Thanks. Yes, I know I sound snarky in this post, but you really don’t get my cousins. My whole family is like this - blindly following tradition without ever considering it. I am forever straddling two cultures and see no reason on earth why I can’t pick and choose between two cultures.
And I assure you, I didn’t show my irritation to them. I just rolled my eyes internally. I am not that far gone.
Wingnut Guff, I also don’t like giving my cell phone# to work. I know they are going to call me on it. And I have a prepaid phone, so basically I am paying for every minute. NO!
I do use my personal cell phone for business, but since I got rid of my land line that’s based on my choice and my convenience. I also bill them by the hour when they call so it works out cost wise.
What exactly is this supposed to mean, especially when I have already clearly identified that my issues with the actions of the Israeli government are NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with the religion or ethnicity of the people of Israel, or any other people anywhere? FYI: not everyone in Israel is Jewish. Not all Jewish people live in Israel. This is not about being Jewish.
Go and look up how many Israeli citizens have actually been killed lately. Then look up how many people have been killed by the IDF etc lately. Emotive language will get you nowhere. And you still haven’t bothered to find out what it is that bothers me about the Israeli government, so again you’re just putting your own <:eek: could they be “pre-conceived” [sic]? You did after all say “presumably”, which means you’re making up your mind in advance of knowing the facts> ideas into my mouth. Stop it.
Which is why I teach my students not to be prejudiced, but to find out as much as they can about anything about which they wish to express an opinion. What I teach them to do, and what I do myself, which is what I have repeatedly said.
I suggest you learn to read. I have already made it perfectly clear that I have done everything possible to make sure that I am fully informed about both the history and the current situation. How this is a preconceived notion I am not entirely sure, except inasmuch as you don’t know what preconceived means.
So do I. So I’ll keep doing what I’ve been doing, thank you: providing an atmosphere of intellectual curiosity in which my students are encouraged to find out the FACTS and then make up their own minds, where the opinions or thoughts of anyone else are not accepted unexamined. I will continue to combat prejudice wherever possible. I respectfully suggest that, of the two of us, the one who needs to go and look some stuff up is you. Start with another look in the dictionary.
And when are you going to apologise for having a go at me over the foreign policy of the United States because of your preconceived notion that I must be American, and your prejudiced position that no American can take any form of moral stance until their government desists from their current foreign policy? The people of America are not their government any more than the people of Israel are all Netanyahu. And since I already said that I wouldn’t vote Conservative, clearly I am not David Cameron. Go and look up who that is now. (Well, why would you know who he is? You don’t trust me to have ever found out anything about any other country, so why should I assume that you have?)
I never speed. Ever. I might in a medical emergency, but that’s OK by the rules of the road.
I don’t drink and drive.
I don’t use an ID that’s not mine. I won’t even borrow your library card or store loyalty card that has no personal details on it.
I don’t use violence on humans. Not even to save a life. Not even my own. This is even (partly) the reason I’ve quit all SCA combat.
I don’t pray or even bow my head during prayers.
I never use fake vanilla. Bourbon vanilla only, either pod or quality extract.
I refuse to attend funerals. I haven’t been to one since I was 13, and barring unforeseen events, I won’t attend another one. As far as I’m concerned they’re a waste of money.
That seems to encapsulate in one sentence why boycotting a country for the perceived injustices perpetrated by the government of a country is a bad idea.
The message, whether intended or not, is ‘we hate you folks’. It creates an us-vs.-them mentality. Legitimate grievances are not articulated; they are rather ignored in favour of increasing prejudice and hatred (again, even though this is not the intent).
That, and the fact that they are otherwise ineffective, is why in principle I am against 'em. Want to have influence for good? Engage, do not disengage.
I refuse to make up excuses when turning down a charity solicitation.
Pretend to like watching football.(Soccer)
Join in on slagging someone off just because everyone else is doing so.
Watch Soaps.
Go on "singles"package holidays.
Pretend to enjoy the latest craze in music or t.v. if I don’t like it.
Buy bottled water.
Give money as sponsorship to someone who is living out a personal need or desire for “Charity”.
(e.g. Yes I’m morbidly obese but I’m going on a sponsored diet for Children in Need)
I will not vote for a Republican or a Libertarian, or any of the myriad right-wing nutbags. This applies for most of the left-wing nutbags, too.
I will not cross a picket line.
I’m lucky enough to be employed full time, but in the past when looking for work, I will not apply for a job that requires either a drug test or a polygraph. I don’t even DO drugs of any kind (other than alcohol), but I feel that what I or anyone else does on their own time is nobody’s business as long as it does not affect their job performance. And polygraphs are nonsense.
I will not anything from a door-to-door salesmen, or give to door-to-door charity solicitors, with one exception.
I won’t buy and hope to not ever drive non-American cars. Nothing about racism or wars, just my dad worked at Ford for 38 years.
So, I also won’t cross a picket line.
I will never, ever, ever ever cheer for or think nice thoughts about the Pittsburgh Steelers. I am indifferent about the Penguins and Pirates tho.
I won’t buy a natural diamond and would not accept one. It hasn’t been a problem thus far (sigh) but I’m sure any man who likes me enough to get me a diamond also knows me enough to get a fake one.
Um, remember when you were catigating The Flying Dutchman for assuming you were American … ?
This Canadian doesn’t agree generally with economic sanctions (and additionally doesn’t confuse a personal decision to boycott a country with economic sanctions imposed by a state).
Consider this scenario: I state to all and sundry that I personally refuse to buy goods made in Arab countries.
This may mean I have some high-minded reason for so doing; alternatively, it may mean I’m simply a bigot. Absent further explaination, the act alone could convey either message, and most folks (particularly Arabs who happen to live in Arab countries) are far more likely to credit the latter than the former, right?
Why is that usage okay? I know its a common practice but I just don’t understand it. If I’m hanging out with white guys, we don’t call each other honky or ofay or at least no one I’ve known did. I’ve never heard any Latino people call each other spic or greaser or wetback, either.
By the way, when I lived in Cincinnati, I worked with a group of Black guys who threw that dreaded N word around like they were playing catch with it. But I knew I could never do it.
Yes, I know I sound snarky in this post, but you really don’t get my cousins. My whole family is like this - blindly following tradition without ever considering it. I am forever straddling two cultures and see no reason on earth why I can’t pick and choose between two cultures.