All Talk. (was RE: trauma-list Digest, Vol 67, Issue 4)

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Wait: you're going to the dictionary to discredit my definition of
"feckless?"  Really?

I'm sticking with "weak and ineffective."  Of course, now someone will
immediately infer that I'm anti-semantic.  

I'm ill-prepared for this level of grammatical combat.  I surrender.


Dr. Madhoun's death was a senseless waste, shameful in the extreme,
illustrating the overwhelming potency of hatred and ignorance over
humanity and hope.  His was a conspicuously heroic story, briefly
personifying a miserable f**king statistic.  No one's memory is more
honor-worthy; but the notion that a bunch of doctors on the internet can
unite in the pursuit of Mideast peace on his behalf is a pitiable
delusion, punctuating the inanity of it all.

Prove me wrong.  Otherwise, set up a dual scholarship for Arab and
Israeli trauma providers in his name.  It's a far cry from ending a
perpetual war; but it's more realistic, and more consistent with his
otherwise wasted legacy.

Pret



-----Original Message-----
From: trauma-list-bounces at trauma.org
[mailto:trauma-list-bounces at trauma.org] On Behalf Of Doc Holiday
Sent: Monday, January 05, 2009 5:01 PM
To: .Trauma List
Subject: RE: All Talk. (was RE: trauma-list Digest, Vol 67, Issue 4)



From: pbjorn at emh.org> These messages are surely eloquent and heart-felt.
But at what point does our reliable and unanimous dismay merely serve to
define our collective fecklessness?
 
--> I agree with "eloquent and heart-felt"...
But I don't think that the expression of dismay defines fecklessness!
 
If you define fecklessness as "worthlessness due to being feeble and
ineffectual" (I found this in a few dictionaries) then I disagree with
you. Regardless of whether you support the views expressed or not,
expressing them is not necessarily worthless. It might not be effective
to express dismay, when it comes to resolving the problem, but neither
is it effective for you to criticise people for expressing it.
 
> peace... utterly unsustainable.
 
--> I have no evidence to contradict your statement in the slightest. In
this light, I suspect that some who "merely" express dismay are
similarily unable to work out what else they could personally do which
is more effective...
 
> We, the Civilized, can be shocked by the savagery of crude rockets and
bomb vests; but until we're as outraged...
 
--> I do not claim to be "the civilised". Neither I am shocked by the
savagery you mention, although I used to be many years ago (one gets
used to hearing about it). As for being outraged about poverty and
unemployment (be it in the middle east, Zimbabwe or various worse-off
parts of most continents), I am not sure that this will be effectual
either. We often discover "outrage" at injustice to be the motivation
behind other retaliative outrages...
 
> Above all, we should stop pretending we're perplexed or surprised.
 
--> Some people still are perplexed - perhaps they are not pretending.
As you said, "heart-felt"...
 
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