tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post1601097075161875061..comments2023-10-17T08:19:58.196-04:00Comments on FreeThinke: FreeThinkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-6835494399276952092013-01-25T10:27:46.440-05:002013-01-25T10:27:46.440-05:00Yes, Mr. Free Thinke, I use cannellini beans and c...Yes, Mr. Free Thinke, I use cannellini beans and ceci as well. I vary the recipe with the ingredients I have on hand (this time I had some bacon I wanted to use). I like the broth to be thick, so sometimes I puree half a can of canellini or ceci [garbanzo] beans and add it to the broth, which can be chicken or vegetable, depending on what's in my cupboard.<br /><br />In the old days, my Nonna made this dish on Fridays, when Catholics couldn't eat meat, and it was served with lots of Parmigiano cheese and crusty Italian bread, and, of course, Nonno's homemade vino. Shaw Kenawehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08637273000409613497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-89616734397540640462013-01-25T09:45:32.044-05:002013-01-25T09:45:32.044-05:00Ducky's here said...
This comment has been...<i>Ducky's here said...<br /> This comment has been removed by a blog administrator. <br /> January 24, 2013 at 10:11 PM </i><br /><br />Censorship? From FreeThinke?<br /><br />Did Ducky finally get too vulgar and disgusting even for you?Silverfiddlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13541652236676260219noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-50011718101275268662013-01-24T22:11:52.706-05:002013-01-24T22:11:52.706-05:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Ducky's herehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14608115001116619877noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-14765358258107618072013-01-24T21:18:54.479-05:002013-01-24T21:18:54.479-05:00Ms. Shaw,
I envy you your pasta e fagioli. I have...Ms. Shaw,<br /><br />I envy you your <i>pasta e fagioli</i>. I haven't had a really good homemade version in more years than I care to remember.<br /><br />Do you use cannellini? My grandpa would made it with ceci sometimes, and it was GORGEOUS. ;-)FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-23731743391152501872013-01-24T21:11:53.618-05:002013-01-24T21:11:53.618-05:00Now, please "be nice."
I'm in the c...Now, please "be nice."<br /><br />I'm in the curious position of liking numerous individuals who seem antagonistic towards one another. <br /><br />It's been that way way all my life, but I've never learned how to feel comfortable with it.<br /><br />I have clear memories from early childhood of family members getting "mad" at each other. I loved them all, and could never understand why they'd say horrible, wounding, insulting things they didn't really mean to each other. <br /><br />I can remember as far back as age three trying to stop them, and they'd always say, "YOU stay out of this, YOU don't know anything; you're just a CHILD."<br /><br />That always made it feel even worse, of course. I was too young to understand it was really just a silly game they played more out of habit than anything else -- a hangover from childhood, I suppose.<br /><br />Sometimes I'd corner one of the "antagonists" -- usually an aunt or older cousin -- and plead with her to "be nice" to "so and so."<br /><br />The response too often was, "If you still want to love HER after what she's said to ME, I won't love YOU anymore."<br /><br />It was every bit as inane as it sounds, but three-year olds don't understand that. I remember feeling frightened and very sad when they staged one of their quarrels.<br /><br />I still don't like it, but at least I learned long ago that no one can change anyone else's behavior patterns.<br /><br />I've come to believe that most of the great troubles in the world come from "messianic" convictions that it's possible -- or even desirable -- to change the world to suit one's personal idealistic vision.<br /><br />At the risk of sounding trite we have no power to change anyone but ourselves.<br /><br />It's not up to the world to conform to our needs, but for each of us to make the best of whatever hand of cards" has been dealt us.<br /><br />Attempts to "convert the heathen" almost invariably end frustration -- or tragedy.FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-70146081071317906742013-01-24T20:05:22.026-05:002013-01-24T20:05:22.026-05:00as stated previously, I'm a strict tit-for-tat...as stated previously, I'm a strict tit-for-tat man.Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-7071284704101855402013-01-24T20:03:50.924-05:002013-01-24T20:03:50.924-05:00I don't respond to vulgar, obscene and somewha...<i>I don't respond to vulgar, obscene and somewhat dull-witted internet trolls.</i><br /><br />No, you only impersonate them and post obscene comments to attribute to them.Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-42614840977792975652013-01-24T19:19:08.243-05:002013-01-24T19:19:08.243-05:00"I should not need to explain it to you, espe..."I should not need to explain it to you, especially, because I think by now you must have a pretty good idea of who I am through the poetry I've shared with you."<br /><br />That is a much more pleasant occupation for us. <br /><br /><br /><br />"Evangelicals and fundamentalists consider me a "liberal" Christian -- even a "heretic" and warn me frequently that I am "hellbound," and must repent or earn eternal agony in the afterlife." (:-o<br /><br />Well those sorts DO get a lift from thinking about people not like them suffering eternal damnation.<br /><br />"So, you see, I 'get it' from BOTH directions all the time."<br /><br />You do not deserve such a fate. <br /><br />"At any rate, right now it's time to broil my pice of sirloin that;s been marinating for the past two days, and enjoy the steamed cabbage I plan to have for tonight's dinner. Hardly a gourmet treat, but perfectly adequate for an old bachelor on a Thursday evening."<br /><br />For me, it's pasta fagioli, made with bacon in a light tomato sauce over ditalini, and a generous sprinkling of Parmigiano. A amusing little chianti will accompany it. ;-)<br /><br />Buon appetito!Shaw Kenawehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08637273000409613497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-59213806193434926492013-01-24T19:09:54.491-05:002013-01-24T19:09:54.491-05:00"Do I take your remarks to mean you don't..."Do I take your remarks to mean you don't object in any way to the remaining vestiges of respectful acknowledgement by officialdom that Christianity has played a significant role in our nation's development, but that those who are disturbed by the incursions of increasingly militant atheists on the status quo should just keep quiet and allow "change" to occur without so much as a murmur of debate or protest?"<br /><br />Dear Mr. Free Thinke, you characterize atheism as "militant" when it was the early Christians who banished Christians of other denominations from regions of this new country. And it is also true that certain Christian sects denounce other Christians as not "true" Christians. That's rather "militant" n'est pas? Christianity has been exceeding "militant" in it's long and bloody history. People seem to forget that fact. When someone introduces the idea of atheism as a valid alternative to religion, the ones who label it "militant" tend to be the ones who have little faith in their own beliefs. <br /><br />Why do believers become to insecure when a nonbeliever states with conviction his/her nonbelief?<br /><br />"Please don't attempt to characterize me as a Christian zealot who longs to see Puritan-style theocracy reestablished or worse yet -- a return to the days of Mediaeval Roman Catholicism."<br /><br /><br />You and other here have an annoying habit of attributing to me things I don't say or think. Please stop.<br />It makes you and the others look desperate for the chance to win an argument I didn't make. <br /><br />As I state above, it harms me not for people to hold their beliefs close to their hearts, so long as they don't try to force their rules and beliefs on me.<br /><br />I am a nontheist, I have no belief in gods.<br /><br /><br /><br />Shaw Kenawehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08637273000409613497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-35357583557874321262013-01-24T18:50:07.244-05:002013-01-24T18:50:07.244-05:00Ms. Shaw,
Do I take your remarks to mean you don&...Ms. Shaw,<br /><br />Do I take your remarks to mean you don't object in any way to the remaining vestiges of respectful acknowledgement by officialdom that Christianity has played a significant role in our nation's development, but that those who are disturbed by the incursions of increasingly militant atheists on the status quo should just keep quiet and allow "change" to occur without so much as a murmur of debate or protest?<br /><br />Please don't attempt to characterize me as a Christian zealot who longs to see Puritan-style theocracy reestablished or worse yet -- a return to the days of Mediaeval Roman Catholicism. <br /><br />All I can say to that is, "Heaven forefend!" ;-)<br /><br />I should not need to explain it to you, especially, because I think by now you must have a pretty good idea of who I am through the poetry I've shared with you. Evangelicals and fundamentalists consider me a "liberal" Christian -- even a "heretic" and warn me frequently that I am "hellbound," and must repent or earn eternal agony in the afterlife. (:-o<br /><br />Their admonitions are are meant "lovingly," I know, but I must confess I find it a bit unsettling to be thought of in such a manner. <br /><br />So, you see, I 'get it' from BOTH directions all the time. <br /><br />At any rat, right now it's time to broil my pice of sirloin that;s been marinating for the past two days, and enjoy the steamed cabbage I plan to have for tonight's dinner. Hardly a gourmet treat, but perfectly adequate for an old bachelor on a Thursday evening.<br /><br />I do thank you for participating. Tomorrow will be the last installment, and then we may move on to -- well, we shall have to see because I don't know yet.<br /><br />It may sound strange, but I am gratified at the responses received. The object was never to "convert" or "convince" or "praise," or "condemn," but simply to elicit as many responses as I could.<br /><br />I find it all revealing, if not particularly reassuring or instructive.<br /><br />Matthew Arnold's words keep echoing and reechoing:<br /><br /><i>" ... And we are here as on a darkling plane<br />Where ignorant armies clash by night."</i><br /><br />FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-43328592214674599982013-01-24T18:24:50.257-05:002013-01-24T18:24:50.257-05:00"Homer described Thersites in detail in the I..."Homer described Thersites in detail in the Iliad, Book II, even though he plays only a minor role in the story. He is said to be bow-legged and lame, to have shoulders that cave inward, and a head which is covered in tufts of hair and comes to a point. Vulgar, obscene, and somewhat dull-witted."<br /> <br />An apt description of the person who posts here and who harassed me and my blog for months to the point where I was forced to go to comment moderation.<br /><br />I don't respond to vulgar, obscene and somewhat dull-witted internet trolls.Shaw Kenawehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08637273000409613497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-42325302270493818802013-01-24T17:46:04.761-05:002013-01-24T17:46:04.761-05:00Since Farmer brings up the Hayes Code and Vertigo ...Since Farmer brings up the Hayes Code and Vertigo (odd choice).<br /><br />7. Fringe right wingers are terrified by human sexuality and actively seek to censor and control it.Ducky's herehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14608115001116619877noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-66951830302828443632013-01-24T17:06:06.244-05:002013-01-24T17:06:06.244-05:00"taking the "assignment" seriously ..."taking the "assignment" seriously and responding with dignity and restraint."<br /><br />Well, I treated myself to the occasional outburst. I'm not a monk.<br />These flippant items invite response in kind from a liberal, and from anti-liberals they invite chuckles. Anything else? Contempt, disdain, disregard? Even split into five parts, the list retains the relentless rhythm of old-school propaganda. I started to wonder whether the original author's intention was not to dehumanize liberals.<br /><br />"adversaries need to confront the feelings each has about the other and work towards acceptance"<br /><br />True. I suppose the danger is always present that our polite political disputes could turn sectarian. We feel sophisticated and safe in our parts of the world, but we're not. All it takes is one generation raised on hatred and misconceptions about the "enemy" and it'll all collapse easily enough.<br /><br />So yes, let us be reconciled to one another. Let us resist these tempting lies. Especially you, FT. We need our elders to have cool heads, we don't need them to be agitators. I sincerely worry about giving so much exposure to this list.<br /><br />I hope we're not inadvertently lending credence to this dangerous rubbish. I've tried to translate this list, loosely and intermittently, from "flippant" to "earnest." My fear is that the most entrenched anti-liberals won't even register any difference.jezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14865247084509280406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-91423436539620058412013-01-24T16:18:14.296-05:002013-01-24T16:18:14.296-05:002) Liberals are psychotics, conservatives, neuroti...2) Liberals are psychotics, conservatives, neurotics.-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16745768408538827278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-75897454145349329062013-01-24T16:14:38.782-05:002013-01-24T16:14:38.782-05:001) Liberals foreclose on sinthomes, thereby avoidi...1) Liberals <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreclosure_%28psychoanalysis%29" rel="nofollow">foreclose</a> on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinthome" rel="nofollow">sinthomes</a>, thereby avoiding the necessity of dealing with real issues.-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16745768408538827278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-20059222183054758982013-01-24T15:59:37.803-05:002013-01-24T15:59:37.803-05:006. The fringe right is concerned with public praye...6. The fringe right is concerned with public prayer despite Christ's warning in the Sermon on the Mount.<br /><br />---<br />"And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men."Ducky's herehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14608115001116619877noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-36819685162363700052013-01-24T15:59:14.325-05:002013-01-24T15:59:14.325-05:00Did you read what I wrote, Shaw?
It's NOT abo...Did you read what I wrote, Shaw?<br /><br />It's NOT about "Christianity" or "religion" at all.Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-54389930513662534592013-01-24T15:55:23.194-05:002013-01-24T15:55:23.194-05:00FJ, did you actually read what I wrote? Or were y...FJ, did you actually read what I wrote? Or were you too busy sewing your little straw man?<br /><br />Point us exactly to where I said or implied that I want to "banish" references to an "innocent 'Big Other.'<br /><br />Or maybe you're just having a bit of fun arguing and playing with yourself?Shaw Kenawehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08637273000409613497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-15407726473578794162013-01-24T15:54:22.674-05:002013-01-24T15:54:22.674-05:005. The fringe right believes that despite the mobi...5. The fringe right believes that despite the mobility of kapital there is a comparative rather than absolute advantage inherent in free trade. Ducky's herehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14608115001116619877noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-27380412862044982002013-01-24T15:50:06.333-05:002013-01-24T15:50:06.333-05:00Oh, wait... given the liberal nature of the Press,...Oh, wait... given the liberal nature of the Press, NO ONE IS watching the Democrats...<br /><br />If a tree falls in a forest...-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16745768408538827278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-40629039376178860972013-01-24T15:47:29.447-05:002013-01-24T15:47:29.447-05:00If Shaw wants to "banish" references to ...If Shaw wants to "banish" references to an innocent "Big Other" gaze, that is certainly her prerogative to propose. But the question she should ask herself is... does she really want the citizens to act like No One is watching?-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16745768408538827278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-80070433391635459232013-01-24T15:32:03.986-05:002013-01-24T15:32:03.986-05:00What Shaw, et al, are missing is the "why&quo...What Shaw, et al, are missing is the "why" there are references to G_d/Creator in all those places... Congressional prayers, coins, etc.<br /><br />There is a saying, "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" (roughly translated, "Who will watch the watchers?) The answer to that question is not "the Press" or "the People". The real answer is that they will only be "watched" by "the Big other"... an innocent omniscient Gaze that in a panopticon or "society of control" will "know" that the established "laws" are properly followed or broken. An example... the old "Hayes Code" censors who would do ridiculous things like prevent "underwear" from being publically filmed if it implied that one of the protagonists of a certain sex had seen a member of the opposite sex "naked" (Hitchcock's "<a href="http://youtu.be/WAVFI4FU77c" rel="nofollow">Vertigo</a>")... in this case the "camera" is a substitute for this "innocent gaze" that proves that the government censors are on the job enforcing the Hayes Code.<br /><br />Of course, all this "seems" silly, since no one is watching. But without the Big Other, the lie that the public officials are really public "servants" would be exposed for ALL to see. They are our "masters", not our "servants".<br /><br />And their "oaths" partially keep them in-check... make them slaves to "appearances"... keep them as <a href="http://thersitescorner.blogspot.com/2012/09/why-we-cheat.html" rel="nofollow">"little" cheaters</a> instead of "big" cheaters (see items that decrease dishonesty... honor pledges, moral reminders, supervision...)Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-2345481406359672412013-01-24T14:57:55.832-05:002013-01-24T14:57:55.832-05:00What I failed to say when I wrote my above-comment...What I failed to say when I wrote my above-comment is that it harms me not to have all those references to religion and its god. <br /><br />What is annoying is to constantly have to listen to people who are surrounded by and saturated in religion tell me their right to worship God is being taken away. It isn't and never was.<br /><br /><br />Shaw Kenawehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08637273000409613497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-84307835286834233522013-01-24T14:51:49.277-05:002013-01-24T14:51:49.277-05:004. The fringe right believes the Tea Party is not ...4. The fringe right believes the Tea Party is not a mass political self-lobotomy on a scale that was genuinely shocking to find anywhere outside of "1984"Ducky's herehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14608115001116619877noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-45191638667560822282013-01-24T14:36:32.699-05:002013-01-24T14:36:32.699-05:002. The fringe right are hypocrites driven by money...2. <a href="http://coloradoindependent.com/126808/in-malpractice-case-catholic-hospital-argues-fetuses-arent-people" rel="nofollow">The fringe right are hypocrites driven by money</a><br /><br /><br />3.<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/24/new-mexico-abortion-bill_n_2541894.html" rel="nofollow">The fringe right routinely tears the fabric of reason</a> ... and then gets upset when you laugh at them.<br /><br /><br />I can see why you enjoy this, FT. It is kinda fun.Ducky's herehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14608115001116619877noreply@blogger.com