sensory overload

[Guest guest]

It does make the parents look heartless but the producers and viewers

of the show thinking that kind of meltdown is something to laugh at

makes me want to puke.

As far as overpopulation goes, some virus will come along and thin out

our overbreeding societies.

Kim

>

> Stupid, worthless parents. There shouldn't be so many people coming

into the world now. There's too many anti-clich'e attitudes that

there's no actual foundation.

[Guest guest]

A virus could possibly do that. I wouldn't count on it though. People are no good. There's no way around that. Kids are disrespectful. Parents show a bovine indifference to everything except sports or other senseless, competitive acts. Grandparents will be persuaded to buy junk. Telemarketers steal retirement money from old ladies. We're constantly favoring one history lesson over another to suit the interests of everyone except the kids. There are too many intrusive laws. People are encouraged to be generic, watered down ragdolls like they see on tv. The list goes on. I guess all I'm saying is that it shouldn't piss you off because the idiocy and chaos is everywhere. Hopefully this site is a place where people can talk about these things without people who senselessly argue about it. Kim <6emini@...> wrote: It does make the parents look heartless but the producers and viewers of the show thinking that kind of meltdown is something to laugh at makes me want to puke.As far as overpopulation goes, some virus will come along and thin out our overbreeding societies.Kim>> Stupid, worthless parents. There shouldn't be so many people coming into the world now. There's too many anti-clich'e attitudes that there's

no actual foundation.

All-new - Fire up a more powerful email and get things done faster.

[Guest guest]

Remember now, I'm a Mom and am trying ever so hard to raise mine to

become better than the crowd. My kids have played soccer, mainly for

the strength and agility they get from it, not the winning aspect of

the game. They need to learn how to work with a team too, such as

passing the ball to the teammate who is most able to score and not

hogging the ball. I'm also a people, aren't I ok from what you can

tell? There are so many people out there that it's easy (I do it also)

to be angry. I try to focus on what Kim needs to do and worry less(not

that I don't obsess at times) about the jerks. Try writing to a

congressman or representative for therapy, they have to listen to their

constituents. HA HA! Well, it makes me feel better sometimes just

letting them know I'm paying attention and I do VOTE. Sounds like your

at the end of your rope with the masses, might I suggest less focus on

the big picture and more on the small everyday accomplishments in your

life? We're in the same boat and I think I forgot my life preserver.

Kim

>

> A virus could possibly do that. I wouldn't count on it though. People

are no good. There's no way around that. Kids are disrespectful.

Parents show a bovine indifference to everything except sports or other

senseless, competitive acts. Grandparents will be persuaded to buy

junk. Telemarketers steal retirement money from old ladies. We're

constantly favoring one history lesson over another to suit the

interests of everyone except the kids. There are too many intrusive

laws. People are encouraged to be generic, watered down ragdolls like

they see on tv. The list goes on. I guess all I'm saying is that it

shouldn't piss you off because the idiocy and chaos is everywhere.

Hopefully this site is a place where people can talk about these things

without people who senselessly argue about it.

[Guest guest]

Okay. Sports are fine. I just meant football meatheads can be lousy to hang around depending on the type of school and town. I played sports and feel that it gave me a better work ethic than some others. It has helped me function in group mode. Sure, you're okay. Lately I've written a couple customer complaint cards. That gives me a sense of some satisfaction because I get to see their adjustment or termination first-hand. I've started cleaning things and rearranging things in my house today and it is definitely helping. It's like you said about focusing on the small, everyday accomplishments. I'm actually proud of keeping up with myself in terms of house cleaning :-) I think the main thing that I couldn't stand about the funniest home videos is the show itself. It was Bob Saget from Full House. I hated Full House. My sister used to watch it all the time. I didn't mean to go on about it :-) Kim <6emini@...> wrote: Remember now, I'm a Mom and am trying ever so hard to raise mine to become better than the crowd. My kids have played soccer, mainly for the strength and agility they get from it, not the winning aspect of the game. They need to learn how to work with a team too, such as passing the ball to the teammate who is most able to score and not hogging the ball. I'm also a people, aren't I ok from what you can tell? There are so many people out there that it's easy (I do it also) to be angry. I try to focus on what Kim needs to do and worry

less(not that I don't obsess at times) about the jerks. Try writing to a congressman or representative for therapy, they have to listen to their constituents. HA HA! Well, it makes me feel better sometimes just letting them know I'm paying attention and I do VOTE. Sounds like your at the end of your rope with the masses, might I suggest less focus on the big picture and more on the small everyday accomplishments in your life? We're in the same boat and I think I forgot my life preserver.Kim>> A virus could possibly do that. I wouldn't count on it though. People are no good. There's no way around that. Kids are disrespectful. Parents show a bovine indifference to everything except sports or other senseless, competitive acts. Grandparents will be persuaded to

buy junk. Telemarketers steal retirement money from old ladies. We're constantly favoring one history lesson over another to suit the interests of everyone except the kids. There are too many intrusive laws. People are encouraged to be generic, watered down ragdolls like they see on tv. The list goes on. I guess all I'm saying is that it shouldn't piss you off because the idiocy and chaos is everywhere. Hopefully this site is a place where people can talk about these things without people who senselessly argue about it.

Get your own web address for just $1.99/1st yr. We'll help. Small Business.

[Guest guest]

>

" bovine indifference "

I like that phrase--I don't think I've heard it before.

[Guest guest]

The same clueless adults who run programs for Asplings and who, all

the while, do not understand how Asplings think and perceive and

internalize and react and do not care to understand how Asplings

think and perceive and internalize and react.

The same clueless adults who teach other children to despite, fear

and bully Asplings because they are different than mundane people.

The same clueless adults who think that cookie cutter parenting and

cookie cutter children are simply the best ways to raise children,

especially 'bad bad' children who are not mainstream and who are

free thinkers who march to the beat of their own drum.

Ah, you know what I mean Kim ....

Raven the Annoyed (my new title I think ... LOL)

>

> Flipping through tv channels the other night I saw upsetting

videos on

> America's Funniest Home Videos. I usually do not watch this but

> couldn't turn away when they showed home clips of children having

> sensory overload situations. It was just aweful to see a young

boy get

> what he wanted for Christmas, you could tell he was very happy and

then

> he began to cry with his head in his hands. Other clips were just

as

> bad with kids who didn't know what to do with themselves. What

parent

> continues to film an emotionally wrought child and what kind of

viewers

> think it's funny?

>

> Kim

>

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 9/7/2006 12:41:55 AM Eastern Standard Time, 6emini@... writes:

Flipping through tv channels the other night I saw upsetting videos on America's Funniest Home Videos. I usually do not watch this but couldn't turn away when they showed home clips of children having sensory overload situations. It was just aweful to see a young boy get what he wanted for Christmas, you could tell he was very happy and then he began to cry with his head in his hands. Other clips were just as bad with kids who didn't know what to do with themselves. What parent continues to film an emotionally wrought child and what kind of viewers think it's funny?Kim

I saw the ultimate of this the other day. On a website was posted a video of this parent (doing the filming) getting the kids to look at the computer. Supposedly there was a "find the difference" game up. They encouraged the kids to look closely at the screen. As some of you may have guessed, the scary picture with screaming popped up. The kids all freaked out about it. They showed a slow motion repeat of that as well. I'm sure some people might have thought it was funny, but with the boy, you could see him look at the parents and you could see the sense of betrayal followed by the death of parental trust before the crying began.

I'll look for the link if anyone is interested.

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 9/7/2006 12:32:15 PM Eastern Standard Time, lemnosforge@... writes:

I have never been able to watch "Funniest...". There is always way too much heartlessness in the humor.

The only thing I like about those programs is the people who should know better who do stunts where they end up getting hurt. They say its for the adrenaline rush or whatever. Well, my solution to that has always been to give them a term in a Penal Battalion doing things like clearing minefields or these days driving supply convoys in the warzones. In the first case we'd be getting all those minefields in places like Sudan and Afghanistan cleared up in a hurry and in the second, our soldiers, people who are a cut above these s, would be spared.

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 9/7/2006 10:54:41 AM Eastern Standard Time, dan@... writes:

I have almost no memory of being a kid. Sometimes it upsets my wife... Shesays "just try to remember". I say I can't remember. I can remember a coupleof moments that standout (like when my bed was on fire), but that's it.I have a 2 year old and he is the joy of my life. I am very conscious of myrole as a father and very conscientious of everything involving hisupbrininging (food, fun, family, etc).

I have little memory of being a child either. In fact, I don't have a lot of memory before high school. I can recall snapshots and little "video clips" but more often than not, those are unpleasant things I'd rather not recall anyway. Those were bad times for me.

[Guest guest]

Ooh, that's one of my points. How do parents forget what it's like to

be a kid? I remember clearly. People think kids are there for their

amusement. You can treat kids with respect, talk to them on their

level, and they can still delight you and treat you with respect as an

adult, and they'll love you.

>

> Flipping through tv channels the other night I saw upsetting videos

on

> America's Funniest Home Videos. I usually do not watch this but

> couldn't turn away when they showed home clips of children having

> sensory overload situations. It was just aweful to see a young boy

get

> what he wanted for Christmas, you could tell he was very happy and

then

> he began to cry with his head in his hands. Other clips were just as

> bad with kids who didn't know what to do with themselves. What

parent

> continues to film an emotionally wrought child and what kind of

viewers

> think it's funny?

>

> Kim

>

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 9/7/2006 9:23:10 AM Eastern Standard Time, ravenmagic2003@... writes:

The same clueless adults who teach other children to despite, fear and bully Asplings because they are different than mundane people.The same clueless adults who think that cookie cutter parenting and cookie cutter children are simply the best ways to raise children, especially 'bad bad' children who are not mainstream and who are free thinkers who march to the beat of their own drum.

I hate to say it, but there are some kids who bring this on themselves. A cousin of mine says there is an openly AS kid at her son's school. However, this kid goes out of his way to be weird. He dresses kind of Goth and is filthy. His clothes are dirty, his hair long and almost dripping with grease and he smells so bad you can smell him across a room. No one wants to be near him, not even the real Goths and other typical outcasts because he is so physically repellent.

The unfortunate thing is that both this kid and his mother, who is an employee at the school, both consider that this is free expression and he shouldn't be judged by it. They acknowledge what a mess he is but won't change him because that might "hurt his ego" or some such. Yet at the same time, they both can't understand why he has no friends, even though he has said that he would like some. There is probably an ulterior motive on the mother's part as she is threatening to sue the school for some reason, harassment or hostile environment or whatever.

So one can make themselves more or less of a target. It can be deliberate, like the Goths, or inadvertent, like the typical Aspie. Most Aspies and their parents though I think would at least make some little changes once they learned of the problem. This kid, however, knows the problem but won't change. He's probably going to end up on the wrong end of a serious beating one day.

[Guest guest]

I never played organized sports because I was always short and skinny. Other players would target me as the weak point in the line and would run over me. Sure I got a lot of fouls against the other team, but one does get tired of being a target. I was on the rifle team, sort of second string. The reason for that was that my eyesight wasn't good and even with glasses the target was slightly blurred. Still, I could get 5 of 5 shots onto a target the size of an American Quarter coin at 50 feet almost every time, and could often pull shot groups the size of a dime or pencil eraser. Only thing was that most of the others could see well enough to put those groups closer to the bullseye than I could.

However, military school did have much the same effect as sports. I taught working in groups and the chain of command taught how to follow orders as well as how to give them. The rules system also was very clear and if you got punished, the offense and punishment appeared on the daily "stick sheet" posted in every barracks and bulletin board around campus.

[Guest guest]

Yes I do, all too well. Parents of children who question everything

have a heavy burden and can be overwhelmed at times (me, me , me).

Other adults take offense if a child finds/notices something they've

missed (myself included) and far too often punish the child because

of their lack of self esteem(I used to but not anymore . I have

been told my kids can be " sassy " but what does that mean? I know

they are respectful to adults so when I hear they have been " sassy " I

ask " What did they say? " I find most times the kids have just

pointed out the adult was wrong about something and most adults just

can not deal with it.

Form #5 reared it's ugly head again when my 2 younger kids brought

home papers for me to sign and return Tuesday. I tossed form #5 to

the side again only to have my daughter come home and tell me, " MOM,

you forgot to give me one of my papers back and I HAVE to turn it

in! " . The teacher told her that the school recieves $400.00 if form

#5 is brought back. Whether that means if all students in the school

return it they recieve four hundred dollars or that the money would

be sent to the school for each completed application, I do not know.

I can not find anything on the CPS website about that and think the

teacher was " confused " . I'll have to have a talk with him, the whole

truth and nothing but the truth please.

Gotta go, Mom's first chemo is today and I wanted to show her a wig

shop in her neighborhood.

Kim

>

> The same clueless adults who run programs for Asplings and who, all

> the while, do not understand how Asplings think and perceive and

> internalize and react and do not care to understand how Asplings

> think and perceive and internalize and react.

>

> The same clueless adults who teach other children to despite, fear

> and bully Asplings because they are different than mundane people.

>

> The same clueless adults who think that cookie cutter parenting and

> cookie cutter children are simply the best ways to raise children,

> especially 'bad bad' children who are not mainstream and who are

> free thinkers who march to the beat of their own drum.

>

> Ah, you know what I mean Kim ....

>

> Raven the Annoyed (my new title I think ... LOL)

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 9/7/2006 2:38:39 AM Eastern Standard Time, drumthis2001@... writes:

A virus could possibly do that. I wouldn't count on it though. People are no good. There's no way around that. Kids are disrespectful. Parents show a bovine indifference to everything except sports or other senseless, competitive acts. Grandparents will be persuaded to buy junk. Telemarketers steal retirement money from old ladies. We're constantly favoring one history lesson over another to suit the interests of everyone except the kids. There are too many intrusive laws. People are encouraged to be generic, watered down ragdolls like they see on tv.

People are mostly idiots, obsessed with trivial things. This is why I think there should be a two tiered school system like there used to be: College prep and regular. Those who have the smarts and such for college and will do something with it go to the prep schools and then to college. The rest still get a solid education, but with a greater emphasis on the blue collar end. Sure this would close a number of colleges once the federally guaranteed tuition's were cut way back, but it would also improve the quality of the colleges. Think about it. 30 years ago remedial English and Math classes were almost unheard of, but today they fill a large chunk of the course selections for Freshmen at most colleges. That clearly shows that the quality of incoming students has fallen off. Those who don't go straight into college can come back later as adults if they like. That would also be a good thing because adult students almost all take their courses very seriously. This too would improve the quality of college education.

Lots of people are consumer whores. Many have bought into the idea that you are what you own, especially kids. They have to have the latest and greatest of everything, even if that means throwing away perfectly good but "outdated" equipment. I recently did this after much agonizing, buying a Nintendo DS when my Gameboy Advance works just fine. I'll still probably end up playing both though, since I have some old games that I like that won't work on the DS. It also helped that I got giftcards from my old bank, the only useful feature of the account type that I had, so that the DS and a couple of games only cost me about 10% of what they would have. Still, I couldn't bring myself to replace my digital camera. It is several years old and dated, but it still works beautifully. I'll probably be using it for years yet.

History sure have gotten the short shift over the last 30 years. High school graduates don't even know about WW2 or where Iraq is. Hell, during the Gulf War 1991, a large chunk of students didn't even know where Iraq was and many thought it was somewhere like where Mexico is. It was disgusting that of a class of 30 at that time, a college class mind you, only two people, myself and an older woman, knew what Auschitz was. Sure they could name all the sports stars and rock bands, but anything real?

This is also a problem because as they say, history repeats itself. We are seeing this now. We have one overt enemy, the terrorists, and several rising enemies, like China. However, most people blissfully ignore all of this. They also ignore that the oil situation is even more perilous than it was in the 1970s when Iran closed the Persian Gulf. This time around it won't just be $7 a gallon gas but ration cards. I don't really think today's Americans will be able to handle rationing like they did in the 1940s. Well, unless we get real alternatives up and fast, it will happen. We also need to bring manufacturing back to the US out of China because one day they are going to cut us off. That will in turn collapse the consumerism the West depends on. Add to that that Mexico is about to go kaput and we have no border security to speak of. We should tell Mexico to step off on this issue: they have a long and stringent list for immigration and they regularly do police and military sweeps to round up illegals and deport them.

Anyway, they say ignorance is bliss and I guess most people agree. The government likes it too because stupid people are easier to lead that educated ones. Even the drug lords in South America know that and do most of their recruiting in the poor sections not only for monetary reasons, but because the poorly educated are easier to fool and manipulate.

[Guest guest]

I have almost no memory of being a kid. Sometimes it upsets my wife... She

says " just try to remember " . I say I can't remember. I can remember a couple

of moments that standout (like when my bed was on fire), but that's it.

I have a 2 year old and he is the joy of my life. I am very conscious of my

role as a father and very conscientious of everything involving his

upbrininging (food, fun, family, etc).

It upsets me when people talk bad about their kids, when their kids are

standing right there --- what the hell are they thinking?!?!

And like you said, when people think kids are their for amusement. I never

put my kid " on display " and make him " perform " for others. But sometimes

other friends/relatives will try to get him to repeat something that

entertained them. My kid clues into that and pretty much ignores their

request. For example, the other day my kid was telling my neighbor about

going to the State Fair and seeing/touching different animals, etc, etc. It

was fun to watch my kid share his enthusiasm. A little bit later on, my

neighbor asked my kid to share the same story with another person, and it

was obvious they wanted him to do the same " performance " . He balked at that.

Dan

> How do parents forget what it's like to be a kid? I remember clearly.

> People think kids are there for their amusement.

>

>

[Guest guest]

I have almost no memory of being a kid. Sometimes it upsets my wife... She

says " just try to remember " . I say I can't remember. I can remember a couple

of moments that standout (like when my bed was on fire), but that's it.

I have a 2 year old and he is the joy of my life. I am very conscious of my

role as a father and very conscientious of everything involving his

upbrininging (food, fun, family, etc).

It upsets me when people talk bad about their kids, when their kids are

standing right there --- what the hell are they thinking?!?!

And like you said, when people think kids are their for amusement. I never

put my kid " on display " and make him " perform " for others. But sometimes

other friends/relatives will try to get him to repeat something that

entertained them. My kid clues into that and pretty much ignores their

request. For example, the other day my kid was telling my neighbor about

going to the State Fair and seeing/touching different animals, etc, etc. It

was fun to watch my kid share his enthusiasm. A little bit later on, my

neighbor asked my kid to share the same story with another person, and it

was obvious they wanted him to do the same " performance " . He balked at that.

Dan

> How do parents forget what it's like to be a kid? I remember clearly.

> People think kids are there for their amusement.

>

>

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 9/7/2006 2:56:22 PM Eastern Standard Time, mikecarrie01@... writes:

"The world needs more compassion."I think it's beyond needing 'more' compassion, and now needs 'most' compassion.

I don't think its that we need more compassion as that we need less stupidity. If we were less tolerate of stupid behavior, then there would be less of these kinds of shows. If in the same vein we stopped saving people from the consequences of their stupid actions, then there would be less of them. For example: if Mr. Stupid Extreme Skier gets in an avalanche, then they should be required to foot the entire bill of rescue and medical care, insurance (private or governmental) would be waived. Immediate lifesaving care would be given, of course, but they would be required to pay it back. Anything longer term would be their own responsibility. Given how expensive medical care is these days, that would certainly give them something to think about.

Perhaps they could pay their bill and get a thrill by being sent into gang town and cleaning graffiti off the walls. The idea of a gang banger catching them going this and shooting them or beating them up should give them a whole knew kind of adrenaline rush, and they would be doing something constructive.

That's partly satire of course, but not entirely. The problem is that in addition to coarsening, society has been embracing stupidity more and more as well. We have bee rushing to the lowest common denominator in many fields. I think that if we want to stop this, we should stop glorifying stupidity. Take those silly "extreme sports" out of the Olympics and return them to their origins as military sports. That's what the original Olympics were: military based events. We could keep a lot of the non military events like Gymnastics and such because that takes a lot of time and talent, but skateboarding and a lot of the new winter events?

I'm going to put up another post on something I had been thinking about.

[Guest guest]

>

> " I have almost no memory of being a kid. Sometimes it upsets my

wife... She

> says " just try to remember " . I say I can't remember. I can remember

a couple

> of moments that standout (like when my bed was on fire), but that's

it. "

Whoa, bed on fire, that should be memory! What's your earliest age of

memory?

>

" And like you said, when people think kids are their for amusement. I

never

> put my kid " on display " and make him " perform " for others. But

sometimes

> other friends/relatives will try to get him to repeat something that

> entertained them. My kid clues into that and pretty much ignores

their

> request. "

My niece absolutely hated to be laughed at and would get very upset.

Even if my sister would explain that they laughed because they liked

her and the things she did.

[Guest guest]

We are living in a society that has put in place a social system where

anything different can freely be laughed at. It takes a lot of effort

to assist people in unlearning what they have learned. All shows like

this do is reinforce the fact that it is okay to laugh at people who

behave in manners which are socially unacceptable.

Tom

Administrator

Flipping through tv channels the other night I saw upsetting videos on

America's Funniest Home Videos. I usually do not watch this but

couldn't turn away when they showed home clips of children having

sensory overload situations. It was just aweful to see a young boy get

what he wanted for Christmas, you could tell he was very happy and then

he began to cry with his head in his hands. Other clips were just as

bad with kids who didn't know what to do with themselves. What parent

continues to film an emotionally wrought child and what kind of viewers

think it's funny?

Kim

[Guest guest]

I have another forum with parents in it. The idea is that parents can

ask REAL ASPIES questions about their Aspie children. Every once in a

while you have a parent who comes along who believes that their AS kid

is only good for comic relief. If the child in the family is one of

many children, then the AS kid is always the " lovable mascot. "

When you try to point out to the parent how they are demeaning their

child, they either laugh at you, criticize you, or quit.

This is the way the world works, and it is disgusting because these

children " fall through the cracks " within their own families and grow

up to have low self-esteem.

We have a situation going on right now in the other forum that is

similar. There is an Aspie who has been so lambasted by his significant

other that he sees verbal abuse as being loving comments of a loving

spouse. The Aspie admins are not fooled.

Tom

Administrator

Re: Sensory overload

Stupid, worthless parents. There shouldn't be so many people coming

into the world now. There's too many anti-clich'e attitudes that

there's no actual foundation.

[Guest guest]

It is.

As I said in a recent post, there is a situation in one of the other

FAM Forums right now, and there have been situations in the past, where

people blast Aspies for their " dumbness. " That will not happen in this

forum.

Tom

Administrator

Hopefully this site is a place where people can talk about these things

without people who senselessly argue about it.

[Guest guest]

No one was criticizing you Kim. I think you are a great mom and a good

person. But many Aspies have been made to feel bad about themselves to

the point where they accept mere acknowledgement of their presence and

existence as constituting 100% of their value. Nick's expression of

frustration is one that many of us Aspies harbor, and it is hard to

understand that unless you live on the periphery of society every day.

Tom

Administrator

Sounds like your at the end of your rope with the masses, might I

suggest less focus on the big picture and more on the small everyday

accomplishments in your life? We're in the same boat and I think I

forgot my life preserver.

Kim

[Guest guest]

Mel defining tragedy and humor- I hurt my little pinky. That's tragedy. You fall down through a man-hole in the street and break your neck- ~That's~ comedy! I would just point out here that laughing in the second instance above involves not-caring about the victim. I have never been able to watch "Funniest...". There is always way too much heartlessness in the humor. And it isn't silly the way The Stooges were- obvious play-acting in fun. (My favorite comics are Steve when he's doing his definitely non-commercial work- and his earlier movie work, and - as just two examples.) I think over the years the show has been playing more and more to an audience that has been more and more attracted to the show- an audience that is particularly heartless. And I say that knowing full well that several people I think highly of in other ways

happen to really like that show. The world needs more compassion. Heph nick <drumthis2001@...> wrote: Stupid, worthless parents. There shouldn't be so many people coming into the world now. There's too many anti-clich'e attitudes that there's no actual foundation. Kim <6eminiameritech (DOT) net> wrote: Flipping through tv

channels the other night I saw upsetting videos on America's Funniest Home Videos. I usually do not watch this but couldn't turn away when they showed home clips of children having sensory overload situations. It was just aweful to see a young boy get what he wanted for Christmas, you could tell he was very happy and then he began to cry with his head in his hands. Other clips were just as bad with kids who didn't know what to do with themselves. What parent continues to film an emotionally wrought child and what kind of viewers think it's funny?Kim Get your own web address for just $1.99/1st yr. We'll help. Small Business. Hephaestus Clubfoothttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hephaestushttp://www.pantheon.org/articles/h/hephaestus.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabeiroi

Stay in the know. Pulse on the new .com. Check it out.

[Guest guest]

>

> " Mel defining tragedy and humor-

> I hurt my little pinky. That's tragedy. You fall down through

a man-hole in the street and break your neck- ~That's~ comedy!

>

> I would just point out here that laughing in the second

instance above involves not-caring about the victim. "

I think the idea is that if we can laugh about our tragedies then it

makes them easier to bear, and Mel is talking about laughing at

himself, but our society has taken it too far, I think. Maybe it says

how much in pain everyone is, and they do it to cope. I myself laugh

too much--I seem to find humor everywhere and use it to make things

more lighthearted and easier to bear, because sometimes people take

little things too seriously. There's still taboos on joking about

other racial groups--you can joke about your own, but not another's.

That taboo is starting to be dissolved though.

>

> " I have never been able to watch " Funniest... " . There is always way

too much heartlessness in the humor. "

I can't watch it either. I don't want to see someone's wedding cake

get smashed or someone break their swimming pool and get hurt. I

can't understand peoples' love of violence and pain. Like Rescue 911

and other shows like that. The 'everyone loves a train wreck' idea.

" (My favorite comics are Steve when he's doing his definitely

non-commercial work- and his earlier movie work, and -

as just two examples.) "

Steve and are my two favorite comics!! I don't

see too many people who know who is. Have you read

Steve 's first book? It's great.

" The world needs more compassion. "

I think it's beyond needing 'more' compassion, and now needs 'most'

compassion.

[Guest guest]

I am a great believer in activism generally (I myself participate in

environmental activism and Aspie activism), but I believe activism is

particularly good for Apies.

Firstly, it enables us to feel as though we have a voice in bigger

affairs.

Secondly, if we actually accomplish something, it means that we have

made a positive impact on the world at large.

I enjoy writing protest letters and quite often I do actually get

responses from senators and representatives, foreign officials or

company executives, that are NOT merely form letters, and I have seen

legislation passed that is in direct accordance with things that I

have asked them to work on.

Any Aspie cn do it, and I thank you Nick for pointing out this fact

to people and for telling us the positive feeling that has resulted

from your efforts.

Tom

Administrator

Lately I've written a couple customer complaint cards. That gives me

a sense of some satisfaction because I get to see their adjustment or

termination first-hand. I've