Its sad....

[Dave]

Its sad that individuals continue to come here and just want to be disruptive. If you disagree with what is said here, come here and make your points, backing your point with fact when applicable. Regardless of where else you may post at, it does a disservice. If by chance your a member of the Soup and coming here, it makes YOU worse then anything you may think of people that post here. If you are from there, there are a few there that come off as being better then anyone here. By having to come here and be disruptive, you lower yourself well below anything anyone of us here could possibly be.

By no means do I think everyone here is perfect. I do not agree with everything that everyone says or does.... but they have the right to say or do what they want within reason.

If you want to come here, contribute. I make my points and I back them up, you should be able to do the same. In other words, grow up a little.

[Merry Christmas]

Spot on Lisa. Edie can follow suit by ridding her avatars of Blinkey's avatars not only here, but on LT. Show some respect Edie.

Thank-you Lisa for your very thoughtful post.

Aquaman you are a total dickwad! I read what you wrote on this site before it disappeared. Total disrespect to Blinkey and his family.

[Merry Christmas]

Shelia,

Thank-you for your well thought out post regarding Binkey and his avatar!

You rock!

[XLFD]

Lisa O: "I think we should all offer our opinions and leave out the name calling."

Merry Xmas: "Spot on Lisa... Aquaman you are a total dickwad!"

Sounds like someone so self-centered they don't even realize how childish their antics are.

As for respect-- respect the terms of service of this site, and stay off if you can't. The default member icon has been changed to Blinkey's old avatar. If you feel this is disrespect, cry in your soupbowl. Quit terrorizing our site and censor your own people, not ours.

[AQUAMAN]

Lisa and MC, where did you see me call Blinkey any names per se? MC just called me a name, rude and profane, and as such, proves that person's total hypocrisy in this regard. As stated earlier, I quoted his girlfriend Cindy, "verbatum", from the Soup forum, which was immediately closed to outside views again by a cyberspace bully named Behr. If she didn't want her laundry put out in public view, then she should have privately emailed this information to her friends. As for my editorial comments about Blinkey's irresponsible financial condition upon his demise, it's called free speech. Don't like it, go to CUBA! It was not a statement of hatred, nor disrespect, simply fact, and perhaps, some values and principles which many of us learned from our forefathers and parents, something that doesn't hold much water today in society. Pardon me for just telling it like it is. You see, many of us men, males, were raised to believe that it's ok for women and children to be carefree and careless in life, where the menfolk need to tow the line where responsibility and finances are concerned, for the future of our families. Looked to me like Blinkey had none of those principles in life, and as such, his family now suffers. Sorry, I don't praise nor look up to people like that, irregardless of present ideologies on that subject.

[Lisa O'Brien]

Aquaman,
I can't recall you calling him a name, and you are correct in that she should have not aired her laundry in public, but since she did -does that make it right to basically kick her while she's down (the only person the jab could hurt was her, blinkey is gone). Yes I believe in freedom of speech - and you are entitled to make any comments you wish. All that said I refuse to be drawn into the childish feud between the 2 groups.

[AQUAMAN]

Lisa, there you go again, spin-doctoring my words and post, which I totally just clarified in today's continuing thread-line. I am not kicking anyone around or while they are down at all. Conversely, my heart goes out to Cindy, but in all fairness, she is an adult, and had to know about some of this for some time now, it did not happen overnite. Did you Not Read and comprehend the differences between my menfolk upbringing life principles of responsibility vs. a Blinkey type? He apparently lived his life carefree, without planning for any financial stability for his family's future. If you concur this is adult and wise, so be it, I must respectfully disagree, that's all. And btw, the childish feud you see between 2 talk forums has been fueled by other outside agitators and drive-by's here at the Torch. Not the reverse! Fact is, the Soup is so condescending and ridiculously paranoid of Torchers, that they bestow nothing but thread after thread of insults and profanities against most of our active membership, on an almost daily basis. That's why their forum is now secretive and closed to outside eyes again. That say anything about wanting peace and harmony? Look at Dave and X's continuing dialog, it has no profanity nor insults, other than to contradict the falsehoods that others are making daily. I don't believe in hypocrisy nor rude behavior, just to get your way in life. It bespeaks of small closed-minds that cannot debate with honesty, facts, politeness, and intelligence.

[Mary A.]

Lisa, I'm glad you joined this group. You speak your mind, but always in a respectful manner. Thanks for your contributions.

[Lisa O'Brien]

Thank you Mary. I always try to be respectful - I don't always succeed, but I'm a work in progress. Hope your having a great weekend.

[Mary A.]

I object to using that avatar and not because it was used by someone that rubbed some of our members the wrong way. I've always thought it was quite distasteful because of the message it sends. People with mental and physical challenges deserve more than that. All I've seen here lately is lack of respect for one another, and I'd like to see us move beyond that. Do you think that will ever be possible????

[XLFD]

Mary,
I'm sorry to compound that bit of distastefulness by making the default avatar Blinkey's old one. Many of the members, including me, agree with you about the tastelessness of the avatar.

I believe Angela started a thread about a year back on Lakeshore Soup about how this avatar was very offensive to her, as she worked with kids that could be labelled physically retarded. If I remember correctly, Behr and Blinkey would not even consider changing it, even though Dave, Aquaman, I, and others agreed it was not in the best of taste. It still isn't, but I will not have some nitwit come on and bully anyone into doing or not doing what he wants.

That's my job. LOL.

[Sweater Cows!]

physically retarded means clumsy, just like gay means stupid, what generation are you people from anyway?

Do I need to make up a gen-Xers slang dictionary.

better yet, www.urbandictionary.com

[Mary A.]

I don't know if you were aiming this comment at me, Sheila. It isn't clear, but I think you just defended the use of the avatar. I definitely am of a much older generation than you. What I object to is the use of the word retarded in jest. My younger sister happens to be mentally retarded and until you have lived it personally and grown up in a family that struggled with caring for a mentally challenged child in the day when no services were available, you would not understand the hurt that Blinkey's avatar could cause. With all your posts about how you are raising your daughter to be a good person, I hope you teach her that certain terms that are degrading to a group of people, even when used in jest, are off limits. You can't have it both ways.

If you weren't speaking to me, then I apologize for my assumption, but not for my stance.