What happened?

[Stephen]

I’m sitting in the back yard. It’s the end of a warm day. A nice day — the sky is a beautiful dark blue, the clouds bright white and puffy, in stark contrast. The robins are singing good night in the forest, the wind whispers through the trees. I’m enjoying a cold one, ah, life is good.

But wait…?
Aw crap, there’s the neighbor, letting his yappy little dog out to bark at every little sound.
Guess, I’ll go enjoy that cold one inside.

It says in the Bible that “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
But sometimes I gotta wonder…

Peace out brothers and sisters of Telemark.

[fisheater]

The rain falls on the righteous and the wicked. I love my backyard. It’s an unusually warm day, when the shade of the trees doesn’t make my yard a pleasant reprieve from the heat of the day. However I do work long days, so the sun is sinking lower.
The Lord works in mysterious ways, so though I may be in the valley of darkness, I fear no evil.
I wish you His Peace my brother.
However remember His ways are not ours. This world isn’t paradise. I sure do go to so many places and overwhelmed by the beauty of creation. I am a believer, but also a complete asshole. I just keep trying to improve. You have pointed me in the peaceful manner, but we are all just people rejoicing in the angelic voices we hear, but succumbing to those demonic voices.
Peace Brother

I hope I didn’t go off of a skiing topic too much.

I really enjoy you guys!

[Musk Ox]

Yesterday I was out for my morning run. I can run a seven km circuit from our front door on to the footpaths through a little forest that ends right at the sea, and back past these half-timbered farm cottages along a gravel road.

I took a resealable plastic bag with me.

I found a little bag of the nicest golden chanterelles, too much for a single meal. We've never found any before this summer.

We had linguine with chanterelles, garlic and cream for lunch, two hours later.

Edit: I meant to say, peace is really all we have and want to come back to. It's so crucial to get some perspective, and thanks, Stephen, for reminding me.

[CwmRaider]

Yesterday I was out for my morning run. I can run a seven km circuit from our front door on to the footpaths through a little forest that ends right at the sea, and back past these half-timbered farm cottages along a gravel road.

I took a resealable plastic bag with me.

I found a little bag of the nicest golden chantarelles, too much for a single meal. We've never found any before this summer.

We had linguine with chantarelles, garlic and cream for lunch, two hours later.

How long did you cook the linguine? Hopefully the exact time indicated on the box, or you are doing it wrong. Even if it tastes good;)
Tonight we will have selfpicked wood Hedgehog mushrooms with moose roast. And i got a red wine from Georgia (caucasus, not USA) to accompany it. Looking forward to the meal.

[Musk Ox]

Yesterday I was out for my morning run. I can run a seven km circuit from our front door on to the footpaths through a little forest that ends right at the sea, and back past these half-timbered farm cottages along a gravel road.

I took a resealable plastic bag with me.

I found a little bag of the nicest golden chantarelles, too much for a single meal. We've never found any before this summer.

We had linguine with chantarelles, garlic and cream for lunch, two hours later.

How long did you cook the linguine? Hopefully the exact time indicated on the box, or you are doing it wrong. Even if it tastes good;)
Tonight we will have selfpicked wood Hedgehog mushrooms with moose roast. And i got a red wine from Georgia (caucasus, not USA) to accompany it. Looking forward to the meal.

Hedgehogs are my favourite! And that sounds awesome. Mm. Moose.

They're called 'piggsvampe' here – prickle-mushrooms. They grow in our backyard too. We have black trumpets as well.

A good and peaceful backyard with mushrooms is an excellent thing.

[Johnny]

Aw crap, there’s the neighbor, letting his yappy little dog out to bark at every little sound.
Guess, I’ll go enjoy that cold one inside.

Very nice analogy, thanks for sharing! And congratulations on your wise reaction. (Really, I mean it...!)

But to complete the analogy.... I wonder... Why didn't you do to your neighbor in the real world what you guys do here on the internet? Gang up against him. Gang up and get mean. Beat him. Gather together to insult him. Unite your voices to tell him he is "retarded", that he is an "asshole" and a "moron", that he doesn't know shit about anything? That everything he does, his opinion and his posts are complete "bullshit"?

Call the cops. Call for moderation. Call for punishment. Have someone do the job for you. Call someone to get rid of him for you, because you don't want him anywhere near your property. He's only your neighbor after all, so he's not your responsibility. He's not your brother, so someone else has to get rid of him for you. Build a huge fence around his house, so you can functionally ignore him all the time. So you can ignore the side effects of the neighborhood that you yourself is creating. Of a world that you are an integral part of too.

And then blame the authorities for lack of intervention and freedom of speech. And whine and cry about it elsewhere on aseptic and patrolled territory. That's all pretty easy to do behind a computer screen.

The Lord works in mysterious ways. His ways are not ours. I am a believer.

It says in the Bible that “The light shines in the darkness

May I suggest, to both believers and non-believers, to ponder on their beliefs? Especially when it comes to tolerance, respect, doing unto others and turning the other cheek? There is NOTHING to learn on the easiest path. Nothing at all.

Yep, barking dogs can sometimes be annoying for some. And trust me, I know a hell lot about FUCKING annoying neighbors. I know it might seem pretty hard to believe at first, but one has to be aware that every single event that happens in his life is there for only one single purpose: To teach him something. Discover it, enjoy it, and be thankful for the lessons learned. All of us. Including me.

Yep, peace out.

[mca80]

Unite your voices to tell him he is "retarded", that he is an "asshole"

Since I am the one who used these terms it seems reasonable to assume this was meant in some way as a reference to me. I have been tolerant of him for the most part, but the time I used these terms it was directly in response to him claiming I said things which I did NOT (and not the first time this has happened). Add to this an unwillingness on his part to address or even listen to my responses and his arrogance and certainty in his correctness (not exactly the open-minded, "tolerant," "respectful" discussion that is desired here). That betrays a clear lack of reading comprehension, aka retardation in that department. Sure, perhaps at times it is my fault for not making myself clear, but in this and many other cases it seems pretty obvious my meaning was not what he flatly and dogmatically asserted it was. Of course, we could get into debates over whether an author is an authority on his meaning, but I don't think a debate here on the history of philosophy of aesthetics is going to get us anywhere.

[spopepro]

Johnny, I think you will find that I stay a long ways away from forum “meta” and “drama” posts. I have consistently only suggested people make use of the tools we have (the foe/ignore function) and do not engage. I don’t have patience for folks who need to make a post about rage quitting to try and, I’m not sure… get something out of it? Just leave if you’re unhappy, no need to scream about it.

But I do want to say the analogy is not good because this is not a public space. We do not have councils and meetings for consensus or shared governance. It is your place. While the content is mostly what we collectively make of it, we do not have the tools to fix issues of discord and that’s why you see some people resorting to schoolyard bullying techniques—they are distasteful, but are one of the tools for how society self-moderates when powerless.

The better analogy would be the cycling group ride. Everyone is welcome, but if you show up, are unpleasant and belligerent, and mess up the pace line the group leader will tell you you’re not welcome anymore. The bartender will not serve you in the local public house, hell… you would be asked to leave Friday Night Magic (the Gathering) by the min wage local game store manager. All these are open places, but not public places.

My personal plea is for post/edit limits and more bi-lateral time outs. I don’t see the posts in question (unless someone quotes them, but those don’t tend to be discussions so I skim them) but it does make things difficult. A bad actor is currently able to simply wear people out with volume. Personal attacks take two to tango and to see one side punished is tacit endorsement of one point of view.

[Manney]

Yeah, my posts reflect the style of Gengis Khan, Joe Stalin, Adolph Hitler, and Pol Pot @mca80.

Take a deep breath and review your position on glide wax. Don’t need to share that… nobody should care about “winning”. Only learning, which is a personal journey. That’s why we’re all here, right?

The real stuff of monsters and tyrants. Oh, and don’t forget retards, illiterates and assholes. LOL.

[mca80]

Yeah, my posts reflect the style of Gengis Khan, Joe Stalin, Adolph Hitler, and Pol Pot @mca80.

Take a deep breath and review your position on glide wax. Don’t need to share that… nobody should care about “winning”. Only learning, which is a personal journey. That’s why we’re all here, right?

The real stuff of monsters and tyrants. Oh, and don’t forget retards, illiterates and assholes. LOL.

Though I am not sure what Gengis Khan et al. have to do with this, I imagine even they said something civil and cordial now and then. Pointing to a quote of yours that is civil doesn't preclude that you have others that are not. If you don't recognize this really, really basic logic then you are deficient in a way far more serious than I had thought.