You know what would be really lovely, G? is if you were to respond to, and address me as an individual, and in doing so, address something I've actually said, and within the context in which it was said.

I could address you as "you Godless French socialists", and you might even like that, or correctly or incorrectly as part of whatever group that I might imagine, but I would rather respond to you as an individual--to what little I know of you based on your comments.

Prior to your arrival here that was the nature of interaction, and still is with just about everyone.

I am the furthest thing from a "group person" as there is. I belong to no church, synagogue, mosque, and I don't att...

You know what would be really lovely, G? is if you were to respond to, and address me as an individual, and in doing so, address something I've actually said, and within the context in which it was said.

I could address you as "you Godless French socialists", and you might even like that, or correctly or incorrectly as part of whatever group that I might imagine, but I would rather respond to you as an individual--to what little I know of you based on your comments.

Prior to your arrival here that was the nature of interaction, and still is with just about everyone.

I am the furthest thing from a "group person" as there is. I belong to no church, synagogue, mosque, and I don't attend Burning Man. I'm not really very interested in politics, but have become very interested in the survival of my country. I care deeply about children, and a society that doesn't is doomed.

So if you will give me the respect that I give you and everyone that I interact with, and speak to me as an individual, and respond to what I actually write and not what you imagine about me, and do so without engaging in baseless extrapolations that enable you to associate me with a despised group that you can then rail against using me as the vehicle, I will be happy to debate our differences--otherwise, no thanks.

You see Guillaume, your problem is you're making the wrong baseless extrapolations. Accusing GD of supporting torture is a wrong baseless extrapolation. But, there are right baseless extrapolations. For example, if someone questions the necessity for giving Israel aid, it's OK to accuse him or her of supporting a 'final solution' (an allusion to the Jewish Holocaust). That's the right kind of baseless extrapolation to make.

Or, for example, today I clipped an article about a hate crime committed by Israelis against an Arab. Even though I explicitly said that this wasn't representatives of Israelis or Jews, GD did the right thing and made a good baseless extrapolation by accusing me o...

You see Guillaume, your problem is you're making the wrong baseless extrapolations. Accusing GD of supporting torture is a wrong baseless extrapolation. But, there are right baseless extrapolations. For example, if someone questions the necessity for giving Israel aid, it's OK to accuse him or her of supporting a 'final solution' (an allusion to the Jewish Holocaust). That's the right kind of baseless extrapolation to make.

Or, for example, today I clipped an article about a hate crime committed by Israelis against an Arab. Even though I explicitly said that this wasn't representatives of Israelis or Jews, GD did the right thing and made a good baseless extrapolation by accusing me of anti-Semitism.

Another good baseless extrapolation: If someone criticizes US policy, it's OK to accuse them of being anti-American.

If you have questions about what baseless extrapolations are OK and which ones are not, do not hesitate to ask GD--he'll be more than happy to set you straight.

Godfrey, I did exacly that. I totally agree with you, and I didn't make extrapolations on the "group" of individuals you supposedly belong to. I hate this way of thinking as much as you do (and by the way, I'm very happy that you don't like that).

But the problem is, all your comments indicate hat you have the specific case of this clip: you said:

Our "justice" system is so broken.

Obviously (correct me if I'm mistaken, I would love to be) that meant you thought 15 years of jail was too forgiving a sentence for that. I don't even want to discuss what it is to spend 15 years of your life behind bars, when you're 36, that's not the point. I just descibed, in a somewhat sarca...

Godfrey, I did exacly that. I totally agree with you, and I didn't make extrapolations on the "group" of individuals you supposedly belong to. I hate this way of thinking as much as you do (and by the way, I'm very happy that you don't like that).

But the problem is, all your comments indicate hat you have the specific case of this clip: you said:

Our "justice" system is so broken.

Obviously (correct me if I'm mistaken, I would love to be) that meant you thought 15 years of jail was too forgiving a sentence for that. I don't even want to discuss what it is to spend 15 years of your life behind bars, when you're 36, that's not the point. I just descibed, in a somewhat sarcastic tone (that I agree with) what used to be the sentences in the past, in a less civilized era.

My point was not at all about religions, but just about civilizations. I personally find barbaric and uncivilized the death penalty (not to mention that all studies prove that it doesn't reduce crime, basically it's just a vengence), and that was all I said. Based on your comment that I understood as "he deserved death penalty".

But I liked your witty answer, by the way Because I know (err I hope) that you didn't really mean it.