Comments by reverendhornibastard (page 13)

Excellent quote! I like it even if I don’t relate to it personally. I’ve never really been lonely. There are dual reasons for that. 1) I have always had friends and family. 2) I tend to be a bit of a loner and tolerate long periods of isolation without discomfort.

@JimGassagain “If we allowed more tolerance for God and prayer, it is quite possible we would have less violence in our society.” Sounds good on paper. You would expect this to be so. But some of the most fervently religious societies are among the most violent on Earth. This includes the USA and Afghanistan. Meanwhile, some of the safest societies in the world are among the most godless (China, Japan, Sweden). I’ve spent time in all three of those countries. I didn’t care much for China or Japan but I must admit, I felt safer there than I have ever felt in Texas (a very religious place). And for the record, I’m not saying religious fervor or the lack of it makes a place dangerous or safe. I’m sure it’s not that simple. But the correlation is there for all to see and it is contrary to what you might expect given that most religions preach peace (but not necessarily tolerance).

I was actually trying to spur a discussion about whether there is ANY intelligent life ANYWHERE in the cosmos.

If you read my post carefully, Rick, you will note that I did not take positions on any of the thorny subjects mentioned in the post. I do hold views on these topics but the point of the post was not to promote one position and to denigrate another. The point was that our tribal instincts tend to compromise our ability to discuss some topics intelligently. Granted, we are less tribal in some ways. We are more ethnically diverse as a country and even on an individual basis (my children will have to check “other” or “mixed” on forms calling for racial self-identification). But some institutions (notably political and religious ones) tug on our tribal nature like never before. Our tribal tendencies remain very strong even if they are being focused on new, non-traditional allegiances.

Well put, Rick. But I disagree with your overall assessment of the benefits of tribalism and with your assertion that those who denigrate tribalism must be intellectually or emotionally impaired. I expected ad hominem arguments from some, but not from you.

Rick, The gist of my post is that our inherent tribalism often gets in the way of intelligent, informed discussions of some issues. Consider how hot and bothered people routinely become in discussions on religion and politics Discussions over the relative merits of Progressive or GEICO auto insurance policies don’t get so heated. In fact, there are not many other topics that are so hard to discuss rationally based on verifiable data than religion and politics. I believe this reflects how these topics pull on our tribal hearts unlike most other issues. I look forward to your further comments.

So were JFK and Fiorello La Guardia.

“If these countries are so wonderful, you and the rest of the Hollywood idiots came move there.” I am an American. I am most comfortable living among other Americans. But I realize that America is imperfect and that it can be improved. I favor any ideas (regardless of where they are sourced) that can improve my country. That’s what patriotic people in a free society do! We can disagree on what would help make America a better place. But that’s OK. We are allowed to disagree. This isn’t North Korea.

Wow! Just wow! TV has really rotted our brains! Life is not as simple as what each 10-minute TV segment on CNN or Fox News might suggest. Capitalism, socialism and communism are not panaceas. I am from West Texas and was as rabidly pro-capitalism and anti-communist as anyone you might expect to meet who grew up on the high plains of West Texas. Then I began traveling all over the world and living in wildly different places on four continents. America is a great place to live, but I can assure you it has NOT cornered the market on great ideas for structuring a society or even an economy. Go spend some time in Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, Japan, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand or Singapore. They have some good ideas too! Look past the political labels and consider instead the practical results of alternative policies.

Good point, Rick. It’s probably pretty difficult to fake squirting convincingly!

CJKent, Great write up on your ATF! One thing that continues to puzzle me a bit is why only a small fraction of women squirt most of the time but a majority of women either don’t squirt at all or they do but only rarely and only produce a small volume of liquid.

Thanks. That was a useful link. Female squirting doesn’t do much for me either.

That was a terrific (and cringe-worthy) comment!

ATACdawg, Amazing! As usual, my brilliant ideas are too late! Somebody else already beat me to it. ... but do they come with a special “wood chipper” mode for the severely constipated?

We’ve almost come full circle. When I was a youth, the polite term for African Americans was “colored.” “Negro” was considered unacceptably harsh - perhaps because of its similarity to other, more clearly hateful racial epithets. Now “people of color” is gaining wide acceptance. I think we will soon be able to use the term “colored” again. I count that as a good thing because I still have a closet-full of the word “colored” that I saved since the early 1960s in case the word ever came back into fashion.

Cannabis? Not me! Despite my lifelong sexual hijinks and excesses in many other facets of my life, I have never been a drug user. (I only tried marijuana twice and didn’t find any appeal to it). I almost never even drink anymore. Even when I go to a strip club, I often just pay whatever the obligatory drinks would cost but ask the waitress to bring me bottled water instead. Sexual antics aside, I’m a very milquetoast kind of guy.

Heaving, I don’t remember my dreams often and even when I do, they tend to be just ordinary stuff, getting aggravated by my ex-wives, discovering that I can fly by sheer force of will and getting laid by sultry young women I don’t even know. But occasionally I have very complex, highly detailed dreams like this “slug among butterflies” dream. These dreams seem to be of longer duration than my run-of-the-mill dreams. They usually also include bizarre, brightly lit, colorful scenery. When I awake from dreams like these I feel like I spent the night at the cinema.

Gawker, No surgery and no pain meds yet. Surgery is Monday and pain meds will start that afternoon. I’ve never looked forward to surgery in my life but I’m damn sure looking forward to this one!

Thanks, everybody. It’s not a hemorrhoid. That’s what I thought it was at first. I had a hemorrhoid once about 12 years ago but it disappeared without treatment. I went to a specialist about this pain in my ass. I don’t know what you call this medical specialty so I just call her my butt doctor. She’s a funny lady. She knows what I do for a living and so she also wisecracked that it is very rare for lawyers to be afflicted with this since most lawyers are perfect assholes. Bottom line (get it?), she said my problem is common and, although my particular situation is very superficial and easily fixed, it usually causes pain that is all out of proportion to the very minor medical risk. For the first time in my life I can hardly wait for this surgery!

I never worry about not surviving the anesthetic. I’m afraid of a lot of things but death is not one of them. As I see it, I was not alive for billions of years before I was born ... ... and I survived THAT!

Except for one strip club in Odessa, Texas in the 1970s (whose name I cant recall and which probably closed down decades ago), I’ve never been to any strip clubs in West Texas or anywhere in Mexico. With the oil shale boom going on in parts of West Texas I bet there are lots of strip clubs out there now. But I am the wrong person to ask about them. I am unfamiliar with the strip club scene in West Texas. My only forays into that part of Texas in decades have been recent trips with my family.

... and have been to Presidio but never crossed over the border at Presidio to Ojinaga.

SJG, Far West Texas (basically all of Texas west of the Pecos River) is dry, desolate and harsh. Much of it is inhospitable. There are some mountains but they are smaller and more desolate than what you would see in Colorado or California. Still, some people find beauty in this desolation. There certainly are interesting places to see and explore. But those who like what West Texas has to offer will find more varied and interesting landscapes in Arizona, Colorado, Utah and the more sparsely populated parts of California.

Interesting points made by all! But I have to take issue with FishHawk’s statement: “Now my desire to play with naked young ladies is a taste I developed on my own. I can’t blame my race or my ancestors for that.” I think I’m on solid ground when I say that each and everyone of us is descended from a VERY long line of extremely horny people. I think that is precisely why we are all so horny. It’s in our genes to be horny all the time. Replicating our DNA is our first priority. If you stop and think about it, a human being is just one way for a DNA molecule to make more DNA molecules.

Gawker, Excellent points.