FMBI

Actually, I think he was more referencing the God After God thing. Which is really, really, hard to explain, and doesn't even make much sense in the original reading. But if you can pick up a copy of the book, go for it.

Oh, and by the way, check out these fun links from the UK (which, unlike the US, actually bothers to announce these things publicly): this, this, and, of course, this. It's only a matter of time.

I didn't say that. I said they shouldn't base their opinion on simplistic racial stereotypes, especially because those stereotypes are, in virtually all cases, the reverse of reality. However, they might be justified for being concerned about your comments, since this is a less extreme case than your other one - you're merely talking about the effects of a drug, not whether you're going to use it, or where to buy it, or whatever. Therefore, this is more on a par with the Muslim case, IMO, which, as far as I'm concerned, may, depending on the details, result in a casual, semi-public (if that's your preferred route) discussion with your local security officer - not a ridiculous and embarassing high-tension interrogation session. But what the heck, this discussion's going nowhere at this point. :\

Racism might always exist, but the fact is that it has alternately gained and lost huge amounts of influence both in the US and globally, depending on aggregate public opinion. And you can only hope to change that opinion by countering the endless myths that prevail in common society, not by ignoring it and hoping it goes away. Also, check this out - as I said, the Hispanic=drug/crime thing is just another myth. Again, though, if you're relying on the most extreme situation (openly talking about criminal activity), then you are asking for it in the current paranoid security situation. If, on the other hand, you make a passing comment that someone else picks up on for no reason, then the blood is on their hands.

Link Happy new year, civil liberties.

I kind of agree and kind of disagree, Veg. In the case of the financial industries, where the government directly aided and abetted their impossible growth rates, and is now feeding them hundreds of billions of "our" money, yes, it is a bad idea - after all, they haven't used any of that "necessary" $700 billion we gave them, and the sky hasn't fallen. However, when it comes to the real economy - things like the Big 3, manufacturers, mid-sized contractors (who work with States), etc, you do need to keep them going, because the long-run cost is infinitesimal compared to the cost of letting them go out. Operating at, say, a 5% loss for a few years before getting back on your feet and repaying government loans is way better than going out of business and giving some mega-conglomerate one more fire-sale acquisition it doesn't give a damn about. Just ask Russia.

My point was that you are essentially enforcing the current stereotypes and social order through your apathy and belief that "they deserve it", even when it is self-evident to a reasonable person that the stereotypes are severely flawed. That kind of thing was what allowed Jim Crow to last for almost 100 years, hence my choice of comparison. At one time, it was believed in the South that black men were insane, sex-crazed fiends who would rape any white woman who got within a mile of them. The same theory of lack of self-control is believed about women in many modern Islamic cultures. While both ideas are obviously ridiculous to outsiders, they were (are) allowed to stand because nobody bothers to seriously challenge them. Which is why you're completely wrong. "Live and let live" isn't a good policy if the other group is suffering from your lack of attention. edit - Also, your choice of example is way off base for two reasons. #1, they weren't talking about something bad, people severely overreacted because of a stereotype with little basis in reality - as opposed to your scenario, where there would be reasonable ground for suspicion. #2, why bother to bring up another racist myth (that Mexican immigrants bring higher crime rates and super-high drug usage)?

This isn't new, just confirms what everybody already knows. :x If you want to be original, point out the 40/60% rule for American/European poverty.

Let's use your argument in relation to another demographic group : Black men should know better than to talk to white women - after all, some people might get the wrong idea. You have some serious culpability issues. o_O

I found this incident to be beyond disturbing. Plus, the airline wouldn't let them go on any flights, even after "apologizing". That's sick.

Zzz... Why don't people realize that Hamas doesn't do just one thing? Its activities have ranged from terrorism, to defensive militia, to civilian administration. Most people would see this transition as a good thing, I would think, because it signifies that Hamas is willing to step up and become a quasi-state if it can retain the support of the Palestinians. That isn't to excuse what they've done in the past, but they could certainly be a lot worse. And, unlike Abbas, who is best suited to playing the role of a modern-day Kai-shek, they've actually got a future, so the Israelis are going to have to learn to live with them, like it or not. Which goes back to my theme from that other topic, semi-recently, which was that Israel is going to have to accommodate the Palestinians at some point regardless, and the sooner the better. Also, whether the EU considers a group a "terrorist organization" is, indeed, irrelevant. I wouldn't say that the member nations are all "in the pocket of the US," as Sever believes, but the organization, as a whole, is so pathetic and useless that it doesn't even deserve a second glance.

Sama, I dunno if you get PBS up in Quebec, but if you do, you might get to see him in the early afternoon (12:00-2:00). Sitting there and watching him paint for half an hour is better than anything you can find on the internet.

24 mins to utter resolution failage.

Audry always seems to go crazy when this image pops up. Maybe she has a secret crush and wants to dispel suspicion by putting on an extremely elaborate demonstration of feigned disgust and revulsion?

Since there's apparently an embargo on making this topic, I'm making it. So there. Had a good LOL this afternoon when Johndroe was on C-SPAN and said "we don't know why Hamas is doing this, they should create a new ceasefire" - sure, just like the one that's been in place for the last several months, during which the IDF managed to turn Gaza into the worst humanitarian disaster this side of central Africa. Any predictions on how this pathetically-stupid (in diplomatic terms) campaign is going to end?

What is the fascination with Asterix? Seriously.

Speaking of "reading everything", Veg - note that the handy little chart provided with the article shows that, rather than being paid "twice as much", as Aileron did say, American autoworkers are paid about $5 more per hour. Additionally, their auto production costs overall are actually lower than equivalent foreign automakers, which invalidates his (or, rather, Bill O'Reilly's, Sean Hannity's, and Rush Limbaugh's) whole argument. The problem isn't with the unions, it's with the idiotic executives who ignored the future in hopes of making bigger profits in the short run. Furthermore, the unions have already made tons of concessions over the last several years, ranging from pay cuts to lower retirement packages - while the nearly-bankrupt automakers are desperately pumping bonuses and pay hikes into lower-level executives (since that $50 million they were gonna give to the CEOs has to go somewhere, after all). Also, by most counts I've seen, Bush is set to end up with far more regulations than Clinton - Clinton attempted to put in a lot, but he didn't get them by the end of his turn, so Bush just threw them out and that was the end of it. Bush, on the other hand, has been running this game for several months now to finish up the process before Obama gets in. And, contrary to what you are suggesting, Obama can't just flip a switch and make these things go away - the process to dump midnight regulations is so complicated that it makes the everyday Congressional process look like a piece of cake. It could easily take him his entire first term, and immense amounts of "political capital" (oh, what a lovely term) to get rid of things that should never have existed in the first place.

Thanks for repeating, word-for-word, the standard right-wing arguments currently in vogue. Let's see how they stand up to scrutiny, eh? PS - happy holidays, did you find out whether you're going to Afghanistan?

Just that he's the worst president we've ever had, other than Buchanan (who let the entire union fall apart - Bush has satisified himself with destroying the economy, environment, military, constitution, and legislative and judicial branches). By the way - I haven't been on SS since Obama crushed McCain. What's your explanation for that occurrence, Mr. Obama-will-never-win?

Don't take LSD before noon, silly.

I doubt this is any help, but once in a while my 6 year old XP will go screwy and won't boot up until we open it up, clean it out, and make sure all the wires are plugged in tightly. I also had another computer that kind of did that a long time ago. Beyond that, I'm totally clueless as far as tech stuff goes. edit - I went to great pains to make it obvious I was acknowledging people already said that, and you edited my post anyway? What the heck?

In other news, Bush recently revealed to Martha Radditz that al-Qaeda had not had a presence in Iraq prior to the invasion, but that it didn't matter - in his words, "So what?" Even until earlier this month, I thought that, although Bush is unbelievably stupid and corrupt, he would still have some respect for the country in the end. But now, with his Palin-esque interview blitz to try to make himself look better, coupled with disastrous last-minute moves (such as playing chicken with a depression by holding off on funding the automakers), I'm starting to wonder if this guy ever thinks about anything besides himself and the corporate interests that back the Republican party. He's such a total asshole. edit - before Dr. Brain hops in and starts defending Bush, here's a link that pretty much encapsulates everything I just said. Link

If you're staying home, what will you / your parents / your partner / your relatives be making on Christmas?