NPR: Some French Muslims See Conspiracies in Paris Shootings

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NPR’s All Things Considered had a segment yesterday on the disturbing support for the Charlie Hebdo terrorists in some Muslim areas of France, and the antisemitic conspiracy theories making the rounds.

For many years the French have been eager to import Muslims for cheap labor but not so eager to actually have them assimilate into French culture. They essentially treat their Muslim population as second class citizens and the suburbs are basically ghettos. It’s a bad situation in which extremists can take root and spread their poison.

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261 comments
1 Dr Lizardo  Jan 15, 2015 2:23:50pm

This little nugget from Daily Beast goes into some pretty out-there conspiracy theorist territory:

He also called the Paris terrorist attacks “un complot,” or conspiracy, and launched into a lengthy explanation of the “magical Jews” behind it. They were not ordinary Jews, he said, but a “hybrid race of shape shifters” who have extraordinary abilities. “They know how to get in everywhere,” he said. “They are master manipulators.”

thedailybeast.com

That’s a sharp turn into David Icke-ville there. A “hybrid race of shape shifters”?!

Damn.

2 HappyWarrior  Jan 15, 2015 2:28:51pm

Agh.

3 Justanotherhuman  Jan 15, 2015 2:29:43pm

Obviously, there is no “freedom of speech” in those communities.

No one should have to live in fear—regardless of their religion, politics, or social standing in a democracy.

I always remember the old slogan we used to recite when I was a kid—“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me.” And I’ve been called a lot of names, but would never consider harming someone because of ignorance on their part—I just consider the source.

4 goddamnedfrank  Jan 15, 2015 2:31:41pm

We’ve been seeing some of these same anti-semetic arguments being used by @ChuckCJohnson and his followers.

Of course Chuck’s axe to grind is that he said early on there was no Al Quaeda involvement and now needs to defend that.

And since his entire business model is about staking out intentionally controversial claims and then never admitting when he’s wrong and playing up his genius prognostication skills when he’s right, he has to defend every failure tooth and nail. The fact that the arguments he and his followers end up employing mirror those used by anti-semites is the result of the inability to accept reality leading to an identical end. Once anybody starts looking for conspiracies to confirm their biased worldview, no matter what that worldview is, they start seizing on the same “evidence” and twist it to support whatever conclusion they desire.

This is also why the insanely backwards different pixels size story, that couldn’t possibly be more erroneous, is still up on Chuck’s site. It’s damned near impossible for him to even conceive of himself being wrong, no matter how blatantly and egregiously wrong he is.

5 Rightwingconspirator  Jan 15, 2015 2:41:36pm

Truthers. French truthers.
Vertite gardien?

6 calochortus  Jan 15, 2015 2:45:18pm

re: #1 Dr Lizardo

This little nugget from Daily Beast goes into some pretty out-there conspiracy theorist territory:

thedailybeast.com

That’s a sharp turn into David Icke-ville there. A “hybrid race of shape shifters”?!

Damn.

How can I tell if my Jewish friend is ordinary or magical? Is it OK to ask her?
///

7 Dr Lizardo  Jan 15, 2015 2:46:55pm

re: #6 calochortus

How can I tell if my Jewish friend is ordinary or magical? Is it OK to ask her?
///

I would think so; after all, if you’re good friends, she’d tell you. Who knows? Maybe she’ll shapeshift into a cat or something like that for you.

*headdesk*

8 Justanotherhuman  Jan 15, 2015 2:47:23pm

I wish the headline writers would stop using the term, “Islamists”, goddamnit. And is there clear evidence that the “10,000” hacks of French websites were all done by those who embrace Islam?

Hollande reassures Muslims, Islamists hack French websites

reuters.com

9 goddamnedfrank  Jan 15, 2015 2:49:03pm

I gotta say, as someone with, y’know, and actual graduate degree in the fucking field, it’s really goddamned irritating that Chuck’s pixels size story is still up. How can people just ignore something that runs so objectively counter to reality?

Like I said before unlike his other admittedly egregious fuck-ups, this isn’t the usual matter of opinion or even the remotest degree of nebulous plausible denial. You don’t need a time machine to go back and definitively prove it to a 100% certainty like you would with Corey Booker’s residence or the Menendez allegations. The simple fact is that raster image files never, ever, work that way, the coordinate system that defines them absolutely does not allow for it.

10 Charles Johnson  Jan 15, 2015 2:50:17pm

re: #4 goddamnedfrank

Chuck knows exactly what he’s doing with a post like the “different-sized pixels” crap — he’s pushing a conspiracy theory to people pre-disposed to believe it. It’s pure sleaze, and it’s obvious to anyone not in his delusional target audience.

11 Justanotherhuman  Jan 15, 2015 2:50:42pm

Haha, on the sidebar:

Frank says:

There is no hell. There is only France.

Sorry, Frank, I beg to differ. I’ve seen much, much worse. : )

12 Jack Burton  Jan 15, 2015 2:52:24pm

re: #1 Dr Lizardo

This little nugget from Daily Beast goes into some pretty out-there conspiracy theorist territory:

thedailybeast.com

That’s a sharp turn into David Icke-ville there. A “hybrid race of shape shifters”?!

Damn.

The true culprits behind the attacks are obviously:

Death Star of David
13 Justanotherhuman  Jan 15, 2015 2:55:53pm

Controversy stirred up by Franklin Graham (Intolerant bigot).

Duke reverses decision, will not allow Muslim call to prayer at its chapel

Read more here: charlotteobserver.com

14 Charles Johnson  Jan 15, 2015 2:56:35pm

Now there is only Dick Poop.

…

15 Charles Johnson  Jan 15, 2015 2:57:11pm

A video clip for the 10-year old boy in all of us.

16 HappyWarrior  Jan 15, 2015 2:57:29pm

re: #13 Justanotherhuman

Controversy stirred up by Franklin Graham (Intolerant bigot).

Duke reverses decision, will not allow Muslim call to prayer at its chapel

Read more here: charlotteobserver.com

Sad. That they’re caving into the demands of a well known bigot.

17 EPR-radar  Jan 15, 2015 2:58:37pm

re: #9 goddamnedfrank

I gotta say, as someone with, y’know, and actual graduate degree in the fucking field, it’s really goddamned irritating that Chuck’s pixels size story is still up. How can people just ignore something that runs so objectively counter to reality?

Like I said before unlike his other admittedly egregious fuck-ups, this isn’t the usual matter of opinion or even the remotest degree of nebulous plausible denial. You don’t need a time machine to go back and definitively prove it to a 100% certainty like you would with Corey Booker’s residence or the Menendez allegations. The simple fact is that raster image files never, ever, work that way, the coordinate system that defines them absolutely does not allow for it.

Of course, young-earth creationism and AGW denial are just as comprehensively and objectively wrong. The only difference is that they are more complicated, so there is no simple and absolute proof of incorrectness.

18 CuriousLurker  Jan 15, 2015 2:59:45pm

re: #8 Justanotherhuman

I wish the headline writers would stop using the term, “Islamists”, goddamnit. And is there clear evidence that the “10,000” hacks of French websites were all done by those who embrace Islam?

Hollande reassures Muslims, Islamists hack French websites

reuters.com

I’ve never liked the term Islamist myself, mostly because by using the name it ties the entire religion to violent extremism and gives it a veneer of legitimacy that it doesn’t deserve.* Unfortunately, that horse is already out of the barn and my dislike of the word won’t make it go away.

——————————————

*It also plays right into the hands of bigots like Geller, Spencer, et. al.

19 Justanotherhuman  Jan 15, 2015 2:59:50pm

re: #16 HappyWarrior

Sad. That they’re caving into the demands of a well known bigot.

I rather admired this comment:

Khalilah Sabra * Top Commenter * Executive Director, Immigrant Justice Center at Muslim American Society
Bigots dirty the waters of democracy. Never before have so many barriers existed for Muslims within the social and political passageways of this country. The uneven path towards achieving civil parity and religious liberty have uncovered enormous moral contradictions in America’s democratic consciousness.

To hold all Muslims and Islamic values hostage to the evil of a few is an injustice. It is not our collective sin that a minority of people try to justify their criminal conduct and activity by suggesting that it is sanctioned by their faith. It is a problem that you as Christians and me. as a Muslim, must confront and defeat together. But many choose to fuel a rising tide of prejudice. It is a terrible shame on Duke and those who advocate in the name of ignorance. Their path is filled with misunderstanding and intolerance, a… See More
Reply * Like * 2 * Follow Post * 23 minutes ago

20 Skip Intro  Jan 15, 2015 3:01:04pm

As an aside, may I just mention how much iTunes sucks? If iTunes doesn’t think some music or an audiobook should be on your iPod, then by God it’s not going to be on your iPod. And if you rip an audiobook from CDs, iTunes doesn’t give a damn about the correct order of the chapters, oh no. It just puts the first chapter of all the CDs together and calls that CD 1, then the second, etc.

What a horrible POS program this is.

Thank you for letting me vent.

21 Charles Johnson  Jan 15, 2015 3:04:50pm

For many years the French have been eager to import Muslims for cheap labor but not so eager to actually have them assimilate into French culture. They essentially treat a lot of Muslims as second class citizens and the suburbs are basically ghettos. It’s a bad situation where extremists can take root and spread their poison.

22 HappyWarrior  Jan 15, 2015 3:05:24pm

re: #19 Justanotherhuman

I rather admired this comment:

Khalilah Sabra * Top Commenter * Executive Director, Immigrant Justice Center at Muslim American Society
Bigots dirty the waters of democracy. Never before have so many barriers existed for Muslims within the social and political passageways of this country. The uneven path towards achieving civil parity and religious liberty have uncovered enormous moral contradictions in America’s democratic consciousness.

To hold all Muslims and Islamic values hostage to the evil of a few is an injustice. It is not our collective sin that a minority of people try to justify their criminal conduct and activity by suggesting that it is sanctioned by their faith. It is a problem that you as Christians and me. as a Muslim, must confront and defeat together. But many choose to fuel a rising tide of prejudice. It is a terrible shame on Duke and those who advocate in the name of ignorance. Their path is filled with misunderstanding and intolerance, a… See More
Reply * Like * 2 * Follow Post * 23 minutes ago

Very well written. Too bad the usual suspects will just shout down it with the usual bigotry bs.

23 De Kolta Chair  Jan 15, 2015 3:06:28pm

re: #21 Charles Johnson

For many years the French have been eager to import Muslims for cheap labor but not so eager to actually have them assimilate into French culture. They essentially treat a lot of Muslims as second class citizens and the suburbs are basically ghettos. It’s a bad situation where extremists can take root and spread their poison.

THIS

24 Skip Intro  Jan 15, 2015 3:07:34pm

After only eleven days in power, the Republican destruction of wealth continues.

25 goddamnedfrank  Jan 15, 2015 3:08:33pm

re: #17 EPR-radar

Of course, young-earth creationism and AGW denial are just as comprehensively and objectively wrong. The only difference is that they are more complicated, so there is no simple and absolute proof of incorrectness.

My point exactly. This is mathematically wrong. What he describes is just impossible. You could maybe do it with a treemapping algorithm, or some kind of orthogonal Voronoi tile mosaic, but not photography, and not in a raster image file. Even if you were to hypothetically restrict your magical different sized pixels to square integer multiples (blocks of 1,4,9,16,25 etc.) so everything fit together neatly, you couldn’t perform a single arbitrary degree rotation without breaking everything down. That’s one reason why this shit just can’t ever happen with raster images, if you want to preserve these kinds of differing relationships you use vector art.

I know I’m preaching to the choir here, but the stunning level of wrongness on display here just baffles me.

26 The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge  Jan 15, 2015 3:10:00pm

Couldn’t have been Jewish terrorists—they don’t need no stinking guns!

Video

27 Justanotherhuman  Jan 15, 2015 3:11:45pm

re: #24 Skip Intro

After only eleven days if power, the Republican destruction of wealth continues.

Embedded Image

I don’t get this. Cheaper oil means less expense not just for consumers,but for manufacturers—oh, wait. We don’t have much of that anymore, do we?

But it also means less expense for the mercantile class, service providers, etc, as well.

We have gas for $1.99/gal here now. And cheaper in areas outside mine. : )

28 CuriousLurker  Jan 15, 2015 3:13:11pm

re: #25 goddamnedfrank

My point. This is mathematically wrong. What he describes is just impossible. You could maybe do it with a treemapping algorithm, or some kind of orthogonal Voronoi tile mosaic, but not photography, and not in a raster image file. Even if you were to hypothetically restrict your magical different sized pixels to square integer multiples (blocks of 1,4,9,16,25 etc.) so everything fit together neatly, you couldn’t perform a single arbitrary degree rotation without breaking everything down. That’s one reason why this shit just can’t ever happen with raster images, if you want to preserve these kinds of differing relationships you use vector art.

I know I’m preaching to the choir here, but the stunning level of wrongness on display here just baffles me.

*watches 90% of gdf’s comment go sailing over her head*

It made a kind of whooshing, flapping noise as it flew by. //

29 Justanotherhuman  Jan 15, 2015 3:13:26pm

Fuck you, Big Oil.

Oilfield services company Schlumberger says it will reduce workforce by 9,000 - @abc13houston
read more on abc13.com

30 De Kolta Chair  Jan 15, 2015 3:14:04pm

re: #14 Charles Johnson

Now there is only Dick Poop.

“The Poop That Took a Pee” by Leopold “Butters” Scotch. Chapter one…
31 calochortus  Jan 15, 2015 3:14:18pm

re: #28 CuriousLurker

*watches 90% of gdf’s comment go sailing over her head*

It made a kind of whooshing, flapping noise as it flew by. //

Yeah, I heard that noise too…

32 calochortus  Jan 15, 2015 3:16:20pm

re: #29 Justanotherhuman

Fuck you, Big Oil.

Oilfield services company Schlumberger says it will reduce workforce by 9,000 - @abc13houston
read more on abc13.com

Meh. Oil is cyclical. Everyone in the industry knows this, and I’m speaking as someone who got a nice shiny M.S. in Geology just as the price of oil crashed back in about 1980. It was pretty ugly, but not really surprising.

33 Amory Blaine  Jan 15, 2015 3:16:41pm

Hmmm. Breaking news here in Wisconsin. Hopefully the DPW will get someone that can produce results.

Mike Tate to step down as Democratic Party chief in June

34 CuriousLurker  Jan 15, 2015 3:17:00pm

re: #28 CuriousLurker

My eyes started to glaze over around “orthogonal Voronoi” When I got to “blocks of 1,4,9,16,25 etc.” I just gave up and skipped down to the 2nd paragraph.

35 funky chicken  Jan 15, 2015 3:18:03pm

So some of them support the attacks but some say it was an evil act perpetrated by Jews? OK then.

36 CuriousLurker  Jan 15, 2015 3:18:06pm

re: #31 calochortus

Yeah, I heard that noise too…

Heh, I’m really glad I wasn’t alone.

37 Charles Johnson  Jan 15, 2015 3:18:56pm
LOOK AT THIS FOX
38 calochortus  Jan 15, 2015 3:19:08pm

re: #36 CuriousLurker

Heh, I’m really glad I wasn’t alone.

We shall be strong in combined lack of understanding!

39 klystron  Jan 15, 2015 3:19:29pm

The beading is done except for the magical beads I somehow have managed to not purchase in every visit to a cross stitch supply store in the past 3 years.

SO CLOSE AND I CAN’T FINISH ARGH.

I actually have to wait on starting the next project so I can accomplish a few work related things and I have no real desire to do this. :(

40 Justanotherhuman  Jan 15, 2015 3:19:57pm

re: #36 CuriousLurker

Heh, I’m really glad I wasn’t alone.

Same here. Tech-talk goes straight over my head—whoosh!

41 EPR-radar  Jan 15, 2015 3:20:50pm

re: #38 calochortus

We shall be strong in combined lack of understanding!

You’ll never make it as a RWNJ if you so easily admit to lack of understanding. A true RWNJ is energized by denial of their own ignorance. For starters, it will piss off the liberals. After that, only good things are possible. ///

42 goddamnedfrank  Jan 15, 2015 3:23:02pm

re: #28 CuriousLurker

*watches 90% of gdf’s comment go sailing over her head*

It made a kind of whooshing, flapping noise as it flew by. //

Voronoi tesselation. You see this most commonly in abstract art, architectural facades and video game textures.

Treemapping. The most famous recent use was to illustrate the fragmentation of Android devices.

Anyway, point being that shit ain’t photography and isn’t trying to be photography.

43 klystron  Jan 15, 2015 3:23:49pm

re: #42 goddamnedfrank

Voronoi tesselation. You see this most commonly in abstract art, architectural facades and video game textures.

Treemapping. The most famous recent use was to illustrate the fragmentation of Android devices.

Anyway, point being that shit ain’t photography and isn’t trying to be photography.

Strangely enough, it also works rather well as an analogue for silicate melt structure at sufficiently high temperatures (3000K +).

44 De Kolta Chair  Jan 15, 2015 3:23:58pm

re: #37 Charles Johnson

Image: LOOK AT THIS FOX

One of my all-time fave movie songs, Burt Bacharach & Hal David’s “After The Fox” performed by The Hollies & the inimitable Peter Sellers
…

45 wrenchwench  Jan 15, 2015 3:25:52pm

re: #25 goddamnedfrank

I know I’m preaching to the choir here, but the stunning level of wrongness on display here just baffles me.

**Hums like an off-duty choir girl.**

46 goddamnedfrank  Jan 15, 2015 3:25:56pm

re: #43 klystron

Strangely enough, it also works rather well as an analogue for silicate melt structure at sufficiently high temperatures (3000K +)

Voronoi? Yeah I can see that, they also bear a strong resemblance to PvT phase diagrams.

47 EPR-radar  Jan 15, 2015 3:26:08pm

re: #25 goddamnedfrank

My point exactly. This is mathematically wrong. What he describes is just impossible. You could maybe do it with a treemapping algorithm, or some kind of orthogonal Voronoi tile mosaic, but not photography, and not in a raster image file. Even if you were to hypothetically restrict your magical different sized pixels to square integer multiples (blocks of 1,4,9,16,25 etc.) so everything fit together neatly, you couldn’t perform a single arbitrary degree rotation without breaking everything down. That’s one reason why this shit just can’t ever happen with raster images, if you want to preserve these kinds of differing relationships you use vector art.

I know I’m preaching to the choir here, but the stunning level of wrongness on display here just baffles me.

What you’re seeing here is a RWNJ practicing their normal level of bone-headed stupidity in a field in which you are technically versed.

Biologists must feel the same about about denial of evolution, and with my background in the physical sciences, I have a special level of derision reserved for young-earth creationism. YEC requires chucking out just about all of the physical sciences.

48 Skip Intro  Jan 15, 2015 3:26:16pm

Crazy Uncle Liberty ‘s Ron Paul Institute For Peace and Prosperity weighs in on the Charlie Hebdo false flag operation.

The Ron Paul Institute For Peace and Prosperity on Wednesday published an article on its website suggesting the recent attacks in Paris that left 17 dead were “a false flag operation.”

……

“Once again we see the US print and TV media serving as a ministry of propaganda for Washington,” wrote Paul Craig Roberts in the article, which was originally published on his own website. “In place of investigation, the media repeats the government’s implausible story.”

Roberts wrote that the attack on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo “has many of the characteristics of a false flag operation.” He speculated that the U.S. perpetrated the attack to bring France under greater American control.

talkingpointsmemo.com

49 CuriousLurker  Jan 15, 2015 3:27:10pm

re: #43 klystron

Strangely enough, it also works rather well as an analogue for silicate melt structure at sufficiently high temperatures (3000K +).

STOP THAT, both of you!!11!
//

50 compound_Idaho  Jan 15, 2015 3:27:24pm

re: #32 calochortus

You are so right. I got my degree in geophysics in ‘83. It got very ugly. I left reluctantly the oilfield in 1987 (just before I was told to leave) and recently began to wonder if I should have toughed it out. The correct answer would appear to be “no”.

51 CuriousLurker  Jan 15, 2015 3:27:45pm

re: #46 goddamnedfrank

Voronoi? Yeah I can see that, they also bear a strong resemblance to PvT phase diagrams.

That does it. Where’s my down-dinger?? //

52 klystron  Jan 15, 2015 3:28:18pm

re: #49 CuriousLurker

STOP THAT, both of you!!11!
//

That was the Σ total of my contribution, I swear.

(Ok, I couldn’t help myself. >.>)

53 Justanotherhuman  Jan 15, 2015 3:29:32pm

re: #32 calochortus

Meh. Oil is cyclical. Everyone in the industry knows this, and I’m speaking as someone who got a nice shiny M.S. in Geology just as the price of oil crashed back in about 1980. It was pretty ugly, but not really surprising.

Oil may be cyclical, but people are still buying gas guzzlers, too, as I read the other day. And although since China’s consumption has gone down recently and Russia seems to be having problems, it’s the world market that determines prices. They’re not lowering it because they love us. Not to mention that OPEC is keeping its output target on hold, with a resulting price war with US producers.

54 calochortus  Jan 15, 2015 3:29:37pm

re: #51 CuriousLurker

That does it. Where’s my down-dinger?? //

And once again you have phrased things very elegantly.

55 Skip Intro  Jan 15, 2015 3:30:23pm

re: #50 compound_Idaho

You are so right. I got my degree in geophysics in ‘83. It got very ugly. I left reluctantly the oilfield in 1987 (just before I was told to leave) and recently began to wonder if I should have toughed it out. The correct answer would appear to be “no”.

You guys should have gone into engineering geology, although now that I think about it the market for EGs crashed around the same time as the one for petroleum geologists.

Rough field, geology.

56 Justanotherhuman  Jan 15, 2015 3:30:42pm

re: #48 Skip Intro

Crazy Uncle Liberty ‘s Ron Paul Institute For Peace and Prosperity weighs in on the Charlie Hebdo false flag operation.

talkingpointsmemo.com

Oh, for chrissakes…

57 klystron  Jan 15, 2015 3:30:54pm

re: #55 Skip Intro

You guys should have gone into engineering geology, although now that I think about it the market for EGs crashed around the same time as the one for petroleum geologists.

Rough field, geology.

My diploma is pretty, though.

///

58 Dr Lizardo  Jan 15, 2015 3:31:10pm

re: #48 Skip Intro

There is but one solution.

Morgan Freeman must do an audiobook of The Paranoid Style In American Politics.

Sadly, perhaps it’s already too late; perhaps the paranoid style has already triumphed.

Well, goodnight Lizards.

59 Charles Johnson  Jan 15, 2015 3:32:01pm

re: #46 goddamnedfrank

At first I thought Chucks “expert” cat lady might have been talking about the square areas caused by JPEG compression algorithms, which can vary in size based on which type of compression is applied to an area of the image. But no, when I looked at his post and saw that ridiculous comparison of the two eyes, I realized she was actually referring to the pixels — and that the second eye image was about half the size of the first, but blown up to be the same size, thus apparently enlarging the pixels. It’s such crap, I still think Chuck might have been taken in by some weird kind of prank.

60 calochortus  Jan 15, 2015 3:32:19pm

re: #53 Justanotherhuman

Oil may be cyclical, but people are still buying gas guzzlers, too, as I read the other day. And although since China’s consumption has gone down recently and Russia seems to be having problems, it’s the world market that determines prices. They’re not lowering it because they love us. Not to mention that OPEC is keeping its output target on hold, with a resulting in a price war with US producers.

Absolutely true. And prices will go up again, so I can’t imagine why people are buying gas guzzlers, but an oil services company laying off because there is little exploration being done, and few new wells being drilled isn’t a cause for alarm.

61 ObserverArt  Jan 15, 2015 3:32:38pm

This CCJ tweet out of goddamedfranks #4 is funny.

Charles C. Johnson @ChuckCJohnson
Follow
There’s no real evidence that #CharlieHebdo is al-Qaeda from Yemen but let’s pretend.

Would that be like how he pretends to be a journalist, intelligent with 150+ IQ and not a RWNJ racist bag of crap?

Delusional little twit.

62 funky chicken  Jan 15, 2015 3:32:44pm

re: #47 EPR-radar

What you’re seeing here is a RWNJ practicing their normal level of bone-headed stupidity in a field in which you are technically versed.

Biologists must feel the same about about denial of evolution, and with my background in the physical sciences, I have a special level of derision reserved for young-earth creationism. YEC requires chucking out just about all of the physical sciences.

Oh YEC chucks out much of the foundation of bio science as well, not to mention geology, archeology, history, etc and so forth.

63 calochortus  Jan 15, 2015 3:33:02pm

re: #55 Skip Intro

Rough field, geology.

But really interesting.

64 Skip Intro  Jan 15, 2015 3:34:10pm

re: #60 calochortus

Absolutely true. And prices will go up again, so I can’t imagine why people are buying gas guzzler

Because people have incredibly short attention spans. Thus, the new Republican Congress.

65 Justanotherhuman  Jan 15, 2015 3:35:13pm

re: #60 calochortus

Absolutely true. And prices will go up again, so I can’t imagine why people are buying gas guzzlers, but an oil services company laying off because there is little exploration being done, and few new wells being drilled isn’t a cause for alarm.

I was initially just thinking about those 9,000 unemployed persons. : /

66 Skip Intro  Jan 15, 2015 3:36:10pm

re: #63 calochortus

But really interesting.

Yeah, but I don’t remember any of my profs mentioning that my first day on the job I’d be riding a winch cable down a 100 foot deep, 18 inch diameter hole to do mapping. Damn, I wouldn’t even fit down a 24 inch hole now.

67 De Kolta Chair  Jan 15, 2015 3:37:16pm

re: #48 Skip Intro

Ron Paul Institute For Peace and Prosperity
833 W. Plantation Drive (that figures)
Clute, TX 77531

google.com

Sure, it’s just a prefab shack, but not everyone can afford I.M. Pei or Frank Gehry.

68 Charles Johnson  Jan 15, 2015 3:37:29pm
69 HappyWarrior  Jan 15, 2015 3:38:06pm

re: #48 Skip Intro

Crazy Uncle Liberty ‘s Ron Paul Institute For Peace and Prosperity weighs in on the Charlie Hebdo false flag operation.

talkingpointsmemo.com

Of course, it was a false flag.// Seriously these ghouls never stop.

70 Skip Intro  Jan 15, 2015 3:38:19pm

re: #67 De Kolta Chair

Nice clouds.

71 calochortus  Jan 15, 2015 3:38:54pm

re: #57 klystron

My diploma is pretty, though.

///

Bet mine is prettier. My MS diploma is printed on a 4.5”x5.5” piece of silver. (Mine is not framed, but is quietly residing in a drawer in the little case it came in.)

72 goddamnedfrank  Jan 15, 2015 3:39:42pm

re: #59 Charles Johnson

At first I thought Chucks “expert” cat lady might have been talking about the square areas caused by JPEG compression algorithms, which can vary in size based on which type of compression is applied to an area of the image. But no, when I looked at his post and saw that ridiculous comparison of the two eyes, I realized she was actually referring to the pixels — and that the second eye image was about half the size of the first, but blown up to be the same size, thus apparently enlarging the pixels. It’s such crap, I still think Chuck might have been taken in by some weird kind of prank.

He basically has two choices now. He can admit that his dedication to “oppo” bit him in the ass, because he’s so amazingly credulous as to accept anything that conforms to his bias, to the point of ignoring at least three named image experts who didn’t agree in the process. Or he can cop to being that blatantly dishonest that he posted the story and continues to keep it up because the idea of objective truth simply doesn’t matter to him. There is no third option where he doesn’t come off as either amazingly corrupt or monumentally stupid.

73 Skip Intro  Jan 15, 2015 3:39:54pm

re: #69 HappyWarrior

Of course, it was a false flag.// Seriously these ghouls never stop.

I wonder what President-in-waiting Aqua Buddha thinks about this? I hope someone asks him at the debates.

74 calochortus  Jan 15, 2015 3:40:13pm

re: #65 Justanotherhuman

I was initially just thinking about those 9,000 unemployed persons. : /

I understand that, but it really is part of the industry. Pay tends to be pretty good during the booms, the busts are the pits.

75 Eclectic Cyborg  Jan 15, 2015 3:40:42pm

re: #16 HappyWarrior

Sad. That they’re caving into the demands of a well known bigot.

A Duke administrator had earlier touted the move as a way to promote religious inclusiveness at the school. But the university received hundreds of calls and emails, “many of which were quite vitriolic,” Schoenfeld said. “The level of vitriol in the responses was unlike any other controversy we have seen here in quite some time.”

There also were security concerns, Schoenfeld added.

And I wonder how much of that vitriol came from so called “loving” Christians?

Are there no situations anymore in which we can be adults?

76 klystron  Jan 15, 2015 3:40:50pm

re: #71 calochortus

Bet mine is prettier. My MS diploma is printed on a 4.5”x5.5” piece of silver. (Mine is not framed, but is quietly residing in a drawer in the little case it came in.)

Embedded Image

Mine’s only paper. Not fair!

//

;)

77 compound_Idaho  Jan 15, 2015 3:41:06pm

re: #57 klystron

My degree is actually geophysical engineering and that is how I have made my living for the last 20 years. Back in the day, the oilfield snapped up everybody coming out of school and I saw no reason to turn down the offers. In retrospect, I am very happy how things worked out.

78 Skip Intro  Jan 15, 2015 3:41:41pm

Mine has Jerry Brown’s signature on it, so there.

79 klystron  Jan 15, 2015 3:42:46pm

re: #78 Skip Intro

Mine has Jerry Brown’s signature on it, so there.

I’m going to guess it’s not from this round of being governor?

;)

80 Justanotherhuman  Jan 15, 2015 3:43:01pm

re: #67 De Kolta Chair

Ron Paul Institute For Peace and Prosperity
833 W. Plantation Drive (that figures)
Clute, TX 77531

google.com

Sure, it’s just a trailer, but not everyone can afford I.M. Pei or Frank Gehry.

Looks like Lincare (833 W Plantation) might have a lucrative Medicare/Medicaid operation going on, too.

lincare.com

81 compound_Idaho  Jan 15, 2015 3:43:02pm

re: #71 calochortus

Bet mine is prettier. My MS diploma is printed on a 4.5”x5.5” piece of silver. (Mine is not framed, but is quietly residing in a drawer in the little case it came in.)

Embedded Image

My silver diploma is framed, CSM class of ‘83

82 calochortus  Jan 15, 2015 3:43:05pm

re: #76 klystron

Mine’s only paper. Not fair!

//

;)

Well, if you had gone to Mines, you could have had a silver diploma too.

83 klystron  Jan 15, 2015 3:43:42pm

re: #82 calochortus

Well, if you had gone to Mines, you could have had a silver diploma too.

Clearly, I should have considered this factor.

84 calochortus  Jan 15, 2015 3:44:54pm

re: #81 compound_Idaho

My silver diploma is framed, CSM class of ‘83

December ‘79 :)

85 Justanotherhuman  Jan 15, 2015 3:45:24pm

Who knew we had so many Lizard geologists? : )

86 klystron  Jan 15, 2015 3:45:48pm

All you younglings. My diplomas are ‘03, ‘07, and ‘13.

GET OFF MY LAWN.

;)

87 klystron  Jan 15, 2015 3:47:00pm

re: #85 Justanotherhuman

Who knew we had so many Lizard geologists? : )

I’m not really a geologist, that’s just what one of the diplomas says.

Granted, the last one. But. I feel like it would anger at least one person on my committee if I claimed to actually be one.

88 Skip Intro  Jan 15, 2015 3:47:39pm

re: #79 klystron

I’m going to guess it’s not from this round of being governor?

;)

Yes, that would be a safe bet.

89 De Kolta Chair  Jan 15, 2015 3:49:33pm
Friday came early this week. $6.99 for a six pack at Whole Foods, and I had a double-sawbuck on me.
90 Romantic Heretic  Jan 15, 2015 3:50:05pm

re: #16 HappyWarrior

Sad. That they’re caving into the demands of a well known bigot.

Read what Franklin Graham had to say and I came that close to putting my fist through my monitor.

Mr. Graham? You are a ignorant tool and as big a blight on the face of Christianity as the Charlie Hebdo perpetrators are to Islam.

91 Justanotherhuman  Jan 15, 2015 3:51:17pm

re: #89 De Kolta Chair

Image: Friday came early this week. $6.99 for a six pack at Whole Foods.

Looks like ketchup…

92 calochortus  Jan 15, 2015 3:51:18pm

re: #85 Justanotherhuman

Who knew we had so many Lizard geologists? : )

I never actually worked professionally as a geologist for a variety of reasons including $14/barrel oil way back when.

93 Romantic Heretic  Jan 15, 2015 3:51:30pm

re: #18 CuriousLurker

I’ve never liked the term Islamist myself, mostly because by using the name it ties the entire religion to violent extremism and gives it a veneer of legitimacy that it doesn’t deserve.* Unfortunately, that horse is already out of the barn and my dislike of the word won’t make it go away.

——————————————

*It also plays right into the hands of bigots like Geller, Spencer, et. al.

I’ll try not to use that word in the future then. To me it stands for those fanatics that mean to gain power through violence in the name of Islam, not Islam itself.

94 Justanotherhuman  Jan 15, 2015 3:53:56pm

re: #93 Romantic Heretic

I’ll try not to use that word in the future then. To me it stands for those fanatics that mean to gain power through violence in the name of Islam, not Islam itself.

I just call them terroristic criminals, just as I would any of those in the US who have committed such acts, regardless of motivation.

95 ObserverArt  Jan 15, 2015 3:54:07pm

Is there a word that defines this phenomena of people ignoring the real truth and accepting total crap as their truth?

I know we have always had deniers, people wanting to ignore facts and all that, but in my 60 years I have never seen so much acceptance of total bunk.

Is there something in the water? Do many Americans think there is just too much to keep up with so they go for the simple-minded explanation and pure crazy thinking. Is it something like comfort food for the brain, all fat and no vitamins and protein?

Damn.

96 Skip Intro  Jan 15, 2015 3:55:02pm

re: #95 ObserverArt

Two reasons I can think of. Rush Limbaugh and Fox News.

97 De Kolta Chair  Jan 15, 2015 3:55:19pm

re: #91 Justanotherhuman

Looks like ketchup…

After drinking two, I’m noticing subtle condiment nuances. I wonder if the Genesee Brewing Company also makes mayonnaise?

98 The Vicious Babushka  Jan 15, 2015 3:55:47pm

I paged this three days ago.

99 The Vicious Babushka  Jan 15, 2015 3:56:26pm

PIE OF THE WEEK:
RASPBERRY SWIRL CHEESECAKE PIE

100 Romantic Heretic  Jan 15, 2015 3:56:44pm

re: #21 Charles Johnson

For many years the French have been eager to import Muslims for cheap labor but not so eager to actually have them assimilate into French culture. They essentially treat a lot of Muslims as second class citizens and the suburbs are basically ghettos. It’s a bad situation where extremists can take root and spread their poison.

One of my vampires made the same observation once.

He’d been around when Hausmann redesigned Paris. The poor were forcibly evicted to the suburbs.

For some odd reason they voted Communist for the next century and more.

Georges, my vampire, noted that now that area is mostly immigrants, still poor and still suffering from the same problems that despair engenders.

101 CuriousLurker  Jan 15, 2015 3:56:57pm

re: #93 Romantic Heretic

I’ll try not to use that word in the future then. To me it stands for those fanatics that mean to gain power through violence in the name of Islam, not Islam itself.

No, please don’t censor yourself on my account! As I mentioned, that horse is already out of the barn, so I’ve learned to live with it.

102 EPR-radar  Jan 15, 2015 4:01:26pm

re: #62 funky chicken

Oh YEC chucks out much of the foundation of bio science as well, not to mention geology, archeology, history, etc and so forth.

Of course. Any kind of creationism is incompatible with just about all of the life sciences. The fact that YEC also requires getting rid of just about everything else in the sciences and history is what makes it the Platonic Ideal of pig-headed stupidity.

103 Justanotherhuman  Jan 15, 2015 4:02:36pm

re: #95 ObserverArt

Is there a word that defines this phenomena of people ignoring the real truth and accepting total crap as their truth?

I know we have always had deniers, people wanting to ignore facts and all that, but in my 60 years I have never seen so much acceptance of total bunk.

Is there something in the water? Do many Americans think there is just too much to keep up with so they go for the simple-minded explanation and pure crazy thinking. Is it something like comfort food for the brain, all fat and no vitamins and protein?

Damn.

It’s the internet in the hands of people who actually want to believe whatever they see on it.

I didn’t get back on the ‘net until 2004—and noticed it right away, plowing through site after site, trying to find real information. In 10 yrs, it’s become mainstream, and the delusion, lack of real education, escape from the hum-drum of daily life—whatever you want to call it—makes them fair game for every grifter out there who wants to be a modern day huckster.

104 EPR-radar  Jan 15, 2015 4:06:52pm

re: #95 ObserverArt

Is there a word that defines this phenomena of people ignoring the real truth and accepting total crap as their truth?

I know we have always had deniers, people wanting to ignore facts and all that, but in my 60 years I have never seen so much acceptance of total bunk.

Is there something in the water? Do many Americans think there is just too much to keep up with so they go for the simple-minded explanation and pure crazy thinking. Is it something like comfort food for the brain, all fat and no vitamins and protein?

Damn.

This is a good question. I think it comes down to people believe what they want to believe, and if mutually incompatible narratives take root in large segments of a society, there will be no easy answers.

105 HappyWarrior  Jan 15, 2015 4:06:58pm

re: #99 The Vicious Babushka

PIE OF THE WEEK:
RASPBERRY SWIRL CHEESECAKE PIE

[Embedded content]

Yummy.

106 Feline Fearless Leader  Jan 15, 2015 4:07:14pm

re: #99 The Vicious Babushka

PIE OF THE WEEK:
RASPBERRY SWIRL CHEESECAKE PIE

[Embedded content]

Looks like the bird sank. Do you have a little life preserver to use to rescue it?
;)

107 b.d.  Jan 15, 2015 4:09:19pm

re: #99 The Vicious Babushka

PIE OF THE WEEK:
RASPBERRY SWIRL CHEESECAKE PIE

[Embedded content]

Looks defective, you should send it to me for proper disposal.

108 Justanotherhuman  Jan 15, 2015 4:10:30pm

re: #99 The Vicious Babushka

PIE OF THE WEEK:
RASPBERRY SWIRL CHEESECAKE PIE

[Embedded content]

And here I am, dying for a piece of pie or cake.

And none in the house. I haz a sad and will have to rectify the situation tomorrow…

109 CuriousLurker  Jan 15, 2015 4:11:27pm

re: #93 Romantic Heretic

I’ll try not to use that word in the future then. To me it stands for those fanatics that mean to gain power through violence in the name of Islam, not Islam itself.

P.S. I would add I believe that you & others here are probably the exception rather than the rule. Someone mentioned in a comment that only something like 38% of Americans actually know a Muslim. I don’t think other people’s ideas are as nuanced as those here.

It’s become a sort of Pavlovian response, even for me—the media says “Islamist” and my brain responds with: Islamist > ISIS > terrorists > Muslim extremists. I think that for many it’s a much shorter jump: Islamist > terrorist/Muslim, complete with visions of bloody beheadings & stealing little girls for slaves/brides.

110 HappyWarrior  Jan 15, 2015 4:13:03pm

re: #109 CuriousLurker

P.S. I would add I believe that you & others here are probably the exception rather than the rule. Someone mentioned in a comment that only something like 38% of Americans actually know a Muslim. I don’t think other people’s ideas about are as nuanced as those here.

It’s become a sort of Pavlovian response, even for me—the media says “Islamist” and my brain responds with: Islamist > ISIS > terrorists > Muslim extremists. I think that for many it’s a much shorter jump: Islamist > terrorist/Muslim, complete with visions of bloody beheadings & stealing little girls for slaves/brides.

I imagine those 38% are the most fearful. It doesn’t help that there’s a whole industry dedicated to making people fear Muslims and Islam.

111 Skip Intro  Jan 15, 2015 4:14:13pm

Cop shoots two others, obfuscation follows.

kob.com

112 Justanotherhuman  Jan 15, 2015 4:17:01pm

UK, US to carry out ‘war game’ cyber attacks on each other as part of joint operation against online crime - @BBCBreaking
bbc.com

Waiting for GG’s angst-ridden twit on this.

113 ObserverArt  Jan 15, 2015 4:17:20pm

re: #104 EPR-radar

This is a good question. I think it comes down to people believe what they want to believe, and if mutually incompatible narratives take root in large segments of a society, there will be no easy answers.

Thinking further…what benefit is there for people to believe the unbelievable?

Ordinarily a human is born with a blank mind and the normal behavior would be to fill that brain with good stuff that helps the human grow and advance.

What is going on now is like throwing your car in reverse and driving backwards and never getting anywhere. And then realizing it and being totally happy never getting there.

I wonder how behaviorists and educators are dealing with this. I wonder if it’s a growing concern. I think it should be, it will bring this country down. And we may be on the way.

Speaking of education. I wonder how much home schooling, evangelical (and other fundie) schools and colleges and dumbing down public school curriculums got this bad precedence going?

114 Shiplord Kirel  Jan 15, 2015 4:25:23pm

Some background, long time ago but well within living memory:
Algerian War

The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian War of Independence or the Algerian Revolution (Berber: Tagrawla Tadzayrit; Arabic: الثورة الجزائرية‎ Al-thawra Al-Jazaa’iriyya; French: Guerre d’Algérie or Révolution algérienne) was a war between France and the Algerian independence movements from 1954 to 1962, which led to Algeria gaining its independence from France. An important decolonization war, it was a complex conflict characterized by guerrilla warfare, maquis fighting, terrorism, the use of torture by both sides, and counter-terrorism operations.OAS

Besides the massive atrocities, casualties were enormous, with more than 20,000 French military personnel killed and possibly a quarter of a million Algerians.

OAS (Organisation de l’armée secrète)

The Organisation de l’armée secrète (OAS — or Organisation armée secrète, lit. “Organisation of the Secret Army” or “Secret Armed Organisation”) was a short-lived French dissident paramilitary organisation during the Algerian War (1954-62). The OAS used armed struggle in an attempt to prevent Algeria’s independence from French colonial rule. Its motto was L’Algérie est française et le restera (“Algeria is French and will remain so”).

The wikipedia entry is a little weaseley in its language. OAS was in fact one of the most ruthless and violent terrorist groups of modern times. Among other things, they popularized the car bomb and showed no compunction about killing school children and fellow Frenchmen if the perceived need arose. One clash between OAS gunmen and loyal troops resulted in 41 fatalities. In another attack, OAS gangsters murdered 59 Algerian cleaning ladies who were lining up to receive their pay. Their boss, a Frenchman, was also killed. Most OAS members either escaped punishment entirely or got off with token sentences.

115 Justanotherhuman  Jan 15, 2015 4:25:53pm

Heh. Mr. “Tough Guy”.

116 CuriousLurker  Jan 15, 2015 4:26:17pm

re: #110 HappyWarrior

I imagine those 38% are the most fearful. It doesn’t help that there’s a whole industry dedicated to making people fear Muslims and Islam.

I dunno. Not if they know them as in if they’re neighbors, friends, etc. It’s hard to fear someone you see & talk to on a regular basis. OTOH, if it’s just someone you see in the hallway occasionally, or the guy you buy your newspaper from every morning, then there’s prolly more room for fear there since there’s not a big personal connection.

I’ll be quite honest: One of the reasons I’m here—aside from the fact that 1.) there’s a wide variety of people I can learn lots of stuff from, and 2.) I know it’s important to be around people who don’t think necessarily think/believe the way I do—is to make the idea of a Muslim less scary, less alien.

Like maybe someone doesn’t personally know any Muslims, but they come here every day and they see me, Dr Lizardo, etc., then the next time they hear “Muslim” one of us is likely to pop into their head and compete with the specter of the scary Islamist/terrorist Muslim.

117 Dr. Matt  Jan 15, 2015 4:27:20pm

re: #115 Justanotherhuman

Heh. Mr. “Tough Guy”.

[Embedded content]

His pathetic attempt at being a “bully” has really grown thin.

118 Justanotherhuman  Jan 15, 2015 4:28:59pm

re: #114 Shiplord Kirel

I saw this many years ago.

…

119 Decatur Deb  Jan 15, 2015 4:33:47pm

re: #114 Shiplord Kirel

Some background, long time ago but well within living memory:
Algerian War

Besides the massive atrocities, casualties were enormous, with more than 20,000 French military personnel killed and possibly a quarter of a million Algerians.

OAS (Organisation de l’armée secrète)

The wikipedia entry is a little weaseley in its language. OAS was in fact one of the most ruthless and violent terrorist groups of modern times. Among other things, they popularized the car bomb and showed no compunction about killing school children and fellow Frenchmen if the perceived need arose. One clash between OAS gunmen and loyal troops resulted in 41 fatalities. In another attack, OAS gangsters murdered 59 Algerian cleaning ladies who were lining up to receive their pay. Their boss, a Frenchman, was also killed. Most OAS members either escaped punishment entirely or got off with token sentences.

And they were intimately linked to veterans and serving units of the French Army. What is French for “oathkeeper”?

120 Dr. Matt  Jan 15, 2015 4:34:17pm
121 FemNaziBitch  Jan 15, 2015 4:34:50pm

Ain’t this loverly?

122 blueraven  Jan 15, 2015 4:35:24pm

re: #118 Justanotherhuman

I saw this many years ago.

[Embedded content]

Video

The Battle of Algiers is a powerful movie.

Highly recommend.

123 Decatur Deb  Jan 15, 2015 4:35:55pm

re: #118 Justanotherhuman

I saw this many years ago.

[Embedded content]

I saw it at UofL in 1968, sponsored by an anti-war student organization. After 9/11, I was offered another chance to see it, at the Pentagon, sponsored by a J2 staff element.

124 EPR-radar  Jan 15, 2015 4:36:16pm

re: #113 ObserverArt

Thinking further…what benefit is there for people to believe the unbelievable?

Ordinarily a human is born with a blank mind and the normal behavior would be to fill that brain with good stuff that helps the human grow and advance.

What is going on now is like throwing your car in reverse and driving backwards and never getting anywhere. And then realizing it and being totally happy never getting there.

I wonder how behaviorists and educators are dealing with this. I wonder if it’s a growing concern. I think it should be, it will bring this country down. And we may be on the way.

Speaking of education. I wonder how much home schooling, evangelical (and other fundie) schools and colleges and dumbing down public school curriculums got this bad precedence going?

One problem is that the punishment for willful stupidity can take a long time to mete out. Even if the US fully succumbs to this, the resulting fall of the US would take decades.

In fact, it’s entirely possible for no real consequences to befall the willfully stupid at all (absent external factors like China or climate change). For example, being willfully stupid is how to be successful in GOP politics.

125 Justanotherhuman  Jan 15, 2015 4:37:37pm

re: #122 blueraven

The Battle of Algiers is a powerful movie.

Highly recommend.

Indeed it is.

126 Shiplord Kirel  Jan 15, 2015 4:42:51pm

re: #118 Justanotherhuman

I saw this many years ago.

[Embedded content]

Great movie, fiction but fairly accurate in its depiction of events during the war. The fictional Colonel Mathieu is based on two real life officers, Marcel Bigeard and Jacques Massu. Bigeard is the alleged originator of the “death flight,” ie taking a group of suspects up in a helicopter and pitching one out to get the others to talk. This was usually done over water, with the bodies known as “Bigeard’s shrimps” when they washed up on beaches.

127 Decatur Deb  Jan 15, 2015 4:45:02pm

re: #126 Shiplord Kirel

Great movie, fiction but fairly accurate in its depiction of events during the war. The fictional Colonel Mathieu is based on two real life officers, Marcel Bigeard and Jacques Massu. Bigeard is the alleged originator of the “death flight,” ie taking a group of suspects up in a helicopter and pitching one out to get the others to talk. This was usually done over water, with the bodies known as “Bigeard’s shrimps” when they washed up on beaches.

One of those officers never bothered to deny his role and lived on, quite untouchable.

128 Justanotherhuman  Jan 15, 2015 4:45:41pm

Holy cow.

Woman Falls from City Building, Lands on Pedestrian Below: Police

Read more: nbcphiladelphia.com
Follow us: @nbcphiladelphia on Twitter | nbcphiladelphia on Facebook

129 Backwoods_Sleuth  Jan 15, 2015 4:46:54pm

I have just finished reading The. Most. Dreadful. Pretentious. Zombie. Apocalypse. Novel. Ever.

Hint: The “hero” (and I use that term lightly) is a Libertarian who despises big government and won $300 million in the lottery, with which he purchased a huge vehicle ferry ship and turned it into a personal luxury liner for friends and family. The ship has more weaponry (he calls them “toys” and describes each thing in lengthy tedious detail) than most small nations. (I think there’s a Ferrari on the boat as well, in addition to helicopters, a plane, amphibious vehicles, a submarine, armored SUVs…it’s like “toys” are added all the time.)

All of the female characters are frail things that need protecting and the only really interesting character is an engineer who has no relationship with the rich people. He’s stuck on land actually dealing with the zombies while the rich people on the boat pretend to be all end times militia types who talk in military lingo (but lump the US Navy in with the bad guys) and just love saying “Charlie Mike” all the freaking time.

My eyes kept glazing over, but I fought through to the end and SURPRISE!!! there was no ending, other than buy the next book to see what happens next in this Libertarian wet dream!

I want all of those hours returned to me…

ETA: Oh, and just about any conspiracy theory you can think of is in there except for chemtrails and fluoridation, but I expect those will show up in later books…

130 ObserverArt  Jan 15, 2015 4:47:17pm

re: #116 CuriousLurker

I dunno. Not if they know them as in if they’re neighbors, friends, etc. It’s hard to fear someone you see & talk to on a regular basis. OTOH, if it’s just someone you see in the hallway occasionally, or the guy you buy your newspaper from every morning, then there’s prolly more room for fear there since there’s not a big personal connection.

I’ll be quite honest: One of the reasons I’m here—aside from the fact that 1.) there’s a wide variety of people I can learn lots of stuff from, and 2.) I know it’s important to be around people who don’t think necessarily think/believe the way I do—is to make the idea of a Muslim less scary, less alien.

Like maybe someone doesn’t personally know any Muslims, but they come here every day and they see me, Dr Lizardo, etc., then the next time they hear “Muslim” one of us is likely to pop into their head and compete with the specter of the scary Islamist/terrorist Muslim.

This gets back to what we were discussing over the weekend. The education factor that is needed to get people to realize there are billions of good Muslim people that are not terrorists and do not support it and a comparative handful of terrorists calling themselves Muslims and not supported by the teachings of the religion.

I do feel this needs a worldwide effort to keep pounding on the truth. Ever since 9/11 there has been way more fear taught than there has been truth. At least I believe that to be true. I know there was some effort to educate, but it has not taken and/or was run over by the hate.

And this fits my other posts about education.

It is just too easy to hate. And it takes effort to learn. We seem to go for the easy. Every. Time.

131 Shiplord Kirel  Jan 15, 2015 4:47:34pm

re: #119 Decatur Deb

And they were intimately linked to veterans and serving units of the French Army. What is French for “oathkeeper”?

OAS legacy. OAS veterans continued to be active in counter insurgency and government oppression all over the world until quite recently. They were especially noted in Argentina’s Dirty War in the 1970s (where “death flights” were also a regular feature).

132 CuriousLurker  Jan 15, 2015 4:47:53pm

re: #126 Shiplord Kirel

Do you (or anyone) have any book recommendations on the subject of the Algerian War? I don’t really care for military/battle type history books, I’d be looking for something that reads more like a novel, something with a “human face” that I can connect with, y’know?

133 De Kolta Chair  Jan 15, 2015 4:51:18pm
The best book I’ve read so far in 2015. The ball is in your court, Michael Palin.
134 Decatur Deb  Jan 15, 2015 4:52:03pm

re: #132 CuriousLurker

Do you (or anyone) have any book recommendations on the subject of the Algerian War? I don’t really care for military/battle type history books, I’d be looking for something that reads more like a novel, something with a “human face” that I can connect with, y’know?

Jean Lartiguy. The Centurions, The Praetorians, etc.

135 ObserverArt  Jan 15, 2015 4:52:07pm

re: #132 CuriousLurker

Do you (or anyone) have any book recommendations on the subject of the Algerian War? I don’t really care for military/battle type history books, I’d be looking for something that reads more like a novel, something with a “human face” that I can connect with, y’know?

You mean like Gone with the Wind is a history of the Civil War?

///runs away from CL…knowing I am really in trouble now!

136 Justanotherhuman  Jan 15, 2015 4:52:18pm

Excellent! The guy is a real hero.

Muslim Man Who Saved Paris Hostages To Be Granted French Citizenship

talkingpointsmemo.com

“We’re brothers. It’s not a question of Jews, Christians or Muslims,” Bathily told a French news channel. “We’re all in the same boat, and we have to help one another to get out of this crisis.”

137 Justanotherhuman  Jan 15, 2015 4:53:28pm

re: #129 Backwoods_Sleuth

I have just finished reading The. Most. Dreadful. Pretentious. Zombie. Apocalypse. Novel. Ever.

Hint: The “hero” (and I use that term lightly) is a Libertarian who despises big government and won $300 million in the lottery, with which he purchased a huge vehicle ferry ship and turned it into a personal luxury liner for friends and family. The ship has more weaponry (he calls them “toys” and describes each thing in lengthy tedious detail) than most small nations. (I think there’s a Ferrari on the boat as well, in addition to helicopters, a plane, amphibious vehicles, a submarine, armored SUVs…it’s like “toys” are added all the time.)

All of the female characters are frail things that need protecting and the only really interesting character is an engineer who has no relationship with the rich people. He’s stuck on land actually dealing with the zombies while the rich people on the boat pretend to be all end times militia types who talk in military lingo (but lump the US Navy in with the bad guys) and just love saying “Charlie Mike” all the freaking time.

My eyes kept glazing over, but I fought through to the end and SURPRISE!!! there was no ending, other than buy the next book to see what happens next in this Libertarian wet dream!

I want all of those hours returned to me…

ETA: Oh, and just about any conspiracy theory you can think of is in there except for chemtrails and fluoridation, but I expect those will show up in later books…

Makes you hope that all their parents were anti-vaxxers…

138 CuriousLurker  Jan 15, 2015 4:53:48pm

re: #134 Decatur Deb

Jean Lartiguy. The Centurions, The Praetorians, etc.

Thanks, I’ll look them up on Amazon.

re: #135 ObserverArt

You mean like Gone with the Wind is a history of the Civil War?

///runs away from CL…knowing I am really in trouble now!

*takes off slipper, aims it at OA’s head…* //

139 #FergusonFireside  Jan 15, 2015 4:56:12pm

Hey LGF, halp! I cannot remember the full nic, but am looking for mksmith51 (or something like that!) for his page on MLK day speech @ Catholic school.

??

140 klystron  Jan 15, 2015 4:56:35pm

re: #129 Backwoods_Sleuth

…were the author’s initials JR?

141 Decatur Deb  Jan 15, 2015 4:57:06pm

re: #138 CuriousLurker

Thanks, I’ll look them up on Amazon.

*takes off slipper, aims it at OA’s head…* //

Simone de Beauvoir also wrote extensively about an Algerian woman, tortured by the French:

ingentaconnect.com

142 Backwoods_Sleuth  Jan 15, 2015 4:57:08pm

re: #137 Justanotherhuman

Makes you hope that all their parents were anti-vaxxers…

oh, vaccines are definitely the teasers…the zombie virus is a biological weapon of terror!

143 Lidane  Jan 15, 2015 4:57:09pm
144 ObserverArt  Jan 15, 2015 4:57:35pm

re: #138 CuriousLurker

*takes off slipper, aims it at OA’s head…* //

Owwww!!!

(Later all…gonna bang on my drums a bit. Haven’t played much music this week with the head cold and all.)

145 electrotek  Jan 15, 2015 4:58:35pm

re: #21 Charles Johnson

For many years the French have been eager to import Muslims for cheap labor but not so eager to actually have them assimilate into French culture. They essentially treat a lot of Muslims as second class citizens and the suburbs are basically ghettos. It’s a bad situation where extremists can take root and spread their poison.

Very true, and even those that do integrate are still met with abuse if they are not white. Remember the huge uproar against Miss France 2014 because she was not white?

I mean for fuck’s sake, if someone like her that is obviously extremely integrated and assimilated into French society will never be accepted by the rabid racists of France, then by what logic can the usual blowhards demand such a thing from Algerians and Moroccans?

146 Backwoods_Sleuth  Jan 15, 2015 4:58:43pm

re: #140 klystron

…were the author’s initials JR?

DPF

147 Backwoods_Sleuth  Jan 15, 2015 4:59:35pm

re: #139 #FergusonFireside

Hey LGF, halp! I cannot remember the full nic, but am looking for mksmith51 (or something like that!) for his page on MLK day speech @ Catholic school.

??

that would be headlessnines (or along those lines), I think.

148 Decatur Deb  Jan 15, 2015 5:00:20pm

re: #144 ObserverArt

Owwww!!!

(Later all…gonna bang on my drums a bit. Haven’t played much music this week with the head cold and all.)

Fear the Islamic chancla !!

149 HappyWarrior  Jan 15, 2015 5:00:45pm

re: #145 electrotek

Very true, and even those that do integrate are still met with abuse if they are not white. Remember the huge uproar against Miss France 2014 because she was not white?

I mean for fuck’s sake, if someone like her that is obviously extremely integrated and assimilated into French society will never be accepted by the rabid racists of France, then by what logic can the usual blowhards demand such a thing from Algerians and Moroccans?

Wasn’t our own Miss America the past year given death threats? Indian American and Hindu but of course to the bigots, she had to be a Mooslsam.// Our world’s gotten better in some ways but there’s a lot of bigots who haven’t done any sort of progression ever.

150 HappyWarrior  Jan 15, 2015 5:01:15pm

re: #143 Lidane

[Embedded content]

Weren’t the Runaways just inducted into the Rock HoF too?

151 Kragar  Jan 15, 2015 5:01:32pm
152 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality  Jan 15, 2015 5:01:59pm

re: #147 Backwoods_Sleuth

that would be headlessnines (or along those lines), I think.

nearlyheadlessmike?

153 Shiplord Kirel  Jan 15, 2015 5:02:35pm

re: #132 CuriousLurker

Do you (or anyone) have any book recommendations on the subject of the Algerian War? I don’t really care for military/battle type history books, I’d be looking for something that reads more like a novel, something with a “human face” that I can connect with, y’know?

I conditionally recommend Alistair Horne’s A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954-1962. This was recommended reading for American officers in Iraq.

(My recommendation is conditional because Horne later blamed the Iraq war on the influence of the “Zionist lobby” in Washington.)

154 HappyWarrior  Jan 15, 2015 5:02:39pm

re: #151 Kragar

[Embedded content]

Goddamn she’s stupid.

155 Blind Frog Belly White  Jan 15, 2015 5:02:48pm

re: #129 Backwoods_Sleuth

I have just finished reading The. Most. Dreadful. Pretentious. Zombie. Apocalypse. Novel. Ever.

Hint: The “hero” (and I use that term lightly) is a Libertarian who despises big government and won $300 million in the lottery, with which he purchased a huge vehicle ferry ship and turned it into a personal luxury liner for friends and family. The ship has more weaponry (he calls them “toys” and describes each thing in lengthy tedious detail) than most small nations. (I think there’s a Ferrari on the boat as well, in addition to helicopters, a plane, amphibious vehicles, a submarine, armored SUVs…it’s like “toys” are added all the time.)

All of the female characters are frail things that need protecting and the only really interesting character is an engineer who has no relationship with the rich people. He’s stuck on land actually dealing with the zombies while the rich people on the boat pretend to be all end times militia types who talk in military lingo (but lump the US Navy in with the bad guys) and just love saying “Charlie Mike” all the freaking time.

My eyes kept glazing over, but I fought through to the end and SURPRISE!!! there was no ending, other than buy the next book to see what happens next in this Libertarian wet dream!

I want all of those hours returned to me…

ETA: Oh, and just about any conspiracy theory you can think of is in there except for chemtrails and fluoridation, but I expect those will show up in later books…

Sadly, I’m willing to bet the title isn’t “The. Most. Dreadful. Pretentious. Zombie. Apocalypse. Novel. Ever.”

Odd that the libertarian hero had to get his millions via a game of chance, don’t you think? I’d expect it to have been his own brilliance that netted him the funds.

156 #FergusonFireside  Jan 15, 2015 5:03:17pm

re: #147 Backwoods_Sleuth

that would be headlessnines (or along those lines), I think.

Yeah. But no match so far. Hey Charles (heh) how bout a search for members? Like you type in the first two letters you remember and voila!

I hope he posts his page.

157 electrotek  Jan 15, 2015 5:03:22pm

re: #149 HappyWarrior

Wasn’t our own Miss America the past year given death threats? Indian American and Hindu but of course to the bigots, she had to be a Mooslsam.// Our world’s gotten better in some ways but there’s a lot of bigots who haven’t done any sort of progression ever.

Exactly, HappyWarrior.

My issue is this: how does the abuse the French girl received help battle the narratives espoused by the jihad preachers? They can point to that example and say, “Look at her, she obviously kissed up to her Western masters and they still do not accept her as one of them, so why be part of a society that will never accept you?”

Such sentiment is dangerous and often times bites us in the ass towards the end.

158 ObserverArt  Jan 15, 2015 5:03:25pm

re: #150 HappyWarrior

Weren’t the Runaways just inducted into the Rock HoF too?

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts were just nominated this year.

159 HappyWarrior  Jan 15, 2015 5:04:02pm

re: #158 ObserverArt

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts were just nominated this year.

That’s right, thanks.

160 Backwoods_Sleuth  Jan 15, 2015 5:04:28pm

re: #152 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality

nearlyheadlessmike?

sound right

161 Backwoods_Sleuth  Jan 15, 2015 5:05:23pm

re: #155 Blind Frog Belly White

Sadly, I’m willing to bet the title isn’t “The. Most. Dreadful. Pretentious. Zombie. Apocalypse. Novel. Ever.”

Odd that the libertarian hero had to get his millions via a game of chance, don’t you think? I’d expect it to have been his own brilliance that netted him the funds.

BOOTSTRAPS!!11!!1

smh…

162 HappyWarrior  Jan 15, 2015 5:05:30pm

re: #157 electrotek

Exactly, HappyWarrior.

My issue is this: how does the abuse the French girl received help battle the narratives espoused by the jihad preachers? They can point to that example and say, “Look at her, she obviously kissed up to her Western masters and they still do not accept her as one of them, so why be part of a society that will never accept you?”

Such sentiment is dangerous and often times bites us in the ass towards the end.

Well, that’s why I think being welcoming to immigrants is a good thing. We have a high compared to the national average population of Muslims here in Northern Va. There’s not flipping out here about mosques and Islamic community centers.

163 De Kolta Chair  Jan 15, 2015 5:06:00pm

re: #143 Lidane

[Embedded content]

What a drag. He’s been called “the king of the psychedelic freakout.” At least he lived long enough to see the recent revival of his music and of those he influenced and produced. Requiescat in peace and peyote, Kim Fowley.
…

164 #FergusonFireside  Jan 15, 2015 5:06:06pm

re: #160 Backwoods_Sleuth

sound right

zip on the search I think it searches the content of the comment, not the poster.

Looking for his page post.

165 Kragar  Jan 15, 2015 5:06:48pm
166 Shiplord Kirel  Jan 15, 2015 5:07:07pm

A good recent movie about the Algerian war is Intimate Enemies (L’Ennemi intime). This has excellent production values and effects and is available on Netflix. It is brutally realistic, though, so be warned.

167 #FergusonFireside  Jan 15, 2015 5:07:34pm

re: #162 HappyWarrior

Well, that’s why I think being welcoming to immigrants is a good thing. We have a high compared to the national average population of Muslims here in Northern Va. There’s not flipping out here about mosques and Islamic community centers.

Easy classification of bigots in our midst. Unfortunately, I think they are in the majority.

168 ObserverArt  Jan 15, 2015 5:07:38pm

re: #159 HappyWarrior

That’s right, thanks.

…

…and with that…I hear my drums calling.

169 electrotek  Jan 15, 2015 5:07:47pm

re: #162 HappyWarrior

Well, that’s why I think being welcoming to immigrants is a good thing. We have a high compared to the national average population of Muslims here in Northern Va. There’s not flipping out here about mosques and Islamic community centers.

I have family in the NOVA area so I can actually attest to that. It also helps that the Muslim community over there is extremely well-off and doesn’t exhibit the issues that plague European Muslim communities in immigrant circles.

170 HappyWarrior  Jan 15, 2015 5:08:58pm

re: #169 electrotek

I have family in the NOVA area so I can actually attest to that. It also helps that the Muslim community over there is extremely well-off and doesn’t exhibit the issues that plague European Muslim communities in immigrant circles.

Yeah, it’s a quite well educated community. I think what Charles gets at in post #21 is a good point.

171 EPR-radar  Jan 15, 2015 5:10:08pm

re: #129 Backwoods_Sleuth

I thought entries for the Bulwer-Lytton contest were supposed to be a single sentence, as opposed to book-length efforts.

172 HappyWarrior  Jan 15, 2015 5:10:14pm

re: #167 #FergusonFireside

Easy classification of bigots in our midst. Unfortunately, I think they are in the majority.

It’s pretty good here. Weirdly enough, I think the anti-Muslim crap has gotten worse than Obama got elected since Obama’s been used as a vessel to project anti-Muslim hatred on. I still remember that woman telling McCain how Obama was an Arab and not a Christian. McCain could have handled that a lot better than he did.

173 #FergusonFireside  Jan 15, 2015 5:10:21pm

Random.

The majority of you know the Entenmann’s brand right?

Last night @ the drug store they had this basket with these cute as hell little authentic Entenmann’s boxes, with candles inside.

Lemon Pound Cake filling the air.

174 HappyWarrior  Jan 15, 2015 5:10:35pm

re: #168 ObserverArt

[Embedded content]

…and with that…I hear my drums calling.

Nice. I like Reputation which ended up being the theme for Freaks and Geeks.

175 CuriousLurker  Jan 15, 2015 5:11:42pm

re: #141 Decatur Deb

Simone de Beauvoir also wrote extensively about an Algerian woman, tortured by the French:

ingentaconnect.com

Thanks. I’m really trying to understand some of the things that allowed today’s form of violent, radical Islam to arise, not to mention all the problems in the Mideast. I’m not looking to blame the victim, but I also know that nothing happens in a vacuum.

There’s also a certain sort of… I dunno, a condescending, disdainful attitude I see sometimes when it comes to people in the “third world”. I guess it mostly makes me twitch because I wonder how much of our own “superior culture”, our democratic freedoms, came at the expense of other countries & peoples. How many did we stomp on to get whatever natural resources, labor, critical military positions (geopolitically speaking), etc. that allowed us to ascend?

It bugs me that I don’t know. I’m trying to fix that by going back to WWI & WWII and trying to understand what happened there as those events seem to be the catalysts that caused our modern world came into existence (or maybe it was vice versa—I don’t know).

176 electrotek  Jan 15, 2015 5:11:44pm

Either way though, French Muslims in general should also do a lot more to value education and shun the vices that are common with their banlieues (sp?). They should know that nothing comes easy in life and God rewards those who are patient in spite of the hardships they encounter. It is important to display good manners and engage in respect and dignity towards others.

Both sides have to do their part, it’s not just one or the other. Both have to learn to work

They have to value education and in all honesty, need to stop living in the past in order to justify their victimization mentality.

That being said, I was actually surprised Zinedane Zidane has been quiet in the midst of all this. Especially since he is perhaps the highest-profile French Muslim to ever grace the country.

177 CuriousLurker  Jan 15, 2015 5:15:05pm

re: #149 HappyWarrior

Wasn’t our own Miss America the past year given death threats? Indian American and Hindu but of course to the bigots, she had to be a Mooslsam.// Our world’s gotten better in some ways but there’s a lot of bigots who haven’t done any sort of progression ever.

There was also Rima Fakih, Miss USA 2010.

178 De Kolta Chair  Jan 15, 2015 5:16:02pm

BBL lizards. The Great Train Robbery (1979) is on Turner Classic Movies, and I try not to ever miss a movie photographed and lit by the brilliant Geoffrey Unsworth. Drive safely and wear lots of layers.

179 electrotek  Jan 15, 2015 5:16:35pm

re: #177 CuriousLurker

There was also Rima Fakih, Miss USA 2010.

And yet they always fetish Muslim women somehow. SMH

180 HappyWarrior  Jan 15, 2015 5:16:39pm

re: #177 CuriousLurker

There was also Rima Fakih, Miss USA 2010.

Ah okay. I only really remembered the woman who won last year. That pageant really isn’t something I pay much attention to. I just remember it disgusting me that she was actually getting death threats. As I said, we got a large subsection in our country that really never got over the civil rights movement being successful.

181 #FergusonFireside  Jan 15, 2015 5:16:43pm

re: #172 HappyWarrior

It’s pretty good here. Weirdly enough, I think the anti-Muslim crap has gotten worse than Obama got elected since Obama’s been used as a vessel to project anti-Muslim hatred on. I still remember that woman telling McCain how Obama was an Arab and not a Christian. McCain could have handled that a lot better than he did.

Another point here. With the insane RW freak out about the Moslems (RM) it occurs to me that the gun is more powerful.

Young dude in Ohio with a pretty good Islamic beard going. is able to buy all the guns and ammo he wants. Wouldn’t your typical RW gun seller freaking question that sale??

Or free market wins no matter.

(Unless the gun seller was tipped off)

182 Decatur Deb  Jan 15, 2015 5:17:05pm

re: #175 CuriousLurker

Thanks. I’m really trying to understand some of the things that allowed today’s form of violent, radical Islam to arise, not to mention all the problems in the Mideast. I’m not looking to blame the victim, but I also know that nothing happens in a vacuum.

There’s also a certain sort of… I dunno, a condescending, disdainful attitude I see sometimes when it comes to people in the “third world”. I guess i mostly makes me twitch because I wonder how much of our own “superior culture”, our democratic freedoms, came at the expense of other countries & peoples. How many did we stomp on to get whatever natural resources, labor, critical military positions (geopolitically speaking), etc. that allowed us to ascend?

It bugs me that I don’t know. I’m trying to fix that by going back to WWI & WWII and trying to understand what happened there as those events seem to be the catalysts that caused our modern world came into existence (or maybe it was vice versa—I don’t know).

When you look at Algeria, there is another complication—the Pieds Noir, multigenerational european settlers, often farmers, who played a role like the Boers in South Africa. They were the source of much of the pressure for brutality placed on the French authorities.

183 CuriousLurker  Jan 15, 2015 5:17:15pm

re: #153 Shiplord Kirel

I conditionally recommend Alistair Horne’s A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954-1962. This was recommended reading for American officers in Iraq.

(My recommendation is conditional because Horne later blamed the Iraq war on the influence of the “Zionist lobby” in Washington.)

Thanks. I’ll take a look at it keeping that last bit in mind.

184 electrotek  Jan 15, 2015 5:18:12pm

re: #181 #FergusonFireside

Another point here. With the insane RW freak out about the Moslems (RM) it occurs to me that the gun is more powerful.

Young dude in Ohio with a pretty good Islamic beard going. is able to buy all the guns and ammo he wants. Wouldn’t your typical RW gun seller freaking question that sale??

Or free market wins no matter.

(Unless the gun seller was tipped off)

When you have the Duck Dynasty bozos rockin’ beards, and the nutty Salafi crackhead convert being white, how can one blame the RW gun seller for not questioning it? It’s not like that dufus would use his newfound Islamic name anyways.

185 EPR-radar  Jan 15, 2015 5:18:17pm

re: #175 CuriousLurker

Thanks. I’m really trying to understand some of the things that allowed today’s form of violent, radical Islam to arise, not to mention all the problems in the Mideast. I’m not looking to blame the victim, but I also know that nothing happens in a vacuum.

There’s also a certain sort of… I dunno, a condescending, disdainful attitude I see sometimes when it comes to people in the “third world”. I guess i mostly makes me twitch because I wonder how much of our own “superior culture”, our democratic freedoms, came at the expense of other countries & peoples. How many did we stomp on to get whatever natural resources, labor, critical military positions (geopolitically speaking), etc. that allowed us to ascend?

It bugs me that I don’t know. I’m trying to fix that by going back to WWI & WWII and trying to understand what happened there as those events seem to be the catalysts that caused our modern world came into existence (or maybe it was vice versa—I don’t know).

The question you pose was considered in Guns, Germs and Steel. IMO, it’s worth a read if you haven’t already done so, although any thesis of that scope is going to have parts I’m skeptical of.

In any case, WWI and WWII are probably too recent to really address this. The ascendency of Europe/US in world history has roots that go back centuries.

186 The Vicious Babushka  Jan 15, 2015 5:19:23pm

re: #129 Backwoods_Sleuth

I have just finished reading The. Most. Dreadful. Pretentious. Zombie. Apocalypse. Novel. Ever.

Hint: The “hero” (and I use that term lightly) is a Libertarian who despises big government and won $300 million in the lottery, with which he purchased a huge vehicle ferry ship and turned it into a personal luxury liner for friends and family. The ship has more weaponry (he calls them “toys” and describes each thing in lengthy tedious detail) than most small nations. (I think there’s a Ferrari on the boat as well, in addition to helicopters, a plane, amphibious vehicles, a submarine, armored SUVs…it’s like “toys” are added all the time.)

All of the female characters are frail things that need protecting and the only really interesting character is an engineer who has no relationship with the rich people. He’s stuck on land actually dealing with the zombies while the rich people on the boat pretend to be all end times militia types who talk in military lingo (but lump the US Navy in with the bad guys) and just love saying “Charlie Mike” all the freaking time.

My eyes kept glazing over, but I fought through to the end and SURPRISE!!! there was no ending, other than buy the next book to see what happens next in this Libertarian wet dream!

I want all of those hours returned to me…

ETA: Oh, and just about any conspiracy theory you can think of is in there except for chemtrails and fluoridation, but I expect those will show up in later books…

Name of author and title?

Why did you finish it? I would have just returned it.

187 HappyWarrior  Jan 15, 2015 5:20:02pm

Whatever became of Park 51 and that whole thing. That was the first real exposure I saw to the growing Islamaphobia.

188 lawhawk  Jan 15, 2015 5:21:05pm

re: #21 Charles Johnson

For many years the French have been eager to import Muslims for cheap labor but not so eager to actually have them assimilate into French culture. They essentially treat a lot of Muslims as second class citizens and the suburbs are basically ghettos. It’s a bad situation where extremists can take root and spread their poison.

This was a situation that came to a head a few years back. Remember the car-be-ques that were a daily occurrence all across the banlieus? Hundreds, or even thousands of cars, torched over the span of a few nights because of unrest and lack of opportunities in the banlieus.

The situation hasn’t gotten all that much better even as the police have gotten better at stopping the vandalism and arson. The job opportunities are still lacking and the French are stubborn in their refusal to allow assimilation, even if the immigrants want to assimilate.

189 Backwoods_Sleuth  Jan 15, 2015 5:22:43pm

re: #164 #FergusonFireside

zip on the search I think it searches the content of the comment, not the poster.

Looking for his page post.

I don’t see a post, but here’s who it is:
littlegreenfootballs.com

190 electrotek  Jan 15, 2015 5:22:48pm

re: #188 lawhawk

They had 10 FUCKING years to fix the problem of disaffected youth!!! No excuses from the French for not helping to fix the problems that still affect them.

191 Justanotherhuman  Jan 15, 2015 5:23:25pm

re: #176 electrotek

Either way though, French Muslims in general should also do a lot more to value education and shun the vices that are common with their banlieues (sp?). They should know that nothing comes easy in life and God rewards those who are patient in spite of the hardships they encounter. It is important to display good manners and engage in respect and dignity towards others.

Both sides have to do their part, it’s not just one or the other. Both have to learn to work

They have to value education and in all honesty, need to stop living in the past in order to justify their victimization mentality.

That being said, I was actually surprised Zinedane Zidane has been quiet in the midst of all this. Especially since he is perhaps the highest-profile French Muslim to ever grace the country.

He’s a footballer and describes himself as a “non-practicing Muslim”.

theguardian.com

“In the rest of France, Zidane, nicknamed ‘Zizou’ by the public, is admired for his decency as well as his footballing skills. His public priorities are football, family and friends. His family are Algerian immigrants, so-called beurs (French slang for Arabs), and he describes himself as ‘a non-practising Muslim’.”

192 electrotek  Jan 15, 2015 5:24:07pm

We won’t ever see images like this in Paris for a long time now :(

The only time the face of a French-Algerian will be beamed on the Arc de Triomphe

World Cup ‘98

193 gwangung  Jan 15, 2015 5:24:10pm

re: #190 electrotek

They had 10 FUCKING years to fix the problem of disaffected youth!!! No excuses from the French for not helping to fix the problems that still affect them.

That’s like saying the South had 150 years to fix the problems of Jim Crow and segregation….

194 #FergusonFireside  Jan 15, 2015 5:24:34pm

re: #175 CuriousLurker

Thanks. I’m really trying to understand some of the things that allowed today’s form of violent, radical Islam to arise, not to mention all the problems in the Mideast. I’m not looking to blame the victim, but I also know that nothing happens in a vacuum.

There’s also a certain sort of… I dunno, a condescending, disdainful attitude I see sometimes when it comes to people in the “third world”. I guess i mostly makes me twitch because I wonder how much of our own “superior culture”, our democratic freedoms, came at the expense of other countries & peoples. How many did we stomp on to get whatever natural resources, labor, critical military positions (geopolitically speaking), etc. that allowed us to ascend?

It bugs me that I don’t know. I’m trying to fix that by going back to WWI & WWII and trying to understand what happened there as those events seem to be the catalysts that caused our modern world came into existence (or maybe it was vice versa—I don’t know).

Life as we know it, is the accident of where/who we came from.

195 Justanotherhuman  Jan 15, 2015 5:24:41pm

re: #181 #FergusonFireside

Another point here. With the insane RW freak out about the Moslems (RM) it occurs to me that the gun is more powerful.

Young dude in Ohio with a pretty good Islamic beard going. is able to buy all the guns and ammo he wants. Wouldn’t your typical RW gun seller freaking question that sale??

Or free market wins no matter.

(Unless the gun seller was tipped off)

He was. He knew the FBI was waiting outside to arrest the guy.

196 Decatur Deb  Jan 15, 2015 5:25:19pm

re: #193 gwangung

That’s like saying the South had 150 years to fix the problems of Jim Crow and segregation….

Heh. The first 100 years no one said it was a problem.

197 electrotek  Jan 15, 2015 5:26:29pm

re: #191 Justanotherhuman

He’s a footballer and describes himself as a “non-practicing Muslim”.

theguardian.com

“In the rest of France, Zidane, nicknamed ‘Zizou’ by the public, is admired for his decency as well as his footballing skills. His public priorities are football, family and friends. His family are Algerian immigrants, so-called beurs (French slang for Arabs), and he describes himself as ‘a non-practising Muslim’.”

Non-practicing or not, he’s still an immigrant and the highest-profile French Muslim at the moment. If we can bring up prominent American Muslim celebrities such as Muhammad Ali or Kareem Abdul Jabbar in the wake of 9/11 to stem the anti-Muslim backlash, I’m sure Zinedane Zidane’s words would speak volumes in order to help the nation heal.

198 #FergusonFireside  Jan 15, 2015 5:26:46pm

re: #187 HappyWarrior

Whatever became of Park 51 and that whole thing. That was the first real exposure I saw to the growing Islamaphobia.

They gave up. (update me if I’m incorrect)

199 electrotek  Jan 15, 2015 5:27:36pm

re: #193 gwangung

haha good point

But still though, they have the resources and the ability to solve these issues. They just lack the strong political will to help solve these issues so another tragic incident like 1/7 is never repeated again.

200 Decatur Deb  Jan 15, 2015 5:27:40pm

re: #198 #FergusonFireside

They gave up. (update me if I’m incorrect)

IIRC, the money offered to build it was never really there.

201 HappyWarrior  Jan 15, 2015 5:28:07pm

re: #200 Decatur Deb

IIRC, the money offered to build it was never really there.

I do remember there being a money scandal with the imam involved.

202 CuriousLurker  Jan 15, 2015 5:28:11pm

re: #185 EPR-radar

The question you pose was considered in Guns, Germs and Steel. IMO, it’s worth a read if you haven’t already done so, although any thesis of that scope is going to have parts I’m skeptical of.

In any case, WWI and WWII are probably too recent to really address this. The ascendency of Europe/US in world history has roots that go back centuries.

Thanks, I’ll look it up.

Yes, I know the history goes back a ways, but… I got the impression that the Industrial Revolution was a major factor. Also, reading that book on antisemitism, made me look at our “superior” culture in a whole other light, meaning is wasn’t all that great for everyone.

I also realize that there was a good deal of corruption in the Muslim world at the time, which I guess was basically the Ottoman Empire, so there’s plenty of blame to go around. But still…. I want to get a handle on it.

203 EPR-radar  Jan 15, 2015 5:28:15pm

re: #190 electrotek

They had 10 FUCKING years to fix the problem of disaffected youth!!! No excuses from the French for not helping to fix the problems that still affect them.

The story is usually the same —- the powers that be don’t want to pay fair wages, so some kind of second-class citizenship is set up to depress wages.

This pattern is clear both in France and in the US.

204 Backwoods_Sleuth  Jan 15, 2015 5:28:32pm

re: #186 The Vicious Babushka

Name of author and title?

Why did you finish it? I would have just returned it.

Voyage of the Dead: Book One of the Sovereign Spirit Saga by David P Forsyth.

It was a free ebook and I hate tossing a book before finishing it (I try to give the author the benefit of the doubt).
Fairly often, I or MrBWS enjoy a free ebook so much that we will purchase subsequent books by the author.

This time, nope, nope, nope.

205 HappyWarrior  Jan 15, 2015 5:29:34pm

re: #198 #FergusonFireside

They gave up. (update me if I’m incorrect)

Sounds right. I just remember the freak out about how it was terrible to put a Muslim community center near Ground Zero and the Daily Show made the point of bringing up that there was a strip club nearby.

206 CuriousLurker  Jan 15, 2015 5:29:36pm

re: #187 HappyWarrior

Whatever became of Park 51 and that whole thing. That was the first real exposure I saw to the growing Islamaphobia.

I haven’t heard much about it lately.

207 Justanotherhuman  Jan 15, 2015 5:29:38pm

re: #197 electrotek

Non-practicing or not, he’s still an immigrant and the highest-profile French Muslim at the moment. If we can bring up prominent American Muslim celebrities such as Muhammad Ali or Kareem Abdul Jabbar in the wake of 9/11 to stem the anti-Muslim backlash, I’m sure Zinedane Zidane’s words would speak volumes in order to help the nation heal.

True, but the article also says he avoids politics. He’s married to a Spanish woman and has several kids, and except for controversies in football when he was playing, probably avoids any other type.

208 electrotek  Jan 15, 2015 5:29:38pm

re: #203 EPR-radar

The story is usually the same —- the powers that be don’t want to pay fair wages, so some kind of second-class citizenship is set up to depress wages.

This pattern is clear both in France and in the US.

Guess it’s better for them to live off benefits instead of being productive members of society, according to the elites in France. :/

209 electrotek  Jan 15, 2015 5:31:04pm

re: #207 Justanotherhuman

True, but the article also says he avoids politics. He’s married to a Spanish woman and has several kids, and except for controversies in football when he was playing, probably avoids any other type.

I don’t blame him for avoiding politics, but as a Muslim in the public spotlight, even if you don’t practice the religion as much, you’re still going to be stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Just ask British boxer Amir Khan on that one. On one side being hated by the right-wing clowns and on the other being called an ignorant deviant by assholes like Anjem Choudary and Omar Bakri, yeah it’s tough being a Muslim celebrity when it comes to sports.

210 EPR-radar  Jan 15, 2015 5:31:37pm

re: #202 CuriousLurker

Thanks, I’ll look it up.

Yes, I know the history goes back a ways, but… I got the impression that the Industrial Revolution was a major factor. Also, reading that book on antisemitism, made me look at our “superior” culture in a whole other light, meaning is wasn’t all that great for everyone.

I also realize that there was a good deal of corruption in the Muslim world at the time, which I guess was basically the Ottoman Empire, so there’s plenty of blame to go around. But still…. I want to get a handle on it.

The impression I have is that the Ottoman empire was in decline for a long time before it finally ended. However, that is a Western narrative that should not be uncritically accepted, and I haven’t done the work to know either way.

211 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality  Jan 15, 2015 5:31:42pm

re: #129 Backwoods_Sleuth

Might I recommend this one, a variation on the zombie premise? The author is a former student, and it’s her first novel, so it’s not Hugo award material. But it’s not bad for a first effort. It’s set in Chicago in the recent future.

Panther in the Hive, by Olivia A. Cole. That’s the Kindle edition, $2.99. Also available in paperback.

If you read it, let me know what you think. I gave it a B+, but I’m biased. Olivia was one of my favorite students. Her Twitter is @RantingOwl.

212 jaunte  Jan 15, 2015 5:31:52pm

re: #185 EPR-radar

The question you pose was considered in Guns, Germs and Steel. IMO, it’s worth a read if you haven’t already done so, although any thesis of that scope is going to have parts I’m skeptical of.

I can’t recall if it was Guns Germs and Steel or a European history I read, but Europeans did have a great advantage geographically, specifically in water-borne transport.

213 #FergusonFireside  Jan 15, 2015 5:32:10pm

re: #201 HappyWarrior

I do remember there being a money scandal with the imam involved.

Before. That was one of the smears used.

214 electrotek  Jan 15, 2015 5:32:12pm

Even if Zinedane Zidane avoids politics completely, there’s no way he could ever avoid Kabyle activism if it came down to it.

215 Justanotherhuman  Jan 15, 2015 5:32:35pm

re: #208 electrotek

Guess it’s better for them to live off benefits instead of being productive members of society, according to the elites in France. :/

The road to hell is often paved with “good intentions”.

But it isn’t very democratic to allow a percentage of your citizens to remain uneducated, unemployed and unwanted.

216 HappyWarrior  Jan 15, 2015 5:33:42pm

re: #213 #FergusonFireside

Before. That was one of the smears used.

Ah okay. Faulty memory then.

217 electrotek  Jan 15, 2015 5:33:54pm

re: #215 Justanotherhuman

The road to hell is often paved with “good intentions”.

But it isn’t very democratic to allow a percentage of your citizens to remain uneducated, unemployed and unwanted.

Nope because when push comes to shove, well the results often never look pretty.

218 electrotek  Jan 15, 2015 5:34:34pm

Either way though, both the French public and French Muslims have to acknowledge a compromise is necessary for harmony to occur.

219 Backwoods_Sleuth  Jan 15, 2015 5:34:46pm

re: #211 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality

Might I recommend this one, a variation on the zombie premise? The author is a former student, and it’s her first novel, so it’s not Hugo award material. But it’s not bad for a first effort. It’s set in Chicago in the recent future.

Panther in the Hive, by Olivia A. Cole. That’s the Kindle edition, $2.99. Also available in paperback.

If you read it, let me know what you think. I gave it a B+, but I’m biased. Olivia was one of my favorite students. Her Twitter is @RantingOwl.

will do.

I actually think that D_F would enjoy the most dreadful zombie book because it spends so, soooo much wordage and excruciating detail (over and over and over) on weapons and military equipment.

220 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality  Jan 15, 2015 5:38:11pm

re: #187 HappyWarrior

Whatever became of Park 51 and that whole thing. That was the first real exposure I saw to the growing Islamaphobia.

They scrapped the 13-story project, and went for a more modest plan.

en.wikipedia.org

Also, Huff Post huffingtonpost.com

221 klystron  Jan 15, 2015 5:38:52pm

re: #219 Backwoods_Sleuth

will do.

I actually think that D_F would enjoy the most dreadful zombie book because it spends so, soooo much wordage and excruciating detail (over and over and over) on weapons and military equipment.

Funny, that kind of erotica never triggers the Amazon adult filter…

/

222 CuriousLurker  Jan 15, 2015 5:38:53pm

re: #215 Justanotherhuman

The road to hell is often paved with “good intentions”.

But it isn’t very democratic to allow a percentage of your citizens to remain uneducated, unemployed and unwanted.

Ha! My dad used to say that all the time. I didn’t fully understand it until I was about 40-45 years old.

223 HappyWarrior  Jan 15, 2015 5:38:54pm

re: #220 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality

They scrapped the 13-story project, and went for a more modest plan.

en.wikipedia.org

Also, Huff Post huffingtonpost.com

Ah thanks.

224 Justanotherhuman  Jan 15, 2015 5:40:17pm

Going to watch some English humour. Midsomer Murders never fails to amuse, with titles like, “Let Us Prey” and multiple murders in each episode. Gah, those quiet, picturesque villages are full of dysfunction and evil intent. : )

Later, Lizards!

225 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality  Jan 15, 2015 5:41:21pm

re: #223 HappyWarrior

Ah thanks.

Geller and Spencer got their media attention, then moved on to the next outrageous outrage to grift off of.

226 HappyWarrior  Jan 15, 2015 5:41:52pm

re: #225 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality

Geller and Spencer got their media attention, then moved on to the next outrageous outrage to grift off of.

Yep figures.Those two are ghouls.

227 Backwoods_Sleuth  Jan 15, 2015 5:42:27pm

re: #221 klystron

Funny, that kind of erotica never triggers the Amazon adult filter…

/

True!
And I have to say, that’s what kept making my eyes glaze over. All of the constant weapon and military pron did nothing to advance the plot or develop characters, other than to fill up way too much page space with “oh look at how much I know about guns and military stuffs!1!”

228 electrotek  Jan 15, 2015 5:45:33pm

re: #225 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality

Geller and Spencer got their media attention, then moved on to the next outrageous outrage to grift off of.

It’s too bad Anders Breivik wasn’t enough to permanently put a dent to their hate careers

229 CuriousLurker  Jan 15, 2015 5:46:35pm

Okay, the feline overlords are hungry and I’m running out of steam, so I guess I’m gonna call it a night.

Thanks again to all who gave book/movie recommendations. I hope I didn’t neglect to acknowledge anyone who responded—if I did, it was unintentional.

Have a good night, everyone.

230 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality  Jan 15, 2015 5:46:44pm

re: #227 Backwoods_Sleuth

True!
And I have to say, that’s what kept making my eyes glaze over. All of the constant weapon and military pron did nothing to advance the plot or develop characters, other than to fill up way too much page space with “oh look at how much I know about guns and military stuffs!1!”

That was sort of my reaction to the Master and Commander books. I only read the first one. My uncle, who was fascinated with sailing ships, would have loved reading them all. But the excruciating detail about the sails and rigging just left me confused. I just ignored the stuff I couldn’t grok and read it for the plot and characterization.

231 thedopefishlives  Jan 15, 2015 5:47:15pm

Evening Lizardim.

232 Decatur Deb  Jan 15, 2015 5:48:11pm

re: #231 thedopefishlives

Evening Lizardim.

How is the family?

233 #FergusonFireside  Jan 15, 2015 5:48:46pm

My jerk spice arrived today via fed ex. It was a box in a box in a box. I guess we don’t pay the workers very much, because the packaging should have cost 50.00.

one hour marinade, cause I’m hungry!

234 The Vicious Babushka  Jan 15, 2015 5:52:04pm

re: #204 Backwoods_Sleuth

Voyage of the Dead: Book One of the Sovereign Spirit Saga by David P Forsyth.

It was a free ebook and I hate tossing a book before finishing it (I try to give the author the benefit of the doubt).
Fairly often, I or MrBWS enjoy a free ebook so much that we will purchase subsequent books by the author.

This time, nope, nope, nope.

I never heard of that author.

I don’t have an ebook reader, I read books made from dead trees, that I get from the library. (the books not the dead trees)

235 thedopefishlives  Jan 15, 2015 5:52:04pm

re: #232 Decatur Deb

How is the family?

The children have had their evening dose of ice cream, thanks to Papaw and Mimi. For all their political faults, my folks are genuinely good people at heart. Woefully misguided, good people - which could be said for many others, though not commonly on the right wing.

236 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality  Jan 15, 2015 5:54:32pm

re: #235 thedopefishlives

The children have had their evening dose of ice cream, thanks to Papaw and Mimi. For all their political faults, my folks are genuinely good people at heart. Woefully misguided, good people - which could be said for many others, though not commonly on the right wing.

Ice cream cuts across all political, racial, ethnic, etc., barriers. Except the lactose intolerant are often left out.

237 #FergusonFireside  Jan 15, 2015 5:54:40pm

This is the box (wrong photo intended) having a time getting dropbox into my chromebook.

dropbox.com

238 lawhawk  Jan 15, 2015 5:55:12pm

re: #198 #FergusonFireside

They gave up. (update me if I’m incorrect)

The developers may end up doing condos and a museum after acquiring the building next door.

239 Belafon  Jan 15, 2015 5:56:13pm

re: #215 Justanotherhuman

The road to hell is often paved with “good intentions”.

I have never bought that. It’s pretty much a cop out to me. On the other hand, the road to hell IS paved with personal agendas.

240 #FergusonFireside  Jan 15, 2015 5:56:22pm

re: #238 lawhawk

The developers may end up doing condos and a museum after acquiring the building next door.

I gave them 25.00 back then. My DOG how they were persecuted.

241 Feline Fearless Leader  Jan 15, 2015 5:56:34pm

Tuxedo Cat is spending most of the evening in Cat Jail. We’re having a contest of wills over her repeated trashing of a section of counter top - pretty much simply as pique for not getting followed around and constantly attended to. Doesn’t really want food, doesn’t want pets, is being hostile to the other cat, and just generally being a pain while I am trying to get some work done on taxes and bills.

So she can go scratch at the door to the bedroom.

Chat Noir is simply lying on the couch next to me grooming.

242 Backwoods_Sleuth  Jan 15, 2015 5:56:50pm

I’m going to go read in bed for a while followed by a nap before I have to get up again to load the woodstove.

I’ll leave this here for Charles:

;)

243 thedopefishlives  Jan 15, 2015 5:57:16pm

re: #241 Feline Fearless Leader

Tuxedo Cat is spending most of the evening in Cat Jail. We’re having a contest of wills over her repeated trashing of a section of counter top - pretty much simply as pique for not getting followed around and constantly attended to. Doesn’t really want food, doesn’t want pets, is being hostile to the other cat, and just generally being a pain while I am trying to get some work done on taxes and bills.

So she can go scratch at the door to the bedroom.

Chat Noir is simply lying on the couch next to me grooming.

With my visitors, Basement Cat and Moral Grey Area Cat have both made themselves scarce. However, they did put in an appearance when I went downstairs earlier to refill their food and water, of course.

244 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality  Jan 15, 2015 5:59:50pm

re: #243 thedopefishlives

With my visitors, Basement Cat and Moral Grey Area Cat have both made themselves scarce. However, they did put in an appearance when I went downstairs earlier to refill their food and water, of course.

I like these cat names, Tuxedo Cat, Chat Noir, Basement Cat (must be evil), and Moral Grey Area Cat.

245 A Cranky One  Jan 15, 2015 5:59:54pm

re: #113 ObserverArt

Thinking further…what benefit is there for people to believe the unbelievable?
…
Speaking of education. I wonder how much home schooling, evangelical (and other fundie) schools and colleges and dumbing down public school curriculums got this bad precedence going?

I suspect this has more impact than most folks realize.

Learning takes work, and lots of folks just aren’t that interested. Combined with the explosion of knowledge, it’s just impossible to really understand many subjects, even if you try. To most people, science and technology are magic. (Especially when they hear scientific jargon ;) )

Fundies pushing anti-science agendas have taken advantage of the idea of science being magic to portray science as religious and dogmatic. This allows them to pretend to be on equal footing: their religion vs. the science religion. You see this tactic being used against evolution and climate change, vaccinations, etc..

I fear this ‘science is a religion’ strawman is becoming more mainstream, and that we’ll continue to see it used to our detriment in the future.

Education is of course, an important part of the solution to fix this, but the fundies are trying to dismantle that as best they can.

246 thedopefishlives  Jan 15, 2015 6:01:43pm

re: #244 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality

I like these cat names, Tuxedo Cat, Chat Noir, Basement Cat (must be evil), and Moral Grey Area Cat.

In a twist of irony, Basement Cat is actually very sweet-tempered and affectionate. Although she is the dominant cat in the fish basement. Moral Grey Area Cat defers to her in all things.

247 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality  Jan 15, 2015 6:03:19pm

re: #246 thedopefishlives

In a twist of irony, Basement Cat is actually very sweet-tempered and affectionate. Although she is the dominant cat in the fish basement. Moral Grey Area Cat defers to her in all things.

There’s a lesson to be learned there, somehow.

248 electrotek  Jan 15, 2015 6:03:27pm

The only French territory that is worse than France when it comes to being a Muslim would be Tahiti of all places. No joke.

249 KerFuFFler  Jan 15, 2015 6:04:00pm

re: #18 CuriousLurker

I’ve never liked the term Islamist myself, mostly because by using the name it ties the entire religion to violent extremism and gives it a veneer of legitimacy that it doesn’t deserve.* Unfortunately, that horse is already out of the barn and my dislike of the word won’t make it go away.

——————————————

*It also plays right into the hands of bigots like Geller, Spencer, et. al.

I have been under the impression that the term is meant to be a sort of parallel to ‘Christianist’, or Christians with a dominionist mindset as opposed to all Christians. Where I have seen it used it is meant to distinguish between Muslims happy to live and let live and those with a need to impose tyrannical theocracies through violent conquest. But then I never visit sites like Geller’s. I am sure she and others of her ilk lump all Muslim’s together.

Do you recommend a different term for the Muslim version of a Christianist?

250 lawhawk  Jan 15, 2015 6:04:19pm

re: #240 #FergusonFireside

The most ridiculous thing they claimed (among the many thing) was that the mosque would somehow tower over the WTC site.

The Park51 project wont even be the tallest building on the street. That’s Silverstein’s Park Place project, which is going up at a rather prodigious rate on Church at Park. And it certainly was never going to be the tallest building anywhere in the City.

251 Feline Fearless Leader  Jan 15, 2015 6:04:37pm

re: #244 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality

I like these cat names, Tuxedo Cat, Chat Noir, Basement Cat (must be evil), and Moral Grey Area Cat.

I’m using nicknames, since all cats have multiple names.
Tuxedo Cat (nickname) = Puffin (vet name) = PuffyCat (or PuffyButt) = YOU!

Chat Noir (nickname) = L.C. (vet name) = Loose Cannon (translation of vet name) = Puttz Cat (hard to spell how I pronounce it, sort of like Put-tz Cat).

I use Tuxedo Cat and Chat Noir on LGF since they’re easy to identify which is which when I post pictures of them.

252 thedopefishlives  Jan 15, 2015 6:04:38pm

re: #247 wheat-dogghazi-bola-trality

There’s a lesson to be learned there, somehow.

Considering that Basement Cat calls Mrs. Fish her person and Moral Grey Area Cat claims me as his, I think that lesson pretty much writes itself. ;)

253 A Cranky One  Jan 15, 2015 6:12:27pm

re: #249 KerFuFFler

I had the same impression, and comparison to Christianist when hearing the term Islamist.

But either term can easily be generalized to all members of the faith and the hate mongers use that to their advantage. So maybe we should avoid the terms.

Am I being PC?

Or maybe just cranky ;)

254 #FergusonFireside  Jan 15, 2015 6:15:35pm

re: #250 lawhawk

The most ridiculous thing they claimed (among the many thing) was that the mosque would somehow tower over the WTC site.

The Park51 project wont even be the tallest building on the street. That’s Silverstein’s Park Place project, which is going up at a rather prodigious rate on Church at Park. And it certainly was never going to be the tallest building anywhere in the City.

Your city is amazing. And amazing. Wish they’d keep the old more.

255 A Cranky One  Jan 15, 2015 6:18:11pm

re: #251 Feline Fearless Leader

I’ve always waited to name my pets until I get a sense of their personality, then I name them to reflect that.

Among the pack is a “Miss Mountain Dew” (the over caffeinated, hyper one, who we call Dewey) and “Havoc” (no other explanation required).

Everyone who has met Havoc agrees it’s the perfect name. Sigh.

256 klystron  Jan 15, 2015 6:35:36pm

re: #255 A Cranky One

I’ve always waited to name my pets until I get a sense of their personality, then I name them to reflect that.

Among the pack is a “Miss Mountain Dew” (the over caffeinated, hyper one, who we call Dewey) and “Havoc” (no other explanation required).

Everyone who has met Havoc agrees it’s the perfect name. Sigh.

We waited to name ours because we couldn’t find the “right” name, which is why we have Esther, William, and Lionel (problem child).

After three weeks the rescue group’s names stuck.

257 b_sharp  Jan 15, 2015 6:49:22pm

re: #86 klystron

All you younglings. My diplomas are ‘03, ‘07, and ‘13.

GET OFF MY LAWN.

;)

‘83 & ‘91 here.

258 b_sharp  Jan 15, 2015 6:59:05pm

re: #129 Backwoods_Sleuth

I have just finished reading The. Most. Dreadful. Pretentious. Zombie. Apocalypse. Novel. Ever.

Hint: The “hero” (and I use that term lightly) is a Libertarian who despises big government and won $300 million in the lottery, with which he purchased a huge vehicle ferry ship and turned it into a personal luxury liner for friends and family. The ship has more weaponry (he calls them “toys” and describes each thing in lengthy tedious detail) than most small nations. (I think there’s a Ferrari on the boat as well, in addition to helicopters, a plane, amphibious vehicles, a submarine, armored SUVs…it’s like “toys” are added all the time.)

All of the female characters are frail things that need protecting and the only really interesting character is an engineer who has no relationship with the rich people. He’s stuck on land actually dealing with the zombies while the rich people on the boat pretend to be all end times militia types who talk in military lingo (but lump the US Navy in with the bad guys) and just love saying “Charlie Mike” all the freaking time.

My eyes kept glazing over, but I fought through to the end and SURPRISE!!! there was no ending, other than buy the next book to see what happens next in this Libertarian wet dream!

I want all of those hours returned to me…

ETA: Oh, and just about any conspiracy theory you can think of is in there except for chemtrails and fluoridation, but I expect those will show up in later books…

And you didn’t tell us the title of this wonder?

259 jaunte  Jan 15, 2015 7:03:42pm

re: #258 b_sharp

One reviewer:

“…It’s about a millionaire that happens to be on a cruise ship with friends and family when the zombie apocalypse hits. It’s loaded with just about every conceivable thing you’d need to survive. Because of this, there is a lack of conflict that you see in most other books of this genre. There is really no suspense, as the protagonist has already bought his way out of every challenge they might encounter before the book even starts.”goodreads.com

260 CleverToad  Jan 15, 2015 7:53:09pm

re: #95 ObserverArt

The Word that springs to mind is ‘truthiness’, courtesy of Colbert. The way it ought to be, which lets you ignore the way it is.

261 CleverToad  Jan 15, 2015 8:00:36pm

re: #222 CuriousLurker

“For things we never mention,
For Art misunderstood —
For excellent intention
That did not turn to good…”

—Rudyard Kipling, The Broken Men

(Late to the party as usual, but this comment got the poem running in my head. Will now go back upstairs to the current thread, like a good little toad.)


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