# \[OT\] Re: Unicycle bumper sticker

**URL:** https://unicyclist.com/t/ot-re-unicycle-bumper-sticker/52932
**Category:** General
**Created:** [November 7, 2002, 3:53am UTC](https://unicyclist.com/t/ot-re-unicycle-bumper-sticker/52932 "2002-11-07T03:53:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![system](https://unicyclist.com/uploads/default/original/3X/d/4/d44cf5a6365651cf6b50671d1ff0c84adf0c7726.png) [@system](https://unicyclist.com/u/system)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2002, 3:53am UTC](https://unicyclist.com/t/ot-re-unicycle-bumper-sticker/52932/1 "2002-11-07T03:53:03Z")

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\> There has not been a real democracy since Athens, and it worked in Athens  
\> because to be a citizen the laws were strict.

It’s way OT, but I can’t let this pass.

The Athens to which you refer was a slave-owning society in which slaves,  
women and lots of other people did not have a vote. This is not what most  
people mean when they rave about the putative virtues of democracy.

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### Author: ![rhysling](https://unicyclist.com/user_avatar/unicyclist.com/rhysling/32/38_2.png) [@rhysling](https://unicyclist.com/u/rhysling)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2002, 6:45am UTC](https://unicyclist.com/t/ot-re-unicycle-bumper-sticker/52932/2 "2002-11-07T06:45:10Z")

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And here I was think’n that this thread was worthless…

Thanks, Aardvark, for adding a word to my vocabulary. 🙂

Main Entry: pu·ta·tive  
Pronunciation: 'pyü-t&-tiv  
Function: adjective  
Etymology: Middle English, from Late Latin putativus,  
from Latin putatus, past participle of putare to think  
Date: 15th century  
1 : commonly accepted or supposed  
2 : assumed to exist or to have existed  
- pu·ta·tive·ly adverb

-Christopher

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### Author: ![Mikefule](https://unicyclist.com/user_avatar/unicyclist.com/mikefule/32/91_2.png) [@Mikefule](https://unicyclist.com/u/Mikefule)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2002, 9:34am UTC](https://unicyclist.com/t/ot-re-unicycle-bumper-sticker/52932/3 "2002-11-07T09:34:00Z")

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Alan also being the only person to use ‘colocutor’ on this forum!😉

Ancient Athens was not a democracy in the sense in which we use the word today. Only a tiny proportion of people had the vote. Much of the population was either in a form of serfdom or a form of slavery. Women were treated with contempt.

How different that is from a proper democracy as we know it today, where only a tiny proportion of people bother to vote, most of the population has little economic mobility, and women are heavily outnumbered in positions of authority and power.

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### Author: ![JJuggle](https://unicyclist.com/user_avatar/unicyclist.com/jjuggle/32/9_2.png) [@JJuggle](https://unicyclist.com/u/JJuggle)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2002, 12:06pm UTC](https://unicyclist.com/t/ot-re-unicycle-bumper-sticker/52932/4 "2002-11-07T12:06:01Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> Originally posted by Mikefule   
>   
> How different that is from a proper democracy as we know it today, where only a tiny proportion of people bother to vote, most of the population has little economic mobility, and women are heavily outnumbered in positions of authority and power.

We have much better cheeseburgers, MP3 players, carbon fiber unicycles, hollywood blockbusters all year round, and a dizzying array of pornographic web sites to choose from?

Raphael Lasar  
Matawan, NJ

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### Author: ![system](https://unicyclist.com/uploads/default/original/3X/d/4/d44cf5a6365651cf6b50671d1ff0c84adf0c7726.png) [@system](https://unicyclist.com/u/system)
#### Post date: [November 8, 2002, 1:03am UTC](https://unicyclist.com/t/ot-re-unicycle-bumper-sticker/52932/5 "2002-11-08T01:03:03Z")

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Re: [OT] Re: Unicycle bumper sticker

\>\> Thanks, Aardvark, for adding a word to my vocabulary. 🙂

Thank you for drawing attention to the most important word in my post.  
I could talk about this subject all day, but this is not the correct forum.

Arnold the Aardvark

The problem with being the Witchfinder  
General is that you have to keep finding  
witches, or you’re out of a job.

- Colin McClernon

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### Author: ![system](https://unicyclist.com/uploads/default/original/3X/d/4/d44cf5a6365651cf6b50671d1ff0c84adf0c7726.png) [@system](https://unicyclist.com/u/system)
#### Post date: [November 8, 2002, 3:18am UTC](https://unicyclist.com/t/ot-re-unicycle-bumper-sticker/52932/6 "2002-11-08T03:18:02Z")

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Re: [OT] Re: Unicycle bumper sticker

Arnold the Aardvark wrote:  
\> I could talk about this subject all day,

It’s true. He could talk about _any_ subject all day.

\> but this is not the correct forum.

No, he saves it for unicycle rides. 😉

\> Arnold the Aardvark

Regards,  
Mark.

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### Author: ![system](https://unicyclist.com/uploads/default/original/3X/d/4/d44cf5a6365651cf6b50671d1ff0c84adf0c7726.png) [@system](https://unicyclist.com/u/system)
#### Post date: [November 8, 2002, 4:58am UTC](https://unicyclist.com/t/ot-re-unicycle-bumper-sticker/52932/7 "2002-11-08T04:58:02Z")

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Re: [OT] Re: Unicycle bumper sticker

\> No, he saves it for unicycle rides. 😉

Not all of us are single-minded "uber-athletes. Some of us like a  
bit of socialising. Admittedly, US foreign policy and the case for bombing  
Israel instead of Iraq might have been a bit much without a beer in hand…  
🙂

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### Author: ![system](https://unicyclist.com/uploads/default/original/3X/d/4/d44cf5a6365651cf6b50671d1ff0c84adf0c7726.png) [@system](https://unicyclist.com/u/system)
#### Post date: [November 8, 2002, 6:33am UTC](https://unicyclist.com/t/ot-re-unicycle-bumper-sticker/52932/8 "2002-11-08T06:33:03Z")

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Re: [OT] Re: Unicycle bumper sticker

Arnold the Aardvark wrote:  
\> Not all of us are single-minded "uber-athletes. Some of us like a  
\> bit of socialising.

I guess your use of exaggeration and understatement average out… 😉

\> Admittedly, US foreign policy and the case for bombing  
\> Israel instead of Iraq might have been a bit much without a beer in hand…  
\> 🙂

Dear Echelon, I do not know this man. I have never met him. His views  
are his and his alone.

Regards,  
Mark.

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### Author: ![harper](https://unicyclist.com/user_avatar/unicyclist.com/harper/32/41_2.png) [@harper](https://unicyclist.com/u/harper)
#### Post date: [November 8, 2002, 8:49am UTC](https://unicyclist.com/t/ot-re-unicycle-bumper-sticker/52932/9 "2002-11-08T08:49:49Z")

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I had the joy of riding with Alan and sharing a spot of ice cream with him when he was in the US. I don’t understand the attitude of some of you Brits. Talking to Alan was a real pleasure. The listening was a bit tedious but my mind began wandering after awhile so I was OK.

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### Author: ![system](https://unicyclist.com/uploads/default/original/3X/d/4/d44cf5a6365651cf6b50671d1ff0c84adf0c7726.png) [@system](https://unicyclist.com/u/system)
#### Post date: [November 8, 2002, 4:08pm UTC](https://unicyclist.com/t/ot-re-unicycle-bumper-sticker/52932/10 "2002-11-08T16:08:07Z")

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Re: [OT] Re: Unicycle bumper sticker

On Fri, 08 Nov 2002 14:26:58 +0000, Mark Wiggins  
\<M.Wiggins@ftel.co.uk\> wrote:

\>Dear Echelon, I do not know this man. I have never met him. His views  
\>are his and his alone.

–  
“To trigger/fool/saturate/overload Echelon, the following has not been  
picked automagically from a database:”  
“Mark Wiggins, Arnold the Aardvark, bombing Iraq”

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### Author: ![rhysling](https://unicyclist.com/user_avatar/unicyclist.com/rhysling/32/38_2.png) [@rhysling](https://unicyclist.com/u/rhysling)
#### Post date: [November 8, 2002, 4:49pm UTC](https://unicyclist.com/t/ot-re-unicycle-bumper-sticker/52932/11 "2002-11-08T16:49:14Z")

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You’re my hero, Klaas “Echelon” Bill! 21 Monkey salute!

-Christopher
