[senior citizen]

Originally Posted by eweissenbach

I do not think "drinking the kool-aid" as an analogy is older than Jamestown. I think it is directly related to that tragedy, and refers to people who blindly follow along with the crowd or a charismatic leader, without regard to the consequences.

As for people who snap at newbies, I think they see certain opinions as a threat to their strongly held beliefs and react accordingly. The dynamics of chat sites like this, and I have been a participant on several over the last ten plus years, are interesting to say the least, and would probably make for a fascinating psychological study. People who are relatively non-confrontational in their real life, suddenly become active debaters on a keyboard. People who are passive-aggressive in life become simply aggressive on a keyboard. With a level of anonymity comes a "courage" to say things one would seldom, or never, say to another person's face. Add that to the fact that many people struggle to accurately express their opinions and feelings, and you have a situation rife with the probability of misunderstandings. I have often found statements I have made to be minconstrued or mischaracterized. Sometimes it is my fault, particularly in an effort to be brief and concise when I don't provide adequate context, and sometimes it is because the responder did not read carefully, or misinterpreted what I said. I try not to get too excited about what people say here because; a. everyone is entitled to their opinion, and legitimate opinions can coexist, even if diametrically opposed, and; b. because I can choose what I read, and I can choose what I want to beleive, regardless of what anyone else thinks or types. Have a nice day and be kind to one another! Merry Christmas.

As always, words of wisdom..........in our country everyone is , indeed, entitled to freedom of speech and freedom to read whatever newspaper they wish to get a full account of the news.......to make their own decisions.

Without this freedom we might end up like the poor folks below:
Human rights lawyer Chen Guangcheng escapes from house arrest and delivers message to Wen Jiabao on Youtube (with full transcript): Shanghaiist


AP Exclusive: China Nobel winner’s wife calls her house arrest ‘absurd and unbelievable’ - The Washington Post

I had a dear friend who was born and raised up to age 19 in a Communist block country.......Hungary. *She came to our country and for the first time, she and her mother plus her elderly grandmother experienced freedom to worship, etc. as they chose.

She and I would have long conversations on what freedom truly meant. The ones who have been oppressed with regard to what they can read, study, worship, or speak.......**know the difference in our great country........or should.

*Right after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and they all were warmly welcomed by the local Mennonite families in West Liberty Ohio..........

**Lest people forget.........what our founding fathers proclaimed.