I thought you held up your end pretty well, given the (pre)conceptions of your opponents. Well done, but I think you're well out of there.

Thanks thom. I am.

Followed nose, walked into door. Idiot. Older, wiser, flatter nose.

On with the revels as soon as I get my balance back.

(I think I'll put that on the main post. Thanks for the insp thom.)

I think most of us have walked into the same door at some point.

you've completely lost me.

Good.

Too much self-indulgent nonsense over here recently so I'm quite pleased if you didn't notice/follow/care/click on links that didn't help to places that weren't a good idea to go.

Back to the family in the near future.

i hope you're feeling better today robin. i feel a little guilty (tho i know i'm not). i have this crispy shell of contempt that keeps me immune to some of the worst ravages of those sort of sites.

i think it is important to read these opinions and arguments, as i said, to sharpen our own thinking. one of the most successful lines of attack that i think the New Right have made of late has been in pointing out the sheer wooliness of a lot of liberal/leftist thinking. i know that on an emotional level this stuff makes me feel ill, precisely because, whatever they might say, it reeks of hatred and contempt for others. but i want to understand precisely why they're wrong, and i can only do that if i try to understand their arguments.

in the long run though, "don't feed the animals" is probably the best policy.

Wise words o noodle. I agree all round there.

Yes they are right in that an emotional attachment to a set of ideas is not logical and not always wise. But they stand accused similarly because a lot of their stuff comes out of pre-existing states of hatred/contempt/fear/pessimism. They've got a new lease of life with all this bogus research that seems to show 'real' differences between 'races'. The work is flawed and they can't prove how it 'matters' but they feel they have something solid to accuse the tolerators with now.

I actually haven't been back and I put this post up to comfort myself against (self) accusations of cowardice. I'm not sure the tone is exactly right but that was my purpose. Thanks for understanding.

I know how the net can get under your skin, and how hard it is to switch off your mind after you're switched off the box.

At this point, Robin, I advocate switching off the computer and helping yourself to a large medicinal glass of wine.

Now that's a good idea. Modern yet traditional, practical yet somehow idealistic.

And a much better way of spending an evening.

oh god - you're on about that. you're a wise man, robin - look upon it as a learning experience.

Thanks all.

Zed: I will.

It's only typing.