Heroic Toast

If you don’t recognize the photo below, well, where the heck were you last weekend?

To catch you up, this photo “went viral” on the interwebs after a nice young bar-mistress named Hannah posted the photo to her Facebook account.  According to that post, a young man came in, ordered the beer and then asked Hannah if he could leave the beer sitting there at the bar all day.  Hannah the bar-mistress, moved by this act, not only allowed it but then took a photo of the beer and the young man’s note and posted it to her Facebook page asking for “likes.”  People responded; to the tune of over 1 million “likes.”  What could possibly be better for a Memorial Day weekend?

Except…it didn’t actually happen on Memorial Day weekend.  It actually took place all the way back in March.  It just took Memorial Day to get people to really notice.  Nevertheless, a fine gesture by both the young man and Hannah the bar-mistress.  Not to mention the selfless sacrifice of LTJG Toner, who reportedly walked into enemy fire, unarmed, to confront a gunman who was shooting his fellow servicemen while they were involved in Physical Training, on post, in Afghanistan.

Bennigans, where the nice young Hannah the bar-mistress works, made a corporate decision to create a Facebook page entitled “Wall of Heroes” in which, during the month of May, other people could do the same thing to remember other servicemen.  Bennigans would donate $1 to a military oriented charity for every post made to their “Wall of Heroes.”  Doesn’t this all sound very American, very supportive, very “land of the free, home of the brave” –ish?  Yeah…darn right.  Let’s see how the internet denizens can eff that up, shall we?

Ahhh…doesn’t “anchorite” just make you all fuzzy inside?  Yes, what a completely made up story.  This guy wanted to serve his nation and her citizens.  He was killed.  His buddy left a beer in his honor at Bennigans.  Psssshhhh…whatever…

Let’s see if someone can be even more tasteless.

Wow, “getaclue,” thanks for keying people in to Islam’s view of alcohol and how it is tied to hateful murder.  I certainly hope “getaclue” isn’t going to make that same connection with other people who don’t drink alcohol…like a certain former President.  Wait, wait…I’m certain someone can take this heartwarming story and draw a political angle to it, right?

Oh, man.  You almost had us there, pal.  That is, until your sign off.  Nice try, but I don’t think any true Marine would misspell that.  Thanks for playing.

Thank you “raven” for bringing us back to the real story here.  Hard to stay focused on it, that’s for sure.  Anyone wanna take a jaded view of it?

You’re the man “Tony T”!!!  effin’ayy!  Don’t let those corporate bastards get away with this…donating – to – charity thing…

Okay…anyone wanna try their hand at saying something that takes us off on a completely different tangent?

Haha…nice!  What about something that completely misses the point of the story?

Wheeee!  You people are awesome!  Anyone wanna shoot holes in this somehow?

Hannah!  Way to stick up for yourself girl!  And with that quote from your mom, enough has been said.  Hannah, you started something very good and for that you should be proud.  For the rest of you…well, you know what I have to say:

Be Reasonable.

Biker Wars

The point of this blog is to show that there is no subject too big (or too small) that can’t turn quickly into a divisive debate about “us vs them” and that the anonymity of the internet breeds more heated discussion than is truly necessary.  Lest you think, dear reader, that I cherry pick obviously divisive issues (suckling breasts on a major magazine cover, or the end of the white race), I chose something this time that I thought…thought…would be more innocuous:  an article ranking states in their friendliness to bikers. 

Well, not really “Bikers.” More like Bicycle Riders.  Yeah, them.  So, what’s the big deal right? When I first stumbled across this little nugget of a story, I thought there might be a few comments regarding state on state competition.  But bicycle riders being known as somewhat “granola-eating” types I thought it might take a little while for the comments to warm up.  Boy was I wrong.  Right out of the box, we come out swinging:

Here’s an interesting take on the “we’re mad as hell and we’re not gonna take it anymore” voter theme:

I mean, I’ve heard lots of reasons over the past couple decades for voting out incumbents, but I’ve never heard anyone, anywhere, suggest to do it against pro-cycling votes.  “Yeah, Congressman Smith does a great job for our District.  He represents our interests, communicates well with his constituents, brings in federal aid when we need it, and courts major corporations to create jobs.  But I can never forgive him for voting for those damn biker lanes down on Main Street!  Hell no, Smith must go!”

Okay, what about you states mixing it up a little bit.  I mean this is the fifth year in a row that Washington has come out on top in this “competition.”  Are you guys just gonna stand there and take it?

Thank you Oregon.  Washington, you gonna defend yourself?

Wow.  Atomic elbow from “Midwtrngirl.”  I thought Midwesterners were supposed to be nice?  What about you Arkansas?

Ohhhhkay.  Nevermind.  Ummm, Wisconsin, how about you?

Yes.  It’s all his fault!  How dare he make your state drop so far in the critical “bike-friendly” arms-race!  Ohio, you look like you have something to say.

Uhhh…don’t look now “jangar” but perhaps you should be checking your mirror because you’re a little too specific about where people might be able to find you.

Anybody want to take this in a different direction?

Well, I don’t know “wyobob.”  I think that getting a ticket for driving on the sidewalk would probably be the least of your worries.  Perhaps it might be what caused you to get your vehicle on the sidewalk to begin with and what you might have come in contact with when you were on the sidewalk that would be more pressing concerns.

I.Don’t.Know.What.To.Say.

Could someone please bring us back around on this subject?

Thank you "Joseph Larson."  Well said.  It’s always nice to be able to hear from someone reasonable on the divisive issue of bike ownership.  Honestly people.

Be Reasonable.

Minority Majority

I was walking past my local newsstand the other day (yes, they still have those) when the headline caught my eye: “Minorities Are Now Majority Of US Births”.  Oh joy.  Isn’t that clever?  See, by using a term to describe ethnicities other than the white majority in the U.S. population, clever newspaper editors can grab your attention by claiming the “minority” to now be the “majority.”  This news even caused an official government spokesperson to use these linguistic gymnastics:

Well.  You know what this means?  Yep, I went right to my local online comment section to see what the pulse of America would have to say about this.  Let’s see how long it will take before…oh, right there with the very first comment, huh “John Bailo”?

“dmamel” tries to take a sarcastic look at the linguistics of this news…or was he being sarcastic?  It’s so hard to tell…

Yes.  You’re right “donotcensorl.”  It is possible he was being sarcastic.  If only there was some way for us to know for sure; some clue.  Perhaps a big “LOL” at the end of his post!  But that would take reading comprehension, wouldn’t it?  You know what is extra funny about that?  Four other people “liked” that comment!

“RedToppolino” here takes a “facts” based approached by using statistics that he just made up…and then takes an unusual detour on our favorite former Arkansas Governor’s indiscretion with a “bathroom fixture.” 

Thank God, “RedT” returned to the made-up facts after that…whew!

“Limeygirl” looks to have a reasonable take on this…

Well, it’s nice to have “patriotdad76” to bring us back to the reality of the yeoman’s work being done by the whites to subsidize all the non-working minorities.  Why do racists always paint themselves as ‘patriots’?  It’s an unusual phenomenon.

“TerenceTan” has yet another take on the situation…based on his name, this should be good:

Translation:  "I want to have sex with white women but they won’t have sex with me, ergo, they just don’t like sex."  Got it.  Who’s next?

Oh, C'mon!  Why are you making this so easy for me?  Nothing better than a stereotype from a person with “TrustFund” in their name.

Does anyone want to make a reasonable comment here?  You, sir, “Joel Gong”…what do you have to say?

Oh, crap.  Yes.  Yes.  THAT’s the elephant in the room.  They are all illegal “anchor babies.” I think “eyeofsauron” has hit on the solution.  Being born here should not qualify you for citizenship.  That’s crazy.  Incidentally, “eyeofsauron” how did you become a citizen?  Born here?  Got proof?   Sheesh. 

Well, once again I have not been disappointed by my fellow internet denizens.  There is not subject too small that we can’t break immediately into camps and call each other names.  American’s used to refer to their homeland proudly as a “melting pot” but I guess those days are gone.  Or…perhaps I am missing the true point here.  Maybe, despite these ignorant protestations from a few, there are still obviously enough people from diverse backgrounds that like each other enough to have sex and reproduce.  I feel better now.

Be Reasonable

Breastfeeding Babes

This blog is intended to both poke fun at, and shed light on, the confluence of a couple of phenomena of the internet age:  the level of discourse one finds on “comment” areas of newspapers, magazines, blogs, etc., and the polarization of the nation into just two camps (liberal or conservative, pepsi or coke, tastes great or less filling).  Some might say these are not two phenomena but rather two portions of the same phenomena – anonymity on the web—which allows people the “freedom” to be rude, even mean, to each other from the safety of the computer screen and thus act differently than they would if they were having a face-to-face conversation at the local coffee shop.

The blog is titled “Be Reasonable” to bring focus to what is out of focus: that people don’t seem to be able to engage in reasonable discussion or reasonable disagreement, but instead act in disrespectful ways to feel like they’ve made their point.  Of course, this does nothing of the sort.  So, I am here to implore people to please, take a look at the items I post here…see yourself in them…and “Be Reasonable” for once.

I do have to point out here that I did not invent the idea of “Be Reasonable.”  It came out of a discussion I was having with a fellow blogger and friend.  The idea behind “Be Reasonable” is hers…I have just chosen to run with it.  Now that that caveat is out of the way, let’s proceed to the first ever post on “Be Reasonable.”

This past week saw Time magazine grace its cover with a photo of a mom breastfeeding her son.  A son who appeared to be of an age when most kids would not still be breastfeeding.  

When I first heard of this I thought, “Now that’s provocative.”  Then I thought, “I bet lots of people will have lots to say on that subject.”  I went to my local newspaper and I was not disappointed:

Let’s begin with "observer1776":

Note the use of the words pervert, Liberal, and kiddie porn to make his point.  I sense “observer” probably thinks those words are synonymous.  Don’t think it’s lost on me that when you look at “observer”s photograph you probably think “now there’s a man who probably knows a thing or two about kiddie porn.”  My point is this: “observer” probably wouldn’t take kindly to that sentiment from simple observation of looking at his photo and making a judgment about him.

Next up, we have “Buddydog,” who I think paints a humorous, male-oriented, view of the situation:

Alas, in today’s world, even tongue-FIRMLY-PLANTED-in-cheek humor can be misunderstood and commented on:

Great.  Not only “missingwisc” but also missing any semblance of a sense of humor.

 “sticker” here, takes another predictable “holier-than-thou” approach:           

"sticker" and "missingwisc" are such goddamn perfect mothers, they can’t stand it.  It may be true that "missingwisc"'s daughter is a perfect child, and I am sure "sticker" is a perfect grandmother, but her dog looks none-too-happy to be wearing those bunny ears and could go on a killing rampage at any time.  So, let’s get down off the high horses ladies, shall we?

Then there’s “27081,” who shouts the conservative mantra (“stop being intellectual!”) and doubles down by using the smear “progressive.”  Ah, I remember way back a couple of years ago when, if you looked up “progressive” in the dictionary, you would think it was a positive term.

Not to be outdone by this conservative banter, “lufrank1” takes up the liberal cause with his own smear at conservatives…and all of the sudden this isn’t about breastfeeding but is about the fate of the world as we know it.

“cheap_thinker” veils her thoughts in the form of a question…”hey, I’m just askin’”

And with that...I will let “cricket44” have the last word on this subject.  Indeed, it’s not Armageddon folks.  People can disagree about all sorts of things without it turning into a cage match, fight-to-the-death.

Be Reasonable.