to a point of perfect lucidity and clarity due to the cessation of the production of volitional formations. According to Patanjali, Yoga is the 'cessation of the fluctuations of the mind-stuff.' Work cited: 'History of Religious Ideas Volume 2' From Gautama Buddha to the Triumph of University Of Chicago Press, 1985 References: Yoga refers to traditional physical and mental disciplines originating in India... Yoga: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga Siddha Yoga is a spiritual path based on the Hindu spiritual traditions of Vedanta and Kashmir Shaivism... Siddha Yoga: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siddha_yoga Nirvana is the state of being free from suffering in sramanic thought... Nirvana: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana
[FairfieldLife] Judy's Hair Club For Women (was Re: 'Avatar' arouses conservatives' ire)
Good grief. This is, what, Barry's *third* off-the- rails rant now about McDonnell's hair? --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_re...@... wrote: Perfect way to end my posting week, by pointing out that the *other* self-proclaimed feminist on this forum seems to *agree* with Judy characterizing another woman as a slut or prostitute *on the basis of her hairstyle*. Neither of us characterized anybody that way. Barry's enraged because Raunchy nailed him about paying so much attention to me after having declared me an unperson whose posts he was never going to read. Look up the word slattern. Note its synonyms: slut and prostitute. Note definitions such as: a pros- titute who attracts customers by walking the streets and a loose woman. Or note the definition in my dictionary: slattern: an untidy slovenly woman; also : slut, prostitute The term slattern does not automatically imply prostitute or loose woman, except, apparently, in Barry's mind. And that tells us why Barry is so anxious for women to have messy hair, because he thinks it means he has a better chance of getting into their pants. This from the two feminists who suggested that me pointing out that IMO Sarah Palin is a very ordinary- looking woman and that the only reason anyone thinks otherwise is because of makeup was misogyny and hatred of women. No, neither of us ever said that was the reason. I may have suggested Palin Derangement Syndrome as the reason, however.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp
We all bring our own loves, hatreds, prejudices and biases to the table whenever we partake in any artistic event, be it a movie or a painting or music concert. Mine are projected onto the screen and story just as everyone else's are. For you to claim, Barry, that I missed the movie is of course correct from your point of view because I obviously missed it from your subjective vision. And that's fine. And if you want to believe that you are able to see it without hangups -- perhaps because you truly believe you don't have any -- well, then, we should all be quite pleased here on FFL to have such a pure soul as yourself to grace us with your presence and wisdom. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_re...@... wrote: For the record, I find nothing technically wrong or offensive in Shemp's review. And his Subject line is just *perfect*. He is merely projecting his own hangups and hatreds onto a movie framework that allowed him to do so. That those hangups were so predominant as to make him miss the movie itself is sad, but not unusual. For example, having been commissioned by a mag to write an article about Avatar, I felt the need to rent a few of the movies it has been compared to, and that were claimed as sources. One of them was Dances With Wolves, which I saw again last night. Lovely film, one with an uplifting vision that those who see it without hangup filters in place that force them to see *only* the hangup and not the film would gain some benefit from seeing. I mention it because there is not a single moment in the film in which Mary McDonnell's hair is shown as dirty-looking or snarled or matted or a rat's nest. It's just windblown and unkempt. And lovely. Just as Shemp missed the film he was watching because all he could see in it were his own hatreds and hangups, so did the person who freaked out over Mary McDonnell looking like a slattern because all she could see in the film were her own hangups. At least Shemp actually *saw* the movie he projected his hangups onto; given the inaccuracy of her descriptions and her past history on this forum, it is not clear that Judy ever saw Dances With Wolves. The only hair that really stands out in Dances With Wolves is Rodney A. Grant's, as Wind In His Hair. If one were prone to project one's hangups about inauthenticity onto a film just to have something to criticize in it, one could make the case that because his hair (long enough to reach his upper thighs) was inauthentic because it was so much longer than anyone else's in the film. Of course, that's Rodney's real hair, but one *could* make such an argument. If one were an idiot, that is. What I'm waiting for is for a similar idiot to claim that Avatar is anti-semitic because it portrays the savages as Bluish. :-) :-) :-) --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, ShempMcGurk shempmcgurk@ wrote: Wonderful, wonderful movie. I thought it appropriate that the movie came out in the same month as a study that showed the ocean's ability to absorb CO2 has not diminished: http://theresilientearth.com/?q=content/ocean-absorption-co2-not-shrinking Avatar is the story of Gaia, the idea that the Earth is a living organism and, as such, can adjust itself and its equalibrium as the make-up of various elements in its atmosphere change. More CO2? Why, the ecosystem adjusts itself accordingly. Adaptation. Just like the skin on your arm adjusts when it is cut: it heals itself. The Na'Vi represent Gaia. The military represents the catastrophic man-made global warming movement, particularly in the person of Col. Miles Quaritch, who is pro-fear and anti-science. Quaritch personifies Al Gore, the most evil man in America today. Jake Sully represents reason as well as man acknowledging the power and balancing ability of nature. The best parallel to today's situation would be that Sully represents someone like Senator Inhofe. So when Al Gore (the military) tries to upset the natural order of things, it took a brave soul like Sully (Sen. Inhofe) to fight the fear and irrationality of Al Gore and the global warming movement. Good ultimately triumphs over evil.
[FairfieldLife] How is guffaw pronounced...or is it?
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jst...@... wrote: [snip] guffaw [snip] Is it a sound? A facial expression only, without sound? Or is it just a state of mind which has a resonance only in the written word?
[FairfieldLife] Judy's Hair Club For Women (was Re: 'Avatar' arouses conservatives' ire)
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, m 13 meowthirt...@... wrote: I'm looking forward to the day when we are inclusive and have ceased being EXclusive. The state of the heart is relevant and not the state of hair. Perhaps it is my being an artist, but i like the abstractness of a bedhead. I may even wear sticks, feathers, flowers, or anything that gives me delight in my hair. You may wear your hair anyway you like. It's okay. Really. One day, we will look in our irisses/pupils and see the hearts of entities, and not be so mindful of the outside things. Meow, dear, looks like you've been misled by what Barry said about my posts. They didn't say the state of the hair was relevant to anything at all--*except* in the context of one particular movie, made 20 years ago and set in the 1860s, in which the choice of hairstyle for the lead actress exemplified in a racist attitude, one of the most pernicious of all exclusionary tendencies, in the hearts of the filmmakers. By me, you're more than welcome to wear sticks and feathers in your hair. Heck, you can even wear your *bed* in your hair for all I care. ;-)
[FairfieldLife] Re: Walking on Water as a Siddhi
But to claim that something *you haven't even exper- ienced* is Truth because you BELIEVE it is, or because you read it in a book you consider Truth? Doug wrote: Yes, discernment... Yes, discrimination between the real and the unreal - between true knowledge, gnosis, jnana, and false knowledge, avidya, samsara. What do we know? Almost everything we know we learned through the senses, mostly the ears and the eyes. We also have verbal knowledge - what we have read in a book or have been told. Very few of us, apparently, have an 'apriori' transcendental knowledge. So, almost everyone BELIEVES that the senses are the Truth. That is, unless you are willing to propose that the experience of something actually *changes* the thing being perceived.
[FairfieldLife] Re: 'Avatar'
Judy's Hair Club For Women... Judy wrote: Good grief. This is, what, Barry's *third* off-the- rails rant now about McDonnell's hair? You can always tell when these types of informant go 'off the rails' and realize they've totally lost the debate, when they change the subject line to include your personal name! That way, they can divert attention to their own dumb rants, and possibly even hide the subject in a Google Search. It's a neat trick, but not a secret to some veteran respondents on newsgroups. LOL! Perfect way to end my posting week, by pointing out that the *other* self-proclaimed feminist on this forum seems to *agree* with Judy characterizing another woman as a slut or prostitute *on the basis of her hairstyle*. Neither of us characterized anybody that way. Barry's enraged because Raunchy nailed him about paying so much attention to me after having declared me an unperson whose posts he was never going to read. Look up the word slattern. Note its synonyms: slut and prostitute. Note definitions such as: a pros- titute who attracts customers by walking the streets and a loose woman. Or note the definition in my dictionary: slattern: an untidy slovenly woman; also : slut, prostitute The term slattern does not automatically imply prostitute or loose woman, except, apparently, in Barry's mind. And that tells us why Barry is so anxious for women to have messy hair, because he thinks it means he has a better chance of getting into their pants. This from the two feminists who suggested that me pointing out that IMO Sarah Palin is a very ordinary- looking woman and that the only reason anyone thinks otherwise is because of makeup was misogyny and hatred of women. No, neither of us ever said that was the reason. I may have suggested Palin Derangement Syndrome as the reason, however.
[FairfieldLife] Judy's Hair Club For Women (was Re: 'Avatar' arouses conservatives' ire)
I'll have to grow my hair longer if I am to tuck my bed in it. Pass the biotin please! If the reference was to Dances with Wolves,I wondered myself , if she was raised in the Indian tradition, why the women would not braid it,as they did. Maybe they just left it wild and natural? Haven't seen Avatar. -M
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp
On Jan 9, 2010, at 2:50 AM, TurquoiseB wrote: Just as Shemp missed the film he was watching because all he could see in it were his own hatreds and hangups... Personally I think he was kidding, at least in part. I think a lot of what Shemp posts is tongue-in- cheek, altho I could be wrong. Sal
Re: [FairfieldLife] How is guffaw pronounced...or is it?
On Sat, Jan 9, 2010 at 9:58 AM, ShempMcGurk shempmcg...@netscape.net wrote: guffaw Is it a sound? A facial expression only, without sound? Or is it just a state of mind which has a resonance only in the written word? If others want to publish the TM mantra, it's their choice. I thought you had more sense than that. -- If God had wanted man to play soccer, he wouldn't have given us arms.
RE: [FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp
From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com [mailto:fairfieldl...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of ShempMcGurk Sent: Saturday, January 09, 2010 12:06 AM To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com , Rick Archer r...@... wrote: From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com [mailto:FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com ] On Behalf Of ShempMcGurk Sent: Friday, January 08, 2010 6:30 PM To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com Subject: [FairfieldLife] Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp I thought it appropriate that the movie came out in the same month as a study that showed the ocean's ability to absorb CO2 has not diminished: Google ocean's ability to absorb CO2 and all you see are studies saying that it's ability is diminishing: http://tinyurl.com/yawgtug You obviously didn't read the link I supplied. Why are you so eager to see the world destroyed, Rick? That's like saying why are you so eager to see people die because you believe the research that says cigarettes cause cancer, while I believe the research funded by the tobacco companies which says that they don't. It was the tobacco companies that ended up being responsible for millions of deaths. They paid billions in penalties. The executives should have been tried for manslaughter.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Sal Sunshine salsunsh...@... wrote: On Jan 9, 2010, at 2:50 AM, TurquoiseB wrote: Just as Shemp missed the film he was watching because all he could see in it were his own hatreds and hangups... Personally I think he was kidding, at least in part. I think a lot of what Shemp posts is tongue-in- cheek, altho I could be wrong. Sal You're right that a lot of what I write is tongue-in-cheek but in this case that is how I actually saw the movie.
[FairfieldLife] Judy's Hair Club For Women
I may even wear sticks, feathers, flowers, or anything that gives me delight in my hair. You may wear your hair anyway you like... Judy wrote: Meow, dear, looks like you've been misled by what Barry said about my posts. They didn't say the state of the hair was relevant to anything at all--*except* in the context of one particular movie, made 20 years ago and set in the 1860s, in which the choice of hairstyle for the lead actress exemplified in a racist attitude, one of the most pernicious of all exclusionary tendencies, in the hearts of the filmmakers. By me, you're more than welcome to wear sticks and feathers in your hair. Heck, you can even wear your *bed* in your hair for all I care. ;-) This thread is a genuine 'howler', fer sure! Maybe it should go into the 'FFL Hall of Flame'. LOL! In a previous post, Barry made comments about Judy having a tiny 'web cam' attached to her computer, and he and Manning posted a fake image purporting it to be an image Judy took of herself with her own web cam. But, neither of them responded with a web cam image of their own hair. LOL!!!
[FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp
Yikes, he's *still at it*. And it's moi who's supposed to be having the meltdown... --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_re...@... wrote: For the record, I find nothing technically wrong or offensive in Shemp's review. Barry, last week: Shemp will HATE AVATAR. He'll be sitting there in the theater trying to admire the film for *nothing more meaningful than making a shitload of money* and find himself sitting there watching the glori- fication of everything he most hates in life. And the presentation of most of the things he loves in life as the Neanderthal Thinking they really are. Bonus quote from Vaj: I think Shemp will not only hate it, he'll spew a number of hate mails on it, like he does to those who are pro-environment. Deep inside it will work on his cognitive dissonance with his latent Vedic programming. So much of what the N'Avi are into is Maharishi Vedic living. And he despises that too. (Vaj gets a little confused toward the end there, but you get the drift.) snip Just as Shemp missed the film he was watching because all he could see in it were his own hatreds and hangups, so did the person who freaked out over Mary McDonnell looking like a slattern because all she could see in the film were her own hangups. Actually, I loved the film, thought McDonnell did a great job. I'd seen it twice before my sister pointed out the hair thing to me. When I then saw it a third time, the incongruity was so obvious I couldn't imagine how I'd missed it the first two times. Didn't change my appreciation of the film, though. I just acquired a new awareness of how subtle and pernicious racism can be--including my own, since I didn't notice it until my sister called my attention to it. But boy, if you want to talk about somebody missing something because all they can see in it are their own hatreds and hangups, this describes Barry's reaction to my posts about McDonnell's hair precisely. And he's utterly oblivious to how revealing of his own meanspiritedness his projections are (not to mention his insensitivity to racism). Actually, I think Barry's gone off the deep end here because he's *enraged* at my having observed that many liberals perceived his precious Avatar--a film that, to Barry, represents the Correct View of Life, the Universe, and Everything--to be racist.
[FairfieldLife] Judy's Hair Club For Women (was Re: 'Avatar' arouses conservatives' ire)
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, m 13 meowthirt...@... wrote: I'll have to grow my hair longer if I am to tuck my bed in it. Pass the biotin please! As would Judy. One might suggest that her...uh... somewhat strong opinions about Mary McDonnell's hair are somewhat reflected in her own current choice of hairstyle. Check out the photo she posted to FFL. I've seen more fuzz on a peach. Presumably this is an acceptable feminist hairstyle. :-) If the reference was to Dances with Wolves,I wondered myself, if she was raised in the Indian tradition, why the women would not braid it,as they did. Maybe they just left it wild and natural? There is actually a scene in Dances With Wolves in which an Indian woman is helping Stands With A Fist comb her hair. Obviously, that is something she did regularly. Obviously, it didn't work for very long. Obviously, the Sioux women had zero problem with this. Haven't seen Avatar. I'm looking forward to Judy's Shemp review of it, in which she tells us what *she* saw in the film. I don't think I'm out of line in suggesting that the only memorable thing she might see in the film is that it's a story about the oppression of women by men. After all, don't all the Na'Vi, male and female, *submit* to the will of a...spit...man, just because he has a little charisma? Oh wait...that's the story of the TM movement, too. Maybe she'll see some other nefarious plot. The Na'Vi have really long hair and they wear it braided, so she can't go postal on the unkempt thang. What- ever the nitpick that allows her to dump on a cool vision is, I'm pretty sure that she'll come up with one, and that it'll be more entertaining than her normal stuff. I might even read it.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer r...@... wrote: From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com [mailto:fairfieldl...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of ShempMcGurk Sent: Saturday, January 09, 2010 12:06 AM To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com , Rick Archer rick@ wrote: From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com [mailto:FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com ] On Behalf Of ShempMcGurk Sent: Friday, January 08, 2010 6:30 PM To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com Subject: [FairfieldLife] Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp I thought it appropriate that the movie came out in the same month as a study that showed the ocean's ability to absorb CO2 has not diminished: Google ocean's ability to absorb CO2 and all you see are studies saying that it's ability is diminishing: http://tinyurl.com/yawgtug You obviously didn't read the link I supplied. Why are you so eager to see the world destroyed, Rick? That's like saying why are you so eager to see people die because you believe the research that says cigarettes cause cancer, while I believe the research funded by the tobacco companies which says that they don't. It was the tobacco companies that ended up being responsible for millions of deaths. They paid billions in penalties. The executives should have been tried for manslaughter. Bad analogy. The BETTER analogy is the one where you go to the doctor who tells you you have inoperable cancer and have 3 months to live. So, devastated and depressed by the news, you go to a second doctor for another opinion. The second doctor examines you and reports: I have good news. The first doctor made a typical mistake with symptoms of the kind you have. I am happy to report that not only do you not have cancer but that you will live a long and healthy life. Well, upon hearing that from the second doctor, you will, at the very least, be cautiously optimistic and, at most, ecstatic. But to be sure you will get a third and possibly fourth opinion. When both the third and fourth doctors assure you that you don't have cancer, you celebrate and are much relieved. The ONLY rational response to news that Al Gore may be wrong and that maybe all those scientists who, on the basis of those grants they got from government, concluded that there is catastrophic man-made global warming were wrong is: CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM. Rick, global warming study is a new phenomenon about a complicated eco-system that no one really knows much about. Climate is something that no one has EVER been able to predict. It is new territory for everyone. For ANYONE to claim that they have the conclusive proof that this or that is going to happen is irrational. Therefore, when research comes out pointing to the opposite conclusion that Al Gore would have us believe -- that there is going to be an apocalypse in which tens of millions are going to die -- AT THE VERY LEAST the only rational response must be: HEY, I AM NOT YET CONVINCED BUT I WILL BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO BE PROVEN WRONG BECAUSE IF I AM WRONG, BILLIONS OF HUMAN BEINGS WON'T SUFFER UNNECESSARILY. For anyone to respond to news that AGW is not real by expressing anger suggests to me an agenda that has nothing to do with science or a true concern with the environment. It is an irrational response. You don't HAVE to believe that global warming isn't real; but a normal well-adjusted person would WANT that to be the reality. You should be writing: Shemp, you haven't convinced me yet but, gosh, I so much want you to be right and me to be wrong because that will mean that suffering for this planet will be minimized. I still believe global warming is a reality but I will keep an open mind and hope against hope that you are right.
[FairfieldLife] US special envoy threatens to freeze aid to Israel
Mitchell: Mideast stagnation endangers US aid Yitzhak Benhorin Published: 01.08.10, 19:58 / Israel News http://www.ynetnews.com/home/0,7340,L-3082,00.html WASHINGTON On the eve of his visit to the Middle East, US special envoy George Mitchell threatened that his country would freeze its aid to Israel if the Jewish state failed to advance peace talks with the Palestinians and a two-state solution. Mitchell clarified in an interview to the PBS network that the United States would use incentives or sanctions against both sides. According to American law, Mitchell said, the US can freeze its support for aid to Israel. He added that all options must remain open and that the sides must be convinced about what their important interests are. The US envoy noted that some progress had been made and that his country would continue its efforts to resume the negotiations. The American guarantees allow Israel to raise funds at low interest rates and improve the Jewish state's credit rating. The last time the US threatened to freeze the guarantees was during the term of President George Bush Sr. and former Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir. Ahead of Mitchell's visit, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held talks Friday with Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh and Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit. Egyptian Intelligence Minister Omar Suleiman is also in Washington. Clinton's aim is to recruit Egypt to host a possible meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in which a resumption of direct negotiations will be declared. The secretary of state Hillary Clinton said after meeting with her Jordanian counterpart that she was working to restart peace talks between Palestinians and Israelis without preconditions. We are working with the Israelis, the (Palestinian Authority), and the Arab states to take the steps needed to relaunch the negotiations as soon as possible and without preconditions, she said. Clinton and Judeh said that resolving those matters first would eliminate Palestinian concerns about continued construction of Jewish settlements in disputed areas. They said negotiations should begin as soon as possible and be bound by deadlines. Resolving borders resolves settlements, resolving Jerusalem resolves settlements, Clinton said after meeting Judeh at the State Department. I think we need to lift our sights and instead of being looking down at the trees, we need to look at the forest. Peace efforts in the past have tended to focus on broader issues, including settlements, the fate of Palestinian refugees and water, with even more contentious matters like borders and Jerusalem being left for so-called final status talks. If you resolve the question of borders then you automatically resolve not only settlements and Jerusalem but you identify the nature on the ground of the two-state solution and (what) it looks like, Judeh said. Both Clinton and Judeh spoke out against new Israeli housing construction in east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians claim as their capital, saying it was damaging to the process. 'Hunger for a resolution' When he travels to the region, Mitchell is expected to be carrying letters of guarantees outlining the US position. The letters are likely to contain gestures to both sides. For the Palestinians, that would include criticism of settlements and the belief that the borders that existed before the 1967 Arab-Israeli War should be the basis of a future peace deal. For the Israelis, they would acknowledge that post-1967 demographic changes on the ground must be taken into account, meaning that Israel would be able to keep some settlements. Clinton did not address the letters in her remarks. But she said the administration wanted a resolution that meets both the Palestinian goal of a clearly defined and viable state based on the borders that existed before the 1967 war with agreed swaps and the Israeli goal of security within boundaries that reflect subsequent developments. There is a hunger for a resolution of this matter, a two-state solution that would rebuke the terrorists and the naysayers, that would give the Palestinians a legitimate state for their own aspirations and would give the Israelis the security they deserve to have, she said. This is a year of renewed commitment and increased effort towards what we see as an imperative goal for the region and the world, Clinton said. Egypt and Jordan are essential to the peace push as they are Israel's only Arab neighbors to have fully recognized the Jewish state. Judeh said it was essential that once they resume, the negotiations must be bound by a timeline and a clear plan with benchmarks. You cannot just have another open-ended process, he said. Some deadlines have to be put on the table and these deadlines help to serve the parties rather then present obstacles in the path to peace. They help the parties put things in the right timeframe
[FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp
Just as Shemp missed the film he was watching because all he could see in it were his own hatreds and hangups, so did the person who freaked out over Mary McDonnell looking like a slattern because all she could see in the film were her own hangups. Judy wrote: Actually, I think Barry's gone off the deep end here because he's *enraged* at my having observed that many liberals perceived his precious Avatar--a film that, to Barry, represents the Correct View of Life, the Universe, and Everything--to be racist. So, Barry is *enraged* and 'gone off the deep end'. And, many liberals think 'Avatar' is racist. Barry can read minds. Interesting.
Re: [FairfieldLife] US special envoy threatens to freeze aid to Israel
On Sat, Jan 9, 2010 at 10:49 AM, do.rflex do.rf...@yahoo.com wrote: Mitchell: Mideast stagnation endangers US aid We need to not only freeze aid to Israel, but also all of its bank accounts we can gain access to. Plus place an embargo on Zionists worldwide sending money to Israel. End military aid to Israel. That would end the problems we have with El Quaeda and others finally. If God had wanted man to play soccer, he wouldn't have given us arms.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp
Barry simply doesn't pay attention. When he first brought this issue up -- prior to my week-long suspension -- I responded by telling Barry that if I judged movies solely by whether I agreed with their political agendas then I would end up seeing about 3 or 4 movies a decade. I long ago gave up hoping that Hollywood liberals would make the kind of movies that fit in with my political worldview. They are simply few and far between. And virtually every major studio (and probably all the independent producers on the planet!) are liberals. As I've written here before one of the few movies that DO fit in with my free-market views was, ironically, done by the uber-liberal (and self-described socialist from Canada) Norman Jewison. I am referring to the wonderful romantic comedy Other People's Money starring Danny DeVito and Penelope Ann Miller (and, yes, you most certainly buy into the chemistry between the beauty and the mini-beast, at least I did). What's great about OPM is that it provides the viewer with BOTH sides of the story of an unwelcome hostile corporate take-over. This culminates with a stockholders' meeting in which the protagonists on each side of the issue address the stockholders for their votes on the take-over: DeVito as the money-grubbing take-over artist and Gregory Peck (with his daughter Miller as the corporate lawyer) on the side of the good guys, the corporation that is the object of the take-over. Honest dialogue and reasoning is given to BOTH sides; the capitalist side is NOT treated as purely evil and the take-over company as the good guys who only want to do what is right for the worker. The pro's and con's of each are given. I was surprised that Jewison was able to do this because he was responsible for one of the most horrendous exercises in leftist propaganda ever committed to film: the movie Hurricane, which is about the former world champion boxer Hurricane Carter who spent about 19 years in prison for a multi-murder he claims he didn't commit. Well, anyone familiar with the case and with any semblance of common sense knows that Carter most certainly did commit the murders and society was well served by having that psychopath in prison for all that time. And Jewison played loose and selectively with the facts, biassing his film to make the viewer believe Carter was innoncent. But not the case with OPM. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jst...@... wrote: Yikes, he's *still at it*. And it's moi who's supposed to be having the meltdown... --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: For the record, I find nothing technically wrong or offensive in Shemp's review. Barry, last week: Shemp will HATE AVATAR. He'll be sitting there in the theater trying to admire the film for *nothing more meaningful than making a shitload of money* and find himself sitting there watching the glori- fication of everything he most hates in life. And the presentation of most of the things he loves in life as the Neanderthal Thinking they really are. Bonus quote from Vaj: I think Shemp will not only hate it, he'll spew a number of hate mails on it, like he does to those who are pro-environment. Deep inside it will work on his cognitive dissonance with his latent Vedic programming. So much of what the N'Avi are into is Maharishi Vedic living. And he despises that too. (Vaj gets a little confused toward the end there, but you get the drift.) snip Just as Shemp missed the film he was watching because all he could see in it were his own hatreds and hangups, so did the person who freaked out over Mary McDonnell looking like a slattern because all she could see in the film were her own hangups. Actually, I loved the film, thought McDonnell did a great job. I'd seen it twice before my sister pointed out the hair thing to me. When I then saw it a third time, the incongruity was so obvious I couldn't imagine how I'd missed it the first two times. Didn't change my appreciation of the film, though. I just acquired a new awareness of how subtle and pernicious racism can be--including my own, since I didn't notice it until my sister called my attention to it. But boy, if you want to talk about somebody missing something because all they can see in it are their own hatreds and hangups, this describes Barry's reaction to my posts about McDonnell's hair precisely. And he's utterly oblivious to how revealing of his own meanspiritedness his projections are (not to mention his insensitivity to racism). Actually, I think Barry's gone off the deep end here because he's *enraged* at my having observed that many liberals perceived his precious Avatar--a film that, to Barry, represents the Correct View of Life, the Universe, and Everything--to be racist.
[FairfieldLife] Re: 'Avatar' arouses conservatives' ire
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, raunchydog raunchy...@... wrote: snip I see your point that the producers couldn't quite cope mentally with the idea of a white woman becoming one of *them* without lowering herself and becoming uncivilized, and perhaps it implies a form of unconscious racism. I think it's a stretch. I have a hard time looking for racism under every rock. I had my fill of it during Hillary's campaign. Another way to look at it is that before the Sioux adopted Stands With A Fist, as a child she had already identified with a white culture. Although she adapted in many ways to a foreign culture (where else is a girl going to go shopping for clothes?) she retained her sense of being different and it may have been the source of her defiance and thus the hairdo. Possible, but I think *that's* a stretch. She was too young when the tribe took her in to have absorbed much of white culture; and in any case, white culture wasn't any more accepting of poor grooming than Indian culture. Plus which, it wasn't just that she adapted to the Indian culture. She bought into it totally, was terrified that Dunbar was going to make her leave the tribe and go back to her own people. She'd married an Indian, and when Dunbar first encounters her, she's in such deep and desperate mourning after her husband's death that she's in the process of committing suicide. Finally, the defiance that inspired her name was generated by the Indians mistreating her at first because she was white. The fist she stood with was raised against a member of the tribe who had been harassing her. That's what she was defying, the unequal treatment, insisting that they treat her as one of them. And they were so impressed by the way this little white girl stood up for herself that from then on, they did exactly that. Being strong-willed was an Indian trait, as far as they were concerned. So I have a hard time buying that she would deliberately try to preserve her differentness.
[FairfieldLife] Re: How is guffaw pronounced...or is it?
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, ShempMcGurk shempmcg...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: [snip] guffaw Is it a sound? It's onomatopoetic. A facial expression only, without sound? Or is it just a state of mind which has a resonance only in the written word?
[FairfieldLife] Re: 'Avatar' arouses conservatives' ire
If you want reality with a North-American-aboriginal-mixes-with-Europeans then I suggest you see the movie Black Robe which is about first contacts between French missionaries and Indians in cold, frozen Quebec about 300 years ago. The film's most telling moment is when the priests show the Huron (or whatever tribe they were) how writing works, which totally freaks them out. And let's cut the crap about the idea of the Indian as noble savage which everyone thinks is analogous to the Na'Vi of Avatar. North America's aboriginals were the farthest thing from being good stewards of the environment. They weren't. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jst...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, raunchydog raunchydog@ wrote: snip I see your point that the producers couldn't quite cope mentally with the idea of a white woman becoming one of *them* without lowering herself and becoming uncivilized, and perhaps it implies a form of unconscious racism. I think it's a stretch. I have a hard time looking for racism under every rock. I had my fill of it during Hillary's campaign. Another way to look at it is that before the Sioux adopted Stands With A Fist, as a child she had already identified with a white culture. Although she adapted in many ways to a foreign culture (where else is a girl going to go shopping for clothes?) she retained her sense of being different and it may have been the source of her defiance and thus the hairdo. Possible, but I think *that's* a stretch. She was too young when the tribe took her in to have absorbed much of white culture; and in any case, white culture wasn't any more accepting of poor grooming than Indian culture. Plus which, it wasn't just that she adapted to the Indian culture. She bought into it totally, was terrified that Dunbar was going to make her leave the tribe and go back to her own people. She'd married an Indian, and when Dunbar first encounters her, she's in such deep and desperate mourning after her husband's death that she's in the process of committing suicide. Finally, the defiance that inspired her name was generated by the Indians mistreating her at first because she was white. The fist she stood with was raised against a member of the tribe who had been harassing her. That's what she was defying, the unequal treatment, insisting that they treat her as one of them. And they were so impressed by the way this little white girl stood up for herself that from then on, they did exactly that. Being strong-willed was an Indian trait, as far as they were concerned. So I have a hard time buying that she would deliberately try to preserve her differentness.
[FairfieldLife] Re: How is guffaw pronounced...or is it?
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jst...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, ShempMcGurk shempmcgurk@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: [snip] guffaw Is it a sound? It's onomatopoetic. ...like our mantras (from dictionary.com) in which name/form is at least at the most subtle levels one and the same: onomatopoeia#8194;#8194;/#716;#594;n#601;#716;mæt#601;#712;pi#601;, #8209;#716;m#593;t#601;#8209;/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [on-uh-mat-uh-pee-uh, #8209;mah-tuh#8209;] Show IPA noun 1. the formation of a word, as cuckoo or boom, by imitation of a sound made by or associated with its referent. 2. a word so formed. 3. Rhetoric. the use of imitative and naturally suggestive words for rhetorical effect. A facial expression only, without sound? Or is it just a state of mind which has a resonance only in the written word?
[FairfieldLife] Judy's Hair Club For Women (was Re: 'Avatar' arouses conservatives' ire)
Fifth or sixth unhinged Barryrant about McDonnell's hair? I've lost count. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_re...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, m 13 meowthirteen@ wrote: I'll have to grow my hair longer if I am to tuck my bed in it. Pass the biotin please! As would Judy. One might suggest that her...uh... somewhat strong opinions about Mary McDonnell's hair are somewhat reflected in her own current choice of hairstyle. Check out the photo she posted to FFL. I've seen more fuzz on a peach. You should see it right after I've had it cut! Presumably this is an acceptable feminist hairstyle. :-) Has nothing to do with feminism or McDonnell. Has to do only with my unwillingness to spend time fussing with my hair. This cut is wash-'n'wear.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, ShempMcGurk shempmcg...@... wrote: snip But to be sure you will get a third and possibly fourth opinion. When both the third and fourth doctors assure you that you don't have cancer, you celebrate and are much relieved. On the other hand, if the first three doctors tell you you've got cancer and only the fourth tells you you don't, you'd be rather foolish to forego treatment.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jst...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, ShempMcGurk shempmcgurk@ wrote: snip But to be sure you will get a third and possibly fourth opinion. When both the third and fourth doctors assure you that you don't have cancer, you celebrate and are much relieved. On the other hand, if the first three doctors tell you you've got cancer and only the fourth tells you you don't, you'd be rather foolish to forego treatment. No, what you would want to do is still consider treatment but continue to pursue the good diagnosis by going to other doctors to see if the fourth one was right and the first three wrong.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Walking on Water as a Siddhi
Ray wrote: There is no logical reason (or logic based reason) to consider the Bible or the gospels or the vedic literature any different from myths and fairytales -- or for that matter from any other form of fiction -- in terms of their credence or accuracy... That's because the origin of many fairy tales originated in Vedic India. Almost all religions today are variants on religious notions imported from the East. From what I've read, the Vedas are the source of the 'Subtle Science' itself! So, apparently the birth of civilization may have been located in ancient India, and through the language of Sanskrit, culture, and beliefs, were dispersed via the migration of language speakers and agriculturists 'out of India', to Mesopotamia, Africa, and Anatolia, and to Europe taking their mythology with them. David Frawley belives this - he thinks that even the alphabet may have even been invented by the ancient Indians. Maybe the Sanskrit language and the Vedas, are the basis of many western myths. There is an obvious linguistic connection. Apparently the Celtic Druids of Europe were the Vedic Brahman mentioned in Rig Veda. Work cited: 'Yoga: The Greater Tradition' By David Frawley Mandala, 2008 Read more: 'The Hero with a Thousand Faces' By Joseph Campbell New World Library, 2008
Re: [FairfieldLife] 3D TV is here
TurquoiseB wrote: I haven't even been able to see Avatar in 3D yet, but at the recent CES show attendees got to see some of their favorite non-3D movies in 3D. On a television screen thinner than a pack of matches. I want one. Samsung rolled out its new 3D televisions. Just 1/3- inches thick, they can display 3D without glasses, and have built-in software that can transform old 2D movies into 3D. High-end models will support 3D glasses for an even more startling effect. http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2010-01/08/samsung-turns-3d-into-a-thing-of-beauty.aspx I'm a big fan of Samsung. All of my current video and audio equipment comes from Samsung. They manage to combine state-of-the-art with inexpensive, some- thing no other manufacturer seems capable of. 3D is a gimmick. Just another way to sell people more gear as well as discs. Avatar had exaggerated 3D. Things don't look like they do the way we see 3D. I think someone said it is more like being on acid than 3D. I suspect that if they made 3D the way we see things the public would not be impressed. My system is mainly PIoneer because they made gear that was oriented towards the film buff. Nine years later my 53 rear projection HDTV still looks good but it does have overscan which means that edges of the image are cut off and more importantly only has no HDMI inputs only component. I hope to replace it this year maybe with a 55 LCD set either Sony or Samsung. The depth of the set doesn't mean much to me so I won't be paying a lot extra for an inch or two shaved off. A good surround sound system is important too. I have a Pioneer AV receiver and a nice set of Klipsch speakers. The surround is comparable to a lot of systems in theaters. The public has been inundated with a bunch of technology for video. First DVD replaced VHS which was a leap in itself. The color space of a DVD is stable being it is MPEG-2 and of course they mostly come in OAR (original aspect ratio). Then came HDTV which the public begrudgingly adopted. The sets were expensive at first. I recall Phillips trying to sell a $10,000 plasma with an ad of young twenty somethings having one on the wall of the apartment they shared. Yeah, right. Now you can buy that same plasma (or better) at a bargain price under $1000. HDTV had a poor adoption rate because the networks and local broadcast was still paranoid about them black bars people. These were the people who hated black bars on their 4:3 TV when they watched DVDs. I think they way over catered to them (and still do). Then production people being the cheapskates they are still were drug kicking and screaming into the HD age. And the TV stations, often by people way too rich for their own good, were bad about getting the HD gear too. Speaking of Samsung I recall having a visit from a rep of that company back about 1995. He was pushing the chipsets they were making for computer video cards. Turned out the guy was the director of 3D on Tron.
RE: [FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp
From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com [mailto:fairfieldl...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of authfriend Sent: Saturday, January 09, 2010 11:28 AM To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com , ShempMcGurk shempmcg...@... wrote: snip But to be sure you will get a third and possibly fourth opinion. When both the third and fourth doctors assure you that you don't have cancer, you celebrate and are much relieved. On the other hand, if the first three doctors tell you you've got cancer and only the fourth tells you you don't, you'd be rather foolish to forego treatment. And in this case, given the percentage of climatologists who support global warming theory, 97 doctors say you have cancer while three say you don't.
[FairfieldLife] Congo Approves Economic Stimulus Package Of AK-47 For Every Citizen
http://www.theonion.com/content/video/congo_approves_economic_stimulus -- If God had wanted man to play soccer, he wouldn't have given us arms.
[FairfieldLife] Judy's Hair Club For Women (was Re: 'Avatar' arouses conservatives' ire)
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_re...@... wrote: snip There is actually a scene in Dances With Wolves in which an Indian woman is helping Stands With A Fist comb her hair. Obviously, that is something she did regularly. Obviously, it didn't work for very long. Obviously, the Sioux women had zero problem with this. Hey, Kevin, you know, it really looks kind of strange for Mary's hair to be so unkempt when all the Indian women wear theirs neatly in braids or tied back, especially when her character is supposedly so loyal to the tribe. Well, I was thinking that her hair reflected how she'd lost the veneer of civilization because she was brought up by Indians. You mean, that she'd become wild and savage just like them? Er...I see what you mean. Hadn't thought of it that way. But we've shot too many scenes now to do them over. Wait, I have an idea. In the scene we're about to shoot where she's preparing for her wedding, we'll just have one of the Indian women helping her comb her hair. That way, if anybody accuses us of racism, we'll point to that scene to show she's making a stab at good grooming, and that the Indians don't hold her hair against her. That ought to work. Whaddya think? Well...for CYA purposes, maybe. Great, glad you agree. Appreciate your bringing this to my attention. Say, Mary...
[FairfieldLife] Re: 'Avatar' arouses conservatives' ire
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jst...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, raunchydog raunchydog@ wrote: snip I see your point that the producers couldn't quite cope mentally with the idea of a white woman becoming one of *them* without lowering herself and becoming uncivilized, and perhaps it implies a form of unconscious racism. I think it's a stretch. I have a hard time looking for racism under every rock. I had my fill of it during Hillary's campaign. Another way to look at it is that before the Sioux adopted Stands With A Fist, as a child she had already identified with a white culture. Although she adapted in many ways to a foreign culture (where else is a girl going to go shopping for clothes?) she retained her sense of being different and it may have been the source of her defiance and thus the hairdo. Possible, but I think *that's* a stretch. She was too young when the tribe took her in to have absorbed much of white culture; and in any case, white culture wasn't any more accepting of poor grooming than Indian culture. Plus which, it wasn't just that she adapted to the Indian culture. She bought into it totally, was terrified that Dunbar was going to make her leave the tribe and go back to her own people. She'd married an Indian, and when Dunbar first encounters her, she's in such deep and desperate mourning after her husband's death that she's in the process of committing suicide. Finally, the defiance that inspired her name was generated by the Indians mistreating her at first because she was white. The fist she stood with was raised against a member of the tribe who had been harassing her. That's what she was defying, the unequal treatment, insisting that they treat her as one of them. And they were so impressed by the way this little white girl stood up for herself that from then on, they did exactly that. Being strong-willed was an Indian trait, as far as they were concerned. So I have a hard time buying that she would deliberately try to preserve her differentness. Stands With A Fist had to claim her right for equal treatment and stand up for herself against a bigot for being different. No matter how little she was when adopted, she knew her skin was a different color and it set apart from the other children. Childhood taunts can be cruel. Is it an innate human trait that children abhor differences in their peers and seek to eliminate, marginalize or demand conformity? Is it the source of bigotry? Is bigotry an infantile aversion to difference? Children adopted by families of a different race often long for a culture identity that goes back to their roots. Even children adopted as infants go to great lengths hunting for birth parents, perhaps hoping somehow finding a missing piece of their life will restore a sense of wholeness. The choices children make attempting to identity with a foreign culture can reflect an internal conflict and manifest as acting out in a variety of socially unacceptable ways, i.e. messy hair. They may rebel or adapt but in either case it isn't with a sense of ease within themselves. They don't quite know who they are. I imagine it's disconcerting to say the least.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, ShempMcGurk shempmcg...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, ShempMcGurk shempmcgurk@ wrote: snip But to be sure you will get a third and possibly fourth opinion. When both the third and fourth doctors assure you that you don't have cancer, you celebrate and are much relieved. On the other hand, if the first three doctors tell you you've got cancer and only the fourth tells you you don't, you'd be rather foolish to forego treatment. No, what you would want to do is still consider treatment but continue to pursue the good diagnosis by going to other doctors to see if the fourth one was right and the first three wrong. At some point, though, the delay in treatment while you're running around making appointments with other doctors (it often takes a while to get an appointment with a specialist) could mean the difference between life and death.
[FairfieldLife] Judy's Hair Club For Women (was Re: 'Avatar' arouses conservatives' ire)
Hairlarious! --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jst...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: snip There is actually a scene in Dances With Wolves in which an Indian woman is helping Stands With A Fist comb her hair. Obviously, that is something she did regularly. Obviously, it didn't work for very long. Obviously, the Sioux women had zero problem with this. Hey, Kevin, you know, it really looks kind of strange for Mary's hair to be so unkempt when all the Indian women wear theirs neatly in braids or tied back, especially when her character is supposedly so loyal to the tribe. Well, I was thinking that her hair reflected how she'd lost the veneer of civilization because she was brought up by Indians. You mean, that she'd become wild and savage just like them? Er...I see what you mean. Hadn't thought of it that way. But we've shot too many scenes now to do them over. Wait, I have an idea. In the scene we're about to shoot where she's preparing for her wedding, we'll just have one of the Indian women helping her comb her hair. That way, if anybody accuses us of racism, we'll point to that scene to show she's making a stab at good grooming, and that the Indians don't hold her hair against her. That ought to work. Whaddya think? Well...for CYA purposes, maybe. Great, glad you agree. Appreciate your bringing this to my attention. Say, Mary...
[FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer r...@... wrote: From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com [mailto:fairfieldl...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of authfriend Sent: Saturday, January 09, 2010 11:28 AM To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com , ShempMcGurk shempmcgurk@ wrote: snip But to be sure you will get a third and possibly fourth opinion. When both the third and fourth doctors assure you that you don't have cancer, you celebrate and are much relieved. On the other hand, if the first three doctors tell you you've got cancer and only the fourth tells you you don't, you'd be rather foolish to forego treatment. And in this case, given the percentage of climatologists who support global warming theory, 97 doctors say you have cancer while three say you don't. Actually, very few climatologists agree that there is catastrophic man-made global warming, Rick. You're just repeating a mantra you read or heard in the media. Indeed, more and more everyday are saying that the science is not settled. Again, I know you're eager for there to be this catastrophy that's going to happen but there's zero evidence it will. So sorry to disappoint you.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jst...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, ShempMcGurk shempmcgurk@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, ShempMcGurk shempmcgurk@ wrote: snip But to be sure you will get a third and possibly fourth opinion. When both the third and fourth doctors assure you that you don't have cancer, you celebrate and are much relieved. On the other hand, if the first three doctors tell you you've got cancer and only the fourth tells you you don't, you'd be rather foolish to forego treatment. No, what you would want to do is still consider treatment but continue to pursue the good diagnosis by going to other doctors to see if the fourth one was right and the first three wrong. At some point, though, the delay in treatment while you're running around making appointments with other doctors (it often takes a while to get an appointment with a specialist) could mean the difference between life and death. ...not when the treatment does irreparable harm to third parties...
[FairfieldLife] Re: 'Avatar' arouses conservatives' ire
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, raunchydog raunchy...@... wrote: snip Children adopted by families of a different race often long for a culture identity that goes back to their roots. Even children adopted as infants go to great lengths hunting for birth parents, perhaps hoping somehow finding a missing piece of their life will restore a sense of wholeness. The choices children make attempting to identity with a foreign culture can reflect an internal conflict and manifest as acting out in a variety of socially unacceptable ways, i.e. messy hair. They may rebel or adapt but in either case it isn't with a sense of ease within themselves. They don't quite know who they are. I imagine it's disconcerting to say the least. But the way the script was written, Stands with a Fist only becomes ill at ease about her identity after Dunbar shows up, and she's forced to remember that she's white when she's assigned to translate for him. She doesn't *want* to recover that part of herself; she'd been at peace with her adopted identity up till that point. It's only because Dunbar hangs around and they fall in love that she has to come to terms with being white.
RE: [FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp
From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com [mailto:fairfieldl...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of ShempMcGurk Sent: Saturday, January 09, 2010 10:47 AM To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com , Rick Archer r...@... wrote: From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com [mailto:FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com ] On Behalf Of ShempMcGurk Sent: Saturday, January 09, 2010 12:06 AM To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com , Rick Archer rick@ wrote: From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com [mailto:FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com ] On Behalf Of ShempMcGurk Sent: Friday, January 08, 2010 6:30 PM To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com Subject: [FairfieldLife] Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp I thought it appropriate that the movie came out in the same month as a study that showed the ocean's ability to absorb CO2 has not diminished: Google ocean's ability to absorb CO2 and all you see are studies saying that it's ability is diminishing: http://tinyurl.com/yawgtug You obviously didn't read the link I supplied. Why are you so eager to see the world destroyed, Rick? That's like saying why are you so eager to see people die because you believe the research that says cigarettes cause cancer, while I believe the research funded by the tobacco companies which says that they don't. It was the tobacco companies that ended up being responsible for millions of deaths. They paid billions in penalties. The executives should have been tried for manslaughter. Bad analogy. The BETTER analogy is the one where you go to the doctor who tells you you have inoperable cancer and have 3 months to live. So, devastated and depressed by the news, you go to a second doctor for another opinion. The second doctor examines you and reports: I have good news. The first doctor made a typical mistake with symptoms of the kind you have. I am happy to report that not only do you not have cancer but that you will live a long and healthy life. Well, upon hearing that from the second doctor, you will, at the very least, be cautiously optimistic and, at most, ecstatic. But to be sure you will get a third and possibly fourth opinion. When both the third and fourth doctors assure you that you don't have cancer, you celebrate and are much relieved. The ONLY rational response to news that Al Gore may be wrong and that maybe all those scientists who, on the basis of those grants they got from government, concluded that there is catastrophic man-made global warming were wrong is: CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM. Rick, global warming study is a new phenomenon about a complicated eco-system that no one really knows much about. Climate is something that no one has EVER been able to predict. It is new territory for everyone. For ANYONE to claim that they have the conclusive proof that this or that is going to happen is irrational. Therefore, when research comes out pointing to the opposite conclusion that Al Gore would have us believe -- that there is going to be an apocalypse in which tens of millions are going to die -- AT THE VERY LEAST the only rational response must be: HEY, I AM NOT YET CONVINCED BUT I WILL BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO BE PROVEN WRONG BECAUSE IF I AM WRONG, BILLIONS OF HUMAN BEINGS WON'T SUFFER UNNECESSARILY. For anyone to respond to news that AGW is not real by expressing anger suggests to me an agenda that has nothing to do with science or a true concern with the environment. It is an irrational response. You don't HAVE to believe that global warming isn't real; but a normal well-adjusted person would WANT that to be the reality. You should be writing: Shemp, you haven't convinced me yet but, gosh, I so much want you to be right and me to be wrong because that will mean that suffering for this planet will be minimized. I still believe global warming is a reality but I will keep an open mind and hope against hope that you are right. Shemp, this is a very reasonable and well-written response and for once, I agree with much of it. Hey, I love winter sports and at the moment I'm waiting for it to warm up from two below to about five above so I can go out cross-country skiing for a couple of hours. Your doctors analogy breaks down because most climatologists agree that global warming is real and a serious problem. 97% according to
RE: [FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp
From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com [mailto:fairfieldl...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of ShempMcGurk Sent: Saturday, January 09, 2010 12:16 PM To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp Actually, very few climatologists agree that there is catastrophic man-made global warming, Rick. In the Shempoverse, that is true. In the real world, as evidenced by the link I posted (http://tinyurl.com/yd5sqm7 is a better one if you'd like multiple references), it isn't.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer r...@... wrote: From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com [mailto:fairfieldl...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of ShempMcGurk Sent: Saturday, January 09, 2010 12:16 PM To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp Actually, very few climatologists agree that there is catastrophic man-made global warming, Rick. In the Shempoverse, that is true. In the real world, as evidenced by the link I posted (http://tinyurl.com/yd5sqm7 is a better one if you'd like multiple references), it isn't. I mean real, non-biassed scientists, of course, Rick. How many of those listed got their research money from government?
[FairfieldLife] Re: US special envoy threatens to freeze aid to Israel
Mitchell: Mideast stagnation endangers US aid We need to not only freeze aid to Israel, but also all of its bank accounts we can gain access to. That would be illegal, obviously, and wouldn't stand up in the International Court. But, if you freeze aid to Israel, then you deny millions of people living in Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank, food and other items essential to human survival. It's a stupid idea. Plus place an embargo on Zionists worldwide sending money to Israel. This is obviously a racist idea, and it would probably be considered against individual human rights, not to mention, against the law in almost every country on the entire planet. Really stupid. End military aid to Israel. There are no U.S. forces in Israel - maybe there should be. But now there are three democratic and free countries in the Middle East - Israel, Iraq and Afghanistan. That's the way to win the war - build up more free nations! Maybe we should be increasing U.S. military aid to Israel. So, I'm not in favor of splitting the city of Jerusalem into two sections, one ruled over by terrorists like the PLO, with a 'strip' of land on the coast ruled by a racist gang called like Hamas, whose goal is to wipe out the Jews. That would end the problems we have with El Quaeda and others finally. The only solution to solving the problem with 'al Quaeda' terrorists is to send in more drones to wipe them out - kill them where they live and breed and the Taliban militants too. Barack Obama seems to agree with this solution. 'The Drone Wars' Wall Street Journal' January 8, 2010 http://tinyurl.com/ylr7kyp
[FairfieldLife] Annals of modern journalism
This sentence, written by a NY Times reporter, appeared yesterday in a news story: To help me understand how the proposed cuts would affect riders, the staff reached deep into Hopstop's big, googly brain and felt around. To see the context: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/nyregion/10citycritic.html
RE: [FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp
From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com [mailto:fairfieldl...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of ShempMcGurk Sent: Saturday, January 09, 2010 12:26 PM To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com , Rick Archer r...@... wrote: From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com [mailto:FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com ] On Behalf Of ShempMcGurk Sent: Saturday, January 09, 2010 12:16 PM To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp Actually, very few climatologists agree that there is catastrophic man-made global warming, Rick. In the Shempoverse, that is true. In the real world, as evidenced by the link I posted (http://tinyurl.com/yd5sqm7 is a better one if you'd like multiple references), it isn't. I mean real, non-biassed scientists, of course, Rick. Translation: fringe scientists who agree with your misguided opinion. How many of those listed got their research money from government? All scientists get their research money from somewhere. Mostly either the government or corporations, I suppose. Are you suggesting that government-funded research is more biased than corporate-funded research? If so, why? Corporations are beholden to their shareholders and are notorious for doctoring research to protect the bottom line. Politicians are also corrupt insofar as they are bought and sold by corporations, which in our country they are to a disgusting degree. Hence, many politicians sing the same song you're singing. What do they care? By the time Florida is under water, they'll be long gone.
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp
On Jan 9, 2010, at 12:41 PM, Rick Archer wrote: All scientists get their research money from somewhere. Mostly either the government or corporations, I suppose. Are you suggesting that government-funded research is more biased than corporate-funded research? If so, why? Corporations are beholden to their shareholders and are notorious for doctoring research to protect the bottom line. Politicians are also corrupt insofar as they are bought and sold by corporations, which in our country they are to a disgusting degree. Hence, many politicians sing the same song you're singing. What do they care? By the time Florida is under water, they'll be long gone. I think the real reason Shemp likes the idea of AGW is because he's looking forward to owning some ocean-front property--in Arizona. Sal
[FairfieldLife] Re: Judy's Hair Club For Women
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, WillyTex willy...@... wrote: I may even wear sticks, feathers, flowers, or anything that gives me delight in my hair. You may wear your hair anyway you like... Judy wrote: Meow, dear, looks like you've been misled by what Barry said about my posts. They didn't say the state of the hair was relevant to anything at all--*except* in the context of one particular movie, made 20 years ago and set in the 1860s, in which the choice of hairstyle for the lead actress exemplified in a racist attitude, one of the most pernicious of all exclusionary tendencies, in the hearts of the filmmakers. By me, you're more than welcome to wear sticks and feathers in your hair. Heck, you can even wear your *bed* in your hair for all I care. ;-) This thread is a genuine 'howler', fer sure! Maybe it should go into the 'FFL Hall of Flame'. LOL! In a previous post, Barry made comments about Judy having a tiny 'web cam' attached to her computer, and he and Manning posted a fake image purporting it to be an image Judy took of herself with her own web cam. But, neither of them responded with a web cam image of their own hair. LOL!!! If you are looking for pictures of guys Willy I think you have come to the wrong place . Maybe if you contact the gentlemen above privately they could send you some hair photos. Or even better some actual samples for your collection ?
[FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Sal Sunshine salsunsh...@... wrote: On Jan 9, 2010, at 12:41 PM, Rick Archer wrote: All scientists get their research money from somewhere. Mostly either the government or corporations, I suppose. Are you suggesting that government-funded research is more biased than corporate-funded research? If so, why? Corporations are beholden to their shareholders and are notorious for doctoring research to protect the bottom line. Politicians are also corrupt insofar as they are bought and sold by corporations, which in our country they are to a disgusting degree. Hence, many politicians sing the same song you're singing. What do they care? By the time Florida is under water, they'll be long gone. I think the real reason Shemp likes the idea of AGW is because he's looking forward to owning some ocean-front property--in Arizona. Sal Ah! Sal secretly listens to country music! I just saw an interview with the wonderful Norah Jones about her early influences. As you know, her music is as far from country as you can get. I was surprised to learn from her interview that almost all her early influences were country music, which she adores.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer r...@... wrote: From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com [mailto:fairfieldl...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of ShempMcGurk Sent: Saturday, January 09, 2010 12:26 PM To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com , Rick Archer rick@ wrote: From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com [mailto:FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com ] On Behalf Of ShempMcGurk Sent: Saturday, January 09, 2010 12:16 PM To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp Actually, very few climatologists agree that there is catastrophic man-made global warming, Rick. In the Shempoverse, that is true. In the real world, as evidenced by the link I posted (http://tinyurl.com/yd5sqm7 is a better one if you'd like multiple references), it isn't. I mean real, non-biassed scientists, of course, Rick. Translation: fringe scientists who agree with your misguided opinion. How many of those listed got their research money from government? All scientists get their research money from somewhere. Exactly. And that's why he who pays the piper calls the tune applies to all. Mostly either the government or corporations, I suppose. Are you suggesting that government-funded research is more biased than corporate-funded research? No more, no less. If so, why? Corporations are beholden to their shareholders and are notorious for doctoring research to protect the bottom line. Politicians are also corrupt insofar as they are bought and sold by corporations, which in our country they are to a disgusting degree. Hence, many politicians sing the same song you're singing. What do they care? By the time Florida is under water, they'll be long gone.
[FairfieldLife] No negro dialect: do Blacks have an advantage in basketball?
Is what Harry Reid said wrong (see below)? If so, why? And why should he apologise? Certainly, some groups have different dialects and accents within the bosum that is America. And there are other distinguishing characteristics amongst groups. We can certainly declare certain groups as being better at certain things than other groups, where certain racial groups are dominant over other groups. One group may have an advantage at making money; another dominant at golf; another where it is not a disadvantage to be in organised crime. Basketball is a place where being Black is not a disadvantage, here is a sport in which Blacks are dominant. --- Reid apologizes for 'no Negro dialect' comment WASHINGTON The top Democrat in the U.S. Senate apologized on Saturday for comments he made about Barack Obama's race during the 2008 presidential bid. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada described then-Sen. Barack Obama as light skinned and with no Negro dialect. Obama is the nation's first African-American president. I deeply regret using such a poor choice of words. I sincerely apologize for offending any and all Americans, especially African-Americans for my improper comments, Reid said in a statement released after the excerpts were reported on the Web site of The Atlantic. I was a proud and enthusiastic supporter of Barack Obama during the campaign and have worked as hard as I can to advance President Obama's legislative agenda. Reid remained neutral during the bitter Democratic primary that became a marathon contest between Obama and then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, whom Obama tapped as the United States' top diplomat after the election. Reid's comments are included in a book set to be published on Monday. Game Change was written by Time Magazine's Mark Halperin and New York magazine's John Heilemann; the pair describe the book in interviews during Sunday's 60 Minutes on CBS. Reid, facing a tough 2010 re-election bid, needs the White House's help if he wants to keep his seat. Obama's administration has dispatched officials on dozens of trip to buoy his bid and Obama has raised money for his campaign. Recognizing the threat, Reid's apologies also played to his home state: Moreover, throughout my career, from efforts to integrate the Las Vegas strip and the gaming industry to opposing radical judges and promoting diversity in the Senate, I have worked hard to advance issues. Even before his ill-considered remarks, a new survey released Saturday by the Las Vegas Review Journal showed him continuing to earn poor polling numbers. In the poll, by Mason-Dixon Polling Research, Reid trailed former state Republican party chairwoman Sue Lowden by a 10 percentage points, 50 percent to 40 percent, and also lagging behind two other opponents. More than half of Nevadans had an unfavorable opinion of Reid. Just 33 percent of respondents held a favorable opinion.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Annals of modern journalism
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jst...@... wrote: This sentence, written by a NY Times reporter, appeared yesterday in a news story: To help me understand how the proposed cuts would affect riders, the staff reached deep into Hopstop's big, googly brain and felt around. To see the context: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/nyregion/10citycritic.html Colorful sentence. Love it. But for people without computers, usually the elderly and poor, it is not just an inconvenience but another assault on their access to information. The war on free access to information continues unabated as we continue to sacrifice free public airwaves for radio, antenna TV, local programming and eventually the internet to paid services such as very expensive satellite TV. For quite awhile Amy Goodman has been talking about the growing disparity between free access and privileged access to privatized information. This summer my household ditched Dish Net TV and Iowatelecom for phone and computer connections and we ran Lisco's fiberoptic cable directly into our house for all three services. When you add it all up with the premium package that includes HBO, SHOWTIME and others we're paying an arm and a leg. Plus, ya gotta have a cell phone, doncha? The days of 3 or 4 free TV channels and a ten cent newspaper are long gone. I'm fortunate to be able to afford high tech access to information. But for those less fortunate, and for those who lose their job and can no longer afford to pay for information, I worry about the cost of a poorly informed public. Lord knows we are already poorly informed quite enough. FDR Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education. Amy Goodman: I think there is a greater diversity of voices, but people have to fight very hard to protect the national airways. They are a public treasure, and this land is your land, this land is our land. The public airwaves are a national treasure. They're not anyone's private property and that's where the debates have to happen. Also, network neutrality - the issue of the Internet remaining open and free, not allowing the cable companies, the phone companies, to write the legislation that would privatize the Internet. This kind of - it's a back-and-forth battle. More and more people need to learn about how to protect the airwaves, how to break the sound barrier. http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/200912/20091202_goodman.html
[FairfieldLife] Re: Annals of modern journalism
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jst...@... wrote: This sentence, written by a NY Times reporter, appeared yesterday in a news story: To help me understand how the proposed cuts would affect riders, the staff reached deep into Hopstop's big, googly brain and felt around. To see the context: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/nyregion/10citycritic.html A cheerful idiot who works well under supervision. She looks happy in the photo though : www.newyorksocialdiary.com/i/partypictures/11_03_08/toddmerrill22.jpg
[FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, ShempMcGurk shempmcg...@... wrote: Wonderful, wonderful movie. I thought it appropriate that the movie came out in the same month as a study that showed the ocean's ability to absorb CO2 has not diminished: http://theresilientearth.com/?q=content/ocean-absorption-co2-not-shrinking Avatar is the story of Gaia, the idea that the Earth is a living organism and, as such, can adjust itself and its equalibrium as the make-up of various elements in its atmosphere change. More CO2? Why, the ecosystem adjusts itself accordingly. Adaptation. Just like the skin on your arm adjusts when it is cut: it heals itself. The Na'Vi represent Gaia. The military represents the catastrophic man-made global warming movement, particularly in the person of Col. Miles Quaritch, who is pro-fear and anti-science. Quaritch personifies Al Gore, the most evil man in America today. Jake Sully represents reason as well as man acknowledging the power and balancing ability of nature. The best parallel to today's situation would be that Sully represents someone like Senator Inhofe. So when Al Gore (the military) tries to upset the natural order of things, it took a brave soul like Sully (Sen. Inhofe) to fight the fear and irrationality of Al Gore and the global warming movement. Good ultimately triumphs over evil. Actually in this case Shemp, liberalism has usurped the role of GOD in determining outcomes (not just in environmental issues). In a free market economy MERIT is the overriding factor with a safety net for the disadvantaged (which both parties have)! As ye sow, so shall you reap! is based on MERIT. The idea that if you don't accept standardized health care for everyone you're calloused or selfish is a red herring argument, the Republicans just feel there is a BETTER way to reform health care, that's all, and one that doesn't compromise on quality, which what the Democrats are offering, certainly will
[FairfieldLife] Re: Judy's Hair Club For Women
But, neither of them responded with a web cam image of their own hair. LOL!!! jeff wrote: If you are looking for pictures of guys Willy I think you have come to the wrong place. LoL! There are lots of pictures of guys in the FairfieldLife Photo Archives, but none of Barry, even when he had hair. Don't be shy, Jeff! Maybe if you contact the gentlemen above privately they could send you some hair photos. Yes, but it would be difficult to post a photo of your hair, if you didn't have any. I guess you could wear a wig. Or even better some actual samples for your collection? Or, for your own collection. I already told you Jeff, that I'm not gay, so forget it. LoL!!!
[FairfieldLife] For Some 3D Movies a Headache
Movie buffs and sports fans looking to 3D televisions for the ultimate home theater experience may want to get their eyes checked first -- or risk a 3D headache, U.S. eye experts said on Saturday. Article here: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6080XO20100109 Sometimes I get headaches with 3D movies but more so with the anaglyph ones (the red and green glasses) that come on DVDs or Blu-Ray. I often don't rent the 3D version. And as I suspected the parallax is sometimes exaggerated in today's 3D movies. First 3D movie? 1895 by the Lumiere Brothers. http://www.thebrainfactory.com/learn-about-3d.html
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp
BillyG wrote: The idea that if you don't accept standardized health care for everyone you're calloused or selfish is a red herring argument, the Republicans just feel there is a BETTER way to reform health care, that's all, and one that doesn't compromise on quality, which what the Democrats are offering, certainly will Yeah, health care for profit has been a real success in the US, hasn't it? The country ranks 37 in health care. The term quality when speaking about health care for profit might be a little questionable. It's more what they can scam you for when you really don't need it. If other countries can provide health care to someone for $350-600 a year why can't the US? That's lees than some people spend a month for their health care insurance extortion payments.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Annals of modern journalism
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, jeff.evans60 jeff.evan...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: This sentence, written by a NY Times reporter, appeared yesterday in a news story: To help me understand how the proposed cuts would affect riders, the staff reached deep into Hopstop's big, googly brain and felt around. To see the context: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/nyregion/10citycritic.html A cheerful idiot who works well under supervision. She looks happy in the photo though : www.newyorksocialdiary.com/i/partypictures/11_03_08/toddmerrill22.jpg I don't get why you're slamming Ariel Kaminer. Explain.
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp
ShempMcGurk wrote: Ah! Sal secretly listens to country music! I just saw an interview with the wonderful Norah Jones about her early influences. As you know, her music is as far from country as you can get. I was surprised to learn from her interview that almost all her early influences were country music, which she adores. She did a couple of tunes at the Gram Parson's concert a couple years ago which you can rent on DVD. Parsons did a lot to get country music out of the rut of hillbilly music. He also had a background in jazz. Country music became big during the ASCAP strike when recording companies signed country artists to get around the strike.
[FairfieldLife] Re: 'Avatar' arouses conservatives' ire
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jst...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, raunchydog raunchydog@ wrote: snip Children adopted by families of a different race often long for a culture identity that goes back to their roots. Even children adopted as infants go to great lengths hunting for birth parents, perhaps hoping somehow finding a missing piece of their life will restore a sense of wholeness. The choices children make attempting to identity with a foreign culture can reflect an internal conflict and manifest as acting out in a variety of socially unacceptable ways, i.e. messy hair. They may rebel or adapt but in either case it isn't with a sense of ease within themselves. They don't quite know who they are. I imagine it's disconcerting to say the least. But the way the script was written, Stands with a Fist only becomes ill at ease about her identity after Dunbar shows up, Maybe she was at peace with her Sioux identity before Dunbar, maybe not. Taken at face value, the script clearly portrays her attempted suicide as a result of being distraught over the death of her husband. Reading between the lines, however, I could argue that how an individual chooses to cope with loss has everything to do with his or her life experience and emotional reserves for self-preservation. Stands With A Fist's suicide attempt leaves open the possibility she was emotionally unstable due to her lack of feeling whole and connected to others. Maybe that's a stretch, but since the movie worked hard for authenticity, I'd bet an emotionally stable Sioux woman wouldn't attempt suicide over the death of a husband. Or perhaps it's party time, just say'n. and she's forced to remember that she's white when she's assigned to translate for him. She doesn't *want* to recover that part of herself; she'd been at peace with her adopted identity up till that point. It's only because Dunbar hangs around and they fall in love that she has to come to terms with being white.
[FairfieldLife] http://www.maharishichannel.in/archives/gfc-2010.html
Global Family Chats http://streaming.mou.org/MOU/Chat/08_Jan_10.wmv January 9th http://streaming.mou.org/MOU/Chat/09_Jan_10.wmv Dr Eckart Stein reported on three developments in Germany, all reflecting the current demand of the time, which is for the authorities to recognize and implement TM as a means to create higher consciousness, particularly in education. In the first development, a long-time Governor, Gottfried Vollmer, who is also an actor, reported on a documentary film called 'R'Evolution 2012, which has just been released. The film features an international cast of scientists and will be released internationally. It addresses the possible effects of increased sunspot activity predicted by NASA for 2012, that may include influencing the geomagnetic field of the earth and the human brain. In his role as meditation expert Mr Vollmer was able to bring out the effects of TM for higher states of consciousness, and the group effect, citing the research studies from the Washington DC demonstration. The main conclusion of the panel of experts is that there is only one thing one can do to prepare for any such eventuality: Meditate. Dr Stein reported on the second development: a 12-city Stress-Free Schools lecture tour. The concept of handling stress through the consciousness of the teachers and students was well received by many teachers. Dr Stein found a way to access teachers from inside the system, which is easy to organize and fun, through the office of the mayor. Thirdly, Prof. Andreas Koepnick described how he has started a meditation club amongst his students. Their interest is in enhancing their creativity, and they understand the concept of transcending immediately. Prof. Koepnick is now trying to make TM instruction available for the students as part of the curriculum. January 8th http://streaming.mou.org/MOU/Chat/08_Jan_10.wmv Raja Peter introduced the celebration of Maharishi's first visit to London 50 years ago, held on the 13th December 2009. Dr Bevan Morris and Dr Vernon Katz both spoke beautifully and profoundly about the significance of that event for the UK, for Europe, and for the world.
[FairfieldLife] Re: John Stewart his team discuss Tiger Woods' religion
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com , seekliberation seekliberat...@... wrote: As far as TM and moral reasoning goes, I am fully aware that a few of the heavy hitters within the TMO have slept with other peoples wives, or at least attempted to. Very few per capita though. However, Fairfield had the highest divorce rate in Iowa in the 1990's, but as a friend pointed out, I wonder what the domestic violence rate was outside of Fairfield. -- OffWorld you're correct, any moral failures among meditators is usually limited to very mild issues. Most failures i've seen are usually lack of responsibility or integrity, which is usually not a catastrophic problem, IMO. The worst moral failures i've seen or heard of is dishonesty in business to the point of it being theft, or perhaps some sex scandals here and there. But domestic violence, I assume is very rare, or violence in general. But I also think part of the reason for less moral problems among meditators is also partially due to the 'type' of person who would be interested in meditation in the first place. Most people interested in any form of yoga, meditation, or anything spiritual are likely to already be well beyond any harmful tendencies. Although TM may have something to do with it, so does the individual mindset of the individual. Yes, no-one has done a study on it. But there are studies on reduced violence published in peer-reviewed journals. This could be true of any practice of course, but we'll never know until it is studied for 10 or 20 years. seekliberation p.s. I've noticed that you, and perhaps one other person on this forum are able to alter the font and style of your text on this forum. Could you explain how to do that? I haven't been able to find any tabs that give that option. I tried copying and pasting from Microsoft word, but it always goes back to the default text style on here. I am using Internet Explorer and I go to the FFL website to post... http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/messages/238378?viscount=-30\ l=1 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/messages/238378?viscount=-3\ 0l=1 I don't post from the e-mail, just from the site. You need to sign in to be able to post. If you hit reply you should see a little button near the top called Rich Text Editor. Click on this and you can see the options for bold, font style, and font color etc. Let me know if you cannot find it. I'm not sure if it works with Safari or Firefox. OffWorld
[FairfieldLife] Re: 'Avatar' arouses conservatives' ire
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, raunchydog raunchy...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, raunchydog raunchydog@ wrote: snip Children adopted by families of a different race often long for a culture identity that goes back to their roots. Even children adopted as infants go to great lengths hunting for birth parents, perhaps hoping somehow finding a missing piece of their life will restore a sense of wholeness. The choices children make attempting to identity with a foreign culture can reflect an internal conflict and manifest as acting out in a variety of socially unacceptable ways, i.e. messy hair. They may rebel or adapt but in either case it isn't with a sense of ease within themselves. They don't quite know who they are. I imagine it's disconcerting to say the least. But the way the script was written, Stands with a Fist only becomes ill at ease about her identity after Dunbar shows up, Maybe she was at peace with her Sioux identity before Dunbar, maybe not. Taken at face value, the script clearly portrays her attempted suicide as a result of being distraught over the death of her husband. Reading between the lines, however, I could argue that how an individual chooses to cope with loss has everything to do with his or her life experience and emotional reserves for self-preservation. Stands With A Fist's suicide attempt leaves open the possibility she was emotionally unstable due to her lack of feeling whole and connected to others. Maybe that's a stretch, but since the movie worked hard for authenticity, I'd bet an emotionally stable Sioux woman wouldn't attempt suicide over the death of a husband. Or perhaps it's party time, just say'n. OK, I just think you've got to read a whole lot in to get there. I understood the suicide attempt to be an expression of her deeply passionate nature rather than instability per se, at least the way the script presented it. With regard to the racism angle, the point is how the audience perceives her. I kinda doubt most folks who saw the film went through the mental process you just did to conclude that she was emotionally unstable because of identity problems and that was why she didn't keep her hair neat. I think it's much more likely they simply accepted without thinking about it that a white woman brought up by Indians wouldn't care about grooming. That must have been what I did, since I didn't see anything strange about her hair until my sister mentioned it. Stuff like this that sneaks in under the radar is the most dangerous, because it perpetuates itself without conscious thought. So that's what really bothered me about it. and she's forced to remember that she's white when she's assigned to translate for him. She doesn't *want* to recover that part of herself; she'd been at peace with her adopted identity up till that point. It's only because Dunbar hangs around and they fall in love that she has to come to terms with being white.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu noozg...@... wrote: BillyG wrote: The idea that if you don't accept standardized health care for everyone you're calloused or selfish is a red herring argument, the Republicans just feel there is a BETTER way to reform health care, that's all, and one that doesn't compromise on quality, which what the Democrats are offering, certainly will Yeah, health care for profit has been a real success in the US, hasn't it? The country ranks 37 in health care. The term quality when speaking about health care for profit might be a little questionable. It's more what they can scam you for when you really don't need it. No, nor did I say that, did I? Health care needs reforms, but why compromise on quality, for quantity? Republicans have reforms that can tackle both cost and retain quality, at any rate, no system is going to be perfect, nor is any form of government. If other countries can provide health care to someone for $350-600 a year why can't the US? That's lees than some people spend a month for their health care insurance extortion payments. Maybe if big government would get out of the way private business could be more innovative, such as has been suggested on this forum. Let me tell you, when you have a serious medical problem you want private insurance, why? quality! It may mean your life.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp
BillyG wrote: ...a BETTER way to reform health care, that's all, and one that doesn't compromise on quality, which what the Democrats are offering, certainly will. Bhairitu wrote: Yeah, health care for profit has been a real success in the US, hasn't it? We have the shortest waiting time for non-emergency surgery in the world; England has one of the longest. In Canada, a country of 35 million citizens, 1 million patients now wait for surgery and another million wait to see specialists Read more: 'Where U.S. Health Care Ranks Number One' By Mark B. Consantian Wall Street Journal, January 7, 2010 http://tinyurl.com/yd6u659
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp
BillyG wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu noozg...@... wrote: BillyG wrote: The idea that if you don't accept standardized health care for everyone you're calloused or selfish is a red herring argument, the Republicans just feel there is a BETTER way to reform health care, that's all, and one that doesn't compromise on quality, which what the Democrats are offering, certainly will Yeah, health care for profit has been a real success in the US, hasn't it? The country ranks 37 in health care. The term quality when speaking about health care for profit might be a little questionable. It's more what they can scam you for when you really don't need it. No, nor did I say that, did I? Health care needs reforms, but why compromise on quality, for quantity? Republicans have reforms that can tackle both cost and retain quality, at any rate, no system is going to be perfect, nor is any form of government. Republicans have really shown us that they can do things right alright like destroy the economy over the last 30 years. How do you define quality anyway? Fancy expensive equipment? Or maybe doctors who are sons and daughters of doctors who just want the lifestyle (like playing a lot of golf)? Maybe it should not be a pedigreed field. If other countries can do it so can the US. But it is too hung up on greed to happen. If other countries can provide health care to someone for $350-600 a year why can't the US? That's lees than some people spend a month for their health care insurance extortion payments. Maybe if big government would get out of the way private business could be more innovative, such as has been suggested on this forum. Let me tell you, when you have a serious medical problem you want private insurance, why? quality! It may mean your life. Private business won't innovate. They'll just see how much they can pick pockets. You must have been born yesterday. Preventing serious medical problems in the first place might be a better solution.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Avatar, as seen through the eyes of Shemp
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, WillyTex willy...@... wrote: BillyG wrote: ...a BETTER way to reform health care, that's all, and one that doesn't compromise on quality, which what the Democrats are offering, certainly will. Bhairitu wrote: Yeah, health care for profit has been a real success in the US, hasn't it? We have the shortest waiting time for non-emergency surgery in the world; England has one of the longest. In Canada, a country of 35 million citizens, 1 million patients now wait for surgery and another million wait to see specialists Read more: 'Where U.S. Health Care Ranks Number One' By Mark B. Consantian Wall Street Journal, January 7, 2010 http://tinyurl.com/yd6u659 I think he's got his mind made up!
[FairfieldLife] Ashes and Snow - Feather to Fire
Beautiful, haunting, powerful . . . Gregory Colbert has used both still and movie cameras to explore extraordinary interactions between humans and animals. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSX444hQ5Vo [follow links to other clips]
[FairfieldLife] Re: How is guffaw pronounced...or is it?
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, ShempMcGurk shempmcg...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: [snip] guffaw http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/audio.pl?guffaw01=guffaw
[FairfieldLife] Re: 'Avatar' arouses conservatives' ire
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jst...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, raunchydog raunchydog@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, raunchydog raunchydog@ wrote: snip Children adopted by families of a different race often long for a culture identity that goes back to their roots. Even children adopted as infants go to great lengths hunting for birth parents, perhaps hoping somehow finding a missing piece of their life will restore a sense of wholeness. The choices children make attempting to identity with a foreign culture can reflect an internal conflict and manifest as acting out in a variety of socially unacceptable ways, i.e. messy hair. They may rebel or adapt but in either case it isn't with a sense of ease within themselves. They don't quite know who they are. I imagine it's disconcerting to say the least. But the way the script was written, Stands with a Fist only becomes ill at ease about her identity after Dunbar shows up, Maybe she was at peace with her Sioux identity before Dunbar, maybe not. Taken at face value, the script clearly portrays her attempted suicide as a result of being distraught over the death of her husband. Reading between the lines, however, I could argue that how an individual chooses to cope with loss has everything to do with his or her life experience and emotional reserves for self-preservation. Stands With A Fist's suicide attempt leaves open the possibility she was emotionally unstable due to her lack of feeling whole and connected to others. Maybe that's a stretch, but since the movie worked hard for authenticity, I'd bet an emotionally stable Sioux woman wouldn't attempt suicide over the death of a husband. Or perhaps it's party time, just say'n. OK, I just think you've got to read a whole lot in to get there. I understood the suicide attempt to be an expression of her deeply passionate nature rather than instability per se, at least the way the script presented it. With regard to the racism angle, the point is how the audience perceives her. I kinda doubt most folks who saw the film went through the mental process you just did to conclude that she was emotionally unstable because of identity problems and that was why she didn't keep her hair neat. Good one, Judy. You make having an intentional bad hair day due to emotional instability sound pretty damn funny. I'm having an identity crisis, so I'm wearing my hair in a rats nest and fuck you, if you don't like it. Hair is perhaps one of the most versatile statements of rebellion imaginable. It's direct and you can't miss it as a message of non-conformity. When are you going to cut your damn hair, you damn hippie? was a standard rejoinder to anti-establishment youths of the '60's. An who can forget the fabulous song, Hair? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dyl0j3WU6Yfeature=related I think it's much more likely they simply accepted without thinking about it that a white woman brought up by Indians wouldn't care about grooming. I didn't think that at all. I just thought she was beautiful, rats nest and all. That must have been what I did, since I didn't see anything strange about her hair until my sister mentioned it. Stuff like this that sneaks in under the radar is the most dangerous, because it perpetuates itself without conscious thought. So that's what really bothered me about it. You have a good point. Most folks react to a movie emotionally without thinking about the subtext very deeply and it can influence their attitudes toward minorities. However, you'd have to look pretty far under the radar for me to feel subtly influenced to by a supposedly unconscious racist message from Dancing with Wolves. The fact that some folks have a predisposition to believe racist messaging without question, is reason enough to be alert to portraying different cultures in media respectfully. and she's forced to remember that she's white when she's assigned to translate for him. She doesn't *want* to recover that part of herself; she'd been at peace with her adopted identity up till that point. It's only because Dunbar hangs around and they fall in love that she has to come to terms with being white.
[FairfieldLife] Post Count
Fairfield Life Post Counter === Start Date (UTC): Sat Jan 09 00:00:00 2010 End Date (UTC): Sat Jan 16 00:00:00 2010 97 messages as of (UTC) Sun Jan 10 00:13:55 2010 16 authfriend jst...@panix.com 16 ShempMcGurk shempmcg...@netscape.net 11 WillyTex willy...@yahoo.com 7 raunchydog raunchy...@yahoo.com 6 TurquoiseB no_re...@yahoogroups.com 6 Rick Archer r...@searchsummit.com 5 Bhairitu noozg...@sbcglobal.net 5 do.rflex do.rf...@yahoo.com 3 dhamiltony2k5 dhamiltony...@yahoo.com 3 It's just a ride bill.hicks.all.a.r...@gmail.com 3 BillyG wg...@yahoo.com 3 jeff.evans60 jeff.evan...@yahoo.com 2 Sal Sunshine salsunsh...@lisco.com 2 Alex Stanley j_alexander_stan...@yahoo.com 1 suziezuzie msilver1...@yahoo.com 1 seekliberation seekliberat...@yahoo.com 1 off_world_beings no_re...@yahoogroups.com 1 nablusoss1008 no_re...@yahoogroups.com 1 m 13 meowthirt...@yahoo.com 1 cardemaister no_re...@yahoogroups.com 1 Zoran Krneta krneta.zo...@gmail.com 1 RayS rayshepar...@yahoo.com 1 PaliGap compost...@yahoo.co.uk Posters: 23 Saturday Morning 00:00 UTC Rollover Times = Daylight Saving Time (Summer): US Friday evening: PDT 5 PM - MDT 6 PM - CDT 7 PM - EDT 8 PM Europe Saturday: BST 1 AM CEST 2 AM EEST 3 AM Standard Time (Winter): US Friday evening: PST 4 PM - MST 5 PM - CST 6 PM - EST 7 PM Europe Saturday: GMT 12 AM CET 1 AM EET 2 AM For more information on Time Zones: www.worldtimezone.com
[FairfieldLife] Re: FFL HTML
Drupal on a different host? Any body got experience with Drupal? Thanks for the pointers. Starting over, I'm going to get new web hosting but also learn a real program like Frontpage. Drupal seems like up coming open source program for web paging. http://drupal.org/ Anyone experienced with drupal for web content? For the non-professional? At the same time I hate to abandon my old pages. They still work great for me even though static. I could not have written a book on fugitive slave era in Iowa and sold as many copies as the hits i get on the page still. It has its own life as a reference page on the subject now without much of any promotion. I get hits everyday and often get 25 or so at a time which seems to mean a class somewhere at some level is being assigned one of the links to study. That is what i had hoped for. Same thing with some of the horse training essays. My three index pages have worked pretty well for a decade or so. Now I'm thinking about the future of that material. Thanks, -D Seek, FFL is set up as a Yahoo group such that it enables HTML pass-through. (Many Yahoo groups are not.) This means that if you are working in an editor that allows you to edit the characteristics of the post and send it *as* HTML, Yahoo will pass that HTML through and display it. Some who post from an email reader like Outlook or Thunder- bird can do this because their editor allows them to edit the HTML of their emails. I post using the Yahoo Web viewer at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ When you reply to a post using that Web editor, the default is text only. However, if you reply and then click the Rich Text Editor link in the upper right, you get a limited HTML editor that allows you to change fonts and font sizes, apply colors or highlighting such as bold or italic or underlining, and even paste in photos *as long as they're on a Web page* somewhere, such as this one: [http://i.imgur.com/8Wb1I.jpg] You can't upload your own photos from your hard drive, except to the FFL photo area. Once there or on some other photo site, you can copy the photo from that site and paste it into your posts. Hope this helps... Totally Cool Why can't yahoo small business get their Small Business pagebuilder editor to work this good? I got webpages i can't edit no more over there on Yahoo web page hosting using their page tool (pagebuilder). I feel like I've been held hostage by Yahoo for all the work put in to where it is with this. http://www.icelandichorse.info/salemfugitiveslaves.html http://www.icelandichorse.info/salemfugitiveslaves.html http://www.icelandichorse.info/essays.html http://www.icelandichorse.info/essays.html http://icelandichorse.info/ http://icelandichorse.info/ Anybody use Drupal that could recommend it for home use by non-professional webpaging? Similarly, I got another page with a different host too that is a pain to manage too that i would like to edit and re-make. http://www.icelandichorsesmidwest.com/ http://www.icelandichorsesmidwest.com/ Drupal on a different host? Any body got experience with Drupal?
[FairfieldLife] Embedding in Fairfield, The Hermitage
* Most of you know about our furnished Ecovillage Bunkhouse short term rental. We have now added The Hermitage, also a fully furnished short term guesthouse --ON CAMPUS. Address: W. Golden Lane, just west of Utopia Park, short walk from the Golden Market. It is gorgeous and, so far, guests are giving only glowing reports. See you soon! In loveliness, Stacey 919-8155
[FairfieldLife] Re: How is guffaw pronounced...or is it?
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Alex Stanley j_alexander_stan...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, ShempMcGurk shempmcgurk@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: [snip] guffaw http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/audio.pl?guffaw01=guffaw Okay, that's how the WORD guffaw is pronounced but I don't think that's how a guffaw is manifested. It's like the word snicker: I know how to spell and pronounce snicker but I don't think the sound of my pronouncing snicker is now a snicker actually sounds (or looks)!
[FairfieldLife] Avatar is #2 in real dollars but #78 adjusted for inflation
Avatar may be #2 (behind #1 Titanic) in worldwide alltime gross but is only #78 when those grosses are adjusted for inflation. Indeed, under adjusted for inflation totals, Avatar just squeeked by Swiss Family Robinson, Mrs. Doubtfire, and House of Wax in the last few days but is still behind Smokey and the Bandit (#63), Blazing Saddles (#47), and Thunderball (#26). Holding the all time #1 spot is, of course, Gone with the Wind. http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm
[FairfieldLife] Re: 1957
1976 Maharishi's Year of Government Maharishi introduced the TM-Sidhi program and starts to train Governors of the Age of Enlightenment to function from the Unified Field of all the Laws of Nature to purify world consciousness. 1975 Maharishi's Year of the Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment With the discovery of the Maharishi Effect the profound nature of Maharishi's Creative Intelligence is further validated. The Maharishi Effect demonstrates that the collective life of a society or nation can be fully developed and enriched through a small proportion of the population practicing Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation. 1975 (continued) The 'Maharishi Effect' establishes a new formula for the creation of an ideal society, free from crime and problems. With this, Maharishi envisions the dawn of a new age for humankind- the Age of Enlightenment. On January 12, Maharishi inaugurates the Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment for the whole world in Switzerland, and travels to all six continents inaugurating the Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment for each continent. The Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment brings the first wave of fulfillment of Maharishi's World Plan. Maharishi establishes Maharishi European Research University to monitor the rise of the Age of Enlightenment in all parts of the world, and to investigate the full range of possibilities inherent in human consciousness. 1974 Maharishi's Year of Achievement of the World Plan The Discovery of the Maharishi Effect: one percent of the population practicing the Transcendental Meditation program in any city reduces negative tendencies, such as crime, accident, and sickness rates, and increases positive tendencies throughout society. 1973 Maharishi's Year of Action for the World Plan More than 2,000 World Plan Centers are established in all parts of the world, offering courses in the Science of Creative Intelligence. 1972 Maharishi's Year of the World Plan. Maharishi inaugurates the World Plan to solve the age-old problems of mankind in this generation, with 2,000 newly trained teachers of the Science of Creative Intelligence. 1971 Maharishi's Year of Science of Creative Intelligence Maharishi formulates the Science of Creative Intelligence as the scientific theory for the development of higher states of consciousness, which naturally develop through the practice of Transcendental Meditation. Maharishi establishes Maharishi Interantional University in the U.S.A. to serve as a model of ideal education in the world. 1970 Maharishi's Year of Scientific Research First scientific research on Transcendental Meditation, identifying the physiological correlates of higher states of consciousness. With this research Transcendental Meditation gains worldwide publicity and inspires scientists throughout the world to research into the wide range of benefits resulting from Transcendental Meditation. 1969 Maharishi's Year of Supreme Consciousness Maharishi comments extensively on the Brahma Sutras, the texbook of Vedant, the aspect of Vedic literature which provides complete knowledge of Unity Consciousness, the pinnacle of human evolution. 1968 Maharishi's Year of Students Students International Meditation Society is founded in many countries. 1967 Maharishi's Year of Unity Consciousness Maharishi explains experiences of Transcendental Meditation in terms of Unity Consciousness. Maharishi inaugurates the first European Meditation Academy in Bremen, Germany 1966 Maharishi's Year of Academy of Meditation In the year of the great Kumbha Mela in Allahabad, India, Maharishi inaugurates the first International Academy of Meditation, Shankaracharya Nagar, Rishikesh, India, with the second International Transcendental Meditation Teacher Training Course. 1965 Maharishi's Year of Bhagavad-Gita Maharishi explains expereiences of Transcendental Meditation in terms of the principle of action: Nishkama karma yog, yogastah kuru karmani; Established in Unity, perform action -Bhagavad-Gita II 45, and completes his commentary on the Bhagavad-Gita.
