Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KonKilo who wrote (46686)	1/24/2008 9:38:11 AM
From: epicure	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 541957

I found that very same thing out myself :-) Message 16681770 I understand the emotional desire to deny your "enemy" any trait you consider "good", but I do not understand giving in to the emotional desire, unless you do not understand the English language. I have sympathy for people too ignorant to know the definitions of words, but those who know them and choose to pretend they don't apply? Hard to have much sympathy for that kind of fantasy- at least as it intersects reality. brave /bre?v/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[breyv] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation adjective, brav·er, brav·est, noun, verb, braved, brav·ing. –adjective 1. possessing or exhibiting courage or courageous endurance. 2. making a fine appearance. 3. Archaic. excellent; fine; admirable. –noun 4. a brave person. 5. a warrior, esp. among North American Indian tribes. 6. Obsolete. a. a bully. b. a boast or challenge. –verb (used with object) 7. to meet or face courageously: to brave misfortunes. 8. to defy; challenge; dare. 9. Obsolete. to make splendid. –verb (used without object) 10. Obsolete. to boast; brag.

To: KonKilo who wrote (46686)	1/24/2008 12:16:35 PM
From: cnyndwllr	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 541957

Whiffle, re: "Bill Maher was fired from ABC for saying that the 9/11 suicide pilots were brave. The fact that they were, by definition, brave, never entered into the rationale. Just as there is a range of unthinkable thought, so too is there a range of inutterable utterances." When the "enemy" does such things we characterize their acts as insane, brainwashed, and even cowardly. When "our" guys do those things we pin medals on their widows and erect monuments to their memory. If you haven't seen Charlie Wilson's war I highly recommend it. The movie draws some pretty obvious parallels between the Russian experience in Afghanistan and our current experiences in the Middle East. In some parts of the movie the outright admiration expressed for the rat terrier determination of the Afghan and Arab fighters, partly inspired by radical Islamic beliefs, highlights the disparity between how we value such things in our "allies." There was a great History Channel program playing that provided an even better account of the real Charlie Wilson and the bombshell southern belle who was the brains, and body, behind it. Ed

To: KonKilo who wrote (46686)	1/24/2008 7:39:45 PM
From: J. C. Dithers	Read Replies (5) \| Respond to of 541957

The fact that they were, by definition, brave, never entered into the rationale. By dictionary definition, would you consider Seung-Hui Cho to have displayed bravery? He's the chap that killed 32 persons at Virginia Tech. Surely Seung knew that his mission was frought with danger and would very likely cost him his life. Indeed, he was willing to take his own life, just as the 9/11 terrorists. How about the duo that shot up the Columbine school? There is no forensic evidence that these killers were deranged. They believed they were righting wrongs, a perfectly rational motive. Do you believe that "bravery" is a fitting characterization of these persons and their actions? I'm not taunting you, but simply suggesting that dry dictionary definitions are not always an adequate guide to appropriate word usage.