The other day I noticed a young lady, I assume in her early thirties, sitting outside of a business establishment, crying and yelling into her cell phone. It could've been anything, but I wondered if she just didn't have a cell phone, she might have taken a break from her problems. I was reminded of that young lady while I was reading a Reader's Digest waiting for my turn to take my yearly routine eye test. I was reading an article by Rory Evans titled "Where are Our Manners"and decided it might be a good subject to blog about.
The author said that these days we demand a faster broadband, so we just can't tolerate slow people. We expect that clerk to be as fast and effective as Google. If we see a driver in front of us hesitating a little bit, we just assume they're texting. It cans be so innocent, for example, I should've been grateful that on my 66th birth date last week, my grandsons came to see me, but I was distracted every 10 minutes or so, when they glanced down at their cell phone scrolling through their messages. I saw a little of that last night at my departed friend's services. I'm sorry,I may be old fashion but I think they were being rude, even thou to them it’s business as usual. According to Emily Post about 75% of American adults believe mobile manners are getting worse. Except for those that have no frill cell phones, people are being programmed to think that every message they get is of vital importance.
The article death with anonymity on the Internet stating, "We should post comments using our real names or with the idea we are." I know I do that; I wouldn't post a comment that I wouldn't, using my full identity. It's not saying that we shouldn't react, but we don't have to make it WWW III. If we're getting into daily skirmishes, then were' re part of the problem because it takes two to tango It's just my opinion, but I think our forum is improving because we don't have as many trolls as we used to. We might be in the eye of the storm, but I've noticed a lot more civility. We don't have the closeness we once had, but we've had a high turnover of posters unless it's the same people using different name. I have also noticed that some regulars don't post as often as they used to. One regular told me that we're just recycling the subjects, so it's become boring. That's true to an extent because I remember when I started, we were commenting on the news of the day.
The nastiness of politics is nothing new but these days the outrageous comments are part of the breaking news on CNN. An intelligent roundtable discussion of today's problems will get poor ratings; whereas three people shouting at one another will guarantee you, two million viewers a night. People are starting to think that the whole world is reality TV. It comes, close sometimes. I can't believe a national politician would stand up and say," We need a leader, not a reader" and that the crowd behind him would stand up and applause that line. When did facts, history and knowledge take a backseat to folksy?
Everyone thinks bad manners are what other people have; we will never find a cure for the arrogant, so all were left with is acknowledging our own shortcomings.
25 comments:
As always,I spoke too soon,as to the civility of our forum..I was only gone a couple days. Well I was in Victoria but I was occupied and not paying attention to the VA forum.
Where has Kyle disappeared to? Rebecca's been under the radar,legion doesn't post at VA as much and neither does EA...Maybe the topics aren't to their liking.
Mike,
You know I often complain about the lack of the old, good posters on the Advocate.
Personally, sometimes I have to weigh whether I'm up to putting up with folks who simply are not capable of engaging in valid conversation, which is what the forum is.
But, why would I care to converse with someone who is posting half truths or even outright lies? I have no desire to waste a key stroke, most of the time, on folks who call our President vile names. I'll own calling Bush a Shrub, but I never likened him to anything vile that I remember.
I've grown tired of correcting the Advocate headlines. So, there is not much left. I am really hoping the upcoming election season will bring back some of the posters.
But, I have learned that I don't have to post all the time. I have learned how to pick and choose. I can keep up with a few subjects easier than I can twenty!
And, yes, sometimes the topics are just not of interest to me.
Mike.
With the increase of daily stalking I am receiving and the stupidty of the locals, I think "war" should be declared. I just entered my 30's and at some point the lying has to stop. These bouts of anger you are witnessing are reactions of problems that should have been solved before "mommy and daddy" met.
Maybe some of these locals like the loony jobnut Gary White should take a look at the JFK Poster from the MINK COAT MOB.
EA
Speaking of vile names, I saw a despicable comment on a poster's wall that was eventually deleted. The person who submitted that comment was one of the concealed handgun permit fellows that wanted our trust on the bike/walk trail ride issue. He can even be trusted to control his language.
I can understand an honest disagreement on the issues because most of the time, they are two sides but when a poster start their sentence with " the liberals" I know it's all downhill from there.
Since I read a lot, the enticing headlines with "no there, there" is beginning to get on my nerves.
I always say I am not going to post as much on the VA but someone pops up with a misleading blog,exploiting my weakness and I just can't stop myself from submitting a contradicting blog...:-)
Not only was that disgusting comment deleted, but the account went *poof* as well....
BigJ
I can sympathize with your ordeal, I got rid of mine by severing all ties, even in the comments section. That might not work with you because you are confrontational, meaning you make yourself a legitimate target. I keep most of my comments and opinions on my blog where I have some control over. Many disagree with my tactics but I don't have to put up with rollingstone,itisi,BOstinks on a daily basis. All the rest can have their contradicting comments but if it's not in a civil tone, I won't respond. Don't misunderstand me, you have every right to state your opinion without being attacked but oftentimes you're the attacker...:-)
You have your way of dealing with unruly posters, which works for you, even if you don't think so.
Politics will always be confrontational, that's why many shy away from political arguments.
I don't even read the comments of Gary White or Mr. Tasin anymore because they don't make any sense. They are Christianity's worst enemies because their words are divisive and they don't really represent Christianity at its best.
I'm for free speech and all that but it is my opinion that if you post something like what he posted;a second chance is not warranted. We all know where the lines are,we may tiptoe it sometimes but rational people know when they have gone too far.
Yeah, I agree. We do know where the lines are, and sometimes I can't resist seeing if I can walk on the edge, but when I do, and I get zapped, I know why. I just figure my comment was up for a bit.
The deleted account--I didn't see the whole comment, just the tag line, but if the whole account went *poof* it must have been pretty bad.
BigJ isn't the only one who makes himself a target. Again, pushing buttons, stirring the pot, whatever you want to call it, I'm there alot! That is one of the things that helps me decide if I want to post or not--am I in a mood to deal with radiobabe, my arch nemesis, or not!
Absolutely all about free speech here.
EA
That's a good point because I just exercised my (he's just not worth it) option when muleman, called Juanita just another brain washed socialist. We both know that Juanita,could tear him to shreds without breaking a sweat. I seriously doubt that he has ever read her blog or knows anything about her. He saw the word democrat and he made an immediate word association.
You're right,BigJ isn't the only one who makes himself a target because most of us have been in that boat once or twice and it is a shame we can't submit an opinion without being attacked for it.
I know your boundaries stretch a lot farther than mine, when it comes to acceptable comments or those worthy of deletion.
Yea, Juanita Jean could easily tear him to shreds without breaking a sweat, or a well-manicured nail...
Knee-jerk reaction.
I figure a republican club meeting is just folks sitting around doing, what? Discussing who is the best and the brightest of the Magnificent Seven (you know they are not discussing Ron Paul--they don't consider him a real republican), without ever coming to a consensus? Probably.
Juanita Jean, I read her blogs with open eyes... I knew what I was going to read.
But you know what? There's not a lot I can disagree with.
The Republican presidential candidates? I'm not impressed with any of the "flavor of the month" ones. Why hasn't Huntsman got any attention? I know he is not a "real" republican.
Redistricting in Texas?Well yeah which ever party that is in power draws the lines to favor them. Almost every time the lines are drawn in Texas the Federal government re-draws them.
Grant money on the local level? Juanita Jean mentioned that too. Her take is exactly right, it is all taxpayer money be it state or federal.
The exact same thing happens here in Victoria... their is almost always other costs involved with grant money. For example the Airline park thing locally, yeah the state grant will pay for a majority of the construction. BUT there is that estimated $30K a year maintenance cost. The parks dept. can't even keep up with maintenance on the existing parks. Free money! Right.
Juanita Jean seems to me to almost be a Ann Richards clone, that's not a bad thing, I liked her as Governor.
Legion357
Juanita as Ann Richards is good; she reminds me of the late Molly Ivins,the humorist/columist.
I like the partisan humor she injects;its keeps things in check ,so we can laugh instead of getting angry. yes,she is definately partisian but that doesn't stop me from reading George Will,David Brooks etc.
I have to disagree about Jon Huntsman,he was the governor of one of the most conservative state,he is pro-life,pro 2nd amendment,and for traditional marriage but he's ok with civil unions.His tax policies are for lower coporate rates and Inv. rates but not the 2% surcharge on top 2%. I don't know what's not republican but perhaps I'm missing something...I forgot, he believes in climate change and the therory of evolution. He wouldn't get elected as a blue state democrat. He would be an excellant Ind. party candidate.
I agree about redistricting;thta's why it should be turned over to state judges or a bipartisian commission without giving the governor the power to fire a member of the commission like Jan Brewer did in Arizona.
Of course I have a different take on grant money..:-) I think it's a return of principal or a discount. The grant money is going somewhere;it would be foolish to turn it down but I see your point;if you don't need it and not prepared to kick in with the shared cost;don't take it.
It's like Black Friday when my wife tells me how much money she saved and I tell her "How much would you haved saved if you stayed home?"
Okay, so I'm a liar. I just had to jump in on the Gary White stuff on the VA. Oh, well.
EA
You've been wanting to unload for quite some time..Good for you,the old EA was back ,even if it was just for a couple of posts....:-)
You've been warning me about those groups for about 3 months.
I anxiously await Gary White's response. I'm sure it will be a masterpiece.
A masterpiece of fire and brimstone with some snake handling thrown in perhaps.
But it is after sunset on a Saturday, shhhh, Gary is busy, God is personally speaking to him until sunrise on Monday.
You are probably right, Legion! But have you all noticed that Gary White only comes out at night, late night?
I think it is because he doesn't want his family to know what he is doing. Frankly, I am amazed that the man owns a computer.
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Lol....Good stuff,Legion and EA after reading about last night's Thanksgiving Family Forum in De Moines,IA ,you are dead-on...Here are some samples from the forum
"To limit abortion, Gingrich proposed a federal law defining “personhood” as starting at conception, similar to a provision backed by abortion opponents that was rejected earlier this month by voters in Mississippi."
Perry echoed Luntz’s question, “What are we going to do about it?”
“Over the course of the years as the governor of Texas I have been actively engaged with an effort called Pastors and Pews, where we bring pastors together and we talk about public policy.”
Bachmann told the audience that the greatest censorship today was in the nation’s pulpits, because we have a law that limits pastors from what they can say about politics in a pulpit. That’s not the American way. . . . If we silence pastors from the pulpit because of a law that Lyndon Johnson put into effect back in the 1950s because he didn’t want them to say something against him, what I would do is back the repeal of that law, so that we could exercise First Amendment rights again everywhere, including this church and every other.”
The Family Forum was attended by 6 presidential candidates minus the two Mormons.
I am telling you--these folks have an agenda. Now don't get me wrong, as a Christian, I certainly believe in God's will and that we are all part of a plan, but do any of you remember the UNITED STATES being mentioned in the Old Testament? I don't. But I could be wrong...
It was James Dobson and the Evangelicals that struck a deal with George Bush the 2nd. He made promises in exchange for votes. Dobson went on Hannity and Colmes and complained that Bush didn't deliver his side of the deal. He talked about how he called the White House a couple of days after the election and Bushg basically said, "Nanny, nanny, boo, boo!"
I will find something that documents what I just posted. I have an old VCR tape of it, but no VCR player. It's out there somewhere on the internet.
Here you go--
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/assessment/2004/11/james_dobson.html
and
http://thepulpit.freedomblogging.com/2009/09/04/report-james-dobson-visited-white-house-24-times-during-part-of-bush-administration/2723/
and
http://www.vdare.com/articles/bush-on-the-bible-where-are-james-dobson-and-the-religious-right-now
and
that's probably enough for now.
I do not know why the full link will not post, so add this:
assessment/2004/11/james_dobson.html
after 'politics/'
If you still can't get it, google
James Dobson George Bush
And select the SLATE article.
EA
David Kuo wrote a great book called "Tempting Faith" describing how Karl Rowe lured the Christian Right into the fold but never made good on his promises...They got a line straight to the WH but that's it....I keep my politics secular.
I read the links but they need a puppet in the WH to carry it through....Michelle Bachmann said she would allow to extent the church/state status by allowing them to use churches as an arm of the GOP without losing their tax exempt status.
Disconcerting at best.
Disturbing at the least.
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