Apech

For the edification of yourself, Karl and particularly Brian I feel moved to quote the preamble to the Portuguese constitution - introduced after the glorious communist uprising which bloodlessly expelled the fascist Estado Novo regime:

For once I agree with you. I don't object to the phrase 'belief in freedom' though - as even though I may not have it I do believe in it. Apart from that I would not look to David Cameron for any ideas about what our values are since he has none himself - except a sense of entitlement to power.

I'm over here - can you see me waving?

I agree that this government initiative is daft. Schools should be teaching English/other languages, Sciences, Maths, Literature and so on. Indoctrination should not be part of the curriculum.

I think there is a great deal of confusion over this issue. First of all it is incredibly naive to initially ignore the migrant/refugee crisis and then just open the door to let everyone in. Especially when knowing there are many people from Syria etc. who wish us ill. Doing that and then not expecting problems is stupid and shows that our leaders (all of Europe) are incompetent. So this crisis has been deposited on our laps by people who have failed to take effective action both in Europe and in the Middle East. Then there is the overlay of the reaction to regressive left/liberal ideas which have been dominating our culture for a while - which seemed to have had the effect of outlawing criticism of Islam and some of it's practices. So we have not been standing up for our values of individual liberty and the rule of law (which treats everyone equally). Then we have the narrative which argues against the 'Islam is a religion of peace - and what we are dealing with is fringe extremists' - by critiquing the Quran and showing that there is much in there which is not at all peaceful. So perhaps we are drawn to the conclusion that Islam is an especially bad religion - the worst of a bad bunch. All this is going on because we fail to do two things. We fail to stand for our hard won values and we fail to clearly identify the causes and conditions which have brought about ISIS and so on. Do all Muslims tacitly support ISIS and the like? Do we know this? Is not some of this 'support' because if they don't they will be beheaded? We don't know. Did all Germans - or many Germans - support the Nazis without actually being Nazis? What about all the communists and liberals who ended up in concentration camps? It is a bit ridiculous to throw around generalisations when what we need is calm, clear heads and proper analysis.

I've cried in yoga - but through agony!

then add some carrots peas on earth and lettuce see what tomato brings. ooops too late

Delete your browser cache.

Have you cleared your browser cache?

Best wishes and good luck. Just enjoy it, say.

I completely didn't read that!

Why do you say that Nickolai?

Why?

I didn't read that.

They'd make a good firm of lawyers Ernst, Ernst, Suchs and Fuchs. (are we off topic yet?)

You are right of course it could be a statement about what Ernst habitually gets up to rather than a specific action requiring an object. I was wondering if perhaps he is related to Ernst Suchs who is not very good at anything?

It certainly used to be the protocol that a given moderator picked up a report and suggested a course of action (or no action) and then waited for other mods to either agree or suggest something else. So most decisions were group decisions - unless they were very straightforward of course. This can break down if very few mods are around and a situation gets critical but then there is the option of temporarily hiding posts or locking threads - they can then be unhid or unlocked later when the temperature has cooled or it is decided not to take this action through a majority. If this is followed then all decisions are shared by the mod team - so someone aggrieved by a decision has to address the whole team and basis of moderation and not the particular moderator who carries out the action. As a general point - DaoBums is moderated by consent - when we become members we are agreeing to this and the mod team members are well meaning volunteers. This has to be remembered. Even if a decision is a debatable (I don't mean in this case but generally) then Bums should just take it on the chin and get on with life. Moaning and personalised attacks is pretty poor behaviour in this context.

'Ernst fuchs' - is an incomplete sentence.

If I might interject here - it isn't very Buddhist to talk about things really existing and yet at the same time it is a mistake to think this applies more to subtle things than physical objects. Since all phenomena are empty of self then everything is illusory including the internet and this message board. But of course in a relative sense - a conventional sense these things do exist - and I'm not saying that from the 'two truths' perspective but more practical common sense. The thing about chakras and the subtle body is that while I would say they exist as much as our physical bodies do - they are responsive, fluid, communicative energy structures. So they respond more easily to the observer and any concepts held by the observer. Hence we have a number of similar but slightly different systems for describing the structure of the subtle body, the number and position of chakras or other foci within it. And as a side note - we think we know what our physical bodies are because familiarity breeds contempt but actually they also are a fascinating mystery.

Tales from the Dungeon.

I don't know why but I'm getting strange images when I read 're-tooling' the Stewards.

... but sometimes you forget the 'shut up' part of that ....

..or maybe give themselves a dressing gown instead?

Ooooh you are awful, but I like you

Alright everybody's evil.