h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

*holds a ginger snap biscuit out to Styx*

Want one of these?

I also was remiss in welcoming Rev paperboy - and do so now .
I'm so new around here I still don't know who's new and who's not.

[T&R]

[G7]

Phew!

[SoR]


PS No snow in Basrah today. Or ever!

So we seem to have slowed on the discussion, what's the new topic?

I'm on the state committee to select this year's Building Building nominees, so shall spend the next 3 weeks reading picture books. We have a preliminary list of 30. We'll meet next month to vote on our choices, then in March meet again and bring in a group of 'listeners' and read the stories to them and let them vote. We'll choose the top 10 and announce the selections. Then school kids throughout the state read the books and vote on their favorites. It's actually kind of fun.

It's brutally cold here. The air temperature is 5ºF (-15ºC) and the wind chill is -11ºF (-23.9ºC).

For those that need to convert temperature scales, please feel free to bookmark the following bbc official conversion page:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/calculators/temperature.shtml

Helps build self-reliance and self-esteem.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

I was a little bemused by the marriage conversation. Not one single mention as I remember of marriage forming a secure and permanent environment for the bearing and raising of children.

This is certainly the defining function of marriage from my point of view. Perhaps with widespread availability of contraception, it is less of a social control against reckless procreation these days, but it still represents a willing sacrifice of certain freedoms for the well-being of the next generation.

I did get the feeling in one or two postings that the marriage certificate was seen as little more than an "I love you" badge. That really does devalue the institution for me - particularly the "I love you for five years (renewable)" version. Love is the binding force within a marriage, the factor that helps hold it all together, but you don't really need a certificate to love someone do you ?

Providing a secure and permanent environment in which to raise children is important. Marriage, however, doesn't guaranty that environment. There are many disfunctional intact families. Additionally, in the US half of all first marriages end in divorce.

[]

{FC}

Post #133 by dw2: working theory:
Power cannot be taken, it can only be given away.

thoughts?


Lil adds: He who can destroy a thing, controls it. - Dune

Lil reminds the salon of our zero tolerance for trolls and other forms of bad behaviour. See A304354.

There are even fewer guarantees, WM, if the vows of marriage are trivialised.

The world is full of disfunctional people having disfunctional relationships with disfunctional partners, a lot of anger, jealously, sadness. That will never change. But whilst no-one else is involved, then the problem is confined to the pair in that relationship to mend or part as their commitment, or more commonly their selfishness dictates.

But where children are involved, the situation is different. There has to be some way for society to say that this relationship is special. You have a primary duty to the care and upbringing of the new lives that you have brought into the world. The interests of yourselves are now subordinate to the welfare of your children. Try and maintain love and comfort within your relationship by all means - but remember that you are no longer No 1. That is the big difference, and it is right that society gives special recognition to the sacrifice that entails.

The formality of marriage should not be trivialised because that takes the children away from centre stage, and that condemns the following generation to even greater disfunctionality.

I agree entirely about the over-trivialization of marriage. I heard about a couple a few months ago who broke up because of wall paper colorings, or something.

And in a somewhat related story, I recently saw this "news" ad: apparently, some people find it shocking that the Amish are healthier than most other Americans. Next week, this same paper will, I'm sure, report that the leaves have fallen off of trees for the winter and that there's a white substance covering the ground that wasn't here during the Summer.

Children, I would say, are more often an afterthought in marriage these days. I certainly know many couples who never would dream of having children, yet they still wanted to get married. Marriage is between two people, not three or nine (or the entire congress).

I am certainly not one to endorse marriage to provide a stable foundation for children - your relationship is what it is, whether you get married or not, however if things take a bad turn down the road you'll only be putting your children through a lot of pain. Marry if you feel that you're willing to make the commitment and you're willing to fix things if they might break.

Lil, Re. "Power cannot be taken, it can only be given away."

I suppose it depends on the context? I'm no debater, but are there not situations were power is taken?

I.e. Conquering army goes in and takes castle. Keeping power is a different matter though

Lil, I don't understand the pursuit and wielding of Power, particularly when used to force things on people that I consider to be a matter of opinion. I find it very selfish with a complete lack of respect for those of differing views. I am more of a consensus builder, I suppose.

I am a traditionalist in that when I was of child bearing age, I wouldn't have had the sons outside marriage. But that could have been one reason why my first marraige failed. Second time round I realised it was loving some one that was the most important factor and H and I do our best not to lose sight of that. We got married when the time was right for both of us, it only took 9 years for us to be in synch! We could have gone living together quite happily really.

I respect others' views on marriage and that those may or may not be based on firm religious grounds. But I can see no reason why a loving couple should not be capable of raising well adjusted children if they are not married. Relationships only work if a couple are prepared to work at it and that applies whether they are married or not.

I am feeling quite pleased with myself, not only have I finished the video but I have managed to avoid recording it back onto a digital tape of our most recent holiday and I even found a new unopened tape .

I would have to agree that "Power cannot be taken, it can only be given away." It doesn't matter that a person can force you to do something, or do something to you, that does not give them power over you. When you decide that the person can control you, thus giving them the power, is when you lose power.

If we take Ivan Denisovich (sp?), we see that no matter what is done to him he maitains control and therefore power over himself.

I would like to say that it pains me to agree with dw2 as he is my brother, and therefore I will not hear the end of it

MR - both my bro and I will be there tonight.

Courtesy