Rock Hudson Jokes
four...@navajo.arpa
There will not be any joke.
Why should I do that, when (I hope) thousands of people on the net share
my feelings, I do not know. I was waiting and expecting somebody to say it.
For months now we have been subjected to "Rock Hudson Jokes", and "AIDS Jokes".
None of them had any redeeming value, even assuming that they could have had.
They mostly were the kind of statement an unthinking 10 year old would write
on a bathroom wall (but even them usually do not pick the name of a dying
person to make them look "current"), or feeble puns on various names associated
with Rock Hudson. Regardless of the circumstances, they were not funny by any
definition of the word.
It would be easy to believe that these "jokes" and their posting were
prompted by hatred, stupidity, ignorance and fear (surely humor was not a
factor). I will try to assume otherwise. I will try to assume that the people
who posted them are not hateful, stupid, ignorant or afraid. I will assume that
they were maybe a little too quick on the old keyboard, maybe tired at the end
of a long day, maybe too influenced by the flotsam that usually encumbers
our consciousness. I will also assume that they are reading this.
Next time you post a joke, or read one, please ask yourself (you are easy to
identify, you are the person whose dim reflection you can see in the screen
in front of you): why do I post this joke, why do I laugh, do I laugh?
And more important, what does it say about me. Do I want my name to be
permanently associated with that material and this message.
If the person closest and dearest to you (including you, if you are this
person) were dying a certain death under your very eyes, no matter of what
disease or how contracted, would you reach for the terminal to share a laugh
about it with the rest of us.
I hope not, and I hope than when you die, the rest of us, providing they
notice, will not feel like sharing a laugh about it.
Two more remarks before I stop. The death of Rock Hudson per se does not make
matters worse. I do not think we should respect death, I think we should use
all the respect, concern and care we can muster for the living. And last I
will not reply on the net to comments about this, except through mail. My goal
is not to start a debate. I just want to be able to say that when ugly things
were said on the net, I as a user disagreed publicly. I wish we all have the
wisdom to do that more often.
Thank you for reading this.
sd...@uiucuxa.cso.uiuc.edu
Well stated!! Thanks for giving us the oft' needed reminder to have a heart.
Mark Fohl
figure that gets him or herself in trouble is fair game for any jokes. I
didn't wish the man dead, but he has only himself to blame. It's not
likely that he was an innocent victim of a blood transfusion.
Consider previous rashes of jokes: Dick Nixon, Teddy Kennedy, Richard Pryor,
Billy Jean King; each one of them went a little off the beaten track and
became the target of public humor. Jokes about them are in far better taste
than Baby Fay jokes, James Brady jokes, or Ethiopian jokes. Those poor
folks had no choice in their predicaments.
Gray Michael A
> There will not be any joke.
> Why should I do that, when (I hope) thousands of people on the net share
> my feelings, I do not know. I was waiting and expecting somebody to say it.
> For months now we have been subjected to "Rock Hudson Jokes", and "AIDS Jokes".
> None of them had any redeeming value, even assuming that they could have had.
+ 40 more lines of moaning about the cruelty of Rock Hudson jokes.
Look, I've been reading net.jokes for several years, and I've noticed a few
things. First, anything goes here, whether you like it or not. Second,
we've gotten this article every few months since the net began. Third, most
jokes likely to offend are identified as such in their Subject line.
Fourth, Rock Hudson probably heard them all before they were published in
net.jokes. They didn't cause any further harm here.
Lighten up, or hit the n key.
Mike Gray
PS - A joke for those of you who put up with all this:
Did you know that scientists have recently stopped using laboratory
rats for subjects and are now using attorneys?
It's true, for two reasons. There are more of them, and you don't
get so attached to them.
Dave Bloom
In article <15...@cbosgd.UUCP>, fo...@cbosgd.UUCP (Mark Fohl) writes:
> I don't feel a bit sorry for Rock Hudson now that he's gone. Any public
> figure that gets him or herself in trouble is fair game for any jokes. I
> didn't wish the man dead, but he has only himself to blame. It's not
> likely that he was an innocent victim of a blood transfusion.
Was his being a homosexual a crime??? (If in fact, he was a homosexual?)
I've got some news for you: more heterosexuals are coming down with AIDS
than homosexuals... It's just a matter of time before it becomes a UNIVERSAL
epidemic. 'only himself to blame'? Nowadays you can get AIDS from sleeping
with anyone. If you think that means you 'only have yourself to blame' then
that means you either belong back in the stone age or you're a bona-fide
idiot....
--
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allegra\
harvard \ pyramid\
seismo \ pyrnj >!andromeda!dave Dave Bloom
ut-sally >!topaz/
sri-iu /
ihnp4!packard /
Jeff A. Gershengorn
> In article <15...@cbosgd.UUCP>, fo...@cbosgd.UUCP (Mark Fohl) writes:
> > I don't feel a bit sorry for Rock Hudson now that he's gone. Any public
> > figure that gets him or herself in trouble is fair game for any jokes. I
> > didn't wish the man dead, but he has only himself to blame. It's not
> > likely that he was an innocent victim of a blood transfusion.
>
> Was his being a homosexual a crime??? (If in fact, he was a homosexual?)
> I've got some news for you:
Thank you.
--
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"The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death"
-P. Floyd
Jeff Gershengorn '88 ihnp4!dartvax!gersh
Hinman Box 1772 Dartmouth College Hanover, New Hampshire 03755
Real World: 5 Fairway Drive San Rafael, CA 94901
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Bill Richard
Note: This is from STella Calvert, a guest on this account.
In article <15...@cbosgd.UUCP> fo...@cbosgd.UUCP (Mark Fohl) writes:
>I don't feel a bit sorry for Rock Hudson now that he's gone. Any public
>figure that gets him or herself in trouble is fair game for any jokes. I
>didn't wish the man dead, but he has only himself to blame. It's not
>likely that he was an innocent victim of a blood transfusion.
No, he was the innocent victim of a disease that happened to show up in one
group of our society.
I'm sick of these alleged jokes, and would like to suggest the creation of a
new newgroup, net.homophobe. Then net.idiots who get some pleasure from
talking about AIDS and the terrible people who have it would be able to jerk
off peacefully without getting flamed by people who read .jokes expecting
humor, rather than prejudice.
>Consider previous rashes of jokes: Dick Nixon, Teddy Kennedy, Richard Pryor,
>Billy Jean King; each one of them went a little off the beaten track and
>became the target of public humor. Jokes about them are in far better taste
>than Baby Fay jokes, James Brady jokes, or Ethiopian jokes. Those poor
>folks had no choice in their predicaments.
Can you, O poster of stupidity, cite one case of a person who knowingly
chose to contract AIDS?
STella Calvert
(guest on ...!decvax!frog!wjr)
Every man and every woman is a star.
P.S. net.homophobe is a joke, Gene, not a call for a new group!
Martin Lefkowitz
Violent opposition has always been met by mediocre minds
--Albert Einstien.
You know you don't have to read all these jokes. "n" means next
article. In addition most offensive joke are encrypted for further
isolation. I happend to find that although a lot of them were just plain
sick some of them were genuinely funny like:
Did you here Rock Hudson is going into business with Mrs. Fields?
They're going to call it famous anus cookies.
Thats funny. What wright does anybody on the network have to CENSOR
these articles. By the way history has proven that the more something is
banned the more people will want it. Aids is a terrible and scary disease,
but not having a sense of humor will ruin the quality of life.
--
{(ucbvax!dual!sun) (ihnp4!qubix)}!sunncal!leadsv!lefko
{{allegra ihnp4 dual}!fortune decvax!decwrl}!amdcad!cae780!leadsv!lefko
Mike S. Balenger x8789
Just because they are 'public figures' does not give us the right to demand
that their whole life and any details pertaining to it are in the 'public
domain.'
*Nobody* *asked* for AIDS. *Nobody* *asked* to have their private lives
picked apart on this or any other public forum. Of course, they have no
choice but to let it happen, but that does not mean that they have consented
to it. Show some tact, leave private lives of public figures alone.
Michael S. Balenger ihnp4!link!msb (201) 949-8789
--
Michael S. Balenger ihnp4!link!msb (201) 949-8789 {Cornet 233-8789}
Nate Stelton
>In article <15...@cbosgd.UUCP> fo...@cbosgd.UUCP (Mark Fohl) writes:
>
>No, he was the innocent victim of a disease that happened to show up in one
>group of our society.
>
Well! I turn to net.jokes for a chuckle, not an argument. As far as I'm
concerned, the RH jokes were funnier than this.
Obligatory joke:
One day a kindergarten teacher decided to test her students on animal
sounds. Calling on little white Mary, she asked, "Mary, what does the cow
say?"
"Mooooooo," answered Mary.
"Very good," said the teacher. "Now, Johnny, what does the sheep say?"
"Baaaaaaa," replied little white Johnny.
Then the teacher asked little black Leroy, "What does the pig say, Leroy?"
Leroy thought for a minute and then said,
"Freeze, nigger."
-etan
Angelo Riddell
Q: What do you get when you cross a Chinese with a Black?
A: A Chigger!!
(wanton applause)