Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Die Frau Im Lederhosen

Dear Frau Merkel,

Please stop the hysterics (*) about Greece.  You have nothing to prove, we know who wears the lederhosen in Europe.

Sincerely,
The Rest of Europe
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(*) From Wikipedia, emphasis mine:  Female hysteria was widely discussed in the medical literature of the Victorian Era.  Women considered to be suffering from it exhibited a wide array of symptoms including faintness, nervousness, insomnia, fluid retention, heaviness in abdomen, muscle spasm, shortness of breath, irritability, loss of appetite for food or sex, and "a tendency to cause trouble"

22 comments:

  1. So here is my thought question, if the US were to default or the Euro were to break apart, where could one hide out from the ensuing financial chaos?

    How does a mere human avoid getting crushed when Titans Clash?

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  2. Shucks, Thai.
    I thought you were going to give us a nice Wikipedia link to the ORIGINAL Titans, the way other people around here do things...
    Frau Merkel hysterical ?
    Actually, as I remember it the ancient Greeks were already talking about hysteria, and attributing it to a form of wandering uterus.
    Last time I checked... MINE was firmly in place.
    But then, since I can't see it anyway, I have to take it on faith...;-)
    The oldest ploy in the book.
    When a lady says something you don't like, you attribute it to her hormones.
    My Daddy did that too...

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  3. Duuuude: Seriously uncool. What the Hell?

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  4. Not that I'm all that keen on defending Angela, on second thought...

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  5. It's not because she's a woman that she's hysterical, it's because she's German. Just Joking.

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  6. Oh, by the way, Thai, perhaps you would do me the honor of visiting disasterporn to discuss Obamacare.

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  7. Females had an incentive to have hysteria. There weren't always feminism and discrete websites so ladies had to seek "treatment" for their "hysteria".

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  8. Thai, when you have the time I would really appreciate your insights into just WHY the healthcare issue in the U.S. seems to be one of those things that involves the identity of the Republic ?
    That's the way it looks over here, at any rate.
    What a circus...

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  9. Dink, that Wiki article is a pretty good reason why I will not consult Wiki for just about everything...
    When is Wiki going to put up how to steps to construct a cathedral, by the way ?
    Just wondering...

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  10. If I may, on "why healthcare involves the identity of the Res Publica"..

    If we are to say that we have constructed a cohesive society (socialism!!!, bring out the wooden stake and the garlic) we must agree on a minimum level of services that are available to all, paid for by all.

    Education and public health are #1 and #1, respectively, in my opinion. No, it's not a typo.

    Best,
    H.

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  11. about beeing way uncool..

    Yep, that's right. I maintain the inalienable right to deviate from the edicts of The Tribe on occasion, or even frequently.

    Besides, a cigar is sometimes a cigar.

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  12. Dude,

    Seriously cool.

    Political correctness is just an horrible way to attack freedom of expression.

    Please do exercise your 1st amendment rights! It is like using a muscle: if you don't do it often, it fades away in power.

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  13. "If we are to say that we have constructed a cohesive society (socialism!!!, bring out the wooden stake and the garlic) we must agree on a minimum level of services that are available to all, paid for by all."

    Interesting.

    Cohesive society as metaphysical goal.

    Here are some thoughts on motivation.

    The only reason that a sigfnicant number of intelligent and driven people enter medicine is due to the status/wealth involved. For example, I seriously doubt that many of the people who went into medicine would go into medicine were it not for the promise of significant financial and status rewards.

    Intelligent/driven people tend to avoid education because it is a relatively low status occupation and you do not get paid enough. Teachers seem to be (relative) underachievers looking for job security.

    Speaking for myself, the only reason that I went into chemical engineering in the first place was because 1) my education was free (I actually made a profit the first year), and 2) it was a potential high paying major and invoved chemistry. I had no underlying interest in the subject matter nor did I know what chemical engineers, or engineers in general, did at the time. I simply needed to choose something and I went with whatever paid the most and was in line with the scholarships that I had obtained.

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  14. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  15. But I will agree with you the following way JP...

    We physicians have developed a whole jar of everlasting gobstoppers to ensure more needy individuals get a hall pass to skip first period. Of course, it is necessary to pay the prescribers of these hall passes on top of paying the bearer of the pass.

    ... And I appreciate your working a bit longer to pay for both these passes and my writing services. It is nice to know there are people like you who don't mind making yourself a bit more useful to the collective.

    And BTW, you don't mind if it is my value system that speaks for the collective either, do you? ;-)

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  16. Gee, JP, I wonder HOW OLD you are...
    I could say lots of stuff about what you just wrote, but I don't think you would particularly enjoy it.
    I think I'll save it for a post on the saloon...
    One question for y'all to think about..
    Socialism= a cohesive society ???
    Can you have... socialism without a cohesive society ?
    Can you have a cohesive society WITHOUT socialism.
    Just WHAT does "socialism" mean, by the way ?
    Bring on the dictionary for a starting place.
    (Not Wiki, for Chrissakes. Gimme a break...)

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  17. Thai,

    If you prefer to call it Vikingism, I am OK with that. The same word (socialism) has completely different meanings. In the US it is mainly use to provoke a negative emotional response and it is clearly devoid of any meaning. For instance some tea party members want to avoid Medicare to be destroyed by Socialism. How dissonant can this sound?

    Another interesting example of this is liberalism, which in many countries in Europe means more or less... Conservativism in the US.

    I am really not into discussing words (feel free to use whatever words you prefer). Though I would strongly recommend attaching strong feelings to words... that has a tendency to lower the rationality of the discussion.

    If you are suggesting (cannot understand if you are...) that Scandinavian societies are similar to Venezuela/Cuba, then I really do not know where to start... though I would suggest that you might be slightly dis-aligned with reality.

    A more interesting point that you raise, in my opinion, has to do with the influence of local culture/upbringing in individual behaviour (that you infer from my words - and I think you are correct in doing so). Arguments like mine, which are "socialy constructed" might have politically incorrect consequences. But surely _not_ on a racial basis,

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  18. Sorry, correction:

    "I would strongly recommend AGAINST attaching strong feelings to words"

    The "AGAINST" is missing.

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  19. I am just having fun with you to make a point, which Hell started. ;-)

    Be well my friend

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  20. Thai,

    Just to be clear. I do thoroughly enjoy these exchanges with you.

    I know that over the Internet these things might be difficult to transmit. But, for my part, I am one of those who appreciates a spirited discussion.

    Much better than discussing with a similar band of sheep where all think alike,

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  21. Re: Scandinavian societies are (NOT) similar to Venezuela/Cuba

    That was my point.

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  22. LOL, Tiago, if I may...
    maybe that was a Freudian slip ?
    Why SHOULDN'T strong emotions be attached to discourse ?
    It is a major challenge for us all to be able to get excited about stuff without pulling out machine guns.
    But... just how much are we at risk, Tiago ?
    Maybe... just maybe... that's why the Internet was invented. At least one of the reasons..
    Can we get all excited AND STILL manage to keep our heads, and not turn into ectoplasms ?
    Why not ?

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