Re: Patton (no, not that one)
 

Crack was around. It's just that back then, it was called "freebasing" so as to make it clear this wasn't like the trash that was all addicted to it and shit.

This made my day.
 

http://nypost.com/2010/08/05/rudy-gi...ng-at-sephora/

I missed that this happened 5 years ago. But it still made my day.

TM

Re: Patton (no, not that one)
 

I will try to find a Terry Pratchett quote that makes your point. I'm sure there is one.

Re: Patton (no, not that one)
 

More on the topic of edge-of-the-line language and the resulting punishment (although, in this case Clarkson was punished for punching a producer--it was the last straw for the many borderline quips he likes to make).

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/18/op...773522000&_r=0

TM

Re: Patton (no, not that one)
 

He's an ass, but as that writer noted, it's partially schtick and it would be a shame to lose the show over it.

Re: This made my day.
 

I feel for the kid. He strikes me as a serious asshole of a father.

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

ISIS problem solved.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/...ource=facebook

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2015/03/...nce-in-arabic/

this is stooopid- at an art show I saw a painting where the artist had painted an American flag then printed the pledge in arabic over it- it was powerful and the most not-un-american thing I could imagine. I suppose there is little leeway anymore for thoughtful expression?

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

Not to be Mr. Obvious, but anyone who has a problem with that is intolerant.

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

Well, I assume the person reading the pledge in arabic is arab? Hard to have a problem with that, even if one believes the islamic world in general is a challenge to peace. the reader is saying I'm American before I'm muslim.

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

Stupid indeed. On so many levels, from not appreciating what America is to not realizing how much we, militarily and strategically, need Arabic speakers. Why do these people hate America?

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

If that's a way of setting up a UN mandate for intervention, it might help.

At some point, we'll need boots on the ground that aren't either Kurdish, Iraqi, or a pro-Iranian non-state force like Hezbollah. I'm not sure I like an outcome, for example, that gives a big chunk of Syria to Hezbollah after Isis is defeated, but by withholding boots that is what we're going to get.

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

This is a very intelligent interview with Petraeus on Iraq, even though my conclusions on what we need to do are very different than his. I think the whole situation underlines the need to deal with Iran diplomatically, and to accept that Iraq will end up breaking up in some way.

For 5000 years, Persia and Iran have mostly been the home of a series of big, unified, long-lived states with enormous sway in the larger area, while the area that is now Iraq has been a fragmented borderland that could only be unified for relatively brief periods. There are reasons. We have to deal with it.

More broadly, we're witnessing the demise of Sykes Picot, one of the worst exercises in colonial geography ever. It is going to be very painful.

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

Given how small-minded and simple people in this country are, how do you lead off with Arabic? Start with French, ease into Spanish, then jump to Arabic.

TM

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

And putting boots there will meaningfully change that outcome? For how long?

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

I'd like to see a strategy where we sought to clear Syria of genocidal idiots for about a year under UN auspices. We don't need to clear it of all idiots, all assholes, or all clowns, that will never happen. But if we could just control the genocidal maniacs we'd all be better off. I'd like to see boots on the ground in a multi-national force with a lot of Arab and European leadership (not just support).

Right now, Petraeus is right, ISIS is a big problem but not the only problem. If we beat ISIS based on the current operations, the country gets divided between various factions, and the only one we can effectively deal with diplomatically today are the Kurds.

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

How do you get rid of some idiots and not others?


If there are going to be boots on the ground, and I suppose there eventually will have to be, this is the way to do it.

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

This, really, is the crux of everything, isn't it?

Great article
 

This woman knows of what she speaks. Very impressive.

http://www.salon.com/2015/03/17/the_...ilege_partner/

TM

Re: Great article
 

Generally, yes, excellent, but, dammit, if I want to say, "fucking white people" and shake my head at something, she's not going to stop me and I don't care if it's a "distancing move". Sometimes, one just has to marvel at white people.

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

potw

If you had the luck of the Irish.
 

Indeed. Only we Irish are blameless in this regard.

Actual deposition answer this week: "Drugs? Me? I was a Jewish kid from [outable geographic locale]. I was in honors English. It was you fucking Irish kids -- and the Italians, of course -- smoking dope. And don't get me started on what the Mexicans and the schvartzes* were doing."

Me: So, is that a "no"?

*Yiddish word for the color "black," and a semi-slur for African Americans. I probably misspelled it.

Re: If you had the luck of the Irish.
 

Do you really think this necessary? Everyone knows that yes?

Re: If you had the luck of the Irish.
 

Not all of us are as cosmopolitan as you and I, non ami. For example, I had to explain it to Big Ed once (we overheard the owner of the one kosher deli in Podunkville refer to a black customer as "Mr. Schwartz" when talking to the lox salesman). So better safe than sorry.

Re: If you had the luck of the Irish.
 

Frightening. That's what I was going to say.

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

Start with Navajo.

Re: Great article
 

I've never thought about the whole privilege thing. Being born white confers some advantages. This seems so obvious I don't know how anyone could suggest otherwise, or become upset when somebody notes it.

However, I also am not going to apologize or feel the need to keep in the forefront of my consciousness the fact that I've had some advantages. I didn't ask for them, and it's only rational to use them to my benefit.

I do owe an affirmative duty to:

1. Not perpetuate discrimination against those who have not enjoyed such advantages; and
2. Tell white people who deny they have advantages that they are talking out of their asses.

Meeting these two obligations is quite easy.

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

60 Minutes is doing a story about Christians in Isis controlled areas. Apparently they threaten to kill the people who do not convert. amazing but they seem to leave people to their own choice as to automobile colors.

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

When will ISIS get its Torquemada?

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

I'm sick of the car color metaphor, but here's an article that is very disturbing and shows some pretty crazy behavior when it comes to what some* Muslims--at least in Afghanistan--think is okay to do in the name of their religion.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/03/21...?_r=2&referrer

TM

*I hesitate to say, "many," but the fact that the Minister of Religion said it would have been a justified street killing had the destroyed pages been from the Koran, speaks volumes.

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

The death of Farkhunda is definitely a "Ferguson" moment in Afghanistan, a moment capable of igniting change because of the strong reaction of so many, but also one where there are some pretty significant forces aligned against that change. I was up last night in the middle of the night, and my twitter feed was full of articles on Farkhunda, like this one: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opi...081503908.html or this one: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32009004, and particularly full of images from her funeral.

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

A couple of things:

1. I brought it up because, weeks ago, we were discussing whether or not the propensity to commit serious violence in the name of Islam was accepted by a large number of Muslims such that there was a lack of outspoken resistance by Muslims to violent acts committed in the name of Islam (or worse outright support of such violent acts). This would seem to demonstrate that both of our points in that the such violence is viewed as acceptable by many and, that there are those who are speaking out against such violence.*

2. It is not at all clear to me that the strong reaction is due to the public, violent mob-killing of a person or whether is was due to the public, violent killing of a person who was innocent of burning the pages of the Koran. It would seem to me that if it was the latter, and that is a strong possibility given the coverage I've seen and read, then what kind of change has been ignited? A move towards only instantly killing those who actually blaspheme?

TM

*And yes, I do recall being encouraged by the many examples we went over here of Muslims speaking out against religious violence.

Always buy out the domains.
 

http://www.tedcruz.com/

*snerk*

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

I tried to answer in the context of some of that discussion.

Would it help you to know that now, a few days after this event, they have identified and arrested 18 people in that mob and that they have suspended 30 police officers and are holding 17 of those police officers for questioning? I would have liked to have seen Holder do that here. That's a lot of outspoken resistance. Likewise, Farkhunda's funeral was a lot of outspoken resistance. This in a country where there are armed religious fundamentalists a couple hours drive away or closer ready to punish such resistance with violence in the dead of night.

A lot of the facts in the times article may not be accurate. A lot of other press has indicated that initial reports that she was mentally troubled are not accurate, for example. What precisely is the movement for change and how might it be coopted? I think that's a hard question to answer contemporaneously from a half world away relying only on reporting in English. But it is clearly a BFD in Afghanistan right now. Probably a Bigger More Fucking Deal than Ferguson ever was here.

If you want to look at propensity to commit violence across large groups of people, I would warn you that most statistical surveys will show the US is the one of the most violent countries in the world outside of active war zones. Our murder rate last year was higher than Afghanistan's. If you look at deaths in custody, we're competing with some of the most repressive dictatorships in the world. If you look at death sentences by courts, we're once again in the company of notorious police states. We should be careful about throwing stones.

Re: Always buy out the domains.
 

www.tedcruzforamerica.com

*serky snerk*

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

I'm sorry. I thought we were talking about something very specific--violence committed in the name of religion (or maybe tolerance levels for such violence).

And yeah, it helps that they've made arrests and are holding police for questioning. But the question remains, had she actually burned the Koran, would there be all this action? Isn't that the crux of the conversation we were having?

And I don't really understand why you think bombarding me with analogies is helping. I don't agree that this was like Ferguson and I wish you'd stop comparing the two.

But even if that analogy did fit, so what? Saying we're super violent and mentioning instances where we do stupid violent shit doesn't render Muslims killing blasphemers non-existent or correct. Can I not hold two similar opinions about how awful violence is and how insane the causes are? Does it make it less awful that (i) a mob will stone someone to death in the street because it's acceptable to do in the name of Islam if one defaces the Koran if (ii) cops in the US shoot unarmed black people?

TM

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

First of all, as you know from these boards, limiting conversation to your chosen topic is impossible. I have no interest in being deposed.

I may find the mob violence interesting for different reasons than you. I find it interesting because it is a galvanizing moment there from what I can see. The reaction to it appears pretty overwhelming. And very rapid. As opposed to, say, Saudi Arabia, where I have trouble seeing such a reaction, or India, where there has been some horrific violence against women but where the reaction is more muted and limited. That reaction in Afghanistan is really interesting. Well, at least to me. It is the possibility and direction of change that interests me. Sorry if that's not what you want to talk about.

I don't just suspect but am pretty damn certain both of us, and just about everyone on this board, thinks both the mob violence here and the police violence in Ferguson are very bad things. Did you really pose that as a question someone (that is, me) might argue with you about?

Re: Always buy out the domains.
 

Hehehe.

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

Very interesting since we spent a ton of time talking about the exact issue I was bringing back up again. Seems to me you are incapable of admitting that Muslims (at least in the Middle East) are open to violence if their religion is insulted. But whatever. If you want to shift to talking about the violence we commit, okay. I agree. It's all bad.

If you want to talk about the seeming changing attitudes towards the type of violence in the article, great! But part of that conversation should include the fact that tolerance for religious-based violence is prevalent, even if it's changing.

Yes. I agree with everything you said. But you win. I have neither the energy or interest in trying to continue the conversation we were having. Congratulations.

No, jackass. The point that you are intentionally ignoring is that your analogies are misplaced in this conversation. Like I already said, "all this violence is bad." Why we're talking about Ferguson or other violence committed in the US or by the US, as it relates to a stoning in Afghanistan is beyond me. If I think one is terrible, why you have to bring up another as a way to show that we do bad shit too is highly irrelevant.

Maybe if you brought up the times that lunatics tried to kill people in Mosques or temples here, it would make more sense. Then we could discuss the difference between those types of attacks (hate-centered) and the one in the article (instant mob punishing a blasphemer) and the official reaction of the Minister of Religion.

If not, I don't really care.

TM

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

Some Muslims are open to violence if their religion is insulted.

So what? That's all you got?

So are some Buddhists.