The 'Merica Thread

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by Oberon

You know, it's funny...and permit me to derail the thread a little bit here, but a long time ago (over a century) H.G. Wells created my favourite novel, the War of the Worlds, and in it he described the Martians in a manner in which he believed that humanity would one day evolve into, a bulk which was composed mostly of brain and used machines for its mobility and construction. One could argue that our evolution has transferred from physical (although it is true that we are now much taller than we were even two hundred years ago) to mechanical as we rely more and more on machines to increase our productivity.
Personally, I would contend that the 'future' put forward in Wall-E (which I really must get around to watching) would be one that would be augmented (pardon the pun) with a virtual world in a manner similar to that of the Matrix, where our physical forms and abilities can be anything we wish them to be while our real body is maintained by machines. Some might say that I watched the Matrix trilogy too much, but there is definitely a trend towards a life within a life, MMORPGs for example, or even just being able to take a walk through a forest or experience nature which may not be available with an advanced rate of urban growth.
If anything, one could argue that our bodies are currently our greatest weakness, certainly in the case of Professor Hawking who possesses a brilliant mind but a weak body, if that mind were removed from the body its genius would be preserved for eternity free from decay.
Some would call it paradise...others, myself included, would call it hell, so it's certainly something that is not for everyone.
It's something to consider, there are some exciting times ahead, and what we consider the norm today will likely be quite antiquated in the future.

I think you're on to something there...

Erm...right...quick...need something relevant...errr...Yes?

Good one.

[Stealhead]

Originally Posted by Takeda Shingen

Unfortunately, I see a whole lot more motorized wheelchairs carrying the morbidly obese than I used to, and the people riding them are getting younger. It's a sad state of affairs.

Sad but true story:

Last summer my younger sister her husband and daughter stayed at one of the Disney resorts for a week.I decided to take a few days off and bring my daughter down and we purchased 2 day passes but shared the suite Disney did not know about that but no big loss they still got $400.00 out of me.

Anyway during the summer they allow resort guests to stay an hour longer at the parks and you can ride a bus back to your hotel.While we where all waiting for the next bus I noticed this family and the father was in a power chair this man is sitting there bragging aloud how much fun it is to pretend like you are crippled hoe people go out of their way to help you. He picked the wrong crowd to say this around as several of the families staying at this hotel where military and of course they tend to dislike a malingerer greatly.I noticed several men had to walk away from his immediate presence in order to keep their temper in check.

To add insult to injury when the bus rides up the man whose job it is to help people onto the bus clearly has mild muscular dystrophy and this perfectly capable jerk in his power chair Mr.Malinger has the nerve to ask the man for help even though he just said aloud in front of 40 people that nothing was wrong with him.He must have sensed the hostility of the crowd because he changed his mind and said that he needed no help to the truly disabled man that was supposed to help was a bit confused.I am glad that he did not realize that he himself mildly disabled was about to put his effort into helping a person that needed no help unfortunately my sister told me later that he had helped Mr.Malinger earlier that day and even had to crawl under the bus to get the ramp to work.I must admit that I had to control the urge I had to kick Mr.Malinger's rear. His teenage sons where no better mannered they sat in seats on the bus while older people and even a pregnant woman stood.

There are plenty of obese people riding around in those power chairs I find that wrong because they made themselves obese in most cases by their own slothfulness.At the current rate I think that we will evolve into formless blobs if the many power chair rangers are anything the go by.The sad thing is that some people would enjoy being a blob of meat and fat so long as their gullet gets stuffed with cheez whiz.

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by Stealhead

Sad but true story:

Last summer my younger sister her husband and daughter stayed at one of the Disney resorts for a week.I decided to take a few days off and bring my daughter down and we purchased 2 day passes but shared the suite Disney did not know about that but no big loss they still got $400.00 out of me.

Anyway during the summer they allow resort guests to stay an hour longer at the parks and you can ride a bus back to your hotel.While we where all waiting for the next bus I noticed this family and the father was in a power chair this man is sitting there bragging aloud how much fun it is to pretend like you are crippled hoe people go out of their way to help you. He picked the wrong crowd to say this around as several of the families staying at this hotel where military and of course they tend to dislike a malingerer greatly.I noticed several men had to walk away from his immediate presence in order to keep their temper in check.

To add insult to injury when the bus rides up the man whose job it is to help people onto the bus clearly has mild muscular dystrophy and this perfectly capable jerk in his power chair Mr.Malinger has the nerve to ask the man for help even though he just said aloud in front of 40 people that nothing was wrong with him.He must have sensed the hostility of the crowd because he changed his mind and said that he needed no help to the truly disabled man that was supposed to help was a bit confused.I am glad that he did not realize that he himself mildly disabled was about to put his effort into helping a person that needed no help unfortunately my sister told me later that he had helped Mr.Malinger earlier that day and even had to crawl under the bus to get the ramp to work.I must admit that I had to control the urge I had to kick Mr.Malinger's rear. His teenage sons where no better mannered they sat in seats on the bus while older people and even a pregnant woman stood.

There are plenty of obese people riding around in those power chairs I find that wrong because they made themselves obese in most cases by their own slothfulness.At the current rate I think that we will evolve into formless blobs if the many power chair rangers are anything the go by.The sad thing is that some people would enjoy being a blob of meat and fat so long as their gullet gets stuffed with cheez whiz.

This is what is wrong with America. The obese people shouldn't get to ride the power chairs. They're obese. They need the exercise.

There was a man at the V.I.P Halloween Benefit dance. The VIP organization helps out disabled people around the area. This guy boldly walks in and takes somebody's wheelchair from the entrance area. The disabled people (the ones who could) were up dancing. This guy...this horrible person...he tries to get in to the dance by pretending to be disabled. He then tries to get free food and get help from people. I saw the guy park his car, get out, walk into the entrance, take a wheelchair, and try to fake his way into a benefit dance FOR THE DISABLED PEOPLE!

Made me mad. He was eventually thrown out.

[razark]

Originally Posted by Stealhead

There are plenty of obese people riding around in those power chairs I find that wrong because they made themselves obese in most cases by their own slothfulness.

Originally Posted by Red October1984

This is what is wrong with America. The obese people shouldn't get to ride the power chairs. They're obese. They need the exercise.

Has it ever occurred to y'all that some people need to ride the chairs due to a medical condition, and the reason they are obese is because they can't get up and exercise no matter how much they wish they could?

Your absolutely correct.

So I propose a test.
Toss a Eastern Diamond back at them.
If they get up and run?
NO CHAIR FOR YOU!
If they don't?
Well, it should be de-fanged first.
I forgot that part.

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by razark

Has it ever occurred to y'all that some people need to ride the chairs due to a medical condition, and the reason they are obese is because they can't get up and exercise no matter how much they wish they could?

Yes. I have no problem with that...It's the people who don't need the chairs that mekes me mad.

If, just by looking, it could go either way...I'll give them the benefit of the doubt....

If it's clear that they do not belong, well... You already know our opinion.

The guy in Stealhead's case sound like an especially bad person.

[Oberon]

I must admit there is one thing that does concern me a little, and perhaps I am a little biased because I'm not exactly slim (although I would definitely not consider using an electric scooter...unless perhaps it had wheel spikes and a TOW launcher on it...) but I do see a social tidal change of opinion towards people who are overweight. Now, on one hand I can understand that in a world where resources are finite people are annoyed when other people clog up these resources through their weight problem (in this I'm thinking hospital beds and medical costs) however to a class of people who are in many cases extremely introverted and already disheartened about their appearance such stigma is perhaps the straw that breaks the camels back. It does make me a little worried for a potential future where fat people are treated like criminals, however well intentioned such a path may be.
Of course, there are jerks in every social facet, jerks like the gentleman in Stealheads post who act like the world owes them something, but equally there are people such as those mentioned by razark who struggle with the position they are in and are undeserving of scorn.
The problem lies in tarring everyone of a particular demographic with the same brush, just because of the actions of a minority, and ultimately that is one of the biggest problems we face as a society in this century.


Oh..errr...quick...google, don't fail me dammit!



Phew...

[Red October1984]

One of my favs



A Country Boy Can Survive...

I did my time inside of that can!

Still prefer the C-130 for a jump though.

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by privateer

I did my time inside of that can!

Still prefer the C-130 for a jump though.

My dad did too.

Airborne Troops are awesome.... I wouldn't mind it one bit. I wouldn't mind being a tanker either...even though I might be a bit tall...

Of course I'd be one of these if I ever was Airborne



Rangers are badass. So are the USAF Pararescuemen.

Pass your father my highest regards!

[nikimcbee]

Old School:

[nikimcbee]

Our future:

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by nikimcbee

Our future:

The only thing wrong with that is that there's no iPhone, Car, drugs, beer, etc.

That's where our money is right now.

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by Oberon

I must admit there is one thing that does concern me a little, and perhaps I am a little biased because I'm not exactly slim (although I would definitely not consider using an electric scooter...unless perhaps it had wheel spikes and a TOW launcher on it...) but I do see a social tidal change of opinion towards people who are overweight. Now, on one hand I can understand that in a world where resources are finite people are annoyed when other people clog up these resources through their weight problem (in this I'm thinking hospital beds and medical costs) however to a class of people who are in many cases extremely introverted and already disheartened about their appearance such stigma is perhaps the straw that breaks the camels back. It does make me a little worried for a potential future where fat people are treated like criminals, however well intentioned such a path may be.
Of course, there are jerks in every social facet, jerks like the gentleman in Stealheads post who act like the world owes them something, but equally there are people such as those mentioned by razark who struggle with the position they are in and are undeserving of scorn.



Phew...

Hey bud, I'm overweight too. I can deal with it. But it's the mindset that an overweight person need some accommodations for their bad choices that disturbs me. Scooter chairs and handicap parking tags should be reserved for those who truly need it. The rest, me included, should soldier on and try to stay active.