Politics. Or Not please

[AKA-None]

Originally Posted by transmitterdan

I’m uninterested in Brexit related VAT issues. Can we not talk about that?

I am uninterested in how to avoid paying taxes on a Mediterranean based yacht. Can we not talk about that?

I am uninterested in herbal gardens on a yacht. Can we not talk about that?

I am uninterested in animals on board, unless they happen to be on the dinner menu. Can we not talk about that?

I am uninterested in lots of things. Can we limit discussions to topics that only interest me?

Ok. You have a nice boat can I come for a sail sometime?

[StuM]

Originally Posted by rallyman1122

The comment that started this thread was someone calling California, Kalifornia the home of communists.

I thought it was The Land of Fruits and Nuts

[kmacdonald]

There is a lot of diversity here. The conservative Americans seem radical to a lot of liberal countries. That seems to cause some friction. Dont let it bother you, we are the normal ones and aren't bothered by your liberal ways and beliefs.

[kmacdonald]

Originally Posted by StuM

I thought it was The Land of Fruits and Nuts

You are correct.

[Morequestions]

Originally Posted by Singularity

To wit...and not just on social science issues...quoting Dockhead in this thread while thanking a contributor:




When I was in school we were explicitly taught that at least 25% of what we were taught would be effectively proven wrong (in the sciences), not withstanding the phenomenon that you immediately forget quite a bit of what you were taught. Lesson emphasizing the paramount need for lifelong learning.

So when you mix people who are fastidious in thought with people who understand reality based on the consensus of the people at happy hour at some watering hole somewhere (or what was taught in 1978), there is bound to be conflict. What both hard and social sciences demonstrate is that when you develop tension in any system...if you do not provide means to relieve tension...something will snap at some point. A system that never develops any tension is frankly something stagnant.

Byzantium. In the event that anyone doesn't know the reference of the title of a famous movie, it's contained in a poem on the conflict described here...and sailing:

Sailing to Byzantium
By William Butler Yeats
I
That is no country for old men. The young
In one another's arms, birds in the trees,
—Those dying generations—at their song,
The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas,
Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long
Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.
Caught in that sensual music all neglect
Monuments of unageing intellect.

II
An aged man is but a paltry thing,
A tattered coat upon a stick, unless
Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing
For every tatter in its mortal dress,
Nor is there singing school but studying
Monuments of its own magnificence;
And therefore I have sailed the seas and come
To the holy city of Byzantium.

III
O sages standing in God's holy fire
As in the gold mosaic of a wall,
Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre,
And be the singing-masters of my soul.
Consume my heart away; sick with desire
And fastened to a dying animal
It knows not what it is; and gather me
Into the artifice of eternity.

IV
Once out of nature I shall never take
My bodily form from any natural thing,
But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make
Of hammered gold and gold enamelling
To keep a drowsy Emperor awake;
Or set upon a golden bough to sing
To lords and ladies of Byzantium
Of what is past, or passing, or to come.

I would have been unstoppable If I could recite the poets work with a voice like Richard Burton

[transmitterdan]

Originally Posted by AKA-None

Ok. You have a nice boat can I come for a sail sometime?

Yes, of course.

[wtmf]

this is not about politics this is a FACT America is the ONLY free country in the world because Americans can buy guns. so if American freedom bothers you all I have to say is God bless you and Merry Christmas.

[sailorchic34]

Darn it. Here it is not even a hundred posts and somebody had to mention guns. It's all downhill from here.

[Macblaze]

Originally Posted by wtmf

this is not about politics this is a FACT America is the ONLY free country in the world because Americans can buy guns. so if American freedom bothers you all I have to say is God bless you and Merry Christmas.

Lol. And with that I can see now see the edge of the cliff...here we gooooooo.....

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by mjscottinnc

>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
This is especially true in the hypersensitive world we live in today where the new badge of courage is claiming aggrieved status.>>>>>>>>>>>

Is this not usually brought to you by the "blame the victim" crowd?

[jimbunyard]

https://freedomhouse.org/report/free...country-scores

There are, by their metric, 88 'free' countries, of which the US is one, but hardly at the top of the list.

Gun ownership has very little to do with freedom, as any consideration of the facts will demonstrate---though facts are usually the last thing on the minds of those who equate/conflate abstract ideas like 'freedom' with concrete things like 'gun ownership'.

[Mike OReilly]

Oh come on folks. Don’t take the bait. The best way to respond to a troll is don’t.

[Marc1]

As much as the OP may believe his post has good will and good intentions towards the forum, fortunately people who meet and write on forums are not sterile little robots but people. Full of bacterias inside and outside, lots of life experience some they would rather forget, lots of ideas that are not socially acceptable and also other ideas that are interesting and nice to share.

It is difficult to forward a post that states ... I don't want to read about what you think in relation to social or political issues because you are American and I am not. Such post belongs in the jokes thread.

And then, myself I was not born in the USA yet I am interested in what other people think and their beliefs. Makes the world go around. Fortunately we are not all the same. As long as you don't make proselytism for a political party I am sure expressing one's own beliefs is harmless when done in a socially acceptable way.

In my opinion of recently landed newby.
Ok I am off to visit Cuba now, I heard they have some fantastic vintage cars there and cigars are cheap as chips.

[Pelagic]

I will respectfully disagree with that.

The 2nd Amendment was put in place in the late 1700's to make sure that "the people" could not be easily intimidated by an unlawful or corrupt government.

While the right to bear arms is a cornerstone of public freedom, I acknowledge that many criminals and crazies have abused that right.

But it does not change the fact nor the debt many oppressed countries owe the USA in helping to free them from tyranny.

I am not American, but God bless America!

[Exile]

I think what may help the thread NOT get closed down is to keep the discussion confined to whether or not politics of whatever stripe is appropriate in CF threads and under what circumstances. Weavis laid that out quite well I thought. I imagine that as soon as the discussion morphs into actual political advocacy on one side or the other -- especially on a hot topic such as guns -- people will start complaining and the thread will get closed.

Just a hunch . . .