Hit gravel, broke leg

"Buck" wrote in message
...


On 06/21/2005 10:18:14 "Jeff Grippe" jeff@door7 wrote:

"Edward Dolan" wrote in message
...

Jeff Grippe tells me that he is of Polish ancestry. Does Grippe sound
Polish to you?

Well this is where your various built in bias fail you Ed.

Grippe is my step-father's name acquired by me when I was ten. I only
use
the word "step-father" to describe the relationship technically. He is
my
Dad. He is the best Dad I could ever hope for and I wear his name
proudly
and with love and fondness give it to my son as well. He does not,
however, have a drop of Polish blood in him.

My Mother's family, with whom I am very close, is from Poland. So
regardless of what I call myself, I am Polish.

You probably don't know about the Jewish Ferguson's do you?

I work on the principle that you are the nationality of the country in
which you are born.

It is not quite as straight forward as that and no one should know this
better than the Europeans. Some names belong more to a people or nation than
others. The Jews were almost never accepted as belonging to the nations in
which they resided, at least not fully. Ethnicity is never forgotten no
matter what.

A nation is actually a delicate construction. They were forged over the
centuries with armed might and can still fall apart because most nations
are composed of several different peoples. Canada is a case in point. French
Canada may yet decide to leave English Canada even after a couple of hundred
years of being one nation. Europe is full of such examples as are most other
regions of the world.

America is quite unique in it's ability to forge a single nationality out of
disparate peoples. But the true origins never disappear entirely, not even
in America.

Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota

"Jeff Grippe" wrote in message
...
Regarding your previous message, easily accessible by simply reading it or
remembering it:

Well Ed if you don't understand what I'm talking about then why did you
even respond?

I want others to be able to follow what is being said, not just you and me.

I don't kill file anyone. I don't even know how to do it in OE and I have
no intention of finding out. Please don't anyone reply with instructions.
If I need to know I'm sure it is trivial.

I did not say that "Following rules on how to post are for jerks" but
rather that I was free to follow them or not.

A distinction without a difference.

I have never heald myself up as the
example to follow nor have I told you that you must do it a certain way. I
don't work that way as you should know by this point.

I am doing it right and you are doing it wrong.

FORM and CONTENT (Ed's capitalizations)

Ed, for someone who at times appears fairly sophisticated about language
you do equivocate when it suits your purposes. When we were talking about
generalizations you correctly identified the aspect of them which makes
them most useful, which is the encapsulation of many traits into a single
concept. I pointed out (and you didn't bother to disagree) that they fall
apart at the level of the invidual.

That is always understood and is so obvious that it does not need to be
said.

As to form and content, you said "Like it is possible to separate one from
the other!". Obviously they can be separated. They are different and
distinct concepts. The same content can be put into many different forms.
The same form can be used to express a variety of content. You are trying
to invalidate my entire arguement by simply saying that it isn't possible
to separate them. Its pretty clear that language has separated them for
me. The concepts exist clear and distinct.

I am unable to deal with your content when the form is not according to the
rules, at least as it applies to Usenet. I can deal just fine with whatever
you say however you say it via email, but Usenet is not email. I have no
interest in email and I do not wish to confound the two mediums as you do.
For purposes of Usenet, the form is as important as the content. They go
together. That is what makes Usenet Usenet.

Who understands what I am blathering about

Anyone who doesn't understand me is free to ask for clarification or
complain about my writing style. So far the complaints have been limited
to you and I've already told you that it isn't a complaint I plan to act
on. So you must either stop reading my posts or at least stop responding.
Should you choose to respond, however, you should do it knowing that there
is at least a 50/50 chance of getting a response back whose form you will
not like.

ARBR is now as dead as a door nail. There would have been any number of
former members of this group who would have taken you to task for your
manner of posting.

Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota

"the brook" wrote in message
oups.com...
Funny, the thread started as Hit Gravel, Broke leg.

Since then, of the 159 posts, 63 were by Dolan and the others are
people responding to his diatribe.

I know Dolan doesn't give a damn, but don't the others realise that by
responding to him, they're part of the reason many people have left
this group?

Enough already with this crap! Time to move on to some other subject.

The brook

You would be advancing the group if you would advise Jeff Grippe to post the
right way. He is throwing a monkey wrench into our proceedings.

Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota

"Edward Dolan" wrote in message
...

Well, if you do not have a Polish name, then you are not Polish....

Do names matter? You bet they do! If you had a Polish name during the Nazi
conquest, that was one thing....

And I suppose if my name were Philip Charles Smith that would preclude me
from being black or African American?

Eddie baby, you don't know what you are talking about. Are labels important?
Yes. Does the label create the reality? No.

Are you trying to tell me that if my Dad's name had been O'Leary, and if I
had taken his name as I did the name Grippe, then I would be Irish despite
that fact that I have no Irish ancestors that I know of?

Ed, I know you like to win arguments and that you will stick with something
said long past the point of reason but you are just saying nonsense.

By the way we are not living during the Nazi era all evidence to the
contrary.

Give this one a rest Ed. You are just making yourself look silly.

Jeff

Re Monkey Wrenches:

Ya better watch out for that Grippe guy. Once he's got his hands on a monkey
wrench there is no telling what he might do. If he keeps posting like this
the Earth may stop spinning and we will all be flung out into space.

I hear he's even started posting in third person. Can you imagine the
audacity of it? Improper quoting, posting in third person, sentences
composed of sentence fragments and lacking a true verb. I tell you they'll
let anybody in this group.

And oh by the way, this message didn't contain one word about hitting
gravel, breaking legs, or recumbent cycling! Err, until now.

I still think we should take him out back and teach him a lesson. Whose with
me? Lets get 'em!

My gosh Ed you were right. It is this horrid style of posting that leads to
insane morons making violent threats against other posters. It was so bad
that I threatened myself. The next thing you know I'll be posting my
address, threatening to break into my house, having my wife fired, and
having the police come and give me a good talking too. And all this time I
thought my posting style was a simple matter or preference. How could I be
so nieve? This is really a lot to thing about.

Jeff

"Edward Dolan" wrote in message
...

There would have been any number of former members of this group who would
have taken you to task for your manner of posting.


Well so you say but nobody other than you has complained dispite our staying
on this topic for a long long time.

I'm a pretty flexible guy who doesn't enjoy ****ing off large numbers of
people. If I really got the sense that my posting style was causing many
people distress then I would alter it.

Just as I don't believe your rules were handed down from god, I don't
believe mine were either.

You seem to enjoy our conversations dispite your many protestations about
how you can't follow my thoughts. You keep posting, I keep posting, and even
when both of us have said "enough already", we both post again.

So once again and with genuine sincerity, I wish you many happy miles on
your pedal-powered vehicle of choice.

Jeff

"Jeff Grippe" jeff@door7 wrote in message
...

"Edward Dolan" wrote in message
...

Well, if you do not have a Polish name, then you are not Polish....

Do names matter? You bet they do! If you had a Polish name during the
Nazi conquest, that was one thing....

And I suppose if my name were Philip Charles Smith that would preclude me
from being black or African American?

Hells Bells! If you had a name like George Washington or Thomas Jefferson I
would think you were an American Black. In other words, history counts too.
But prior to the advent of slavery, I would know that anyone with a name
like George Washington or Thomas Jefferson would be of English ancestry.

The funniest thing ever was when Cassius Clay took the name Mohammed Ali.
Cassius Clay was probably a good old White Man slave master name from the
Old South, whereas Mohammed Ali was a good old Arab slave trader name. If
Clay had wanted to take an authentic name, he should have taken an African
name from the area from which his ancestors derived. But he confused
religion with ethnicity. They are two entirely different things although
there are often times associations which are quite strong. For instance,
Polish and Roman Catholic and Irish and Roman Catholic. But you have no
doubt lost that association too along with your Polish-ness, such as it is.

Eddie baby, you don't know what you are talking about. Are labels
important? Yes. Does the label create the reality? No.

Are you trying to tell me that if my Dad's name had been O'Leary, and if I
had taken his name as I did the name Grippe, then I would be Irish despite
that fact that I have no Irish ancestors that I know of?

I am assuming your father was not Polish; therefore you are not 100% Polish
either. Since you are not 100% Polish, you have no right to enjoy Polish
ethnic jokes. In order to enjoy a Polish ethnic joke with a good conscience,
you should be 100% Polish. I am telling you this so that you will know how
to be politically correct, the most important thing in life for a liberal.

Ed, I know you like to win arguments and that you will stick with
something said long past the point of reason but you are just saying
nonsense.

By the way we are not living during the Nazi era all evidence to the
contrary.

We are all capable of Nazism. It is lying there just under our skin waiting
for the appropriate circumstances. Genocide is as alive and well today as it
ever was. The reason this is so is because of our human nature. We are
killer apes with murder in our hearts - or didn't you know that?

Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota

PS. It is too bad Jeff refuses to post properly as then the rest of the
group could get in on the conversation. But he confuses Usenet with email,
unable to distinguish the differences between them.

"Jeff Grippe" jeff@door7 wrote in message
...

"Edward Dolan" wrote in message
...

There would have been any number of former members of this group who
would have taken you to task for your manner of posting.


Well so you say but nobody other than you has complained dispite our
staying on this topic for a long long time.

Others most likely find it difficult to get in on this conversation because
of the manner of your posting. They only know for sure what I am saying in
response because I quote you in full whereas they do not know what you are
saying in response because you are not quoting me hardly at all. Now you
began to see the importance of following the rules and not being a scofflaw.

I'm a pretty flexible guy who doesn't enjoy ****ing off large numbers of
people. If I really got the sense that my posting style was causing many
people distress then I would alter it.

It is causing me great distress. There are right ways of doing things and
wrong ways of doing things. You are doing things the wrong way.

Just as I don't believe your rules were handed down from god, I don't
believe mine were either.

You seem to enjoy our conversations dispite your many protestations about
how you can't follow my thoughts. You keep posting, I keep posting, and
even when both of us have said "enough already", we both post again.

I am remonstrating with you as I would with a stubborn child because I can
see that once you are saved from your folly that you will be a valuable
member of ARBR. As always, I have only the best interests of the group at
heart. That is my saintly aspect.

Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota

aka

Saint Edward - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota

"Jeff Grippe" jeff@door7 wrote in message
...
Re Monkey Wrenches:

Ya better watch out for that Grippe guy. Once he's got his hands on a
monkey wrench there is no telling what he might do. If he keeps posting
like this the Earth may stop spinning and we will all be flung out into
space.

I hear he's even started posting in third person. Can you imagine the
audacity of it? Improper quoting, posting in third person, sentences
composed of sentence fragments and lacking a true verb. I tell you they'll
let anybody in this group.

And oh by the way, this message didn't contain one word about hitting
gravel, breaking legs, or recumbent cycling! Err, until now.

I still think we should take him out back and teach him a lesson. Whose
with me? Lets get 'em!

My gosh Ed you were right. It is this horrid style of posting that leads
to insane morons making violent threats against other posters. It was so
bad that I threatened myself. The next thing you know I'll be posting my
address, threatening to break into my house, having my wife fired, and
having the police come and give me a good talking too. And all this time I
thought my posting style was a simple matter or preference. How could I be
so nieve? This is really a lot to thing about.

Jeff

Don't overdo the hyperbole. It gets very tiresome very fast.

Sentences needn't be complete all the time. Sometimes a sentence fragment
makes the most sense. They are called dependent clauses and should only be
used by intellectuals like me.

Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota

"Edward Dolan" wrote in message
...

I am assuming your father was not Polish; therefore you are not 100%
Polish either. Since you are not 100% Polish, you have no right to enjoy
Polish ethnic jokes. In order to enjoy a Polish ethnic joke with a good
conscience, you should be 100% Polish. I am telling you this so that you
will know how to be politically correct, the most important thing in life
for a liberal.

I believe that I have already expressed my contempt for PC.

You are correct, however, that I am not 100% any nationality other than
American. However, given the way our language and conventions work, since I
have some Polish ancestors, I am permitted to call myself Polish. Once again
you do not get to make the rules about this. They are already made. They
predate even you precious Google usenet rules.

As to what jokes I have a right to tell, once again I am unmoved by your
opinion. I will tell any joke as long as it is funny. Too bad for you if you
are offended.

Please enjoy the "Dolan preferred" posting method as it was convenient to do
it that way this time.

Jeff