Grateful Dead

you know, i was taught that if i really felt strongly about something,and -if i really felt that i was right-, that i should ALWAYS find a positive way to express it. like if you REALLY think you are right about something, you will go to the extra effort to express yourself in a positive, non-attacking way, so that others can hear and understand without feeling attacked. and i've learned that including personal attacks is the best way to turn your potential audience off. so, i question whether some of these posters really care so much about presenting their views in a thought- provoking way that others might be persuaded by. certainly hasn't persuaded this listener. and i want to give a great thankyou to those who have taken the time to express themselves in a thoughtful positive way, because your posts have brought light to my window of thought. you know, there is a LAW supporting love and positivity, no such LAW supporting hatred and negativiity, just like in music there is a LAW to harmony, but no LAW for disharmony. that's why music like Bach, Beethoven, etc, is eternal, and negative hate music falls by the wayside and is forgotten. same goes here. the venom and spewing, having no LAW to support it, will just fall on those who spew, and be quickly forgotten, while those who thoughtfully post their views in order to engage others in positive exchange, will stand and change thought for the better. so, i encourage everyone who is led to post here, to go the extra mile, and step it up, so that if you really feel that you are right, find a positive way to express your view. i for one will listen to you. and thankyou, oroboros, pk, ed, and others, there are plenty of you whose thoughtful posts have enlarged the space of my thought. i mean that sincerely. for the rest, your thoughtless words are destined for the junk heap of history. i am a conserv-iberal, or as we say in vermont, INDEPENDENT. and if you'd like to sway MY view , see above. my 2 cents, thanks for reading. f. i.

Keep thinking I should stop reading this thread, as the squabbling is getting so annoying and reduntant-BUT then some post pops up that is interesting, like yours, or Oroboros, or Johnman's question, or Badger's response so come back again. Sigh.********************************** Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone, you will still exist, but you have ceased to live. Samuel Clemens

well Johnman my post was a rather long winded way of saying yes he is a naturalised American! And yes I owe you a cookie. Soros is an influential man. On our honeymoon my wife and I hired a minivan and driver to take us through Eastern Kyrgyzstan so we could go trekking in the mountains on the Chinese border. The area was closed to foreigners at that time but as we passed though numerous military checkpoints our driver pointed to a photocopied piece of paper he had stuck to the windscreen that simply said 'George Soros Foundation'. We were let through without question every time! So I suppose I own him a cookie too.