I was trying to think of something a bit more profound to say other than "acvtivists are like people, some are wonderful, some are assholes" but can't quite think of how to phrase it otherwise.

I totally admire someone who has the guts to stand up about something they are completely and utterly passionate about when everyone else is sitting around saying "oh, something must be done about this".

On the other hand, you will get the type of activist who initially questions the value system of something and in time become so megalomaniac in the process that they take it to be a personal affront when their supporters question THEIR motives.

OF course, there's the repugnant breed of activist who prior to their activism had no identity whatsoever and are clearly overcompensating for this by superimposing their dogma on everyone they encounter.

Overall, though, I'm grateful for people who see something they feel is wrong and have the guts to do something about it.

Last, but definitely not least - GET WELL SOON, DENNIS

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*Huggy Ragnarsson Is My Co-Pilot*

"coming up on kittyradio, an erotic thriller featuring Shannon Tweed..."

someone stabbed your cat?

One of the guys at the house confessed to it when I went for some help. I said that the cat looked as though it had been slashed and one of the guys said that he was going to be honest, that he had done that to the cat. I was stunned. Later I'd had heard from a friend of mine that he had been saying that he had or was going to slice the cat. Yeah, someone stabbed one of my cats. I brought him to the vet and had him stitched up.

OMG, how nasty!!!!!! who would want to do that??? and why??

and what is going to happen to the guy?

He was on parole. He got rolled up by his PO. He's on his way to the funny farm or something.

is he mentally ill?

So I've been told. The doctor told me though that it looked as though the cat had been cut with a knife. They see a lot of injured cats so they'd know. I'd suppose he'd actually done as he'd said. The sheriff and animal control showed up at the house and everything. They are coming out to collect statements in the morning.

basically i agree with what champers and rottenberry said pretty much

i generally will not get involved with activists or organisations unless i personally know the people involved because otherwise you can end up with complete arseholes who have a hitler complex, or whose ideas, motives and goals you completely disagree with. against my better judgement i helped put on a speech for a controversial MP, largely because my uni tried to effectively ban him from speaking there cos they disagreed with him, and whilst he was alright, the activists he brought with him were absolute fucking retrobates.
a case in point has been my general experience with 'green activism', in that ive had very good and very bad experiences, even within the same organisation, dependent on who the local activists were.
my best experiences have come when doing stuff really small scale with my mates, and thats sort of how i tend to do things now, outside of any organisational apparatus. that said i still volunteer, and am trying to get work in a new homeless shelter, but basically my political activism now isnt really attached to any group. im sposed to be running an animal rights stall with a couple of people after christmas and when i move back to uni there is talk of trying to sqaut some of their buildings. whether that happens or not is another matter

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It's a new year, I'm glad to be here. It's a fresh spring, so lets sing.
In 2080 I'll surely be dead. So don't look ahead, never look ahead.

Where are the activists when you need them? I hope Dennis gets right back to his old kitty self very soon. I remember when my dog Sid got shot in the chest, how ANGRY I was. He survived it because he had so much muscle in that area (130 lb Lab), but MAN, was I pissed!!

Champers had it right! It was like every personality he described was on that panel, and then some! The bisexual thing could be a totally separate thread in itself.

He was really happy to see me this morning!
When I got him home he stood in the kitchen and cried and cried. I guess he knows that it's over now. Poor kitty, he's been through a lot the last couple days.

He has to stay in the house for a while. He can't jump up on the bed or anything because of internal stitches.

which MP?

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she's a haunted house and her windows are broken

activism is obviously a good thing but I think no matter how liberated an issue is you still get idiots who want to go back to the stonewall riots or whatever. They don't really get that the people in the previous generation gave them a platform to speak on and now they have to use it responsibly.

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If you ever feel useless and depressed, remember: one day you were the fastest spermatozoon of all.

if you cant guess in three tries i will be reallly, really disappointed

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It's a new year, I'm glad to be here. It's a fresh spring, so lets sing.
In 2080 I'll surely be dead. So don't look ahead, never look ahead.

Galloway? if so, are you left turn?

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she's a haunted house and her windows are broken

yes to the first, fuck no to the second. guessing you dont remember the massive arguments i had with him then?

i should explain im not a massive fan of gorgeous george anymore than i am of any MP, but as mentioned they essentially tried to ban him as they ddint agree with him, which i thought was a bit cuntish, so fought against it. successfully as it happens.

anyways, to bring it sort of back to topic, the people who came with him were all SWP and were bastards, which kind of confirmed that respect was pretty much a front for SWP... anyways, politics blah. this is why i tend towards the eco/anarchical stuff as we dont go in for organisational structures or dictatorial arseholes. get fuck all done, but thats besides the point

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It's a new year, I'm glad to be here. It's a fresh spring, so lets sing.
In 2080 I'll surely be dead. So don't look ahead, never look ahead.

vaguely, now you mention it. he was one of those activists for a while i think, not swp, but part of that respect coalition.

but respect (ho, ho) for defending the unpleasant to defend

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she's a haunted house and her windows are broken

yeah he was, i think it was something we argued about. last i heard respect was splitting between galloway and the councillors on one side and the swp on the other, so apparently now there are two respect groups?

i was actually thinking about the type of activist who is a bit of an arsehole, and there is this guy i know who was in about 5 different 'marxist' organisations, and is now part of some anarchist federation. he went on the anti war march with a soviet union flag and a bandana over his face and posed so his friend could take pics of him. when, after showing me said photos, i asked why he thought it appropriate to carry the symbol of a regime responsbile for thousands of deaths on an anti war march he just smirked like the imbecile he undoubtably is. basically, he just likes the idea of being a 'rebel' or something, so goes on all these fucking stupid marches where aboput 12 people turn up and manage to alienate everyone they come in contact with. case in point, he dressed up as goofy and stood outside a disney store tellling all thse little kids disney was evil and they would be too if they bought stuff there. yeah anyways, im ranting. im quite bitter you see

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It's a new year, I'm glad to be here. It's a fresh spring, so lets sing.
In 2080 I'll surely be dead. So don't look ahead, never look ahead.

Plenty of activists are better at shooting themselves in the foot than the opprezzive police state ever could be, and do their causes no good at all. I guess you have to pick and choose which activists to put up with.

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Time is the distance that you can't return by miles.

I escaped somehow. Let's go

actualy [sic] I have quite a blessed life if I'm honest. I have many people to love, hate few and have few money problem's [sic].... What more does a person need? Oh yeah and I have some kind of humbleness unlike you of course ^_^ ~ CarefulCarpenter