OK.....i've had it....i'm officially on strike. I refuse to take part in any more pointless political discussions until election time! Bicker, Bicker, Bicker.....you leftist....you fascist......pounding head on wall to often.....i'm done. I think i'll just look for good stuff and post on Chris's thread or some of the other non-politic's related threads. Any other threads are on ignore from now on! Now this will take a little self control but i'm gonna try. Politics and Other Things is were i'll be hangin' if anyone is lookin'!

I'm taking a break from the nasty threads where Deane is lately just mindlessly baiting people. But I'm happy to indulge in political discussion with everyone else.

Andrew

Wow, I guess those boots really WERE made for walkin'.

Buh-bye now.

Troll Herb is best ignored completely. He has confirmed himself as a grade A troll hundreds of times over.

Deane is now approaching troll territory. One wonders if a medical condition has led him astray since he previously did not exhibit troll behavior.

Sorry Dark.

I know I let myself get heated. Maybe knowing it often helps me get some things out will put things into a different mode for you. I don't mind getting into it somewhat deep. Gotta watch out for too deep, but given that happens, there should be no worries.

Just do what Andrew does. Step away and enjoy the bits that are worth it. Start a thread or two and bend the conversation your way. That's really how the noise level came up. Stepping away is one option, contributing a new thread or two is another.

You are not the problem, it's those other somewhat inflexible and rediculously outdated!

Feeding the animals is not always a good idea. At times I am somewhat selfish about doing it. That's what I meant.

"Step away and enjoy the bits that are worth it."

That's the plan man. There are a very few that are worthwhile but in large I just do not enjoy those discussions. Life is to short.....i'm just gonna stick with the light hearted side of this forum. I may venture back at election time but will generally stay away from heated, head banger, discussions. I know how I feel and beleive and nothing anyone says in here will change that so in reverse nothing I say will change them. I can read and come up with my on decisions and don't need these others ramming their beliefs down my throat! If I see a particular post in a thread I may respond to the person and not the whole group. You'll know i'm here "Lurking and Laughing at you" when you are pounding your head against the wall! On the lighter side......

A physic midget escaped from a mental hospital. The local authorities put out an APB for a Small Medium at Large!

Let's geek it up a bit. Lots of stuff to talk about in that regard. The literacy level here is not bad.

I'll start with some of those. Who knows what we may find here, on that topic?

Well DT our family has sat around all day reading the final Harry Potter book aloud. My wife and I taking turns. We started around 9am this morning and it's nearly 11:30pm.

We stopped for a short lunch and dinner break. It's been great having both kids huddled on the couch totally engaged in the wonderful writing of JK Rowling. We are three quarters of the way through the book and should finish by this time tomorrow night.

Great family time and it will hard to have to wait until after church to get started again. But we planned nothing else for this weekend. I have only checked my email this board during our breaks.

I heard that the ending of the Harry Potter book has young Harry taking over for Bob Barker on "The Price is Right." Was someone just kidding around with me?

Andrew

Chris, that's just way too cool.

My friend at work has kids that are between 12-17, and I asked him the other day if his kids are in to Harry Potter. He said that they don't allow the kids "anything" Harry Potter. They are Baptists, and don't believe in that stuff. I thought it was kind of extreme behavior to take such a stance.

Vitalogy-

I'm afraid there are many church going people who feel the same way.

My wife and I were uncertain about the books and movies to begin with. However we were doing the same "Judging a book by it's cover." So we looked into the books and the author. We eventually read the first book and found it to be filled with moral truths and other real life lessons. It's the setting that seems to disturb many very conservative church going folks.

As we discovered this evening on completing the final book in the series, we were exhausted from the ride like the other books. By far this was our favorite.

I am saddened that some parents withhold books like Harry Potter for fear of what they might contain, when in fact it can bring wonderful discussion within families.

That behavior reminds me of the Douglas Adams construct: Peril Sensitive Sunglasses. At the first sign of danger, they go dark! This puts people at ease, no matter how bad things get. If you can't see it, then it can't see you.

IMHO, doing what you are doing is the right way to go. Hiding / sheltering kids, no matter the reason, essentially builds a latent desire for them to explore later when they can.

This is why we have so many teenage timebombs!

Better to embrace those elements of culture that make sense and enrich the kids to the point where exploring those elements that don't make sense is not an issue. Not an issue because they know enough to understand why and make solid value judgements, not because anyone told them so.