Sorry, that quip about the homeopathic enema was meant in the sense of 'someone in the discussion group told me to do it', and not as a criticism of natural remedies as a whole. I was shooting for those people who get medical advice from other people who are as equally clueless, instead of taking the pet to someone who can diagnose and prescribe correct treatment for the correct condition. I saw a comment about a cat who was urinating all over the place suddenly, and the owner simply assumed that it was because the animal was stressed out because of a new kitten that had been recently introduced to the household. However, the urinating occurred weeks after the kitten came. There must have been fifty 'advice' comments, and only three said 'take the cat to the vet for a urine test, in case it is a urinary infection'. It appeared quite obvious that the owner was more inclined to spray Feliway around and try to 'help' the cat adjust to the new kitten, rather than test him for a UTI. I kind of noticed that there was even a tad of hostility towards those people who suggested the sound option of having the cat checked for a physical problem before assuming a behavioral one - simply because they didn't go with the mob-opinion. Same thing about rehoming another cat who was obviously terrified of the family dogs.

I am not against standing up when racism occurs. I am against running to the person's employer instead of using other simple and effective measures. Instead of applauding people who act like children, I feel that it should be pointed out that that is how they are acting, and that it isn't appropriate behavior for an adult of 30 or more years! The problem is on both sides in the case I mentioned, but two wrongs don't make a right. What happened there is exactly how things end up spiraling out of control, and causing the hate to spread. One guy did point out to the person in question that his actions in going to the employer only served to validate and more deeply entrench the other person's opinions about race, etc... . I've lived with a bizarre sort of racism all my life (you have to be here to know it), and I would never go and complain to a person's boss about it, not even in my own workplace. I'd try to change the person's opinion of me, and in doing so, make them see that 'we' are not so bad (even though a fair number of us are!).