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

Two Bit-excellent definition. I thank you sir.

I think I'll just head over to SEURG, have a drink and cease attempting to explain myself. I seem to be serving no useful purpose in this discourse.

"A good working definition of terrorismis a (criminal) act of violencethat aims to affect the audience rather than the person harmed" Such as for example state sponsored death by lethal injection, electrocution, etc ordered by a judge who allows himself to be swayed by the arguments of the cleverest (most expensive) lawer. America is one of th last countries in the world where the death penalty still exists.
pierce
philex

Executions aren't necessarily an act of terrorism. There are other forums that address that issue directly.

just quickly dropping by - it's late here so no great treatises from this bird shall be forth-coming however, it seems to me that, if I may say so, you are confusing very seperate issues with a myriad of different logical and moral arguments and implications and trying to build a case which so far hasn't been made very clear. - it's late and I'm tired but wasn't the are bit about out-of-body experiences a few posts back? )

If this debate is to have any purpose it should cease just listing off the problems of these scenarios - The Death Penalty, Lawyers cheat Justice, The morality of war/terrorism & American Foreign policy etc (oh and strictly avoid speculation about the future) and deal with the real issues.


G'night.

I never did know when to keep my mouth shut..

Philex, I really think you are missing the point I was attempting to make-not some huge cosmology, or earth shattering revelation. Merely the point I was trying to make - Those people did not deserve to die for simply being where they were.. period. Would your attitude be so cavlier if it were your wife, friend, child?? I was not discussing state sanctioned execution, which I personally do NOT think is right. Nor was I expounding upon one's state of mind upon meeting one's maker or any other subject other than those people did not deserve to die merely because of where they happened to be at that moment in time. I am heartened that you are at peace and ready to go. Good for you, many search a lifetime for such peace. The people at the WTC and at the Pentagon or on those planes may not have had the luxury of sorting it out yet. That was my point. Nor may have their families and friends have been ready to let go. You know, all of us are not all that bad, really.

An aside- Good night Clive, dear voice of reason.

Tomorrow then...

SWMBO -I apologise for my cavalier atitude, of course the people who died did not deserve to do so before their time. My feeling is this, what happened on 11/9 marked (or maybe only coincided with) a time of enormous accelaration in the evolution of our conciousness. Don't you find yourself more than ever in earnest discussion about the implicatiionsof it all (it all- a dliberate vague-ism) I certainly do, and the people around me to whome i relate, have a very different perspective to the one way communicative proccess of the mass media. Every day we relate to freinds and aquaintences, and change them, and they change us.Here on thissite we can do it with people we never met, and cannot possibly understand, therefore errors of comunication are easy to make. Again I apologise for any misunderstandings between us, you can,t hear mytone of voice, see my smile, or serious expression, you don,t know me, so you can,t say to yourself 'oh there goes philex spouting off again' and adopt a tolerant atitudebecause you know that I would argue the opposite point of view just as passionatly. Conversation should be exploration, not pushing a point of view like a politician (wash out my keyboard with soap and water for using that P word). I don't think I miss the point, but I do try to make my own points by bouncing off yours. often I sign myself pierce, but here I'll revert back to
peace
philex

*applaudes* Thank you Pierce or Philex - whichever you prefer - that's what we were looking for!

BTW emotions are hard to get across in this kind of text-only environment and that's why some clever people invented smileys - look we got 'em all!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/smiley

Clive (look, I'm smiling!)

Clive? Voice of reason?

*s away, knowing Clive knows she's just teasing, but not sure that anyone else does*

You cheeky young scamp, away with ya' or I'll be after ye with ma' tickling-stick.

(Try imaganing the accent as a cross between ken Dodd and that mad scottish funeral director from dad's Army.)

No! Not a ing stick! Help!

With a choice between stiff drinks & ing sticks, I'll take the former, ta!

SWMBO, before I rant on - have you been a molecular biology professor in Denmark in a recent but previous incarnation? I knew one of those with just exactly that name...

Anyhows, I really liked your description above about using this form as a vehicle to get your thoughts straigtened out and something off your chest. Just what I'm doing

And I have twice today seen small things that make me hope that people are listening to our conversations...

OK, they might be getting the ideas on their own - but a) the US vice secretary of defense (is that an accurate title - it's "viceforsvarsminister" in Danish...) today said in a NATO meeting in Bruxelles that if people are hoping for some single "spectacular" attack or a series of such, they'll be disappointed. And the frontpage of my newspaper claims that Bush & the Republicans now support paying the debts to the UN. Wow. A good day!

Hmmm - my spelling's down the drain & I didn't even get that drink yet

"forum" and "straightened" should go in the appropriate places above

My guess is that it was the Deputy Secretary of Defense, he's the #2 man in the Defense Department. Then there are several Undersecrtaries and Assistant Secretaries of Defense.

The Bush adminsitration has support the payment of back dues for a while. This is nothing new.

Thank you Pierce, well stated and point taken. Very gentlemanly of you. I generally am one who questions everything around me, and I do think that the term "conversation" ought to imply mutual exploration of ideas. Normally I'd have run with it.

But keep in mind that given the context of this (and only this one I speak for no one else) particular conversation remember what Mama said , "there's a time and a place for everything". And a person who has attended two funerals and has another coming up isn't likely to wish to debate the large context of the question in regard to assigning blame. My apologies.

Santragenuis ** a molecular biology professor in Denmark in a recent but previous incarnation?** Not that I am aware of..was she fond of rather high heels in addition to the attitude?

I just read your journal SWMBO, unfortunately I am greeting newcomers so I don't have time to read the backlog of this thread.
However, I do want you to know that I agree with every word you said.


It's the only one we have

St. 7, thank you, that's awfully kind. As I am heading to New York for a funeral/memorial (nothing found, but the family decided they needed to concede the obvious) I shall be away for a while. To everyone who has kindly stopped in, I thank you. I think perhaps a nice sea voyage with Pierce the Pirate would be just the cure when I return..

flowers for you...
I hope you get through it