A Christmas message from Paul Milne

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US toy craze makes children 'monsters' By John Hiscock in Los Angeles

Pokemon World

THE latest craze to hit toyshops in Britain has been denounced by US police as "America's most dangerous hobby" after causing a surge in child crime. Children across the US are stabbing, beating and robbing each other to steal Pokemon trading cards, depicting the tiny monsters from on a Japanese video game. American police and Customs officials are being trained to spot counterfeits of the cards which can sell for more than #200.

A police spokesman in Los Angeles, where 540,000 counterfeit cards were confiscated at two toy wholesalers, said: "This has become a war because such huge amounts of money are involved. This has got to be America's most dangerous hobby because kids are literally fighting each other to get their hands on these cards."

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"causing a surge in child crime" "CAUSING a surge in child crime"

The pokemon cads have CAUSED nothing at all. No more than handguns CAUSE murders. What has 'caused' the crime is the degeneracy of the bulk of American parents. Just look at any typical school today and compare it with one of the fifties. Not even a remote similarity.

What this phenomena does bring to the fore is the manifest state of moral decay of the united States. This country has become a fetid festering sewer. When parents do not discipline their children, this is what happens. When morality goes out the window with atheists like bks and dechert, this is what happens.

If someone filmed a present day avaerage high school and showed it to a class of students in the 50's, they would be shocked, horrified and scoff that any school could ever be like that except in sheer fantasy. That is how depraved this country has become.

There is no reform for what we now called our 'society.' It is perverted beyond the ability of the population to even recognize how perverted it is.

Recently, Steve Roberts wrote words to the effect that no 'sane' person would want to see our country crash and burn. I disagree.

What we have is not worth preventing from burning. This is not synonymous with desiring human suffering. But, cancer is cancer. And if 90% of the corpus is cancer, it still needs to be cut out. Enough is enough. When we develop a society that creates the atmosphere where children go about stabbing each other over toys, that society has failed. When we have rampage after rampage of high school murder sprees, enough is enough. When we develop a society where sexual misconduct and promiscuity rampantly spreads diseases lie AIDS, enough is enough. When we end up with a President like Klinton, the singly most vile inhabitant the White House has ever held, enough is enough. When you develop a society where perverse deviants like dennis rodman are paid countless millions of dollars to throw a ball through a hoop and teachers are paid next to nothing, there is no redeeming value in that society. When you have a society where the most ballyhooed works of art involve 'urine' and 'elephant shit', that society is worthless. When you have a society whose popular 'music' revolves around lyrics calling for the killing of police officers and the physical injury of female sex organs, that society is defunct. Enough is enough.

The examples are myriad.

Reform is NOT the answer. There is nothing left worth reforming.

Crash and burn time, I hope.

Maybe something like a moral pheonix will rise from the ashes.

-- Ghost of Christmas Past (@ .), December 22, 1999

Answers

...and God bless us, everyone, you immoral degenerate scumbags!!

-- (milne@my.hero), December 22, 1999.

Yup, one positive aspect of a Big Bump might be an increased appreciation of what "luxury" means.

Ah well. 9 days and a few weeks until we find out how many meals we are away from barbarism, and whether we can control the little monsters we've created.

-- Servant (public_service@yahoo.com), December 22, 1999.


Wait, wait, there could be something here. If the cards caused the problem, perhaps the gun-control folks can help us out. Can we put a latch on each card, so only the proper owner can view it? How about forbidding Pokemon cards within a thousand feet of a school? Can we do background checks on these things? If so, of course, the big loophole is that so many Pokemon cards are sold by non-dealers at uncontrolled card-shows (e.g., at lockers, in busses, in the lunchroom). We need to close that loophole and do background checks for ALL sales. Then we can get a handle on this thing.

If we could just get rid of all the things that compel us to violence, we could quite worrying so much about behavior and morality, those fuzzy gray areas that actually take some thought.

-- bw (home@puget.sound), December 22, 1999.


[When parents do not discipline their children, this is what happens. When morality goes out the window with atheists like bks and dechert, this is what happens.]

Yes indeed, let's punish our children (spare the rod, spoil the child) with spankings and whippings in order to teach then not to fight.

(sigh)

-- GoldReal (GoldReal@aol.com), December 22, 1999.


Not to mention all the athiests that are the problem. If they'd just worship God like the rest of us, there wouldn't be all this killing.

-- (yeah@right.not), December 22, 1999.


Gold Real,

whereas the Bible is taken literally by many people it is also noted for its symbolic messages and allegorical points for all of our lives.

The Spare the Rod spoil the Child is derived from the Book of Proverbs, which was written by Solomon son of David. Purportedly Solomon was the Wisest man that ever lived (according to the Hebrew God). If a person becomes a parent the symbolical advice of Solomon regarding Spare the Rod Spoil the Child is indeed great wisdom. It is not necessarily to be taken in the context of using a Rod to invoke physical abuse, but more a warning to parents that children who are never disciplined (made accountable) in whatever form that discipline may take will eventually create a society of unaccountable human beings, much like we live in today. Where lying and deceit become the norm and acceptable behaviour and Children Kill children etc.

Not to give a Moral lesson here, but I think the wise advice of Sparing the rod has been Taken literally and unfortunately not heeded by many parents.

There is another saying in that Wise symbolic Book.

"The father that does not discipline his child hates him". Ask anyone that had parents that disciplined them (fairly) and they will tell you ,as they sat in their room they had an epiphany of Love at that moment, no matter how strange that sounds, it is true!!

-- d----- (dciinc@aol.com), December 22, 1999.


Yes, BW. I agree. We need to regulate Pokemon cards.

We must do it, FOR THE CHILDREN!!!

-- Clyde (clydeblalock@hotmail.com), December 22, 1999.


--D Damm Well Put.

-- kevin (innxxs@yahoo.com), December 22, 1999.

GoldReal -

To discipline is to teach, not to beat. A disciple is a student, not a target. Why do you draw the conclusion that someone who is being disciplined is actually being hit?

-- Mac (sneak@lurk.com), December 22, 1999.


Reference "d's" post:

The two tools of shepherds in Israel were the rod and the staff. The staff was used to extend the shepherd's "reach" so that he could guide the sheep by tapping them on the shoulder or side. The rod was used to give the occasional recalcitrant ovine a good sharp smack on the hindquarters when they really got out of line. Smart sheep learned to heed the staff.

-- Mac (sneak@lurk.com), December 22, 1999.



Thanks Mac.

As I was the recipient of a few good Thwacks in my life time.

I realize that the thwacking can be abused by seemingly good people in our hectic society. Therefore I have chosen, in my old age ,to see it symbolically. I think we would both agree that any form of discipline would suffice in a world that seems to lack the desire to exact any degree of accountability on the little scions of our affluent society

-- d----- (dciinc@aol.com), December 22, 1999.


--d---

When words don't mean what they say, they mean nothing at all.

(Wisdom greater than Solomon's)

-- GoldReal (GoldReal@aol.com), December 22, 1999.


Gold Real,

would you be implying objective words or subjective words in your comment regarding the meaning of words.

Would you be able to point out objectivly to me Love or Beauty or hate or would it be easier to point to a tree and say their is a tree.

You seem to refute words are nothing more the letters which are nothing more than SYMBOLS which do nothing more that assist us to communicate to one another the symbols of life whether they be subjective or objective.

-- d----- (dciinc@aol.com), December 22, 1999.


Paul - You forgot the weirdos who go into church services and start blowing people away. You forgot the child molesters and pornographers. You forgot the drug dealers. You forgot the welfare cheats. You even forgot MTV.

-- Amy Leone (leoneamy@aol.com), December 22, 1999.

--d-----,

[Would you be able to point out objectivly to me Love or Beauty or hate or would it be easier to point to a tree and say their is a tree.]

Love is beauty felt. Objective facts are beautiful. People who love objective facts always know how others who also love objective facts, feel. There is no ambiguity when dealing with objective facts.

It's correct that these are words. You can disagree that these are words, but to do so makes you incorrect. An objective fact in and of itself. I love knowing these are words. Do you? If so, we are in harmony on this objective fact and no conflict exists. If you doubt or deny these are words, then it is you who are in error, causing a conflict.

[You seem to refute words are nothing more the letters which are nothing more than SYMBOLS which do nothing more that assist us to communicate to one another the symbols of life whether they be subjective or objective.]

Words are symbols. Some words represent tangible objects and actions. (Tree; Hair; Walk; Infant; etc., objects and actions that can be objectively proven to exist in the REAL world.)

Other words represent intangible objects and actions. (God; Angel; Ghost; Holy; Sin; Savior; Heaven; Hell; etc., non-objects and unknown actions that can not be objectively proven to exist in the REAL world.)

Religion has near-perfected the invention and use of meaningless words, creating whole socities of people who readily "believe" and have "faith" that "something" exists that doesn't, in reality.

Some words (representative symbols) require "faith" and "belief" as a qualifier to make then seem "valid".

Other words (representative symbols) do not require "faith" or "belief" to make them seem valid. (Gravity could care less whether or not you "believe" in it. It exists equally for ALL. The same for physical death.)

Religion would die immediately, if it were required to reflect Objective Reality.

Again, when words don't mean what they say, they mean nothing at all, requiring the qualifier of "faith" and "belief" to give them subjective meaning.

-- GoldReal (GoldReal@aol.com), December 22, 1999.



You win----

makes perfect sense to someone here, I'm sure!

-- d----- (dciinc@aol.com), December 22, 1999.


"Religion would die immediately, if it were required to reflect Objective Reality."

How about this for religion? "You that want to be religious! Take care of orphans and widows."

That is take care of the helpless.

You have the Object[ive] of "RELIGION"! Really!

Otherwise religion is a waste of time. Reality!

-- Mark Hillyard (foster@inreach.com), December 22, 1999.


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