Avgas in France has reached $7.50/gal !

"Morgans" wrote in message
...

"Bob Fry" wrote in message
...
Dylan Smith writes:

Why must so many threads in this NG turn into vitriolic political
rants?

Because one very ignorant poster repeatedly insults large blocks of
people by country of origin.

Why don't you just filter him out, if his ignorance bothers you so?

For the same reason that, if you're sitting at a dinner table and someone
starts gratuitiously disparaging the people next to you, you would probably
want to speak in their defense, rather than just acquiescing in silence.

--Gary

By responding, it just fuels the fire.
--
Jim in NC

"Gary Drescher" writes:

Why don't you just filter him out, if his ignorance bothers you so?

For the same reason that, if you're sitting at a dinner table and someone
starts gratuitiously disparaging the people next to you, you would probably
want to speak in their defense, rather than just acquiescing in silence.

Thank you.

In his attitude towards other groups, Jay is not far from the bigots
who disparage ethnic groups (blacks, hispanics, etc.) As a society we
have generally learned over the years that stereotyping and
name-calling are a Bad Thing, first for the individuals in the groups,
and then for all the rest of us. It drags all of us down. It's not
what the American experiment was and is about.

On a personal level, the best vacation I ever had was my trip to
Europe, where my wife and I visited only France. Our nephew married a
French girl and we went to their wedding. We had a fantastic time,
including a trip to a local aéroport where I logged a half hour in an
airplane. The instructor refused to accept any payment for his time
and the club members were gracious and friendly. Virtually everybody
we me in our 20 days there was helpful. France is a beautiful
country, its engineers some of the best in the world, the French
people are not fat, boastful slobs.

So, no, I'm not going to remain silent when some ignorant (and proud
of it) mid-west yahoo vomits on this newsgroup.

"Bob Fry" wrote in message
...
So, no, I'm not going to remain silent when some ignorant (and proud
of it) mid-west yahoo vomits on this newsgroup.

Although stereotyping mid-westerners is also undesirable.

--Gary

"Gary Drescher" wrote in message
...
"Bob Fry" wrote in message
...
So, no, I'm not going to remain silent when some ignorant (and proud
of it) mid-west yahoo vomits on this newsgroup.

Although stereotyping mid-westerners is also undesirable.

Welcome to Bob's world.

Gary Drescher wrote:
"Bob Fry" wrote in message
...

So, no, I'm not going to remain silent when some ignorant (and proud
of it) mid-west yahoo vomits on this newsgroup.


Although stereotyping mid-westerners is also undesirable.

That's not a stereotype. That's *one* very specific example.

George Patterson
There's plenty of room for all of God's creatures. Right next to the
mashed potatoes.

"George Patterson" wrote in message
news:BBk8e.5459$ha3.5006@trndny02...
Gary Drescher wrote:
"Bob Fry" wrote in message
...

So, no, I'm not going to remain silent when some ignorant (and proud
of it) mid-west yahoo vomits on this newsgroup.


Although stereotyping Midwesterners is also undesirable.

That's not a stereotype. That's *one* very specific example.

Imagine that the above quote had gratuitously invoked the ethic or religious
identity of the person in question ("ignorant xxxxx yahoo"), instead of
saying 'mid-west'. The implied stereotype would be obvious, even though just
one person is (nominally) addressed. Same for 'mid-west', I'm afraid.

--Gary

Gary Drescher wrote:

Imagine that the above quote had gratuitously invoked the ethic or religious
identity of the person in question ("ignorant xxxxx yahoo"), instead of
saying 'mid-west'. The implied stereotype would be obvious, even though just
one person is (nominally) addressed. Same for 'mid-west', I'm afraid.

I disagree. I'm unaware of any stereotypical behavior which might be associated
with mid-westerners. Perhaps I'm simply uninformed in this matter.

George Patterson
There's plenty of room for all of God's creatures. Right next to the
mashed potatoes.

On 16 Apr 2005 10:15:37 -0700, Bob Fry
wrote in
::

On a personal level, the best vacation I ever had was my trip to
Europe, where my wife and I visited only France.

You speak with the wisdom of a cosmopolitan traveler. I suspect that
Mr. Honeck has never stepped foot in France or anywhere else in
Europe, else how can his provincial attitude be explained?

"Larry Dighera" wrote in message
...
On 16 Apr 2005 10:15:37 -0700, Bob Fry
wrote in
::

On a personal level, the best vacation I ever had was my trip to
Europe, where my wife and I visited only France.

You speak with the wisdom of a cosmopolitan traveler. I suspect that
Mr. Honeck has never stepped foot in France or anywhere else in
Europe, else how can his provincial attitude be explained?


Reminds me of the time I was on vacation and passing through Utah. A
waitress in the delightful little town of Torrey said "you have strange
English accents, say where are you folks from?" "England", we replied.
"What state is that in?" she asked. We just smiled. Any further explanation
was going to be a mite challenging.
It is a common occurrence but then I do tend to be in places like Torrey
when I have vacations in the US.

cb

In article , Chris wrote:
Reminds me of the time I was on vacation and passing through Utah. A
waitress in the delightful little town of Torrey said "you have strange
English accents, say where are you folks from?" "England", we replied.
"What state is that in?" she asked. We just smiled. Any further explanation
was going to be a mite challenging.

Don't worry - I got asked on two separate occasions whether English is
spoken in England, or "whether it's just an accent y'all have". I also
find the "Well is there an Isle of Woman" question gets rather old
rather quick, but I can forgive that - most people in the Isle of Man
haven't heard of Rhode Island so I'd hardly expect them to have heard of
our windswept rock in the Irish Sea.

In any case -- actaully visiting (to live) places strips away much of
the ignorant stereotypes we often harbour - I soon learned that the
United States didn't even remotely fit the stereotypes we normally hold
here (or that are promoted by Hollywood, which seems to believe the US
consists of Los Angeles and perhaps NY and Chicago if they are feeling
generous). I've been to 26 states in the US and it doesn't take long to
realise there's one thing you can't do and that is generalize.

I decided to leave the US not because I didn't like it (I like it a lot
and visit frequently - and I was easily better paid in the US) but because
there are things *other* than the cost of avgas that makes me choose
where I live.

Oh, and France is a beautiful country too, and the Anglo-American
stereotype of the French is also in most cases couldn't be more wrong.
Just because French society has different values to the US doesn't make
them "dunderheaded" either.

--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"