Happy May Day, comrade.

posted by AsYouKnow_Bob at 8:19 am (EST) on May 1, 2008

So glad you enjoyed the link! Understanding the number line like that can completely change your mathematical life--even the idea that multiplication is just scaling is opaque to so many people. Your grandchildren are seriously lucky.

Nicole

posted by nperrin at 7:09 pm (EST) on Apr 18, 2008

I tried to open the PDF with the Black Nutcase History that you keep touting, but my Adobe Reader won't open it. Can you send me a url?

posted by geneg at 3:20 pm (EST) on Feb 20, 2008

At first I did think you were a white, racist conservative. However, your last post showed me that we have more in common than I originally thought; I now have a profound respect for you, although we may not always agree. For this new insight I am infinitely grateful.

Thank you.

posted by bigal123 at 6:19 pm (EST) on Feb 17, 2008

If you dig McCarthy, you might try checking out Oakley Hall's Warlock.

posted by Jesse_wiedinmyer at 4:19 am (EST) on Dec 23, 2007

Mmm. Mine was in the '60s, before it had occurred (...to liberals...) to start suing the Scouts about it.

But having been turned away as a child because of my beliefs, the incident still makes me smile wanly when *I'm* accused of being "bigoted against conservatives" (and/or the religious).

posted by AsYouKnow_Bob at 2:56 pm (EST) on Dec 9, 2007

I missed my chance at age eleven in the Boy Scouts, when a fellow they had brought in to teach us first aid invited a few of us over to his apartment on a Saturday for some advanced lessons.

Huh. The Boy Scouts wouldn't let ME join.

posted by AsYouKnow_Bob at 11:16 am (EST) on Dec 9, 2007

...On the other hand, when I lived for a few months in the Soviet Union...

Doug, there really doesn't seem to be any end to your hidden depths.

- Bob

posted by AsYouKnow_Bob at 7:26 pm (EST) on Nov 27, 2007

I never read Vonnegut back in the seventies when it seemed like everybody else was or was bragging about it. He was on my list of writers to read at least one book by, so I could take about him intelligently. So the book I tried was Breakfast of Champions, which I though was so silly I released it on bookcrossing without finishing it. I think somebody sent it in a box to Australia. On Friday the Wall Street Journal had a review of a book telling you how to discuss books you haven't read. This could be useful when it comes to authors like Vonnegut.

posted by ainsleytewce at 2:09 pm (EST) on Nov 4, 2007

Thank you for welcoming me. I do read a lot of fiction.
I've been casting around on the internet the past couple of days to see any discussions on the death of Paul Tibbets, who died recently. One of our local papers, the Seattle Times, mentioned him on the front page, but the other, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, didn't seem to mention him at all, at least not on that day. As you probably know, he was one of the pilots who flew the plane that dropped one of the bombs on Japan that ended World War II. At least that's what most of us used to think. There has been a lot of spin, in schools, the media, etc. to create a moral equavalency between us and the Japanese now, apparently. I suppose next will be spin to create moral equivalency between us and the Nazis. But nearly all World War II generation people I know beleive the bombs were the lesser of two evils. Those people, like Paul Tibbets, are dying out.

posted by ainsleytewce at 1:54 pm (EST) on Nov 3, 2007

Doug--you're one of the main reasons I post there. I like how you are always questioning things that others there take for granted. You seem at times to be uneasy about the state of politics here and everywhere--which doesn't mean I always agree--but I don't always disagree either. It is a good group overall though and even though I don't think my contributions are always appreciated by everyone. Luckily though I like to think I have a fairly thick skin.

posted by lriley at 12:13 pm (EST) on Nov 3, 2007

Hi Doug,

I have been meaning to post more in the forums and groups, but frankly, came back from Guatemala and was overwhelmed with business, academic, and family issues, not to mention obscene amounts of mail and bills, etc. Ideally, I'd do something about it, but have been afflicted with a serious case of sloth at the same time. Anyhow, just wanted to tell you that the most recent New Yorker magazine has an article on Jacques Barzun, the (centenary! and still writing!) author of the bestseller "From Dawn to Decadence," and the article discusses the issue of the intersections of history and Western culture, from Barzun's point of view. Barzun, a proponent of looking at all the aspects that move the mosaics of history, including the "triffles," claims that the world wars of the 20th century were the beginning of the end, re modern Western culture, which he sees as beginning in the Renaissance. I find this an interesting melange of a more Marxist (structurally, at least) view of studying history and a quite conservative view of the importance of Western culture. He truly sees Western culture as flickering out and to him, it's a tragedy. I thought you might enjoy the article. I tried to find it online for you but wasn't able to, but I'll save the magazine and if you cannot find the magazine, I can mail it to you somewhere later on. That is, if you are interested! You might not be, but just thought I'd let you know.

posted by MissTrudy at 12:44 am (EST) on Oct 24, 2007

BTW, after the previous comment to you, I looked up the Sokal Hoax and got quite a laugh from it. I'm sure there were lots of people much smarter than I am who didn't see the humour in it. Even I knew that most of the initial paper was BS and I can't even spell physiks. It truly is symbolic of a sad state of affairs. I assume from your attitude toward American higher education that nothing much has changed and a valuable lesson went unlearned.

Of course I enjoyed such statements as, "the utter absurdity of it all being concealed through obscure and pretentious language." This is exactly what I was getting at in the thread on Bourdieu and Heidegger.

posted by geneg at 11:21 pm (EST) on Oct 17, 2007

BTW, remember that you had shared with us a list of the 100 books one should read in a lifetime or something of the sort? I was wondering if you could share that link again, a lot of people here in Guatemala were very interested in that list when I told them about it.

posted by MissTrudy at 7:39 pm (EST) on Oct 17, 2007

Hi Doug,

Thanks for your note! It is so nice to hear from friends these days, when I feel a bit "away from home" even though I grew up here in Guatemala. But home is never really "home," once one has left for over 20 years, so it's taken some getting used to. I would definitely love to participate in a discussion on identity. A very good friend of mine actually did his dissertation on that topic, from a moral philosophy point of view, and it was fascinating. He is really big on Charles Taylor. I will be back in the States in about a week, but let me tell you, the work ethic here is so very different. I mean, things get done, obviously, the place is a repository of beautiful sky-scrappers and the cellphone system is better than in the USA, but things get done in such a way that for us, used to working in cultures with a different work ethic, seem too laid back at best and chaotic at worse. Talk about FRUSTRATION when one wants to get things done in a reasonable length of time. One thing for sure, people do enjoy a better quality of family life than we do in our countries nowadays and one is always made to feel part of a community, even if one is a foreigner. The weather and food are awesome, too. But I am so ready to go back home...

posted by MissTrudy at 3:01 pm (EST) on Oct 15, 2007

Thanks for the welcome. I got two--both from the conservatives group, and no others. Must mean something. What a great site (and group).I'm so impressed with the politeness of members--makes me much more inclined to participate. I'm up to 1200 books (everything else in my life has mostly stopped for the moment) with about the same number to go! If you like O'Brian, please visit my web site and grab a (free) PDF copy of "The Butcher's Bill." (On my profile) Michael

posted by mschuyler at 10:01 pm (EST) on Oct 7, 2007

Hi Doug,

Thought you might find this article of interest.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/opinion/07meacham.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

I am spending some time in Central America, so my access to the internet is not, alas, as often nor smooth as one would like it to be. Hence, I haven´t been able to participate much, but when I can, I enjoy reading the discussions.

Best wishes,

Trudy

posted by MissTrudy at 1:36 pm (EST) on Oct 7, 2007

Not to belabor the point, and you and BGP took it all in good stride and I think much of you both, but have you read Turgenev's Father and Sons? I'm sure that you have, and that is my frame of reference, although he is not nearly as loathsome as Bazarov, but the Arkady/Nikolai/Pavel Kirsanov analogy might work - with some tweaking, I know.

In jest (partly) and appreciative of your good humor,

ET

(BGP is to get the same message - but I didn't want to bore the others)

posted by enevada at 12:07 pm (EST) on Oct 2, 2007

"What this group has been lacking is a serious and literate representative of the genuine Left."

What am I, chopped liver??

;-)

posted by AsYouKnow_Bob at 3:29 pm (EST) on Sep 22, 2007

Insight, too.

posted by geneg at 11:10 am (EST) on Sep 22, 2007

Come join us at Social Democrats and Democratic Socialist group. It was started by BGP and could use your knowledge and incite.

posted by geneg at 11:10 am (EST) on Sep 22, 2007

Are you running for Santa Claus?

Kidding, you are a better man than me, Gunga Din.

ET

posted by enevada at 2:44 pm (EST) on Sep 20, 2007

Jeez, it's getting harder and harder to joke around with you guys. You are all so serious. I guess I should either stop trying or amplificatify the obliquity of my tangenital utterances.

posted by geneg at 12:24 pm (EST) on Aug 31, 2007

Doug,

I really appreciate your posts. The whole "Liberal/Conservative" thing confuses me these days. You can't tell the players without a scorecard and their actual behavior only confuses things more.

But "thoughtful"... that is a concept I understand. And thoughtful you are.

posted by Arctic-Stranger at 1:35 pm (EST) on Aug 14, 2007

Thank you for the friendly welcome to the conservative group. I am new at librarything and still trying to find my way around. Kind regards Christian

posted by cnrenner at 2:58 pm (EST) on Aug 11, 2007

Thanks for the welcome to the Political Conservative group. I am a new member of LibraryThing and so far this has been an interesting experience. The discussions I have wandered into are great. I appreciate the opinions of others and I am always open to learning. One of these days I may just have to jump right in and voice my opinions. At the moment....I am enjoying the tour and adding more books. Thanks again.

posted by wordwanderer at 6:15 pm (EST) on Aug 9, 2007

Doug -

Sorry about busting your chops on the typo, but I just couldn't help myself! No hard feelings, I hope...

Jim

posted by drneutron at 3:16 pm (EST) on Aug 9, 2007

Thank you for the welcome. I know it may look like a strange place for me to hang out, but I enjoy intelligent conversation above all, and I was checking the group out to see what was going on in there.

To be honest, with the current administration, I am kind of interested in what a conservative really is. It seems the definitions have not caught up with the practice. We have had a "liberal" president who promotes free trade and welfare reform, and who runs up surpluses instead of debt, and now a "conservative" who became an interventionist in foreign policy.

These are interesting days.

posted by Arctic-Stranger at 1:18 pm (EST) on Aug 9, 2007

When the time comes, send me the particulars and we'll make a plan. I should be able to meet you in Austin. We can plan it that way for now. I might even bring my family for a little vacation.

posted by geneg at 9:59 am (EST) on Jul 30, 2007

Thanks. I can wait. Are you suggesting we get together somewhere when you come here? I would like that very much.

posted by geneg at 11:02 pm (EST) on Jul 29, 2007

I was looking at your library and ran across this little gem, "Fashionable nonsense : postmodern intellectuals' abuse of science". The title makes it sound interesting. Is it worth the bucks and the read?

posted by geneg at 8:07 pm (EST) on Jul 29, 2007

not a bad idea -- i also think leo strauss has been much maligned, and as a one-time chicago guy i also have to put in some props for my man milton. there's a great quote i'm trying to find that i once sourced, something to the effect, "if a person's not a cynic by age 40, they haven't been paying attention." something like that, though with my spin.

posted by adkrim at 4:23 pm (EST) on Jul 27, 2007

thanks -- looks like a very interesting site. i used to say i was a wolfowitz democrat, now i'm a bloomberg whig? or tory? bokononistic socialist? republocrat? anyhow, should prove interesting...

posted by adkrim at 2:45 pm (EST) on Jul 27, 2007

Hi, Doug.

I just saw this:

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2766040.ece

and wanted to bring it to your attention....

- Bob

posted by AsYouKnow_Bob at 11:08 am (EST) on Jul 15, 2007

Oh, Doug, you're just an old nerd. That's cool.

posted by gregtmills at 7:00 pm (EST) on Jul 9, 2007

"If I were in the liberal camp, I would be continually tormenting the Politically Correct brigade, the Third World Dictator groupies, the peace-'n'love types." -- I'm right there with you, brother. Sometimes things need to be said that grate. Sometimes things need to be said that are just really funny. I do find Che Guevara chic sort of amoral, if not immoral. It takes a certain kind of willful ignorance to parade around with the good doctor on your chest.

The little indie movie house near me summed it up best when they ran this snide little comment on the marquee when they were showing "The Motorcycle Diaries". "You own the t-shirt, now see the movie!"

My pet liberal annoyance is affirmative action. How do you know when it works? How do you measure "justice"? What possible sign post can you create that will tell you when you've reached the goal?

I'm not totally adverse to social tinkering, especially local, gradualist tinkering (and to be sure, there are point when gradualism won't cut it. "Letter From Birmingham Jail" makes that point exquisitely.)

Funny thing happened soon after the invasion of Afganistan (supported that. Not iraq). I used to work across from a local news station and one afternoon this little knot of protestors appeared outside the station. Me and my coworkers watched. It was a nice day, it was lunch, so what the hell?

They aren't really doing much, just milling around. I think one of the signs literally mentioned hugs. We noticed there were a couple of cops sitting there watching with bemused looks on their faces.

We went over to talk to the cops: "They really aren't going to do anything until the cameras come out, then they generally do some kind of passive resistence deal. The station wants them out of there, and films it at the same time. We round 'em up, drive 'em a couple of blocks, then let them out."

"You don't arrest them?"

"Not unless the station wants to press changes."

The station didn't take the bait that day, and the cops wandered off after a while, as did the protestors. Nice little scam: the station gets content, protestors get a narrative, cops get overtime.

My brother works at Lawrence Livermore Lab, and he regularly chats and jokes with the protestors, people who have been coming day after day for years. He says you can always suss out the newer recruits, because they're more serious.

God bless the crazy bastards. It's nice to have a hobby, I guess.

posted by gregtmills at 5:28 pm (EST) on Jul 9, 2007

Apologies for my rant. I was stuck at work all weekend and it did something diabolical to my metabolism, I swear.

It's interesting topic, however. How do you, in a system where there are really only two muddy big-tent ideologies, handle contradictions that crop up from fusionism? How much bile should a person have to swallow in order share the ability to describe yourself as "x" with some knuckledragger or shrill bluenose know-it-all?

posted by gregtmills at 1:04 pm (EST) on Jul 9, 2007

Feeling feisty today?

posted by ggchickapee at 2:08 pm (EST) on Jul 8, 2007

You are absolutely right, Doug, and I believe it isn't a matter of political inclination (left, right, whatever) but just of being human, to care about those fellow human beings that are terribly oppressed wherever they are. I know of Muslim and Indian feminists, and other feminist groups in Asia and Africa and their work, and am reading up on Afghan women too. You are also right, sadly, when you touch upon the fact that many feminists of color in the USA have long felt ignored, or that their concerns are not addressed, by the more mainstream feminists movements and that has long been a bone of contention. I have been following some of the interesting threads in the political conservatives group, just haven't had much time to participate, but look forward to doing more of that in the future.

posted by MissTrudy at 9:02 am (EST) on Jul 6, 2007

Thank you, Doug, for bringing to readers' attention the plight of Malalai Joya. It is very empathetic of you. Abuses against individual's liberty and against human rights and democracy need to be brought into light more often. I will send the link to others as well. Regards,

Trudy

posted by MissTrudy at 7:25 pm (EST) on Jul 5, 2007

Thanks so much for the welcome to the group, as well as your suggestions. I already am aware and read First Things,and admit to most enjoying the correspondance, in fact if I miss reading an issue, it's usually next months correspondance that nags me to go back to find and read it.

posted by corkery at 1:26 pm (EST) on Jul 3, 2007

Thanks for the welcome, I don't know how active I will be because I am very busy, but maybe I will be able to contribute some, I'll try at least, otherwise why join, eh?

posted by fauxcajun at 9:25 pm (EST) on Jul 1, 2007

Doug -- just to let you I've enjoyed reading your gentlemanly posts. I'm also intrigued by your bio, particularly your interest in historical materialism. Do you know of any current non-marxian historians or philospher that have used Hegelian dialectics or historical materialism in their analysis.

I know Francis Fukuyama attempted it when writing "The End of History and the Last Man". It's interesting to see marxian analysis evolve after the decline of Marxist ideology. I'd be curious to hear your story of disillusionment/enlightenment.

Anyway, thanks for your decency.

Greg

posted by gregtmills at 12:43 am (EST) on Jun 30, 2007

Doug, I didn't know this feature existed! I just happened to notice your private message to me and a bunch of others on my profile. I appreciate the offer, but I have many friends in Moscow and I will do all I can to NOT be assigned there. I am a Eurasian specialist and I would much prefer to do my time in any of the Central Asian countries of the former SU. Best to all! Joe

posted by MAJGross at 12:57 pm (EST) on Jun 28, 2007

Here's a question for you, as a computer programmer...

Is there a term for how structurally fatal a bug is? I'm not sure that I'm phrasing this properly, but I'm thinking something along the lines of the fact that, despite their respective successes, relativity and quantum mechanics are incompatible. We don't regard this as reason to necessarily discard either theory. Is there a name for this or for the converse?

posted by Jesse_wiedinmyer at 11:45 am (EST) on Jun 20, 2007

Thanks for the welcome to the conservatives group, Doug! I'm not a rocket scientist, but I get to mess around launch vehicles occasionally. The latest mission I worked can be found just past Jupiter, on its way to Pluto...http://pluto.jhuapl.edu

posted by drneutron at 9:32 am (EST) on Jun 18, 2007

Hey Doug,

I'd agree with you that Lakoff definitely oversimplifies quite a few things. I think that Lakoff is more counter-propaganda than objective observer. He's not so much trying to find an objective frame as trying to "reframe" in a liberal light.

It's part of the reason that Didion is one of my favorite authors. She's very good at exploring narratology and exploring the way that the stories that we tell ourselves shape our worldview. As for your comment about the way we deal with the people that are not us... It's one of my favorite topics. Jerzy Kosinski, in The Painted Bird, tells of a pasttime when he was growing up. The villagers would capture a bird, and paint it in gaudy colors. When the bird was released in to the wild, all of the other birds of it's species would attack it, viewing it as an intruder. It's a rather powerful metaphor.

I'm beginning to think that most political thought is pretty purely identity thought. And how you deal with what is foreign to you. Being a computer programmer, you'd probably enjoy my favorite joke. It comes from G.H. Hardy's notebooks. (don't stop me if you've heard this one before)

Teacher (standing at the front of the classroom): Suppose 'x' is the number of sheep in the pen.

Johnny: Teacher! Teacher!

Teacher: Yes, Johnny?

Johnny: Suppose it isn't...

I tell this joke to a hell of a lot of people. About 1 in 25 gets it immediately. Hardy, so his notebooks say, told the joke to Wittgensteing. "Ludwig, Isn't this the most profound philosophical joke you've ever heard?" Hardy asks.

Wittgenstein, of course, agrees that it is.

But suppose it isn't...

posted by Jesse_wiedinmyer at 3:51 pm (EST) on Jun 15, 2007

Hello Doug,

Thanks for the welcome. I'll admit that my bias is towards liberalism (whatever the hell that actually means), but I'm more than happy to check out other viewpoints. If I had to actually choose One Label for myself, it would probably be agnostic. As in this quote from Feynmann -

"You see, one thing is, I can live with the doubt and uncertainty and not knowing. I think it's much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong. I have approximate answers and possible beliefs and different degrees of certainty about different things, but I'm not absolutely sure of anything and there are many things I don't know anything about, such as whether it means anything to ask why we're here.

I don't have to know an answer. I don't feel frightened by not knowing things, by being lost in a mysterious universe without any purpose, which is the way it really is as far as I can tell. It doesn't frighten me."

I participate in another forum, called @ http://www.readerville.com , where most of the posters are rather liberal, but it seems to be a rather knee-jerk liberalism (conservatives, oddly enough, don't seem to have a lock on knee-jerking). So I decided that maybe it was time to start looking in to what I think I'm disagreeing with. So far I've read a bit of Ann Coulter (terrible), Dinesh D'Souza (makes valid points, but I disagree in large part with his general thrust, and he makes some major errors), and George Will (pretty good, though he seems to, like the comment that I've always heard about Keynes, take things at a case by case basis, and have no overarching philosophy.)

Anything that you'd recommend I read...?

Thanks again for the welcome,
Jesse

posted by Jesse_wiedinmyer at 12:33 pm (EST) on Jun 14, 2007

Hi Doug, I'm replying over here because I always want to respond to your questions, but I lack the time and energy to open the 55-gallon-drum-sized can'o'worms that a public discussion of stemcells and IVF would generate.

- IVF violates all the stuff that wingnuts object to.
- IVF is currently used today in fertilty treatments to generate millions? of embryos, which are routinely disposed of.
- IVF benefits only those people who can spend tens- (or even hundreds-) of thousands of dollars in trying to conceive: that is to say, it's useful mostly to the rich.
- Therefore, IVF is legal in the United States. Despite violating all the wingnut priorities.

- Stemcell research promises to benefit all mankind.
- "Benefiting all mankind" by definition provides no obvious differential advantage to the rich.
- Medical researchers are educated people, who are wary of wingnuts and republicans, and are people who tend to vote Democratic anyway.
- Banning stemcell research gains approval among the wingnuts.

Therefore, the Republican Congress voted to restrict it.
It's really that simple.

Because, after all, if foreign labs employing stemcell research actually come up with something, the rich can always fly to Switzerland for treatment. The added airfare is a negligible inconvenience.

QED.

posted by AsYouKnow_Bob at 6:49 pm (EST) on Jun 5, 2007

RE:Menshevik

I'm a democratic socialist. The other half of the split appealed to me
when I was younger, but the Mensheviks were right. Perhaps I should be
Martovlibrarian?:)

posted by mensheviklibrarian at 11:22 am (EST) on Jun 5, 2007

5000 links? Geez. I wouldn't be surprised if what I have to offer is already included in your massive collection. However, I'll be happy to supply you with what I have, which mainly consists of blogs.

Would posting them here be okay or would you like me to email them to you?

posted by codyed at 9:24 pm (EST) on Jun 3, 2007

Thanks, Doug - I look forward to it.

- Bob

posted by AsYouKnow_Bob at 7:38 pm (EST) on May 31, 2007

Doug, I really appreciate your posts. Just when I think I have a command of the issues, or understand the reasons for my positions, you come along with your thoughtful, deeply probing insights that really get me thinking. Please keep it up.

posted by neummy at 11:36 am (EST) on May 31, 2007

On the other hand, maybe there is something to it, as Bob seems to believe.

SMILE when you say that, pard'ner.

Like any good lefty, I'm all for diversity, awareness of the ideological underpinnings, subverting patriarchy - - all that good stuff... so, yeah, there's "something" to it, but that's still a LONG way from endorsing "post-modernism".

(posted here so that I don't interrupt the big guns who have moved into that thread.)

PS: You know better than to assert that corporations are "non-ideological". The ideology of corporatism might be THE greatest danger to modern civilization. But that's yet another thread.

posted by AsYouKnow_Bob at 9:56 pm (EST) on May 30, 2007

Doug

Thank you for the tutorial on posting the links. I can use it!

Keep up your terrific posts. I always learn a great deal.

Steiac

posted by steiac at 9:51 pm (EST) on May 21, 2007

Well, Doug, we were having a rather nice chat over on

http://www.librarything.com/talktopic.php?topic=12031

...and then this morning the 'Glimmer Twins' showed up.

I drafted a comment pointing out how they pretty much proved the point of that thread (that it's still possible for L & C to hold a conversation - except when they show up and rhetorically begin flinging poop).

But I don't think I'll bother to post it - one of them has already attacked me personally for contradicting him (a few months ago, on another thread) and I had resolved then never again to engage with him, never to participate in another thread with him.

We'll talk again, though, when they move on. I enjoy your conversation.

Cheers,

- Bob

posted by AsYouKnow_Bob at 8:59 pm (EST) on May 7, 2007

Fiction takes up a large amount of my catalog, mostly fantasy and science-fiction with a fair amount of crime thrown in for balance. I read very little contempary fiction. Favourite author would be C J Cherryh, who writes gripping novels of political intrigues and alien cultures.

posted by reading_fox at 5:00 am (EST) on Mar 20, 2007

Just another Talk person brousing past to say how much I've enjoyed your opinions in Pol Cons. I might not always agree with the entirity but I find them balanced, reasonable, and requiring some thought.

I note you are currently in Guildford, a town where I went to Uni a few years ago. I hope the surrounding woods and countryside are still as beautiful as they were when I was exploring them. I suspect the sports hall of a cathedral is still as ugly as it was then!

Do you read any fiction at all?

posted by reading_fox at 12:14 pm (EST) on Mar 15, 2007

Thank you for the clarification, I was hoping I misread it, but I've run into so many people who range in attitude from fear to hatred of what I am trying to do. Usually, it is just misunderstanding motives. Mine are not just to separate my children from the things you mentioned, but to give them a peaceful, quiet place to learn, study and evaluate that which they are being taught. Of course for me, I want them to know God and have the time necessary to do that. It always amazes me that people think homeschoolers will be maladjusted to society, when we encourage and model involvement at all levels of our communities.

I appreciate your comments by the way, in the Political Conservative group. I am finding the whole discussion, aside from the ruffled feathers, enlightening and interesting.

posted by MrsLee at 2:04 pm (EST) on Mar 5, 2007

"Another aspect of reality that the "Islam vs the world" view misses is that many of the Muslim terrorists, when their background is closely scrutinized, were not particularly religious. Islam for them is serving as a cultural pattern, not a religious one, to the extent that there is a distinction. They are rejecting certain prominent aspects of modern society, motivated, I suspect, by at least some of the same things that motivate, say, fundamentalist Christian home-schoolers. (And I should say that conservatives, even those who are not religious, should not be unsympathetic to those feelings.)"

YIPES! I wish you would visit my profile and talk to me about this a bit. Do you really see us as dangerous as Muslim extremists? I wonder just what you think our motives for homeschooling are? I'm not upset or offended by different opinions by the way, but I do like to talk to people about our differences.

posted by MrsLee at 7:53 pm (EST) on Mar 4, 2007

Thankyou. You are a gentleman and a scholar.

posted by DexterDiffring at 6:29 pm (EST) on Mar 4, 2007

I'm afraid this exotic butterfly is SO staying out of the Political Conservatives group. She'd rather not have her wings shredded. :)

Within seconds of Tim telling me about it, I ignored the group. I didn't ever post in it anyway. I may not agree with 90% of the opinions there, but, to me, arguing with someone in their own "house" is rude.

posted by Morphidae at 6:31 pm (EST) on Mar 3, 2007

Doug,

It might not even be necessary any more. Tim added an "Ignore this Group" feature which should help considerably!

posted by Morphidae at 1:53 pm (EST) on Mar 3, 2007

i'm enjoying the humor and sentiments you're expressing over in the poly con groups. i also see we share some the same favorite authors -- i'm also a huge fan of Cormac McCarthy, Annie Proulx, and David Lodge. And we both work with software.

One of your recent posts (about sectioning off poly cons groups) got me thinking about definitions. In some of the threads, a poster's conservative bona fides are questioned when they question the motives or character of well-known personalities. It can be ironic when the original poster is very deeply conservative in areas such as service, character, religion, finance, etc. and yet find their conservative credentials being questioned.

posted by NativeRoses at 10:39 am (EST) on Mar 3, 2007

Just wanted to drop you a line and say that I researched a bit on the Net for libertarian discussion groups and was rather appalled at what I discovered. If I were new to libertarian concepts and this was my only resource, I would not be at all interested. Fortunately, that is not the case. My understanding comes from reading foundation texts in Intellectual History. You often pose questions about what libertarians would do with criminals in society. This is such an interesting topic, I think it should be discussed on its own so I am going to start a thread in the libertarian group soon. I hope you partcipate then.

posted by haylan at 1:07 pm (EST) on Nov 2, 2006

We share Fishers of Men or Founders of Empire? by David Stoll. I am the son of one of "Uncle Cams" great captains, and the Founding Director of the Bolivian Branch, which perhaps fortunately, was not much discussed by Stoll. I thot he fairly brought many of the Big Issues to light, altho it's a complicated story. I'm interested in your thots.

posted by keylawk at 4:24 am (EST) on Oct 31, 2006

I read your response above over in gg's comments; one thing you do not take into consideration is that women have different overall ambitions from men. For example, one of the main reasons women do not care to take the top jobs in large corporations is that they want more of a life than a CEO generally has--24/7 at the beck and call is not their idea of a good life. Studies show that women build their self esteem not only from work achievements but also through factors outside work, where men do not. Many stories show that women leave companies short of the top jobs for personal reasons not because they did not have what it takes to do the job.

Men often see women as having "the power," which is the reason women have rarely held political power; and when they do it is at the cost of their sexuality not because of it. The only exception to this might be Eva Peron.

I believe women have an opportunity to make major contributions starting right now, but only if they start respecting each other's abilities and can the jealousies, envies and despise that -- at least -- white women hold for each other.

What interests me personally is why so few women are libertarians...the ratio is staggering. Of course, the preponderance of libertarians are engineers so maybe there is a link in there somewhere.

posted by haylan at 11:58 am (EST) on Oct 24, 2006

How about feminine and competent? Not in a derogatory, pass/fail sort of way. Competent as in intelligent, capable, self-sufficient, etc., all rolled into one. It doesn't parallel your "manly and gentlemanly" construction, but that seems to me to be what you are getting at. At least, that's how I like to view myself.

posted by ggchickapee at 5:42 pm (EST) on Oct 16, 2006

Back again - what did you have in mind ?

posted by nickhoonaloon at 6:50 am (EST) on Oct 6, 2006

Just a very quick note to say I`ve seen your reply to my comments. It`s been a big day for me and not over yet, so a bit too tired/busy to do it justice at present - will get back to you with substantive response tomorrow with a bit of luck.

It would be fun to debate in some forum. Would need a few ground rules so people keep it civil as much as poss.

Your point about my choice of Marxists may well be correct.

posted by nickhoonaloon at 4:13 pm (EST) on Oct 4, 2006

Thanks for reading my reviews on Amazon and for your excessive praise. It means a lot to me that someone would take the time to read what I have written.

Re: your comment. I wish I were on the board of the Standard or The New Criterion. But that is a very bright group of people.

posted by deniro at 1:36 pm (EST) on Sep 18, 2006

Ahhhhhh. Crypto-con as in undercover-con -- now I get it. I feel her pain, living in San Francisco as I do. Although I take perverse (masochistic?) glee in flaunting my political affiliation. I may be the only woman in San Francisco who drives a pick-up truck with a W sticker in back window!

posted by ggchickapee at 8:05 pm (EST) on Sep 13, 2006

Thanks for the link Doug. I am not Bookworm, so I will try to find her.

I thought I had heard all the categorizing labels -- neo-con, paleo-con, theo-con, crunchy-con . . . . But I've never heard of a "crypto-con." Does she like to decode messages? Or is she just difficult to understand?

posted by ggchickapee at 10:39 am (EST) on Sep 13, 2006

Doug -- Thanks for joining the Political Conservatives group! Welcome!

posted by ggchickapee at 2:24 pm (EST) on Sep 11, 2006

Thanks Doug. I look forward to your catalog!

posted by lcole at 10:19 pm (EST) on Apr 11, 2006