White Trash Christmas....

[Mighty Favog]

O.k. guys, before you click on the link below park your differences at the door. But this sure is damn funny!!

http://www.toonedin.com/movies/WhiteTrashXmas.html

P.S. A good way play your Pro-Media's!

[prodj101]

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! funny stuff. I like when they show the cousins kissin and instead of a normal missing tooth theres just a wiggling strand of flesh.

[Mighty Favog]

Yea, I thought that exposed nerve was pretty.......well......gory.

[IndyKlipschFan]

LOL good one. Great to break up the day with a laugh or two.

[prodj101]

I wanna just rip that nerve off

[m00n]

Heh... Nice find!

[TheEAR]

One thing ...LOL

Good one

[TBrennan]

How charming to make fun of the poor and powerless at Christmas.

[prodj101]

is it really our fault we work hard instead of knocking someone up/getting knocked up at the age of 14? I never really fell sorry for the homeless for this reason. Not only did they not work previously in their life, but they don't make any attempt to turn things around. This is also the reason I really dislike the people who say "bill gates is such a jerk, he has all that money and won't even help another person." The way I look at it, he worked hard in school, and worked hard to develop a program that changed the world. He than benifited from his hard work by becoming rich. He should be able to do whatever he wants with his money.

[TBrennan]

Prod---Many poor people work hard, VERY hard but for whatever reasons at poor paying jobs. It's not charitable to make fun of such people and certainly not Christian, unless one's a Calvinist in which case it's OK to have contempt for the poor, hate your fellow man and act unChristian. But any real Christian who would hate the poor must expect someday to face the Wrath of God, afterall He loves them more than He loves the rich and complacent.

If you're doing well in life all the more reason to refrain from making more miserable the lot of those not doing as well as you. It's called having class. You're a young man and I see you need instruction in such things, call on your Uncle Tommy any time.

[prodj101]

First of all, I'm not christian. I'm not any religeon. And second of all, I know people who work hard (my dad being one of them), and others who make low wage but still manage to make ends meet. My dad came from a very poor family, but he stayed in school, got a degree, and is now succesful, which shows it can be done. Sure, some people have it easier than others, but that's not an excuse to fail in life. my dad had to sell everything he owned (including his sound system), make his way to the US, and work hard to pay for college. Many wealthy people were not always rich. they worked hard, were smart, and it payed off for them. hard work applies to EVERYONE.

[GooseChaser]

do u know anyone who grew up hoping to become homeless someday? I sure haven't. there's more to it than "working hard", do u feel that in control? Sh*t happens. maybe if ppl were more compassionate to one another, some of them wouldn't be out on the streets right now. I am paraphrasing from an article I read, "they are not homeless, they are people without home." think about what that means.

[prodj101]

thats just retorical nonsense and you know it. homeless=people without homes.

[sj993]

What does this have to do with religion?

In any event I too agree that it isn't very nice to laugh at the poor. However there is a difference between being trash and being poor. Some may be poor to begin with but eventually become successful, while others are also poor and remain that way because they don't want to do anything to make their lives better. Granted this isn't true for everyone and there are different sides to every story. Some are well off and become homeless for reasons beyond their control.

Compassion can be a wonderful thing, at the same time it can also be taken advantage of.

[TBrennan]

Prod----The Christian thing was because this is a Christmas thread. And I don't know what you're trying to say, you're contradicting yourself now.

[GooseChaser]

I tried writing a replay for proDJ, but u know it when it's just pointless. he just doesn't get it. I don't think I'd argue with an know-it-all 11 year old(or is he 14, not that it would make a different in his case anyway) in real life. let'em grow up, it's just unfair, u know.

Prodj, I think u'd do well to read this again and take some of the advice below.

and HornEd, sorry if u find this inappropriate. regardless, well put.

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On 12/10/2002 5:23:42 PM HornEd wrote:

Well,

prodj101

, I missed the part where you told your age... so all I had to go on was your line of reasoning and the regard you have for your prose as reflected on this board. Since I am a good deal beyound fifty... I would like to say on behalf of some of us oldsters that, in the main, you are welcome here and we strive to give you feedback that will help you be more of the person you are bright enough to become.

Just because a dish lacks seaoning doesn't mean it was built without reasoning. Sure some of us found ourselves between the rock and a hard place that battlefields seem to create. We have seen the bloom of youth explode before our eyes to sink into nonfunctional dispair... or worse yet... too many pieces to collect for the body bag. As years go by, you may think back to this thread with the realization that insight can be difficult to implant in a mind bursting with ideas... and the talent to make a sax speak better than a recent president could may open a whole new career field.

If we thought you a real disaster, we would not take time to participate in this thread. But, putting forth ideas in a creative and succinct way without resorting to language skills beneath your talent level... or laced with primitive bantering that demeans not only the person that is the object of your scorn... but yourself as well... is not your best suit.

Frankly, there are a lot of us lurking about that have seen too many young men of your persuasion become fodder for less-than-candid recruiting personnel... as a prelude for being cannon fodder on some far flung shore. A flair for the dramatic without a sense of the pragmatic tends to win medals that are sent to one's family... and we all would want a better life for you then that.

You, prodj101, are not only your future... but in many ways, you and your generation are a part of what future we older folks may have left. I grew up in a family run by an autocratic father who secretly hated me for my intelligence... and I didn't find it out from his own lips until a few years ago when he made a deathbed confession of the fact. I grew up in an era when the draft was as real as a heart attack... and I joined the Army as a volunteer so I could have a bit more determination as to what my role would be. Actually, if I were better informed, once the GT scores were in (that the General Technical score that served as the Army equivalent of an I.Q. score)... a whole panoply of upscale options were available... whether I had been drafted or enlisted. I stayed more than twice as long as required, because the Army gave me access to some intellectual stimulation (beyond kill or be killed) that became a predicate for a successful life as a civilian... even leading to building my own think tank that served Fortune 500 companies and government.

Now that I know by your own admission that you are a young man, I will share with you that by the time I was 19 I managed a division of a land development company in San Francisco... and it wasn't my family's company. I did not volunteer for military service until after I was 21... and that was probably more to get the "draft" out of my future than anything else. Sure, I loved my country... and would make statments similar to yours in my eagerness to defend what I thought my country stood for. But, as time went on and I did consulting stints with high ranking American politicians in both parties... my youthful idealism was tarnished by the practicality that the real political arena extracts from all who would survive as politicians.

Since I was just writing about DVD's, I am reminded about the picture "Lawrence of Arabia" that reflects the life of a bright young Brit thown into the maelstrom... only to be shunted aside when the real decision makers carved up the fruits of his labors in their own way. Our comments... even some marginally good natured ribbing... are more in the interest of giving you a leg up in a far more complex world than we had at your age.

Being confrontational is easy... and one of the earliest strategies that a developing human uses to test the limits of his abilities. Some folks get stuck in that mode all their lives... and, frankly, it steals so much from their ability to experience human potential that none of us gray bearded products of yesteryear would wish on anyone... especially not you who has so much demonstrated potential to step beyond the sophmoric (sophmore can be traced back to "wise fool" as you probably know) traps that lurk in the halls of knowledge.

Be wise, use this Forum as a tool to increase your knowledge and insight... and it will be far more valuable to you that any confrontational victory that some glib "put down" might bring. And a word to some of those who have responded to you in this thread... communication is a two-way street... and sometimes we need to remember what caused each of us to turn a deaf ear to otherwise good advice when we were body slamming the world with a younger man's logic. Sometimes cheap shots are a lot funnier momentarily than they are useful long term... and I may be the worst offender. Seasonings Greetings to one and all. -HornED

PS: Since I do not proof or spell check my entries... I am aghast at what occurs at times like these when I am not getting enough blood to my brain. Fortunately, by the time you are my age... such maladies will be long fixed. At least, I would hope so.

----------------

[prodj101]

I never once contradicted myself. are you sure you even know what contradict means, or are you just trying to sound intelligent? As for goose chaser, I don't know what I said that was immature. I simply stated the facts. for 99.9% of the homeless in the united states, hard work will get you very far. if you don't realize this, either you were A) never poor or never worked hard.

[TBrennan]

Prod----I see people working hard every day and getting nowhere. It's a fact that in this country a person can work his *** off and still be poor.

[HornEd]

Thanks for the "HOOT" tblasing... I was in the club dining room checking the Forum with my laptop and the club's WiFi link and tuned in. It was so funny... a crowd gathered and I had to play it through several times. It's always great when we can laugh at ourselves... even if it's only a "might have been." Sort of reminds me of walking down a city street with an attorney shortly after I had been swindled out of my life's fortune. A chauffer driven limousine passed us by and I said, "Tom, there but by the Grace of God go I..."

A sobering thought at Christmas tide... paraphrasing an old temperance cartoon from depression times where hard work could make a difference... but you probably still would be poor!

It must be nice to have a 99.9 level of confidence in your own statement... I've worked with Fortune 500, university and government scientists for many years and that's a level of confidence beyond what they could statistically hope for. Gee, isn't it wonderful that kids are so much smarter these days... about time too... 'cause my internal workings could use some spectacular fixing!

I mentioned the potential to my proctologist but he just gave me the old, "This too shall pass" line. It seems that he thinks there's more to success than hard work and inherited wealth... after all, part of the governmental process is hunkered down on redistribution of wealth by taxation... and being elected to office at the expense of compromising one's principles.

An old lawyer once told me, "Ed, never let a principle outweigh your principal... and you can spell it either way in either position!" Yep, thought he was a keeper... won my case... and then became the late Elmer Ware Stahl a few months before I needed him more than ever. That's when I found out that our legal system is not predicated on "justice"... it's predicated on dispute resolution. Hmm, I wonder if the same thing applies to Iraq.

Merry Prodjmass and a Happy New Career, prodj... for I can see that while you may not be a Christian, you certainly believe in yourself... and that's not all bad! -HornEd

[m00n]

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On 12/26/2002 6:30:56 PM prodj101 wrote:

This is also the reason I really dislike the people who say "bill gates is such a jerk, he has all that money and won't even help another person.----------------

Dude... Bill Gates and his wife are natorious for giving away money. He is a very giving person. They just gave some huge amount of money to India I think it was. The money for AIDS prevention.

Also, you really need to learn you place. Your 14, that's not a bad thing, we were all there once, but you really need to stop spouting off on issues that you are way to inexperianced to be talking about.

Sure, some people are homeless because of their own demise, some simply were delt a bad card in life. I have never been on the street, but can only image that once your on rock bottom, it can't be easy to get out.

Think about it. You have no home, your dirty, no nice cloths, who is going to want to hire somebody like that?

Think prodj think, before you spout off next time.

There is a very good movie you should see. It's "The Fisher King" with Robin Williams. It may just enlighten you to how some people can become homeless.