It's a dirty job, but I'm glad that they do it. You're a good guy Akiva! - Jill, Superhero Librarian
Akiva, awesome thought. You would make a great Metta practitioner. - Kamath ॐ
Kamath, do say more - that sounds intriguing. What makes a practitioner? - Ladybug Heather
Heather, it is a meditation practice. "Metta bhavana" or "Maitri Bhavana" losely translates to "practice of friendliness". Western Buddhists seem to translate it as "loving kindness". You meditate thinking kindly thoughts towards somebody or even some occurences- even those you hate. You may reach the stage where your first instinct is to sincerely see the best in people first. It might result in you becoming a more rational person and overcome anger or hurt. My dad would explain it so much more eloquently! - Kamath ॐ
@kamath I think the "loving kindness" translation is to give it biblical tones by using a biblical phrase. - Neal "thePuck" Jansons
The short descriptions I had read do indeed make it sound very christlike. Thank you, Kamath and Neal! (... and I ended up sidetracked on a discussion of how chesed really should be rendered in English) - Ladybug Heather
Neal, interesting. Didn't know that. Where does it come from? - Kamath ॐ
The best thanks you can do Akiva is work hard in technology that one day their job might be done by a mindless drone freeing the poor worker to pursue a higher calling. Until that happens though you are right - those that toil in filth deserve a sainthood for saving the rest of us from it. - Sparky
I know two women who left their husbands to run off with garbagemen. Strange trend. - "Oldengrey" Tannenbaum
Sparky, I know what you are saying. However, I don't know if the worker sees it the way you do. Many take a lot of pride in their work - rightly so. It's definitely not a lowly calling. I do feel bad for them that they get no show of gratitude from any of us while we reserve the right to be pissed off in our better paying jobs if our bosses don't appreciate every little thing we do. It's rare that we express genuine gratitude, even if unsaid which is why I found Akiva's thought touching. - Kamath ॐ
@Kamath It's actually a pretty developed concept throughout the old and new testaments. The Hebrew word "Chesed" got translated into the Greek "Agape" in the Septuagint translation of the Torah in ~300 BC and that is the term used throughout the NT to describe the kind of love that the Christian god has for creation and individuals. This term was then translated in the King James Version as "lovingkindness". This page breaks down the mentions: http://www.bible-topics.com/Lo... . - Neal "thePuck" Jansons
Neal, wow..thanks! Ashamed to say that my knowledge of Abrahamic religions is pathetic - I need to go into this. Very interesting. - Kamath ॐ
My sister gets her trash haulers a case of beer each Christmas along with a tin of pretzels. My sister is one of the kindest people I know. - jlt
@Kamath I know a lot about them, but do not partake of them. Once I studied a great deal of philosophy of religion, back when I was doing the academia thing. - Neal "thePuck" Jansons
Kamath, I practice Renzai Zen Buddhism so I'm well-familiar! - Akiva Moskovitz
I have a sanitation worker in my family. Tough job for sure. - AJ Kohn
Akiva, I had no clue! I am a Theravadan Buddhist+Hindu by birth but also interested in the different Zen traditions. - Kamath ॐ
Back in Hawaii we left cases of beer and soda out for them at Christmas time. whatever they get paid, it's not enough. Mahalo Nui Loa to them all! - Morgan Haley
Kamath - I agree, it's not a lowly calling in it of itself, however it's a job that simply shouldn't need to be done by humans. Think of it this way - do you think anyone grows up wanting to be a garbage collector? Would garbage collectors do their job for free if robots were there to do it for them? Manual labor of all kinds needs to be replaced by robotics to allow humans to focus on more cerebral pursuits. - Sparky
Sparky, some cities do have a more automated garbage collection. The driver drives the truck down the street, but a robot-like arm grabs the can, removes the lid, dumps the trash in the back of the truck, and replaces the can and lid on the sidewalk. We don't have them in Seattle, but I know other cities do. - Rochelle
Sparky, I have no problem with that argument at all though I do not think it's a clear argument that a person freed up from menial tasks would graduate to a higher calling because he is now freed up. Tasks that qualify as "menial" tasks would change - that's all. Anyway, no issue with that. However, calling the tasks they do perform right now lowly didn't strike me as accurate - it may have not been your intention at all in the first place of course. - Kamath ॐ
I have that at my house, kinda. The truck picks up and dumps the can, but a guy has to put it in position and grab whatever randomness didn't fit in the can. - ♫ Rahsheen ™ ★
give them some cookies for the new year as thanks - i bet that'll surprise them! - Joelle Nebbe
hahhahahaha I LOVE YOU AKIVA MOSKOVITZ YOU RULE - Mona N.
Hilarious! Also, sadly very true in most cases. Ok, I just watched this again and it was even more funny. Either I'm punchy, or the Onion is getting better. - Phil Glockner
via Bookmarklet
Funny, maybe I'll start to watching YouTube if all users actually do this challenge. :) - Daynah
@Daynah I feel compelled to warn you that The Onion is a parody news site, which means any video from the ONN (including this one) is a gag. That said, there is usually a grain (or more) of truth to every article or video they create. - Phil Glockner
"Actually Good" tab still missing from youtube. - ·[▪_▪]·
This is one instance where life should imitate art, nicerobot! - Phil Glockner
Sarkozy has made his criticisms only in closed forums in France. But according to a senior Israeli government source, the reports reaching Israel indicate that Sarkozy views the Democratic candidate's stance on Iran as "utterly immature" and comprised of "formulations empty of all content." - Peter Simard
via Bookmarklet
How dare they treat him like a Republican? - Robert Hafer
it was a bit libidinal wasn't. she was teasing him. repeating the same question over and over again. low ball but funny. they did it to Palin - Ⓝ〄ⒶⒽ ⒹⒶⓋⒾⒹ ⓈⒾⓂ〄Ⓝ
If the Obama camp having trouble with her, what they going to do when they talk with Putin, Hu, Kim! Forget about it! Help Mommy, they are not playing fair! LMAO - Igor The Troll
Igor... believe it or not foriegn diplomacy don't work that way. it is ceremonial. hard ball talks never happen at the table. that whole thing with Reagan and Gorby in Iceland was all show. what is more I guarantee nothing is worse then a woman's scorn... honestly I feel for Biden. it was his last chance to make it... but he is and never was good at this game. he is a good person at heart... and life has dealt him a shitty hand - Ⓝ〄ⒶⒽ ⒹⒶⓋⒾⒹ ⓈⒾⓂ〄Ⓝ
He makes the same argument I did this morning, that all anti-gay marriage laws codify some religion's stances into law while ignoring others' tolerance. I agree that the fallout should be completely severing the religious and civil components of marriage. As a Subgenius, we're all for gay marriage. In fact we offer ceremonies for short duration marriages if you just want to take one for a test drive. - Dave Slusher
Marriage is clearly a religious ceremony. The problem comes from it's legal status. If someone today proposed a law that only the baptized could vote, it would rightly shot down. But that's what we have, a religious rite that changes legal status. I blame Hammurabi - Robert Hafer
It's not true - in the US, at least - that marriage is a religious rite that changes one's legal status. Only a marriage license can do that. If you have the rite without the license, you're not legally married. - Pat Rice
@PatRice some states actually recognize common law marriages where there is no ceremony, no marriage license, or a marriage certificate. - Sam Pullara
All forms of marriage based on cerimonisl binding of a couple. Why shouldn't 2 roommates sharing expenses be able to file a joint return? The concept of a mated pair is religion based. - Robert Hafer
In 25 yrs., and I hope sooner, we'll look back on this as we do now on the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, and we'll wonder why we didn't make gay and lesbian people equal under the law sooner. As soon as there's a tipping point in society where the majority support No on 8 (and its equivalent in other states), things will change. Like any minority movement, the struggle will go on until equal justice prevails. - Cathryn Hrudicka
Amother problem is that our society has equated legal and moral. That legalizing something is somehow a government endorsement. See the legalizing drug or prostitutin arguements. - Robert Hafer
Hafer: when I got married to Maryam I did so three times. Once in court, which is a legal contract. Once in an Islamic ceremony where only close family and friends were at (it was in a hotel room). Once in a sort of Christian ceremony at the casino in South Lake Tahoe where most of our friends attended. So, you're wrong that it's a religious thing only. It clearly is both a legal contract drawn with the state and a religious ceremony between you and your Gods and family. - Robert Scoble
I don't care what you do in your religious ceremony or your belief systems. You can marry a banana, if that makes you happy. But when you mess with the state and legal contracts and legal rights then you are stepping over the line. - Robert Scoble
Marriages should not be covered by the law - that should be a completely religious thing. The legal entity should be civil unions. Everyone can do civil unions - and those who choose may - in addition to a civil union - get married according to their faith. That way everyone is happy and no one is offended. - Tony Kanzia
I don't think mentioning this helps the argument much, except in the case of adoption, but when I once argued that marriage was a religious concept that the law had embraced, I was told that it was also very much about legalization of heirs. Of course, these days, it's a heck of a lot easier for children to be heirs no matter what their parents did. - MiɳiMagɘ (AlwaysMiniMage)
Civil marriage and religious marriage are distinctly different. In the UK, until 1997 or so, one could only get married in a registry office, not in a church (though many had a second ceremony). In Chile, the civil ceremony and the Catholic ceremony are completely separate. And one can get married in the US without ever setting foot in a church or having any contact with a minister. - John Craft
I think my post are getting more incoherent as the pain get worse. I started out to talk about the 1000s years old preseident of legal status of marriage, which our legal system inherated. If marriage was strickly a religious matter, then individual faiths could decide who could be married in their eyes; and theologians could debate it ad nauseum. Legal status codifies it for everyone, regardless of belief. - Robert Hafer
“What I've Learned About Politics Today: If it's a joke against your candidate, it's crude and tasteless. If it's a joke against the opponent's candidate, it's clever and insightful.”
Nope. No preaching here. I'm just sharing the little things that I learn about politics! - Akiva Moskovitz
hmmm....are you referring to my post about the sacramento republicans' official website and their inclusion of obama caricatures and general slander? - Cee Bee
Akiva, I think you've struck a nerve here; good job. - Robert Hafer
All jokes are not created equal. First, taste is a legitimate matter - I'm sure some people think Obama-is-a-monkey is funny as hell, but it's still racist. Secondly, good jokes have a grain of truth to them. And third, who makes the joke matters - some people in certain positions should show respect for the opposition, and just shouldn't make certain kinds of jokes - that cuts both ways. But all that said, I do think that Obama supporters generally need to lighten up. - Eric P
"The building, in the Shibuya district of Tokyo, has been developed from a process of self-organisation in an attempt to define an emergent urban form for Tokyo" - joneilortiz
via Bookmarklet
