board77

Christmas has been at least as much a secular holiday as it is a religious one for about a zillion years now. Since I can remember, Santa has been a bigger Xmas icon than Jesus. IMO, there's nothing overtly religious about wishing anybody - Christian, Jewish, or otherwise - a Merry Christmas. Err.....

However, there is a slight difference between a parent having their child taken away, and a child being taken away from its parents, and a child sitting in 37A instead of 18C.

-m

You don't think the guys service had been intefered with when he was asked to switch seats with female because men can't sit next to unescorted minors?! And vice versa with the woman who was asked to switch seats as well. Switching seats I agree is an annoyance. Being seated in those seats to begin...

But then men (I mean the normal run of men, not paedophiles trying to justify themselves) are damned as non nurterers if they avoid interaction with children and damned if they express a liking for them. I don't see how this has anything to do with anybody nurturing children at all, it has to do wi...

Magpie, I totally agree with you on teaching children to be wary of strangers. But the airline isn't reinforcing that idea. It's reinforcing the idea that males (and only males) are potentially dangerous to children. :( I don't think it's telling children anything, since they have no idea why they ...

I don't think it would reinforce any stereotype for a kid to happen to find himself sitting next to a woman. Also the thing is, *strangers* (of both sexes) aren't to be trusted. As a mother (if I was one) I would absolutely tell my kid to be wary of every man on the plane-and every woman. If he want...

It’s worth remembering what the end result of this discrimination would be – a man may have to move seats. He could still fly, he isn’t being made to travel in the cargo hold, he would still get his stale sandwiches and poisonous coffee. The question is whether he would sit her...

I'm also somebody who never had a cell phone and didn't want one--I don't like talking on the phone in general so I don't want people to be able to call me 24/7. Though last night, when someone gave me vague directions on where to meet them and I was wandering around looking for a payphone (where I ...

As I said, it truly puzzles me. This is a random part to quote, but I just wanted to say that this post laid out the discussion the way I have understood it. As some seem to not understand taking the trouble to complain about the mock thread, I have far more trouble understanding taking the trouble...

It's hard to say exactly what it would look like, but I think it's sort of like thinking: The Bible is God's Word. I have the Bible. Therefore I can speak for God, as long as I can make it fit the Bible, if that makes sense.

I completely agree with you and this is why I find Cerin's refusal to use the bikeracks quite baffling. Really? Because it made perfect sense to me. I wasn't going to post anything here, but since this question is raised... To start with, I've had disagreements with Cerin in the past and so I know ...

I myself am free to be idolized, btw.

-m

I don't base any beliefs on the Bible myself, but I think anything someone sets up before God is a Bible. If something is within your range of understanding, it's not God. If you confuse your ideas about God with the actual God, you're dealing with an idol of your own creation. If you're basing ever...

Hee-that pronounciation guide is too fun. I think I got most of the names right (Except for DEE da lus) but was getting some of the spells totally off.

The one name I know I used to get wrong was Draco. Before the movies I always pronounced it Drah-co instead of Dray-co.

-m

I'd like to read that essay, Sister Magpie. Heh--I realized after I wrote that it sounds like absolutely shameless pimping! Looking at it now, it's not that long (for me) so it will probaby just fit here: ...I've seen a number of references to Dumbledore's dying or Snape's killing Dumbledore in ord...

I saw it as a moment where Dumbledore was sounding rueful and sad, and meaning that his mercy is the only thing that will let the side of good still have a fighting chance in the battle. That's possible. I saw it as saying that all that really mattered for Draco now was not the fear inspired by Vol...

Oh yes, I've read a few choice excerpts from that opus. It's pretty hilarious. Not only are there the references to the fact that Hermione's fixed her hair so it's now shiny and curly, but any moment she looks anything less than perfect has been "fixed." Also, in one bit I read, the author...

What I find really interesting is that no one responded to my last post... and then LM posted saying exactly what I said (I don't know if we've ever said so similar things so closely together before :) )... which resulted in an fair few intense posts... I must ponder this further ;). *blinks* That ...

The fact that parents are encouraging their children to remain inside and not go outside and perform activities contributes to the problem. I would even go so far as to guess that the obesity rates among cities, especially in areas of violent crime, are disproportionately higher than any other loca...

Ah--then yes, I do agree with that. The wank over shipping after this book has been like nothing I've ever seen before, and some of the declarations from H/Hr shippers have been truly over the top. (One group wanted to take out an ad in the NYTimes in protest; another wanted to send back their book ...