Linda Ronstadt Tossed From Las Vegas Casino
 

Let's see if positioning herself as a liberal pays off for her career.


LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Singer Linda Ronstadt was thrown out of the Aladdin casino in Las Vegas on the weekend after dedicating a song to liberal film maker Michael Moore and his movie "Fahrenheit 9/11," a casino spokeswoman said on Monday.
Ronstadt, who had been hired for a one-show engagement Saturday night at the Las Vegas Strip casino, dedicated a performance of "Desperado" to Moore and his controversial documentary, which criticizes President Bush and the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

That dedication angered some Aladdin guests who spilled drinks, tore down posters and demanded their money back, said casino spokeswoman Sara Gorgon.



http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...toryID=5710258

Only in America.

I always liked "Youre No Good".

lol..she could of dedicated that to gwb and got the same reaction..:)

don't you draw the queen of diamonds boy, she'll eat you if she's able.

Political Praise Polarizes Linda Ronstadt's Fans At Humphrey's
George Varga

Linda Ronstadt, a late-blooming rabble-rouser? The woman with one of the most glorious voices in pop music and several decades' worth of hits, a political agitator at 58?

This 10-time Grammy Award-winner didn't burn a flag or shout out a raging manifesto of sedition during her Sunday night concert at Humphrey's Concerts by the Bay. But by dedicating her encore to someone she hailed as "a great American patriot and certainly the man of the hour" – "Fahrenheit 9/11" filmmaker Michael Moore – the Tucson-born singer ignited a fiery response.

Like a musical Moses staging a song-fueled parting of the Red Sea, the veteran star instantly split her sold-out audience of 1,360 in two.

Half the crowd heartily applauded her praise for Moore, the other half booed. In an instant, the intimate outdoor venue on Shelter Island filled with a roar of cheers and jeers that grew to a near-fever pitch.

As Ronstadt started to perform her encore, an impassioned version of the Eagles' "Desperado," dozens of concertgoers angrily streamed toward the exits, while others gave her an ovation.

It was a remarkable display of how a spoken introduction to a song, not the comparatively innocuous tune itself, could arouse the same crowd that had warmly greeted each of her 17 previous selections. In this pivotal election year, it was also a demonstration of just how polarized our nation and its people have become.

According to Ronstadt, audiences at each stop on her ongoing summer tour have reacted to her Moore dedication with a similarly intense mix of emotions.

"I don't try to instruct people how to vote or think," she told the Union-Tribune in a recent interview. "But Michael Moore has raised some really important points (about President Bush and the war in Iraq) that a lot of people haven't given thought to . . . So if I can just lend my voice to his efforts . . . "

Ronstadt had only commented on current events once earlier in her 71-minute Sunday night concert.

She dedicated her soaring version of the Nat "King" Cole classic "Straighten up and Fly Right" to "the good folks at Enron, who brought you the California energy crisis." She also dedicated the song to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, whom she chided for his recent claim that Democrats in Sacramento opposing his proposed budget cuts are "girlie men."

"Now I'm wondering," Ronstadt mused, "what if you're a female legislator? Does that make you a 'manly girl?' Or a 'manly woman?' "

The rest of her stage patter focused almost entirely on her repertoire, which offered a fetching mini-retrospective of her 38-year career.

She began with eight big band-era ballads and swing tunes, including the show-opening "What's New?" and the sumptuous "Lush Life," from her three mid-1980s albums with legendary arranger Nelson Riddle.

Improvisation, the essence of jazz, was missing from her note-perfect interpretations. But Ronstadt's luminous voice and expert phrasing generally compensated for her lack of spontaneity.

The rest of her set revisited her pop hits, beginning with "Just One Look" and concluding with "Poor Poor Pitiful Me."

Ronstadt performed each song with a winning combination of soul and finesse, rising from a whisper to a full-bodied vocal swoop and back again. She benefited from the expert backing of her six-man band, three harmony singers, and – on many selections – the crisply amplified Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

But the most memorable moment came with her brave dedication to Moore. (Her on-stage salute to him Saturday night at the Aladdin hotel-casino in Las Vegas created so much controversy that hotel management barred her from her suite and had her escorted off the property after the show.)

Those who complain that Ronstadt should just sing, rather than express her opinions, forget that all art has a responsibility to inspire and provoke, not just soothe and entertain.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/f...c20linda.html#

Elton John Claims Anti-War Music Has Been Silenced

Elton John tells Interview magazine that the U.S. government is using "bullying tactics" to prevent anti-war music from being heard, and that performers are so scared that they are just letting it happen. "There's an atmosphere of fear in America right now and that is deadly," John explained, according to the New York Daily News, noting, "Everyone is too career-conscious. They're all too scared... things have changed."

The British pianist pointed out that supporters of the war in Iraq--such as country star Toby Keith--are given free reign, while the Dixie Chicks faced a huge backlash after singer Natalie Maines made an anti-Bush comment to a London audience last year. "They were treated like they were being un-American, when in fact they have every right to say whatever they want about him because he's freely elected, and therefore accountable," John said. He added that in the 1960s, artists took pride in using their freedom of expression. "People like Bob Dylan, Nina Simone, the Beatles and Pete Seeger were constantly writing and talking about what was going on. That's not happening now."

John just wrapped up his five-night stand at Radio City Music Hall in New York City last night (Sunday, July 18).

The 57-year-old pianist and his band performed with a full symphony orchestra and choir made up of students from both the Juilliard School in New York City and the Royal Academy Of Music in London.
http://launch.yahoo.com/read/news.asp?contentID=219012

God Bless The U.S.A.
 

In the words of Jim Royle.
Free speech.
My Arse.
For those of you who don't know Jim.
He's one of Royle family.

Don't blame the U.S. Government, it's the American people that drive music sales. People don't like to have their opinions contradicted by celebrities and they vote with their wallets. Elton John is basically complaining that doing what he thinks is right is unprofitable; once again the music business is demanding that the government protect their revenue stream.

It's a bit late in the game to be demanding a refund after the show is over.

All that over dedicating a song to Moore?

Holy bananas batman!

It's an avalanche of idiots!!!
Run!!!

Where's the freedom to not hear things. If some Nazi of KKK-er started ranting on stage you'd be hearing a whole different tune from the liberal whiners.

She could put a warning in her advertisments, but then she could kiss a whole lot of money goodbye; same as the other "censored" artists. They're not censored at all, they just lose a lot of money when they shoot their mouths off so they have to choose; and of course they choose money but bitch about censorship. Two faced greedy asswipes.

Stop going out :dunno:

That's not freedom.

That should read "Certain people don't like..."

Civilized human beings are conscious enough to remain calm in the face of a minor inconvenience.

OTOH there is another bunch who fits this profile: You know, the violently intolerant, unprincipled and uncivilized thug throwing a little temper tantrum cause eveything isn't just so. Behavior more commonly seen in the animal kingdom.

I'd like to see the demographic of the rioters. I bet that'd be a real laugher. All good church-going republicans fresh and funky from a night of trannie-hopping and dominatrix ass whipping. All fired up on demon rum to complete the transformation to wild-eyed sub-human Berserker.

Behold! The Chosen Ones of GOD!

:f: :f: :f:

We're gonna have to shoot those mutherfuckers before it's all over just to save ourselves and our country from this tidal wave of barbarism. :tu:

I got dibs... :ND:

Thats funny. :tu:

This was Las Vegas after all, I'm surprised the city wasn't consumed in flame and brimstone. ;) The point is that about half the audience left, and though that may not be an accurate sample of Americans it does suggest that neither side has a majority of opinion. I understand that Michael Moore's adjenda is aimed at the President but he and his supporters are cutting America neatly into two halves and turning them against each other. Playing watch dog to the administration is a good thing, but rabble rousing is not.

How much truth is in this report?
The flashy headlines read in big bold letters, Singer Booted From Vegas Casino.

In much smaller letters the story says she was "escorted" out of the building after some of the crowd became violent and were breaking stuff.

Were any of the rowdy patrons arrested?

Did anyone receive a refund?

While this story is taking up headline space, the real stories, the ones that do have a direct bearing on most people's lives in some way or another are not getting any airtime.

Why?

This article even includes a review of the show. :)


Aladdin expels Ronstadt after political remarks
By Jerry Fink
LAS VEGAS SUN

Aladdin President Bill Timmins ordered security guards to escort pop diva Linda Ronstadt off the property following a concert Saturday night during which she expressed support for controversial documentary filmmaker Michael Moore.

Timmins, who was among the almost 5,000 fans in the audience at the Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts, had Ronstadt escorted to her tour bus and her belongings from her hotel room sent to her. Timmins also sent word to Ronstadt that she was no longer welcome at the property for future performances, according Aladdin spokeswoman Tyri Squyres.

How much weight that carries is debatable, since the bankrupt Aladdin is in the process of being sold to a group headed by Planet Hollywood International Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Robert Earl.

Near the close of her performance, Ronstadt dedicated the Eagles hit "Desperado" to Moore, producer of "Fahrenheit 9/11," and the room erupted into equal parts boos and cheers.

She said Moore "is someone who cares about this country deeply and is trying to help."

Ronstadt has been making the dedication at each of her engagements since she began a national tour earlier this summer, but it has never sparked such a reaction.

Hundreds of angry fans streamed from the theater as Ronstadt sang. Some of them reportedly defaced posters of her in the lobby, writing comments and tossing drinks on her pictures.

Timmins told Las Vegas Sun gossip columnist Timothy McDarrah: "We live in a city where people come from all over the world to be entertained. We hired Ms. Ronstadt as an entertainer, not as a political activist.

"Whether you are politically on the left or on the right is not the point. She went up in front of the stage and just let it out. This was not the correct forum for that."

Timmins said she was wrong to bring her politics to the stage.

"Our first and only priority is the enjoyment of our customers," he said. "I made the decision to ask Miss Ronstadt to leave the hotel. A situation like that can easily turn ugly and I didn't want anything more to come out of it. There were a lot of angry people there after she started talking.

"If she wants to talk about her views to a newspaper or in a magazine article, she is free to do so. But in a stage in front of four and a half thousand people is not the place for it."

Squyres said half the audience walked out, an estimate that might have been high. But the number was substantial, nevertheless.

"The hotel's policy is that we hired her to entertain guests, not to express her political views," Squyres said.

According to Squyres, the 58-year-old singer did not create a scene as she was escorted out of the hotel and to her tour bus.

"She wasn't happy, but she was cooperative," Squyres said.

Attempts to reach Ronstadt and her manager were unsuccessful Sunday and this morning.

Squyres said a number of ticket holders had asked for their money back after an article appeared in a local newspaper last week quoting her making disparaging remarks about Las Vegas.

"She said Vegas isn't the best place to perform anyway," Squyres said.

Other fans asked for their money back shortly after the Saturday night show got underway, when Ronstadt informed the audience that ads publicizing the concert were incorrect. The advertisements called it her "Greatest Hits Tour."

Ronstadt started the evening with her 1983 hit "What's New?" and then set her fans straight about what they might expect during the concert.

"In case you are wondering what I'm going to do," she said, "Driving into town I saw this big billboard up there with my picture on it saying 'The Greatest Hits Tour.'

"That was news to us. We didn't know it was 'The Greatest Hits Tour.' "

Squyres said Ronstadt was wrong.

"Her management gave us the information and approved the ad," she said.

According to Squyres, Ronstadt lopped off about 20 minutes from the show, walking away from an encore portion of the concert, which I attended as the reviewer for the Sun.

The incident capped a generally lackluster, unenthusiastic performance by one of the top singers of the '70s and '80s.

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra opened the concert. The highlight of the 30-minute segment was a rendition of George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue," featuring pianist Terrance Wilson.

Ronstadt began with several songs from the 1920s, '30s and '40s she and arranger Nelson Riddle recorded, among them "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered," "Someone to Watch Over Me" and "Straighten Up and Fly Right."

She performed Cole Porter's "Get Out of Town," Frank Loesser's "Never Will I Marry" and jazz great Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life."

And then she gave fans some of what they came for, several of her hits from the '70s and '80s, including "Just One Look" (1979), "Ooh Baby, Baby" (1978) and "Somewhere Out There" (1987).

Although she still has that powerful, distinctive voice, Ronstadt was merely going through the motions.

The only song she had trouble with was "Blue Bayou." She stumbled over the lyrics, seemed to gasp for breath at one point and ended the song in Spanish, screaming the words rather than singing them.

Her performance was uninspired and generally flat. She lacked stage presence, doing little more than sleepwalk from song to song.

The fiasco at the end was the most exciting part of the show.

daddydirt hit a funny one. napho...are you a computer? ...sometimes I'm emarrassed to be American ...do we look bad? Don't answer that ...it's getting worse everyday. ;(

Point well taken. Personally I consider Las Vegas a sad commentary on American life. I'm no prude mind you but preying on the desperation and emptiness of people who are deluded enough to think they are going to "hit it big" is just one notch above vampirism. I also find prostitution very, very sad.

Looking at napho's post I think it was probably less than half of the audience that left. A lot of these groups come from tour busses who cater to a certain group of people. It may have been one of the bus loads that went apeshit. So you really can't say it was a representative slice of the audience.

I don't want to bust your balls man but there's one thing different about left and right wing people. Left wingers tend to protest by not voting and withdrawing from other participation and right wingers tend to protest by turning out in droves, all fired up and ready to lash out at anybody they perceive disagreeing with them. If you took a scientific poll of the whole of the eligible voters in America you would see that the electorate leans decidedly to the left about 60/40%.
Lefties just don't get off their ass and vote (or are prevented from doing so by various chicaneries of the right) because they overestimate the hopelessness of the system.

As far as that casinò is concerned having Arnold on the new board of directors sure won't make things any better for free speech.

Place your bets for an 'emotional damage' lawsuit...

I wonder whether if she hadn't mentioned Moore, merely sticking to the shitfest that was (and still is) Enron, Timmins would have still berated her for expressing political views on stage?

soon enough people will be jailed for expressing their political views, as its un patriotic

if it means expressing it by beating each other to a bloody pulp i think they always have been..:D

it seems weird and hard to understand what a patriot is..defending your side of politics isnt patriotisim..but i am pretty sure some people think it is..

You and I, travel to the beat of a different drum
Oh can't you tell by the way I run
Evertime you make eyes at me
You cry and moan and say it will work out
But honey child I've got my doubts
You can't see the forest for the trees

Oh don't get me wrong
It's not that I knock it
It's just that I'm not in the market
For a boy who wants to love only me
Yes and I ain't saying you ain't pretty
All I'm sayin's that I'm not ready
For any person, place or thing
To try and pull the reins in on me

So goodbye, I'll be leavin' I see no sense
In this crying and grieving
We'll both live a lot longer, if you live without me

:D

That's my que...
 

It's pretty hard not to react defensively against people who want to ram their worldview down our throats against vast public outcry and science and common human decency. These neo-Dark Ageists want to install Fundamentalist Christianity as the state government, make women and minorities chattel, and wage total war against the whole world if they don't hand over the loot and bow down before the supposed Lost 10 Tribes of Israel. It is utterly outrageous and unacceptable and yet they are as vehement and maniacal as any Talibaner about it.

Look at what one historian says:

'Whatever its motivation, the Republicans' partisan assault on democracy displays a will to power unlike any seen in our country since the fire-eater secessionist movement of the 1850s that led to the creation of the southern Confederacy... The current Republican Party has no need for secessionism (although its pandering to racist Confederate sensibilities in the South has long been one of its key political weapons). What it shares with the fire-eaters is an implacable will to dominate and a combination of cynicism and contempt for our democratic constitutional procedures. This is not hard-knuckled politics as usual. It is radical and abnormal. It has already degraded American democracy. And it portends a crisis in our politics as great as any since the era of Reconstruction."
Sean Wilentz, the Dayton-Stockton Professor of History at Princeton

If this Heathcliff winds up in one of their gulags it won't be for lacking trying to do something about it ahead of time. :MAD:

This is a funny coincidence, I've felt the same way about Democrats for many years. I guess this makes it my word against his then, and whose to judge which of us is right?

Listen, as long as we keep throwing these kinds of attacks at one another we're not going to get anywhere. I'm perfectly willing to conceed that Republicans are every bit as dumb as Democrats, and perfectly willing to believe that Democrats are as high minded and patriotic as Republicans. But when I read the rediculous accusation that any American wants to "install Fundamentalist Christianity as the state government, make women and minorities chattel, and wage total war against the whole world" I begin to wonder if you really want things to work out for everybody. No American wants those things to happen, period, and your continued railing against a significant number of people (as many as half of all Americans and possibly more) is not only tiresome and tactless, it's getting to be quite offensive. I mean, what are you going to accomplish by making everybody feel stupid?

He's a troll dumbass. You already pointed it out yourself. Why are you still entertaining him? Are you that desperate for someone to talk to?

only troll like behavior i can see is your pathetic one line attempt of to kill the conversation...

heathcliff is entertaing us as far as i can see

its easy to see the current US administration has helped ruin what was once considered one of the best political systems in the world..
the idea that a civil war could go down in the US in this century is pretty frightning
(anyone remember that guy from who was ment to be from the future?)

"its easy to see the current US administration has helped ruin what was once considered one of the best political systems in the world.."

Must be easy for you because you want to, the people living here and not doing drugs haven't seen anything change: same two major parties standing on the same platforms pushing the same agendas.


But I'm sure from 5,000 miles away in a mentally disoriented state you can see a lot better than me.

do tell..
you know nothing of my mental state..

from what i can tell it appears a lot more balanced than your pathetic attempts at being ASSertive
keep your fucking comments to topic and off the individual..
this place is way past this..
just fits you out as a moron dude,get over people and get to the subject..

I already posted the subject, did you forget already?

"its easy to see the current US administration has helped ruin what was once considered one of the best political systems in the world.."

Do you think just because you say it's so it really is? You're a little too full of yourself. The political system under this administration is the same as under the last one, no matter what the great all knowing multi says.





from 5,000 miles away in a mentally disoriented state.

i said helped..meaning I am under the impression they are not totaly at blame.... and i do think the US is not regarded as the stable system it was 25 years ago..in eyes of the rest of the world..

Ahhh...morphing from "best" to "stable" and from "the current admin" to "25 years ago". No pinning you down on an issue eh?

nothing all that disoriented about what i am saying..its quite simple ..but twist it how you will..
"25 years ago" i was refering to-> what was once considered one of the best political systems

...
 

orignally posted by that multi dude.

"it seems weird and hard to understand what a patriot is..defending your side of politics isnt patriotisim..but i am pretty sure some people think it is.."

...cool!

It's still an experement, Multi. Two and a quarter centuries may seem like a long time in human terms but it's a short sprint for a world that has seen thousands of years of political systems come and go. The curent political situation is just a hiccup. I seriously doubt a civil war is possible now, considering how bloody the last one was. And if it did happen, or if some other disaster occured that caused the collapse of this nation, the system itself would not be forgotten. Democrady, self government, and the original open document we call the Consititution are immortal by now; we're just the present torch bearers, and one day the torch will be passed to someone else but it will not be extinguished.

For the life of me, I can't understand why anybody would get excited about anything a "singer" would say.

Does she have a nice voice or a good brain? Maybe both? (heshe & snicker x 2).

Why anybody would get their opinions from empty-headed entertainers is totally beyond me.

Maybe we should just vote for the perp with the biggest breasts or biggest penis. Some monkeys elect the one with the pinkest asshole as their leader.


Works for me................ seems to work for u too.



Show me the pink

You should study world history a little more closely nicobe. Artists and poets of all kinds have always (rightly or wrongly) been in the vanguard of human motivation.

The thread posted by tank girl about the cave carvings hints at this profound truth.

More damage control.
 

Do you have any scholars to back up your feelings?


It's very telling you took that personally, you were a million miles away in my mind when I wrote it. In fact I was just enjoying your "Geometry" thinking what a cool and talented guy you are. You right-wing tirade shocks and disappoints me. You make a liar out of me to nicobe.

And no, I will not concede the point that Dems are just as dumb as Repubs. The Dems are always painted as the quintessential intellectual elitists and the Repubs. as backward, ignorant hillbillies hellbent for the bad old days. What? You think there isn't any hint of truth in those stereotypes? Get real. Just look at what you are attempting to do to me: stiffening my 1st amendment rights. Who the hell made you a mod around here? Put me on ignore if I offend you so much. I don't see anyone clamoring for you to come to the rescue of the board. Man....

Also, apparently you've never heard of the Identity Movement or British and American Israelism. Look them up and prove it to yourself. While your at it check out what the militia people are saying. Huge resources of the FBI and CIA were devoted to thwarting an impending race war in the late '60's. What do you think Louis Farakan means when he talks about the mothership landing? Hell even the Mormon Church is all stocked up just waiting for the end of the world so they can repopulate the earth. You accuse me of "wish fulfillment" and yet you willfully overlook all these historical facts. You're living in your own private Idaho if you sincerely believe "No American wants those things to happen, period".

He lacks what you have in spades Oh Great Troll Detector: Moral and intellectual certitude.

multi is an exceptionally bright and insightful guy IMHO.

demokratia was an experiment when the greeks first got the notion..
i guess you are quite aware of all that..
i find this interesting..anyway :)
i sometimes wonder how athenian US democracy is...and how much more spartan like it appears to be

[quote=Heathcliff]Do you have any scholars to back up your feelings?



Hell even the Mormon Church is all stocked up just waiting for the end of the world so they can repopulate the earth. [quote]


Now that is really freakie, but it's true.

these simple idiots are told to go knock on doors so as they can pick out the house they want when the world turns to poop. I have even asked some of them if I could pick my own house too.

They get all animated and say sure , just come to church and donate money.


Hahahahahahahahaha

It's all godshit, and don't ever forget it.

[quote=Nicobie][quote=Heathcliff]Do you have any scholars to back up your feelings?



Hell even the Mormon Church is all stocked up just waiting for the end of the world so they can repopulate the earth. I hope and believe there really is such a thing as spiritual enlightenment, and maybe even some form of conscious immortality but it will not be found by wearing Holy Underwear and thinking you're gonna fly away to some planet prepared specially for you and your One and Only True Church or any similar nonsense.

Genocidal maniacs who want to piss away the genetic heritage of the human race, if they succeed, will only win the battle not the war. Nature will crush the survivors like a bug. There really are such people out there, lots of them, who now find science and social progress is putting their backs up against the wall. They are desperate and dangerous and some of them have nuclear weapons. Let's hope reason prevails (put the whole world on prozac and risperdol if necessary) and we get through the next 50-100 years without annihilating ourselves.

We've got to disengage from the bad old ways and search for the better days. THERE'S A GLORIOUS FUTURE JUST DOWN THE ROAD A WAYS. :tu:

Well thank you, I'm always happy to hear it when someone likes my music. :D But the fact is I try to be a better writer than a musician, and I'm motivated by my desire to entertain as well as communicate. If my response came off as a tirade then I'm sorry; I meant for it to sound passionate, but not angry. The fact is that it doesn't matter if that opinion came from a scholarly source or not, it was still offensive.

I'm not telling you to keep your opinions to yourself, I'm not walking over your 1st Amendment rights (but I'm not the government so it's not as if I could anyway). I'm asking for a little common courtesy, a little foresight. It's not your opinions that offend me, I'm not the kind of person to judge one's beliefs; it's the fact that you've closed yourself off to all opposing opinions and you're unwilling to learn from others, or even admit that you have something to learn, that I object to. Just admit that you're not always right about everything and I'll forgive you.

You're getting personal with this anti-Mormon mindset. I know it's easy to pick on us, but wouldn't you rather ask me what I believe rather than spout your ignorance across the board?

Anyway, what I'm trying to get at is that you always seem to expect the worst of conservatives, you're always worried about the worst case scenario, and you're too willing to believe that those who disagree with you are both evil and numerous. It isn't as bad as you think. I can confidently state that the vast majority of Americans are just normal, regular people with their own problems to think about, and all this political stuff does matter to them but not much. So when you try to classify people as either Democrat or Republican you can't win. There are some Democratic issues I agree with, though not many, and there are many Republican issues that I disagree with. I'm like almost every American: my beliefs are clearly defined but they don't clearly fit into a polar political spectum. Therefore I think anyone who completly agrees with either party line is dumb, but smart people are capable of siding with one party or another without compromising too much. Don't be disappointed if I happen to be an adequate musician and a Republican. Knowing that a person can be both intelligent and wrong might rock the foundations of your world view, but you'll recover, I promise; I've come to expect it which is why I'm not as disappointed with you.

OK, Peace Mazer. I didn't want to go after Mormons in particular. If I had known beforehand you were Mormon I would have given it a second thought. And yes I have acquainted myself with your church's belief structure or I wouldn't have spouted my opinion.

Believe it or not, some people, like me who come across as tactless and opinionated actually do have a clue as to what they're talking about.

I caulk this up to my own personal defects in communication style more than anything else. I have nothing but a technical background, I have never had to really deal with the public much so yeah I've got an smart mouth. Just to further amaze you, most people who know me in real life have overlooked this 'cause I'm so perdy.

I fully admit that I can be utterly wrong and self-deluded on a whole host of topics. No problem, I mean it. I'm sorry. And I have toned-down my whole presentation here to accomodate people like you who are at least descent to me. Fair enough?

Now, what were we talking about? :S:

I don't remember, but this is all getting to be very funny. :p Anyway, I was wrong about you, and I'm glad I was; all is forgiven.