cyberman is wolf weiss

cyberman is joseph bellow

in response to george's post and question:

i too am frustrated at the level of discourse exhibited by most of the regular users of this site. i would wish that a more mature and measured form of communication would evolve here over time. this forum could be such a useful tool for communicating between taxi drivers worldwide about our common concerns and solutions. and also particularly to our chicago taxi driver communities. i am rather sorry it has devolved into what it is now.

i don't know how long this forum has been up and running, but i generally avoid reading it because of the immature, juvenile nature of several of the regular posters who use it. i won't name names either, but people seem to want to use this site (and the freedom of not being physically present with other human beings) to name-call, disparage, question each other's motives, define others' political stances without any evidence or research, and generally mistreat each other in what i consider shameful, impractical, unstrategic, and pointless diatribes.

i am mystified at these practices by ostensibly grown, mature human beings. i know some would consider this to be the nature of what the internet has become and we should just learn to live with it, but i disagree. i putting out the call to human beings of all stripes to raise the level of discourse to one of being respectful, informative, progressive, and/or to the point. and try to choose valid points that affect our situation concerning worker's, immigrant's and human rights here in chicago. please try to avoid sarcasm, name-calling, button-pushing and all those character traits that are expressions of the worst aspects of human nature.

i would expect that kind of behavior from high school children, but not from grown men like us cabdrivers here in chicago who are faced with some very serious issues.

one of the reasons i believe this kind of alienating and alienated miscommunicating has evolved on the internet is because human beings are not physically present when they are acting and reacting to each other's rudeness or disparaging comments. human communication evolved in real space and time, which is an aspect of it which also reinforces our humanity and demands at least a minimal amount of mutual respect which results in more formal and careful use of speech. i believe it is in all our interests to attempt to resist our worst impulses and try to attain more respectful and useful dialogue about current issues.

i am not saying this as a 'can't we all just get along' kind of speech. i also believe there are serious, deep and profound political and strategic differences between and among many of the parties and forces that posters here represent. but let's be upfront and clear about these differences instead of simple name-calling or disparagement. we would all be better human beings, and also be better situated to win people to our sides if we exhibited more grace and maturity. let's encourage this forum to be a site for posting information which can be crucial to our struggles, and to become a 'marketplace of ideas', where the ideas themselves battle it out, and not the people. principles before personalities, please.

in thanks to george lutfallah for thinking of and for providing this site for us to use. i would kindly ask that you give this site some more time to become more useful to us organizers. i have actually found several useful posts as of late, and hope to encourage more strategic use of this forum in the future.

sincerely, peter ali enger

Looks like ali got the runs again.

Mike is the master baiter, too.

sir,

if you don't have anything useful to say, i wonder why you bother responding to my post? i am looking for serious dialogue here. when you clutter up the response lines with the kinds of things you do, it dissuades anyone else from even wanting to join in the communicating. i couldn't possibly be the only one who decides they would rather not bother in joining in for the exact reasons i name. you have plenty of other people to tease, provoke and bait that will join in with you if that is what you prefer. could you please refrain from this behavior as is concerns me?. i certainly would appreciate it.

peter ali x

Dear Mr. Enger:

I respond to your post because the purpose of posting something here is to get a response, i.e., establish a discussion.

Do you wonder why I bother responding to your post when you deem whatever it is I might have written as useful?

Think of me as a mirror. I reflect back whatever comes before me. Unfortunately the things that come before this mirror aren’t always pretty.

Think of my comments and critiques as a School of Hard knocks for would-be bloggers and internet commentators.

Did I say something bad about you? The bowel movement imagery I used in my response to you was to allude to your wordy self-indulgent treatise. So much verbiage one can’t see the forest for the trees.

It's a form of critique, just like when you say " hen you clutter up the response lines with the kinds of things you do, it dissuades anyone else from even wanting to join in the communicating."

Of course, this is only your projected sentiment on others. “Clutter” is your problem? But really, describing my posts as "clutter" is just a way diminishing or belittling my statements or comments.

" couldn't possibly be the only one who decides they would rather not bother in oining in for the exact reasons name."

You should do a survey to support that theory. Did you read the post about discussion forums like this by Cyberman?

Don’t blame a writer when you sense that your personal set of values about “how-things-should be” are violated. If this were Enger’s planet, then OK. But it’s not.

Obviously the things you and others are complaining about have been around since as long as discussion forums have been up and running.

The Point, Mr. Enger: You can't have serious discussions if you take everything (including yourself) as seriously as you seem to do.

Lighten up, brother Enger. You’ll live longer and you’ll be happier.

The Wolf

mr. w and others,

i stand by my statements. since you responded as you did, you must have seen yourself in my criticisms, which did not name you or anyone. you are still wasting my time. to think of it: a grown man talking about "bowel movement" imagery. it is hard to take you seriously. you are not the teacher of the 'school of hard knocks'. i did not sign up to be in your class. as i said before, i am looking for people who want to have serious communications. there is not one thing you've written that i've seen in the last 2 or 3 months which a grown man could take seriously. again: please refrain from responding to my posts if you can't resist your juvenile impulses. yes, if you own it and claim it, then it is yours. your posts are 'clutter', they serve no useful purpose besides provoking people to respond in kind in the same kind of schoolyard taunting. that is not informative or useful to what we need here. i refuse to rise to your bait.

i ask you again to please resist responding to my posts. i wish no dialogue with you.

Enger: "I stand by my statements"

I know you do. You have nothing else to stand by. Better take a seat. You are standing in a muddy puddle of misinformation, incorrect conclusions, baseless opinions, thug mentality, false accusations, misdirected venom, twisted facts, and tortured truth. It is an absolute shame, sham and scam.

Enger: "Since you responded as you did, you must have seen yourself in my criticisms, which did not name you or anyone.”

Wrong. What I saw was the usual inaccurate, untrue, false conclusions, judgmental, better-than-thou attitude that

Enger: "You are still wasting my time."

No one forced you to post. The only person that is wasting your time is you. Don't blame me for your lack of self-control.

Enger: "To think of it: a grown man talking about "bowel movement" imagery."

There's that belittling language again.

Enger: "It is hard to take you seriously"

No one is forcing you to do so or asking you to do so.

Enger: "You are not the teacher of the 'school of hard knocks'. I did not sign up to be in your class."

You can't deny what already is happened. That is the new president's job.

Enger: "As I said before, I am looking for people who want to have serious communications. There is not one thing you've written that I’ve seen in the last 2 or 3 months which a grown man could take seriously."

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Enger: "Again: please refrain from responding to my posts if you can't resist your juvenile impulses. Yes, if you own it and claim it, then it is yours. Your posts are 'clutter', they serve no useful purpose besides provoking people to respond in kind in the same kind of schoolyard taunting. That is not informative or useful to what we need here. I refuse to rise to your bait."

I learned from others who use this site.

Enger: "I ask you again to please resist responding to my posts. I wish no dialogue with you."

When an irresistible urge meets an immovable object, something has got to give.

Five lessons to make you think about the way we treat people.



1 - First Important Lesson - Cleaning Lady.

During my second month of college, our professor
gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student
and had breezed through the questions until I read
the last one:

'What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?'

Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the
cleaning woman several times. She was tall,
dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name?

I handed in my paper, leaving the last question
blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if
the last question would count toward our quiz grade.

'Absolutely,' said the professor. 'In your careers,
you will meet many people. All are significant. They
deserve your attention and care, even if all you do
is smile and say 'hello.'

I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her
name was Dorothy.

2. - Second Important Lesson - Pickup in the Rain

One night, at 11:30 p.m., an older African American
woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway
trying to endure a lashing rainstorm. Her car had
broken down and she desperately needed a ride.
Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car.
A young white man stopped to help her, generally
unheard of in those conflict-filled 60s.. The man
took her to safety, helped her get assistance and
put her into a taxicab.

She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his
address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a
knock came on the man's door. To his surprise, a
giant console color TV was delivered to his home. A
special note was attached..

It read:
'Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway
the other night. The rain drenched not only my
clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along.
Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying
husband's bedside just before he passed away... God
bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving
others.'

Sincerely, Mrs. Nat King Cole.

3 - Third Important Lesson - Always remember those who serve.

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less,
a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and
sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him.

'How much is an ice cream sundae?' he asked.

'Fifty cents,' replied the waitress.

The little boy pulled is hand out of his pocket and
studied the coins in it.

'Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?' he inquired.

By now more people were waiting for a table and the
waitress was growing impatient.

'Thirty-five cents,' she brusquely replied.

The little boy again counted his coins.

'I'll have the plain ice cream,' he said.

The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on
the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice
cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress
came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the
table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish,
were two nickels and five pennies..

You see, he couldn't have the sundae, because he had
to have enough left to leave her a tip.

4 - Fourth Important Lesson. - The obstacle in Our Path.

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a
roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if
anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the
king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by
and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the
King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did
anything about getting the stone out of the way.

Then a peasant came along carrying a load of
vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the
peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the
stone to the side of the road. After much pushing
and straining, he finally succeeded. After the
peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed
a purse lying in the road where the boulder had
been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note
from the King indicating that the gold was for the
person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The
peasant learned what many of us never understand!

Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.

5 - Fifth Important Lesson - Giving When it Counts...

Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a
hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who
was suffering from a rare & serious disease. Her only
chance of recovery appeared to be a blood
transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had
miraculously survived the same disease and had
developed the antibodies needed to combat the
illness.. The doctor explained the situation to her
little brother, and asked the little boy if he would
be willing to give his blood to his sister.

I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a
deep breath and saying, 'Yes I'll do it if it will
save her.' As the transfusion progressed, he lay in
bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did,
seeing the color returning to her cheek. Then his
face grew pale and his smile faded.

He looked up at the doctor and asked with a
trembling voice, 'Will I start to die right away'.

Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the
doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his
sister all of his blood in order to save her.


Now you have 2 choices.

1. Delete this email, or
2. Forward it to people you care about.
I hope that you will choose No. 2

'Work like you don't need the money, love like you've never been hurt, and dance like you do when nobody's watching.'

Thank you all for your suggestions, encouragements and kind words.

I am looking into making some modifications to the discussion forum, which will require people to register their email addresses. I know it won't totally preserve the integrity of the site but it might help a little.

I'm committed to keep this site operating and the discussion forum will remain free to register, read and post.

Thanks again,
George Lutfallah
Chicago Dispatcher

hi, george!

I'm john barry...

mr. lutfallah,

the post just previous to this one was not made by me. obviously the nature of this site lends itself to people being able to post as anyone they want, including other posters to this site. this is a problem, as now we can never know if a post actually comes from who it says it does. do you have any way of controlling this? or monitoring it?

i would appreciate if you would delete the post saying it is from me that says hi george! i'm john barry

thank you

jb

i am goerge bellow.