Steven D'Aprano posted on Fri, 06 Aug 2010 11:10:05 +1000 as excerpted: > Because you think so little of your wife, daughter and female peers that > you imagine that they can't cope with reminders that life is sometimes > unpleasant?
No, because they shouldn't have to. Neither should anyone, for that matter, at least not voluntarily. > I'm rather amazed that the thing you're focusing on is the innocuous use > of the modifier "away" rather than the obviously sexist implication that > *male* Emacs virgins are third class citizens, not even worthy of > consideration by the Church of Emacs. Interesting counterpoint. Thanks. >> Try it with other examples if you like. > "Bruce Wayne's innocence was taken the night he saw his parents brutally > gunned down in the alley outside the Gotham City Opera House." > > "Bruce was able to take away his own fear of bats by spending many hours > deep in the caves under Wayne Manor." [many more] Thanks again. I'm a bit too tired to think straight ATM, but I did ask for some case disprovers, and you provided them. I have something to ponder, now. > Me, I think that *everything* is worth joking about. Humour is one of > the most perplexing, inexplicable, WONDERFUL human traits. The ability > to see humour in tragedy is important, and making jokes about things > which are unpleasant is an important coping mechanism. Well, there's a proper context. Should you wish to make such jokes between you and your wife, or you and your friends, freedom of speech and all that, go for it! But a public presentation is an unacceptable context for such things, and cannot and should not be tolerated. >> I look forward to the day when if someone makes a remark like that in a >> presentation, RMS or no RMS, half the room (more, it'd be great if it >> were the entire audience, but there's always the few) > > A few what? A few people with a sense of humour? > > A few people whose coping strategy for tragedy is to make light of it? [etc] > This is not a rhetorical question. I wonder which "few" you are > referring to. The few "social oafs" who can't at least consider the sensitivities of others, if they don't see a problem with it standing on its own. -- Duncan - List replies preferred. No HTML msgs. "Every nonfree program has a lord, a master -- and if you use the program, he is your master." Richard Stallman _______________________________________________ Pan-users mailing list Pan-users@nongnu.org http://lists.nongnu.org/mailman/listinfo/pan-users
