Given all the media driven fear and loathing broadcasting 24/7, we are going to need lots and lots of popcorn. Feel free to supply the most egregious examples of “Be afraid be very afraid, the big bad Muslims are coming to get you”. Please totally ignore that there are 50 states in the union spread over 3.8 million square miles and that there are more than 6000 deaths a day from a hundred causes not one of which is by either Ebola or someone named Mohamed. Be scared if you must, but try to pick something scarier than Mary & Joseph showing up at your door asking for a bed and a blanket.
47 responses to “Weekend Wonders”
At the end of the last thread, Jack made a comment about Sharia law that frequently gets lost in all the hysterical right wing noise from people who don’t have a clue as to what it is or from those on the extremes of the Muslim faith who apply it with malice.
Jack: “No way should they have any expectation that Religious Freedom extends to Sharia Law.”
Why not? it does for Kosher. Also for the Amish and their religious regulations.
Jamie: These anti-Sharia remarks always bother me. I can understand forbidding cultural practices that are in direct contradiction to US laws such as honor killings, but extreme branches of Mohammedanism aren’t going to get murdering family members into the law books any time soon. Everything else deals with food, family, and business and would be similar to Orthodox Jews who take issues of the sort to a Beth Din https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/BetDin.html rather than relying on the court system.
“forbidding cultural practices that are in direct contradiction to US laws”? i assume this extends to genital mutilation and a few other cultural practices that violate civil rights. we have had some dicey freedom of religion grey areas to contend with from polygamy to sacrificing animals to smoking peyote to refusing medical treatment for children….
we have accommodated many religious laws where they are exclusively practiced within the church, the temple, the coven, the tribe, etc and where they do not trample on or restrict the rights of others. yet it’s hard to know whether for example a woman freely chooses certain restrictions or if they have been forced upon her and when to draw the line.
In a melting pot such as the US, this is always a balancing act. Certainly parents have been tried for murder when a child dies as the result of an exorcism or some reptile handling yahoo comes in too close contact with a rattlesnake. Eventually the accommodations work themselves out. There was a big upheaval of Christians protesting recently that their local fast food places was observing the dietary restrictions of “Sharia” in a principally moslem area, but I bet not one of them gave a second thought to the fact that their Hebrew National hot dogs were answering to a higher authority.
Michigan GOP continues war against Democratic voters with scheme to eliminate straight-ticket voting
By Stephen Wolf
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2015/11/19/1444168/-Michigan-Republicans-continue-war-against-Democratic-voters-by-eliminating-straight-ticket-voting#read-more
Barbara Walters’ Wet Kiss to the Donald
Despite past insults directed at Walters by Trump, Friday night’s marquee interview could make you lose your dinner.
Lloyd Grove
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/11/21/barbara-walters-wet-kiss-to-the-donald.html
Baba Wawa is getting elderly and hanging on to the residual of her reputation with a great deal of difficulty.
Just to be serious about such things, most religious organizations have their own court systems that adjudicate differences among the followers of that religion when disagreements arise as well as enforcing religious precepts. They exist on two levels, one being religious doctrine, and the other being to avoid conflicts moving into the civil or criminal jurisdiction of the state. They can deal with almost every aspect of religious, family and business life and can be self contained unless the parties concerned move the issues to the public sphere. The Beth Din is mentioned above. In Christianity you have the Courts Ecclesiastical which tend to be specifically religious but if desired can be used for lay issues as well. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecclesiastical_court
Republicans Play Speech Police, DNC Chooses Ad Campaign Against Fear & Bigotry
Taylor Marsh
http://www.taylormarsh.com/2015/11/republicans-play-speech-police-dnc-chooses-ad-campaign-against-fear-bigotry/
“IT IS a brave statement Democrats are making through an ad that refuses to cave to the GOP speech police, who are demanding everyone rally ’round “radical Islam,” or else. The DNC launches it amid Republican presidential candidates losing their minds over how to label ISIS cultists, who are murderers with no relationship whatsoever to anything spiritual.
Donald Trump started it and is now desperately trying to fix it.
Asked by the Yahoo reporter about the possibility of a database for Muslims or “a form of special identification that noted their religion,” Mr. Trump did not reject either idea. Later that day, as Mr. Trump left a campaign event in Iowa, an NBC reporter followed up. Asked if he would set up a database to track Muslims, Mr. Trump replied, “I would certainly implement that. Absolutely.”
Asked about the effect that would have, however, he replied, “It would stop people from coming in illegally” — perhaps suggesting that Mr. Trump, who has vowed to build a “beautiful” wall along the Mexican border, was not focused on the question.
And when the NBC reporter approached Mr. Trump a second time and asked about the difference between registering Muslims and what happened to Jews in Nazi Germany, Mr. Trump grew impatient: “You tell me,” he said.
Personally, I don’t really give a damn if someone calls ISIS “radical Islam.” But I do have to wonder how Sean Hannity, Tony Perkins and others on the right would feel if political writers & pundits started pegging their faith as “radical Christianity,” because of beliefs that go against the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, as well as how the majority of America feels, as enshrined by the highest U.S. court.
Over at Mediaite, a conservative is revving up the GOP speech police, making sure everyone sees the DNC ad, claiming it’s “laughingly stupid.” It doesn’t take an expert to understand that a reaction that elicits the gigantic whine it did from conservatives has obviously hit a nerve.
That’s because Republicans have a lot riding on ostracizing Muslims, as well as desperate refugees fleeing ISIS’s torture and abominable cruelty. Evidently, the GOP thinks that if they can rally the nation around fear they’ll have a chance of winning in 2016.
The problem is that people don’t live in fear for long because it’s anathema to living life.
Republicans, in particular, like to wear their faith on their sleeve, but they don’t seem to live by that faith through their politics. We see it all the time. Cutting programs for the poor. Ignoring the meaning of what it means to be conservative by putting their noses in people’s private business. Deciding who is strong on national security by the rhetoric a person uses, even when it emboldens the very people the world is fighting to stop.
ISIS wants America to ostracize Muslims, put them in a category that no other refugee has ever had to face. Making innocent women and children, as well as innocent Muslim men, pay the price for the godless cultists on a rampage of death and destruction.
Democrats are taking the high road, yet again, which is commendable.
I’m just wondering, with what the middle class is facing right now, if this is the smartest place to make your stand. Standing on principle doesn’t win presidential elections. Understanding the American mood and harnessing it to your own benefit does, which is exactly what Republicans think they’re doing. A lot can happen in a year, however.
The term “radical Islam” doesn’t inherently blame all of Islam or all Muslims, just the radicals. The reason Democrats won’t accept that idea is that Republicans don’t actually agree with it, which can be seen in the speech of Donald “Muslim registry” Trump, Ben “rabid dogs” Carson, and Marco”
https://youtu.be/hOcQl-3cAGI
Published on Nov 21, 2015
In this week’s address, the Vice President speaks to his and the President’s commitment to protecting our country from terrorists, while also providing refuge to some of the world’s most vulnerable people.
And so the iPad quit accepting our wifi and I was locked without……I was leeching on the neighbor’s but then theirs went out as well……but then the Comcast man came and fixed theirs and I forgot to ax him about mine while he was there…….frowny face……. Anyways dass life in the gas lane……
As for old Horace, I’d think they were on some kind of scroll or something at the time he scribe ’em….. But don’t really know…….having been a member of Brutus’ army he probably had to watch his step………according to wiki: (he was “a master of the graceful sidestep”)
media should ask the anti-refugee ranters whether the guest worker and migrant labor programs
should be “paused” since they have even less a rigorous vetting than the refugees seeking asylum into u.s…. and how about ending immediately (not merely pausing) the really really lax automatic program for cuban emigres.
last year according to http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/oct/10/cuba-migrants-surge-us-mexico-border-sea-travel Some 22,000 Cubans reached US by way of intermediary countries in the past year, forgoing dangerous sea crossing
there is more likelihood that a radical mole would be in those programs due to ease of entry than in the vetted refugee group
With regard to Sharia Law, it’s that there are those who want it to supersede the supreme law of the land.
If any religious tradition conflicts with US law, tough cookies.
Why does the sight of those red and white popcorn boxes also make me hungry for chick-o-sticks and junior mints? The small box was 10 cents when I was a kid. Candy was 5 cents. The movie was a quarter.
I’m rather enjoying Ted Cruz calling out Obama. His nasal voice and perpetual sneer make this behavior cartoonishly entertaining. Oh, if only he wasn’t an elected oaf who wants more power.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_FyJyurljoM
The Crambone
Rich- I love that one!
In honor of ol’ Horace and politicians everywhere: Charles Durning Dancing A Little Sidestep
https://youtu.be/Kl8ajhu_e5Y
Now my good friends, it behooves me to be solemn and declare,
I’m for goodness and for profit and for living clean and saying daily prayer.
And now, my good friends, you can sleep nights, I’ll continue to stand tall.
You can trust me, for I promise, I shall keep a watchful eye upon ya’ll…
Ooh I love to dance a little sidestep, now they see me now they don’t-
I’ve come and gone and, ooh I love to sweep around the wide step,
cut a little swathe and lead the people on.
https://youtu.be/LYzy9-QWj6o
and charles durning playing politics in Mississippi back in the old days
and ‘splainin’ real life politics
https://youtu.be/gOaCD_JNgkA
politics today
https://youtu.be/AfXujV3OV_8
“Something is wrong with our healthcare system, and it needs to be fixed,” a younger version of Clinton says in the first half of the 30-second ad. Fast forward to today, and the fight to improve healthcare is about preventing Republicans from repealing the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, and “about … taking on insurance companies to bring down drug prices,” the narrator says. http://www.ibtimes.com/hillary-clintons-plan-control-prescription-drug-prices-video-new-ad-targets-insurance-2195113
from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/11/22/black-activist-punched-at-donald-trump-rally-in-birmingham/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-high_goppoll-1201am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A white man punched and attempted to choke a black protester who was thrown on the ground at a Donald Trump rally in Birmingham on Saturday morning, as an onlooker yelled, “Don’t choke him! Don’t choke him!”
The protester, identified by local media as well-known activist Mercutio Southall Jr., started shouting during Trump’s speech and could be heard yelling, “Black lives matter!” A fight broke out around him, prompting Trump to briefly halt the rally and demand removal of Southall.
“Get him the hell out of here, will you please?” Trump said.
The crowd alternated between cheering and booing as security officers pushed their way through the crowd of several thousand. Southall fell to the ground and was surrounded by several white men who appeared to be kicking and punching him, according to video captured by CNN.
hope our trail mixer friend in Belgium (he who gave us “woo hoo”) is okay and safely sheltering in place.
also hope our fearless leader and family are okay… been a long time hearing about them.
Religious traditions that conflict with US law… hmmm… let’s look at some really lovely little practices. How about the systematic abuse and enslavement of women and children in those out of the way Fundamentalist LDS compounds. And what about the dumping of boys as young as 13 onto the streets of cities like Salt Lake or Reno because they’re competition for the collecting of wives (i.e. polygamy). Yeah… I know the government finally prosecuted Warren Jeffs… but that’s just the tippiest tip of a gigantic iceberg.
And what about the enslavement of all those young people in Scientology. Just read “Going Clear”. You won’t want to believe the types of things that go on in that religion all the while our government turning a blind eye.
So someone puts a realty sign stating the property is being sold with accordance to sharia law…. big deal.
i’m curious about that selling real estate according to sharia law. does that mean no interest loans in the financing? no or minimal profit/commission for broker? does this apply only to muslim buyers?
from https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/john-edwards-claiming-win-over-david-vitter-in-louisiana-governors-race/2015/11/21/a583fc06-9070-11e5-ae1f-af46b7df8483_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-high_louisiananew1018pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
Completing a long-shot bid that ran counter to the conservative tide sweeping the Southern states, Democratic state Rep. John Bel Edwards was elected governor of Louisiana on Saturday, defeating his Republican rival, U.S. Sen. David Vitter.
[….]
Addressing the crowd, Edwards said, “I did not create this breeze of hope that’s blowing across our state, but I did catch it.” He reached out to supporters of his Republican opponent, pledging to be a governor “for all the people of Louisiana,” and congratulated voters for not giving in to the “deep cynicism about our politics and our future.”
What is wring with Chuck Todd? There is plenty to go after Trump on, but tieing illegal immigration from Mexico and refugees from the ME is not one of them. Trump was right about terrorists using fake passports to blend in with refugees. He’s also right about them trying to take advantage of our porous border.
Where does Chuck think the guys Honduras stopped with false passports were headed?
Does Chuck know someone with ties to Hezbollah was caught smuggling 200 Lebanese into the U.S.? How many got through before he was caught?
Sorry Chucky T, but I get to know who wants to come here and why. In fact, it might be time to require travel visas like Russia does. That would create more jobs to make sure tourism here didn’t suffer.
I’m glad Anonymous is pitching in with info to officials about possible threats, as well as trying to shut down lines of communications to try to recruit idiots.
Also, this is not just about marginalized, unemployed young men. This is because they are not Anericanized. This did not happen during the Great Depression, nor during the recession in the 70s. There are many marginalized people now, some who resort to crime, some who resort to quiet desperation. That needs to be addressed, as always. This is very different and it is driven by Islam. Not just extremists either, for they not only don’t like Western ways, they want to change them. This is not someone knocking at the door a few times a year, wanting to share their views. This is very different and it’s why they rarely say anything negative about Islamic terrorists. They’ll are doing their dirty work.
Rr – There was a story in the Sunday NY Times two weeks ago about Sharia law. A 19-year old woman accused of adultery was forced to dig a pit and was then stoned to death. That is Sharia law.
It also mentioned a US serviceman (long ago) accused of stealing. The US was able to get them to anerhsitize the man before the Sharia-required amputation.
And as for the LDS, Jeffers was brought to trial. The ATB went after David Koresh (although with an unhappy outcome), a U.S. law against polygyny exists, which mainstream Mormons follow, as well as state laws with regard to sex and the age of majority. And while abuse of women and children is deplorable, they are not infiltrating the world to kill people. Convert or kill is medieval; Islamists are medieval. Pure Sharia law, which is what they all want to live under, is medieval.
There is no love, no peace, no joy, no freedom in Islam, because it requires the following of Sharia law.
USA! USA! USA!
Sharia in Real Estate transactions It’s long and involved but seems similar to why at one time all European bankers were Jewish because Christianity had restrictions on charging interest. Of course it had a side benefit that if your debts got out of hand a pogrom or two rapidly eliminated them along with the banker.
thanks, Jamie… part of that link answered some of my questions. stuff like
“A fundamental Sharia principle is the prohibition of riba, best known by its prohibition on the payment or receipt of interest. This rule affects every aspect of the manner in which a Sharia compliant transaction is structured and implemented. In the securitisation field, it (and other principles) precludes pooling of conventional mortgages, credit card receivables, and all interest-bearing debt instruments.
[….}
The outlook of the Sharia on finance is as a type of ethical investing. It prohibits investment in, or the conduct of, businesses whose core activities:
– Include the manufacture or distribution of alcoholic or pork products or, in the case of certain Sharia Boards (www.practicallaw.com/6-500-7951), firearms.
– Have a significant involvement in gaming (gambling, including casinos), brokerage, interest-based banking or impermissible insurance.
– Include certain types of entertainment elements (particularly pornography).
– Have impermissible amounts of interest-based indebtedness or interest income.”
https://youtu.be/wtZhN7VW7q0
Sunday Serendipity.
For lovers of the violin, a beautiful concerto. Perfect for Sunday morning listening.
Enjoy the music, and enjoy your Sunday!
Blue…
actually I agree with those that say it needs to be called by what it is… not just extremism… but Islamic extremism. You are right that the LDS Fundamentalist don’t want to take over any country… they just want to practice their extreme form of religion and be left alone. Just using it as an example of practices that go against our laws yet is tolerated. Methinks the prosecution of Jeffs was actually a power coup within his compound. He needed to go, so was offered up to the government to get him out of the way.
There was an interesting woman on Bill Maher last week. She says she’s a liberal feminist Muslim. She knows it sounds like an oxymoron. She said it’s about time that people in this country (especially liberals) take a stand against certain practices of the Muslim faith. She named things like the systematic abuse of women and children… and the practice of killing anyone who tried to leave the faith. I agree with her. Liberals are quick to point out anything they don’t like about any Christian faith (especially evangelicalism and Catholicism)…. but for some reason want to label any criticism of practices or beliefs in Islam as bigotry… IMO, it’s hypercritical.
And oh yeah…. Blue…
I have no doubt that the 19 yr old woman you mentioned was actually raped… so of course she’s the adulterer…. not! But according to the Ben Afflecks of this country… to point out such stuff is to denigrate an entire culture and religion…. Bullshit!
Armed Protestors Gather Outside Texas Mosque
Great…. let’s have a religious war…
after they wipe each other out… maybe the rest of us will finally get to live in peace.
Seriously… I deplore those Texans. But on the other hand…. if the Westboro Baptist church is allowed to do their hateful protests as long as they don’t touch anyone… I guess you can’t stop these types of protests either. Personally… I reject intolerant religious practices… no matter the country… no matter the religion.
And BTW, Ben Carson is now saying we shouldn’t rule out torture because of it being too pc…. I say Bullshit on him too!
You said that so well.. I agree 100%
On a brighter note , listening to Adele’s new 25, excellent!
https://youtu.be/YQHsXMglC9A
Donald Trump on his Black Lives Matter heckler: ‘Maybe he should have been roughed up’
Colin Campbell
http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-protester-roughed-up-2015-11
Trump Would Bring Back Waterboarding
Marvin Gentry
http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2015/11/22/trump-would-bring-back-waterboarding.html
speaking of wiping each other out
from http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2015/11/22/donald-trump-open-to-independent-bid-if-gop-doesnt-treat-him-fairly/
… an effort by Republican establishment figures to unite to knock Mr. Trump out of the race. The group plans a “guerrilla campaign” backed by secret donors to “defeat and destroy” the celebrity businessman’s candidacy, the Journal reported.
The notion of an independent Trump bid worries some Republicans, who fear he would siphon votes from the GOP nominee and help elect a Democrat.
[….]
Asked again if he was open to an independent run, he repeated, “Well, I’m going to have to see what happens. I will see what happens. I have to be treated fairly. You know, when I did this, I said I have to be treated fairly. If I’m treated fairly, I’m fine. All I want to do is a level playing field.”
The video down below is the biography of Korean violinist Kyung Hwa Chung, b.1948-.
She developed her skills during the period of Korea’s extraordinary poverty following the Korean War. By accident of birth she was born on the freedom loving, Confucian respecting, side of the North-South line. Otherwise, she might simply have met some ISIL-like fate from an evil man with an erection.
Praise be to Jehova or Buddha, and most certainly Confucius, here is her life story through the linguistical magic of music.
https://youtu.be/JRfIc4h6WFg
48………a very good year
Indeed. I suppose you’re speaking of yourself, in which case I certainly agree. And, didn’t that year have something to do with Truman whupping Dewey?
hello, i have a fb friend who is a friend of the patsi bale cox memorial page and istap elab. her name is eileen sien. does anyone know who she is or who is istap elab?
istap elab = patsi bale spelled backwards? but there was nothing backwards imo about patsi…. always full throttle ahead of most of us on the trail.
patsi sparkles on!
$6000 for caregiving and the $5000 credit for healthcare – spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down? wouldn’t it be cheaper and easier to just expand medicare for all and police big pharma rather than play around with taxes?
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/clinton-to-propose-dollar6000-tax-credit-for-caregiving-costs/ar-BBnjpgA?ocid=ansmsnnews11
https://youtu.be/GQnjEK4bV5Q
Donald Trump Steals From His Attacks on Jeb Bush to Hit Hillary Clinton’s ‘Stamina’
By Maggie Haberman
http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/11/23/donald-trump-steals-from-his-attacks-on-bush-to-hit-hillary-clintons-stamina/
Trump continues to be the asshole he is.. Lol, stamina, please let us see how thin skinned Trump could be grilled for 11 hours.. Trump and his other clowns can’t even do two hours at CNBC, sexist jerk..
wonkette trashes texas
http://img.wonkette.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/yosemite-sam.jpg
http://wonkette.com/596274/the-snake-oil-bulletin-deep-in-the-heart-of-stupid#HZHECxkqWmr06DCh.99
Hillary Clinton is the most trusted 2016 candidate on terrorism
By Scott Clement
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/11/23/poll-as-republicans-ratchet-up-the-rhetoric-clinton-is-most-trusted-on-terrorism/
“A crescendo of tough talk on Syrian refugees and terrorism seems to be elevating the toughest talkers in the GOP primary — most notably Donald Trump. But among the broader American public, the most trusted person to handle the issue is Hillary Clinton.
Rising fears and record disapproval of President Obama on the terrorism issue might figure to boost Republican candidates who have been outspoken since the Paris terrorist attacks. But a new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds the Democratic front-runner and former secretary of state is better-trusted on dealing with the terrorism threat, with her biggest edge over Donald Trump.”
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