Re: Ralphs ARMAGEDDON (lulz)

It seems you were able to squeeze in one more message before a tidal
wave or what not hit you!

What happened was you were laughed at for being comical,
and you expanded on it trough poor logic. Evidently my laugh(the so
called 'viewpoint') was too much for you, spawning a response where
you try project my being contemptuous of others, when it is in fact
you who show such contemptuousness towards me.

Less insanity, and more self-irony, please..

--- In imagestream%40yahoogroups.com">imagestreamyahoogroups.com, "Ralph" <figment...> wrote:
&gt;
> Yes, "Midwaycobra,&quot; you are correct. It is precisely the level of
forethought and intelligence demonstrated below that has gotten us
into our present, disastrous situation. But imagine how terrible it
would be, "Mwc," if you were actually as dimwitted and contemptuous of
the lives of others as the statement below would suggest. Imagine
having such a corrupt, empty ruin of a soul and no life worth saving.
Imagine if the tragedy, in your case, were not the likely ending of
your life in the next decade or so, but if your life were so devoid of
value and meaning because it had already been long since destroyed.
>
> Of course, the above is merely speculation, as I am sure you are in
no way as callous or intellectually retarded as that comment might
suggest, and you were in fact humorously spoofing such a willfully
arrogant and ignorant viewpoint. And that undoubtedly being the case,
I thank you.
>
> If, on the off chance you weren't joking and are in fact sitting
somewhere beating yourself over the head with a tire iron, well then,
you have my pity. Good luck, son.
>
> Ralph
&gt;
> midwaycobra wrote...
>
> --- In imagestream%40yahoogroups.com">imagestreamyahoogroups.com, "Ralph" <figment> wrote:
&gt; > Interesting, as always. Should things come apart very quickly out
> there, please know that this list has been a great inspiration to me
> over the years. As have those of you who have been trying to find the
> best answers you can to global problems.
> >
> > Warm greetings,
> > Ralph
&gt;
> Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
> ._,_._,___
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

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.

Ah, "Mdc&quot; and his clearly fictional "midwaycobra&quot; identity again.

midwaycobra wrote...
It seems you were able to squeeze in one more message before a tidal
wave or what not hit you!
.
Hmm. Based upon my previous posts... I am an American man living somewhere in an inland, wooded, temperate mountain range in a rural area not far from a fair-sized university town. I own a significant percentage of the company I work for, and have access to some unconventional resources, as well as a fairly robust personal/community support system. In the event of coastal flooding I have private access to food and fresh water (the latter from a substantial aquifer), am well above even a 220-foot rise in sea levels and am well back from any Category 5 hurricanes that may assail our modified coastlines.

Short version: I'm probably not that concerned about my own survival, barring a full-scale species extinction. However, if you were in the eastern United States in the last few years, perhaps you can say what you were doing when the electric grid collapsed in about half the country? (I can. I watched it on television. Did I mention I was well situated?) Do you remember how well the aftermath of Katrina went? Consider how fragile our infrastructure and disaster-relief systems actually are. Now imagine how effectively the Internet might function if, say, the electricity were out... worldwide. Or if, oh, America's coastal cities were being inexorably inundated by rapidly rising sea levels, and a majority of our population were being pushed inland, with the attendant strains on our infrastructure and resources (and the related disruptions of fuel shipments, etc, as the rest of the world endured the same thing).

Far from being an alarmist or a doomsday prophet, I'm a realist who is looking carefully at how to strengthen an ever-expanding region around himself against an array of such disasters. Not merely for reasons of compassion, but because it is the only logical survival plan if you choose to "make a stand"; in almost any part of America's "lower 48". (Once those urban populations become dislocated and start to move, there's no place to hide.) And because, if you plan well, you can dovetail your "disaster preparations" with practical steps towards enhancing your own life, business, etc. Thus ensuring that the actions you take to protect yourself in a future emergency can also profit you considerably in the here and now. Who could object to that?

But you see, this is what I love about your "midwaycobra&quot; persona, Mdc. You mock the brash ignorance of that stereotypical, Internet "village idiot"; with such verve and enthusiasm. Of course, no one could actually believe all of this confused rhetoric is real, but like an issue of The Onion, at some point, who cares? It's parody, after all. =) It doesn't have to accept rational limits. Better still? All the participants on here who respond to your comments as though you were a real person making rational arguments... Now _that_ takes a sense of humor. =)

midwaycobra wrote...
What happened was you were laughed at for being comical,
and you expanded on it trough poor logic. Evidently my laugh(the so
called 'viewpoint') was too much for you,
.
I believe you mean "trough." And I'm sure you intended to hyphenate "so called&quot; and to add a space somewhere in "laugh(the."; We'll skip the whole, "capitalize-your-name"; riff.

Incidentally, blatant misspelling of words while mocking my intelligence? A particularly deft touch. If I hadn't believed your role was too ridiculous to be believed, you would have convinced me right there.

It's not "your" fault, "midwaycobra&quot; (pretending for the moment that you are actually real). It's a common societal trait, both on and off the Internet, to exalt the loudmouthed idiot. To pretend that poorly thought out arguments, if you _feel_ them strongly enough, somehow possess an inherent wisdom that is superior to facts. And that outweighs any consideration of others' feelings or even common decency. If this were a classical situation, then I would have to feel bad about scoffing, however gently, at someone who just laughed uproariously at the thought of the entire discussion list being killed off. (Of course, my statement was clearly intended as a pre-emptive farewell in case the list went offline unexpectedly in the next several years, but there is clearly an existential threat facing many if not all list members if the environment degrades to such an extreme. And just as obviously, the "midwaycobra&quot; character did not get my original poin t, and thought I was talking about all of us coming to an abrupt and painful end. Hence the hilarity.)

The bitter irony, of course, is that our society's elaborate effort to cater to the least intelligent among us, and to accept their every attempt to derail meaningful conversation and planning because it's "too intellectual," "too depressing," "too <fill-in political agenda here>&quot; or "too... uh... stupid...&quot; -- or because the right media personality cues their outrage/mockery with a red flag -- is one of the major reasons we're in our present predicaments on so many fronts. Quite seriously, real or not, Mdc does a real service by illustrating that problem so effectively here. He has, in effect, nominated himself as your leader. The question is whether, like a jester hopping on to the king's throne, anyone chooses to play along and accept his decrees. Or rather, the decrees of those he so aptly imitates.

Just imagine if you had to painstakingly explain everything to a guy like this caricature, dealing with the objections of some "troll" every time you had an interesting conversation on this list. It would become quite a burden, wouldn't it? And if you started responding to him/her _as_ a troll, the fallback would be to accuse you of flamewars, character assassination, etc, eh? =)

If nothing else, the real-world equivalents of Mdc's facade often succeed in derailing intelligent discussion and problem-solving by well-meaning people. Perhaps we should take his lesson to heart, and start ignoring those people who serve no purpose but to prevent those conversations from taking place.

midwaycobra wrote...
Less insanity, and more self-irony, please..
. ._,___
Ah, but how could I ever compare to such an exquisite bit of self-mockery, hmm?

--- In imagestream%40yahoogroups.com">imagestreamyahoogroups.com, "Ralph" <figment...> wrote:
>
> Yes, "Midwaycobra,&quot; you are correct. It is precisely the level of
forethought and intelligence demonstrated below that has gotten us
into our present, disastrous situation. But imagine how terrible it
would be, "Mwc," if you were actually as dimwitted and contemptuous of
the lives of others as the statement below would suggest. Imagine
having such a corrupt, empty ruin of a soul and no life worth saving.
Imagine if the tragedy, in your case, were not the likely ending of
your life in the next decade or so, but if your life were so devoid of
value and meaning because it had already been long since destroyed.
>
> Of course, the above is merely speculation, as I am sure you are in
no way as callous or intellectually retarded as that comment might
suggest, and you were in fact humorously spoofing such a willfully
arrogant and ignorant viewpoint. And that undoubtedly being the case,
I thank you.
>
> If, on the off chance you weren't joking and are in fact sitting
somewhere beating yourself over the head with a tire iron, well then,
you have my pity. Good luck, son.
>
> Ralph
>
> midwaycobra wrote...
>
> --- In imagestream%40yahoogroups.com">imagestreamyahoogroups.com, "Ralph" <figment> wrote:
> > Interesting, as always. Should things come apart very quickly out
> there, please know that this list has been a great inspiration to me
> over the years. As have those of you who have been trying to find the
> best answers you can to global problems.
> >
> > Warm greetings,
> > Ralph
>
> Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
> ._,_._,___
.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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