I am sorry to have to say this but Tir is getting more intolerant and I do not like it.
Monadh and I have been chatting here now for quiet some time. Today we met up for the first time in ages and our thoughts turned to the world and the potential war in Iraq.
We do not have definitive answers...it is complicated...but we spoke from the heart without feeling we had a monopoly on being right.
Monadh kept apologizing for our very conversation and I thought why this is Tir.........
But then my friends go to chat log read gogo and Pyro and see what you think..........
We have the right to say what we think without being put down by sanctimonious gits..........
okay nuff said I am happy to be judged by a jury of my peers so read it and let me know what you think

It's a problem.

It would be great if everybody could talk in an openminded way.
Unfortunately, this seems unachivable in the real world, never mind in a chat room - where the relative (that's relative!) anonymity leads people to treat others in a way that they would hesitate to do face to face.

The unpalatable fact is that open Internet fora are open to abuse. This happens even for trivial conversations.

When we come to something like Iraq, the potential for abuse is increased a millionfold.

Most people yearn for simplicity, and there's no better place for nuturing simplicity than sitting in comfort at a keyboard a million cultural years from the place and people at the dirty end of the problem.

In an ideal world, we could freely access accurate information, float ideas and discuss them rationally.
This not being such a world, it may be better to avoid discussions with emotional faceless strangers.

People who enjoy the sound of their own voices actually only enjoy the idea that others are listening.
I've said it before, and no doubt I'll say it agin. Never wrestle with a pig. The pig enjoys it, and you just get covered in muck.

At the same time, if anyone detects outright abuse of the chat room, please capture the details at the time and forward them to me.

Ludd ,i'm pretty sure you will agree that most of the people in tir have respect for each others views,so dont let a few bad apples turn the whole basket rotten,theres plenty of good people in tir so dont waste your time getting wound up by a couple of idiots

Ditto to Ularu's comments! I agree...the vast majority of participants at the Tir are tolerant, kind hearted, talented, fun people, who are able to share ideas in a civilised manner, agree to disagree without vitriolics, and have a few laughs along the way where appropriate.

Each has their own unique experience of life which without doubt colours their world outlook in varying hues, shades, tints, textures, contrasts etc, etc. An outlook can alter day to day based on mood, health, and the happenings of that day.

We need to be ourselves, have a voice, and work towards considerate and genuine dialogue when interacting with others, taking into account that our own view is not the only experience of life, and that what is easy for one, might be the hardest thing for another. This is the place to live and learn ~ think of it as a large laboratory, and ask yourself what's under the microscope today! :)

Sheesh

I take offence to that Wonda.

I agree with Accasbel, Ularu and Silk. Most people who come to Tir are kind and open minded and and respectful of others and freely allow others to express their views, regardless of whether they agree or not. Don't let the odd bad encounter spoil Tir for you, or in anyway discourage you from expressing your thoughts and feelings.

I don't know what was said after the conversation I had with Ludd the other day, I only know the words I chose to use to discus my frustrations with the current local and global scene, and the views expressed by Ludd on these as well. If something I said offended anyone in tir, I do apologize now, as I did then.

Let's not beat ourselves up too much now :)

There are definite differences between
- expressing an opinion on a topic which might not be to somebody's taste
and
- expressing an opinion in language calculated to convert a discussion into an argument
and
- deliberately insulting someone because their opinions don't seem to be compatible with our own


We don't have to apologise for our opinions. (Although having said that, I would be obliged if anybody whose opinions run to hatred and intolerance would not 'share' with us here).
We only have to apologise for the manner in which we sometimes express them.

Tolerance Sucks. I mean think about it. Once you start tolerating people then Lord knows you may have to show respect then patience, generosity may come into play, then before you know it people start getting along. History has shown that it just doesn't work. NOW BACK TO MORE SERIOUS ISSUES!!! I DISAGREE with Ularu. Why do a few bad apples always get blamed for spoiling the bunch? Couldn't there be any other reason that the bunch goes bad? Blame, blame, blame.... *shakes his head in dismay* Why does everyone seem to need to find someone else to blame???

Think about this Ularu, where do those li'l worms come from aye? Have you ever thought to find out that the person who runs around puttin them on the apples is the culprit NOT the bad apples? Yeah baby, you better go back and rethink your thesis on this one!!

an' which came first?
- The apple or the worm?

The tree: It is older than both, and it came from an apple that did not have a worm (probably because a bird devoured the worm before it got to that apple.)

an' the apple came from the egg of the bird?


Speaking of eggs, I think that people who open their eggs at the big end are the scum of the Earth.
Or is it at the little end? - Can't remember for the moment - D'auld memory isn't so swift anymore. But I know that one type are scum anyway.

how utterly Brobdingnaggian of you, Acc... ;)

and dem Star-Bellied Sneetches are scum, too

As an afterthought -
An apple or apple tree couldn't come from the egg of a bird, but a yolk tree could.

The yolk tree grows from an eggcorn.

An eggcorn?
That's a breed of chicken!

It's all becoming clear now.

Plants an eggcorn so a new yolk tree can grow...

But there's no yolk tree like an old yolk tree.


(Name that song?)
Don't you sit 'neath the apple tree with any old yolk like me.....

"Not the least of the virtues of yolk song is that it can bring a breath of sweetness and light into parts of the world too long regulated by too many people who look as though they never want to break into a song, not even in the bathroom."
Geoffrey Summerfield, university teacher and poet ( "Yolk music in School", 1978 )

I feel responsible for placing this yoke of burden of bad puns on my fellow Tírnanogians, so please forgive me.

*Dodges a flying yolk lobbed by Ularu. Turns gracefully in flight to show off and flies straight into a new Yolk Tree*

Hey Acc, no fair planting Acme Quick Grow Yolk Trees!

Ha Ha,what a bunch ,,never let the facts interfere with the truth indeed, bum cloth,respect.typcl unc sam bull

hes not at all easy to rhyme on

I dunno about that...yolk, folk, soak, toke, smoke, joke, broke, jamoke...hmmm, there's gotta be a limerick in there somewheres...

ahh, Celt....but there is...

*L*

hmmm... I once met a bloke with a yolk
Once broke you could stoke and then smoke

hmm....need some help here (it's been awhile....trying to fit JAMOKE into this somehow)

*g*

There was a jamoke from Suffolk
and there's nothing that he wouldn't smoke
beast, vegetable or mineral
he'd make 'em incinerable
Even toked a hen down to the yolk

(ok, I know, I know..."incinerable" isn't really a word, except to G.Dubya Bush perhaps *w*

(Hand that man a yolks-clip)