Brent, your petulance did not move the argument forward.

[sweetnsad]

I have to agree...Six months??  How stupid does this guy think you are??

While I have to say that, yes, some of Brent's posts are somewhat controversial, he does have some very useful information.  And sometimes I don't agree with them, but that doesn't mean he deserves to be lashed out at like this...

Give me a break "Charles"...why don't you go look up the word for "wingnut" and see how many different ways you can say THAT!!

[Charles]

Brent, I am somewhat disappointed in your post. Just when I thought we were making progress in promoting a kinder, gentler image for you (and you have made progress), you are showing a hint of backsliding to some of your old habits. You know, one indication of an evolving intellect is its ability to learn from its mistakes. We must both continue to assess our progress in that area.

I concede to you one point. You are correct in your proposal that I did not read six months of posts, though it was not for my lack of trying. While attempting to re-read your prior posts, I selected the listing option to retrieve six months of posts. It delivered five pages of threads. Focused on content as I was, I neglected to note the posting dates. Consequently, I assumed that there were six months of posts when there were really only about two months. Attention to detail is always of great importance, and I dutifully acknowledge my error. But it was an error of neglect rather than of deceit. None-the-less, your point was well taken.

Now as far as some of your less constructive comments, it is important to keep in mind that an insult is never effective unless it is accepted by the intended party. After thirty-six years of witnessing the ungodly things that parents say to each other and to their children, I developed early an immunity to such invective, especially coming from strangers, and even more so when delivered in this environment.

There is a measure of people who use such boards as this as a sort of "bonding" ritual, seeking affirmation of self-worth by having their opinions accepted at face value. They would take your unkind remarks as a sign of personal rejection, which would in turn impact their self-esteem. I cannot be counted among that number. Rather, I am among those who visit for useful information and for the occasional exchange of ideas, accompanied by their intellectual debate.

As you know, not all ideas are created equal. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts. Thus, those proposals with less than stellar merit deserve to be challenged and reworked until they can stand the litmus test for validity. That is how we learn to separate good ideas from bad ones. We can count upon good ideas to give us a strong foundation for our thinking and for our lives. Bad ideas will always lead us down a treacherous path.

I will be presumptuous in making the following suggestion. You might find it beneficial to practice graciousness in accepting kudos for doing the right thing.  Sometimes such recognition is offered less often than deserved, so rejecting it seems to me to be imprudent. But that, of course, is only my opinion.

And finally, one reflective observation... should someone choose to adopt the role of a paladin fighting righteously for fairness and equity, then one's avatar should reflect that moral initiative. While "Mr. Smith" certainly portrays an aggressive image, he exemplifies bad programming from start to finish. A better choice as a paradigm for "fighting the good fight" might, instead, be "Neo".

I leave you with the following quotation that might strike you more positively than my signature.

"Not a day passes over this earth but men and women of no note
do great deeds, speak great words, and suffer noble sorrows."
>Charles Reed<

It is not our abilities that show what we truly are. It is our choices.
>A. Dumbledore<

[MKx2]

Charles, I truly am disappointed that you have chosen to renew this entire issue.  Is your background in psychology/teaching or a similar area?  I ask this in sincerity.

I definitely do not want to get started on this whole thing again ... I am hoping with this post that you will simple agree to disagree, and cease your attempts to "be right" about Brent, his personality, or whatever.  Brent is Brent, you are you.  You, no doubt are a fine man, just as is Brent.  

I may not always agree with Brent, however he DOES provide a great deal of information to those in need.  I am thankful someone as knowledgeable as he is a part of SPARC ... just as I am thankful for so many others here, for that and many other reasons (yes Brent you're in the "many others" group too, and I know you "don't care" - I was brought up to be kind, say what I mean and mean what I say [type in this instance]).

Charles, please stop trying to change Brent, and/or be "right."  Each of us has a reality within which we live daily ... one man's celing is another man's floor, ya know?

[richiejay]

Ah, the pompous moron speaks again........and again....and again....Are you so insecure in your life that you feel as though you MUST be right about everything?  That you must have the last word?  Seems as though you are too busy trying to seem intelligent when all you are doing is missing the big picture.  I know I am not alone when I offer this simple and brief advice....SHUT THE &@#$ UP! Have a nice day.

[sweetnsad]

nm

[Brent]

>Brent, I am somewhat disappointed in your post.

You poor baby! You should ask for a refund right away.



>Just when I
>thought we were making progress in promoting a kinder, gentler
>image for you (and you have made progress), you are showing a
>hint of backsliding to some of your old habits.

You go to a lot of "12-step" meetings, don't you? I can tell, your terminology reeks of it.




>I concede to you one point. You are correct in your proposal
>that I did not read six months of posts,

My "proposal"? That wasn't a "proposal", you wind-bag. You must mean my "assertion". Perhaps someday you'll learn to speak English properly, but I won't hold my breath. And maybe one day you'll stop LYING, but I won't hang around waiting for that to happen either.




>my lack of trying. While attempting to re-read your prior
>posts, I selected the listing option to retrieve six months of
>posts. It delivered five pages of threads. Focused on content
>as I was, I neglected to note the posting dates. Consequently,
>I assumed that there were six months of posts when there were
>really only about two months.

Did it take you this long to think up this convoluted "explanation" for your LIE? You are so full of shit, charles. Ummm, gonna tell me which of my posts were "edited"? Hmmmmm? Ooops, I fogot- you were LYING about that, too.




>Attention to detail is always of
>great importance, and I dutifully acknowledge my error.

NO, you mean your LIE. You dutifully acknowledge your LIE.




>Now as far as some of your less constructive comments, it is
>important to keep in mind that an insult is never effective
>unless it is accepted by the intended party.

Well I'm sure all the people here who have been referring to you as a "pompous jerk" will be terribly disapponted. But they're still right.



>There is a measure of people who use such boards as this as a
>sort of "bonding" ritual, seeking affirmation of self-worth by
>having their opinions accepted at face value. They would take
>your unkind remarks as a sign of personal rejection, which
>would in turn impact their self-esteem.

Righteous gas-bags like you always seem to miss the word "self" in "self-esteem". That's because you're not terribly intelligent, and you don't take responsibility for your actions. That way you can always blame someone else for the way you feel. Well, too bad, charley. You're a pompous boob who's desperately trying to be accepted here, but no one wants to have anything to do with you. Just like in your real life.



>Rather, I am among those who visit for
>useful information and for the occasional exchange of ideas,
>accompanied by their intellectual debate.

Oooh, you're so refined and special.




>
>As you know, not all ideas are created equal. Everyone is
>entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts. Thus,
>those proposals with less than stellar merit deserve to be
>challenged and reworked until they can stand the litmus test
>for validity. That is how we learn to separate good ideas from
>bad ones. We can count upon good ideas to give us a strong
>foundation for our thinking and for our lives. Bad ideas will
>always lead us down a treacherous path.


Wow, listening to you is better than Sominex. I was actually asleep before I got to the end of your paragraph.





>I will be presumptuous in making the following suggestion.

You'll be presumptuous making a sandwich, changing the channel, or going to the bathroom. What do I care?




>But that, of course, is only my opinion.

Which is worth little or nothing to anyone who would prefer to (gasp!) do their own thinking. Sorry to burst your bubble, charley.



>
>And finally, one reflective observation... should someone choose
>to adopt the role of a paladin fighting righteously for
>fairness and equity, then one's avatar should reflect that
>moral initiative.

Gee, I guess I didn't see that in the Rulebook, charley. Can you tell me what section that's in? Is it under  "Things Idiotic Users Say" or in the "Care And Feeding Of Your Avatar" chapter?




>While "Mr. Smith" certainly portrays an
>aggressive image, he exemplifies bad programming from start to
>finish. A better choice as a paradigm for "fighting the good
>fight" might, instead, be "Neo".

LOL!  Now you're giving me advice on my avatar? LOLOLOL!!!!!! A burning issue for you, no doubt. Yes, this was definitely worth your writing me about, as it's clearly a very, VERY important thing to consider. (snicker)

Thanks for the laugh, charley, I'm going to copy your post to a whole bunch of folks so they can see what a complete bozo you are. LOL!



>
>I leave you with the following quotation that might strike you
>more positively than my signature.

I'll leave you with this quotation: "I'll try being nicer if you'll try being smarter."

[sweetnsad]

LMAO....over and over....:7

[FatherTime]

This isn't the same Charles is it?  I just started thinking of all those MASH episodes.  He always had a thing against Hawkeye too.

Remember Brent... in his eyes he's doing it for you and not for him.  Or is that presumptuous of me?

Here's one for Charles....

"My YEN for being OBSTREPEROUS towards the biased judicial system conflicts with my IRENIC nature.  I wish to ABROGATE this topic and hope that you have some form of TERGIVERSATION because I feel TIMOROUS  to your ire, Charles."
--FatherTime, 2004 with the help of this [a href=http://dictionary.reference.com/wordoftheday/archive/2004/01/]site[/a]



"He becomes obstreperous and truculent as an infant in need of an afternoon nap. "
--James Doran, "Bonus question raises ire of fund managers," Times (London), April 19, 2001

[richiejay]

once upon a time there was an engineer, Choo-Choo Charlie was his name we hear.  He had an engine and he sure had fun, he used Good and Plenty candy to make his train run.....

[Indigo Mom]

YA!  What FatherTime said!!!!

-----"My YEN for being OBSTREPEROUS towards the biased judicial system conflicts with my IRENIC nature. I wish to ABROGATE this topic and hope that you have some form of TERGIVERSATION because I feel TIMOROUS to your ire, Charles."
--FatherTime, 2004 -----

Now...WTF exactly, did FatherTime just say????????

;)