Re: [OT] May I be the first to offer you holiday greetings here

[Davoud]

Michelle Steiner:

> May the Elder God Cthulhu not rain madness and despair upon you and your
> loved ones this holiday season.

Considering that neither, er, whatsisname nor any other god has ever
done anything at all in the age of the Universe, we expect to be safe
from madness and despair above the background level. Thanks for the
sentiment, however.

--
I agree with almost everything that you have said and almost everything that
you will say in your entire life.

usenet *at* davidillig dawt cawm

[*Hemidactylus*]

On 12/17/2011 11:08 PM, Davoud wrote:
> Michelle Steiner:
>
>> May the Elder God Cthulhu not rain madness and despair upon you and your
>> loved ones this holiday season.
>
> Considering that neither, er, whatsisname nor any other god has ever
> done anything at all in the age of the Universe, we expect to be safe
> from madness and despair above the background level. Thanks for the
> sentiment, however.
>

Didn't BP (or was it DP?) rain despair and destruction upon the Earth by
drilling habits and bring Cthulhu forth? I'm sure they were "sorry" for
that, but the Goths welcomed it as did Eric Cartman. Cthulhu is as much
reason for the season as anyone else.

Any Norse folks here?

Don't think the original followers of Christ were much into ham during Yule.

[TaliesinSoft]

On 2011-12-18 04:24:18 +0000, Michelle Steiner said:

> In article <171220112308049457%st...@sky.net>, Davoud <st...@sky.net> wrote:
>
>>> May the Elder God Cthulhu not rain madness and despair upon you and
>>> your loved ones this holiday season.
>>
>> Considering that neither, er, whatsisname nor any other god has ever
>> done anything at all in the age of the Universe, we expect to be safe
>> from madness and despair above the background level. Thanks for the
>> sentiment, however.
>

> *sigh* It was primarily a joke; Cthulhu is supposedly the most evil being
> in creation, according to the H. P. Lovecraft stories written about it.

Methinks that Davoud fully understood the meaning of the post - that it
was a bit of holiday humor.

--
James Leo Ryan - Austin, Texas

[Wes Groleau]

On 12-17-2011 23:08, Davoud wrote:
> Considering that neither, er, whatsisname nor any other god has ever
> done anything at all in the age of the Universe, we expect to be safe

I understand that you believe that to be true.
I also understand that you cannot prove it to anyone else.
So why is it important enough to demand that you rain on
Michelle's parade?

--
Wes Groleau

"What progress we are making! In the Middle Ages, they would have
burnt me; nowadays they are content with burning my books.”
— Sigmund Freud, 1933
"He was never to know that even that was only an illusory progress,
that ten years later they would have burned his body as well.”
— Ernest Jones, 1953

[Davoud]

Michelle Steiner:
> > > May the Elder God Cthulhu not rain madness and despair upon you and
> > > your loved ones this holiday season.

Davoud:

> > Considering that neither, er, whatsisname nor any other god has ever
> > done anything at all in the age of the Universe, we expect to be safe
> > from madness and despair above the background level. Thanks for the
> > sentiment, however.

Michelle Steiner:

> *sigh* It was primarily a joke; Cthulhu is supposedly the most evil being
> in creation, according to the H. P. Lovecraft stories written about it.

I'm aware of that and I regret that you took my reply seriously. As for
Lovecraft, he didn't know Dick Cheney, did he?

[Patty Winter]

In article <michelle-DA4853...@news.eternal-september.org>,

Michelle Steiner <mich...@michelle.org> wrote:
>In article <171220112308049457%st...@sky.net>, Davoud <st...@sky.net> wrote:
>

>> > May the Elder God Cthulhu not rain madness and despair upon you and
>> > your loved ones this holiday season.
>>
>> Considering that neither, er, whatsisname nor any other god has ever
>> done anything at all in the age of the Universe, we expect to be safe
>> from madness and despair above the background level. Thanks for the
>> sentiment, however.
>

>*sigh* It was primarily a joke; Cthulhu is supposedly the most evil being
>in creation, according to the H. P. Lovecraft stories written about it.

I got the impression that Davoud knows exactly who Whatshisname is
and therefore knows that one isn't supposed to say Whatshisname's
name...

The rest of you are asking for biiiiggg trouble!!


Patty

[Tim McNamara]

In article <4eed7edc$0$1672$742e...@news.sonic.net>,

I've never been able to figure out how to pronounce it.

--
"The surprising thing about humanity is that Man sacrifices his health in
order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And
then he is so anxious about the future that he doesn't enjoy the present; the
result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as
if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived"
- Dalai Lama

[Warren Oates]

In article <michelle-DA4853...@news.eternal-september.org>,
Michelle Steiner <mich...@michelle.org> wrote:

> *sigh* It was primarily a joke; Cthulhu is supposedly the most evil being
> in creation, according to the H. P. Lovecraft stories written about it.

Lovecraft never met my sister-in-law.

Your sentiments are well taken: Merry Christmas.
--

... do not cover a warm kettle or your stock may sour. -- Julia Child

[Ed Cryer]

Zeus can handle Cthulhu. He keeps him locked up in adamantine chains,
far away on a rock in the Caucasus, next to Prometheus.

It's Poseidon the Earth-shaker we have to worry about. Zeus lets him
roam free; he even has a home on Olympus, but he's the one who sent the
Boxing Day tsunami.

Ed

[George Kerby]

On 12/17/11 10:16 PM, in article
NqCdneyHUpS89HDT...@giganews.com, "*Hemidactylus*"

<ecph...@hotmail.com> wrote:

> On 12/17/2011 11:08 PM, Davoud wrote:
>> Michelle Steiner:
>>
>>> May the Elder God Cthulhu not rain madness and despair upon you and your
>>> loved ones this holiday season.
>>
>> Considering that neither, er, whatsisname nor any other god has ever
>> done anything at all in the age of the Universe, we expect to be safe
>> from madness and despair above the background level. Thanks for the
>> sentiment, however.
>>
> Didn't BP (or was it DP?) rain despair and destruction upon the Earth by
> drilling habits and bring Cthulhu forth?

Not as badly as the Ruskies. They have a Deepwater Horizon event about every
other month. You need to find another 'evil force' to hate...

<http://hosted2.ap.org/ALDEC/TDWorld/Article_2011-12-17-EU-Russia-Oil-Calami
ty/id-e873106c0e9c4438b096b7903a11d3ef>

Or

<http://preview.tinyurl.com/7r6ms2c>

Maybe George Bush? It's all his fault...

[Howard Brazee]

On Sat, 17 Dec 2011 21:24:18 -0700, Michelle Steiner

<mich...@michelle.org> wrote:

>*sigh* It was primarily a joke; Cthulhu is supposedly the most evil being
>in creation, according to the H. P. Lovecraft stories written about it.

Which was already a joke for me.

--
"In no part of the constitution is more wisdom to be found,
than in the clause which confides the question of war or peace
to the legislature, and not to the executive department."

- James Madison

[Jolly Roger]

In article <michelle-A0657B...@news.eternal-september.org>,

Michelle Steiner <mich...@michelle.org> wrote:

> May the Elder God Cthulhu not rain madness and despair upon you and your
> loved ones this holiday season.
>

> -- Michelle

Cheers.

--
Send responses to the relevant news group rather than email to me.
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my very hungry SPAM
filter. Due to Google's refusal to prevent spammers from posting
messages through their servers, I often ignore posts from Google
Groups. Use a real news client if you want me to see your posts.

JR

[Davoud]

Michelle Steiner:
> > > *sigh* It was primarily a joke; Cthulhu is supposedly the most evil
> > > being in creation, according to the H. P. Lovecraft stories written about it.

Davoud:

> > I'm aware of that and I regret that you took my reply seriously.

> Sorry, but your satire was too good; your reply was exactly like what a
> militant atheist would write.

I tried to heed Richard Dawkins' call, issued at a TED Talk and in
other places, to be not just an atheist, but a militant atheist, but I
find it very difficult to be a militant anything. Militant atheism
makes me think of evangelism. While (as you know) I have sometimes been
guilty of Mac evangelism, I don't like evangelism and I try to avoid
practicing it. I'm aging and mellowing (to a point) and I think I lack
the energy for evangelism.

> > As for Lovecraft, he didn't know Dick Cheney, did he?

> He must have; Lovecraft could easily have crafted Cthulhu after him.

There, you've gone and used his Name again.

[Warren Oates]

In article <181220111352305953%st...@sky.net>, Davoud <st...@sky.net>
wrote:

> I tried to heed Richard Dawkins' call, issued at a TED Talk and in
> other places, to be not just an atheist, but a militant atheist,

I've never understood that. It just turns "Atheism" into some kind of
formal Religion.

I'm an atheist, in that I don't believe in a god. Beyond that, I don't
care, and I really don't want to argue with religious people or agree
with Atheists that there are inconsistencies in the Bible (of course
there are, just like there are inconsistencies in Raymond Chandler and
who cares).

[Todd Allcock]

At 18 Dec 2011 14:04:08 -0500 Warren Oates wrote:
> In article <181220111352305953%st...@sky.net>, Davoud <st...@sky.net>
> wrote:
>
> > I tried to heed Richard Dawkins' call, issued at a TED Talk and in
> > other places, to be not just an atheist, but a militant atheist,
>
> I've never understood that. It just turns "Atheism" into some kind of
> formal Religion.

Maybe. There are times when militant atheism is warranted, IMO, like
when like your local school board wants to waste money building
"intelligent design" into your schools' curriculum. Other than stuff
like that, I don't get bent out of shape over things like whether stores
say "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays"- modern religion is a
part of our culture, so as long as Christmas is a legal holiday, cities
and towns are free, IMO, to erect "religious" displays like nativity
scenes just like they put up Christmas trees and Santas. Why ban one
mythical story and not another? ;)

> I'm an atheist, in that I don't believe in a god. Beyond that, I don't
> care, and I really don't want to argue with religious people or agree
> with Atheists that there are inconsistencies in the Bible (of course
> there are, just like there are inconsistencies in Raymond Chandler and
> who cares).

I think the hope is that militant atheists will accelerate the (hopefully)
inevitable evolution of the general population away from the fairy
stories, and their associated baggage, of our ancestors.

[Davoud]

Davoud:

> > > I tried to heed Richard Dawkins' call, issued at a TED Talk and in
> > > other places, to be not just an atheist, but a militant atheist,

Warren Oates:

> > I've never understood that. It just turns "Atheism" into some kind of
> > formal Religion.

Todd Allcock:

> Maybe. There are times when militant atheism is warranted, IMO, like
> when like your local school board wants to waste money building
> "intelligent design" into your schools' curriculum. Other than stuff
> like that, I don't get bent out of shape over things like whether stores
> say "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays"- modern religion is a
> part of our culture, so as long as Christmas is a legal holiday, cities
> and towns are free, IMO, to erect "religious" displays like nativity
> scenes just like they put up Christmas trees and Santas. Why ban one
> mythical story and not another? ;)

A recent poll revealed that among religious people (i.e., most of the
world) atheists have the same level of respect and trusts as rapists.
You can't battle so-called intelligent design with atheism; you would
lose every time. You have to fight it with the law of the land. Expose
it as a thinly veiled religious doctrine and use the First Amendment's
establishment clause.

> > I'm an atheist, in that I don't believe in a god. Beyond that, I don't
> > care, and I really don't want to argue with religious people or agree
> > with Atheists that there are inconsistencies in the Bible (of course
> > there are, just like there are inconsistencies in Raymond Chandler and
> > who cares).

> I think the hope is that militant atheists will accelerate the (hopefully)
> inevitable evolution of the general population away from the fairy
> stories, and their associated baggage, of our ancestors.

Do militant (in-your-face) evangelical Christians stoke your desire to
adopt their superstitions? It happens sometimes that a smart believer
begins to look around and think about the way the world really is and
realizes that the existence of a god is extremely unlikely. But the
general rule remains that you can't reason people out of something that
they haven't been reasoned into. It's still the opiate of the masses.

[Todd Allcock]

True, but extremists, whether political, religious, or computer-platform
supporters ;) aren't arguing to convince their polar opposites, those
folks are not convertible, it's to keep the argument alive to make the 80%
in the middle question beliefs they may have never questioned.

My path to atheism started in third grade, when my English teacher, in a
unit on mythology, answered a student's question of why the ancient
Greeks believed in such "stupid" gods and myths with a simple question of
the class: why do you believe in god? After most of us sat there like
deer caught in headlights unable to answer, he answered for us: because
your parents told you to.

The teacher didn't have any agenda, (in fact, he didn't even remember
saying anything of the sort when I asked him about it years later) he was
just explaining the idea of cultural beliefs by example, and why
different historical cultures had such wildly differing beliefs and
ideas. That was my "a-ha" moment, however, that got the ball rolling for
me.

[FPP]

In article <michelle-DA4853...@news.eternal-september.org>,

Michelle Steiner <mich...@michelle.org> wrote:

> *sigh* It was primarily a joke; Cthulhu is supposedly the most evil being
> in creation, according to the H. P. Lovecraft stories written about it.

Well, you're not the only one who thinks Cthulhu is appropriate for
X-Mas...

http://www.amazon.com/Toy-Vault-TOY12527-Cthulhu-Wreath/dp/B000VK0VDK

http://www.etsy.com/listing/87236964/cthulhu-christmas-ornament-ceramic?u
tm_source=googleproduct&utm_medium=syndication&utm_campaign=GPS

...and my personal favorite:

http://cryptocurium.blogspot.com/2011/05/giant-cthulhu-chocolate-bar.html

I picked up that one up in Providence, nearby Lovecraft's old residence.

FPP

--
"Computers are like Old Testaments Gods. Lots of rules and no mercy."

[Fred Moore]

In article <181220111352305953%st...@sky.net>, Davoud <st...@sky.net>
wrote:

> I tried to heed Richard Dawkins' call, issued at a TED Talk and in
> other places, to be not just an atheist, but a militant atheist, but I
> find it very difficult to be a militant anything.

"Oppose the Flood, else be drowned by it!"

"I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens,
nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God."

--former US President George H.W. Bush while campaigning
for the presidency, August 27, 1987

> I'm aging and mellowing (to a point)

You, Davoud? Mellowing?!? Please say it ain't so. As an atheist, I'd
sooner believe in a benevolent, interventionist god! ;)

[Davoud]

Davoud:

> > I tried to heed Richard Dawkins' call, issued at a TED Talk and in
> > other places, to be not just an atheist, but a militant atheist, but I
> > find it very difficult to be a militant anything.

Fred Moore

> "Oppose the Flood, else be drowned by it!"

> "I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens,
> nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God."

> --former US President George H.W. Bush while campaigning
> for the presidency, August 27, 1987

Dubya said that I was an Enemy of the State and friend of Bin Laden
when he learned that I was not absolutely sure that the war in Iraq was
a good idea. But what did I know? I had only lived in the Arab
world--and studied the Hebrew and Arabic languages and Arab
political-military affairs--for 14 years.

> > I'm aging and mellowing (to a point)

> You, Davoud? Mellowing?!? Please say it ain't so. As an atheist, I'd
> sooner believe in a benevolent, interventionist god! ;)

Yes, it's true. Why, just the other day I walked past two elderly nuns
in the mall and I didn't slap either of them, didn't even spit at their
feet. Now that's what I call mellowing out!

[Walter Bushell]

In article <michelle-DA4853...@news.eternal-september.org>,
Michelle Steiner <mich...@michelle.org> wrote:

> In article <171220112308049457%st...@sky.net>, Davoud <st...@sky.net> wrote:
>

> > > May the Elder God Cthulhu not rain madness and despair upon you and
> > > your loved ones this holiday season.
> >
> > Considering that neither, er, whatsisname nor any other god has ever
> > done anything at all in the age of the Universe, we expect to be safe
> > from madness and despair above the background level. Thanks for the
> > sentiment, however.
>

> *sigh* It was primarily a joke; Cthulhu is supposedly the most evil being
> in creation, according to the H. P. Lovecraft stories written about it.

I don't know that Cthulhu can be considered evil as such. For one think,
he is so far outside the human realm that concepts like good and evil
are inapplicable. It would be like considering hurricanes evil or in a
proper direction salmon considering humans evil.

--
It is the nature of the human species to reject what is true but unpleasant
and to embrace what is obviously false but comforting. -- H. L. Mencken

[Geoffrey S. Mendelson]

Walter Bushell wrote:

> I don't know that Cthulhu can be considered evil as such. For one think,
> he is so far outside the human realm that concepts like good and evil
> are inapplicable. It would be like considering hurricanes evil or in a
> proper direction salmon considering humans evil.

So does that mean salmon are ok with the concept of lox?

Geoff.


--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, N3OWJ/4X1GM
My high blood pressure medicine reduces my midichlorian count. :-(

[Wes Groleau]

On 12-25-2011 11:49, Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:
> Walter Bushell wrote:
>> I don't know that Cthulhu can be considered evil as such. For one think,
>> he is so far outside the human realm that concepts like good and evil
>> are inapplicable. It would be like considering hurricanes evil or in a
>> proper direction salmon considering humans evil.
>
> So does that mean salmon are ok with the concept of lox?

No, it means salmon have no concept of lox.

Even if a salmon could think of such things,
why would he care about liquid oxygen? ;-)

--
Wes Groleau

Cage Fights at South Oak Cliff High
http://Ideas.Lang-Learn.us/russell?itemid=1458

[Joshua Whalen]

In article <michelle-DA4853...@news.eternal-september.org>,
Michelle Steiner <mich...@michelle.org> wrote:

> In article <171220112308049457%st...@sky.net>, Davoud <st...@sky.net> wrote:
>
> > > May the Elder God Cthulhu not rain madness and despair upon you and
> > > your loved ones this holiday season.
> >
> > Considering that neither, er, whatsisname nor any other god has ever
> > done anything at all in the age of the Universe, we expect to be safe
> > from madness and despair above the background level. Thanks for the
> > sentiment, however.
>
> *sigh* It was primarily a joke; Cthulhu is supposedly the most evil being
> in creation, according to the H. P. Lovecraft stories written about it.

Yes, well, Jesus loves you just the way you are. Cthulu, on the other
hand, thinks you could stand a few more minutes on the grill and a
little Tabasco sauce.

Happy holidays!

Joshua

[Joshua Whalen]

But on a more serious note,

http://occupyyourbrain.tumblr.com/post/14741404787/me-and-his-noodly-good
ness-be-wishin-ye-a-happy

happy holidays, again.

Joshua


In article <jckr1r$9c8$1...@dont-email.me>,