national health service celebrates its transgender staff ….. why?
on 05/24/2012 at 12:46 PM
You know what I hate about ‘diversity week’? It’s a week of ‘non-diversity’. It does not include:
Christians
Heterosexuals
Stay-at-home mothers
Gun-owners
The ‘rich’
The ‘poor’, at least the ones who are still too proud to steal from their neighbors
Law-abiding citizens, or legal aliens.
Homeschoolers.I’ve a feeling I could go on. ‘Diversity’ is nothing more than left-wing code for undermining Western Civilization.
You want a man who epitomized true diversity? Try Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton:
Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton KCMG FRGS (19 March 1821 – 20 October 1890) was a British geographer, explorer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, cartographer, ethnologist, spy, linguist, poet, fencer and diplomat. He was known for his travels and explorations within Asia, Africa and the Americas as well as his extraordinary knowledge of languages and cultures. According to one count, he spoke 29 European, Asian and African languages.[1]
That is the first paragraph of his Wikipedia entry. How many people ‘celebrating diversity’ can speak more than one language? Much less Sir Burton’s 29?
Yes, peiper, Sir Richard Burton is one of my heroes. Not to be mistaken for the idiot actor who didn’t know enough to drop that well-developed slut Elizabeth. I’ve few heroes who were actors. But if you’re interested, my actor heroes include:
Marion Mitchell Morrison
John Charles CarterJames Cagney .... My very favorite
James Mason, David Niven, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Nigel Hawthorne and I think my list may be endless. Mustn’t leave out Goldie Hawn who turned out to be one heck of a talented actress and more. Dame Judith Dench,Maggie Smith(awesome) I have to stop here or I’ll go on all night. I have read some negative things about Taylor but have also seen much good written also so I suppose a lot depends on who to believe. Never read the slut thing but then again, I was never a fan of hers. Nothing personal, just didn’t appeal. I never understood the hoopla made about her looks either cos I always thought Ann Margaret better as actress and beauty. One thing I found from working as I did and associating with deeply talented people. They really are a breed apart. They are very different. Even the ones with their head on their shoulders. They are not always easy to live with or be around. Some can drive you nuts but their talent is such that forgiving is kind of easy. Sometimes. Not always.
I admire many for their talent. They may be flawed and perhaps Taylor was too. ?? Don’t know.I could keep going too peiper. I did say my heroes ‘include’, not limited too. But I have a high standard for my ‘heroes’. Not only do they have to do well at their careers, they have to do well in their personal life. Example: John Charles Carter not only had an extremely successful Hollywood career, but he was very successful in his personal life. When he died, he’d been married once to the same woman for over 50 years. That’s someone to look up to. That’s a goal to aspire to. Not always possible, I understand.
As for the ones you mention (and you forgot Sir Alec Guinness), I don’t know. Great actors? Yes? Roll models? Don’t know. Have to examine their private lives.
Who are your heroes? But that brings up another question doesn’t it? How do you define a ‘hero’.
I don’t know how to say this, but I actually feel like the late Skipper is goosing me into posting these questions. I normally avoid stuff like this with humor, sarcasm, or Chess.
Chris, I think the term hero is ill used and as you say, how to define it.
Well, I think of heroes as ppl who do something even tho they are afraid. A soldier in battle who risks his own life to safe his comrades or another soldier. He isn’t a hero necessarily if he feels no fear. Or a person with nothing to lose. He may still be brave, but not a hero. Altho I know we often use the word to describe our favorite ball player or movie star.
YES on Sir Alec. Had I kept going I’m sure I’d have named him. What a huge talent. I greatly admire actors even tho I know many are a bit flaky. Of course, without that bit of odd ball about them, they wouldn’t be the great actors they are.Now then ... you bring up a good point and one that I’m happy I didn’t have to face when I was in nomination for my DJ award. One’s personal life. The two are separate things and shouldn’t be confused or tied together. Being the most moral person on the planet and charitable etc., doe not add to or take away from a person’s talent to do whatever job it is they have. In my case, a couple of years ago I came upon some of the qualifications for the current crop of nominees in my former field. I would never have made it because the rules now are not strict but very PC. Besides that, with the hours I worked, which was morning drive, no way was I gonna be up for being, “Active in my community.” What plain horsepoo is that. I don’t work with and never had the desire to work with kids or coach a team or be a mentor or volunteer to do something or other for the sake of “being seen” to be part of the community. I was a damn good air personality and I worked at it altho much came naturally because I loved radio and being in that industry. Could I have been better if I tried giving up sleeping so I could ‘qualify’ for what I did? No way. Back in my time, if they’d put all those rules in front of me I’d have passed on the honor of of all. I did my job and must have done it well judging by results. But whatever my personal life was, it had no bearing on what I did in that studio. Now of course there are other things that would have if I had been a drinker or a druggy. Yeah, those kind of things would have had an impact but I doubt for the good. On the other hand, there have been some famous drunks and personally rotten people who were at the same time great actors. For example, Denholm Elliott was a horribly decadent man and I doubt he had any morals at all. His life was by our standards pretty disgusting. Who knows what makes a person that way? But, it doesn’t change the fact that he was one hell of a good actor. And I enjoyed his performances, as they were always believable no matter what role he was given. I forgot to mention Steve McQueen. Right from his early TV series days he showed himself as a good actor. Sadly, lately I’ve read some very bad things about him. How much is true and how much exaggerated I don’t know. But it was pretty bad. But I do know that nobody else could play the parts he did, as well as he did. I wasn’t surprised that the remake of The Thomas Crown Affair was a flop.
Apology for running on so long. You gave much to think about and talk about. Thanks.
05/24/2012 at 01:19 PM
