ted said:

I'm very happy that people have read the book. I do not defend any parts of the book, or even the whole book in any way. Criticisms of the book are wonderful! That's what free expression is all about. I love it! I really like that people care enough to engage. That's awesome! And I love that people are both living their lives, and attempting to inspire others to live lives with meaning.

YOU weasel. I'm gonna "engage" ya in a dialog sure enough, while holding onto your hair. And I ain't gonna come all the way to Chicago to garden with a coupla nitwits.

Live Somewhere.

What an amazing opening. Very inspiring to me. How many of us can say that we've had the experience of really living somewhere? This book has inspired me to make my next move my last. More important than the place I move to is my attitude of permanence when I get there. This whole "community" thing is a long-term project.

I can honestly say that I "Live Somewhere." Not only do I put down roots, but I contribute to the best of my ability.

I believe that most people do the best they can wherever they are. THEY just don't know what to do. WE need to focus OUR energies on making living well rich and easy for them. Make lives available to THEM that are worth living.

I recently read Robert Heinlein's book The Cat That Walked Through Walls or something like that. The main character advocates quick executions for rudeness. While I 100% endorse RicHie's call to end the violence, and I don't at all agree with capital punishment for drunkenness or rudeness, I do find both instances of this literary device to be appropriate and thought-provoking. I very much respect those of you that disagree. I'd love it if you would show up in Pete's neighborhood and engage him in dialog while working side by side in the community garden (I ran into him there yesterday) or by the river bank.

When I used to drive in New York, I developed the Coup de Grace squads to deal with non-driving human beings.

Any time some rare idiot cut US off in traffic, which occasionally happens in New York, members of the Coup de Grace squad were allowed by special permits to produce a Coup de Grace card and hand it to the other driver.

Upon receipt of this card the offending driver would exit the vehicle and kneel down. At which point, the member of the Coup de Grace squad went mercifully deliver a bullet to the brain. WE used to joke about this at parties and about how it worked to strengthen community, what with ALL them bodies to be carted off.

I ain't no saint.

I love Heinlein and I understand Pete's "literary device" in its context. I don't support the death penalty under any circumstances. I no longer get to make those kind of decisions for others.

MY only JOB here and in meatspace is to make sure that violence is addressed in ALL of its currently acceptable forms, so that WE all might work on different alternatives.

Does your response signal that it is okay to have that dialog here?