Posts by myauntfanny

38

Analyzing the American language.............

by Sunnygal41 in

.

when i got the idea for this thread, i struggled with which category i should put it under at first.........adult & heated debate was high on my list at first.

Analyzing the American language.............

by Sunnygal41 in

.

when i got the idea for this thread, i struggled with which category i should put it under at first.........adult & heated debate was high on my list at first.

Yeah, and you might think, zebra being prolly not a word that you would have much occasion to use, that you could just forget about the difference, but no, because they have zebra crossings all over the place (black and white striped pedestrian crossings) so the word zebra comes up in conversation all the time.

38

Analyzing the American language.............

by Sunnygal41 in

.

when i got the idea for this thread, i struggled with which category i should put it under at first.........adult & heated debate was high on my list at first.

myauntfanny

I had a tough time with:

herb (they pronounce the h)

oregano (emphasis on third syllable)

controversy (emphasis on the second syllable)

schedule (shedyule)

leisure (lezhur)

issue (iss-yue)

zebra (short e)

fortune (fort-yune)

When I pronounced these and similar words in the English manner, my American friends would laugh raucously and call me pretentious, and if I did it the American way my English acquaintances would would get that look like I'd farted but they were too polite to mention it. As a result I got very schizy about language while I lived there.

39

What was the funniest Bush moment in last nights debate?

by IronGland in

jw
friends

first responders, nuclear safety, etc.).

"fighting so vociferously.

"of course i know it was osama bin laden who attacked us!

myauntfanny

Pole

But if our illustrious leader is already reneging on the contract, isn't it a bit optimistic to think that he will start playing honourably in his second term? I also don't quite see how presidents in general could renege on the deals of predecessors, without completely destroying America's reputation. If all deals were invalidated every time there's a new president then surely no one would ever do business with America?

36

Ethics, aesthetics, and morals

by onacruse in

so, in the course of tonight's prolonged conversation with one of you jwd recalcitrants .

if, in fact, this life, this life, is all there is, and nothing remains after...no resurrection, no reincarnation, no transformation, no metamorphosis; that is to say--these bags of salt, water (and a few hydrocarbons and genetic variations thrown in for good measure) are all that we are, and all that we ever will be, and then "poof":.

why should we refrain from whatever brings the "greatest" personal pleasure to our measured and time-limited existence?

myauntfanny

Onacruse

I always thought "survival of the fittest" was probably a mistaken notion, since "survival of the fit enough" seems more than adequate to explain a lot of species' survival. I also think the whole notion of "fittest" has been misunderstood. It seems obvious from looking at many species that it is not necessary to be the strongest and most aggressive to survive. Sometimes it's the sneakiest, most agile, best at camouflage, fastest reproducers, most patient, etc. A lesson we can all learn from in bad times. But that's really a tangent, isn't it?

It almost sounds to me as if you are depressed that without a punitive god, the wicked prevail. But a lot of wicked people actually DO believe in a punitive god, and they are still wicked. If we could find an even better reason why people should be good, the wicked still wouldn't respect it. What can we do but think of them like bad weather, and try not to take it personally?

36

Ethics, aesthetics, and morals

by onacruse in

so, in the course of tonight's prolonged conversation with one of you jwd recalcitrants .

if, in fact, this life, this life, is all there is, and nothing remains after...no resurrection, no reincarnation, no transformation, no metamorphosis; that is to say--these bags of salt, water (and a few hydrocarbons and genetic variations thrown in for good measure) are all that we are, and all that we ever will be, and then "poof":.

why should we refrain from whatever brings the "greatest" personal pleasure to our measured and time-limited existence?

myauntfanny

then insofar as any one, or several, of us, might find a way to battle past those limitations and "gain the upper hand" over our fellow humans, then (in the purely "materialistic" sense), how could such actions be condemned?

Maybe we don't need grounds for condemning them, only for stopping them. I mean, we don't need to prove they are wrong in order to justify stopping them. If someone tries to mug me I don't have to go through a long complex moral-ethical analysis about what's wrong with mugging me. I just don't want to be mugged, that's not something I need to justify.

46

Proof that 'art critics' are dumb

by Simon in

this time it's the messy daubings of a 4 year old being touted as 'art' and sold for big bucks.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3701484.stm.

it always makes me laugh when they set them up and finally reveal that the mysterious new modern artists they have raved over is really a chimpanzee let loose with tubes of paint.. for me an artist is someone who makes art.

myauntfanny

Come on, they're super. That second one reminds me of Gillian Ayres. They're great. I'd be deliriously happy if I could do that. (But then I really liked that painting by the chimpanzee a few years ago).

32

Why I will never be a Christian.....

by outbutnotdown in

i have read a lot of books about spirituality, religion and self-awareness.

the one major problem i have with christianity (and despite the fact that people may suggest that i am just turned off by being raised as a jw.... i think that my point would be valid without having experienced that negative start to life).. the one common premise of christianity is that we are sinners at birth and that we need salvation, otherwise we are disrespecting god.

i have also read other books that use the premise at the exact opposite end of the spectrum...... namely that we are perfect at birth and that we, through choice, use prejudisms and negative thought patterns that end up making this "sinner" theory more believable.. i'm not suggesting that either of these theories is absolutley correct, but i choose to lean more towards the "perfect at birth" theory.

myauntfanny

outbutnotdown

The one common premise of Christianity is that we are sinners at birth and that we need salvation, otherwise we are disrespecting God.

I don't believe it either. I don't think we're born perfect, but I don't think being imperfect is a sin. If there is such a thing as "sin", it's presuming to have the faintest idea what god thinks about anything.

36

Ethics, aesthetics, and morals

by onacruse in

so, in the course of tonight's prolonged conversation with one of you jwd recalcitrants .

if, in fact, this life, this life, is all there is, and nothing remains after...no resurrection, no reincarnation, no transformation, no metamorphosis; that is to say--these bags of salt, water (and a few hydrocarbons and genetic variations thrown in for good measure) are all that we are, and all that we ever will be, and then "poof":.

why should we refrain from whatever brings the "greatest" personal pleasure to our measured and time-limited existence?

myauntfanny

The question kind of assumes a dim view of human nature, that all we really want to do is use and abuse each other, and only a fear of penalties stops us. But couldn't it be that we have other impulses also, towards love and justice and sharing, and usually, for most of us, they are stronger than our impulses to rape and kill and steal? I mean, we wouldn't consider it deviant, psychopathic behaviour if it were really the only thing driving us as a species. Even if you can't "prove" that we are all connected, I think most of us deeply experience that connection and want to preserve it. We recognise a psychopath in someone who doesn't experience it.

I don't believe that most of us would embark on a crime spree if there were nothing to stop us. I read a book about killing, called "On Killing", written by a Ranger (whatever that is) that trains military men. He said that they've found that only about 2% of soldiers actually want to kill people, most soldiers really, deeply don't want to kill people. And that 2% is probably higher than the general population, since the military is bound to specially attract those who enjoy killing. Obviously, the 2% can wreak a lot of havoc and have to be dealt with somehow. But I don't think that on the whole we really need ethics and morals at all. They don't stop people, but most people don't need stopping.

41

Marilyn Manson?

by Brummie in

jw
friends

does anyone actually think he's good?

he was just being interviewed in england and they are treating him like some sort of god, they even said he's as popular as jesus!

darn, what am i missin, cant stand him.

myauntfanny

I like him, he's different. He's not just a clone, even if there are shades of Alice Cooper ( I liked Alice Cooper too). I don't see anything wrong with being an attention-seeking personality, it would be boring as hell if nobody was. And it's hard to see how ELSE he would make a buck, I mean, even without the makeup and tranny clothes I have a feeling he's a very wierd person, probably too wierd to work a normal job. His songs are intelligent, which makes a nice change. His videos scare the living shit out of me, but he's a good antidote to those endless boybands and their songs.