This is not the first absolutely narcissistic piece that blogcritics has printed by this sniveler.

I hate to be the one to burst his bubble, but drug addicts robbing one's apartment are NOT the worst thing happening on the planet by svereal million light years.

There are some very serious violations of human rights going on out there--that the "author" of this whining tirade pays no mind to or actively supports: in Iraq, in Afghanistan, just to name two places where the Brits are bloodying their bloody hands right along with the Yanks.

Grow up and get over it.

Worthless, self-serving off topic comment.

uhh, guys? "Personal attacks are not allowed. Please read our comment policy." Anywho, umm, author? If you want people to think you're not just ranting, perhaps you could link us to a few more sources than just just the Telegraph. Thanks.

Great. Another excuse to just shrug off being robbed, eh, moonraven? I suppose your first thought would be the War in Iraq if your place got broken into?

"Worthless, self-serving off topic comment."

Indeed, Clavos, but that's all moonraven is capable of. Poor chap honestly can't express himself civily, you know.

You could argue that giving addicts disinfectant equipment for their needles encourages drug-use. It's probably much more likely it happens because, mmmmm, it reduces infection, which in turn means the addict is less likely to need the already pressurised health service. Try thinking a bit before you vent yourself with a computer.

@#3:

My comment #2 is perfectly in keeping with BC Comment Policy. I did not attack the commenter (a personal attack by definition), I attacked the comment, which is allowed, because the comment, by definition, is not a person.

in america, junkies can get free needles, not just disinfectants... sharing needles spreads aids... and the problem is on the inside, not the outside.

you could make the case that a junkie with aids is a dead junkie... which would be cruel, but not beyond you... but the fact is that you, or your child, could have sex with an aids-infected junkie who got it because they shared a needle.

free, clean needles, even if they do enable drug use, are good things.

as for tolerating junkies, its a personal thing, i suppose. i wouldn't tolerate a family or friend being a junkie. i also don't like dealing with junkies. the fact is, however, that if you locked up all the junkies, or sent them all to rehab, the jails and hospitals would be overloaded with cracked-out people with no money to pay. it just doesn't work.

getting rid of the drugs doesn't work. getting rid of the junkie doesn't work. it's a problem, but i'm afraid we're pretty much stuck with it. the only real option is to make selling or distributing the drugs very, very dangerous. the real problem is the dealers, not the users. they'll still find a way, but at least those responsible for the worst of it will pay.

My place was broken into.

I am not a man.

I was raped during the robbery.

And was beaten. By two illegal guatemaltecos. The policewoman who took me to the hospital to be examined said it was the worst she had seen.

I got over it. I don't spend my life picking my navel. And the ethnic origin of the rapists did not prevent me from moving to Latin America to do social and theater projects and train teachers.

Stop sniveling and get over it, too.

That's all I have seen you do on this site.

We Do Recover

When at the end of the road we find that we can no longer function as a human being, either with or without drugs, we all face the same dilemma. What is there left to do? There seems to be this alternative: either go on as best we can to the bitter ends--jails, institutions or death--or find a new way to live. In years gone by, very few addicts ever had this last choice. Those who are addicted today are more fortunate. For the first time in man's entire history, a simple way has been proving itself in the lives of many addicts. It is available to us all. This is a simple spiritual--not religious--program, known as Narcotics Anonymous.

I have several friends who have recovered in that excellent program.

Most of them have become chemical dependency counselors--with master's degrees--and are also teaching and training other formerly chemically dependent folks.

But there are still whining little shits like the guy who posted this piece on the loose out there--who expect to be tolerated but who refuse to tolerate anybody else living on the planet.

#8:

"the real problem is the dealers, not the users"

I disagree. As long as there's a market, there will be people to supply it.

A crackdown on dealers will only have the effect of raising the prices even more, which will in turn attract more people into dealing.

The REAL solution is legalization and government control and regulation, with taxes to help finance the cost of oversight

"A crackdown on dealers will only have the effect of raising the prices even more, which will in turn attract more people into dealing."

it's not like a higher price for drugs means more profit for most dealers. they get their shit from someone, who get their shit someone else. the situation you are talking about only benefits a few.

legalization is an option. but i think it could be a bad one. it would make for more junkies than there are now. how do you control cocaine? you ever had the stuff. man, it is good. and if there are quality standards... well, i'll tell you, the only thing that keeps ME from snorting myself into oblivion is the fact that you are about as likely to get shit cut 40% with baby powder (which makes you poop), as you are to get shit that's only been cut 20%. if i could get the pure stuff (and i THINK i've had it once or twice,) i'd go nuts on it.

legalizing hard drugs like cocaine and heroin would not be beneficial to anyone, methinks, least of all me.

Yes, but the whiner who wrote this piece is only concerned about benefit to HIM.

He could not--obviously--care less about what drug dependency says about the culture in which it thrives--or about the issue of legalization of currently illegal or controlled substances.

He would be happy to go for anything that would guarantee him that he would never have his digs violated again by a junkie.

Of course he forgets that a fair number of burglaries are done by folks who are not drug-dependent.

I hope that keeps him awake tonight watching for The Bogey Man....

We had a case, not too long back. A junkie kicked down the door of an elderly retired couple, whacked the woman in the head with a gun, and when the man ran out of the bedroom to help his wife, he was shot and died at the scene. The killer then stole some stuff he could sell for his next fix and left. The woman survived, identified the culprit and testified at his trial. He got life in prison.

The man who was killed was a highly decorated Air Force pilot who had continued to serve as a test pilot after he retired from active duty. He and his wife were respected members of the community and had been involved in many efforts to benefit others.

If this widow expressed the opinion that drug users were being treated too leniently, would MR tell her she should quit whining, just suck it up and get on with her life?

"it's not like a higher price for drugs means more profit for most dealers"

Not the street dealers, true. But it does for the cartels, and they WILL continue to meet the demand.

yep. that's true.

still, i remember crackdowns in my college days... funny how that always came around october... election season, maybe?... and how scarce the drugs would get. if they put enough effort into it, police can slow the flow of drugs, at least for a time. it got really frustrating. i remember sitting around with my roommates, waiting for the phone to ring... sometimes it would go on for weeks. jesus... we were boring without our drugs. probably with them too.

anyway, they did it by going after the dealers. i never so much as had a brush with the law while just partaking.

and i've never seen a cartel.

"If this widow expressed the opinion that drug users were being treated too leniently, would MR tell her she should quit whining, just suck it up and get on with her life?"

in this case, the drug user is also a violent criminal. that's why he should be punished. drug use should also be punished, but not by taking away clean needles. getting rid of all the drug users isn't going to end violent crime, although it would lessen it. drug use is just a flimsy excuse for violent crime. in this woman's case, it hardly matters that the criminal was a user, it just matters that he shot her husband. i'd bet she wouldn't care less about 1,000 new drug users everyday if it meant she could have her husband back.

I don't know how they're tolerated in America, but here, despite all the criminal behaviour associated with their habits, they're regarded as sick - the same as alcoholics.

Which means they get medical treatment wherever possible and in some cases, miracles happen.

The current director-general of the New South Wales Education Dept served a couple of years jail in the 1980s as a young man, on heroin charges, which turned his life around.

It was, as you'd expect, a controversial appointment but I would say that rather than being a bad role model for kids, he's an inspiration to all of us and a genuine example of how people can change,

Which is why, really, no-one should be written off. Everyone deserves a second chance.

MEM: "Oh, you're so lucky to live in England!")

Well, that bit's fair enough. You ARE lucky to live in England. Nothing like living in a country with a proper flag, a long and glorious history and where they drive on the proper side of the road. And don't you bloody forget it Mark! :)

Dead right, Stan, even if you are being flippant. That remark narked me, as well.

You know, it's fine to complain about the place where you live. I bitch about America and Americans all the time. But if you really are unhappy about living where you are, then perhaps it's time to think about getting yourself the hell home.

No, I agree Doc. Nothing wrong with the Old Dart that a good dose of sunshine, cricketing talent and ice-cold lager wouldn't fix.

Apart from that, it's a rather good place. Mark IS lucky to live there. Plenty of of other people are bashing down the door to get in - and getting in, mostly, one way or another.

If it wasn't any good, they'd be going to Moldavia.

Stan, they knocking down the doors to live here because it's a soft touch and we tolerate anything here -- even threats to our own safety from ingrate communities (mostly Muslim ones, no surprise). Frankly, I think the luckiest spot to live on the entire planet is where you find yourself -- Australia. Warm all the bloody time, amazing landscapes, high quality of life, and only the occassional loud-mouthed Lebanese to get on your nerves. Oh, yeah, low crime. Can't forget that. That's pretty crucial to a high quality of life.

If it's so great here in Britain, Stan, then what are you waiting for? Come on over. Just make sure you wear a turban and attach an Osama beard to your face: they'll let you stroll in, no questions asked!

I also hope you can handle a place that has a complete lack of summer but where winter lasts nine months! No such thing as "global warming" here. We're the one bloody spot on the entire globe that climate change isn't affecting.

"If it's so great here in Britain, Stan, then what are you waiting for?"

Mark, I did once live there - well, twice actually - and it's been a little while since I've visited, but I'm scheduled hopefully for a flying visit in September. We'll see. Yes, you're right about the weather, it sucks big time.

And yes, this is the place to be - all the good stuff from both Britain and America, and not much of the bad. A bit like America in the 60s, without Vietnam, and shades of pre-WWII Britain.

However, I like the US and Britain equally for different reasons, but they both have one thing in common: a belief among the ordinary people in individual freedoms, which is also why live here.

The poms have just gone a bit too far maybe with the rights :) Still, it would be in equal second spot with the US on my list of places to live in the English-speaking world - closely followed by Fiji and New Zealand.

Britain is still a good place though, and I maintain: you ARE lucky to live there.

MEM

great article. I have been struggling with my last two teenagers this past year and a half. Both have been in and out of Detention and rehabs. I have spent enough money on them and am now ready to let the chips fall.

BTW if you are a parent of teenagers please read this and this

Mark,


You do realise that they are ADDICTS. To rant on and on about how bad they behave is pointless but to attribute the perpetuation of their condition to "liberals" only displays once more your miniature grasp of cause and affect. Perhaps next you will write an article about snakes and ranting on and on about how terrible it is that they impel their venomous fangs on prey.

Perhaps its your youth that has sparked a new found awareness about addicts, tough love and the rest. However, political affiliation has nothing to do with the challenges of people who deal with addicts in their lives. What Gordon Ramsey has gone through is nothing different from what all family members go through in coping with addicted relatives, including alcoholics.

Conservatives enable their children, siblings and spouses as do liberals.

What you don't understand is that addicts behave in a way that is so different from how humans behave that people spend years trying to make sense out of what they do, hoping that once they UNDERSTAND how they impact people they will see the light or once they realise how much they are aided they will change out of gratitude. It never happens and eventually one comes to the realization that it is the foreign substance which controls their thinking and they will never reason like humans typically do. They have become a different species.

Now if you suggest that society should just ignore them, being that they don't reason, they will merely do more of what they do, which is steal or kill more for their fix. They don't care whether you care about them. They don't care whether you ignore them or not. They just want a fix.

What many programs do is temper their outrageous behavior. The needle programs stop the spread of AIDS to the rest of society. The meth clinics attempt to reduce the crimes related to funding the fix.

Once more, you missed it.

Again, enough with the paranoia about liberals. You really have no idea of what you speak.

By the way, your picture makes YOU look like an alcoholic.

Well said, Zedd. An addict is a very different sort of person. I was at an NA meeting with my youngest son and a person said, "We addicts are different from regular people. We can be laying in the gutter and look down our noses at others."

Addicts cannot be classified as cons or libs. They are addicts.

Please check out my links in #25.

excuse me? :::raises hand:::

how does the Article know it was a junkie that ripped him off?

was the thief caught? if so, then it could easily be determined...but if so, i missed the part where justice was served to the miscreant...from the Article it appears that the thief got away with the loot...

if so, then how does one know the thief was a junky?

just curious...

Excelsior?

Maurice

I am surprised that you wouldn't correct this young man on his assumption that this problem is due to liberals enabling bad behavior.

You understand the complexities and frustrations of this problem and just how mentally contorting it is regardless of ones political bent.

I had a relative who was at the beginning of a thriving professional life but became addicted, that I "helped" (raising their children, putting them in rehabs, searching the streets for, etc) for 12yrs and finally halted. It made no difference to them one way or another (other than to give them reason to complain about my lack of love and compassion..... eye roll :).

They finally came around years later, for whatever reason, with a mushy brain. Even now they are still on a mission to make people feel guilty for not rushing with unabandoned joy because they have decided to leave their vices.... eye roll agan :o). They campaign to other relatives (who didn't help them) to try and get them to tisk tisk me because of my ambivalence. Either way, I'm spent and could care less. I love my relative and am glad for them and mostly their now adult children but.... whatever........ sorry to say.

Side note: The most destructive force was that of SHRINKS. Keep your kids away from those quacks unless its a tough no nonsense person who will put the complete onus on them. Talking about feelings doesn't cure addicts.

Maurice,

I was posting my comment to you as you were posting yours. I finished after you did and so my last post no longer applies.

Sorry and thanks for the comment.

Maurice,


My relative would be homeless and when I would pick them up (smelly and icky) to bring them to my home to live, they would be smugly bragging to me that they only hung out in the largest library down town on the BUSINESS floor (only off course) because they were better than the other homeless people :o). Because I was raised in a gentile manner, I was afraid of them but felt compelled to help. They had their nose up in the air, when all I saw was a homeless person.

I'm really surprised that nobody commented on Manning's comment (#23). It raises at least a couple of questions, I think. Firstly, how did a rant on drug addicts turn into a rant against Britain's immigration policies? Secondly, if, as he suggests, you need to disguise yourself as "a Muslim" (whatever the hell that means) to be welcomed with open arms, how did an American misanthrope such as the author not only get into the country, but apparently is allowed to make a living there?

Clavos

There will always be addicts. Human beings have found ways to get high since the beginning of time.

My mom told me that back home people would dig a hole 12 feet long or so laterally in the ground stuff it with some sort of special leaves, burn one end and lay down on the other side with hands cupped inhaling.

I don't know if these holes were gofer holes or some critter's burrow, because I cant figure out how they dug them.

Anyway, it just goes to show you what legnths people will go to to get high.

"they knocking down the doors to live here because it's a soft touch and we tolerate anything here --"


Who is THEY and who is WE?

To SonnyD:

It's unfortunate what happened and the woman lost her husband.

BUT, why NOT get on with her life?

What's WRONG with that?

The other choice is to live in victimland--and that's no place to live.

Radical Forgiveness shows us that there is perfection in everything that happens--just a matter of seeing it.

Gonzo: I also wondered how the writer--and I use that term in its MOST generic sense-- KNEW that the person who burgled his digs was a junkie. Then I let it go, as someone like the writer of this sniveling drivel ALWAYS makes assumptions like that. He never has put forth any evidence for any of the ridiculous postures he has taken on this site--why should he start now?

stm: "Well, that bit's fair enough. You ARE lucky to live in England. Nothing like living in a country with a proper flag, a long and glorious history and where they drive on the proper side of the road. And don't you bloody forget it Mark! :)"

yep, a flag, a past and the rest of the world passing to your right. go great britain!

but your food stinks. and you can't make wine. and it rains all the time.

bah. i'm in a foul mood.

Maybe the 'author' knew the burglar was a junky because the thief stole his heroin.

Good theory, che. But the "author" doesn't even have the imagination to be a junkie.

Zing is now complaining about the weather in England--as if it rained more there than it does in Bellevue....

Get a fucking grip, man.

oh, shut up. i'm moving anyway.

ain't it funny how we can completely agree about this particular issue (drugs), and yet you still find a reason to berate me?

you are a big, stinky diarrhetic poo in a world of shit. thank you.

Ah, another mature male response from the soiled sandbox....

And he wonders why my daughter runs the Arts Museum and he wraps burgers at McDonald's....

Love her or hate her, you cannot ignore Moonraven (I refuse to use the MR abbreviation). Sure, she plays rough, but she makes a lot of valid points.But what I find infinitely amusing is how she makes the politico boys squirm. We need to remember the soup goes bland if its not stirred frequently.

"Ah, another mature male response from the soiled sandbox...."

ah, moonie. just giving back to you in kind.

and you know as well as i do that she's just an underling.

Moonraven: Thank you for your answer. I understand your point of view. In trying to keep my comment brief, I left out the details about the young man whose way of life led him to become a killer. He had been a drug user for years. He had been in trouble with the law many times. He usually got off with a warning or probation. He had spent a few days in county jail now and then, but no one ever took his actions seriously. He got more sympathy for being a troubled youth than any attempt at correction. His father was in prison for home invasion and his brother had been arrested several times for various offences. I just have to wonder why someone didn't see where he was headed.

As far as the widow is concerned, she seems to be holding up very well. There was a ceremony at the local airport where a memorial to her husband was dedicated. She appeared to be handling it very well.

I can't help thinking about the whole picture. Being the wife of a career military man is not easy. She spent most of her life on her own. Then he finally retired and they were enjoying retirement by continuing to serve others. Then this happened and she was left alone again. That's just sad all the way around.

This column is so dumb. People who are drug addicts have chemical changes in their brains. When you increase the amount of dopamine in the synapse via meth or cocaine, your D2 receptors downregulate. These means that addicts don't experience any pleasure due to an understimulated dopamine system. They take the drug to avoid feeling terrible. They take the drug at first for the euphoria, but eventually their brain adjusts so natural rewards are no longer rewarding.

Gonzo asks: "if so, then how does one know the thief was a junky?"

That's true Goz ... London is absolutely full of ordinary tea leaves (thieves) who just do it for a living.

"However, I like the US and Britain equally for different reasons

That's a good thing to hear, for a moment I thought you had a hard-on for British things only, based on your original comment, and I wondered if that was indeed typical of Australians.

So ... do you think the 7/7 victims considered themselves lucky to live in Britain?

"I hate to be the one to burst his bubble, but drug addicts robbing one's apartment are NOT the worst thing happening on the planet by svereal million light years.

There are some very serious violations of human rights going on out there--that the "author" of this whining tirade pays no mind to or actively supports: in Iraq, in Afghanistan, just to name two places where the Brits are bloodying their bloody hands right along with the Yanks." by Moran in comment one

So everything we say, talk about, write about or even think about should be about Iraq or Afghanistan?

Get a life.

"So ... do you think the 7/7 victims considered themselves lucky to live in Britain?"

Mate, I could ask similar questions of the 9/11 victims, or in the case of Australia, the Bali victims.

Nutcases are nutcases no matter where you are. I maintain, you ARE lucky to be living in England. Because, simply, living anywhere that's not Australia, Britain, the US, Canada or New Zealand (I only put Fiji on my list because of the weather and the surf) creates real problems for English speakers who've grown up with the notion that individual rights count more than any others.

I know in your view, some of that's gone too far and become part of a bizarre, soft-touch warped ideal. I see it differently, however, and live in hope ...

For the reasons I list above, I see the British as a beacon of light in the modern era and any true examination of their history will show that to be the case, despite some misguided notions of empire and a propensity to meddle and explout in days gone by.

Giving people rights and protecting them at law is paramount, even if you don't like the fact they've got them.

I feel for the loss of your electrical goods, but it happens.

Rick #46

You say:
"People who are drug addicts have chemical changes in their brains..."

Well, I do feel some sorrow for their plight, and the circumstances that led them to drug addiction, but they chose to change their brain chemistry.

If they try to enter my home with willingness to commit violence in the course of their crime, I will choose to alter their brain chemistry as well; it will have a high lead content.

No whining tirades, just a couple of slugs.

STM

South Africa is a great place for English speakers.

"but they chose to change their brain chemistry."

Sure but addiction has a large genetic component. If you have a gene that makes you produce fewer dopamine receptors then you will be more likely to try cocaine to obtain pleasure.
The concordance rate for cocaine use is 54% for monozygotic twins which indicates a high genetic factor. Plus if you have a mental problem you are more likely to use.

Rick -
What you're saying about addiction and the "genetic component" is true. I don't speak out of arrogance. I know first hand about the propensity for addiction and/or compulsive behavior, as I am one who has faced such struggles.

It would be very easy for me to return to destructive behavior, but I've made difficult choices to stay away from the things that would draw me in and bring destruction to myself and others.

Those who have given themselves over to a willingness to harm others in order to satisfy their addiction do need help, but I will not allow them to harm myself or other innocents if I can prevent it.

zing,

You gave me back NOTHING in kind, you silly twit.

You just had one of your medless meltdowns.

Underling, huh? Deputy Director and at least 5 times your income. And with only a BA in Art.

Anthony--In a word--until the invaders are OUT of those countries--YES.

I couldn't care less about the whiner whose digs was robbed. What's he done about it? Nothing.

When my place was robbed and I was raped and beaten within 15 hours the perps were behind bars and my attorney was drafting the pleading of the lawsuit against my landlord for insufficient security--a suit settled out of court for the mid-six figures.

Get a life? No, get your ass in fucking gear!

Sonny D:

Both the killer and the widow should find their way to Radical Forgiveness.

"You gave me back NOTHING in kind, you silly twit."

ahem. ok, so i went with the posterior instead of the crotch region. fine.

"You just had one of your medless meltdowns."

you mean the kind you're on constantly? maybe, but i was just mocking you.

"Underling, huh? Deputy Director and at least 5 times your income. And with only a BA in Art."

how do you know how much money i make? do you even know what i do? and i know she's deputy director. that's why i said "underling."

moonraven, As the Blogcritics Comments Editor I'd like to give you a little headsup. Please follow the Blogcritics protocol of formatting links properly. That means like this Blogcritics rather than simply pasting in a raw url. Just in case you're not sure how, here is a very easy explanation of how to format a url.

Thanks!

5...4...3...2...1...

LOL! I fear we're in the end game now, Clavos...

zing,

[Personal attack deleted by Comments Editor]

When the museum fires my daughter and hires you as Deputy Director, let me know how crummy it feels to be an underling.

[Personal attack deleted by Comments Editor]

Chris,

I guess I will not bother to put links in future--we have had this conversation before, and I explained then that I am way too old and too luddite to be able to format links the way you choose to receive them.

Ohhh, I thought it was the site that was Luddite! Silly me.

I know you don't care, but I can't help myself reaching out to you one last time; the site is looking to increase the, how did Eric put it once, "spirit of brotherly love we wish to foster".

That is going to mean that less indulgence will be shown to those who choose to use excessive insults as a communication tool. Persistent offenders will be excommunicated for rather a longer time than one month...

Fine. Go for it.

dammit! i have a meeting and miss all the fun! part of the fun of messing with moonie is to see what she'll say next. her teeth must be rotting out of her head by now. so dirty.

Perfect Native American teeth.

Zedd: "South Africa is a great place for English speakers."

Yes, true, you are right - although you'd have to learn another language in Pretoria :) I was toying with putting South Africa on the list.

On my preferred options list, it comes in before Canada but after NZ. Of course, the big bonus is that you can go and watch a top-class rugby game just about anywhere. But you also have to be a little bit careful in South Africa, especially in Joburg and Cape Town.

C. Rose: "moonraven, As the Blogcritics Comments Editor I'd like to give you a little headsup."

Christopher, you've threatened her with expulsion before and she's still carrying on, attacking anyone and everyone. Just ban her already! She's showing absolutely no signs of respecting BC Comments policy.

I know in your view, some of that's gone too far and become part of a bizarre, soft-touch warped ideal. I see it differently, however, and live in hope ...

You're right, I do see it as having gone too far. As for living in hope, what have we got to be hopeful about? I'm way tired of the view that we've got to respect the rights of the "religion of peace" practicing community when they have no such respect for Britain's proud tradition of individual rights themselves.

In my view, respecting every single individual's right, no matter how dangerous they've proven themselves to be, invites fascism. In twenty year's time, Britain is going to be rife with sharia law and all in the name of respecting "individual rights."

And yet you remain hopeful for us.

People here often say that I'm crazy for having left the U.S. (which, I state for the record, I did not do for political reasons) and I cannot help but think they're right.

Mark, I'm one of those glass-half-full people and continue to hope that all the people who comment here will have the personal resources to stick to the issues rather than attacking the personalities.

If I took a very aggressive line, the site would have very few commenters and be a very boring place. That said, moonraven, despite having made several more substantive comments recently (yes, I know, astonishing!) is fast approaching the end of the line.

STM

But you also have to be a little bit careful in South Africa, especially in Joburg and Cape Town.

Perhaps like you do in New York, Chicago, DC,......

#69 sez - "In my view, respecting every single individual's right, no matter how dangerous they've proven themselves to be, invites fascism."

fascism - 1. (sometimes initial capital letter) a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.

now how in the blue blazing Hells do you try and say that Recognizing EVERYONE's rights as Individuals can equate to fascism?

your assertion that somehow an oppressive ruleset (Sharia law) can be implemented in the name of respecting Individual Rights is also a non sequitor for the same blatant fallacy of Logic...if you are upholding the rights of the Individual, you cannot instigate an oppressive system without violating those self same Individual Rights

completely nonsensical

and here you were calling yourself a "conservative"

bah

"I do not think that word means what you think it means" - Inigo Montoya

Excelsior?

oh yeah...almost forgot, Mark...just HOW do you know that burglar was a junkie?

i asked before, but you appear to have missed it...did he fix in your living room and leave his needle and rubber hose behind?

just how do you KNOW he was a drug user?

just curious about your psychic powers...

Excelsior?

Chris, If you had bothered to re-read the first thread I posted on last September--under my own name--which was reviled and violated by several posters--all MALE--you would notice that I never posted anything that was NOT substantive commentary.

But that is not why most people post here--and that's why I don't fit in--nor do other WOMEN--in this semen-only site.

Most of them post here 1)to insult and degrade women and 2)to smear a bunch of uninformed and arrogant crackpot drivel across the only forum that is open to them.

And then there's the case of YOU--who are NOT a half-full guy at all, but a condescending abuser of the tiny sliver of power that you have as the comments editor.

Rick #46

Your comment is right on. Sounds like you might have gone down the same road I have. It is a terrible thing to witness.

Good luck

Zedd: "Perhaps like you do in New York, Chicago, DC,......"

Stop being so defensive you naughty woman. It's not a put down. I almost took a job in SA a few years back. On being careful, I think a tad more careful Zedd in SA, especially whilst driving in the big cities. Pretoria is notorious as well. I think it just depends where you are, but if I lived there, I'd be heading towards Jeffries Bay/Cape St Francis anyway. It's paradise. Water's a bit cold though in winter. It actually ain't that warm in summer either, come to think of it. And it's full of dirty great Noah's Arks with really sharp teeth. Still ...

MEM writes: "People here often say that I'm crazy for having left the U.S. (which, I state for the record, I did not do for political reasons) and I cannot help but think they're right."

Only one answer to that mate - then you should go back there, Mark. I'm sure the Poms would be happy to have a whip-around for you so you could raise just enough for a one-way ticket :)

Here's one of the cool things you might see in SA.

When my wife and I did our camping trip around the SA game parks and preserves, we spent a few nights in Kruger, of course.

That was pretty wild Clav ... literally :)

Never got to see anything like that while we were there.

But, a monkey of some kind did swoop down out of a tree that overhung the fence around the campground (the humans, not the animals are fenced in at Kruger) at our site and stole a very nice basket of fruit my wife had just set out on the table beside the camper. It was VERY quick, and got away with the swag.

And, at Cape Point Nature Preserve, one of the baboons (they are very numerous there) tried to steal a sweater right off my wife's shoulders. Fortunately, she had a good grip on it, but I still had to shoo it away.

A wonderful trip.

Clav: "A monkey ... stole ... our fruit basket. It was very quick".

A tea-leaf monkey eh? Must have been trained in Australia.

It DID have a funny accent...

Speaking of funny accent. South Africa hits number one spot, I reckon.

I was watching the rugby the other week, and the two commentators were South African - one was an English speaker and I could barely uinderstand him, but the other bloke was a well-known Arikaner who was speaking English as a second language and fair dinkum, I couldn't understand a bloody word he said.

On reflection maybe that was the awhole idea.

STM

Whatever to you! English speaking South Africans sound very much like Australians except less common. That guy that you could barely understand MUST have been an Afrikaner or grew up in an Afrikaner area.

The guide in Clavie's feed was clearly a Boer. I still bristle at the sound of that accent. Its like nails on a chalkboard... hearkening back to the police and the frightening random stops and searches of my early youth, police dogs (BullMastiffs and large German Shepards.... While forgiveness has taken root but forgetting is difficult. Ugh! Pooohie!

I think they were both from the boer belt Zedd. I know one was an English speaker (at least he almost has an English-sounding name), and the other certainly is a dutchman. But you know how English is spoken up on the high veldt outside Jo'burg - it can be hard to understand unless you listen carefully, and when they both get excited calling a rugby match, they become virtually impossible to understand.

Especially when the Springboks are winning.

STM

I'm teasing. I know what you mean. Those guys from those regions are made fun of even at home.

Actually some Brits are difficult to understand. I was watching a show on British America (a teen soap) I couldn't understand a couple of those kids. Not one word. It actually scared me that we are supposed to be speaking the same language and I could not make not one association with what they were saying. French I get, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, etc. but what they were speaking was just jibberish.

Zedd, sounds like you weren't paying attention and accidentally started watching Hollyoaks. Can't believe they put that garbage on BBC America... it's almost as obnoxious as Footballers' Wives. Think I managed about fifteen seconds before switching over, or off.

I'd almost rather watch Neighbours... ;-)

No, Doc, you wouldn't :)

Some of the actors are better looking, but still.

You need to trust me on this one.

Don't worry, Stan. I haven't seen Neighbours for years and wouldn't recognize anyone on it these days... Except for the fact that there are only 30 actors in Australia*, who must of necessity be rotated regularly through the various shows. ;-)

I used to watch it quite regularly (or at least my ex-wife would insist on having it on when I got home from work and it was kind of hard to avoid). It's just not the same without Scott and Charlene, Madge and Harold, Joe Mangel, Paul Robinson and all those other buggers sleeping with each other and being resurrected from the dead. Good times.


* Ten of whom are, at any one time, otherwise occupied with winning Olympic medals.

Doc

You got it on the nose! How'd you guess?

You are right, ALMOST as bad as Footballers'... although I caught myself watching it last week and getting into it. I'm ashamed.

Home and Away's better DD. Alf's a hoot.

His favourite line (not generally heard in Australia since the end of WWI - yes, one): "You flamin' galah".

"You flamin' galah".

Hmm. One of the H&A script editors probably read that line in a Colleen McCullough book somewhere once and got fixated on it.