h a l f b a k e r yInvented by someone French.
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just so long as we don't practice selective disdain,
selective political commentary and selective memory,
that's all good. Or rather all bad, I guess. |
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valid so long as it is consistent. allowing terrorists to change the content of the HB is giving them to much leeway. also, as a citizen of the states I have to say that vigor of our emotional response is a big part of the problem. |
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Actually, I think it would be unnatural *not* to be
more affected by events closer to home than
elsewhere. |
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I'm less affected by the Boston bombings than I
would be by similar events in London; and in turn
less affected by those than I would be by similar
events in my nearest town; or in my village. It's
natural. Perhaps not good, but natural. |
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I get out of the house early in the morning, and on my way to work, notice flags flying at half-mast... maybe a school massacre, or some politician long past his best-before date, or victims of an earthquake, or the local mayor's mother-in-law - I'd like some way of finding out what this morning's mourning is without having to walk into work asking, "Hey! Who's dead?" |
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If there was something which kind of localized each event, maybe we'd gain a little global awareness. |
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In my view [MB] and [21] are both right. We are human and have natural responses, as well we should. I doubt [21] would want to give his shpiel to one of the many who had both legs blown off in Boston. That would be insensitive to their situation. At the same time, we as the millions of Americans who were not blown up need to, after experiencing the grief that we feel, follow action based on logic. (Probably this is trite, but maybe needs to be said.) |
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Wholeheartedly in agreement with 21 Quest. I'm
marking my calendar as I speak. |
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21Quest's now since deleted post: |
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[[Unnatural, maybe. But we have the ability and, I'd
suggest, also the responsibility to take a more level-
headed, reasoned approach to the way we react through
the news media. It could be said (in fact, has BEEN said)
that monogamy is unnatural. Democracy is unnatural
('might makes right' being the natural way to run things).
Birth control is unnatural. Do you see where I'm going
with this? When we react with shock and dismay to an
action deliberately calculated to cause shock and dismay,
we let the terrorists win. We give them exactly what they
want. |
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There was a comment made earlier on this topic
about children putting up with bullies. Here's my
response: You don't teach a kid to jump up and down
hollering and making a spectacle of himself. You teach
the kid to do one of two things, depending on your
philosophy regarding violence: Turn the other cheek and
report the incident to a teacher, or respond in kind by
beating the pulp out of the bully. |
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By all means, crowdsource the search for the
assailant if need be, just like they did with these Chechen
terrorists. But leave out the raw emotions, the outrage
and the shock. Don't respond with heat. Respond with
cold, reptilian calmness. Say "Ok, so THAT was your best
shot. 3 Americans dead in a crowd of thousands. Good for
you. You must be quite the accomplished bomb-maker.
Smithers.... release the hounds."
]] |
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